They pushed hard and reached Ealdor within a day and a half. Hunith had tried to persuade Raina and Matthew to stay for longer, to rest, but they were anxious to get back, their loved ones still remained at the mercy of Kanen. As they rode closer to the village a scream travelled on the air towards them. Merlin jerked the horse to a halt, his eyes widening. There were crashes now, other screams and yells, and the sound of horses. He turned to Cyranus, who rode slightly behind him, on Merlin's left.
"Take half the men and circle round. Come in from the other end of the village."
Cyranus nodded, waving at the group of men behind him, who separated as commanded. The rest lingered behind Merlin. Merlin glanced at Matthew and Raina.
"Stay here," he ordered them. "You two, stay with them," he ordered two of the soldiers. Both of them nodded, dismounting off the horses and helping Matthew and Raina down, guiding them clear of the road. Merlin kicked his own horse, sending it flying forward, and the remaining four men, plus Percival thundered after him. He took the main road down into the village, not bothering to be subtle about it. Cyranus could do that when the raiders scattered. Merlin urged his horse on, running into the village. The first raider he met Merlin slashed in the neck, knocking the man down and leaving him bleeding on the ground. He pulled up his horse and gazed around. Percival did the same, his intention to stay as close to Merlin as he could. At a signal from Merlin two of the men dismounted, the rest stayed on horseback, to match the raiders. Merlin urged his horse forward, into the centre of the village. The people of Ealdor had scattered, and the raiders had no choice but to let them run, they were suddenly facing another threat.
The group in the centre of the small cluster of huts turned. Merlin glared at them, but a quick sweep told him, it was not the entire band of raiders. There were twenty or so in the village. Perhaps they hadn't though them much of a threat, not now they had slaughtered the village leader, Randolph, the first of the elderly to be killed. Raina's husband, Matthew's father, the people that had thought their last resort was to struggle across the kingdom and ask for help. They had gone to seek out someone they had not seen for years, knowing that Hunith might be the only person that could help.
A surge of white hot fury went through Merlin. This was part of his kingdom, for half of his life he had been taught about it, and what his responsibility was towards it. His magic rippled under his skin, and so did something else. Merlin clamped his legs around his horse's sides and the beast under him, Blaze, Stripy's son, reacted, throwing his head. Merlin tightened his grip on the reins, but not to keep the horse under control, that was the last thing he wanted.
Like his sire, Blaze was a damn good warhorse, he saw what was needed and as Merlin urged him on, Blaze thundered into the battle. Nothing would touch him, Merlin threw up the defences that Iseldir had taught him years ago and he crashed through a cluster of raiders. Two went down under the horses' feet. One died as Merlin's sword sliced across his chest. Merlin swung his leg over, dropping to the ground and turning the horse so he left the field. Blaze cantered off, pausing by the edge of the village and he peaceably dropped his head to a grass verge and started to graze, the sounds of battle not disturbing him one iota. His ears moved, keeping track of the noise, and if Merlin called he would come, if someone advanced on him Blaze would deal with it. But for the moment, there was nice lush grass, and that had the horse's attention.
Merlin sensed Percival at his back as four more men ran at them. Percival went right, Merlin left, swords clashing, the sound ringing in the air. But the raiders were no match for them. Merlin killed one within seconds, and then his eyes flashed gold. The last man staggered, flinching as his sword became too hot to hold, and he couldn't help but drop it. Merlin paused, waiting until the raider looked up, and he stepped away, back-peddling from Merlin, but it was too late. Merlin sliced his sword through the man's ribs and dismissed him as he fell to the ground.
Cyranus had sprung in from the far end, forcing the raiders back into the village, they were chasing them now, running them down. Merlin turned at the sound of a scream. He ran towards the cottage and saw a woman and two children running away, towards the woods. Merlin ran in their direction, indicating to Percival to circle around the small little hut.
Merlin tracked the other way sword raised intending to meet whoever it was head on. His blood was up, and he couldn't kill everyone. Not all of Kanen's force was in the village, by the look of it. Merlin needed someone who could guide him to the rest. He didn't think any of the raiders would act with much loyalty but Merlin could get the information one way or another. He needed to pin one of them down.
However, as he circled and met the raider, he paused, frowning as he stared at a familiar face. There was a body of another raider on the ground, and Lancelot's sword dripped with blood. He lowered the weapon as he saw Merlin, looking just as confused as he stared at the prince.
