First thing between the votes on the poll, and your reviews, I can safely say that out of the 20% of you that actually voted (I actually worked that one out almost precisely) most of you want the longer, darker, and deeper story. The other 80% I'm assuming you really don't have a preference for either so this stories going to the dark side.
You should join, I'll give you virtual cookies! (I know, cliche. I don't care)
And yeah I realize this one's only half the size of my last one. Sorry, I had a very long, annoying, tiring couple days, that were rather busy. But I managed to get this, and it's pretty good so hopefully that will make up for it.
Enjoy!
Arthur was surprised to see Merlin hurriedly flip the book to the back where a folded piece of paper was and when he unfolded it Merlin grinned. "Oh this is just too good!"
"What? What is it?" Arthur asked but Merlin didn't notice, or chose not to answer as he stood up and ran to another shelf, which held papers stacked on top of one another. Arthur watched completely confused as Merlin shuffled through the papers.
Finally Merlin found what he was looking for and put it on the table. This paper was a map of the city in black, and had the tunnels beneath marked in red. It was covered in symbols, and notes. Merlin picked up the small note that had originally fallen out of the book, still having not shown Arthur what the larger, folded paper was that had grabbed Merlin's attention. While Merlin studied the smaller paper and whispered under his breathe, Arthur looked closer at the map Merlin had picked up.
Arthur soon realized that the map also showed the castle's layout of the lower floor. He noticed that at one point there was a small drawing of a griffin and a zigzagging line next to it. It dawned upon him that this was marking the secret entrance to Merlin's room that they had come through, and the tapestry with the compulsion spell. And he realized that the symbols must be marking the secret passages throughout the kingdom.
Arthur was startled as Merlin suddenly picked up the map, and put down the piece of paper from the back of his book. Before he could look at it properly however, Merlin put the other map down on top of it. Merlin sucked in a breath, and spoke, "Write þas geliensesse ond afæstne þa þæm clute þa." Merlin's eyes flashed gold and suddenly new symbols, and lines appeared on the map. When the spell finished the new symbols and lines created a new set of passages, that spread out over the entirety of the map.
Arthur spoke, "What did you just do Merlin?" Merlin looked up a hand covering his mouth as tears streamed down his face. "Merlin?"
Merlin removed his hand, allowing Arthur to see his sad smile as he choked out the words, "Raymond. Raymond my brother you have out done yourself." Merlin took a steadying breath before looking back to Arthur. "My brother's final gift to me. My father had started the construction of these tunnels, but never had them finished. They were deemed unsafe, and blocked off, but Raymond had them finished while I was gone. He did this in complete secrecy, he must have or Warrick would have told me. He even went so far as to get someone to ward and set traps for each of the passages, and then give me the spell to copy them onto this map. Arthur… this is our key to defeating Unwin."
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Jarret nodded to Silias, giving him the signal to go. They had been following this specific patrol for a while now, having checked for sorcerers, they knew there were none. Silias moved forward, silent, and blending in with the trees and shadows, a talent that came to him naturally having grown up as a druid. Silias came out of the shadows long enough to clamp a mouth over one guard, who had been falling behind, and allow his eyes to flash gold as the captive fell limp. Moving forward Silias continued to knock out the guards, who were then tied up and gagged by the group following behind him. When the patrol finally noticed that they were there, there were four guards tied up, leaving ten to fight. Jarret lifted his spear, the silent order to attack. The four soldiers behind him moved forward to fight the guards.
Jarret blocked the wing of a sword, with his spear, his magic running through it to make it able to with stand the blows. He pushed back, knocking the man to the ground, hard enough for him to be knocked out. He ran forwards to the next guard working his way through them, and when he finally broke through the mass of soldiers, he turned.
Silias used his dagger to stab the attacking guard in the gut. He pulled out the blade, looking up just in time to see a spear fly past him and through the man who had been about to attack him. He looked back nodding in thanks to Jarret, and pulled the spear out for him. Silias sent the spear back to Jarret with his magic, and he moved on to fight the next guard in the fray.
Soon enough the guards were all dead or gagged and tied to a tree, in a circle. They collected all the weapons and piled them up in the middle of the tied up guards. Silias and Jarret cast a spell together. It would tell them where to find the place again, and at the same timemake it impossible to move the weapons.
Jarret waved Silias and the soldiers to move forward, to find the next patrol, sparing only a moment to look back at the guards and say, "Thanks for your support boys!" He chuckled as he ran to catch up with his group. Knowing the ropes were enchanted to not break until he, Silias, or Merlin removed the spell. He looked through the trees, searching for signs of another patrol, tonight was going to be a long one.
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Warrick watched the townspeople learning to use their weapons. The older one's had previously fought, so knew a bit more and were learning more advanced attacks and counters from the knights, while the younger, and newer, men and woman were learning the basics. It made his chest heave with pride, but at the same time it made him sad to know that all these people were almost forced into this position.
He walked over to one of the youngest men, probably his own age; fifteen. "Here loosen your grip a little. Good. And hold it steady like this. Don't let the tip dip towards the ground. There you go." The man smiled his thanks, honey colored eyes shining with determination. Warrick moved to the next person and then another, correcting each person he went to; their stance, their grip, their steps as they parried. He complimented those who were doing well, handed off advice to those who needed it.
Soon enough they would be following Merlin down the mountain, and entering the city. As soon as he was told where and when, they would leave. Until then, he resigned himself to long nights and days of practice, and teaching the people. He walked over to the next person.
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Ileana swung her katana at the armor covered practice dummy, leaving a dent in the metal. The sword had proved to be more capable than most of the other swords. Able cut the dummies clean through in two hits without the armor.
