Goals 1 and 2 have been reached. I'll get to work on the bonus chapter asap! <3 Thanks for the support!
-mek
"I know it's rude to just pop up in your home like this, but I was so excited you guys figured it out!" Merlin smiled ear to ear.
Merlin had dark blue eyes, just like his horns which were similar to Zekaj's, but instead of the glowing pale gold, it was dark blue. They were surrounded by black hair and he had a short black beard. Merlin's skin was blue as well but not as dark. His demon runes were dark blue like his horns and went all along his arms just like Hunter.
Arthur stood shorter than Merlin and was well muscled. Like his mate, he sported a beard, only blond. His face had two scars but didn't take away from his natural beauty. His eyes were possibly the brightest blue Hunter had ever seen.
"We were going to wait," The deep-voiced Arthur said before side-eyeing the tall demon next to him. "Merlin threw that all out the window."
"Sorry love," Merlin smiled down at his shorter mate.
Arthur only grumbled and leaned into his mate's touch.
"You're that library bitch," Zekaj said, his marks glowing as his overprotectiveness came out.
"I guess so, I did push Hunter in the right direction if that's what you meant," Merlin smiled.
"Yeah, nearly got him killed by the Pack Killer. Thanks for that," Zekaj growled.
"To be fair, we didn't think that would happen," Arthur shrugged.
"You still sent him into the middle of the spirit world where dangerous fucking shit is always lurking around! I don't care if you didn't think the Pack Killer would be there, I'm still pissed you put him into the situation in the first place." Zekaj said sternly.
"Zekaj this is not important right now," Aegon interrupted Zekaj's outburst. "How did you get past the guards?"
Aegon wasn't exactly sure if he should trust these trespassers. Though his son-in-mating did which felt like enough to him. Merlin did help Hunter get back to Zekaj and seemed to be an innocent man.
Merlin sat down at one of the tables, positioning the chair to face the demons and Arthur did the same.
"We got in the same way Hunter did, only we had to wait for someone else to open the door so the three of us."
"Wait three?" Aegon asked.
Merlin went wide-eyed and turned to Arthur.
"We forgot about Lance, do you think-"
"Yes, he was probably uncloaked as well," Arthur said concerned.
"So he's just running around the halls, visible?" Aegon stood back up.
"Yep," Merlin stood up as well and was followed by the rest of the room.
"Well, where could he be?" Caroline asked.
Merlin looked at Arthur who just shrugged.
"He could be anywhere in your castle. I'm certain we could find him quickly." Arthur said.
Everyone filed out of the room and began walking around the halls.
"Poor Lancelot, walking the halls alone. I hope the guards don't hurt him," Caroline said.
"I would be more scared for your guards, Queen Caroline," Arthur said with a well-mannered tone. "Lancelot is a ferocious knight. I would be more worried for your men lives."
"Would he actually kill them?" Hunter asked, his red eyes long since gone away.
"I would believe not. Lance does not have any gripes with demons, it's wolves that he has issues with." Arthur spoke with hands behind his back.
"Wolves?" Hunter asked. After all of the talk of the Pack Killer, he couldn't help but think that was more than just a coincidence.
"His mate was killed by a werewolf back when Camelot was at its prime," Merlin said from in front of the two who had been enduring Zekaj's threatening glare. "It was a hard time for him and we all had lost a good friend. But he lost a mate."
"Guinevere was caught in the crossfire and there was nothing we could do. She was only human," Merlin said from the front.
"But then Lancelot would have to be a demon too then right? She should have been fine since Lancelot is alive," Zekai said, too interested in the current events to be upset.
He was looking at a real-life spirit demon. A species thought to be extinct for thousands of years was only 5 feet away from him. It was incredibly exciting and he had so many questions.
It was a shock for the whole group, except for Hunter. He had already seen a spirit demon due to his strange visions of Emrys. Hunter was more excited that he no longer felt like a crazy person by insisting he had met a spirit demon. They all believed him but in the back of his mind, he still felt insane.
"Lancelot is a spirit demon, but they never mated."
"Why not?" Zekai asked.
