The High Druid had to shout to be heard over the noise of the rumbling thunder and tornado-like whirling columns that were bearing hard down upon them all.
Myfanwy did not take eyes off these High Columns of the Dark. She did not show any fear even though her heart was beating frantically in her chest.
“Yes, father, I’m ready.”
Myfanwy spoke just the four words but she was fully aware of how all the Druids felt.
They were confronted by a supernatural Being of Immense Power who they, more than probably, could not defeat. Even so they would not flinch nor show any fear. Every one of them was quite prepared to lay down their life in the Defence of Avalon.
Gwydion looked around at the stern faces of his Druids and he was proud of each and every one of them.
Then the High Druid turned towards the Gathering Forces of the Dark and lifted up his arms.
“Let us give whatever aid we can to the Son of Mithras. Let us join with Merlin the Dark Child - and let us defend Avalon.”
The Druids all lifted their arms replicating the gesture that they had just seen from their High Druid.
They started to chant in a language that was all but forgotten and which dated back to the very Beginning of Time when man had first began to walk upright on his two hind legs.
They understood that here was the beginning of the Battle for Avalon and they were all fully aware that not one of them had the slightest idea as to how it would end.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE SKIES OVER AVALON
The Mythical Beasts of Avalon were coming to Avalon as fast as they could for all of them knew that they had sworn loyalty to the Son of Mithras, the Raven Boy.
Even if they were not so forsworn they would have answered Merlin’s call. There was a deep love and respect for the raven-haired boy enchanter who was now Avalon’s sole defence against the Dark Magic of the Dark Lord.
Draago’s huge wings drove him high into Avalon’s skies where he literally ran before the violence of the Storm Clouds of the Dark.
And so came Stormrider with his Herd of Unicorns and Firewing who flew from the very farthest reaches of Britannia.
They came as fast as they could but even so they were not sure whether they would arrive in time to save Camelot, Avalon and the Raven Boy.
They knew that the Forces of the Dark Lord were truly immense and it seemed almost inconceivable than anything or anyone could stand against the Dark Magic that came from the Underworld itself.
The Raven Kind too answered the summons of the Raven Boy for there had ever been an unbreakable bond between them and Mithras’ son.
They came in their hundreds of thousands in a huge black cloud that all but blotted out the remaining rays of the sun that struggled to bring light and heat to Avalon in this its Time of Need.
They flew very much lower than the Mythical Beasts of Avalon, skimming over trees, mountains and valleys.
Every one of them was prepared to stand alongside the Raven Boy and to die for him and for Avalon should they be so required.
This was the Way of the Raven Kind and they knew that it would always be so.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE THUNDER CLOUDS OF THE DARK
The Dark Lord stood at the very centre of the Thunder Clouds of the Dark Magic.
So great had he now grown in his Power that he dwarfed even the massive, whirling Columns of Evil which were tearing across the farthest boundaries of Avalon.
The Dark was Gathering for this, its Greatest Onslaught against the World of Men, for this was a Realm that the Dark Lord had coveted for millennias.
The very fact that it had been always denied to him had made it an even greater desire for this was a Being that would not stand for any interference of his Will.
What he coveted he took and only in this desire to take the Realm of Men had he ever been thwarted and then only by a Greater Power.
This was his Time and he knew it to be such.
In the very far distance the Dark Lord saw his four Dark Riders. His four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, riding at great speed with burning fire and brimstone to Avalon and then onto Camelot itself.
They would see Camelot razed to the ground these Four Dark Riders. Even more importantly they would seek out and kill Camelot’s king, Uther Pendragon.
It was given to the Dark Lord to have glimpses of the Future where the Curtain of Time was at its thinnest. He had seen there what he knew needed to be destroyed before it could ever be born.
The Dark Lord knew King Uther Pendragon to be a weak and embittered man, more suited to the Forces of the Dark than those of the Old Magic. But even so the Dark Lord had seen that from Camelot’s king would come a Battle King of Great Power.
A Battle King who would hunt down and destroy every last vestige of the Dark Magic both in his lifetime and far beyond.
The Dark Lord knew that this Once and Future King must not be allowed to live. In fact he must not even be allowed to be born.
By killing King Uther Pendragon the Dark Lord would prevent this child from being conceived and so the Forces of the Old Magic would lose, for all Time, their greatest champion.
Avalon and Camelot would not survive, the Dark Lord was certain of that. Even now he could sense that the huge Iron Gates that imprisoned his Army of the Dead and held them in the Underworld were breaking. He knew that they would soon fall away completely.
The World of Man would have no defence against these Dark Forces of the Underworld for not one single soul of the Army of the Dead could be slain by mortal hand for the simple fact that they were already dead.
His Army of Demons was truly invincible and the Dark Lord looked forward to the death and carnage that it would wreak, in his name, on the world that had always defied him and been denied to him.
The Lord of the Underworld looked down and saw that some remnants of the Altars of Mithras still remained.
It gave him great satisfaction to direct huge thunderbolts of unquenchable lightning down from the Storm Clouds of the Dark to burn these final Defences of Avalon out of Existence.
