A Herald of a New Age

Chapter twenty two. A closure

|an| when you realise you've been writing a story for well over a year... hehehhehehhh...
I'll finish it one day. Hopefully before three years- that's the goal.
Thanks for 2k reads. |an|

It was only now Gwen saw them all gathered in broad daylight that she realised quite how diminished the Druids were. Where on the night they had arrived, the tribe had comfortably filled the main clearing in scattered groups, now that they gathered close together there was an uncomfortable abundance of space around them.

Gwen shut her eyes, trying to imagine them all. The ones that used to be there. For a moment she thought she could see their ghostly outlines- the elderly, the children.. Gwen felt the old hatred boil up. Uther had done this; Uther had eliminated whole families simply for their way of life; Uther had killed so many. It had never been that Gwen didn't share her brothers anger at the King, she had always understood Elyan. But she knew that after he had taken off without a word that she had to be stronger than him, it was no use burying your head in the sand. That's why Gwen had instantly taken a liking to Merlin when he had arrived in Camelot. The raven haired 'palace idiot' had stood up to everything that faced him, whether he ended up in the stocks or in the dungeon he didn't care.

Gwen sighed quietly to herself as she watched the warlock talking with Helen and the old Arthur. He had never been an ordinary man, with or without magic. Gwen had wondered if, without Arthur in her life, she would have ended up with the young man. Thinking about it now, she couldn't really imagine it. He was probably too impulsive for her and his dogged loyalty to Arthur meant Gwen had never known him meet anyone that he even thought about settling down with. There was normally always one though.

Gwen bit her lip. However much she tried to think about other things, the worries for her brother were determined to creep back in. It gnawed at her like a worm in her gut, desperate  to make her cry or scream or- no. For Elyan she had to keep level headed, that was their only chance of finding him. Who knew where the road would lead to? Would they really be able to hit two birds with one stone and end Morganas threat once and for all? Or would even Elyan not make it?

Gwen was pulled from her musings by shouts in the bushes. She jumped to her feet, resting place against a tree entirely forgotten- the final search patrol had returned. She rushed to gather with the rest of the Druids, slipping through the small crowd to walk beside Helen and Merlin as they made their way hastily to hear the news. The rest of the patrol had returned earlier with somewhat positive feedback, that they had found the first camp and that they had sent a small group on to find out a more exact destination for the sorcerers.

Now, heart in her mouth, Gwen listened to Arthur's announcement.

"We know where we are headed to find our Knight. I want to thank you all for your hospitality and generosity towards us. Your skills have been invaluable in finding a lead on Sir Elyan and I have seen yet again the wonders that your craft can achieve. If you are ready, I would love to hear the verdict on my previous proposal." The words were prepared, but nonetheless from the heart. Gwen stared proudly at the man she loved- he really was born to do this.

A wave of muttering broke out through the Southern Tribe and Gwen caught Merlin biting his lip and glancing worriedly at the Druid Arthur and his crowd of older grumblers. Gwen too was concerned that they would not be so keen for peace as she had heard the Eastern Tribe were, but she couldn't help the rush of hope that flooded through her at the thought of finding Elyan. What had seemed so impossible was becoming almost plausible. Eventually, the twittering was hushed by a motion from the older Arthur. His gruff voice rang out across the group,

"We've talked about it enough- if we discuss it any longer I will go mad. You know what Pendragon means. It's time to vote." Everyone seemed to listen to him and Gwen followed the now tense group back to the main clearing where two Druids had darted inside one of the tents and each retrieved a drawstring bag. Sensing the importance of what was about to be decided, Gwen found herself holding her breath.