Fic: Creature of the night (1/?)
Title: Creature of the Night (1/?)
Author: Bloodrunner666
Spoilers: All of series one.
Pairing: M/A (Like I'd bother with any other)
Word count: ~1340
Rating: PG-13 (Just for innuendo at the moment but will increase later on)
Disclaimer: No offence or infringement is meant by this blah blah blah, I unfortunately don’t own Merlin because if I did Merlin and Arthur would have come out of the closet in the first episode or gone into it **wink wink nudge nudge**.
A/N: This is my first Merlin fic so any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.
It felt electric, pure ecstasy. So much power running through him, Merlin had never felt so alive. Even if he was sitting in the rain next to a now-alive-Gaius. Nimueh lay dead at their feet. No trace of her essence remained in her body. In Merlin’s opinion everything was right with the world, if anything was wrong he would have sensed it. And perhaps he would have, if he was paying more attention. When Nimueh died he would have sensed the shockwaves of power dispersing out into the universe, like ripples in a pond, cascading and ricocheting off everything in its path. Nothing in the surrounding area was affected, to the naked eye nothing had changed. Nearly everything in the land remained unaltered. Nearly everything that is. Far away from the Isle, an ancient being awoke.
***
Two months later
You would have thought after vanquishing one of the most powerful sorceresses and biggest threat to Camelot that something would have changed? You would have thought after saving his royal pratness AGAIN that he would show a little more respect, gratitude, love… oh wait not love…err…MANLY acknowledgement, yes that’s right…But no, not for Merlin. The fact that no one other than Gaius knew about his achievement didn’t throw a damper on his frustration. So he was back to menial chores such as mucking out the horses. Being everyone’s slop bucket, including the horses as it seems, as one decides to empty its bowels on Merlin’s feet. Yes, life was back to normal.
“Merlin? Are you in here?” Called a voice Merlin recognised as his guardians.
“Yeah, back here,” Merlin called back from the furthest stall.
“Ah here you are. Glad to see Arthur is keeping you busy and out of trouble though I do think he meant for you clean out the horses using the broom and equipment, not your own clothes.”
“Haha very funny. It’s not my fault the horses don’t like me. They must be as stuck up as their owners. As soon as I’m done here I’ll go change and get rid of the stench.”
“Oh no you won’t. As soon as you’re done here I need you to go into the forest and fetch me some wolfs bane, mother root and dragons blood.”
“I don’t think he’ll hand that over and I really don’t want another fight.”
“Why would Arthur be in the forest with my ingredients?”
“What?”
“What?”
“I was talking about the dragon; you know the one under the castle? I don’t think he’ll hand over his blood somehow.”
“Merlin, your idiocy never ceases to amaze me. Dragons’ blood is a plant. That’s why you’ll find it in the forest. Remind me when you get back to lend you my A-Z guide of plants and their uses. And…. Don’t get into any trouble while you’re gone.” Gaius declares while walking out the way he came.
“Yeah, yeah I’ll try.” Merlin replied, and then after he was sure the old man was out of earshot he added in a mutter, “Merlin, do this! Merlin, do that! The only reason Camelot is still standing is because of me! I don’t attract trouble, this place does!” With that Merlin threw down the broom on the now clean floor, picked up his trusty brown coat off the stall door and headed out to the forest.
“The way he talks its like I can’t go anywhere and stay out of danger!”
***
As it turns out, no he couldn’t stay out of trouble. Though he wished he could he dodged the giant, black paw aimed at his head. Merlin rolled across the leave covered floor, out of range of the paw and on to his feet a few meters away from it. Now he was standing he could finally get a full view of his attacker.
Crouched on all fours in front of him was the largest cat he’d ever seen and he had seen some pretty overfed ones in the castle. The creature was over seven foot tall when standing on its hind legs. A solid midnight black coat encased its large, muscular form making its sharp, white fangs more striking in contrast. But what was probably most disturbing about the creature, were its eyes. Its eyes were a dark metallic red colour that filled the entire socket. The lack of pupil gave the onlooker the impression they were staring into the eyes of death himself. Seeing it didn’t help improve Merlin’s state of panic.
The creature was now pacing back and forth, eyes set on Merlin who was keeping perfectly still. He had the sneaking suspicion that it was toying with him. Well it didn’t know who it was messing with did it? He was the great and powerful Oz… I mean Merlin. Protector of the innocent. Saviour of Camelot. Washer of Arthurs socks. And there was no Arthur or anyone else around to stop him using magic. Merlin breathed in as he focused his powers and searched his mind for a spell. As if sensing what the boy was about to do, the monster leapt, claws and fangs at the ready. At the last moment, Merlin flung out his arm and power at the beast, eyes flashing gold.
“Tritious!”
A flash of light erupted from Merlin’s hand, hitting the cat square in the chest, sending it back a few paces on to its back. Throwing his hands up in excitement, Merlin let out a cry of triumph. Unfortunately his success was premature as the creature quickly righted itself with no sign of injury. As it turned its attention back to him, Merlin felt cold hand of fear clutch at his chest. This creature could not be harmed by magic!
I am so screwed! Merlin couldn’t stop himself from thinking as it turned its disturbing eyes back on him. He turned and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Heart in his mouth, jumping over unearthed roots and weaving through the trees, Merlin fled for his life. In addition to the wind rushing past his ears, he could hear the rustle of leaves and the pounding of the earth as the creature sprinted after him. Merlin was fast on his feet but the creature was faster. He didn’t try to look behind him; it would only slow him down and risk tripping over some unseen obstacle. There was no point anyway, he could hear it getting closer, hell, he could feel the power radiating onto his skin.
The sound of their movement must have alarmed a bird, for one flew up into the air squawking, to his left. Merlin was distracted for only a second, but in that second he took his eyes off where he was going. He realised something was wrong when he could no longer feel the ground under his feet. He continued to run in midair for a moment before gravity kicked in and dragged him back to earth, over the precipitous and down an extremely steep slope. Roots, leaves and earth snatched at Merlin while he equally tried to grab them back in order to slow down his fall. Despite his attempts, Merlin continued to roll down the hill at an alarming speed. In no time at he hit the bottom, his back taking the brunt of the force. Grimacing at the pain now flooding through his back, he tried to move, to get up. He couldn’t, the pain was too much. Paralysed, all he could do was look up into the green and yellow canopy of the trees that surrounded him. There was nothing he could do as the creature jumped over the edge, into his line of sight and thundering towards him. He was going to die.