A/N I am already almost finished! Oh my gosh. Thank you Crossing-the-Rubicon, LadyoftheCity and Just Another Random Person11 for following, and shadonic25 for favoriting.
WibblyWobblyGirl- You deserve a shout out! Seriously. :)
BlueRoseRabbit- Merthur just kills me so much! I love them!
When Arthur finally rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill, he saw that the other man's mask had fallen off halfway down the hill, revealing the face of the manservant he had thought dead. Merlin edged over to the prince and smiled at him, his light blue eyes sparkling. "Are you okay? Can you move?" he asked.
Arthur reached up and stroked his love's cheek. "Move? You're alive; I could fly if you want."
Merlin and the prince embraced. "I told you I would always come for you." Merlin whispered, before pulling away. "Why didn't you wait for me?"
"I thought you were dead, Merlin." Arthur answered sincerely.
Merlin chuckled and cupped the prince's face in his hand. "Not even death can stop true love; it can only delay it for a little while."
Arthur smiled and pressed his forehead against his love's. "I'll never doubt it again."
"There will never be a need." Merlin whispered, before pressing a long, soft kiss to the prince's lips.
Morgana and her knights were riding up to the ridge when they saw the prince and his captor escape down the steep hill on the other side. "They must have seen us closing in," she reasoned "which would account for his panicking into error. They seem to be heading straight into the fire swamp." The knights all shifted uncomfortably, hoping they wouldn't follow the two men in. "We can cut them off on the other side when they come out."
"Do you believe they'll survive in there, sister?" Morgause asked, and the princess smirked.
"You saw the marks on the ground as well as I where he defeated the giant. He's a sorcerer. They'll survive."
Merlin and Arthur ran along the ravine floor into the nearby trees, and the pirate looked over his shoulder at their pursuers. He smiled. "Your fiancé is too late." He cheered. "A few more steps and we'll be safe in the fire swamp."
Arthur's eyes widened. "We'll never survive in there!"
"You're only saying that because no one ever has." Merlin chuckled confidently, raising his eyebrow at the prince.
The two trudged through the boggy terrain of the Fire Swamp, on guard against the dangers of the treacherous marsh.
"Hmm… it's not that bad in here." Merlin noted after a while, causing Arthur to look at him strangely. "Well I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here but the trees are actually quite lovely."
Arthur smiled and shook his head before walking slightly ahead of him. Suddenly, there was a loud popping sound and before the prince could react, fire shot from the ground, catching the sleeve of his shirt on fire.
Thinking fast, Merlin held his hand out over the flames and whispered something. His eyes flashed gold and the fire quickly died. He gently grabbed Arthur's arm and looked to make sure he was okay. "Well now, that was an adventure." He joked. "Singed a bit, were you?"
Arthur shook his head, still in a small state of shock. "You?" Merlin held his love's hand and kissed it.
"Never." He smiled.
They walked deeper into the swamp, avoiding the occasional geyser of flames. After pushing Arthur away from a geyser for a third time, he turned to the prince and drew his sword. "Well, one thing I will say; the fire swamp certainly does keep you on your toes. This will all soon be but a happy memory." He stated as he began to cut away some vines that blocked their path. "Cenred's ship Revenge is banked at the far end. And as you know I am Cenred."
"But how's that possible, since he's been marauding 20 years and you only left Camelot 5 years ago?"
"I was as surprised as you. See, what I told you before about saying please was true...it intrigued Cenred, as did my descriptions of you. Finally, Cenred decided something. He said, 'Alright Merlin, I've never had a manservant before; you can try if you'd like. I'll most likely to kill you in the morning.' For three years said that. 'Good night Merlin, good work, sleep well, I'll most likely to kill you in the morning.' All the while, I was learning to fence, fight, and use magic. And then it happened." He paused and pulled Arthur away from yet another geyser.
"Cenred had grown so rich, he wanted to retire." He continued. "He took me to his cabin and told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Cenred,' he said 'my name is Lancelot. I inherited this ship from the previous Dread Pirate Cenred, just as you will inherit it from me. The real Cenred had been retired 15 years and was living like a king in Nemeth.' He explained that the name was what was important for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Merlin. So we sailed ashore, took on an entirely new crew and I have been Cenred ever since." He stopped and looked lovingly into Arthur's eyes. "Except now that were together, I shall retire and hand the name over to someone else. Is everything clear to you?"
