All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Once And Future King: Restrictions".
Once And Future King: Restoration
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
London
Macbeth and Chloe rapidly fled the area that was the main Illuminati headquarters with the couple of resistance members and London mutates that had gone with them. The idea was to ignite an uprising in London, which because it was the capital and main headquarters of the Illuminati operation would draw Illuminati troops away from either Scotland or Stonehenge. Either location was a good place to draw Illuminati strength away from. If the Scottish front was weakened, the main portion of the British army might be able to recover and drive south to liberate the country. If from Stonehenge, that would make things easier for Arthur and would insure that Merlin got his powers back, which Macbeth had to feel would lead to the Illuminati's defeat, since Arthur and Merlin had been their reasoning for invading the British isles.
"Set us down on that rooftop there!" Macbeth pointed to a rooftop about a block away as Illuminati infantrymen fired on them from the rooftops of the buildings that surrounded the Illuminati's London headquarters.
"We gonna hold here?" one of the resistance members asked after a moment.
"For a little while," Macbeth answered, "Just to make sure they pursue us."
Most of the shots that were being fired were high or wide, hitting other buildings or going harmlessly over their heads. This didn't ease the resistance fighters though, as none of them were military trained, and only knew how to use the anti-tank rockets that they had been given after Macbeth explained how to use them. The equipment had been taken from the Illuminati base, but it was the best available, just as these resistance fighters were the best available 'soldiers'. They wouldn't last long in a straight up fight with any army.
But that wasn't quite Macbeth's plan for the fight. The attack was sudden and quick, and intended to kill the Illuminati Councilmember that was supervising the Illuminati invasion. That potion had failed, though it did appear that they'd killed a high ranking general instead. That would serve to draw the Illuminati out of their regional command posts in London and the bases that ringed it, and of course draw reinforcements from other fronts the Illuminati were trying to fight on. Once in the city, Macbeth intended to draw the Illuminati troops into ambushes, crossfire actions, and force them to assault as heavily fortified a strongpoint as could be managed, in areas where the gargoyles and mutates could use their strengths to their utmost advantage.
"Wait until infantry start to head this way on street level," Macbeth urged on resistance fighter, "Once they get to the main street area in front of us, blast them."
"A tank rocket against one guy?" the resistance fighter wondered.
"Trust me, it'll take out several," Macbeth answered, "and even if it ends up being only one guy... it'll still be mighty effective for ending that one guy's night."
They waited patiently until the saw ten Illuminati soldiers advancing rather loose formation. They made it halfway toward the rooftop that Macbeth's group had moved to when the resistance fighter fired the anti-tank rocket. The projectile flew through the night and exploded in the middle of the formation. Only three of them survived in any way that would allow them to keep fighting, and they spread even further out, using buildings, staircases, light poles, anything they could find as cover. Once they did have cover they began firing on the building Macbeth's group was on. This time the shots were much closer.
"And we move again," Macbeth spoke and urged them all to move to the other end of the rooftop before the Chloe and the present mutates were to try gliding again. So they wouldn't be leaping into incoming fire.
Inside the Illuminati headquarters, despite the power that the society had openly seized in the UK, things were not very ordered or controlled. A great blast had rocked the main headquarters area. When a pair of army lieutenants in a nearby office responded to it, the found the Illuminati general in charge of the entire invasion blown to bits by an anti-tank rocket. Their response was an obvious one, they immediately reported the assassination to all who could hear within range of their vocal cords and then called all who needed to know and called for a general counterattack to get the people that had assassinated the Illuminati general. The troops had rushed out, but there was no one, as yet, who could actively command the troops or even rally those stationed in the other bases the Illuminati had built around London.
And while grunts outside the main Illuminati headquarters rushed to chase after Macbeth and his team, an inexperienced Colonel found himself in the unexpected role of replacing the assassinated Illuminati general. He had never had any real command before in the army he had served in as a cover to his Illuminati service and was largely a paper pusher. Now, he found himself with a very real fight as both lieutenants finished their explanations on what they had found.
"He was all over the place!" one lieutenant said in a startled voice, clearly shaken by what he had seen.
"Yes, rockets tend to do that," the colonel answered, trying to sound like he was cool under pressure, but in truth he was just as terrified as they were, "but how strong was the force? How many shots did they fire? Where are they holding out?"
This was basic sort of fact finding that was to be expected. The colonel knew that much. Once it got beyond that, he didn't know what he would do. He needed guidance from Two. He would have the appropriate attack strategies in case Macbeth attacked. He and the Illuminati commander had planned out the counterattack that would happen if Macbeth or Arthur ever tried something. But Two was in Stonehenge and could not be reached. This left the colonel alone.
"Only one or two... they fired once from across the street and then fled south," the other lieutenant explained quickly, "we sent men after them... but..."
They were second guessing their judgment. As if the colonel did know what he was doing.
"No, going after them is good," the colonel nodded, "go after them in full force and make them come reveal where they've been operating out of."
Stonehenge
Meanwhile, Two faced a very different problem. And it was one far more central to the Illuminati's struggle in Britain then the city of London. His issue was Arthur Pendragon, himself. Defeating the 'Once and Future King' would end the Illuminati's need to wage war against Britain and they could return the way things were and retake the UK through more secretive means. And to insure that Arthur Pendragon would die in his attempts to restore Merlin's powers he had moved a great numbers of Illuminati soldiers to the area and had them fortify it.
To top it off, he had come as well. He was not the most powerful of wizards, but he was plenty strong enough to deal with a depowered Merlin, a novice witch, and a group of gargoyles and a werewolf whose attacks were all physical in nature. The key was the fey that been traveling with Arthur of late. They fey wasn't the most powerful of the Third Race, but they were always hard to kill. Iron had to be used, which traditionally meant close in combat. The Illuminati had had the funds to create iron bullets, but the heavy metal made them ineffective as ordinance, and that would mean they'd have to be right next to the fey in order to be certain they hit a vital organ. And so far, he couldn't rely on that.