"My Lord?" Lancelot said. Merlin's frown deepened. The sounds of the battle were slowly fading. The raiders were on the run, but none of them were getting far. Merlin's men had circled the village, effectively hemming them in. The skirmish had lasted less than ten minutes. It was an easy victory for Merlin's men. He could have felt quite proud of himself, but for the moment, all he felt was baffled.
Lancelot backed up, clearly having no intention of fighting Merlin. He glanced down at the body by his feet, and a realisation came to Merlin that it was Lancelot who had killed him. Before either of them could react further, Percival appeared from the other side, and a moment later Lancelot's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground as Percival neatly bashed him on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword. He stared at Lancelot's crumpled form and then looked up at Merlin.
"What's he doing here?" Percival asked.
"That's something I think we need to find out."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Lancelot woke to a throbbing headache and an inability to move. A swift assessment told him that his hands were tied behind his back, his ankles were lashed together and he was gagged. Blinking slowly he brought his vision into focus. Since the knot of pain was low on the back of his head and just a little behind his right ear, he assumed that someone had knocked him out.
Looking around he realised he was in one of the village stables. He lay in the straw, and inhaling carefully he picked up the scent of pigs. It did nothing to quell the slight nausea he was feeling and he lowered his head again, hoping that he wasn't actually lying in anything horrible. He eased out a low breath and listened as he heard someone stirring behind him.
"Looks like he's woken up," a voice announced.
Lancelot supposed he could have turned around to see what was going on in the doorway, but the state of his head made him think that moving too much probably was not a good idea. In the end, he got no choice in the matter, someone grabbed him by the neck of his tunic, and lifted him, shifting him so he was sat up. Whoever it was, then put their boot on his shoulder to keep him upright. Glancing up he didn't need full focus to identify Percival. The figure was too tall and broad to be anyone else. Lancelot cleared his vision again as someone crouched in front of him. The figure was Merlin, looking Lancelot up and down steadily. The blue eyes were unreadable as Merlin assessed him. Since he was still gagged Lancelot couldn't say anything, all he could do was wait. Merlin toyed with a dagger, the one that perfectly matched his sword. Both of them had been a sixteenth birthday present from Cenred, especially made for him.
Merlin had noticed that, Cenred often gave him weapons, and horses. Hunith contrasted with clothes and books. Merlin had long ago learnt to balance the two, which was why Percival knew that Merlin hadn't been about to kill Lancelot, and so had knocked him out.
It took a lot of Lancelot's effort to stay still under that impenetrable gaze, but he did so, and met it. Only flinching as Merlin lifted the knife, bringing it up to Lancelot's face. He slid the blade between Lancelot's cheek and the material of the gag. Merlin performed the procedure very slowly, eyes on Lancelot as he gauged the reaction. It wasn't the simplest of ways to remove the gag, but Merlin had a purpose to everything he did. He watched Lancelot's reaction to the proximity of the knife, and actually felt quite impressed that Lancelot didn't flicker while he cut the material. Merlin pulled the gag clear and dropped it into the straw, sheathing the knife carefully into his boot.
"I'm sure there's a very good explanation as to why you were with those bandits," Merlin said calmly. "Several of the villagers identified you."
Opinions had ranged a little, regarding Lancelot.
"You helped the woman and her children."
Lancelot nodded. "He intended to slaughter the children and take the woman."
"So you killed him."
"I've killed four of them so far."
Merlin raised his eyebrows. "And did you think they weren't going to notice. What were you really doing?"
"Raiders killed my family when I was young."
"So becoming one became your life's ambition."
"They didn't give me much choice at the time, when I ran into Kanen. At least if I stayed with them, got them to trust me, I could…"
"What?" Merlin asked. "Kill them all one by one?"
"I thought if I was patient enough, then I could get close to Kanen and if I killed him."
"One of the others would just take his place, any potential alpha dogs would probably scrap over the privilege but one would come out on top in the end. What would you do then? Start making another plan."
Lancelot blinked. "If I had to."
"Unless of course you got yourself killed in the process. Did you hurt any of the villagers?"
"I didn't kill any of them," Lancelot said.
"No, you just left that to others," Merlin snapped. "And you didn't answer the question. Did you hurt any of them?"
The prince watched as Lancelot hesitated. Percival prodded Lancelot's shoulder with his foot, in a hint to answer. Trapped between Merlin and Percival Lancelot guessed that probably honesty was his best policy.
"I joined in the attack, but I didn't use a weapon against anyone, only my fist, and none of the women and children."
"Very admirable," Merlin said, his voice hardening with a trace of sarcasm.
