Hi! I just found this story, half finished, among my many documents, and thought it was pretty good if I do say so myself (puffs out chest importantly). So I decided to finish it and give it to you guys. Hope you like it! (And just so you know, I did absolutely 0 research for this fic, so I apologize for my made up or misspelled knight names. The fades are something completely made up, too.)
The fades surrounded them. Arthur and the knights held up their swords defensively, but they all knew it was useless. They'd all seen Sir Kerrick's sword pass through the mindless king fade like nothing more than a shadow; and then barely comprehended that the young knight's neck had been snapped, as the fade moved faster than eyes could see. Then Arthur was yelling for them to run, plunging his sword into its sheath.
Merlin ran through the forest, side by side with Arthur, barely managing to keep from crashing into trees. Merlin had never seen Arthur so scared. The king of Camelot knew they would die today.
They ran until a group of fades suddenly appeared ahead of them, passing straight through the trees. They tried to double back, but more fades came from that way. All of the knights converged, and formed a circle. The fades closed in.
Merlin should have never let Arthur attempt this quest. Even the warlock knew that their chances for survival were slimmer than a starving man's waist.
"Arthur," Merlin hissed. "Give them the amulet."
Arthur only glanced at him once before reaching into his cloak and tossing the precious necklace at the fade king. It fell through the translucent man's chest. The fade smiled cruelly with his rotting teeth. He laughed.
"You are most generous, boy," the fade spat. "Maybe the gods will have the grace to collect your souls when you die, unlike ours." All of the fades laughed along with him.
"But you know," the fade said. "There's no point in not having a little fun before you die. Get them!" The knights gripped their weapons.
Before the man could fully finish speaking, Merlin muttered a spell under his breath. His eyes flashed molten gold just as the fades began to advance.
The fades leaped back, howling. Their king gasped, clutching his heart. Merlin smiled. The fade king wheezed, but as his coughing grew louder, Merlin realized that he was laughing again.
"Well, well well," the fade king said condescendingly. "The king of Camelot doesn't fancy following his own rules anymore. We would expect nothing less from you, O your wonderful highness."
One of the knights looked angry, and tried to step up, but Arthur held him back. "What do you mean?" Arthur said.
"You should know that your pitiful magic tricks don't affect great men such as I," the fade king replied, ignoring the question.
"I would never use magic," Arthur declared.
"No. Not you. Never the king. You get your subjects to do your dirty work."
"And then you kill them for it!" another fade piped up. The rest of them chorused their disgust.
"Here," the fade king said, grinning. "I'll spare you the trouble, sire." He made a fist.
Merlin's breathe was stolen from him. He couldn't draw in any air. He squeaked softly and brought his hand to his throat, eyes widening in alarm. Arthur was saying something else to the king fade, but Merlin couldn't focus on his words.
Black spots appeared before his eyes. He felt light headed, so he knelt down. Before it could get any worse, he gasped and his lungs abruptly filled. Sound rushed back as he hunched over himself, panting.
"What is it you desire? Freedom? Ask of it and I can give it to you, just spare us," Arthur pleaded.
"Freedom?" the fade king laughed. "We are damned by the gods, no one can free us!"
"You can have the sorcerer!"
The fade king whirled on the man, snarling. Another fade came up behind the knight that had spoken and seemed to engulf him in a bear hug, if not for the wet strangled sounds rising from the knight's throat. The fade let go, and the knight fell graceless to the ground—dead.
"NO!" Arthur screamed, raising his sword to attack. The king fade made a waving motion and Excalibur was flung deep into the trunk of a tree. As the fade king laughed, the rest of the fades came up behind the knights and forced them to kneel. Merlin lay forgotten.
"Now," the fade king cackled, crown askew. "Who should we start with first? Perhaps..." he approached one of the younger knights, who was shaking horribly in the grip of a fade. The fade king raised a hand over the knight's head. He whimpered and closed his eyes.
"No—wait! Please!"
The fade king sneered in displeasure and pulled away from his victim to face the man who had screamed the objection. Feral anger flashed in the fade king's eyes for a moment before disappearing as he cackled. "Well well. It seems we have a volunteer."
"My name is Sir Buton," the knight spoke boldly, struggling against the stranglehold a fade had on him. "I would gladly give my life for the sake of my kingdom."
"Sir Buton no-" Arthur tried to say, but the fade holding him captive clapped a heavy hand over his mouth.
"Do let me know what Avalon is like...if you ever reach it, that is," the fade king chuckled sadistically, approaching Sir Buton. Sir Buton stared on boldly at his approaching demise.