The goal Arthur had to get Merlin to was the Stonehenge monument itself. Given the distance he extended the defense lines Two was certain he had the time to insure that the fey would die before they reached the monument, but there were still details to worry over. The problem was that the reports that came to him seemed to indicate that strong sorcery related attacks were made at too points along the lines. In one section a large hedge of rosebushes had grown up rapidly into a sort of maze and immobilized a handful of his men already. Reports on who was attacking through the maze had not come in, but the fact that it appeared out of nowhere indicated some presence of magic and sorcery.
The other site was in a different section of the Illuminati line. It began a thick fog that rolled before another section of the line was directly assaulted by some of Arthur's followers. There were a couple of reports that Arthur and Merlin were with that force, but Two couldn't tell for certain because of the reports of the thick fog. This confirmed his military commander that Arthur was attacking in two separate wings, not one concentrated force.
"So you're right that they're attacking in two wings," Two commented as he turned to a map after the latest reports on the Stonehenge fighting had come in through a radio communications report.
"We will stop them, sir," the military commander spoke, some of it sounding more like a promise to a superior rather then anything that was really fact based, "Pendragon doesn't have the manpower to stop us all!"
"In terms of numbers, you're right," Two nodded, "the question is how those numbers are used... and where the fey is. The fey is sure to be escorting Arthur."
"You're certain, sir?" the military commander asked.
"Merlin has lost his magic, Pendragon's whole scheme is to try and restore Merlin's powers," Two answered, "which means taking control of Stonehenge and killing me. To do that he will need powerful magic. Do you think the youngest Maza girl is strong enough to challenge me?"
"Based on the very limited data the Society has collected on her, I would say no," the military commander sighed, "if her were her older sister, maybe as she faced the Mage in direct combat as well as the bulk of the Unseelie Court... but..."
"This is Elizabeth Maza not Elisa Maza," Two nodded, "and she is neither strong enough nor skilled enough to be a threat to me, which means she can not protect Merlin... No. Arthur and Merlin will be where the fey is. The question is where is the fey?"
The military commander looked at the map and then thought over the facts related to the present attacks. Once he thought over a few things.
"While the reports say that the fey is with both attacks, it is fairly obvious that he would only be with one of the two attacks," the military commander answered, "as our data files say that the fey that they have is not among their most powerful..."
"Coyote is not among their most powerful," Two nodded, "you're repeated the earlier conversation."
"I apologize, sir," the military leader nodded, "but I feel it was necessary to do so... because of this, this I mean to make it clear where the fey and thus where Arthur is... since he is likely be with what is the most direct route toward us."
Two nodded.
"Anyway, based on our information, I would say the fey is most likely with the force attacking our forces in the east," the military commander answered, "it is the most of the magical activity and the most Pendragon's forces. While both attacks, east and north seem to be headed toward here, the northern force seems to be taking deliberate measures to insure that we can not envelop them."
"Which would mean they're wanting to make sure they can run," Two commented.
"Which means that section must include the Maza woman," the military commander finished, "the weaker of Pendragon's magical tools. Which means the real attack is in the east. And that means the real attack is in the east."
Two then nodded, acknowledging his military commander's reasoning.
"Keep our focus on the attack from the east," Two ordered.
Meanwhile, on the eastern section of the fighting, Reginald grouped Arthur's forces into a singular position around the section of trenches they had taken in the initial charge.
"We can not stay here," Julia said to him, "They're bound to be regrouping and they may soon figure out that Coyote's little decoys are not the real Arthur and Merlin."
"I know," Reginald nodded and glanced out the back of the trench and sniped off a lone Illuminati soldier running for cover between their position and the second line of trenches, "Once your sister and Lancelot have all of the weaponry that they lost in the initial charge gathered up, we'll move along the trench in a southward direction. See if we can draw the Illuminati forces way from not only this area but the monument as well..."
"As in to flee south once they counter attack in force?" Griff asked.
"Yes," Reginald nodded in agreement, "and with their own weapons to supply us for now, we'll have enough armament to hold out for while... or at least to make a fighting retreat until we can get a place where you all can get airborne again."
"I can easily get the airborne again if need be," Coyote spoke as he and Octavia approached.
A large bundle of rifles, grenades, one light machinegun and ammunition for it hovered behind Coyote. All of it was there to give them the ordinance needed to put up a tough fight.
"We're ready to go," Coyote announced.
"Can you keep your fog and our decoy Arthur and Merlin going?" Reginald asked.
"Yes, though only barely," Coyote answered.
"Okay then," Reginald nodded, "We strike toward the machinegun bunker in that direction. I'll take point."
The others nodded and followed him. Griff and Julia were right behind him while Octavia moved him and Coyote remained in the middle of the formation with Lancelot bringing up the rear. The Avalon gargoyle found it strange wielding a human firearm, but Reginald had stated that in the present situation it would be more practical then using fists or even bladed weapons. The fight was a modern style of fight, which required modern style weaponry. Still, when Lancelot fired it, it was back the way they had came and more to keep the heads of other Illuminati soldiers down rather then to actually hit one of them. He might have gotten one or two, but he wasn't all that sure.
Moving along their flanks and actually outside of the trenches were the decoy Arthur and Merlin. Made of dirt and given the image of Arthur in full armor and Merlin in outfit that was mixed commando gear with a sweat suit, they were intended to make it look like Arthur and Merlin were with them, and thus to draw the Illuminati's focus toward them. They moved along outside the trenches and made occasional gestures like they were leading an attack. The fog that Coyote had brought in obscured the Illuminati soldier's sight enough that while they fired on the decoys, the shots went wide and missed even them as well as the group advancing through the trench.
