The knights relaxed and spread out at the top of the broad peak, practicing lunging and evading in the deep snow. Soon most of the slope was crossed with the complicated patterns of attack and riposte, dotted with the occasional body-length depression. Merlin kept warm by continuously moving the food bag and himself out of the way of aggressive swinging.
The warlock surveyed the still sparring knights. One thing he and Gwen had recently noticed about their training was that they only fought shoulder to shoulder as a group during tournament melees or in emergencies. Usually they practiced against each other, not with each other. He had lately been thinking about how to remedy this situation to give them more experience, and the snowy tableau spread out in front of him seemed perfect.
Quickly scanning the group to make sure none of them noticed him, Merlin whispered a spell under his breath. Seconds later a half dozen snow golems roared from the far side of the summit field. They spread out, slowly herding the knights with awkward swipes of their long ape-like arms. Before long, the knights were in a loose grouping at the top of the slope they had climbed.
Soon the knights discovered that they could chip away at the mass of the snow golems. If a knight cut too deep in a solid part of the golem, then their weapons would get stuck. But if the knight could shave off a piece anywhere on the monster, then the chipped off snow would fall to the ground inanimate. Once they discovered that, the knights worked to cut one monster off from the rest, hacking away at its legs until it fell to the ground useless. Then they would move a short distance away, out of arms reach, and start in on another one.
The fighters had dismembered about half the golems when Merlin finally got tired and wandered back to the top of their earlier ascent. Looking back down at the road, he saw a sleigh pulled by a quartet of horses. In the sleigh were a few people he could not quite identify, but the deep blue cape could only be Gwen, the Queen.
The sleigh stopped simultaneously with a frisson from a much older magic. Merlin thought it felt a bit like the great dragon, but he wasn’t anywhere near here. Turning back to the knights a movement at the top of one of the near peaks caught his eye. If he had to talk down another dragon in front of Arthur, his secret would be out.
Turning back to the knights, Merlin whispered another spell, dumping them on their backs and speeding them down the slope. Most of them were wearing chainmail which made it hard for them to slide naturally, but with just a touch of his magic they skimmed across the top of the snow. Arthur, Percival, and Leon kept their eyes on the golems for the first part of the descent; Elyan and Gwaine sounded like they were either panicking or having way too much fun.
Merlin released the snow golems. Hopefully the summoning magic was what had roused the creature, and now that he had released it, the ancient might lose interest. He should have guessed after the egg that there was something resident in these mountains, regardless of the twisted words of the Great Dragon.
After a moment of watching the peak, the budding sorcerer detected no movement and the feeling of dragon faded. Merlin turned back down the slope seeing that the knights were more than halfway down. He waited another moment until they were almost to the sleigh and let go of the magic that made them human sleds.
A scant minute later, Merlin shook himself dizzily out of the snow piled against the side of the sleigh that used to be a human-sized snowball. He surveyed the results of their little adventure.
Guinevere looked down at Arthur, cradling his head in her lap. She had removed his helmet and was stroking his sweaty blond hair back from his forehead.
“Arthur, what were you doing? I drove out thinking you might enjoy a ride back in my sleigh once you were done with your manly pursuits, and here I find you trying to be a sleigh.”
From a few feet over, Gwaine moaned pitifully, “Forget about the ride, did you bring us cookies?”
Gwen looked up from her gentle ministrations. “Yes, Gwaine. Sefa has the cookies in the sleigh.”
The knights hopped up from their prostrate positions in the snow, mobbing her maid for cookies, all except for Arthur.
He goofily smiled up at his Queen, happy now to settle down wherever she was.
A/N: * Yes, THAT gingerbread… :) Sorry for the bolding on the first part of the entry!
That was wonderful! love that you put some of Merlin's sorcery in there. I enjoy stories that incude it so much. And I love that the knights were in there with their humor, plus Arthur acting so robust and funny about their tripe while Gwaine griped. that was just perfect. All the talk of the cookies...hee.
And Gwen taking care of her Arthur at the end...awww.
This was so original, so well done. I love it. Thank you...Merry Christmas. Happy coming New Year! <3
The warlock surveyed the still sparring knights. One thing he and Gwen had recently noticed about their training was that they only fought shoulder to shoulder as a group during tournament melees or in emergencies. Usually they practiced against each other, not with each other. He had lately been thinking about how to remedy this situation to give them more experience, and the snowy tableau spread out in front of him seemed perfect.
Quickly scanning the group to make sure none of them noticed him, Merlin whispered a spell under his breath. Seconds later a half dozen snow golems roared from the far side of the summit field. They spread out, slowly herding the knights with awkward swipes of their long ape-like arms. Before long, the knights were in a loose grouping at the top of the slope they had climbed.
Soon the knights discovered that they could chip away at the mass of the snow golems. If a knight cut too deep in a solid part of the golem, then their weapons would get stuck. But if the knight could shave off a piece anywhere on the monster, then the chipped off snow would fall to the ground inanimate. Once they discovered that, the knights worked to cut one monster off from the rest, hacking away at its legs until it fell to the ground useless. Then they would move a short distance away, out of arms reach, and start in on another one.
The fighters had dismembered about half the golems when Merlin finally got tired and wandered back to the top of their earlier ascent. Looking back down at the road, he saw a sleigh pulled by a quartet of horses. In the sleigh were a few people he could not quite identify, but the deep blue cape could only be Gwen, the Queen.
The sleigh stopped simultaneously with a frisson from a much older magic. Merlin thought it felt a bit like the great dragon, but he wasn’t anywhere near here. Turning back to the knights a movement at the top of one of the near peaks caught his eye. If he had to talk down another dragon in front of Arthur, his secret would be out.
Turning back to the knights, Merlin whispered another spell, dumping them on their backs and speeding them down the slope. Most of them were wearing chainmail which made it hard for them to slide naturally, but with just a touch of his magic they skimmed across the top of the snow. Arthur, Percival, and Leon kept their eyes on the golems for the first part of the descent; Elyan and Gwaine sounded like they were either panicking or having way too much fun.
Merlin released the snow golems. Hopefully the summoning magic was what had roused the creature, and now that he had released it, the ancient might lose interest. He should have guessed after the egg that there was something resident in these mountains, regardless of the twisted words of the Great Dragon.
After a moment of watching the peak, the budding sorcerer detected no movement and the feeling of dragon faded. Merlin turned back down the slope seeing that the knights were more than halfway down. He waited another moment until they were almost to the sleigh and let go of the magic that made them human sleds.
Now what was the fastest way to get himself down?
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Guinevere looked down at Arthur, cradling his head in her lap. She had removed his helmet and was stroking his sweaty blond hair back from his forehead.
“Arthur, what were you doing? I drove out thinking you might enjoy a ride back in my sleigh once you were done with your manly pursuits, and here I find you trying to be a sleigh.”
From a few feet over, Gwaine moaned pitifully, “Forget about the ride, did you bring us cookies?”
Gwen looked up from her gentle ministrations. “Yes, Gwaine. Sefa has the cookies in the sleigh.”
The knights hopped up from their prostrate positions in the snow, mobbing her maid for cookies, all except for Arthur.
He goofily smiled up at his Queen, happy now to settle down wherever she was.
A/N: * Yes, THAT gingerbread… :) Sorry for the bolding on the first part of the entry!
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And Gwen taking care of her Arthur at the end...awww.
This was so original, so well done. I love it. Thank you...Merry Christmas. Happy coming New Year! <3
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Mara93: I'm glad you liked it!
Gingerbread Anon: hugs you too. Hee-hee!
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