A Cry in the Dark

The adults looked at one another before looking at Uther.

 

"Don't look at me," Uther said, surprised they would volunteer him, "Yeh two are his family."

 

Blaise let out a deep sigh before looking at Aithne out of the corner of his eye. Nodding his head once, he said "Uther is right. It's our responsibility."

 

"Merlin," Aithne began, but at that precise moment, the messenger decided he would butt in, take his chance.

 

"A royal message from the recently returned heir to the throne, Aurelianus Ambrosius, seeks help from the great wizard Merlin. Would you like to hear his message?"

 

Not waiting for an answer, the messenger barged on.

 

" Merlin, you must come to help. Deganwy Castle is under siege, and if you leave immediately, we will only be able to hold out for maybe another week. Though I am heir to the throne, more are loyal to Vortigern than to I, as he has been on the throne for years, and few remember I. Please come, I need your help. If Deganwy is taken, then all is lost. Please come, and bring Uther with you. End of message sire," said the messenger, bowing to Merlin and scuttling out of the way, still bowing.

 

Merlin, for one, was stunned. Aurelianus was asking him for help? He barely even knew Aurelianus, and Aurelianus barely knew him.

 

Blaise put his half-eaten apple on the counter and walked over to Merlin.

 

"Don't worry about it Merlin. You're not going, you're needed here," said Blaise, putting a hand on Merlin's back. "It's getting late. You ought to be getting to bed now, shouldn't you?"

 

 

Before Merlin could answer, Blaise was shoving him towards his bedroom, Shiroix being treated to the same.

 

"Goodnight!" Blaise said, spewing more of the apple he had just picked up again, and closed the door on Merlin. While the door had no lock, Merlin had no doubt Blaise had put some sort of spell on it or another, as that was how Blaise did things.

 

Merlin reluctantly walked slowly over to his bed and sat on it. When he looked over to Shiroix's side of the room, he found that Shiroix was swinging a bag he had bought from a local merchant over his shoulder. To someone who didn't know Shiroix, it would seem as if his bag were empty. But Merlin knew better. Shiroix somehow managed to keep all of his belongings in the tiny bag, and him draping the bag over his shoulder only ever meant one thing: he was going somewhere.

 

"So where are you off to?" Merlin asked, as could only be expected of him.

"Deganwy Castle," replied Shiroix, opening the window in their room.

 

"But Blaise said we can't go."

 

"Blaise said you can't go. He didn't say anything about me, so I am neither able to go and not able to go, and able to make my own decision for the matter. And I choose to go. As we both know, I am the better wizard and warrior."

 

Shiroix did have a point. While most children in Atlantis couldn't do magic at the age Merlin and Shiroix currently were at, Merlin and Shiroix could perform small types of magic, nothing like lifting a boulder or defeating an army. Yet, they could do things like change the pictures on a wall, temporarily cast an image over an object so as to make it appear different, and levitate objects no bigger than the hand. Occasionally, they had competitions and Shiroix always won. Never once did Merlin win.

 

"I'm going with you," said Merlin after a Shiroix who had one leg outside and one in.

 

"Well, two are better than one, even if one of them is second rate, ahem, Merlin," replied Shiroix, coughing the last part.

 

"Speak for yourself," said Merlin with a mostly straight face.

 

"You're getting better at comebacks, but keep working."

 

When both were outside, they began to creep along the wall of the house, ducking under the main room window where Blaise, Aithne, and Uther were. It was not long before the twosome managed to get past the house and on the road. The challenge now was to make it outside the city gates without being noticed, which presented a slight problem considering that coastal cities such as Ala Bora employed a guard that consisted of half the men over age twenty-five in the city.

 

"What are yeh two doin'? Yeh two are supposed to be in yeh rooms!" said Uther, who had somehow managed to sneak up on Merlin and Shiroix.

 

"W-w-we-e-e were j-j-ust-" started Merlin, only to be finished by Shiroix.

 

"We are going to help your brother, the sire Ambrosius."

 

"Well I guess we'll be keepin' each other company then," said Uther, a fierce look in his eye.

 

Uther waited as the words sunk into the twos' heads.

 

"Wait, you mean you're coming with us?" asked Merlin.

 

"No, actually, yeh're coming with me," Uther said in an unarguable tone, "I decided I was going to go help me brother, for after all, he is me brother, and he was calling for help. Then I heard yeh two climbing out as I was leavin', and here we are now."

