Disclaimer, as much as I adore Merlin, I do not own the series, all rights go to the BBC. Please review this story as I'm not a confident writer and love to know how I can make my work better.
Chapter One:
Bandits. Why was it always Bandits? Merlin thought as he and Arthur ran through the darkening forest attempting not to trip on the numerous tree roots. Roughly two dozen men were chasing them as far as Merlin had estimated, way too many for Arthur to defeat without dying and although Merlin had discreetly dropped a few tree branches on some of the more vicious members of the pursuers, there was a limit to what he could do with the prince being there. The other knights were busy on various patrols and Gwaine was recovering from a serious hangover from too much time in the tavern, he swore he only had two drinks, Merlin reckoned it was more like ten, so they were on their own. No help was coming from Camelot, no patrols ever came this far, Merlin wasn't even sure where they were, all the woods started to look the same after a while.
The day had started as a supposedly pleasant hunting trip though as almost all hunting trips seemed to end up with someone getting badly injured, Merlin was dubious from the start. By mid-afternoon and with no attacks by magical creatures, Cenred's knights, or other potentially malicious beings, Merlin had begun to let his guard down, almost started to relax. Big mistake. No sooner had he laid down the bags and started a small fire to cook the few rabbits they had caught that day ("We would have caught more if you were capable of being stealthy Merlin"
"It's your gigantic feet, they can hear you from miles off, not to mention the smell, I feel so sorry for those poor rabbits, you are only shooting them as they try to get away from your horrendous stench ."
"Shut up Merlin, I at least wash, unlike some people I could mention.") when they were ambushed by twenty-odd battle-hardened men. There was no option but to run even though Arthur was greatly unhappy about the prospect of not fighting these men: his warrior instincts were screaming at him to turn and fight but Merlin was with him and Merlin was defenseless. Fighting would mean certain death for the manservant or so Arthur believed.
So that was how they had ended up being chased through the trees and hoping that the bandits would tire eventually. Merlin privately believed that Arthur was a magnet for bandits and it made his job as secret protector all the harder. He should really get a medal for saving Arthur so many times without him realizing but then, Arthur was an oblivious idiot most of the time.
Destiny hated Merlin with a passion. They had suddenly burst out of the crowded trees and found themselves on top of a sheer cliff. Several hundred feet below them rushed a mighty river, wide and deep that meant certain death to anyone who leapt from the cliff. The boys were forced to stop and the bandits caught up forming a rough semi-circle and advancing slowly believing they had trapped the crown prince of Camelot and his servant. The brightest among them were wondering how much they could get for Arthur's ransome. Not the servant of course, he's be sold to the slave traders further south, he was most likely worth nothing to the king of Camelot.
Merlin was no other option. He'd always imagined this moment would happen in Camelot when Arthur became king and he could choose the time for when Arthur was less likely to execute him but if he didn't do something now, they would never live to see that day. There were definitely too many for Arthur to fight and Merlin was dreadful with a sword, he'd be more of a risk to himself than the bandits. Taking a deep breath, Merlin realised what he had to do. He closed his eyes, focused on the endless well of magic and shut out everything else around him; the jeers from the bandits and his worries about Arthur and the king.
Arthur had raised his sword and prepared to fight but then out of the corner of his eye he saw Merlin, just standing there, not moving. He began to yell the servants' name and get him to snap out of his fear but then Merlin opened his eyes and for once Arthur couldn't miss the flash of gold in his eyes as he said something in a language Arthur had never heard before. It sounded ancient, almost primal, it sent shivers down Arthur's spine. A wave of golden light shot from Merlin and hit the wall of bandits knocking every single one back into the trees. Within seconds they were all unconscious but Merlin knew they were not out of the woods yet and any second they could wake up. Arthur was staring in shock, unable to speak but before he could react, Merlin grabbed hold of him as tightly as he could manage and trying to ignore the trembling in his body, leaped blindly off the edge of the cliff down to the mass of water beyond.