I'm sorry I haven't updated for a while, but here's another chapter! *crickets chirping* Hehe. Sorry.
The travel to Essitir was, in Gwaine's words, so bloody boring he would have preferred to be in Camelot's jail. At least then he could have the challenge of escaping. Though, he mused as the knights and their king trudged through undergrowth, it wouldn't be much of a challenge. People break out of Camelot's jail all the time.
"Hey, princess! Did you ever notice how terrible our jails are?" Gwaine shouted to Arthur, who was riding at the front of the procession. Arthur glared at him.
"There is nothing wrong with the jails!" he replied angrily. Elyan, looking thoughtful, piped up.
"Now that you mention it, we have had a load of people escape from them recently," he mused, loud enough for the others to hear.
"You know what we should do?" asked Leon, who was looking impressively intelligent in that moment. "We should-"
But what they should do the others never found out, as Leon fell off his horse before he finished his sentence, a dark sticking out of his neck.
"Ambush!" yelled Hiccup, jumping off his horse. Percival took two darts to the arm and went down, falling to the floor as if through syrup.
"Knights, draw your weapons!" Arthur shouted, and the remaining knights drew their swords, but not before another dart came whizzing out of the trees, narrowly missing Elyan, who yelped. "Show yourselves!" ordered Arthur.
The trees rustled as a small man, dressed in a layers of jackets and blue trousers, emerged from the trees. He was holding a blowpipe and wearing a smug smirk. Arthur immediately disliked him, and Gwaine voiced his disapproval.
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I am Marv the Metatron! I used to be an extremely powerful sorcerer, but then my source of power was removed by another sorcerer who didn't like me all that much. Might have been because I killed his boyfriend, come to think of it. He never did get over that. But!" Marv clapped his hands together, grinning manically. "Never mind that now! I am Marv the Metatron, former Scribe of the Chuck, and I am going to be the hero that finally destroys the villainous line of Pendragon!" Before anyone could respond, Marv waved a hand and all of the remaining knights dropped to the floor, out cold (probably). Smiling devilishly, Marv shook his arm and a blade about the length of a forearm slid out of it. He brandished the weapon at Arthur, who glared at him. Marv faltered for a second, but kept going.
Arthur sighed, drew his sword, and swiped at Marv, who dodged and came in for an attack of his own, narrowly missing Arthur's stomach. He then threw a punch, catching Arthur's jaw. Marv quickly withdrew his hand, and ran at Arthur, who made no move to get out of the way. Marv swung another punch, and Arthur dodged. Marv kept going forward, and Arthur tried to trip him but failed, as Marv spun around unexpectedly, punching Arthur in the nose. Arthur's eyes watered, and Marv made a shoving motion in Arthur's direction, sending him careening into a tree, where he slid down the trunk, having hit his head. Dazed eyes glared up at Marv.
"I expected more from the great Arthur Pendragon!" he mocked, slowly making his way over to the fallen king. "They tell so many stories about you, you know? How you defeated the Questing Beast, found the Fisher King's trident, and even killed a unicorn, but here, all you are is a powerless man against me." Marv crouched down in front of Arthur. "I like stories, you see - I'm writing one right now. But you know what makes a story good? What gives it meaning? The villain. Every story needs a villain, and you, Arthur Pendragon, are the villain of my story." Marv stopped, and held the blade to Arthur's cheek, slowly dragging it down in a curved line. Arthur groaned, and reached blindly beside him, for anything. "I'm going to kill you, slowly. Do you know what this blade does?" Arthur's hand met nothing but leaves. "It's a special blade. If I were to stab you with it, it would burn out your eyes, killing you painfully. But I'm not going to do that." Arthur's hand met metal. He grasped it tightly. "I'm going to torture you, then kill your knights in front of you as you wat-" Marv stopped suddenly, looking down at his chest, where Arthur's sword was imbedded. His eyes widened, and he looked at Arthur, horrified. Then he keeled over, dead.
Arthur glared at the body, then attempted to get up, and failed. His head began to spin. Five minutes won't kill anyone, he thought drowsily, then his head lolled back and he closed his eyes. Five... minutes...
"What is taking them so long?" Artemis whisper-shouted, and kicked a twig. "It's been a whole day already and Emrys is getting worse!"
She was right. On the ground in front of her, Merlin lay limp, his wings ashen grey with the occasional spot of fading silver. If not for the small rise and fall of his chest every few seconds, you could have mistaken him for dead.
"Calm down, Arty," Apollo answered her. "They can only go so fast, and they are only mortal. I just hope they get back in time," he muttered, looking worriedly down at Merlin.
Neither of them noticed Merlin's eyes glowing gold a few hours later, but that was probably because they were closed. What they did notice was how the already pale boy turned ashen in colour and still did not move.
