"Did you hear what happened to Ealdor a couple months back?" A man with light brown shaggy hair asked the bartender in the tavern of a village just short of the border between Essetir and Camelot. The bartender leaned forward and whispered to the man who had asked him the question.
"Everyone has heard of the incident." The bartender said looking around conspiratorially. "They say a group of bandits killed nearly everyone in the village and nearly destroyed everything, but all of them were killed singlehandedly by a boy no older than sixteen. King Cenred has put a bounty on the boy as in the months since Ealdor the boy has been spotted destroying mercenary and bandit camps that have been terrorizing towns and villages." The man scoffed and looked around.
"Why would the king put a bounty on him then? Shouldn't he be appreciative that this boy is protecting his kingdom?" The man asked curiously. The bartender was now sure the man was not from Essetir, but answered his question nonetheless.
"Word has it the king has arrangements with the bandits and mercenaries. And then he could also just fear this boy killing him." The bartender said silently. The bartender then put his finger on his chin thinking about it for a second. "My guess is that it is both. Already dozens of villages are looking up to this boy and they even follow him in a revolt against the king and since the boy is supposedly taking out Cenred's men then he will have an easier time I would assume." The man said thoughtfully causing the man sitting a couple stools to laugh boisterously. The man was quite attractive with medium length dark brown hair.
"One boy against an entire kingdom, I highly doubt it." The man said mockingly. "I'm sure your rumors are mere exaggerations." The bartender looked at the man he had been talking to before setting his eyes on this new man who downed his tankard of mead. All three men were caught off-guard when they heard a girl scream. They all turned to see one of the waitresses forced onto a table by a rough group of mercenaries.
"Oh don't struggle puppet, the king pays us quite well and we might throw a few coins your way if you behave." The grotesque mercenary said before he licked the side of the woman's face disgustingly. The man with light brown hair jumped from his seat and gripped the sword on his waist, but the bartender's hand grabbed his shoulder. He looked at the man with a glare.
"Don't get involved." The bartender said as he nodded towards the group. The man looked at them and noticed that there were twenty man laughing and hollering profanities to the group of mercenaries. "They are one of Cenred's battalion of mercenaries. There are probably more outside." The bartender said sadly. The dark brown haired man slammed his tankard on the bar causing both men to look at him curiously, but all three men looked back at the group of mercenaries to see the one that was pinning the waitress on the ground unconscious and a man wearing a cloaked hood standing above him with the waitress behind him protectively. The three of them watched in baited silence as all the mercenaries rose from their seats snarls adorning their features. The hooded figure turned his head slightly and whispered something to the waitress to which she nodded and ran behind the bar before the first mercenary jumped at the hooded figure that was not caught off-guard. He slammed his hand into the man's chest and he fell to his knees gasping for breath before the hooded figure kneed him in the chin knocking him unconscious. He didn't wait for another attack and ran at the closest mercenary and grabbed him by his throat and slammed him into the ground breaking his neck by the force. The group broke out of their reverie and began attacking the hooded figure not matching him in skill, but overpowering him in numbers.
One of the mercenaries was knocked towards the bar and the dark brown haired man knocked him out with his tankard and looked around with a smile on his face. "Now that is a way to have a good time!" He yelled before he jumped into the fight helping the hooded figure. The light brown haired man frowned before he too entered the fray. The bartender watched in amazement. The two men he had been talking to were extremely skilled with the way they moved and fought, the hooded figure may not have been as skillful, but his sheer power was decimating the mercenary group. It took only moments for all the mercenaries to be either knocked out or killed by the three men who were breathing heavily.
"Who are you?" The bartender asked the three men. The dark haired man grinned while the lighter brown haired man merely looked down sheepishly; the hooded figure looked away from the bartender instead looking around to make sure there was no further threat.
"The name's Gwaine!" The dark brown haired man grinned and looked at his brawling partners.
"I am Leon, a knight of Camelot." The lighter brown haired man said surprising those that were still conscious. He didn't think it mattered to keep his identity secret no longer as the town they were at was obviously not in favor of Cenred. Gwaine looked at him with an annoyed expression before turning to the hooded figure who had not said anything. Leon turned to the figure as well expecting some kind of explanation as to why the man had entered into a fight with twenty or so mercenaries by himself. The figure noticed all eyes were on him so he turned to everyone and lowered his hood which caused the bartender to gasp in shock.
"It's you! Merlin Ambrosius, the boy from Ealdor." The bartender said shocking Leon and Gwaine. Merlin rubbed the back of his neck as everyone was looking at him in a scrutinizing manner.
