~Joknotor Corner~
Hey guys! Been a LONG time. Over a year and no new materiel is a lot of time, but honesty real life has REALLY caught up with me, but after the support of Female Whovian and a few other peeps, I have decided to blow the dust off my keyboard, and pick up where I left off with Altered Destiny, only with a few changes. The first is that I am going to totally void 'The Tale of Emrys', and pick up fresh, still reducing the number of original characters I tend to add, and hopefully please the people who showed me support for so long =3
ANYWAY! As usual, please read and review! I love knowing how people feel about my work, it makes for a better writer!
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or any of its assets
Altered Destiny
Chapter 9: The Tale of Merlin and Sir Elyan
"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" The early morning wild life froze. suddenly alerted to what, at first glance, appeared to be the cry of a young girl from deep within the Forsaken Caves, to the south of Camelot, almost at the border. That voice did not however belong to a young maiden, but instead to the King of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon, as he led a small party of Camelot's Knights (Leon, Gwaine, Percival and Tristan) away from the cave and from the hideous creature that pursued them. What the creature didn't realize, however, was that 2 more Knights (Elyan and Lancelot), and one warlock by the name of Merlin, were all lying in wait, with buckets of enchanted water, designed to melt the monster, a massive rock-beast, when poured over its head. Passing the marker they had placed earlier, Arthur signaled Lancelot who, with Merlin and Elyan, chucked the contents of their buckets at the monster. The plan worked to perfection, and the beast melted away, leaving a rather disgusting pile of black goo behind.
"I told you my plan was foolproof!" Arthur said heartily as the group travelled back to Camelot, eliciting a very audible groan from Merlin, who was not particularly interested in yet another round of bragging at the almost-guaranteed celebration feast that was bound to be held in honor of their quest that night. "Something the matter Merlin?" Arthur asked casually, as if nothing the warlock could say would bring him down to earth, adding to his previous statement "Don't worry, we'll be home safe and sound in Camelot soon enough, in fact we should be able to see it soon." Merlin narrowed his eyes, and replied "Is that so my liege? I wouldn't know, I can't see anything over the top of your ego-inflated head." The Knights, with the exception of Gwaine and Tristan (who nearly fell off their horses from their laughing fits), tried to suppress their laughter, as Arthur's ears turned a bright shade of red, causing Merlin to don a satisfied grin as they continued the remainder of their journey in silence (if you don't count Gwaine and Tristan leaning on each other for support as they laughed at Arthur's butthurt reaction). "Somehow Merlin, I don't think he's going to let that one go for a while" Elyan muttered, though he sounded amused as well.
Oh how right Sir Elyan was. Not two days later, after much brooding, Arthur summoned Merlin to his chambers, where he proceeded to give his former servant the "Evil-intentioned King Smile" (that's what Merlin called it anyway), and offered him a mug of mead and some lunch, before he sprung his trap. "So, Merlin, tell me; have you ever heard of the former kingdom known as Oceana?" Arthur asked, his cruel smile ever present on his face. "Uhm...yes...wasn't it destroyed by the legions of the High Priestess' a few hundred years ago?" asked Merlin, shrinking into his seat slightly. "Ah, good, excellent" Arthur said, his smile now becoming even more terrifying, as he continued "Well, I received word that a band of thieves has stolen precious relics recovered from the wreckage by a group of artificers from Nemeth's kingdom on their way to the Royal Archives. I'd go hunt them down myself, but apparently my ego needs a little deflating, so I'll stay here and let you do it, sound good?" Merlin just stood there, gob smacked, for a moment before replying "Well, I suppose hunting a small band of thieves shouldn't be too hard." Merlin soon regretted his words, as Arthur's smile got even wider, threatening to split open his face it seemed, and said, in a sickly sweet voice "Oh Merlin, my dear friend, how remiss of me: I forgot to mention that the thieves are all sorcerers."
