Chapter ten: Blown to dust

A heavy cloud of smoke filled the corridor. On shaking legs and with his ears ringing Merlin scrambled back up to his feet. Something had put his magic on edge, as well as every fibre of his being. The enemy had hit from within! Merlin wiped the dust from his eyes with a sleeve. Able to see again he risked a glance into the hallway he had been heading into the moment mayhem erupted. Had the Saxons attacked the infirmary? A rush of growing dread and anger replaced his initial shock at the unexpected blow.

Ready to defend the wounded and lash out for the wrongful attack on the weak Merlin started to run towards the centre of danger. Would the enemy still be around, or were they heading to another target to bring Camelot further to its knees? Merlin did not think about himself anymore; had not done so in days, and he ignored the fact he was running on empty by now. All his mind could focus on was the need to protect his King, his friends… and his mother who had tended to the injured.

Mere moments ago the King's squire had told him Leon got injured. It was why he had headed back inside. Sure he had chosen to defend the town, but what use were bricks and mortar if their King fell? No, they needed a man to stand behind…

Mid-run his fearful thoughts came to an abrupt halt, as did his body. In front of him the infirmary made for an awful sight of destruction. Upturned beds and lifeless souls were covered under debris and layers of dust. Through a crack in the far wall sunlight shone inside. How long had he been out of it, lying in a back corridor? Merlin did not know, but he worried that it was for longer than he liked. What had happened to his home while he was down?

A flash of lilac fabric and blood covered curls of hair caught his attention. "Gwen!" He half hissed, half shouted a choked off plea for her to be alive against his better judgement. Even though he was afraid that enemy soldiers could hear him get through the mess of the infirmary Merlin pushed on until he reached her side. Falling onto his knees he turned her around. Met with nothing but a shadow of whom Gwen had been he almost threw up. "Why?" Hoarse from his emotions Merlin whispered, "Oh Gwen, I am so sorry…"

He faltered at the sight of his mother, who lay broken under the debris and slumped against the wall somewhat further away. "No…", he wanted to shout at the injustice, but distant footsteps and the instinct to survive made him bite back his despair. A glimpse of dark uniforms with the Mercian crest passing by the room in the hallway behind made him swallow down the bile of injustice. To attack the weak… to take out those who were injured and those who cared for them was an act of dishonour he could not fathom.

"… Ecbert has King Leon on his knees before his throne. The fool of Camelot has no choice but to surrender his town to us. His servant Queen is gone. If he still wants his children to live…" The soldier's voice faded into the distance as they walked passed Merlin without seeing him kneel among the rubble of his life.

Anger refuelled his strength and he let it feed his growing rage. Mourning for those he lost would have to wait, because his King still needed him to fight for him. Would Ecbert let Leon live? Merlin doubted it and so he crawled back up to run to the courtroom to end the foreign invasion now. They would bow before his magic, his anger… and he would spare no one who got in his way. No mercy, for they had pushed him too far!

Ever faster he ran onwards, through one hallway and around the corner to make it through another. A soldier rolled lifeless down the stairs, while his companion crumpled under a single stare of sheer power and a third flew into a wall after a wave of an elegant hand. Five more enemies lost their lives before Merlin reached the huge wooden doors of the courtroom. He burst inside ready to let go of his wrath…

"Ah, if it isn't the fallen King's pet sorcerer. I heard so much about you, Lord Emrys." The calculated, cold voice of Ecbert halted him in his tracks. "But do tell, what use are you after the fact? Will you defy your King's wish to surrender?"

"Ecbert", Merlin let the gold in his eyes simmer as a sign of his anger and of warning. He sensed though that it did not sway the man who held Leon's life in the balance. At best the hostage situation could be ended with one spell, but would that save the day when a so clearly injured Leon knelt on the floor with a sword pressed against his throat? Worse even, Merlin realised, was that soldiers held not only his King but the three children his royal friends had fathered as well. The present and the future of Camelot held in one hand. No wonder Ecbert looked downright smug about how events had turned his way.

At the sight of Barton stepping forwards Merlin felt the knife in his gut twist even more merciless and painful. "You betrayed us…"

"Lord Barton here was so kind to show us the backdoor."

Merlin wanted to wipe the arrogant smile from Ecbert's face and he could see that Percival, the last hostage in the room, agreed with him. The tall knight struggled and it took four men to hold him in place until Leon spoke up in a soft yet determined voice. "Please, I beg of you to let them go free. You wanted Camelot, my crown and I have signed away both. There's nothing more you can take that is worth anything to me…"

Ecbert pressed his sword a little firmer to Leon's throat, but he stopped when Barton began to speak. "Sire. Maybe it is not a bad idea to banish the weak? There is no place for them in my district, but their presence in other places may warn other leaders of the fact that no Kingdom can stand up to your rule."

"You mean, show mercy?"

Barton shrugged. "More like send a message to our neighbours, Sire."

"Hmm…", Ecbert glared at Merlin, as if he tried to get a reaction from him as an excuse to take Leon out after all. "And who is to say this one won't come after me?"