Despite the other knights' struggles and protests, the fade king plunged his hand into Sir Buton's chest, causing the man to cry out. The fade king wrenched his hand around, groping through the man's chest with his fingers. Sir Buton screamed. He howled. He fell over onto his side and went into a fit of violent spasms. Then his eyes rolled up into his head and his spasms were reduced to tremors as a white light began to shine within him. A thick, smokey substance slowly began to creep up through the light.
Nobody noticed that Merlin had slunk away in the commotion and was hiding in the nearby foliage. Said warlock quickly whispered a spell, hiding the golden flash of his eyes behind his hand. As he did so, the smoke receded around Sir Buton. Then it was gone and all that was left was the light. Soon, the light vanished too, and Sir Buton lay still.
The fade king's laughter was interrupted as he gasped in surprise. Just as quickly as it had come, the surprise left to be replaced by a scowl. "The sorcerer," he snarled at the other fades. "Where is he?!"
Merlin ducked behind a tree as the fades glanced around frantically. One fade came up and smacked another on the back of the head, causing the fade's head to rotate in a complete circle atop his shoulders. "You idiot—you had one job!"
The fade that had been smacked pushed the other fade away viciously. "Me? What about you! You're the one who was too busy laughing to notice an arrow pass over the tip of his nose!"
Before the fighting could continue, the king fade hollered to his men, "Find him! I want him found!"
The fades saluted messily. "Yes sire!"
Merlin crouched, getting ready to defend himself and Arthur. He said a quick prayer in his head to the gods that had forsaken the nasty fades, begging them that if anyone could walk away alive from this, it would be the king of Camelot.
But as the fades started to spread out through the forest, they were stopped by a shout.
"You won't find the sorcerer!" Arthur called out.
"Oh? And why is that?" The fade king spoke as if to a naughty child.
"Because. He's not here," Arthur replied calmly.
"Not here?" the other fades cackled. "Does he expect us to believe that? How dumb do you think we are, kingy?"
The fade king held up a hand, and silence fell among his followers. "What do you mean, king of Camelot?" He spat the words 'king' and 'Camelot'.
"He's hidden in a place far from here, casting spells through a conduit of power."
In a flash, the fade king was before Arthur, clutching the front of his chain mail in a bony hand. "What conduit would that be, dumb king? Is it somewhere on your unwashed person?"
"If I tell you then you must release my men. You can have me, but let them go free."
The fade king's lips curled into a sneer. He snapped his fingers, and on cue, a fade ghosted over to one of Arthur's knights. Before anyone could react, the knight's neck had been broken.
Arthur lunged forward against the fade holding his arms secure as the man slumped to the ground. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"
The fade king wrapped both his hands around Arthur's throat, cutting off his screaming. From his place of concealment, Merlin's magic was ready to attack in a split second for the sake if his king.
"Oh, I can't, can I?" the fade king cooed mockingly. He brushed a dirty finger delicately across Arthur's jaw, even as he tightened his grip on the man's neck. The fade's voice turned gruff once more. "Don't give me orders, Arthur Pendragon, unless you want me to keep killing your precious knights off one by one, until only you and your little pet sorcerer are left. Once I've done away with you, my men and I will hunt down your sorcerer and pluck the meat from his bones. Now where. Is. The. Conduit."
The fade king loosened his hands enough so Arthur could croak out, "I-it's the amulet. P-please."
The fade king released Arthur, who dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. When Arthur looked up, he could see through his swimming vision the king grinning at him, holding up the amulet gloatingly.
"It's a shame really. I was going to keep this for myself but this will be far more rewarding," the fade king said before crushing the amulet in his hand with inhuman strength. The treasure crumbled in his grip slowly, amber shards glinting in the sunlight as they trickled to the grass like a miniature waterfall. When it was properly destroyed, the fade king tossed what was left deep into the forest and smiled.
The smile fell when black smoke curled around his ghostly body. "N-no," he stuttered fearfully, milky eyes going wide and jaw coming unhinged. His loose teeth quaked in his mouth. "N-n-no I-I can't g-go back there!" He pointed a shaking finger at Arthur accusingly. Arthur sat up as the fade holding him suddenly dropped his arms and backed away in terror. "Y-you! Y-y-you!"
"Yes—me. I tricked you," Arthur stated grimly. "The unwashed king of Camelot tricked you into destroying the very token that allowed you to break free from your prison. Have fun in Hell."