"Bloody royal git he can be." Merlin muttered as he pulled on his new jacket, a black leather one that Morgana had bought for him at the market a few days prior. He wanted to take his brown one, but had chosen against it when Gaius told him how cold it could be in the land of Oceana. As he was attaching the rest of his supplies to his horse, he realized he'd forgotten his canteen, but as he turned to retrieve it from his quarters, he found the very same object being thrown in his face, causing him to stumble and fall flat on his rear. Grumbling, Merlin was about to get aggressive with whoever tossed it at him when he saw a gauntlet-clad hand extended towards him, one that was attached to none other than Elyan, whose hand Merlin decided to take gladly. "Sorry about that Merlin, didn't realize it only took a canteen to knock such a mighty sorcerer onto his hind quarters" Elyan joked, helping his friend to his feet. "Well, let's just say Arthur's given me every reason to be jumpy within Camelot's walls for the next little while, after all he can hold a grudge like no other" Merlin replied wearily. Smiling sympathetically, Elyan continued "Tell you what, how about I escort you on this journey. We all remember what happened the LAST time we let you go off on your own on some cruel quest Arthur sends you on, and Leon had to rescue you like a damsel in distress."
The journey took the pair 4 days long ride, and both were grateful once they had arrived at their destination, if only to get the blasted task over and done with. Before they could engage the enemy however, Elyan pointed out that perhaps some light reconnaissance would benefit the duo, as they were sure to be outnumbered. Outnumbered was one way of putting it Merlin mused, as they analyzed the band of thieves, whose total amounted to well over 30. They were armed to the teeth, not to mention the fact that if Arthur's information was correct, they could all use magic as well. After careful planning, Merlin suggested that they strike in the night, and catch them off-guard, to which Elyan responded "Yes, but they ARE sorcerers Merlin, wouldn't they expect such a strategy?" Merlin grinned at the Knight, and replied "My my Sir Elyan, don't you know an evil sorcerer's worst trait? Over-confidence. They won't know what hit them."
At about midnight the very same night, an unholy firestorm poured itself upon the groups of sorcerers, in the form of a mighty phoenix. The much weaker magic-wielders stood no chance as they battled against the monster firebird, not noticing the silent assailant who cut down foe after foe during the chaos, until none of the scum were left standing. Once the smoke had cleared, Merlin and Elyan gathered up the valuables, placing them carefully in the carry-bags, before returning to the horses and riding through the now quiet night back towards Camelot, in case any survivors tried to take revenge in the night. However, a silent figure sat in the trees not far from where the incident occurred, his trained eyes fixed on what had been a battleground not 2 hours earlier. "...He's getting stronger. Maybe too strong. Galahad and Tristan need to hurry or soon enough it won't matter, I'll just have to kill Merlin anyway, find some way to deal with the others later. If only I'd killed Balinor when I had the chance, none of this would be happening now. Oh well, I suppose I'll let him think he's won for now. Jiriko needs to die net though or else all my plans will be put on hold for even longer. I WILL rule Albion, but first the sorcerers need to die, then Arthur and finally Merlin. Then, and ONLY then, can I fulfill my destiny. Only then can I take my rightful place as Albion's ruler, the great Emperor Darius..."
Galahad stood at his bedroom window, staring at the full moon intently, thinking to himself "Lord Darius, what do you intend for Camelot?"
Sir Elyan and Merlin rode into the palace courtyard triumphantly 3 days later, and Morgana rushed out to meet her love, Gwen hot on her trail, eager to see her brother home safe after such a perilous journey. Merlin handed Arthur the relics proudly, a smug grin on his face. Arthur, who had since gotten over himself, merely smiled back at his friend and said "Good trip then, I take it?" "Brilliant" Merlin replied "Even if we did have to take down a highly dangerous group of rogue sorcerers." "Good to have you back old friend, we've received news that an old ally of my father's is riding to Camelot as we speak, and I think we could gain a powerful new ally" Arthur said as he put the relics safely in a locked trunk, to be handed over to Nemeth's artificers upon their arrival. "Oh?" Merlin responded curiously, taking a seat at the small table in the King's room, his eyebrows raised "And who might that be?" Taking a seat opposite Merlin and pouring them both a tankard of mead, Arthur said something that would change Camelot forever "A once dead nobleman, known for his swordsmanship; Lord Darius of the Shadow Lands."
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! At last, Lord Darius REVEALED! Stay tuned folks, it only gets better from here!