"It's complicated," Merlin said before Arthur spoke up.
"Guin and I were forced into a relationship. Unfortunate events happened and Merlin and I were finally able to be together. Her and Lancelot had time to get together but she didn't want to. We never really got answers as to why," Arthur stated.
"That's terrible," Zekai frowned.
"It was a mess but Guin was always an independent person. It's what got her killed in the end. But she was still a respectable knight. Loyal, trustworthy." Arthur said stoically.
Hunter could see the pain behind his eyes no matter how hard he tried to put on a brave face. Merlin had looked back and was staring at his mate and smiled gently causing the short blond to smile back. They said nothing to each other, but a lot at the same time.
After walking the halls with no sign of Lancelot, the group found themselves at the entrance to a living room of sorts as Merlin had stopped and stared at the door.
Bursting through the door Merlin screamed in excitement, "Lancelot, where have you been!"
Merlin pulled the dark-skinned man into a hug.
"I was worried, dude! What are you even doing in here?" Merlin patted the uninterested man who just stared blankly at him.
"You made me visible, what was I supposed to do?" Lancelot stated bluntly, crossing his large arms.
The man stood taller than everyone in the room. Hunter estimated he was close to 6'9" and with some large muscles, not bigger than the Voidbornes, but he was still intimidating. Lancelot had dark blue eyes, braided black hair, and a thick, yet short, beard. The Knight of the Roundtable seemed angry when you looked at his face, but the rest of his body was saggy. His shoulders were drooping and his eyes seemed vacant.
He was happy to get the idea of him possibly being the Pack Killer out of his head though. Lancelot was a lot taller and muscular and had actually used grammar. Hunter wouldn't dare tell Merlin or Arthur he had been thinking that though.
"So you told them early, just threw away the whole plan?" Lancelot asked.
"Yeah, I wasn't thinking," Merlin said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You never do," Lancelot squinted his eyes.
Merlin frowned, "I know."
The Spirit Demon was back to himself quickly though as excitement filled him again. With one hand, Merlin began quickly pushing Lancelot to the group of them standing at the door.
"This is Aegon and Caroline Voidborne," Merlin said. Lancelot shook both of their hands.
"Their sons, Zekaj and Zekai." Merlin said.
"Their names are so similar, how did you tell them apart and not get confused?" Lancelot said, assuming they were born at the same time as it was unusual for demons to have more than one kid.
"Zekaj was a stubborn baby," Caroline laughed, holding her husband's hand and leaning into him a bit.
"Was?" Zekai snickered.
Zekaj growled and wacked his brother who hissed and held his arm where he had been hit.
"This is Hunter, his father Jaxon, and Jaxon's boyfriend, Volveth."
"Boyfriend?" Jaxon yelped.
"Boyfriend?" Volveth yipped.
Zekaj burst out laughing holding onto Hunter for support. His mate even thought he had started to see tears form in his eyes from laughing so hard.
"Boyfriend?" Zekaj said in between breaths as he held his chest due to the pain of laughing so hard. "You know what, I think I like you Merlin or Emrys, whatever the fuck."
"Either works but I go by Merlin more," Merlin smiled. "We're gonna be great friends dude!"
"You already know Hunter, so that's introductions done," Merlin said.
"Yeah, I know Arthur," Lancelot snidded.
Arthur looked down at his feet before putting on a brave face and regaining his posture as he pulled his shoulders back from their slouch.
He must still be mad. Zekaj said to Hunter through the mindlink.
Hunter didn't say anything assuming the slip of his hand into Zekaj's was enough.
The group sat around a table as Merlin and Arthur shared a small couch, Hunter on Zekaj's lap with Zekai in a chair next to them. On a longer couch, the 3 parents and Volveth sat and Lancelot stood, leaning against the fireplace.
"So Hunter's your what, reincarnation?" Lancelot asked, eyeing the blond up and down.
"In a way, but also not at all. He's my successor to my role as the Great Mage," Merlin explained. "It's complicated, just the Great Spirit chose him."
Hunter gulped, he had time to come to terms with this but it being confirmed still overwhelmed him a bit.