So died the last protection that Mithras Invictus, the Bullslayer, had granted to the country that he had once loved so much and which would never know his Presence again.
The Dark Lord knew that it felt good – in fact it felt very, very good indeed.
For the first time in many thousands upon thousands of years the Dark Lord put back his head and howled with a demonic triumph and delight.
His voice thundered across the Hell of the Underworld and far beyond so that it was heard even in Avalon and Camelot.
Men, woman and children, in those places, looked up with fear to the skies.
Even the least amongst them could feel the Power and Hate that emanated down onto them from the Dark Lord of the Dark Magic and they were mortally afraid.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE GREAT STONES OF AVALON
AVALON
Camelot was burning.
From the Great Stones they could see the flames eating hungrily into the thatched rooves of the houses before bursting out with a new vigour that was a truly terrible sight to see.
A great sense of despair and hopelessness came over the small group that stood by the Great Stones of Avalon.
Above the smoke and the writhing flames they could see the Four Riders of the Dark high over Camelot. These demons, these Horsemen of the Apocalypse turned and rode their skeletal horses while hurling down more thunderbolts to kill and consume all that tried to stand against them.
The sky over King Uther Pendragon’s capital burned a fiery red that was much like a late evening sunset.
This was not a sunset but the reflection of the terrible carnage that was being enacted below on the streets, building and people of Camelot.
It was as if the sky itself bled red tears in its despair at what it was being forced to witness.
“Camelot is burning,” Galapas said, “And see the Riders of the Dark, the Four Hors
emen have come to Avalon. I fear that many of our people will not see the end of this day.”
“The Dark has entered Avalon,” Kraak replied in a quiet, low voice that was completely unlike his usual harsh and confident speech.
“I never thought that I would see this day,” Sir Lauriston du Lac’s face was deathly pale for he was only too aware of the terrible suffering that was being brought to the country that he loved so much.
“What do we do, Galahad?”
The High Mage asked in a voice that rang with desperation and his sense of loss as he watched the beautiful city that he had known all his life crippled and brought to its knees.
“We wait for Merlin,” Galahad replied without taking his eyes off the terrible carnage that was taking place only a few leagues away from where they all stood.
“If he is still alive,” the big knight answered in a voice that seemed to come from the tomb.
“He is still alive,” the boy warrior turned to face Camelot’s Knight Commander for the first time since the arrival of the Four Horsemen of the Dark and the terrible scenes that they brought with them.
“He lives, I am sure of it.”
“Nothing can kill Raven Boy,” Grim said with more confidence than he felt.
“I wish that were true,” Galahad spoke more to himself than to anyone else. He knew that the boy enchanter, who happened to be his friend, was the only person on Earth who could stand against the Dark Lord.
As if in answer to Galahad’s prayer there was a rippling of the air around the Great Stones and a brilliant flash of light that was almost too bright for the eyes to see and then Merlin was stood in front of them.
“Merlin, thank the gods.”
Galahad was the first to speak for he had truly feared that his friend might have perished or become Lost in Time in his search for the Hunter.
The boy enchanter completely ignored his friend and pointed an accusing finger at the big knight that stood alongside Galahad.
“”What is he doing here?” Merlin’s face had a fierce, dark look that was the very image of his great father, the Elder god.
“Sir Lauriston is here to help,” Galahad replied swiftly putting his body between that of Merlin and Camelot’s Knight Commander.
One look at his friend’s face had made it very clear that the big knight was in a real danger of losing his life at the boy enchanter’s hands.
“We can do without his sort of help,” Merlin replied while not taking his eyes off Sir Lauriston du Lac’s face.
Galahad knew that it was a very good job that he had put himself in front of the big knight.
“Peace, Merlin,” now it was Galapas who spoke. “I believe Sir Lauriston when he says that he has come to aid us.”
The boy enchanter seemed to notice Camelot’s High Mage for the first time.
“Galapas, what are you doing here?”
Although the boy spoke brusquely there was concern in his voice. He knew that the High Mage did not have the enchantment to stand against such a fearsome Being as the Dark Lord. In such a confrontation Galapas would be burnt away and out of existence.
“I’ve come to help,” Galapas said his face stern, “This is where I should be and I will not have anyone gainsay my right to be here. Where else should I be in this Battle for Avalon?”
“The king tried to stick Galapas in a dungeon,” the big knight put in, “He didn’t succeed.”
Merlin’s face hardened still further as he took in this latest news of the oath breaking by Camelot’s king.
“Did you leave him alive?” He asked the High Mage.
“Of course I did,” Galapas replied. “That is not my way and you know it. He wasn’t squealing like a pig either when I left him either,” the High Mage finished drily.
“Pity,” was all Merlin had to say.
Galahad turned to look at a dot that was fast approaching from the far distance of Avalon’s skies.
The boy warrior had eyes like a hawk and very little escaped his gaze, “Look,” he said with relief in his voice.
“It’s Draago,” Merlin spoke with a great sense of satisfaction for he too could now see the enormous figure of the last of the Dragon Kind as the dragon sped for Camelot and the Great Stones.
