Chapter Twenty

Merlin reached the blacksmith workshop with little trouble but he kept having the uncomfortable feeling there was something nearby in the darkness. As he stood outside the building and strained his ears he thought he could hear soft whispering coming from within.

Tentatively he pushed open the door.

"Oh Merlin!" came Gwen's relieved voice. He jumped in surprise and turned to see her standing directly to the right of the door, a farm axe raised above her head. She lowered the weapon. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Gwen! We've been looking all over for you. Are you alright?" He studied her. She had a few scratches and her dress was torn but she looked mostly alright.

"I'll be fine. Have you seen Arthur?"

"Yes, he was just with me but he had to go find Morgana."

"Morgana?" Gwen said in surprise. "She's here?"

"Yes. Look some knights are set up over at the old meeting hall. I didn't have any trouble getting here, we can probably make it and Arthur will come back there with Morgana."

"I can't leave here," said Gwen stubbornly.

"Why not?" Merlin followed her gaze and realized in his excitement of having found her he hadn't really looked at the rest of the workshop. There were a handful of people there, mostly women and children and a few looked wounded.

"They can't be moved," said Gwen, stepping closer to Merlin and lowering her voice. "Two of them are very badly hurt."

Merlin sighed. "You know it's no wonder you and Arthur like each other. Between the two of you, you try and save all of Camelot." But he grinned at her. "Okay, so we hold out here. Gaius said these are magically summoned beasts and will only last the night so we only have to stay here a few hours. And they don't like fire, so we get a fire going outside the door and set people to watching the windows in back."

Gwen nodded. "I'll have some of others gathering everything in here that can burn."

Arthur felt his arms ache as he ran carrying Morgana and he knew he was slowing down. It hadn't felt like he had walked this far looking for Morgana and he worried he might have taken a wrong turn. He heard the growls and howls coming from down the street behind him. The part of his brain that wasn't desperately trying to urge himself to run faster was worried by Morgana's unresponsiveness, but he couldn't take the time to check on her now. The hounds were getting closer; he could hear their claws clicking on the stone pavement as they ran. Then he saw the light, coming through the distance between two buildings and he found in himself a second burst of speed. He was running through the narrow ally and coming out into the square. The bonfire he and Merlin had started was now much larger, with a pile of crates, barrels and wood over on one side, ready to be added if needed. He ran a few several feet closer to the fire and then felt his legs give out as he collapsed to the ground, then his arms gave out and he was forced to lay Morgana onto the ground.

The hounds leapt out into the square behind him but the knights were on them as Arthur bent over gasping for breath.

Gwen and two other women were searching through the workshop. They had pulled out several old crates, barrels, some straw and had found a bag of coal. The latter wouldn't produce much light, but it would at least keep the fire hot and make it easier to add to more onto it.

Merlin was just about to suggest they start the fire when he heard the growls outside and a large thud against the closed door. It shook and seemed to give a little. One of the children screamed. Merlin threw himself against the door, there was another thud and Merlin could feel the heavy impact against the door.

Gwen grabbed a small oil lamp they had lit earlier and ran to the window closest to the door. Pushing open the shutter she threw it. There was a crash as the glass shattered and the oil spread, catching light and a soft glow came in through the window. Gwen ran back to grab some of the wood and straw they had collected while Merlin ran to the window. Casting a hasty glance over his shoulder he stretched out his hand and whispered a few careful words. The flames leapt higher, burning brighter, but Gwen didn't seem to notice when she came back and started throwing things through the window, trying to build up the fire.

Someone came out of the meeting hall and helped Arthur carry Morgana inside. They laid her down on a long, low bench. Carefully checking her, Arthur was still confused about what was wrong with her. She was breathing, her pulse seemed fine and he could see no physical wound that would explain her unconsciousness and Morgana was most decidedly not the kind of woman to faint from fear in a dangerous situation. Glancing around over the large room, he was impressed by the large number of people crowded in there; most of them probably owed their lives to Morgana now and her insistence that her knights protect them.

Arthur was startled by the way he had phrased that in his own head, 'her knights'. They weren't his any longer.

The people nearby were looking down on Morgana with concern but also with respect. He recognized that respect and loyalty. Arthur started thinking.

One of the two knights burst into the room at that moment and beckoned to Arthur. He came over and the knight whispered urgently, "There's more of them. We need you."

Arthur drew his sword and headed out into the square.

Merlin and Gwen stood by one of the windows, looking out. Most of the hounds seemed to have slunk off as the flames burned, blocking off the door. Smaller fires had been started in areas in front of the windows or people had taken torches over to them. One or two hounds still paced on the street outside, growling at the flames. Flames which Merlin hoped no one noticed were lasting an awfully long time.

Gwen occasionally stepped away to check on the wounded but most of them were asleep now. Mostly the two just stood and watched.

Merlin glanced anxiously up at the sky and felt relief surge through him. The blackness of night was slowly turning a dull grey. It couldn't be long now before the sun would rise. When next Gwen left him for a moment Merlin took the chance to mutter a few words, the fire started to diminish, but slowly.

The hounds seemed to be aware their time was running out for their pacing grew more impatient, more frantic. They howled and snapped at the fire and they scrapped their claws along the ground.

The sky turned pink and the sun slowly started to rise.

Throughout the lower city every Shadow Hound seemed to raise its head and howl as one and then slowly they dissolved into nothing…

Arthur collapsed to his knees; exhaustion was washing through him in large waves. It had seemed the numbers of those beasts had been endless, repeatedly coming again and again throughout the night, the attacks often coming from multiple sides at once.

Morgana had woken half an hour ago. He hadn't gotten a chance to really see her as with the approach of dawn the hounds' attacks had gotten more frequent, but she seemed to be alright.

Forcing himself back to his feet he made himself stand up again. Merlin hadn't returned during the night. Ordinarily his first thought would have been that the man had been hurt. But given what he'd learned about him a few hours ago, he felt more certain that Merlin would be alright. But had he found Gwen?

Just as the question crossed his mind he heard his name being shouted.

He turned and there she was. Bedraggled, but alright, and he swore to himself that he had never seen a more beautiful sight.

And she was running towards him and then she was in his arms and the two were kissing, and Arthur forgot all about how exhausted he had been five minutes ago.

AN: Yay! And the Shadow Hounds are gone! I don't have to try writing fight scenes with dogs anymore ;-).