This poor marksmanship had another advantage that Reginald was not about to question. If the Illuminati was going to waste ammunition on decoys, that would make it easier for them. If they could hold out long enough, they might get the Illuminati to use up all their ammunition which would give the gargoyles and Rachel, who was with Arthur's group, the advantage against the Illuminati troops.
The 'bunker' wasn't much more then a series of sandbags put together, and as they attacked toward it, Reginald readied a grenade and tossed it in. It went off before they arrived and sent a couple of Illuminati soldiers fleeing into the no-man's-land between the first and second line of trenches. Once there, Reginald again halted to confiscate weapons and ammunition from the dead Illuminati soldiers in the 'bunker'. Things were going good, but one could never have enough ammunition.
On the northern section of the line, Arthur's group made a more direct march toward the Stonehenge monument. The attack had not produced as many casualties as Reginald's decoy attack in the east, and it had proceeded in a way that would prevent the Illuminati forces from surrounding them and trapping them in a cauldron battle. But it largely moved in a line directly toward the town and the monument beyond. The advance was largely made possible by Beth and the Avalon stone in her possession.
The stone carried some magic with it and allowed Beth to cast some amount of magic. Beth had so far used it to raise a thick maze of rose hedges. They were about ten felt tall and so thick that it would take about ten minutes for Arthur to hack through them with Excalibur. This also insured that they couldn't be shot at from the sides, and as they advanced, Merlin had seen that the rose hedges had even grown up to engulf Illuminati soldiers in them.
"You're doing very well," Merlin said to Beth as they moved along, "the maze is compartmentalizing their forces into smaller groups."
"Thanks," Beth said nervously, "I don't want to do anything poorly."
"You aren't," Merlin assured her and fired one of the electric blasters borrowed from Macbeth at a lone Illuminati soldier in the way.
They did run into an Illuminati soldier or so along the way, but that was largely where the hedges that Beth's spell had grown had come into effect. The hedges had created a maze that made it tough for the Illuminati soldiers to even carry out their most basic orders. They were caught off guard and found themselves lost in the maze. Arthur's group occasionally taken the wrong path in the maze as well, but they knew they were in the maze and merely followed which path they thought was right. In doing so they came across lone or small groups of Illuminati soldiers that were lost in the maze.
These soldiers found themselves being blasted at by the borrowed electric blasters that Arthur and Merlin wielded. Those that didn't were rushed by Rachael, in her wolf form. The soldiers did not seem to be using silver rounds, and the female werewolf was able to attack the Illuminati soldiers without fear. Rachael's main issue was making sure none of the Illuminati soldiers were scratched by her claws as she dealt with them. The last thing she wanted to was create more werewolves.
"Best to make sure they don't keep any equipment," Arthur commented as he began to frisk the Illuminati soldier that Merlin had blasted.
The soldier was out cold, and that allowed Arthur to remove weapons, ammunition, and any and all communications devices off of the man. The overall plan was for Griff and Reginald to act as a decoy force while Arthur, Beth, Rachael, and Merlin sneaked into the monument area to restore Merlin's powers. That largely meant that no one could know that Arthur and Merlin were in the group coming down from the north. That left two options, killing the Illuminati soldiers they came across or simply making sure that they only way they could communicate was by direct conversation.
They'd chosen the second option. Without radios, and not knowing the maze, it would take quite awhile for the Illuminati soldiers to get Two or to anyone they could report to Two through. And that was assuming they revived from being knocked out quickly. If Arthur was lucky, they'd stay out cold for several hours. Doing this also came as a relief to Rachael, though for different reasons.
It was true that she didn't want to spread her condition around, particularly to Illuminati soldiers who she thought would abuse it. As the werewolf that had bit her had done. He concerns and worries had to do with what the Weird Sisters had told her on Avalon. Their warning, their prophecy had seemed to indicate that she might be faced with a decision that she didn't want to make. She had come to grips with her lycanthropy, and maybe even accepted it. But the Weird Sisters had indicated that she might have to actually kill someone. She had the power to do so, after all, werewolves had carried a stigma of being cannibalistic monsters, almost as much as people called gargoyles 'demons'. Rachael didn't want to have to end up doing something she still associated with a stereotypical movie werewolf.
"We're approaching the town itself," Arthur spoke from his position near the front of the line, "Only a little further to go!"
London
Meanwhile the other battle against Illuminati forces was beginning to grow hotter. The colonel that taken over the command from the fallen Illuminati general was managing to coordinate some resemblance of a counterattack, but even with forces being thrown into the counter attack against Macbeth, there was still a great amount of confusion. The forces that had sallied forth from the main Illuminati headquarters had been utterly defeated by Macbeth's forces, which were using buildings, alleys, and some hasty barricades to their advantage. If Macbeth and his rebels attacked forward in force, they would overrun the Illuminati lines and take main headquarters. The colonel had no idea why Macbeth hadn't done so. The capture of the headquarters would decapitate the Illuminati army even further, as they didn't have the time to remove the communications equipment or the other things that were needed to coordinate the Illuminati army.
"He must not know how weak we are in front of him," the colonel mused to himself in a more central portion of the headquarters area and then turned to a nearby communications officer, "Anything from Two?"
"No, sir."
"Blast," the colonel grumbled.