"Because I give you my word." Leon forced himself onto his feet, ignoring the sword held to his throat and the half protest of Ecbert. All the way he looked at Merlin with pleading eyes. "Emrys can wipe us all out if he so wishes, but there is no longer a reason for him to destroy what has fallen. What he and I fought for, whom we fought for… it is no more, but I heard it said that what is lost may rise again."

Merlin could not look away from his friend. Curling his hands into fists part of him fought to contain his anger… and yet another part understood that which had always moved his friend had not once wavered from him. Calm courage, loyalty and a deep rooted honour were upheld even if this could be their last breaths. For Arthur they had protected Camelot, but for Merlin his friend had opened the door to set him free of obligations and send him off into the future to maybe one day see their King again. The use of his druid name hinted at the fact Leon had chosen to believe in the ancient prophecy he had once spoken of on a long evening as they drank wine together.

In the tears which threatened to spill over Leon's cheeks Merlin saw that his friend tried to say goodbye, but he did not know how to. Well, he did not want to hear it anyway, because he could never walk out without Leon… or Percival for that matter. Out of respect for his friend Merlin bend down on one knee before Leon. "Sire, I swore to serve you and I will continue do so until the end. If King Ecbert should choose to show us all mercy than he has my word as well."

It wasn't even noon yet when Leon rode out of the battered gate of Camelot, his home, and his friends followed on his heels. As if to fit his sombre mood it drizzled a little. His body ached, and his head felt worse than it had in the past after spending a long night at the tavern with Gwaine. Worse than his physical pain was the fierce ache in his heart. His mind could not wrap around the fact that he lost everything which mattered to him in a flash of fire. The cause of it all continued to elude his shattered awareness.

With his good hand wrapped around the leather of his reins Leon dare not ride fast out of fear that he would fall off while the enemy watched his forced retreat. The between the lines speech he'd given Merlin back in the courtroom had eased off whatever revenge he had seen burn in magic laced eyes. Though Leon had meant every word he said he wondered what might have happened to Ecbert and the future of Albion if indeed the warlock had struck him down.

No… he was the better man! Leon chastised the part of him which grew more and more angry and even bitter at the loss of his wife. A glance over at his children, and Percival riding with his youngest, reminded him of how he'd sworn to Gwen that he would protect them no matter the outcome of the siege. Honour bound he would do his best, but Leon did not know where he would be able to find the strength to teach them of life without their mother by his side.

The uncharacteristic silence around Leon added to the heavy weight of grief on his heart. Not a soul had waved him off, because Ecbert had taken his throne and everything he had as its former King. No, Leon had no reason for looking back… and that hurt him the most of all.

Further sadness shattered apart the pieces of his heart when his eyes glanced over the two broken bodies lying in the dirt below the wall. Raynold and Adair had appeared so strong together while alive, but nothing had remained of their fighting attitudes. All their empty looks up to the heavens conveyed was the wrongness of death.

Closing his eyes for the awful truth Leon rode on, passed the Darkling Woods and the battle damaged villages beyond. He hid in his brown cloak, not willing to show friend or enemy that he was but a mere shadow of a man and he had no intention of doing anything else but lead those whom he called friend or family to safety. His intent was so focussed on it that he did not realise how behind him Merlin and Percival began to steer him off towards a place where they could tend to his wounds.

With sombre silence as their companion it seemed not even bandits dared to stop the small group of refugees. It wasn't until someone called his mare to a halt that Leon blinked open weary eyes he did not remember closing. Had he slept, or had his wounds tired him out so much that he lost a part of the day he did not care much for?

"Hey", Percival greeted his bitter awareness with a shy half smile. "Come, let me help you down and inside. Merlin has lit the hearth…"

Leon slid from the saddle on automatic. It seemed his brain had not forgotten the many seasons of training even though his body ached and failed to comply to the full. "Thank you", Leon managed as his friend steadied his protesting limbs. "I don't know if I can make it inside…", he trailed off when he saw the distance between his horse and the door of the abandoned cabin someone once had called home.

"You can", Percival offered his arm of support with a determined, though grim smile. In the end it wasn't that his friend pushed him to walk, but more the fact that Sarah watched them approach from the poor excuse of a door. Her head of black curls and her concerned, far too worried eyes made Leon want to comfort her somehow. Maybe if she did not know how bad he felt?

"Father…", young Sarah's quiet call for her father to see her shattered what little resolve he had left to stay strong for his children. Unable to stop it Leon lost balance and he crumpled to the floor, his limbs giving up at the same time his battered mind did. Blessed darkness of unconsciousness saved him from having to face his daughters' tears and his growing weakness for any longer…

But facing the cold truth refused to be avoided altogether. Awakeness began days later when Leon could no longer keep his eyes closed in his enforced healing slumber. Percival had watched Merlin do his magical wonders on torn flesh and broken bones, but of course there was no spell to ease the wounds of a shattered heart. No, that had to come with time of adjusting and of acceptance of what once was and could never be again.

