So D'Artagnan got himself caught. Is that a good thing? We'll see. ;) This chapter quickly changes between different scenes so I hope it flows ok. :)
Chapter Ten - A Rescue
Darkness was falling and the three musketeers and Merlin made their way towards the tunnel that Athos had spotted earlier. The moon was relatively full which gave them light but it also gave light to those looking for any sign of disturbance. They had to be quiet and move slowly.
They approached the gate which was clearly locked and obviously hadn't been used recently.
'All yours,' Aramis indicated to Merlin with his hand and a knowing smile.
'Topspringe,' Merlin whispered as his eyes lit up. This was still a strange sight for Athos and Porthos but Aramis was relaxed at Merlin's spell. The gate opened quietly and the musketeers and Merlin entered the tunnel.
The tunnel was dark and damp and pitch black and soon everybody realised their folly for not bringing torches to give light so they could see where they were going.
'Leoht,' Merlin said quietly and an orb of light appeared in his hand. Athos' and Porthos' eyes opened wide and Aramis couldn't help the strangled laugh that escaped him. Both turned to him but Aramis could only smirk in reply. He had forgotten how strange this must be for them whereas it was natural for him.
They followed the tunnel for a few minutes and were sure they had passed underneath the moat as a few drops of water landed on their heads. The smell of damp soil was overwhelming but they had a job to do. They approached what appeared to be a dead-end with a stone wall in front of them and Porthos and Aramis moved forward and pushed the stone but to no avail.
'There has to be a switch to release the door,' Merlin said confidently.
'But where?' Aramis replied looking all around.
Porthos remained silent as he scoured the stone with his finger near the edge of the wall. He stopped momentarily and started to smile.
'This one is loose,' he stated confidently and pried the stone away from the wall. There was a hollow gap inside and Porthos placed his left hand in and searched, smiling as he found a lever.
'Stand back,' he announced as he pulled the lever towards him and slowly the stone door creaked and opened by a small margin.
Athos and Aramis started to pull the door open and Porthos joined them while Merlin tried to give them as much light as he could. Soon the door was wide enough for them all to fit through and they emerged into a dimly lit hallway. The door suddenly and rather loudly snapped shut behind them. They listened for sounds of anyone approaching and could hear none. Athos moved quietly over to a window and looked down seeing that they were on the ground floor.
'Ground floor,' he murmured as Aramis moved over to the window to try and determine which side of the ruins they were on.
'Not sure where we are inside,' he said quietly moving back to the others.
'Any idea where they are going to be?' Athos whispered.
'Not a clue,' came Porthos' dry reply.
'Usually prisoners are held in the dungeons,' Aramis said hesitantly as he was aware they had very little time before they would be discovered. 'I suggest we try there first.'
Merlin looked around. 'I think it's this way,' he said and as the others had no better suggestions, they followed him. They moved quietly and quickly but were glad not to come across anyone.
They arrived where the entrance to the dungeons was likely to be and found a rather large and very deep pit.
'I don't think they're in the dungeons,' Porthos said sarcastically.
'Maybe not,' Aramis agreed.
'Lookin' for the boy are yer?' a voice startled them from behind and four men in chainmail stood before them.
'We need to be ready when they come,' D'Artagnan explained.
'How will we know they're here?' Elyan was clearly not convinced that D'Artagnan's friends could save them.
'Trust me. We'll know,' D'Artagnan replied confidently.
'You obviously have a lot of faith in them,' Gwaine looked at D'Artagnan with a slightly disbelieving expression.
'You don't,' was the reply.
'I don't know them. But I do know that with all of us fit, we would struggle. So I find it unlikely that you friends will be able to rescue us,' Gwaine replied honestly.
'We'll see,' D'Artagnan smiled confidently.
Arthur sat motionlessly staring ahead of him. This boy truly believed in his friends. A belief that was similarly shared between the Knights of Camelot. He knew it was foolish to get his hopes up that he could still rule Camelot and see Guinevere again. How he missed her. But this boy was so confident in his belief Arthur was starting to believe that the young man's friends may be the answer to his prayers after all.
The men attacked the musketeers with force but Porthos dodged successfully sending one man plunging into the pit and he lay motionless on the ground.
'Forb fleoghe!' Merlin shouted as another man went flying into the far wall.