He needed some advice from on high on what to do. Or permanently pick a new commanding officer. But Two wasn't answering his reports, and that left him to improvise. He had called in the units from the bases that guarded the approaches to London and thrown them at Macbeth's rebels, but even that attack seemed lost. They were driving the rebels back in places, but they were being attacked by gargoyles and mutates from the air, and a few of them had armed themselves with weaponry they had looted from fallen Illuminati soldiers. And in the darkness of the night, and the fact that neither gargoyle nor mutate needed an engine to fly, they somehow always had some surprise.
Against the rest of the rebels, the attacks weren't doing that much better. They fired from inside buildings, behind barricades, from alleys, from rooftops, and from other areas where they wouldn't be in the open. Clearing these took time as they all seemed to fight a lot harder then the Illuminati had even expected them to.
"Where are their strong points?" the colonel wondered.
"Their lines go in a loose circle hear in the city," a lieutenant reported, "Mostly low rent neighborhoods and a few small parks here and there, nothing real important... but because just about building has a fair amount of rock and concrete which would require a large number of heavy weapons to break... or at least that's what I learned in the academy."
"Can we bypass them?" the colonel wondered as he looked at the map that he was being shown.
"Not without exposing large numbers of troops to their fire," a captain who had carried some of the field reports in, "they've armed themselves with the best that we brought in and are well enough off that they could destroy us if we do something foolish."
"Do we have any tanks?" the colonel wondered.
"We have nothing larger then light armored personnel carriers," the captain reported, "which won't stand up to the anti-tank rockets they've collected.
"Blast," the colonel growled.
"The fortunate thing is that they are surrounded and largely poorly trained," the captain reported, "provided they don't get help... we should be able to mop up their entire positions. They are, after all surrounded."
Catherine Silver meanwhile was 'directing' things from the southern area of the London battle area. The Illuminati had some semblance of control, even if the man now commanded the Illuminati was ill equipped for the job. The rebels did not, and for the most part were dependent on the gargoyles and mutates giving them some cover from above. And this they did, but it still made things tough.
"Catherine!" a rebel fighter came in to the area where Catherine and several others were firing at the advancing Illuminati soldiers from the windows of the building.
"What is it?!" Catherine Silver hollered back, "we don't have time to chat!"
"They're training a light artillery on us!" the man reported, "brought it up to the door and started blasting away at it!"
"Macbeth's otherworldly allies?" Catherine Silver grumbled back.
"A winged cat person took it out with a few zaps... but we're still having to pull back!" the man answered.
She uttered a few choice curses under her breath. The portion of London that Macbeth had chosen to fight in was a poor area of the city and normally depended on street lights to keep gangs of thugs from beating up everyone. But, with the light poles deliberately destroyed, much of what they had to aim at was the muzzle flashes of the guns in front of them. There was some natural light from things like the moon or from light posts that were beyond where the rebels had set up their positions, which helped, but not much.
This gave them few advantages that they could use. One was that it enabled them to ambush Illuminati infantry as they advanced forward, and the other was that it enabled the gargoyles and mutates the ability to strike at the Illuminati men with little fear of taking direct fire. But without heavy weapons, training, or experienced snipers, the Illuminati still had some distinct advantages. Namely in heavy weapons, experienced snipers, and in training. To Catherine Silver, the battle was rapidly beginning to become a fight they couldn't win.
"First get to Macbeth... tell him to get his gargoyles to look for cannon and other heavy weapons the Illuminati might be using," Catherine Silver ordered, "then send one man... ONE MAN ONLY back into the tunnels. We may need to go underground to get away from them."
Catherine wasn't about to commit a bunch of ragtag rebels to fight trained troops in a battle to the death, no matter how much Macbeth seemed to push for it. Dying was not on Catherine Silver's agenda and she had no intention of fighting a battle she couldn't win.
Stonehenge
Two gave a startled jump as he saw a series of rose hedges grow suddenly right up to where he and his commander were supervising the battle against the forces he believed Arthur was leading. They had done quite a lot of damage to the outer line of defenses, but they were being forced to retreat slowly toward the south. He continued to get a handful of scattered reports on the rose hedges that were growing up on the plane to the north of the monument, but he still believed that it was an attempt to distract him. Trying to draw attention away from where the main effort was. The fact that the hedges would come right up to where he was surprised him.
"So the decoy's have a suicide wish," Two commented and motioned to his military commander and a couple of guards that were nearby, "Go take care of them. I'll stay here to monitor our progress against Arthur."
Arthur, meanwhile, was leading his group through the maze of rose hedges that Beth's spell had created. It had done exactly as they had thought it would. Illuminati soldiers were lost and cut off from the rest of their units. When they ran into them they were in small enough groups that they could be overpowered. As they had advanced, they'd crossed at least three different lines of trenches, which Arthur guessed ran in circles around the monument. Which made it impossible for a direct attack to have succeeded.
Arthur hoped Reginald and Griff's team were doing all right and weren't caught anywhere by the Illuminati soldiers. But he couldn't spend time worrying over them now. They had Coyote with them, and if things looked totally bad, he would certainly teleport them away. At least he hoped that would be that case.
"This last repetition of the spell should take you right up to the monument," Beth spoke from where she was next to Merlin.
"Right up to the monument?" Arthur asked, to which Beth nodded.
"Right where we need to be," Merlin added.
"Two will likely be there and he will likely be well guarded," Rachael commented, "he isn't going to let us simply waltz in and restore Merlin's powers."
"But won't he be closer to where he thinks the real attack is?" Beth wondered.
"Possible," Arthur sighed, "but Rachael is right. It is unlikely that he's left the monument unguarded. He knows that it is the monument that we are looking to get to. He'll leave someone there in case we do something like this... or if he thinks we might either slip through the lines near where the main battle is or if Reginald's group should win."
"A good think all the weapons emplacements in the trenches face outward then," Merlin commented, "You and Rachael can secure the monument long enough for Beth to cast the spell to restore my powers."
