Eight
The sorcerer who looked Arthur's way got something out from the inner pocket of their jacket. They threw the object towards Arthur and the team sent to protect him.
'Get back! Get back!' one of the soldiers shouted.
Arthur thought it best to follow the instruction. Except there seemed to be nowhere to go. They were surrounded by an impenetrable cloud of smoke. On instinct, he got out the baton he was given. Good thing he did because as some of the smoke cleared, the sorcerer rushed toward him in an attempted tackle.
Arthur swung the baton and struck the sorcerer in the arm, driving them back.
The sorcerer had no weapons so just attempted to grab the baton. Arthur managed to swing the baton away from his reach. The guy turned around and found a long piece of wood on the ground. It must have been a part of one of the placards held by the protesters. He grabbed the piece and swung it Arthur's way.
Arthur managed to block it. The guy didn't give up; Arthur ducked away from the wooden post or blocked it with his baton each time. The sorcerer was pure aggression while Arthur was swift and precise in his defence. In his peripheral vision Arthur saw clusters of protesters break off and enter smaller fights with the police or the other troops. All of the soldiers sent to protect him had each become engaged in fights with people from the crowd who had descended on them.
The sorcerer fighting Arthur took a couple more hits, making Arthur wonder why he wasn't yet using magic. Even so, Arthur didn't go into an attack but rather kept up the defence and kept the guy in watch.
The sorcerer, driven back a few steps, stumbled and fell. Something unleashed in him at this insult and when he rose he dropped the post and stormed towards Arthur. This time he did manage to knock him flat on the ground. He pulled the face covering down to Arthur's chin then swung back his fist to hit him. It gave Arthur crucial seconds to roll away from the guy's hold and stand up.
The sorcerer hesitated for a moment.
'You're the prince!' It was a young, male voice. Contempt radiated through the sorcerer's eyes.
Other people who had heard him turned to see who he was referring to. He enjoyed the audience attention. 'Tell your daddy we're comin' for ya. Him and his ministers are gonna cower before us,' he taunted then broke into a shout. 'Magic will return!'
The people surrounding them cheered, although many gave who they believed was the prince some curious –if not friendly- glances. The guy, renewed in confidence stormed towards Arthur again, aiming for a punch.
Arthur quickly pulled up his face covering before catching the guy's arm and twisting it behind the man, pinning the sorcerer to him. He gritted his teeth, trying to diffuse the rage that shot through him at the sorcerer's words.
At that moment a series of bangs rang out through the air. People ran.
Losing focus on his adversary, Arthur's grip loosened and the sorcerer twisted free. His companions were spreading chaos and destruction elsewhere around the library.
But the sorcerer didn't leave Arthur. His eyes flicked to someone behind Arthur who he gave a subtle nod to.
Arthur narrowed his eyes, but before he could shoot a look at the guy's companion, the sorcerer pushed his upturned palm forward. He chanted a rush of words and something exploded behind Arthur, knocking him forward to the ground. He lay with his palms flat on the ground, catching his fall. Still his cheekbone hit the stone ground and he felt the sting of splitting skin.
At first, Merlin simply waved away arms, legs and wooden planks with bare hands, always trying to keep his eyes on "Arthur" in the crowd. But soon he heard out loud words he usually heard only in his mind or when he uttered them under his breath: magical incantations. So he threw aside the caution and used the odd spell to make a couple of people stumble over or stuck to the spot so that he could reach Arthur. At one point, there were even shouts that someone had spotted the prince, making Merlin's job slightly easier.
He ran to where the commotion with the prince supposedly was, when bigger explosions rang out behind him, making people rush away from where Merlin was going. When he got to Arthur –now his identity concealed once again by the face covering- the prince was on the ground. One of the sorcerers from the library loomed over him, ready to make his next move.
Merlin, without much of any plan in mind, ran up to the sorcerer. He stood behind him, directly in Arthur's view.
He didn't care. He extended his arm toward the sorcerer and uttered the words of the spell. As he felt the heat envelope him, he knew his eyes would take on the glow.
The spell caught the other sorcerer unawares and he let out a scream. At the last moment Arthur's eyes were squarely on Merlin, caught between incredulity and distrust.
His eyes didn't glow when he cast the spell. Arthur knew enough about magic and had enough brushes with sorcerers to know the tell-tale sign of magic being used. A brief flash of gold covering the sorcerer's irises. Which this sorcerer definitely didn't have.
'You don't have magic,' Arthur spoke. The implications of that began rushing through his mind as he raised himself off the ground. The sorcerer didn't correct him, just prepared to get Arthur back down, by whatever method.
Then another figure rushed to the scene. Arthur narrowed his eyes at the newcomer: tall, somewhat skinny, a dark hood covering his head and shading his face.
He didn't hesitate a second longer and cast out his hand at Arthur's adversary and said something under his breath. A spell. Sure enough, under the hood, this guy's eyes glowed briefly and the first sorcerer let out a scream. Like a flimsy paper caught in a storm, the sorcerer was swept off his feet, landing several feet away on the lawn.
Arthur looked from the sorcerer -sprawled and unmoving- to the newcomer. He had attacked one of his own. He was on...Arthur's side? The new sorcerer stood frozen for a second, to Arthur's surprise, still not making any move to attack him. Keeping his eyes on the guy, Arthur picked up the baton.
The sorcerer remained still for another moment, despite Arthur picking up the weapon. There was something familiar about this guy. The frame, the way his determination mixed with hesitation burst through despite the shadow cast over his face. Like he wanted to say something but couldn't.
More importantly why did he protect Arthur, who was fighting against those of his kind?
Before Arthur could say anything, the sorcerer took off. For a few seconds Arthur followed him with his eyes, but the guy was fast, ducking into the closest crowd. So he let him go and ran over to his original attacker. He checked the guy's pulse to find him alive.
A round of blaring vehicle sirens swallowed the shouts of the crowd and the bangs of explosions. As the crowds dispersed more rapidly, it seemed the dust finally settling over the scene.
'Bear42, can you hear me?' The words came through Arthur's earpiece.
'I can.' He released a sigh, trying to process everything that just happened.
In the emergency vehicle where he sat he could see a man followed by a small group of security walking towards him. Soon Uther's worried face came into view.
'Are you alright?' asked the king.
Arthur gave him a nod.
His father stepped into the open back of the vehicle and sat on a bench opposite him. The worry on his face began subsiding. 'I'm glad.' The king looked across to the library precinct where emergency personnel were working their way through the aftermath of the arrest inside the library. 'Two people have lost their lives. Several injuries, I believe.' Uther looked to his son again, eyes softened. 'I wanted to see you were okay for myself.'
Arthur gave another awkward nod. 'Thanks.' A moment of silence passed between them. 'There are reports that the criminals who organised the attacks weren't sorcerers,' Arthur said.
'Those are early reports. The criminals haven't been properly interviewed.'
'One of the sorcerers attacked me. Except I think it was staged. He supposedly cast a spell but his eyes never glowed.'
'Perhaps you didn't notice it in the rush.'
'He was right in front of me.'
'These people have threatened everyone's lives today-'
'There's something else.' Arthur needed to own up to what he believed had happened. 'Someone came over to me when I was fighting the sorcerer. I got knocked down and he came up behind the sorcerer and attacked him. He was trying to help me.' He paused but didn't hold back. 'With magic.' He wouldn't look away from his father's still, grey eyes.
'You've had a long day, Arthur,' Uther said at last. 'I'm glad to see you alright.' He stood up without another word.
