Chapter 9: The Fight

The sun was setting when their enemies finally arrived. The King was the first one to see them. He wasn't alerted by any sound, no. It looked more like he suddenly felt the urge to turn his head, expecting to find something in that direction. Like a link existed between him and his warlock, greater than their joined destinies. Friendship. The deepest, most soul binding, loyal kind of friendship, a bond forged through years of saving each other's lives and being there for one another.

The long procession of soldiers, escorting the three carriages slowly, came in clear view.

And there, on the first carriage, was the sacrifice.

It was a tall, metal contraption that held him there. Like a stake, but his hands were tied high above his head and not behind his back, keeping him hanging, barely touching the wood under his feet. Bright silver chains glistened in the last sunrays falling on the tormented body. He looked pale and had many marks mar his face and bare arms. His clothes were torn and full of dark stains, a clear sign of blood. But the worse were his eyes.

His eyes were open. He was actually awake and fully aware.

From his point of view, Arthur barely saw the captured warlock. He had just recognized a familiar form before he was hidden by the surrounding soldiers. But the look of disbelieve and utter fear that passed from Merlin's face told him all he needed to know of the direness of the man's predicament.

The long convoy stopped and Morgana stepped out of the second carriage. She wore a long black cloak that covered most of her other -also black- attire.

Walking triumphantly to the Court Sorcerer she raised her hand and uttered a spell. The contraption where Lord Merlin -Emrys- was hanging from moved from the carriage and landed ungracefully on the boat. Morgana then joined in with four more men, filling the boat completely.

The lifting of his metal-binding caused a reaction from the captured man. He began twisting and fighting in his chains, in a vain effort to escape. Morgana responded at this with a cold laughter. Lord Merlin stilled and then his eyes flashed gold, causing the chains that held him to shake. Morgana wasn't laughing now. She threw him an icy glare and motioned to the boatman to set sail.

Merlin muttered a spell under his breath. It was to create an illusion to help them move as close as they could to their target. They waited until the other boat was far from the shore and then moved, with Arthur preparing for a jump. Their intent was for Merlin to at least distract Morgana for as long as he could, while Arthur was attempting to free the prisoner.

A few minutes passed until they finally got close enough. Merlin took a deep breath to prepare himself. This is it. He acted before he had time to think twice. This was the only way to save Lord Merlin.

He dropped the illusion when they came right next to Morgana's boat and immediately attacked her with a surge of magic force. So big was its power that it even managed to break the chain from which the captive hung, making him collapse. Arthur wasted no time, jumping into the other boat in a swift motion, hand holding out his sword. He grabbed the fragile form of Lord Merlin and it all happened so quickly that none of the other men had time to react. Arthur rose to his feet and readied to throw Lord Merlin on their boat.

He almost made it.

The blow came so suddenly that he didn't have time to hold on to Lord Merlin, letting the tortured man fall into the lake, some chains still around his beaten body. For a moment that seemed eternal, Arthur froze. Then coming quickly to his senses, he jumped in after him, diving and praying he would be able to see in the -now dark- waters.

The lake was cold as ice. He had an indescribable feeling of disorientation and the déjà vu of a dreadful, otherworldly darkness engulfing him. All of a sudden, the water around him lightened with an orange gold glow that originated from the surface.

Fire.

Magic.

He saw a dark figure floating a little lower, and reached.


Merlin didn't know what had happened to Arthur or Lord Merlin. He was too busy fighting off fireballs and flaming arrows from Morgana and her minions alike. He tried for his counteractions to be instinctive, to not think, just act, like he was told, while struggling not to lose his balance and fall in the black waters. He was doing quite well, until he felt an abrupt pain in his left shoulder and reached out to find he was struck by an arrow.

It had come from the direction of the shore.

There, on the shore of the lake, King Arthur and the others were engaged in close combat, trying to destroy the enemy's soldiers. It looked like they were joined by many men in Camelot's colors, the knights' search parties coming to their aid. But the enemy's sorcerers where many and seemed to have conjured some short of dark creatures that attacked the knights, breaking their defenses slowly but steadily. Some enemy soldiers were aiming at Merlin on the boat, using their crossbows in an attempt to take him down. One obviously had hit his target.

Morgana saw her chance and reacted, throwing a bolt of ice at him, aimed to kill. He had no time to do anything but dive in the waters to avoid being hit. He rose to the surface, taking deep breaths. His vision had begun darkening from the blood loss from his wound and from all the exhaustion his excessive use of magic had caused him.

It ached him to think. He didn't want to believe it.

They had failed.

Darkness finally claimed him.


He felt he was being pulled amidst panicked voices, a loud ring buzzing in his head, then dragged on a rocky surface and finally thrown on to something moving, a person. He started seeing again, dark motions and white flashes. He couldn't understand where the ground was. Over his head… underneath him… It was moving constantly.

He passed out for a second time.


When he woke up, it was almost dawn.

"He's awake," he heard a voice, behind him.

"Merlin? Can you hear me?"

Arthur's voice.

Merlin sat up carefully. He took notice that his left shoulder was stiff, his arm bound tightly with a rough cloth. That's right, last night he was shot with an arrow. Last night… oh. Oh, no.

"Arthur…" he raised his eyes expecting to see his friend. However he was met with the older King, concern written clearly in his face. "Where's Arthur? Arthur… ARTHUR!" he started panicking…

"Try to be quiet, Merlin," came another familiar voice from behind. "You won't be helping anybody passing out again."

Sir Leon. He turned his head and looked at the men close to him. They were his friends, all the knights that came from the past with him, and the King. They all looked hurt in different degrees, nothing too serious though. But what unnerved him was their faces. They were masks of despair; they weren't even trying to hide it.

"Leon? Where is Arthur? What… what happened?" Merlin dared ask, dreading the answer he knew he was bound to receive.

It was the King who answered.

"You were hit by an arrow… obviously. It was then that Morgana attacked, having the upper hand and threw you overboard. Luckily for you, Percival was already swimming at your direction, so when you reemerged he pulled you out of the lake. We were already retreating at this point. They had many sorcerers with them, more than we had originally expected. Even with the reinforcements that came to our aid, a solid twenty good men -three of them sorcerers- we couldn't defeat them. Not when Morgana started aiming us as well. We barely managed to escape with our lives."

Merlin was so pale by now; he could've been a ghost.

"What about Arthur…?" He all but whispered.

The King looked him in the eye. Merlin was shocked to see so much pain in his eyes -Arthur's eyes but not quite the same- and though he understood, he needed to be told. To hear it.

"He's missing, Merlin. So is Lord Merlin ," said the King in a surprisingly straight, unwavering voice.

Merlin felt something catching in his throat.

"But… you're here! That means he's going to be fine, you'll be fine! Doesn't it?" Merlin was aware that he sounded naïve, but couldn't help himself.

"For now, Merlin," said the King, his voice much smaller now. "But if something happens to him… I don't know. I'm afraid there won't be anything stopping me being lost in oblivion…"


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