Arthur nodded but glanced back to his old mentor, "Yes... though it may be best for you and Beth to remain back here. They haven't been using silver rounds, which means they can't kill Rachael and I am well armed enough to give them a good battle..."
Merlin and Beth both nodded.
"Are you ready?" Arthur asked to Rachael as he readied Excalibur and one of Macbeth's electric blasters.
Rachael stretched out her arms and gave a nod, "about as ready as I can be... be careful, Arthur."
Arthur heard a glint of concern in her voice but ignored that for the moment, "I intend to."
Further to the south and east, Reginald 's team proceeded to move away from the Stonehenge monument and the defenses the Illuminati had constructed around it. Coyote's fog and decoy Arthur and Merlin still kept most of the Illuminati's fire away from them. But Reginald couldn't say how long that would last. Shortly after overrunning the last machinegun nest that the Illuminati had constructed they mounted a massive attack from all directions.
That counter-attack finally forced Reginald to begin what was now a running fight. They had to get far away from the Illuminati's trenches so as to insure they wouldn't be taking a lot direct fire. He crossed a road and quickly ducked down into the ditch on the other side of it.
"Do you think we've drawn them far enough away?" Reginald asked to Coyote who was still with him.
"Probably," Coyote answered and fired a few shots into the darkness of the night and the fog, "we've certainly got their attention. Though, since the fog's gotten weaker... their fire is a bit more accurate."
"You had to get Griff and the others into the air," Reginald answered, "they can strafe them from above or even carry them off... and if we buy it... they can get away."
Almost as if on cue, Griff came down and landed beside them and then hunkered down, using the road as cover.
"Their advance is pretty slow and cautious," Griff reported, "They've fired on us, but it hasn't been inaccurate."
Coyote glanced back and then gasped.
"Not quite," Coyote gave a sigh.
Griff raised one browridge and then glanced back to his wings and there he discovered what Coyote was referring to. Someone had shot up the feathered membrane on his left wing a bit. At the time it happened, he hadn't noticed it.
"It's nothing," Griff shrugged, "a flesh wound, that's all."
"Maybe, but it's still a sign that we're getting closer to buying it," Reginald sighed, sounding reserved to that fate.
"We don't have to 'buy it' as you put it," Coyote commented.
"How?" Reginald commented, "we've given them heavy casualties, but we don't have the men to beat them."
"Yes, but our mission is a distraction," Coyote answered, "and we still have the decoys."
Reginald looked up to decoy Arthur and Merlin still standing on top of the road and directing things like it was some Medieval battle. It probably created the sort of image that the Illuminati likely thought Arthur would fight. Standing out in the open like some brilliant target to do battle at close range, when the modern army did its best to avoid being seen and blast at someone from long range.
"We give them our guns and let them fire away into the fog," Coyote explained, "if they're advancing cautiously, they'll likely stop to lob grenades, allowing us to get further away..."
"And with 'Arthur' and 'Merlin' dead they might ease off on their pursuit," Griff commented, "and even if they go back... they might slow down... relax. Giving the real Arthur and Merlin more time."
"It might," Reginald sighed, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try it."
"Griff, you let the others know we're getting ready to pull back again," Coyote said to the griffon-like gargoyle and summoned a gust of wind that was strong enough to get Griff back into the air.
Again it cleared a bit of the fog, but now that even helped with their plan.
Back at the monument, Two stood near the main communications equipment that had been set up. The men he had sent into the rose hedges hadn't returned yet, though from what he could see, it looked a bit like a maze. His best guess was that his men were still trying to find whichever member of Arthur's little band was launching this faint. More then likely it was the Maza female acting under some instruction from Merlin.
He was partially surprised by the woman's participation in Arthur's plan. The Illuminati had come to regard Elisa Maza as a potential sign of trouble for them, but that was mostly because of her association with Bluestone and her more 'warrior-like' persona. They knew that Elisa Maza would respond with the force required to restrain an opponent that was doing some wrong, and that was all before the Mage turned her into a gargoyle. The eldest Maza sibling was the one that the Illuminati had figured would be one who help someone like Arthur.
The last person they thought would engage in this was the youngest sibling. The middle child, Derek, might be capable of interfering, but the Illuminati didn't know much about him. Beyond the fact that he was a mutate and was living in seclusion underneath New York City, they didn't know enough to make a final judgment on him. But they'd never expected Beth Maza to engage in this sort of thing... and the fact that she knew magic was another surprise. Two intended to question her thoroughly when she was captured... and from there, she might be a good enough hostage to get her elder siblings to influence Xanatos to come back into the Illuminati's fold without question.
His thoughts were paused when he heard the radio buzz to life near him. He quickly answered it.
"Report," Two commanded.
"Arthur is dead! Both him and Merlin!" came the report from the other end.
"What?" Two gasped.
"Arthur and Merlin are dead!" the report repeated, "we were drivin' the others off, and they were trying to urge them on from the top of a road. We nailed them with a couple of grenades."
"Can you identify the bodies?" Two questioned.
"The fog cleared a bit when we saw them, and we're sure they're down," the soldier answered back, "their men are running though... so are their gargoyles!"
"Make sure you take them prisoner," Two commanded, "the last thing we want is for them to regroup."
Meanwhile, the REAL Arthur Pendragon, with Rachael moving with him continued to move along the main part of the maze of rose hedges that Beth had created to move toward the monument. They hadn't run into the men that Two had sent to catch them, but they were close enough for Rachael to hear Two's glee at the reported death of 'Arthur' and 'Merlin'.
"He thinks you're dead," Rachael said to Arthur as they moved forward.