 

Thus it was, and the threesome set out. With Uther with them, Merlin and Shiroix had no need to worry about the guards, for Uther was a greatly respected man amongst the wizards.

 

Before too long, they were back on the mainland and finding a place to camp. Eventually, they settle upon a clearing in the forest about a kilometer from the coast. The fire lit the entire clearing, and nothing would be able to approach unnoticed.

 

"Merlin, come here, I need your help," called Shiroix as he finished setting up what he called 'precautions', which looked to be all sorts of devilish traps.

 

"You asking me for help? Me, the inferior little boy that is a burden to the great master's work? Why, it will be a pleasure!" over-exaggerated Merlin in a sarcastic tone.

 

"Even the greatest need support, as you have yet to learn, Merlin. As you know, I lived solitary for as long as I can remember before I met you. I think I know a little more about setting up camp than you."

 

As if to prove his point, Shiroix cut a string with his fingernail. Almost immediately following, a net appeared out from under a pile of leaves, and caught Merlin, who was not pleased.

 

"See?" said Shiroix, a devilish grin on his face.

 

"Put me down Shiroix," said Merlin, who was swaying slightly upside down in the net while rotating. Not at all a pleasant experience.

 

With another movement, Shiroix sliced another string, and Merlin fell on his head

 

"Wasn't that lovely," muttered Merlin under his breath, rubbing his now sore head.

 

"Havin' fun, eh Merlin?" asked Uther who had been watching Merlin and Shiroix with mild interest.

 

"Oh yes, this has just been a bundle of fun!" replied Merlin with a grimace.

 

Uther chuckled. "Well yeh two ought to get some rest. I'll take the first watch."

 

Neither Merlin nor Shiroix argued. They both almost happily walked over to the fire and lay down on the ground. From his small bag, Shiroix pulled out two thin cots and blankets, both of which should not have fit in the bag. Merlin just shook his head and forgot about it. Shiroix never told him how he managed to fit so much stuff. Merlin suspected it was magic, but Shiroix would not confirm it. Typical.

 

"Sleep tight Merlin, let the bed bugs bite. We all know that'll be a benefit," said Shiroix with a smile on his face, passing Merlin a cot and then a blanket.

 

"You too Shiroix."

***

 

"Merlin! Merlin! Wake up! It's yer turn for watch!" whispered Uther as he gently shook Merlin awake.

 

Merlin felt as though he had only gotten five minutes of sleep, though he knew it had really been several hours. Reluctantly, Merlin sat up and rubbed his weary eyes.

 

"Your watch is over when the moon is above that tree," Uther told Merlin, pointing to a tree about two thirds of the way across the clearing from where the moon currently was. Merlin estimated he'd be on watch for about three, maybe four hours.

 

Merlin walked over to the bush where Uther had been keeping watch and looked around. There wasn't much to see, except Uther lying down on Merlin's cot and falling asleep. The next few hours were to be boring ones.

 

Through the night, Merlin developed a routine. For a hundred foot taps he would look one direction, then he would turn to his right. Then another hundred taps and he would turn again. This pattern was repeated until he had gone in a complete circle, and then he would start again.

 

Coming to the end of his third rotation, Merlin turned to face away from camp. He saw nothing, nothing but darkness.

"Now you're dead," said Blaise behind Merlin loudly.

 

Surprised to hear his uncle's voice, Merlin turned quickly on his heels to face Blaise.

 

"I thought I had told you to stay at home Merlin. Or was that my imagination?" asked Blaise, his arms folded over his chest, his half moon glasses half way down the bridge of his nose.

 

"You did tell me Uncle," said Merlin, looking down sheepishly at his feet.

 

"And so why did you leave, if I may ask?" asked Blaise, who obviously already knew the answer.

 

"What goin' on Merlin?" asked Uther groggily.

 

"You are all dead now Uther," said Blaise turning to look at Uther.

 

Uther, for one, did not want to look Blaise in the eye, and turned away from him.

 

Blaise sighed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, look, this one time, I'm not going to be mad at any of you. You had the right idea. But next time, tell me when you're going somewhere against my wishes. Now, Merlin, this was your first lesson in war. Always be sharp during your watch, and don't ever feel like something is secure or fine, because things have a habit to go wrong when you think like that. And don't do what you did tonight in watch tomorrow, because look what happened. I managed to get an entire army behind and around you."

 

"What army?" asked Uther, not certain if he should believe Blaise or laugh at him.

