Hey guys! So, this is my first Merlin Fan fic. I've got the first three chapters completed (over 10k words altogether so far), and the rest of the fic pretty well planned out. So I figured I'm confident enough to go ahead and start posting this up. This takes place somewhere around the final season, probably towards the beginning (to be honest, it's been a little while since I watched them so I don't remember exactly).
Sorry guys, no real Merthur. But there will be plenty of bromance and even some fluff.
I am only going to say this one time, and it applies to this chapter and every chapter here after: I do not own Merlin or the characters (except the antagonist), the general plot was loosely inspired by a story I read by Mischel called Hungry For Magic, I believe I have them favorited so if you haven't read their stuff you definitely should.
Please review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Anyways, without furthur nonsense - Chapter One! Enjoy!
Merlin lay on the patch of grass in the small clearing that they had selected to make their camp in that night. Their tiny fire was only a foot or two to his left, with Arthur snoring blissfully on the other side. It was a quiet night, and a dark one. The full moon was tomorrow night, a fact that Merlin always kept track of, but the canopy of leaves above him was so thick that there might as well have been no moon at all...it was the height of spring after all. Only a small patch of sky was visible from where he lay, and the stars that he could see certainly made up for the lack of visible moon.
Suddenly a flash of light from his peripherals caught his attention and he whipped his head to the left. There, just on the other side of his King, was a tiny light. It was no larger than the light of a candle. Merlin rose onto his elbow to get a better look, and as he did the light disappeared only to reappear a few yards further into the forest.
Merlin gave a huff. "Well, this is lovely."
He recognized the thing for what it was, a Will-O'-Wisp. He knew well that they often appeared to lead lost travelers - sometimes to salvation and sometimes to their doom...you never knew what you were gonna get until you got there.
The light flickered, flashing twice - clearly beckoning for him to follow. Merlin sighed, he really didn't want to leave Arthur alone. But the light flashed again and Merlin knew he had to follow. Someone, or something, had a message for him. At least, he hoped it was just a message.
He slowly stood up, careful not to wake his sleeping friend, and moved slowly into the woods. The light continued to lead him deeper and deeper into the forest, further and further away from his King, and he didn't like it at all. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the wisp came to a stop in the center of a small clearing before going out completely.
Merlin could just make out the outline of a figure on the other side of the clearing. The figure reeked of magic so Merlin had no qualms at all about lifting his hand up in front of him. "Leoth!"
A small orb of light appeared in his hands, and he was now able to make out the lady standing before him. She had on a long dark dress, and a cloak that was just as dark. Her hair was dark grey, showing her age to be not too much older than Gaius.
He narrowed his eyes at her, she clearly did not have good intentions. "Who are you?"
The witch smirked, "Who am I? Who am I? I am the mother of the girl you disintegrated with lightning!"
Merlin's eyes widened, "Nimueh??" Oh, this definitely wasn't good.
She mocked him, "Nimueh?? - As if you don't remember her name! Do you forget the names of all the people you've murdered?"
Merlin shook his head, "No!" He called. "I never wanted to kill her. She was a threat to my friends!"
"Wrong!" The witch screamed. Her arms reached to the sky and the wind picked up, small branches and leaves whipped around and Merlin found himself blocking his face with his hands. "You, Emrys, are the one that chose to take her deal and then not accept the outcome! You took her life in anger rather than let your friend die by your own choices!"
"It was supposed to me me!" Merlin screamed at her, "I was supposed to die! Not Gaius! Not Nimueh!"
"And yet you lived!" The wind picked up even stronger, almost knocking Merlin to the ground, he crouched down to try to buffer a least a little. "But not for long! You will take your rightful place in the dirt soon enough, but not before you lose everything and everyone that you've ever held dear to you. "
The sorceress smirked as she turned to dust, blowing into the wind around them. You will rue the day you killed my Nimueh.
Her last warning rang in his ears as the wind died down. He looked around slowly before he rose again.
"Arthur." She'd threatened to take everything he cared for, he needed to get back to Arthur. He turned back the way he had come and bolted. He ran, and ran, and didn't stop. Branches snapped as he ran through, some of them scratching his face. But he didn't care, he needed to reach Arthur.