"Coyote must created some sort of decoy," Arthur commented, "as I do not feel dead."
Rachael gave a chuckle and nodded as they round a corner to find all of the men that Two had sent into the maze.
"Give us a minute, and you will feel dead!" the military commander shouted in response.
The fighting that broke out was rapid and practically spontaneous. Rachael lunged forward and gripped the barrels of two of the accompanying soldiers weapons and then yanked the weapons out of their hands. Arthur fired his electric blaster at the military commander. The shot knocked him out and served to distract the other soldiers that Rachael hadn't disarmed. That allowed Rachael to grab two by the tops of the heads and slam them together. Those that they'd engaged soon fell unconscious at their feet.
The last man managed one wild shot, but as he was trying to shoot around his comrades, he didn't do much more then fire a round into the rose hedges behind Arthur. Arthur's response was a long upward swing of Excalibur which cleanly cut the barrel off of the soldier's gun. He gave one startled yelp and then began to flee. He didn't get far before Rachael knocked him out.
"Well, that takes care of them," Rachael commented, "all out cold."
"They must be the men protecting Two," Arthur commented.
Rachael nodded, "Hopefully we can subdue him quickly."
"I doubt dealing with him will be a quick affair," Arthur commented, "he already knows he's being attacked and has been in heavy hatred of myself and Merlin. When he realizes that Reginald and Griff's attack was a diversion... he'll likely give us the best he can unleash on us."
Rachael only gave a half nervous sigh to that. She remembered the warning she had received from the Weird Sisters on what sort of choices she would have to make in the coming struggle. That she would have to kill someone... or at least something close to that. She didn't want to have to make that decision, but was fearful that she might have to. She was not one to consider even fighting before she'd been bitten, and in the process of being with Arthur while coping with her lycanthropy, she had found herself taking on the roles of a fighter and warrior. The sort of guardian that werewolves had originally been created to be. But killing someone was still something she didn't want to have to do, and at that moment, she didn't know if she even had it in her to kill someone.
"Come on," Arthur urged.
"Do you think that Beth might be able to give some magical help?" Rachael wondered, looking for someway that might allow them to more easily subdue the Illuminati Councilmember.
"In theory, yes," Arthur sighed, "but she's still too much of a novice when it comes to magic to be able to fight someone with Two's experience. We are largely on our own."
Rachael slowly nodded and followed him. They made their way along the maze of hedges until they came to the end and the great stones of the Stonehenge monument became visible. Peaking around a corner, Arthur found Two focused on a radio that was near him, likely relaying orders to the soldiers under his command.
"Alright, I'll go first," Arthur spoke, "I'll blast his radio and hopefully that will put him under enough shock that we can get close. You follow along behind to knock him out."
Two heard some of the sounds of the battle where his men had just fought with the real Arthur and Rachael, but he paid little attention to it. As far as he knew, Arthur and Merlin were dead. All that was left was mopping up their victory. Capturing the gargoyles and the youngest Maza sibling. And that was what Two had assumed the fire from the rose hedge maze was. Putting down the werewolf that never should have been 'made' and forcing Beth Maza to surrender. That left him to continue to relay instructions to the other forces under his command in the pursuit of the rest of Arthur's forces.
Unfortunately, his assumptions were wrong when there was a sudden blast of electricity that was fired from somewhere near him. It hit the radio, which then exploded because of the resulting power surge. The explosion disoriented Two slightly and sent him staggering back. Some of the shrapnel scratched him up a bit, but he managed to shrug that off and turned to face his attacker.
Her turned to find none other then Arthur Pendragon rushing at him. He managed to duck under a slash at him that Arthur made with Excalibur, noticing that Arthur was using the broad edge of the sword, going for a knockout blow rather then a killing one.
"How can this be!... You're dead!" he blurted, surprised by Arthur's appearance.
"That was a decoy Coyote likely created," Arthur commented and fired his electric blaster at Two, but missing, "to draw your forces away from here while we sneaked closer."
"You..." Two gasped, "You didn't take the direct approach..."
"I don't have the manpower for that," Arthur commented, "and you should also know just WHO Coyote is."
Two was silent for a moment when he was suddenly grabbed from behind and put into a wrestling hold to restrain him by Rachael. He could hear her giving a few growling breaths as if to get him to surrender. But the Illuminati did have records of Rachael Winters' activities in wolf form. She went out of her way to make sure she didn't use her teeth or claws.
"An American Southwestern Trickster Fey... not exactly the chivalrous thing you're known for," Two commented, relaxing for the moment.
"True," Arthur nodded calmly, "if this were done the way I would have done long ago, you and I would square off in a fair duel. Sword and shield, no magic, winner take all. Or if you insist on magic, you would have a fair duel with Merlin at the peak of his powers. Not deceiving him to strip him of his powers."
Arthur slowly approached him, "but then, the world has changed much since I went to sleep. Had we have made such a deal, would you have honored it?"
Two's answer was to use his arms to support himself against Rachael and deliver a two footed kick against Arthur. The blow caught him by surprise and knocked him back, dropping the electric blaster. He then quickly positioned his hands so that the palms were facing Rachael, which given how she had grabbed him, meant that his hands were now actively touching something Rachael didn't want him touching.
"HEY!" Rachael began before Two cast a lighting spell backward and at full power.
The force of the shock sent Rachael flying and tumbling backward until she hit the side wall of one of the rose hedges. Caught on the thorns, she was then struggling to free herself. Two meanwhile turned to Arthur as his spell had made Rachael release him.
"All too easy," Two smiled and then pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at Arthur as he advanced on him.
What Two threw turned out to be seeds. They hit the ground at Arthur's feet and he was suddenly engulfed in thick vine like plants that wrapped around his body, his arms and legs, and pulled Excalibur from his grasp. The plant then handed the weapon to Two.