"So what does that mean for my mate," Zekaj gripped Hunter's hand.
"It's not anything bad but he's the king's advisor and protector of all of the realms," Merlin said. "Someone to bridge the gap between, well everything."
"Which is why Hunter was most likely chosen because of his DNA," Arthur butted in. "Hunter is partially a demon while also Human and a Mage. He's someone who's connected to all of the realms in a way that no one ever has been before. Demons have human forms but it doesn't make them humans like Hunter is."
"How does this dude plan all of this?" Hunter asked. "How could he have known?"
Surely there was no way the Primordial Spirit just got lucky, right?
"Some spirit demons have the gift of foresight, who do you think they got it from?" Merlin asked, standing up and walking towards.
Hunter felt Zekaj's grip tighten as Merlin squatted down and stared into his eyes. The two stared into each other's eyes before Merlin smiled at him.
"Where do you think you got it from?" Merlin quickly touched Hunter's hand and the room flickered out.
Hunter couldn't feel Zekaj anymore but as the room flickered back in, he could see he was no longer in hell.
The familiar tint of the spirit world came into view as he realized he was standing in Camelot.
Merlin was there, only this time his face was no longer shrouded but something else was. There was a figure standing away from them in tennis shoes that were all too familiar.
They were his tennis shoes. The rest of his body was shrouded in shadow making it impossible to tell who he was and what he looked like.
Merlin was looking directly at him and as his shrouded body flickered away, Lancelot asked him what he was looking at.
So it was true, Merlin had seen him.
Camelot flickered away as he found himself in Castle Voidborne again to an angry Zekaj screaming at Merlin with a defensive Arthur keeping them separated.
Blinking rapidly, Hunter groggily stood up from his seat.
Hunter grabbed Zekaj's arm and began comforting him. The demon wasn't happy at all as Hunter had suddenly gone limp in his arm after Merlin had used spirit magic on him.
"You can't just do weird spirit shit to him without saying anything!" Zekaj barked, bits of void dripping off of him.
Merlin tried to not be distracted by Zekaj's enraged form slipping out. It was fascinating to him and he had a lot of questions. He had to keep himself from changing the subject.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."
"Apparently you never do!" Zekaj growled.
"Zekaj it's fine, I'm fine," Hunter said, pushing his mate back in the seat.
"What did you do to my son?" Jaxon asked, happy nothing had happened to Hunter. The whole room had been in a panic even though Hunter was out for less than 30 seconds.
"Nothing!" Merlin said, realizing in the same sentence he in fact did do something. "Well, I sent one of my memories to Hunter so he could see himself using his own ability."
"Ability?" Volveth asked.
"Hunter has visions basically like I do, and Morganna did before me. Basically, he can see into the future and see into the past," Merlin explained. "I was showing him how when he had some in Camelot that he was basically connecting to me."
"So you really could see me?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah, I mean up until the last one I couldn't tell what you looked like. When you touched the hibernation chamber I could see most of your face. It made it a lot easier to track you down and the energy you rippled throughout the world when you got your marks." Merlin said nonchalantly.
"Wait what?" Zekaj asked.
"Well everyone lets out a bit of energy when they get their marks. Just normally it's not a realm-wide thing like when I got mine and Hunter got his." Merlin said.
"Not that, you tracked us down?" Zekaj said, not giving a shit about energy.
"I mean it's our job to," Merlin explained. "When Hunter got his marks that night on his birthday, Arthur woke up at the exact same time."
"Why?" Zekaj raised an eyebrow.
"Well, like I said, Hunter is the Great Wizard of the Spirit World. The first person to get a seat at the roundtable," Merlin said.
"This is why we are here," Arthur stood up, holding Merlin's hand. "The fate of the Spirit World is in all of our hands. Especially us six."
Arthur pointed at himself and Merlin, then back at Lancelot then to Zekai whose eyes went wide. And finally back on Zekaj and Hunter.
"This is the beginning of a new age of Camelot," Arthur said with a kingly manner.
"This is the Rebirth of the Roundtable."
HOW TO TAME A DEMON
Book 1 of the:
Roundtable Rebirth Series