"You are merely a boy." Leon said his voice laced with surprise. He had assumed he had been fighting with a veteran the way the boy fought. Gwaine was still sizing Merlin up when the boy spoke.
"I'm sorry for any damage that has been caused, but I must leave." Merlin said bowing his head slightly and grabbed a pack that he had discarded before the fight and quickly left before anyone could say anything. Leon didn't know what to do, he was sent to this town to ascertain information about what was going on in Essetir and he had succeeded, but he was puzzled about the boy and how well he fought and where all his strength had come from. He looked over to the other man that he had fought with only to see that he was gone as well. He sighed before he walked over to the bartender and placed a bag of coins onto the bar and bid his goodbye. His mission was complete and he had to report to his king.
Merlin sat on a log while he looked at the fire in front of him. He was contemplating what had happened today and sighed realizing that he would probably be in even more trouble now. He heard rustling behind him and jumped from his seat spinning around to see who was there. He was confused to see Gwaine standing there with his hands up in a placating manner. "I'm not here to fight." Gwaine said in a calm manner. Merlin merely nodded and let the man walk passed him as he took his seat once more never letting his eyes fall from his intruder. Gwaine sat down opposite of Merlin and looked at him through the fire. "I saw your eyes during the fight. You were using magic." Gwaine said in a way that meant no harm or accusation, just stating a fact.
"I was." Merlin stated matter-of-factly. Gwaine narrowed his eyes.
"I never saw you speak an incantation." Gwaine said. "I don't claim to be an expert on sorcery, but from what I know you must use a spell to use magic which requires an incantation and magic takes a lifetime to master. So how is it that you fought with magic so easily without uttering a single word?" He asked quite curious with Merlin's response.
"I don't know any spells." Merlin said softly. "I just… have magic. I've been able to use it for as long as I can remember."
"Really?" Gwaine asked rubbing his chin. Merlin sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know why, but he felt comfortable around this man.
"I can move things just by concentrating on them." Merlin said and to emphasize his point he lifted his hand towards a stick on the ground and it flew into his hand easily surprising Gwaine. "I can also slow everything down, but not really slowing it down." He noticed Gwaine's confusion at his statement. "It's like everything is moving slower to me, but I guess everyone else doesn't notice. Like it only affects me."
"So let's say in a fight if someone swings a sword at you, you can see it moving slowly so you could dodge it easily?" Gwaine asked trying to figure out Merlin's ability.
"I suppose that is a way to say it." Merlin said with a grin. "For the last few months I've found that I can use my magic to make me physically stronger and faster. If I focus enough I could even throw a man across a room." Merlin said amazing Gwaine.
"The question now is what you intend to do with your magic?" Gwaine asked staring intently at Merlin awaiting his response. Merlin for his part looked at the man confused.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You have magic, you are fairly good with it, I mean it gave you a huge advantage over twenty men." Gwaine stated. "So what do you intend to do with all that power?" Gwaine asked suspiciously, secretly holding the hilt of his sword. Merlin looked directly into the flame in front of him. He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.
"I want to use my magic for good." Merlin began causing Gwaine to remove his hand from the hilt of his sword. "Everywhere I go I see people in need of help and no one standing up against the oppression around them. I think that is why I have magic; to prevent the pain of loss I have felt at the hands of that same oppression. No one should feel that kind of suffering, to lose your family and not able to do anything about it. The people need help and I intend to help them no matter the cost to me." Gwaine looked at Merlin through the flame a new look adorning his features, a look of awe and respect. He had always come to the understanding that power corrupts and the boy, no man, before him had more power than many and yet he was willing to lay his life and happiness on the line to help those that couldn't help themselves.
"That is very noble of you." Gwaine said and smirked at his thoughts before he told them to Merlin. "Nobler than any 'nobleman' I have ever heard of." Merlin shook his head trying to deny it, but caught Gwaine's look of adoration and just sighed in acceptance. Gwaine smirked as he looked at the flame the only thought running through his head was how he felt Merlin was nothing short of great.
A/N: And that was the newest chapter. I hope everyone liked it and I'm not even going to pretend that I tried t keep anyone in character. I may have I may not have, I just hope you guys liked it. I want to thank those that are now following this story, it really lifts my spirits seeing that people are interested enough to give it a chance. ANd now I'm off to work on this story a bit more. Enjoy your reading and/or writing endeavors and I'll post the next chapter no later than Tuesday! Caio!