"Amazing," Two mused, "to think such a powerful weapon ended up in the hands of a weakling like you."
"The Illuminati didn't forge it!" Arthur challenged, "I was able to pull Excalibur from the stone because it judged me worthy of wielding it."
"Too bad there is no Stone of Destiny to keep it safe for you now," Two mused again, "and now it is in the hands of one who knows how to use power. No Mordred or Morgan Le Fey to challenge the Illuminati."
"Except for I and the war in China," Arthur countered.
"Maybe, but you are all gnats before the Illuminati to be swatted," Two answered, "just as you will be swatted now."
Two then approached the helpless Arthur.
"The Mage was the only one who could truly lead this world," Two spoke, "the only one enlightened enough to lead it to true glory. It's what the Illuminati were created for."
"The Mage is dead," Arthur answered.
"But for how long?" Two replied, "you were dead not that long ago. Your friend Macbeth dies all the time, yet he always comes back. The Mage was the greatest single magician to ever exist and so long as specific conditions are met, his magic will bring him back, and hopefully to a world that recognizes his power and glory."
"You're insane," Arthur charged, "a dishonorable villain."
"Au contraire," Two replied, "I am quite sane, and while it doesn't look like it now, what I do is for the betterment of this world... though it is ironic... the man who is the legendary wielder of Excalibur... felled by his own weapon. You will fall by it, and then I will behead your werewolf girlfriend with it..."
"Haven't you done enough to her?!" Arthur challenged him.
"Because she's helping you... most certainly not," Two shrugged, "and besides, she never should have been bitten in the first place."
Rachael struggled heavily to pull herself free of the rose hedges. Despite the magic that allowed the material to expand and contract with her when she shifted forms, the outfit that she'd been given to wear was badly torn.
"Stupid thorns," Rachael grumbled, and then heard the conversation between Arthur and Two, "Arthur..."
She rushed up toward the monument where she found Arthur trapped in some sort of vine plant that was consciously holding the 'Once and Future King' and keeping him from fighting. Two was entirely focused on Arthur and was readying the deliver the deathblow on him with Arthur's own weapon.
"Goodbye, Arthur Pendragon," Two snarled, "You are no longer needed! Never were!"
Rachael knew she couldn't let him die. Arthur had been there to help her. Both him and Merlin. He was a good and honest man, and she'd been becoming attracted to him more and more as they had spent time together. She hadn't fully accepted it, but she had. And she couldn't picture her life without Arthur. And now, Two was preparing to kill him. With that she knew what she had to do. She had to save him.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Rachael let out a howl as she lunged forward as Two prepared to bring Excalibur down on Arthur's head.
He turned to see her jaws open and clawed fingers pointed at him. Rachael's left hand hit first, its claws sinking into Two's shoulder while her right hand grabbed the arm that held Excalibur, shaking that arm and getting Two to release the sword. And as Rachael's last leap ended, she clamped her jaws around Two's neck and bit down hard. In a few moments, Two was dead.
Rachael stood up slowly and looked down at his body, knowing what she'd done. She could feel blood on the fur of her muzzle. It made her shudder a bit, as the realization hit in, but on some level, she knew she had to. If she hadn't, Arthur would have died and Merlin would be doomed. And it wasn't as if there was a non-lethal attack that could have worked. She'd tried to restrain him at first, and that left her with electrical burns on her chest and torso.
"Sorry," Rachael said weakly as she began to tear the vines off of Arthur.
"It's not your fault," Arthur sighed, "and it's entirely likely that something like this would have happened anyway."
"He was about to kill you," Rachael spoke.
Arthur nodded.
"I told you to be careful!" Rachael found herself scolding.
"What?" Arthur wondered as he looked up.
Rachael then sighed as she realized that she'd exposed herself, in more ways then one with that remark.
"You're more then just a friend to me," Rachael slowly sighed, "You've accepted me... despite all that has happened."
"Just because you are werewolf doesn't mean that you're a monster," Arthur answered as he sheathed Excalibur.
"Yes... but other then you and your allies, and your friends... who else would?" Rachael asked back.
"I'm sure there are others who would if you played your cards right," Arthur said in a manner like he was trying to sound soothing and careful, "but it is a good to have someone as caring as you by my side."
Arthur took Rachael's hand in his and then rubbed the back of it gently. She felt her heart fluttering, and wondered if Arthur was attracted to her in return.
"We should get Merlin and Beth," Arthur said with a sigh, "the Illuminati may catch on... we can sort this out later."
"Of course," Rachael said slowly and moved to follow Arthur as he headed back to the rose hedges.
Beth and Merlin waited quietly in the rose hedge maze where they wouldn't be exposed to any of the fighting that was going. They managed to hear much of it. The gun shots, the sound of the electric blaster, and Rachael's howl. A lot of that left Beth feeling rather nervous.
"Don't worry," Merlin told her, "they'll be fine."
"How do you know?" Beth wondered, "I tend not to worry about the things that Elisa goes through... but I know she's backed up by the whole clan and that she's used to all of this sort of thing... and the fact that I'm usually several states away and there is absolutely nothing I can do."
"Because I know Arthur," Merlin answered, "he is the bravest man I've ever known, and I know his skill and bravery... and I also know that he is a smart man. There may be many things about the modern world that he may not fully know... but he is very smart and very willing and even eager to learn. For that, I feel extremely confident in Arthur's abilities."
"What about Rachael?" Beth wondered.
"So long as they don't use silver, the Illuminati can not kill her," Merlin said simply.