Finally, in the distance, he saw the light of their campfire. This spurred him on and as he got closer, he saw a very familiar black figure standing on the other side of the campfire. He was still running, and maybe even close enough for Arthur to hear. "No! Arthur! Wake up! Arthur!"
Merlin was thankful when the years of battles and training paid off and Arthur was up and scanning his surroundings in just a few seconds, and then stood frozen before the eyes of the witch.
"Arthur!" Merlin screamed as he charged into the campsite. He saw the witch lift her hand and point it at Arthur. He saw her eyes begin to slow as she began to speak the ancient language which Merlin recognized immediately.
"No!" He yelled again as he charged at her, barreling into her only to be met with the cold, hard ground. He looked up and around quickly, but the sorceress was gone. The only sound was her laughter echoing through the trees before slowly fading into nothing.
Arthur scanned his surroundings quickly before going to his servant. "Merlin! Are you alright? Who was that?"
He lowered a hand to help lift Merlin off the ground. Merlin sighed as he dusted himself off and lied quickly, "I'm not sure, Sire." He couldn't tell him the truth. "But she may be back."
Arthur nodded. "Well, it's still too dark to start riding again. We will have to take shifts keeping watch."
Merlin fully agreed, "You get some sleep, Sire. I'll keep first watch and wake you in.a couple of hours."
Arthur shook his head, "Oh, no. You have clearly been awake for a while already, where were you anyways? Came running in from somewhere?"
Merlin blinked, "Oh, no, I had just gone off to relieve myself and was on my way back when I saw her there standing over you."
Arthur crossed his arms, "Uh-huh."
Merlin shrugged, his king clearly didn't believe him...but he wasn't about to tell him the truth. "Honestly, Sire, I'm fine to stay up for now." He smirked, "You know you need your beauty sleep."
Arthur glared at him, but only shook his head as he moved back to his mat to lay down again. Merlin, on the other hand, moved to sit against a nearby tree. He hadn't been lying to Arthur when he said he was good to stay awake. He didn't see himself sleeping anymore anyways - not after that encounter.
And sure enough, several hours later had the king waking of his own volition.
"Merlin!" He called sleepily as he slowly sat up, "It's already daylight, why didn't you wake me?"
Merlin smirked, "I told you, you needed your beauty sleep."
"Shut up, Merlin. You should have woken me, you need sleep too. - Not beauty sleep, I don't think any amount could help you...but you need rest too." Arthur was standing up now, and rolling his mat up. "Come on, we need to get in the road. We shouldn't stay in one place for too long. She may try to come back."
"She'll definitely try to come back." It was meant to be under his breath, but Arthur's head snapped up.
"What was that Merlin?"
"Oh, well, she certainly seemed determined...I mean, she wouldn't have made herself known like that if she didn't intend on doing something." He kinda stumbled through his words.
Arthur merely nodded and headed to his horse. "All the more reason for us to get moving. We need to get to the village anyway."
The next few hours had them moving through the forest as fast as their horses could reasonably travel through such thickly grown trees. They stopped a few times for breaks so that the horses could rest, but never for longer than thirty minutes.
Finally, just after the sun hit its highest point in the sky, they broke through a treeline where they could see a small village up ahead. They pulled their horses to a halt to survey the area, and Merlin grinned, "There's the village, Arthur! We made it!"
"Indeed, well let's get going so we can find out about this wolf problem of theirs, and be headed back."
They spurred their horses on again, and within minutes were pulling them short outside of the small village inn. They dismounted easily and tied the horses to a hitching post and took a look around.
"Arthur," Merlin called hesitantly. "Do you notice anything strange?"
Arthur looked around, trying to pinpoint what his idiot servant could possibly be on about. "Not really, everything looks fine to me."
"Exactly." Said his servant, "Everything looks completely normal. Everyone is going about their daily chores, children off playing in the fields...I thought they were supposed to be under a wolf watch?"
Arthur shrugged, thinking it over. "That's a fair point," he mulled it over in his head. "Well, let's go inside, I'm sure someone there will have some answers for us."
The two headed into the building. Being the middle of the day in a small village, it wasn't particularly busy. A few people sat at tables eating their lunch, a musician sat by a stone fireplace playing softly on a small harp. All in all it was a nice little tavern.
