Merlin: Dawn of the Dragonlord

Chapter 19: The Black Lake

Chapter 19: The Black Lake

He had not reached the lake yet when he heard barking and howling.  The horrible noise made the hair at the back of his neck stand and his horse kick back on its hid legs.

“Come on!  They’re close to the lake.  We have to make it!” he yelled to his horse.

But the animal was stubbornly pounding its feet.

“Fine!  Have it your way!”

As soon as he set foot on the ground, the horse took off at a run.  Merlin immediately felt hugely unprotected.  In his haste to leave the keep, he had picked up an old sword that was lying uselessly against the wall.  It was a long blade that had lost its shine, with a black hilt unfamiliar in his hand and too heavy.

“I guess you’ll have to do,” he whispered as he entered the black forest.

It was dark now but finding his way towards the Black Lake was not that difficult.  He just had to follow the barking wolves and the thread of evil.  He could feel it now, creeping under his skin, invading his mind like a poison.

It had taken Galahad and him a few months to realise the full impact of the curse, what it had done to the lake, and what it was doing to Merlin.  The knights and villagers were afraid of that lake; they had been for twenty years because of the creatures of darkness that loomed there.  They had sensed perhaps on some level what Merlin had experienced first hand.  That water was like a poison to him.  At first, he had thought that he was being the prey to some random sickness.  The fever had appeared after a night of hunting dark creatures.  It had been Galahad who had made the connection to the lake.  He had tested his theory by letting out a few drops fall on Merlin’s skin.  The young warlock had immediately felt weak, as though his energy was being sucked out of him.  Since then, he had tried to stay away from the lake.  He feared it.  Most of all, he feared being weak and powerless.  But such a fear was nothing compared to the dread of loosing Arthur.

He knew that he was close now, even in the darkness.  The barking of the wolves was louder and the evil of the lake was stronger, almost like a presence.

“Get back!  Arthur! Get back!” screamed a familiar voice.

Merlin immediately recognised Lancelot.  Without further thought, he sprang forward until the trees opened up in front of him and the ground under his feet became pebbles and sand.

The three wolves caught his attention first.  They were huge, ferocious, with eyes shining red and fur as black as the night.  The beasts were advancing menacingly on two other figures: Gwaine and Lancelot.  The biggest one of the wolves was about to prance.  Merlin could see the creature leaning back on its hid legs now.

There was not a moment to waste.

“Forbaern!” cried the young warlock.

A streak of fire slid across the ground like a snake and Merlin aimed it straight at the wolves.  The first creature yelped as its body caught fire.  When Merlin saw that the other two wolves were unharmed, he willed the fire around them in a closed circle.  He waited until Gwaine and Lancelot were out of the way and then, with a quick movement of his hand, the flames burst higher, forming a cage.  The mad barking soon turned into panicked wails.  The third wolf was lying dead on the sandy beach.

Gwaine bowed at him lightly as a kind of quiet thanks, but Lancelot was looking past him at a scene that Merlin had not seen.

“Arthur!” yelled the young knight.

Merlin wheeled around to see the prince struggling with another wolf with his bare hands.  The creature was trying to snap its attacker but Arthur was maintaining its mouth shut in a tight grip.