She thought of her brother, the one who had taught her how to fight (at least for hand-to-hand combat). She had quickly surpassed him before he had been killed by those men. Shouldn't even be considered men if she had a say. Her brother had given his life so she could escape the slavers. It had been his final gift to her, and she had not wasted it. She knew he would be proud of her now, becoming a knight, and almost-sister of a prince and king.
The armor on the dummy was now to dented and destroyed to use. She sheathed her sword, and pulled the armor off. Preceding then to practice her punches and kicks on the dummy. She would fight, and she would make her brother proud. She would make her new family proud. And she would do whatever it took to make that same family happy once again.
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Maurelle watched the guard, her eyesight deadly accurate even in the night. She positioned the arrow on the cross bow, and aimed. Making sure she was balanced safely on the tree limb, she shot the arrow.
The guard fell silently, the arrow having gone through his throat, and cutting off his voice. The soldiers, below her, ran out of the trees as soon as they saw the arrow. They attacked the guards. She shot a few others, before climbing down. A horse whizzed past her, and she gave chase; able to run extremely fast. She took out her bolas, and flung it at the rider. He fell to the ground, and she called over another soldier to take care of him, since she only had her bow and arrows.
Once the guards were incapacitated, with the exception of the three on the ground who gave them no other choice, she took out a blue ribbon and tied it to the nearby tree. It was enchanted to lead Jarret and Silias there later. She turned around eyes looking between the trees and ears listening for any movement. "Let's go. We can still take care of a few more patrols before meeting with Jarret's group." The five soldiers followed behind her, leaving the tied and gagged guards behind, as she pondered on how the other groups were doing as they took out the patrols.
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Morgana looked out over the battlements of the castle, as the next patrol headed out; the patrol that had been out before them, had not yet returned. She smirked. It seemed that the battle for Snowdonia would soon begin. And when it did she would be ready. There would be no more playing around, or sneaking behind anyone's backs. And when she met Arthur upon the battle field, the fight for the crown between siblings would too begin.
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Wymer sat on the log in the clearing, outside of the caves; the chill of the night air, not bothering him the slightest. He frowned as he heard the familiar wing beats that he had grown to dread over the years.
The Great Dragon landed in front of the knight, "Hello Wymer."
Wymer nodded his head respectfully, yet his voice dripped with disdain as he said, "Kilgharrah. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Are you being sarcastic old warrior?"
"No. I honestly look forward to your visits, especially after you made me privy to knowledge that warned me that my troops were riding to our doom… I do hope you aren't here to give me a repeat of that day."
"Hmmm, I remember yes. You were well known before the purge yes? Wymer the famous warrior who brought down all his enemies. That is until that fateful day-"
"Do NOT mention that day."
"Ah but I must, for that is the day where all this started. The day which Safwyl harnessed more power than ever thought possible, corrupting magic itself. The day you rode to your doom, yet lived. No man who fought in that battle was supposed to live Wymer. You cheated death and perhaps destiny itself, and now it will come back to bite you."
Wymer frowned, worry creasing his brow, "What do you mean?" His voice was raspy, barely a whisper on the wind.
Kilgharrah lowered his head to look him in the eye as he spoke, "Safwyl fathered a son before the battle, before he even realized the power at his fingertips. His son has inherited his power. For now it remains unknown to him, but I fear soon he will realize it, and history will repeat itself."
"Who is the child? Kilgharrah you must tell me!"
"The boy was once an orphan, then run out of his kingdom, and soon he found a family. His wife and son were killed, and he is not much older than you. That is all I can tell you."
"That's not- wait, no. No . NO! Tell me it's not. Tell me it's not him!"
"I cannot say." Kilgharrah lifted his head and spread his wings as he prepared to fly off.
"Kilgharrah!"
The Great Dragon turned once more, "I will tell you this Old Warrior, if the child's grief and anger become too much, then the power shall be unleashed, and overwhelm him. He will lose all that makes him human, and a new entity will be born. It will have the power to change destinies, and history at its whim. Should this happen then you, and those who fight alongside you will fall." And with that Kilgharrah flew away leaving the knight to run back to the caves in a panic, hoping beyond hope that he was wrong. That Unwin was not the child. But even then, he knew it was true.
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Unwin smiled as he thought of the battle to come. Soon. Soon he would get his revenge for what this kingdom had done to his wife. What that bastard, they called king, had done to his son. He breathed in cherishing the smell. It was the smell that preceded any battle. The smell that told of revenge, and death.
It was something he loved now. The smell. He was addicted to it; knowing that even once this battle was won, he would go on to claim more lands. Something that the foolish kings of this kingdom had neglected to do. They had had some of the most respected, and strongest knights. They had the power to control the wyverns, and they had had plenty of sorcerers. The land was ripe, the supplies a constant. Even the people had never gone hungry.
Yes he planned to take full advantage of this kingdom's resources. Soon he would be more powerful than any man alive. But first he had to rid himself at the pest that had killed his son. And maybe, he would let him live, just long enough to watch his pathetic brother die at his hands. Yes, that's exactly what he planned to do. And he would do it soon. Soon.
Bet you didn't expect that. But now you know why I was dropping hints about Wymer taking part in another war before the Purge. He's going to have a bigger part now that you all chose the longer and darker story in the vote. But don't worry, all hope is not lost! And I know, it's all segmented I meant for that this time. The battle draws nearer my readers! And it is going to be as you all so put it, 'EPIC!'
And trust me the next chapter is going to be longer, and much better than this one. Not so broken apart either, no matter what the vote had been the format for this chapter would have remained... eh. Transitions. Hey but at least something happened in this transition right!
Anyways, I have to get up for school in... five, six hours maybe... meh, I'm having a bad day.
But don't let my problems and complaints get you down. Go make yourself a better day then mine was. Happy reading and writing!