Destiny
The panic in Merlin's chest rose to a crescendo as he darted towards the body, but as he got closer, he could see a mop of dark hair on top of an enormous man. Recognising the body as one of the guards Merlin jumped to his feet and carried on looking, surprised to find his vision blurred by tears. Hastily brushing them away, Merlin heard something and spun around.
"Arthur? Are you there? It's me, Merl-" Merlin broke off as he saw Arthur emerge from behind a tree. He looked different somehow, he stood taller, his floppy hair seemed less messy, his sword was an extension of his arm; he looked like a king.
"Yes I know it's you Merlin- I'd recognise that irritating tone anywhere" The illusion was broken. It was the same old Arthur walking cockily towards Merlin. Arthur smiled and rested his hand on Merlin's shoulder.
"Seriously though, I'm glad you're alright Merlin" Arthur smiled.
"And you." Merlin smiled back at the prince. "The same cant be said for him though." Merlin indicated the body to his left and Arthur chuckled.
"Yes, well it worked, after I killed him the others all ran away, strange though, I didn't mean to kill him, but this sword-" Arthur broke off, looking thoughtfully at the sword he was still holding.
"About that-"Merlin started but he was interrupted.
"So how did you find me? I turned around last night and you'd disappeared. I was going to head back to Camelot once it got light and send out a search party only; it appears that I'm a bit lost."
Merlin grinned. "What's this? Arthur Pendragon admitting he is wrong? I must be dreaming-"
Arthur gave Merlin a dangerous look but then punched him playfully on the arm "Ok fine, have it your way, I was trying to be polite and act as if I care but if that's how you want it? I couldn't care less" Arthur started to walk away from Merlin back into the clearing. Merlin ran after him.
"Where exactly do you think you're going? I thought we were lost?" Merlin enquired searching the forest for anything that might reveal where they were.
"We are Merlin, but unlike you, I have been trained to get my self out of tricky situations, its sort of a required skill when you're king." Arthur knelt down beside the body and rolled it over onto its back.
"See Merlin, judging by this man's uniform, we are currently in what used to be Cenrid's kingdom, which is to the west of Camelot." Arthur stood up and pointed to the sun "And the sun rises in the east, so we need to be travelling that way"
Merlin stared at Arthur, who smiled, smugly and started walking again, Excalibur swinging by his side in time to his strides. Merlin knew that in order to find out why Arthur had pulled the sword out of the stone so easily and why in doing so, had caused Merlin's magic to disappear, Merlin would have to speak to the Great Dragon. Wondering anxiously whether he would still be able to call Kilgharrah without his magic, Merlin caught up with Arthur.
Wondering how to approach the subject of Excalibur, Merlin decided it was best to act dumb for now.
"So that sword, lucky it was there!" He said casually, now walking in time with Arthur.
"Hmm, yes I suppose, although-"The Prince trailed off looking slightly self-conscious.
"Although?" Merlin prompted, intrigued by Arthur's response.
"Well, it's just. I don't know, but it would be a pretty big coincidence that we just 'found' a sword in the middle of a forest; and-well, what if I was supposed to find it?" Arthur was avoiding Merlin's eye contact. "Well now that I have the sword, it feels as though it was meant to be."
Merlin paused, unsure whether now was the time to tell him about his gift and about how their destinies were entwined, then he spoke. "You mean, like it was destiny?"
Arthur turned to face him, his eyes wide. "Yes- exactly!"
I'm not very good at speech and there seems to be a lot of it in this chapter, so sorry about that, I'm working on it I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.