Arthur moved over the the bar where a man stood behind it, casually wiping down cups before putting them in their places - apparently someone had just washed them.
"Hello, sir." Arthur began, "Could you tell me who I need to talk to about your wolf problem?"
The man stared at them for a moment, "Wolves, Sire? Ain't been no wolves 'round 'ere."
Arthur narrowed his eyes, "No wolves? But this village sent a messenger to Camelot just a day ago. We rode for two days to get here to help you."
The man shrugged, "Not sure who'd 'ave come. Ain't got no wolves 'here, as I said, an' no one's left neither."
Arthur blinked, very clearly confused.
Merlin, on the other hand, new exactly what was happening. "Arthur, we need to leave."
"What? Merlin, we've only just got here. We can at least stay long enough for a bite to eat."
"No, Sire, we can't. We need to go. Now." He gently tugged at Arthur's sleeve.
Arthur pulled his arm away, and Merlin groaned, "PLEASE, Sire."
Arthur hesitated, his servant certainly seemed desperate for them to get out of the town. "Fine. We'll go. But you'd better cook us up something fantastic for dinner since I'm missing out on this lovely man's food."
The man behind the bar smiled, revealing rotten teeth. Merlin rolled his eyes, "Yes, I'm sure we will really regret missing out. Now, come on."
And so Arthur nodded to the man, and they turned toward the door. They were only a few steps away when the first scream split the air. The second scream was only a few seconds behind it. Arthur and Merlin glanced at each other before picking up their pace, bursting through the tavern doors and stepping out into the daylight.
It didn't take them long to find the reason for the screams. Five Gargoyles were flying around, swooping down to terrorize the townsfolk. Lifting them up off the ground only to drop them down a few yards off. It was almost as if they were looking for someone specific. And neither Merlin or Arthur had to work hard to guess who it was.
"Come on, Merlin." Arthur took out his sword and started walking towards the nearest threat.
"Arthur! They are after us, we need to leave, NOW!"
"I can't leave these people to fend for themselves."
"But they are after us! If we leave, they will follow and leave the village alone."
That stopped Arthur in his tracks, "You know, Merlin, sometimes I think you may have half a brain hidden under the idiocy."
"Gee, Sire, thanks so much for the compliment." He said as the two men headed for their horses. Merlin thought briefly about how tired they must be...he'd have to make sure they got lots of good treats when they got back to Camelot.
And then they were running again, they made sure to ride straight through the middle of town in order to draw as many of the Gargoyles as they could. It worked flawlessly, and as they left the village all five of the flying beasts were on their tails.
"Great, we've got their attention, now what?" Merlin asked.
"Now," Arthur pulled out his sword, "We don't get taken."
"Fantastic." Merlin sighed. He was utterly defenseless at the moment. Sure, he had his magic, but he could hardly use his magic with Arthur right there, it was far too dangerous. There was no way he'd be able to do anything without Arthur seeing.
But he was quickly beginning to believe that he was going to be left with little choice. The gargoyles were swooping down one after another, one might get hit with Arthur's sword, but as soon as one was knocked off another was on the attack. There was no way that Arthur could block all of them. Then the five of them gathered together for one joint attack. Merlin knew that if he didn't act Arthur would be history.
And so he prepared himself as the five began their dive. Arthur still held Excalibur in one hand, the horse's reins in the other. He prepared to swing as they got closer - but he never had a chance.
"Awendap eft wansaeliga neat!" Arthur heard his servant yelling and turned his head to see Merlin's arms outstretched towards the Gargoyles, his eyes glow gold and a blast of energy send the gargoyles flying off to the side.
Arthur pulled his horse to a halt and stared at Merlin openly. "You...you…"
Merlin sighed followed his king's lead, coming to a stop. "Yes, Sire, can we please get out of here?? You can put me in chains later."
Arthur nodded, and started to spur his horse forward, but suddenly stopped. "Merlin!"
Merlin followed his gaze, just in time to be slammed into by a new Gargoyle that had come out of nowhere.
Merlin barely had time to register Arthur jumping off his horse and coming towards him before everything faded to black.