Athos and Aramis were working as team against their opponents. They used their superior speed to get the men off-balance as they parried and attacked in synchronisation. Merlin was strongly reminded of the knights. Athos lunged as Aramis moved around the back of their men quickly slicing the back of one man's thigh causing the man to buckle and yell with pain. The other man was momentarily distracted and that was all Athos needed as he plunged the unfamiliar broadsword through the man's chest. The chainmail making it harder to do so but he had struck a deadly blow. Aramis pulled on the injured man's hair causing the man to drop his sword. Aramis could see fear swimming in his eyes.
'Where are they?' he asked menacingly.
'Top floor! Cells on the top floor,' he said with fear and distress ringing in his voice. Merlin's eyes flashed as the man crumpled to the floor, fast asleep.
They could hear noise above them that sounded like running footsteps and shouting. They had been discovered.
Arthur, D'Artagnan and the knights stirred as they heard commotion coming from outside.
'They're here,' D'Artagnan announced and Percival made his way over to the cell door and tried to pry it open. Leon and Gwaine tried the same thing although Leon was clearly struggling with the infection in the wound on his left arm.
D'Artagnan quickly produced the lock-picks from his boot that Porthos had given him as a gift when he was commissioned and barged Leon and Gwaine out of the way as he set to work on the lock.
'We need to split up. We know they're on the top floor,' Athos said quickly. 'Aramis, Porthos you go that way,' he pointed to the left, 'Merlin we'll go this way,' he pointed right.
'See you soon,' Aramis and Porthos chimed together as the men separated.
Porthos and Aramis could hear noise all around them as they pressed themselves flat to the wall. They hoped the men would bypass them but unfortunately one spotted them.
'There!' he shouted as both Aramis and Porthos cursed aloud and readied themselves for battle. Aramis took the lead with the heavy broadsword feeling more comfortable in his hands as every minute passed. He cleared his head as much as he could and allowed the instincts of Lancelot to take over.
Three men were coming towards them fast. He blocked the first man's attack above his head and moved to the man's left allowing the man's momentum to run past him and into Porthos' strike zone. He quickly looked back to the next two and ducked the initial attack before spinning and slicing the other man's torso. The man let out a scream and tumbled to the floor.
Porthos was unfamiliar with the weight of his sword but found himself able to block the soldier's attacks. He quickly kicked the man in the shins and as the man buckled drove his sword through the man's chest and turned to see how Aramis doing. He quickly noticed one man dead at his friend's feet. He looked up to watch his friend and assess if he could help but he knew help was not necessary.
Aramis moved quickly and strongly and easily changed grip between just his right hand and both hands on the sword. It felt familiar now and he knew he was by far the superior swordsman. He parried the attacks and moved his opponent around. The man's was struggling to keep his balance while Aramis never looked like he was floating on air. His moves were effortless and seemed to be one swift motion. Soon he saw his opening has the man caught his toe on the slightly uneven ground throwing his balance off completely. Aramis struck the fatal blow across the man's neck which bled quickly and stifled the man's cry as he collapsed to the floor.
Aramis turned to Porthos and saw only a look of shock pass across the big man's face. He had seen Aramis fight many times before but to do so with a weapon they had never trained with and do it so effortlessly truly cemented that Aramis had once used these weapons in combat in a past life.
'You alright?' Aramis called and broke Porthos' shock of what he had just seen.
'Yeah. I would ask where you learnt to do that but I already know,' Porthos smiled hesitantly.
'At the moment I'm allowing Lancelot's instincts to take over,' Aramis shrugged his shoulders as if this was normal practise.
Together they moved through the hall and up a staircase before coming to a junction with staircases going either way.
'Best split up,' Porthos said while Aramis looked apprehensive but Porthos just smiled and took the left staircase, leaving Aramis with the right.
Athos and Merlin were keeping quiet as they walked through the various halls keeping as alert as possible. Soon they found themselves back where they had started and Athos cursed quietly as they hid in the shadows at the sound of approaching footsteps. Too late Athos realised that their trip through the tunnel had coated their boots with mud and their footprints could be clearly seen.
'Look,' one guard pointed out the footprints that seemingly came directly out of the wall.
'Do you think it's ghosts?' a younger man said with his eyes full of fright. Athos and Merlin had to restrain themselves from laughing after exchanging amused looks with each other.
'Nah,' the first one said and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. 'Ghosts don't wear boots.' The men searched the area and found a lever hidden behind an old portrait and pulled. The door opened to reveal the tunnel.
While the men were preoccupied with the tunnel Athos and Merlin silently moved away to see if they could find another route.
