Okay guys! last chapter! Bit of a whirlwind but hey, it is done! I own no one, enjoy!
After what seemed like hours they finally arrived back in Arthur's chambers. Arthur directed Merlin to sit down before taking the seat across from him at the table. "Now then." Arthur said carefully. "Talk."
Merlin took a small breath before opening his mouth; there was no escaping this one. However just as he was about to start talking a knight burst threw the door. "Sire!" He said panting lightly. "My apologies, but your father as requested your presence immediately."
Arthur frowned slightly before standing and walking out the door Merlin following behind him curious. What could be so urgent that the King needed to speak with Arthur so soon after his return?
They found out soon enough. A beast of some kind was terrorizing the lower town near the graveyard, it would need to be dealt with before they could sit down for a conversation, and both of them knew that. Arthur had gone about making sure his weaponry was ready for a fight with the beast as Merlin began to pull out the books Gaius had left him and began trying to find the creature in the pages.
Arthur looked up seeing Merlin struggling in his search when it hit him. The boy never had any idea what he was doing. "Great, my life is in the hands of a novice…" He muttered walking over to the table. "Right so what are we looking for?" He asked pulling an unopened book towards himself.
Merlin looked up and blinked lightly. "Excuse me?" He asked surprised that Arthur was just helping without any question. IT clicked and a small smile formed on his lips. "I don't know really… Maybe if we look at what we know about it?"
Arthur nodded pulling out a piece of parchment, a quill and inkbottle. "Right, it attacks at night and stays near graveyards…." He said writing the facts down. "What else?"
"It looks like a large dog of some kind…" Merlin said trailing off in his thought. "Wait! I have heard of them before! Hell Hounds!" He seemed thrilled at identifying what it was and began to look threw the books again hunting for the animal that now had a name.
Arthur smiled lightly seeing the boy so absorbed in the current task. Merlin might not have an idea at the beginning about what he was doing, but by the time he faced whatever it was, he knew what to do. Arthur felt a bit safer as he began to help look for it.
After a few hours of flipping threw pages Merlin found something nearly startling Arthur in his shout of joy. "Here we go!" He said before reading the passage. "Hell Hounds are mythical beasts that commonly guard graveyards and sites of mass death, they do however sometimes attack the still living in order to create more for them to guard. These beasts while still very much alive are considered undead and therefore cannot be killed by normal means." Merlin was grinning like an idiot again. He knew how to deal with the undead. "We need to make a quick trip!" He began to drag Arthur out of the room and out of the castle.
"Merlin, where are we going?" Arthur asked wanting details right now. Really if anything Merlin had just gotten more confusing.
"To a lake to get a sword of yours!" Merlin said now weaving through the forest at a determined pace. Arthur only stared at the back of his manservant who had now let go of him.
"You put one of my swords in a lake!" Arthur snapped not liking the idea at all. "Wait! I am not missing any swords!" He wasn't, he always made sure to check and see if any were missing.
"This is one you don't know about." Merlin said as they reached the lake. Merlin walked right into it and began to search for the golden blade. "Now where did it land?" He mused to himself as he continued to wonder about in the water looking blindly for it.
Arthur rolled his eyes before joining Merlin. "Why is this blade so important?" He asked. "I mean can't you just enchant on of my current ones to kill it?"
"That wouldn't work, only a blade forged with dragons fire can kill the undead." Merlin said not looking up from his task. "This one is forged by dragon's fire… It is meant only for you, yet your father used it and that is why I put it here, for safe keeping."
A small laugh sounded behind them that caused Merlin to whip around. Arthur was a bit slower in his turn and stared at the figure before them. He remembered this girl it was the one he had killed, the one Merlin loved. "Hello Merlin…" She said with a kind smile. She sounded almost as if she was under water. "Are you looking for something?"
Merlin slowly nodded still in shock that he was looking at Freya again. "How…" He started to ask his words not wanting to function.
She smiled more knowing his question. "My soul became bound to this lake." She explained. "Your fire that you used magic to start felt your grief and so bound my soul here. I do not mind at all, it really is pretty here. I thank you for giving me such a lovely home." She smiled reassuringly. "Now what is it that you have misplaced?"
"A golden blade…" Merlin said still processing how Freya had gotten to the lake. "It belongs to Arthur and I only put it here for safe keeping…"
She nodded before disappearing into the water again. Merlin was about to begin searching again when she reappeared. "Is this it?" She asked holding it up in her hands.
"Yeah…" Merlin said amazed. Arthur waded over and picked it up. His eyes never left it, it felt prefect in his hand. "Arthur?" Merlin asked noticing Arthur was not paying attention to anything around him but the blade now in his hand.
The voice snapped him out of his daze. "Right!" Arthur said heading out of the lake. "Time to go Hell Hound hunting!"
Merlin smiled sheepishly at Freya. "I'm sorry, I got to go now." He said before turning to leave.
"I shall be here if you ever wish to talk." She said with a smile before returning to her home.
They returned at nearly midnight and headed right for the graveyard in the lower town. Arthur had his new blade in hand ready for any attack to come. He stopped though when Merlin placed a hand on his should before they entered the graveyard.
"We can't look directly into its eyes…" Merlin said remembering that bit of information. "We do and it means certain death."
"Good to know." Arthur said thankful Merlin remembered this before they entered the fight. He was about to move forward before a question struck him. "Could you do something so we don't?"
Merlin thought over the spells he knew and grinned as the correct one came to mind. He muttered a few words resting a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "That should do it." He said with a smile. "It will blur your vision a bit, but just enough so you can't clearly see its eyes."
It was true, Arthur's vision had blurred slightly, but things were still pretty clear. "And you?" He asked not wanting to loose this friend of his.
"I will be fine." Merlin said with a grin. "Now come on, the sooner we deal with this the sooner we can sleep."
It had taken them nearly three hours to find and kill it, but the dead had been done. Merlin took the enchantment off Arthur's eyes and they returned to the castle, Arthur once again taking the credit. Arthur made a note in his head Merlin needed some kind of reward for playing up the fact that Arthur was the one who defeated it. Really just how many times had Arthur gotten credit where Merlin had been the real hero?
Later when they were getting ready for bed Arthur called him over. "Now Merlin." He began wanting the full story before he went to sleep. "Talk to me."
Merlin smiled and nodded his head before doing just that.
Hope you liked it! R&R!