When Merlin came to, it was to a splitting headache.
"Arthur…" he mumbled before he was even completely aware of his surroundings.
"I'm here." The voice came from just a few feet away, Merlin glanced over to see his king sitting there with his arms wrapped around his knees, with an angry scowl on his face.
Now that he knew the king was safe, he looked around slightly. They were in the middle of what looked like a courtyard of a castle, although the castle was very run down, and the courtyard was almost overgrown with grass. This had to be the home of the sorceress, or at least where she was currently staying. She would no doubt make an appearance soon. They needed to get out of here.
"Arthur…" he started as he moved to sit up.
"Don't. Just don't" His friend interrupted. "I'm not interested in talking to you right now."
"What?" Merlin wondered, but then it hit him. He'd done magic. Right in front of Arthur. Arthur had very clearly seen it...and yet they had still been caught. He'd revealed his magic and it hadn't even gotten them anywhere. "Oh…"
"Yes." Arthur said, mockingly. "Oh."
"Arthur, I can-"
"I said don't!" the king yelled. "I don't want to hear it!"
"And you won't have to." This was a new voice. Well, new to Arthur. Merlin was already well familiar with it.
The two men looked up to see the witch approaching quickly, as if she was floating through the air. Merlin scrambled to his feet and moved to stand in front of Arthur. "I won't let you hurt him."
Arthur watched in awe as his servant rose to defend him. The tone the boy had used had been incredibly threatening, Arthur was grateful Merlin had never used that particular tone with him. It quite surprised him, actually. He never would have suspected Merlin to have that level of animosity. The witch, however, did not seem impressed. She merely laughed as she continued forward.
"You do not scare me, young one. I have been a high priestess for far longer than you have been alive. There is no skill that you have that I have not mastered many years ago."
Arthur watched as Merlin merely clinched his fists at his side before shouting once more, "I WON'T let you hurt him!"
The witch only laughed again, "Well, you don't have to worry about that. It's not him I want to hurt."
Arthur's eyes widened as he understood the implication. "Merlin…"
Now Arthur was rising, he couldn't let the witch hurt his friend...if he really was his friend. He had too many questions now - he needed answers and if she hurt him then he'd never get them.
"Arthur," His servant spoke from in front of him. "Don't."
"You weak human king, you think you can stop me?"
The witch was moving forward again, coming towards Merlin. She started chanting. Then everything happened very quickly, but at the same time very slowly.
Merlin moved to defend himself, but suddenly found himself unable to move, unable to even think. He was completely immobilized. The witch pulled out a knife, it was very scary looking - it looked as if it was made solid gold, with various precious gems embedded into the hilt. The blade was curvy, with sharp edges on both sides. Arthur screamed as he charged forward, only to be easily cast off to the side with a wave of the sorceress' hand. The witch was still chanting.
Arthur moaned as he rolled onto his side to see what was happening, and then froze as his eyes took in what he was seeing.
The witch had reached Merlin now, and was holding the knife up. Her chanting was almost more of a yell now, and the wind had picked up around them. What's more - Merlin had started to glow. GLOW. And then she brought the knife down, slamming it down into his servant's chest. "NNOOOO!!!"
He watched as a golden light ripped from his servants body and seemed to hang in the world around them before it gathered into a small orb in the witch's hand. "MERLIN!"
The witch laughed as his servant slumped to the ground in a heap, obviously completely unconscious - if not dead. There was no way he could survive that stab wound.
He was vaguely aware of the witch coming towards him, still chanting, but he couldn't take his eyes off of his fallen friend. "Merlin…."
The witch was on him now, and he retaliated too late, she slammed the knife into his own chest, and he screamed more in fear than actual pain - he was somewhat aware that he didn't feel any pain. No, it felt like something was being stuffed into him, he felt energy surging into him from somewhere - he noted that the golden orb the witch had held was gone now, but he couldn't focus on anything else as the energy built and built inside him until he couldn't take it any longer.
He threw his arms out with a monstrous scream, and watched as the witch was thrown back, only for a bolt of lightning to come from the sky and disintegrate her. He couldn't believe his eyes.
Then the energy came back to him, and between that and the shock of all that had happened, he collapsed to the ground as darkness took him.