 

"Why, once I knew that you had left, I figured I'd bring some reinforcements," said Blaise in a matter of fact tone, "Three adventurers and an old man are not enough to even the odds against a siege. No, not at all. So I rallied together some old time friends, and brought them here to help. We have about two hundred men and women at the ready, completely surrounding us."

 

As if that had been their cue, about two hundred fighters emerged from the woods into the clearing, their faces grim and dark. Amongst the fighters Merlin saw dwarves, elves, and wizards. Many faces he recognized.

 

Three people stepped forth from the fighters. These three were Envok, Geoffrey, and Anthon. Not surprisingly, Geoffrey was between Envok and Anthon.

 

Blaise looked over at Uther expectantly. "So you see Uther, here is my army, or should I say, our army. You, me, Envok, Geoffrey, and Anthon will form the War Council for as long as we stay and fight with you. Tomorrow night, we will gather and discuss how to break the siege at Deganwy. Tonight, we sleep, but first, I must show you your mounts."

 

With that, Blaise walked over to the edge of the forest and reemerged several minutes later leading four steeds, whom he kept in the shadows.

 

"Shiroix! You first!"

 

Shiroix eagerly got up and trotted over to Blaise.

 

Blaise took the reins of one steed and passed them to Shiroix. Shiroix naturally led the steed out of the shadows to where he could see his horse. As it would turn out, Blaise had given Shiroix a black stallion.

 

"His name is Thunder Shiroix. Be sure to take care of him," Blaise said with a slight smile.

"Of course sire."

 

"That's all that is asked. Uther, here's your horse. You left him in the stables in Ala Bora."

 

Uther graciously got up to reclaim his horse, a brown mare. Uther reached into the saddle and pulled a small cracker, which he fed to his horse.

 

"That's a good girl Beauty, that's a good girl," said Uther, rubbing Beauty's back.

 

"Alright Merlin. That leaves you. Come on up."

 

Merlin hesitantly got up. He'd never learned to ride. He'd always walked, always trusted his own two feet, and now here he was, a horse being offered to him.

 

"Uncle, I don't really want a horse," said Merlin quietly when he came up to Blaise to receive his steed.

 

"Well then my boy, you don't have to worry, because this is no horse," whispered Blaise back, a wide grin on his face. Not even a second later, a equine creature emerged from the shadows. Merlin had heard of such creatures, but never seen one. With the single horn in the center of its forehead, the creature was a unicorn.

 

The unicorn was majestic and beautiful. It had a slender muscular body, covered with moderate length snow white hair that was softer than anything Merlin could have ever imagined. The unicorn's mane was long, and hung several inches below its neck. The unicorn had brilliant sapphire blue eyes that reflected a caring nature. Its horn looked like it was made of a shining white ivory, which glistened with all the colors of the rainbow in the light of the camp fire. The unicorn was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things that had ever been.

 

"His name is Caedmon," said Blaise, seeing Merlin's gaze of awe and admiration, "He's a strong one. Normally unicorns are solitary creatures, but Caedmon is different. I met him a few years back, and he was cared for in Ala Bora by the stable boys up until today when I asked him if she would like to have a rider. He said yes, and well, here we are now."

 

"Caedmon… that's a fitting name isn't it boy?" asked Merlin of the unicorn.

 

To his amazement, Merlin heard a reply in his head. "It is, isn't it Merlin?"

 

Shocked, Merlin looked to Blaise. "I just heard him in my head!"

 

Blaise chuckled. "Ah, yes, that would be right. You see, unicorns are very beautiful and intelligent creatures, and rarely stray to civilization. Thus the unicorn rarely forms a bond with the rider, but when they do, it is a great thing indeed. The bond lasts a lifetime, both mutually serving the other. It is a great honor Merlin to be this unicorn's rider."

 

"Blaise is right Merlin. You are indeed lucky to be my rider, and I am fortunate to be the steed of such a great man."

 

Quietly, the unicorn walked away. "Goodnight Merlin. We ride for the first tomorrow." With that, Caedmon found a tree, and laid down next to it, folding her legs under her much like a dog.

 

Blaise clapped his hands together and turned to face the army. "Alright everyone, get some shut eye. We got a long day of traveling tomorrow, and I want to set out early and get to Deganwy by nightfall. In the morning we will use our magic to get to Britain, but that can only take us so far with so many, and thus much of our journey will be walking. Execute."

Upon hearing execute, the army walked over to their horses and assorted steeds and pulled something to lay on from the saddle pack. Within less than a minute, everyone was on the ground sleeping. Merlin took it that execute meant do it, and so he lied down on the cold ground and fell asleep quickly.