Beth silently listened to the fighting that they could hear. It all sounded fierce and deadly. It scared a part of her and made her wonder how her father and older sister dealt with the danger they dealt with as police officers and how Elisa dealt with these things after becoming a gargoyle. After awhile, however, the sounds of the fight died down.
"And things go silent," Beth commented. Things weren't totally quiet, but the sounds of fighting were much farther away then where Arthur and Rachael were, "Who do you think won?"
"We'll find out in a moment or two," Merlin commented.
They waited for a little longer until it was Rachael who came back to them. Beth noticed blood stains on her muzzle and on one hand. Much of her wolf form's 'uniform' was torn and in tatters, and Beth also noticed what looked like electrical burns on Rachael's chest and torso.
"Are you okay?" Beth asked.
"I'm okay," Rachael nodded, "this... this isn't mine."
"You bit someone?" Merlin asked.
"Two... and... and he won't be around to transform next full moon," Rachael said slowly.
"You killed him," Merlin stated.
"I had to," Rachael said weakly, "I didn't want to, but I had to. Knocking him out or restraining in him wasn't working... he 'zapped' me for that... and... and... and he was about to kill Arthur. I had to kill him."
Beth noticed Rachael's unease with it and sighed.
"It's okay," Beth spoke, "You've all said that this guy was bad right...?" Merlin and Rachael nodded. "Well, because of that, and if he had made impossible to subdue him in a non-lethal manner... and you had to do it... it's understandable. Both my sister and my dad have told stories about instances where they've been confronted by a violent criminal and were forced to kill that criminal... it happens."
"That doesn't make me feel any better," Rachael replied.
"I'm sure," Beth sighed, "I'm afraid I can't help you all that much. If we can ever get contact with my dad and my sister, I'm sure they can help you."
"Thanks, I might give them a call when we can," Rachael nodded.
"How are things at the monument?" Merlin asked, trying to change the topic of discussion.
"The monument should be secure," Rachael sighed, "They think you and Arthur are dead and are chasing Griff's group."
"Then we'd best get going," Merlin commented, "the sooner we can finish this, the sooner we can leave."
"Right," Rachael nodded.
Merlin then began to follow Rachael. Beth brought up the rear.
"What about the burn wounds on you?" Beth asked to Rachael, "they look like they hurt."
"They'll heal," Rachael sighed, "Two didn't keep the current flowing long enough for it to kill me. I'll be fine. Don't worry."
Beth nodded as they continued along the way.
"Okay, now Beth, you remember the wording you're supposed to use?" Merlin asked.
"The word 'restore' in Latin as I toss this bag of magic sand at you," Beth answered, remembering the instructions that Merlin had given her on the drive to the Salisbury plain.
Merlin nodded. They continued on quietly toward the end of the rose hedge maze until the great pillars of Stonehenge became visible. There was still some signs of battle to be heard, but they were all still well to the south and east of their position. Arthur was guarding the entrance to the rose hedge maze as they reached it.
"Things are still quiet," Arthur reported, "I've removed Two's body... just in case his magic interferes with the restoration spell."
"Thank you, Arthur," Merlin nodded and began to lead Beth toward the monument.
Beth followed along quietly, clutching at the 'Avalon stone' with one hand. That stone was the only way she had been able to cast magic. According to Coyote, stones like the ones she carried had an inordinate amount of magic in them, and the first Fey had probably been nothing more then human sorcerers who had found the stones that would become part of Avalon, and they somehow absorbed the stone's magic directly to become the Third Race. It seemed silly to Beth as nothing more the superstition... but then, a lot of human superstitions commonly revolved around fey activity.
Coyote protecting her family and 'guiding' the Navajo people. Anansi creating the werepanther curse in Nigeria. And a whole host of myths and legends that Elisa and Goliath had told her about on the few times she'd spoken with them on the phone. And then there was Merlin's explanation that Stonehenge was created as a sort of magnet for fey powers during the First Unseelie War. The fact that Merlin had lost his own powers had confirmed that to her.
That meant that some of Coyote's legends on the fey's origins could be true. But even if they weren't, the stone was somehow holding and controlling magic, the way Coyote had said most mortal talismans did. And so she nervously clutched at it. It seemed to almost vibrate with some sort of power that made her body tingle a little bit, but that was probably more due to walking around at night.
They slowly approached the area where Merlin had told her the spell to restore his powers was to be cast.
"Are you ready?" Merlin asked her.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Beth sighed as she clutched at the 'Avalon stone' harder.
"Relax a bit," Merlin instructed, "the powder will do most of the work, magic wise. You don't have to channel it through the stone."
Beth nodded.
"Now, let's try the word out, remember, 'restore' in Latin," Merlin urged her.
"Renovo!" Beth spoke, hoping she'd got it right.
Merlin gave her one last pointer on the pronunciation and then gave her a brief smile, "Okay... go ahead."
Beth sighed nervously and opened the pouch that held the sand that was prescribed for the event. Still clutching the Avalon stone, she then tossed the sand toward Merlin and spoke the imperative command of the Latin verb. As she did so, the stones of Stonehenge seemed almost to glow, as did the Avalon stone she had, though Beth didn't notice it and as the sand hit Merlin, there was a great flash of light that blinded her for a moment and made her numb to the increased tingling in her own form. Both quickly faded after a moment or two and Beth was there looking to Merlin.
He actually looked a lot healthier and better then he had before, even though he didn't look bad before.
"Did it work?" Beth asked.
"I believe so," Merlin commented as he conjured the image of a small falcon in a sort of soft blue light.
The falcon flew around Beth and then returned to Merlin, seemingly vanishing up his sleeve.
"So you're back..." Beth spoke.
"Yes," Merlin answered, "I am as I always was again. Now there is only Britain's future and getting you and Coyote back to the United States to do."
To Be Continued...