A/N: Sorry this has taken so long! Been really busy. Here's chapter 2! Apologies for any military terms incorrectness.

Disclaimer: I own… none of Merlin. Or much else

Chapter 2

I had been living with Mrs Stewart for nearly 3 months when I saw the posters. 'Your country needs YOU' they proclaimed and as my sense of valour and duty was ever intact, I decided to sign up for the war effort. I may not have looked strong but I'd had years of weapons practice (First thousand years or so, I didn't go very far and spent a lot of time alone practicing) and I was stronger than I looked. I passed all the tests with ease and was awarded the title Captain Merlin Emrys which was nice. (I had never been a Captain before. Sir, Earl, Lord, General, Magician, Alchemist etc. etc. etc. but never a Captain) I was sent over to France along with four other Captains, ready for an advance on the German troops. Shaking hands with the General as we left, Captain Hudson and I got onto the same boat. Captain Hudson was a young good-looking man, aged about 24. He had bright green eyes and unruly black hair which framed a smile that could have brightened anyone's day. I liked him.

"Merlin!" he yelled. "Ready t' 'ake on those Germans?"

"You bet, buddy!" The ship shifted forward and we both grabbed hold and gazed out into the dark horizon. When we reached the shore, we were told to go to the Field Marshall's office. Field Marshall Brown was a tall, thin man with a riotous greying beard and sharp fast eyes that sparked with life. He walked with a slight limp, obviously owing to previous front line military service. He paced up and down in front of us, making us nervous. Eventually, he stopped pacing and glared at us all.

"This is war, boys. We want this over by Christmas so there is no time for messing around. You're not kids anymore; you're Captains in the British army! Deal with it and everything that anyone throws your way! It's your job to look after these men and get them in line. Anything happens within your ranks, it's up to you to deal with it. Nobody's gonna help you out here, sonny Jim, so get your head straight now! Any questions?"

Silence smothered the room. The four of us stood stock-still. Field Marshall Brown nodded and gave each of us a piece of paper.

"Your troops. Your family now so look after them." I read the names of the privates who had been assigned to my care and an overwhelming feeling of responsibility crushed me. We were dismissed and a soldier showed Captain Hudson and me to our camps. (The camps were next to each other) I nodded to him as we split up. All 100 of my men were lined up and I took a breath in. They were all looking to me for guidance… and I would give it to them.

"This war cannot go on forever. We can put an end to this devilry once and for all. Don't ever forget who your friends are because out here, they're all you've got. Each one of you should call the others friends and I will have no arguing here. You're all brothers now and I am one of you too. We can survive this war if we stick together! Yes, we may be only 100 men and yes, the Germans may outnumber us but we have pride in our country and our friends. So when we fight, we fight not for ourselves or because we're told to, we fight for Britain! We fight for the King! But most of all, we fight for freedom!"

"For freedom!" they echoed, punching the air. "For freedom! For freedom! For freedom!"

I grinned, impressed with my men. When the euphoria had died a little, I set up a guard duty rota and told the other men to get some rest. Dismissed, the men went about their jobs without complaint and I retreated to my bunk. I sat on my bed and thought. I thought about Arthur and how I had spent 9000 years just waiting… waiting for him. But now I was doing some good. (I had done good stuff before but it didn't seem quite as realistic as facing machine guns alongside equals) There was a knock on the door and Captain Hudson entered.

"Joe," I greeted him warmly. "What's going on?" Joe looked back towards the door with a slight smile.

"You go' 'em all fired up. Whatcha do?"

"Speeches, my dear friend. Just give them a good speech and they'll listen to your every word." Joe pursed his lips.

"But I can' make speeches. I go' stage frigh'," he complained.

"Then lead by example! Put yourself forward and make sacrifices. So long as you don't get killed. You've the only friend I've got…" I trailed off.

"Don' cha worry. I'll be around much longer than ya think kiddo"

"You better be." Joe smirked and left but as he did so, he called over his shoulder,

"Oi, Merlin! General wan' ya tomorro. 8:30 on the do'."

"Got it!" I yelled back. I waited for a couple of seconds, then stuck my head out of the door and asked the nearest solider in my troops to come over. He trotted over.

"What's your name, son?" I asked.

"Robert, sir. Robert Clarke."

"Well, then Robert. I would like you to stand guard outside my door tonight and wake me at 7:30 if I'm not already awake. Got that?"

"Yes sir. Thank you for ch-" I raised a hand.

"It's fine, Robert. Oh, I don't let anyone in unless it's an emergency."

"Will do, sir."

"Goodnight Robert."

"Goodnight sir." I got into the bunk and allowed myself to drift off into oblivion.

I awoke at 7:30 to sound of Robert knocking on the door.

"Sir? Sir, it's 7:30."

"Thank you, Robert," I said groggily. "Go get some sleep."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." I heard him walk away and then I got myself ready to meet the General.

By 8:15, I was ready and I began the longish trudge to the General's office. Unusually, I was the only person there except his secretary-like figure. The man took one glance at me and nodded to the door.

"The General will see you now." I walked into the room quietly, awaiting instruction from the tall, well-built blonde haired man that stood with his back to me at the other side of the room.

"Name?" his voice was deep and commanding, clearly that of a young man but one who is used to handing out orders.

"Captain Merlin Emrys, sir." I snapped to attention as the General turned around. His cobalt-blue eyes seared into mine and I gasped slightly.

"Arthur?"