Arthur nodded, and Merlin's face lit up with happiness. He took a step forward and was abruptly sucked into the ground, dropping his sword.
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, looking for something he could use to help him. Grabbing Merlin's sword, the prince cut a vine and held on tightly to one end before jumping into the lightning sand after his love. For a few seconds, the swamp was completely silent. Then, the vine began to twitch and Arthur burst out of the sand, holding Merlin close. Both men began gasping for air as they laid out on the ground, coughing sand out of their lungs.
"We'll never succeed. We may as well die here." Arthur choked out. Merlin stood up and shook his head.
"We have already succeeded. I mean, what are the three terrors of the fire swamp? One," he held one finger up "the flame spurt - no problem there's a popping sound preceding each. We can avoid that. Two," he held up another finger "the lightning sand, which we were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future it can be avoided too."
"What about wilderen?"
Merlin chuckled. "I don't think they exis-"
Out of nowhere, a giant, hairless rat-creature pounced the sorcerer, biting into his shoulder. Merlin struggled against it as Arthur picked up the pirate's weapon and stabbed the rodent. It reared back in pain and moved to attack the prince. A popping sound came from Merlin's right and he used his magic to throw the wilderen towards it just as the flames shot up from the ground. The wilderen set on fire and squealed in pain, attempting to roll around and put out the flames. Merlin took his sword from Arthur and approached the beast, stabbing it out of its misery.
The two men looked at each other for a moment before laughing at the fact they were alive. Merlin pulled Arthur close and pressed his lips against the prince's temple, before taking his hand and leading him out of the swamp.
Arthur sighed with relief as he and Merlin walked out of the swamp intact. "We did it!" he cheered, and Merlin smiled smugly.
"Now, was that so terrible?"
Their joy was short lived as horses came galloping out of the trees, and they found themselves surrounded by the knights of Avalon, each with a crossbow aimed at them. Merlin held up his sword defensively and pushed Arthur behind him. Morgana rode up to the pair, closely followed by Morgause. She sneered at the pirate.
"Surrender." She ordered. Merlin held his hand to his chest.
"You wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept."
"I give you full marks for bravery. Don't make yourself a fool." The princess spat.
"Ah, but how will you capture us? We know the secrets of the fire swamp. We can live there happily for some time, so whenever you feel like dying, feel free to visit." Merlin threatened with a smirk as one of the knights let loose an arrow. Merlin easily cut the bolt in half with his sword and made to lunge at the princess, but Morgause's eyes flashed gold and his sword was thrown from his hand. He stepped back and put a protective arm around Arthur.
"I tell you once again, surrender!" Morgana demanded, clenching her jaw.
"Death first!" Merlin shouted, holding up his hand to use magic. Arthur looked around at the knights, weighing their options. He knew that, as skilled as Merlin was, even he could not face all of Morgana's knights and fend off Morgause's magic. They'd surely kill him, and Arthur couldn't let that happen.
"Will you promise not to hurt him?" the prince asked, drawing everyone's attention.
"What?" Morgana and Merlin asked in unison. Arthur stepped out of Merlin's defensive grip and stood before his fiancé.
"If we surrender, and I return with you, will you promise not to hurt Merlin?" Morgana nodded in response. "He is a sailor on the pirate ship Revenge. Promise that he will be returned to his ship."
Morgana smirked. "I promise."
Arthur turned to say goodbye to his love as Morgana leaned in to whisper orders to her sister.
"Once we're out of sight, take him and throw him in the Pit of Despair."
Morgause smiled evilly. "Of course, sister."
Merlin looked sadly at Arthur, who had tears running down his cheeks. "I thought you were dead once, and it almost destroyed me." the prince stated, biting his lip to hold in more tears. "I could not bear it if you died again, not when I could save you." He reached out and stroked Merlin's cheek before a knight approached and escorted Arthur to a nearby horse. The party rode off, leaving Merlin alone with Morgause and two other knights.
"Come, Merlin." Morgause beckoned. "We will take you back to your ship."
Merlin turned and stared at her coldly. "We are both people of action. Lies do not become us."
"Very well said." She sneered and motioned for the two knights to grab him.
"You're a sorceress, right? Someone I know was looking for you." The pirate chucked, before being knocked unconscious by one of the knights.
A/N Merlin is now captured and Arthur is being forced to marry Morgana! What will happen next?! (Well, if you've seen the movie, you know.) Please review!