D'Artagnan quickly managed to pick the lock of the cell he was in and pulled the door free. He knelt before the other door and started to pick that lock.
'Why didn't you pick the locks earlier,' Gwaine asked with his tone slightly accusatory.
'Because we needed to wait for my friends so that the soldiers would be distracted,' D'Artagnan huffed as the lock struggled to open.
'If you'd done it earlier we'd be out already,' Percival said with slight annoyance.
'And they'd be more likely to check on us at any time. Now they're distracted,' D'Artagnan almost had it. Keep calm, Porthos would have said. D'Artagnan took a deep breath before continuing.
'And of course, there are more people to fight,' Arthur said knowingly. The knights' looked at him. 'None of you would have been able to stay put when the door was unlocked. Even I would have struggled.'
'Nearly there,' D'Artagnan muttered as Leon spotted a sword leaning against wall and went to retrieve it.
Aramis moved up another set of stairs but stopped before he could get to the top. He could hear voices.
'What if Camelot has sent a rescue party? They won't spare us,' the first voice said in a quiet whisper.
'I think we need to run,' the other voice said.
Aramis moved closer and could only see the two men so he moved around the corner.
'Running is an excellent idea,' he quipped surprising the men. 'Just give me the key and I'll let you go.'
The men exchanged looks and threw the keys on the floor. Aramis made towards them but heard an almighty roar coming from the opposite direction along with many footfalls up the stairs. He dashed back to his set of stairs as cover.
Five soldiers appeared and one quickly took the keys and opened the door.
Athos and Merlin were knocked backwards by two very scared young men.
'Please don't kill us,' the first one said almost begging Athos.
'Please,' the other begged as well.
Athos considered his options and missed the glance between the men. They struck together and Athos was taken by surprise but such was the skill of the swordsman, even with an unfamiliar weapon, he managed to extricate himself from them without injury. He moved to attack but Merlin held him back, smiling. The men looked confused as Merlin's eyes flashed and the large statue behind them moved and fell on top of them, crushing them to the floor.
'Thanks,' Athos muttered as Merlin smiled broadly.
The cell door clicked open as D'Artagnan finally released the lock. Arthur, Percival and Elyan walked out of the cell just as the main door's lock clicked open and everyone turned towards it.
Four men entered the cell glaring at the now free men before them. The first charged at an unarmed D'Artagnan who dodged quickly and danced around the man. D'Artagnan chopped his hand at the man's wrist holding the sword as the man involuntarily dropped the sword. D'Artagnan was too quick and retrieved the sword before thrusting it hard through the man's chest. Arthur watched impressed at the young man before him.
Percival had charged another man and was currently trying to lift the man off his feet. The man was trying to fight back but Percival managed to get a better grip and threw the man across the room stunning him as he fell to the floor motionless.
Leon had retrieved the sword form the wall in time and was now battling his own opponent but was starting to flag with a lack of energy. He quickly moved the man into one of the cells until he had him cornered. He sliced across the man's chest and then across his neck.
Elyan and Gwaine were working together, fighting a man the size of Percival. Gwaine jumped onto the man's back while Elyan avoided being caught by the sword. He kicked the man's shins causing a grunt of pain from the man and quickly disarmed him and Gwaine jumped off just as Elyan thrust the sword through the man's gut.
Aramis jumped out from where he was hidden into the view of the last of the five men. He could already hear fighting suggesting that the knights were free. The man looked nervous and unsure and Aramis found himself smiling. He effortlessly twirled the sword in his hand and attacked.
The man wasn't unskilled but he was no match for Lancelot. Aramis was distracted slightly as another man made his way into the room but Aramis dispatched the man before him with a slice to the right leg and a thrust into his torso.
Aramis made to follow the other man he had seen enter the noisy room. The man had his back to him with his sword raised in attack. Aramis thrust his sword through the man's back to reveal a familiar face before him as the man fell dead to the floor.
Arthur.
Arthur stared at his saviour. The man before him was known to him but he looked so different. He wasn't wearing chainmail but what looked like a leather coat. His hair was longer and had curls that Arthur hadn't seen before. He had a full moustache and beard which made his face seem different somehow when Arthur had only seen him with light stubble. It was his eyes that hadn't changed at all, that gave him away. The dark brown orbs still shone fiercely and Arthur was in no doubt who this was.
Lancelot.
A/N: I hope the dashing about made sense. Is Arthur going to be happy to see Lancelot or not? :)