“I knew that he would be the first to come,” the boy enchanter added for he had been certain that, of all the Mythical Beasts of Avalon, the dragon would be the first and most eager to answer his call.
Draago flew once above the Great Stones and then landed in front of Merlin.
“Draago, it is good to see you.”
“Greetings, Dragon Master,” the huge dragon spoke in a deep rumbling voice and there was great affection in his voice.
It had been Merlin who had released Draago from the Binding Spell that the Dark Lord had once cast over him. Ever since then the dragon had always acknowledged the boy enchanter as his Dragon Master.
“Greetings,” Draago said once more, his deep voice echoing around the Great Stones, “The Old Magic comes this day and will fight for you.”
There was an enormous crack of loud thunder immediately over their heads that made them all realise just how close the Dark Lord and his Army of the Dead were to breaking through Avalon’s boundaries.
Draago’s keen eyes took in the sight of the flames that were leaping high over Camelot and the Four Riders of the Dark that swarmed in the smoke and destruction that they had brought with them.
“This is not good,” the dragon murmured more to himself than anyone else.
“Look,” Galahad pointed at a swarm of black dots that could just be seen coming at great speed from over the distant hills.
For a moment the boy warrior’s heart leapt into his throat as he feared that this was more of the Dark Forces that were seeking to burn Camelot and Avalon to the ground.
“It’s Stormrider,” Merlin said, knowing more by instinct than by sight. “It’s Stormrider and he’s brought his entire Herd of Unicorns to fight for Avalon.”
The friends watched as the unicorns approached in that strange manner that was half galloping and half flying. They were coming at great speed and certainly many times faster than any ordinary horse could gallop.
At Stormrider’s order the unicorns spread out in a defensive ring around the Great Stones, their wings driving up spirals of dust that swung and shimmered just above the ground.
The great golden unicorn that was Stormrider the King of the Unicorns landed in front of the boy enchanter.
“Stormrider, it’s so good to see you.” Merlin said looking up at the imposing figure of the golden unicorn.
Merlin had never doubted that the Unicorns of the Old Magic would answer his call to come to the defence of Camelot and Avalon. Even so he had not thought that every Unicorn who was not a foal or aged would leave their pastures and come to stand by him and Forces of the Old Magic.
“We have come to fight for you,” the huge unicorn said dipping his head in greeting so that the light sparkled and reflected off his razor-sharp horn. “We are yours to command,” Stormrider confirmed.
“No, Stormrider,” Merlin told his friend firmly, “I don’t command you. I welcome you. The unicorns fight for you, Stormrider, and that is as it should always be.”
Once again the golden unicorn dipped his head, “As you wish, Raven Boy.”
So engrossed were they that for a moment neither Stormrider nor the boy enchanter noticed the approach of another ally.
Firewing landed alongside Draago and Stormrider and was a truly magnificent sight with his head and wings of an eagle and body of a lion.
“Welcome, Firewing,” Merlin told the griffin, “Avalon has good friends this day.”
“I fight for you, Raven Boy,” Firewing spoke in a voice that was half the roar of a lion and half the challenging cry of the eagle. “I fight for you and the Old Magic,” the griffin continued. “Not for Avalon.”
“The Raven Boy is grateful, Firewing,” Merlin answered, “Neither I nor Avalon will
ever forget what you do this day.”
“The Old Magic will always fight for the Raven Boy,” the griffin replied solemnly while dipping his head very much as Stormrider had done.
“What is that?”
Galahad’s voice cut across any further speech for the boy warrior’s sharp eyes had picked up a huge amount of black specks that came skimming at an enormous speed across the fields and meadows of Avalon towards the Great Stones.
Sir Lauriston was the first to react dropping his hand to the hilt of his sword and half lifting it out of its scabbard.
“Is it the Dark Lord?”
He asked in a voice that was almost a battle cry.
Galapas looked hard towards the black swarm that was approaching the Great Stones at an incredibly fast speed.
“No,” the High Mage said, “It’s not the Dark Lord, it’s…”
It was Merlin that finished the sentence for him.
“….It’s the Raven Kind,” the boy enchanter said as the ravens came in such a large number that they resembled more a great wave of the sea rather than a flock of birds.
And this flock of birds had hard beaks and vicious talons with which they would attack and shred any enemy.
“Kraak,” Merlin continued and now there was a sense of awe in his voice. “Kraak, you’ve summoned every one of the Raven Kind.”
Still the boy enchanter could not take his eyes off the approaching ravens for it was impossible to count them, there being thousands upon thousands of them.
“This is a day that will be written deep in the Raven Lore,” Kraak, the King of the Raven Kind said, knowing that he spoke only the truth.
“The day that the Raven Kind fought alongside the Raven Boy,” Merlin said in a voice that carried more than a little pride in it.
“With a dragon, the unicorns, a griffin and a ghoul.” Kraak said with a slight inclination of his head to Grim for the ghoul had once been named as a Hero of Avalon. “This is a proud day for all of us of the Raven Kind.”
Merlin and the Land of Mists: Book Five: The Battle for Avalon Page 9