Arthur and his knights had woken up around half a day later, feeling groggy, but with no lasting injuries. In fact, the cut on Arthur's face was completely healed. None of the knights could explain it, so they ignored it and continued on their quest. Eventually, after much riding and Gwaine's singing, they came to the large chasm that separated Camelot from Essitir. There was a small bridge across, but it was guarded by a strange man, who belonged to neither kingdom but had guarded the bridge for as long as anyone could remember. Any other passes into Essitir were crawling with bandits, so the knights decided to chance their luck with the Bridge Guardian. They came up the narrow pass that lead to the bridge, and saw an old man there, dressed in what appeared to be tattered green robes, and holding a big stick. The knights stopped before approaching him.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Sire?" asked Elyan, glancing nervously at the man. "Only, I hear that he askes you three questions, and if you get them wrong, you get thrown into Essitir and die on impact."
"Nonsense," replied Arthur, looking at the Bridge Guardian and smiling. "How could he ever throw you far enough that you get over the chasm?"
"He could be a sorcerer, sire," pointed out Percival. Arthur looked at him, contemplating this.
"No. Even if he is, all you have to do is answer three questions, isn't it?" Arthur concluded. "So, who's going first?"
"Uh..." mumbled everyone, shuffling and not looking Arthur in the eye. Hiccup stepped forward.
"I will, sire," he said, and headed off into the open ground surrounding the chasm.
""Stop!" shouted the old man, and spurts of flame sprang up from the chasm walls, bathing the bridge in smoke. "He who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, lest the other side alive he see."
"Ask me the questions, Bridge Guardian. I am not afraid!" Hiccup declared. The man eyed him beadily, grinning slightly.
"WHAT... is your name?" he asked.
"I am Sir Hiccup of Camelot."
"WHAT... is your quest?"
"I seek the magic tree in Essitir to heal my friend!"
"WHAT is your favourite colour?"
Hiccup started slightly, then answered, "Green."
"Right then. Off you go," the bridge keeper said, moving out of the way of Hiccup.
"Oh, thank you," Hiccup said as he went past, onto the bridge and into the smoke, obscuring him from sight.
"That wasn't so hard!" Gwaine announced, then staggered off in the direction of the bridge.
"Stop!" shouted the old man again. "He who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, lest the other side alive he see."
"Ask me the questions, Bridge Guardian. I am not afraid!" Gwaine said confidently, and the old man smirked.
"WHAT... is your name?"
"Sir Gwaine of Camelot."
"WHAT... is your quest?"
"I seek the magic tree in Essitir to heal my friend!"
"WHAT is the name of the actor who played Mr Finch in Doctor Who?"
"What? What the hell is that?" Gwaine answered. The Bridge Guardian smirked, and Gwaine went flying into the air, across the chasm and somewhere beyond it. The remaining knights, not a little afraid, approached the bridge. Elyan shoved Percival forward.
"Stop!" shouted the old man yet again, a maniac gleam in his eye. "He who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, lest the other side alive he see."
"Ask me the questions, Bridge Guardian," Percival said. The man eyed looked at him, then opened his mouth.
"WHAT... is your name?" he asked.
"My name is Sir Percival of Camelot."
"WHAT... is your quest?"
"I seek the magic tree in Essitir to heal Merlin."
"WHAT is your favourite colour?"
"Green." Percival's eyes widened. "No, I mean re-" Percival was thrown across the chasm, and landed on the other side, still in view. He stood up and went to wait with the other figure that must have been Hiccup. The Bridge Guardian watching him, frowning.
"Damn it," he muttered. Arthur stepped forward. "Stop!" shouted the old man, then he grinned. "What is your name?" he asked.
"It is Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot."
"WHAT... is your quest?"
"I seek the magic tree in Essitir to heal my..." Arthur paused. "My friend!"
"WHAT is the most amount of alcohol a man can consume?"
Arthur stared at him. "Before he dies or without dying?" he asked.
"Huh?" said the Bridge Guardian. "I don't know that!" Without further adieu, the Bridge Guardian went flying into the air, got about half way across the chasm, and fell into it's depths.
"Why do you know that, sire?" asked Elyan.
"Gwaine," answered Arthur. Elyan nodded knowingly. They made their way across the bridge to meet Hiccup and the miraculously uninjured Percival. "Well, we best be going then," said Arthur, and the knights continued on.
They found Gwaine about a half mile away, leaning against a tree.
"How in Odin's name did you survive that?" asked Hiccup incredulously.
"Well, funny story, actually. You see, I was flying through the air, contemplating my death, when this gold spark flew directly at me from out of nowhere. I tried to dodge the thing, but dodging is very hard mid-air and it hit my anyway. Then these huge wings sprouted from my back, and I flew down here, then they disappeared!" he finished dramatically. Arthur stared at Gwaine incredulously. Hiccup just stared.
"What the hell?" he muttered finally. "You know what, it doesn't matter. We've not got time to waste! Come on, men!" Arthur announced, mounting his horse and motioning for the others to do the same.
"That protection spell I put on the knights got activated," Apollo said suddenly.
"How do you know?" Artemis asked.
"I just saw the half-drunk one flying through the air, then felt a tug on the spell, and the knight sprouted wings. The mortals must've tried to use the Bridge of Death to get into Essitir," Apollo explained.
"Ah. That was dumb of them."
"Yeah."
Merlin turned a shade paler as time wore on.