"I did my best," Lancelot said, not sounding even the least bit insulted by Merlin's tone.
"There was only eighteen of you in the village, and none of them Kanen. They'll all dead now," Merlin added conversationally, he most certainly wasn't going to care about them. "Except you."
Lancelot said nothing to that. He didn't really feel like finding out why Merlin had saved him. Judging by the look on Merlin's face it wasn't out of the kindness of his heart. Percival gave him another nudge.
"You could at least be grateful," he informed Lancelot. Merlin didn't react to the interruption, he just continued to stare at Lancelot. Lancelot looked back.
"I'm not sure if I ought to be," Lancelot said, earning himself a cuff around the head from Percival. Merlin's eyes lifted.
"Enough," he ordered Percival, who shifted his foot a little, but he didn't do or say anything more.
"Where's Kanen? And how many men does he have remaining?" Merlin asked.
"Twenty-four. They were scouting the surrounding area, there are two more villages south of here, he was hoping to spread further, establish himself and then move beyond the ridge."
Merlin raised his eyebrows.
"That would take him over the boarder into Camelot," Percival said to Merlin. Merlin's jaw tensed, and he debated the outcome of that scenario.
"He's trying to establish himself permanently here?" Merlin asked. Lancelot nodded.
"Presumably he's camped somewhere nearby, he hasn't been using the village as a base."
"He moves around a little, until he finds somewhere to set up, he's camped half a days ride from here."
"Is he expecting this force back there?"
Lancelot nodded. Merlin smiled, lighting his eyes, but not in a friendly manner.
"You can lead the way then, can't you?" Merlin said.
"My Lord, that will take us close to the boarder," Cyranus commented from the doorway. Lancelot didn't bother to turn his head. It was hurting too much for him to really want to bother. Merlin did, pondering for a minute.
"What are the chances of coming into contact with a Camelot patrol?"
"It is unlikely Sire," Cyranus confessed.
"But if we do?"
"I'm fairly certain, considering the circumstances of the situation, we can handle it."
Merlin glanced back at Lancelot, and his eyes flashed gold for a brief moment. As that happened Lancelot felt the ropes around his wrists and ankles loosen, and Percival, with one last shove removed the support. Lancelot pitched sideways, landing a little heavily but he took a deep breath, steadying himself. The moment he had done that he slowly started to get to his feet. Merlin straightened up, taking a step back to give Lancelot room. Neither Merlin nor Percival made any attempt to help him.
He staggered a little as he steadied himself and then waited. Percival grabbed his shoulder and propelled him towards the door. Lancelot stumbled, his stomach churning a little as the pain in his head increased. It was only Percival's grip that kept him upright.
"I think you hit him a little too hard," Cyranus told Percival.
"Sorry," Percival said.
It wasn't lost on anyone that the apology was directed solely at Merlin.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The camp had only eight men in it, and they were easily dispatched. Merlin kept one alive long enough to work out where the rest of them might be. Lancelot helped as well, although he was starting to look a little pale, his skin almost veering into green. Merlin felt a little concerned about the blow to the head that Percival had given him. So much so, he had put his palm on the lump which adorned the back of Lancelot's skull and put the most powerful healing spell he knew to it.
Lancelot looked a little better after that, but Merlin knew the best thing would have been to let Lancelot rest, but Merlin didn't want him out of his sight. They had started to slowly spread out into small groups, moving easily through the forest. They had left a handful of men in Ealdor, just in case, but the rest of the bandits appeared to be tracking south, away from the small village. Kanen probably wasn't expecting any resistance, and certainly not a contingent of the King's best men.
"Even if we can't locate them all today Sire, I think we have damaged the force enough to dispel them," Cyranus said.
"But if we leave, they may return to Ealdor."
"Several of the men can stay. In actual fact, the only one who does need to return to the castle within a few days is you, My Lord. Should myself and the rest of the men need to stay longer we can do."
Merlin turned to stare at him. He didn't trust Cyranus an inch, he never had since he had encountered the soldier when he was a child and he and Hunith had first arrived at the castle. Now, the captain looked back at him, his expression calm, and Merlin knew he would do exactly what he was ordered to do.
He didn't have long to contemplate the thought that perhaps things, perceptions, had changed, because there was the sound of a scream. It was distinctly one of fear, and distinctly childlike. In a split second, Merlin was up and running. Percival, Cyranus and the group of soldiers tearing along behind him, trying to keep up and Merlin shot off through the trees, in the direction of the call.