It did not help matters either that Leon's head wound had slowed down his body and his abilities to boot. Even walking did not come without a slur, or extra effort. It hurt Percival to see a once proud commander among knights reduced to a mere shadow of strength. In Merlin's slumped shoulders he saw his own pain reflected. And when Merlin asked him in a torn voice why his magic had come up short it had taken every inch of his calm to offer the broken warlock a shoulder of support.

As the days went by in a slow haze memories of his childhood returned, and of how it had ended at the wrong end of a sword on the day Cenred's army killed his parents and sister. Grief had stayed with Percival then for several seasons, but over time it were friendship and duty which had given him a chance to move past the anger and guilt of living on. Lancelot had been the first to offer him a lifeline, but the two men who had - like him - outlived even Camelot herself only had him left in the aftermath of their hardship. Who else could they trust when King Ecbert had eyes everywhere?

Words had never come easy to Percival for he was a quiet man even on the best of days. Of course he too grieved for the loss of Camelot, as well as for each fallen man he had once called a brother in arms. He had yet to even grasp the absence of the woman he had called friend. More than anything else it hurt him to see Leon without Gwen, to not see them share a quiet look of love and to not see Leon blush when his wife stole a kiss while others watched, as if he believed that at any moment Arthur too could see.

Worse even for Percival was to see Sarah, his goddaughter, and her younger brothers feel so lost in the solemn quiet of their father's sadness and their mother's absence. After his own broken childhood he understood the tears of the young better than he cared to admit to. In his silent mood he brought the children outside and away from the tense grief which held the cabin in its grip. Out in bright daylight he dried the tears of Thomas, the youngest of the three once royal siblings. He hated how they were forced to grow up, because their innocence was stolen from them in the dust of their home… and so he did his best to let them hold on to as much playfulness as he could find in them.

In the forest around the cabin he played hide and seek with them. When they needed a break from running he told them stories of valour, or they collected firewood and ate blueberries until their fingers were sticky from the juice. He taught them how to make sense of animal tracks left behind and how to read the signs of danger approaching. Twice they hid from soldiers, but by then he'd shown the children where to hide and how to become one with the forest. Sarah in particular filled him with the belief that they would find a way in life and on the day she wrapped her arms around him in a wordless thanks he understood his actions were what they had needed more than anything.

When the time came to move on, because they were afraid to stay anywhere for too long, he helped his former King onto a horse. "Thank you", Leon clasped his wrist, unable to say more for his broken voice could not form words under strained emotions. Percival understood the gesture though for he saw a glimmer of his old friend had returned in the stare which kept him rooted to the spot for a while longer. Leon was nothing if not observant. His children had found a way to cope and though neither one of them had the words for it they had both sensed how it began to unburden their worries.

In the following moons they journeyed on towards unknown lands, always unseen by others and always watching over their shoulders in alertness. With each stride their horses made they left Camelot further behind. Not one of them protested, or had the strength left to return to fight for what got lost on their watch. The scorched earth around them showed the bitter cold truth of Mercian rule. Greed for power had torn down humble walls, ripped apart lives and left no one united for peace. No, what remained was a world where each man had to fend for himself… and to see the destruction of every value they had fought for was the final push needed for them to stop looking back.

Even so not one of them admitted to knowing that Merlin hid the key to Arthur's old chambers in his pouch or that Percival had held onto what remained of his crimson red cloak of knighthood. No one said a word either when Leon cast off the ring bearing the seal of the Pendragons into the deep waters of Lake Avalon. All they could manage was to stand vigil in their minds as they watched over the lake, each lost in memories of the days when the sun had shone over their home.

And as they rode off further under the light of the evening sunshine Percival knew it was not goodbye. For as long as they each lived they would not betray their vows. Yes, their home had crumpled, but in their hearts they shared a bond which could not be broken by any outside force other than death.

It wasn't though until two summers into his life on the road, and of doing chores for a handful of coins along the way, that Percival found the one adventure he had always longed for in his romantic heart. Meeting Amelia had been fated, or so Merlin teased him when the mood struck. Regardless of beliefs Percival could only admit to falling for her at first glance with a shy blush on his cheeks.

They had ridden along the same path when they stumbled upon her. The wheel of her kart had lost the battle to a mud pool and it got stuck, no matter how hard she told her donkey to pull it out. She'd carried baskets of grain, fiercely protected by her dog. It had barked at Merlin, growled at Leon… and then looked at Percival with sudden silence. He had grinned at the reactions of his friends when the animal let him scratch her behind the ears. "She seems to like you", Amelia had smiled and it broke the ice.

Helping her had led to an invitation of fresh baked bread and more coins for chores. Her kind nature melted the last of the grief left in Leon's calm refusal to let go of his pain. In an odd way his tears made Merlin let go of his badly concealed bouts of anger and the strain Percival felt to watch over them all. And somehow they had stayed for the winter.

By spring Percival knew that he did not want to move on. His decision grew even more solid when Amelia one morning kissed him on the cheek in thanks. Their eyes lingered and for once his shyness did not come out in a blush. No, instead he found that he wanted to protect her, live with her and care for her until they both grew old. Her lips tasted of home, and Percival welcomed it with a kiss of his own. Little did he know yet that he'd gain an instant family before he watched Leon and Merlin ride off on their lone journey without him.