The fade king gave an animalistic screech, raising his trembling fist above his head and stalking towards Arthur unsteadily as his followers vanished into clouds of smoke around him. Merlin went rigid as the fade king did so. Arthur suddenly seemed to realize that the fade king wasn't going to disappear before he reached him and tried to scramble away, but fell back to the ground, dizzy from being strangled. Merlin was whispering spells rapidly, but none of them seemed to have any affect on the fade king, who had only one thought running through his head: Kill Arthur Pendragon.
Merlin ran from his hiding spot and threw himself in front of Arthur, arms spread wide. PROTECT ARTHUR, his mind screamed. The fade king collided with the warlock, and as soon as their bodies touched, the fade exploded into smoke so black it would put the deepest recesses of the earth to shame. Simultaneously, a blinding golden light burst forth from Merlin's chest. It was like the sun had leaned down to kiss the forest. Merlin felt like he was encased in a giant ball of fire and wind.
When the smoke and the light were gone, Merlin collapsed to his knees, panting. Somehow, he managed to stay conscious.
"...Merlin?"
Arthur. Oh gods, Arthur.
Merlin quickly stood up and whirled around to face the king of Camelot. Arthur's face was one of pure shock and...fear. Fear of Merlin. The remaining knights were standing up slowly, all of them staring at the simple manservant—or what they had previously thought was a simple manservant. Their hands reached surreptitiously for their weapons.
"A-Arthur," Merlin stuttered. The rest of the words—Hey Arthur, I probably should have told you this earlier, I just didn't think it relevant at the time, but I'm a warlock!—got stuck in his throat.
"What...was that?" Arthur asked, enunciating his words, completely dumbfounded and still sprawled on the ground.
Merlin glanced nervously at the knights around them. Arthur didn't seem to notice—or care.
"Uh—uh, th-that...was you...defeating the fade king!" Merlin started off hesitantly, but finished exuberantly. This diversion tactic usually worked on the youngest Pendragon, which was rather sad, really.
"N-no. I'm pretty sure, it wasn't," Arthur stated firmly, holding up a gauntlet-clad finger. "That was—well, I don't know what that was. But what it wasn't was something you see every day—something normal—or something you can brush off."
Merlin deflated. Since when was Arthur observant?
"Sire," one knight interrupted, stepping forward. "If I may."
Arthur gestured for him to speak up.
The knight nodded. "Sire, the fade king said something about a sorcerer..."
Arthur's furrowed brow gained a new wrinkle at these words. He stood up slowly, teetering a bit, but managed to keep his feet and held up a placating hand to the knight that had rushed forward to help. "What are you getting at Sir Henry?" But before the knight could answer, Arthur continued. "Are you saying that Merlin—my trusted manservant—is a sorcerer?"
Merlin's heart soared a little bit at being called trusted—then promptly took a dive off a steep cliff at the accusation of being a sorcerer.
Sir Henry glanced at his comrades before replying. "Y-yes sire."
Arthur stared at his knights and manservant for an uncomfortably long time. Then, he let out a short laugh, completely dry and devoid of humor. "Sir Henry, we have all had a very long day. We have lost many good friends. Turning on one another so soon is no way to honor their memory."
Sir Henry straightened and searched for a reply for a few seconds, glancing between Merlin and Arthur. Coming to a decision, his posture slackened and he sighed softly. "Yes sire. You're right. I apologize."
"No harm done," Arthur replied kindly, but with a certain exhausted sternness. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again.
"Yes, king Arthur."
"We'll head back to Camelot come morning. You all deserve a long rest before we return home. Spread out and find a suitable campsite for the night. Bring the bodies of the dead with you, and someone go back for sir Kerrick, if you will. We'll give the dead a burial tonight."
One knight, who had been kneeling next to Sir Buton with his head to the man's chest, snapped up excitedly and exclaimed, "Sire! This one's alive!"
"He is?" Arthur asked sharply, voice cracking. He ran a hand through his hair and muttered, "Thank the gods for miracles." Louder, he ordered the knight, "Get medical supplies from the saddle bags as soon as you can find the horses and see what you can do for him. We want to keep him alive."
A knight ran over to help his comrade carry Sir Buton between them. The other knights had already disappeared, going about their set tasks. Merlin made to go help them, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He froze. The hand stayed there until the men carrying Sir Buton sank out of view.
"Merlin."
Merlin closed his eyes, waiting for the verdict.
The hand squeezed his shoulder gently. "Thank you."
Well. There you have it. Review please? *Puppy dog eyes*.