Summary: Merlin, Arthur, and the knights of the roundtable go on a hunting trip and get attacked by bandits (surprise surprise).
Type: Magic reveal.
Rating: PG13
Ships: None
Changes: Arthur is King, Lancelot never died, and Morgana is still evil.
Time: After Arthur gets crowned king, before he marries Gwen.
The day had started out fine. Merlin walked to the kings chambers and pulled open his curtains saying "Rise and Shine" and when that didn't work he pushed the King off the bed.
Which made Arthur mad so he decided to go on a hunting trip with Merlin and the knights of the roundtable.
Of course, everything went downhill from there.
Merlin POV
We has been riding the horses until we came to a clearing in the middle of the woods. We all tied our horses to the trees and the knights grabbed their crossbows so they could start hunting.
"Why did we have to go hunting again?" I asked the royal prat of Camelot.
"Because I felt like it." Arthur responded before telling me to be quiet and try not to trip as much.
So, naturally, I tripped as much as possible.
~ Time skip ~
We all headed back towards where the horses were when we noticed they were missing.
Before we had a chance to investigate bandits popped out of the bushes and surrounded us. Arthur and the knights pulled out their swords and started attacking.
I had no choice but to stay in the center as I was surrounded by both the knights and the bandits. I tried to help as much as possible by making branches fall onto the bandits but I could only do so much with out being discovered.
We were able to fend them off for a while until they got the better of us and knocked us out one by one. I was knocked out last and I saw the bandits smirking as I fell to the ground.
~ Time skip ~
I groaned and blinked my eyes open. Oh yeah, I thought, we were captured by bandits. Why couldn't just one hunting trip go by without something happening to us?
I looked over at the knights and saw that they had all come to already.
"This is your fault clot pole." I told Arthur, glaring at him.
"My fault?!" Arthur responded. He even had the nerve to look offended.
"Yes your fault. You were the one who wanted to go on a hunting trip. And I might remind you that something always happens on a hunting trip." I responded slightly angry.
"Ah look who's finally awake." A bandit, who I assume was the head bandit, walked into our large cell with a look of malice on his face.
"What do you want?" Arthur spat out, glaring at the bandit who just entered.
"Nothing in particular." He responded. "I just want to see you suffer."
"What have I ever done to you?" Arthur asked the bandit leader.
"Oh not you. Him." The bandit replied as he jerked his thumb towards me.
"Why?" I asked, looking at him.
"Morgana has a grudge with you so he hired us to take care of the job. And rumor has it that you are fond of the King of Camelot over here."
"Don't you dare lay a finger on him." The bandit looked amused by this and slapped Arthur across the face.
"Too bad." The bandit continued to hurt the Arthur and the knights by kicking, punching and slapping them.
As this happened I could feel my magic start to react. I tried pushing it down. I couldn't let Arthur know I had magic. It would destroy him.
"Please stop." I sobbed out. I couldn't even look at Arthur now. "Just hurt me instead."
"Oh I will. But I want to break you first." He responded. He continued to hurt the knights, mainly Arthur, and with each hit I could feel my magic struggling to break free.
Tears were running freely down my cheeks and I looked at the bandit silently pleading with him to stop. If he kept going my magic would break free and tear this place apart.
The bandit stopped for a moment and walked over to me. "You don't look broken yet." He lifted up my chin and looked me in the eyes. "I want you to watch what I'm about to do so I can see the moment you break."
The bandit pulled out a dagger from his belt and walked back over to Arthur and stabbed him in the stomach.
I let out a wail and closed my eyes trying to stop my magic from exploding but all I could think of was how hurt Arthur was. I opened my eyes back up and looked at the bandit with rage.
"You messed with the wrong person." I said breaking the chains around my arms with magic. I stalked over the him and pushed him against the wall. "You will never hurt Arthur again."
"He's already dead."
"No." I couldn't feel. I couldn't breathe. It didn't matter that the bandit was only saying it to get a rise out of me. Because those three words were all it took to break me. To turn me into a monster.
I let out a yell as my magic finally broke free of the chains I placed on it.
No ones POV
"He's already dead."
Merlin yelled a heart wrenching yell and raw power exploded from him as he fell down to the ground with tears streaming down his face.
The bandit backed away in fear and a barrier appeared around Merlin and the knights. Merlin may be angry but his magic would not allow him to hurt Arthur.
A shockwave of magic was sent out and the building began to shake. The knights watched in both awe and fear and the building began to tumble down around them.
No one noticed the golden light surrounding their wounds, healing them. As the building finished collapsing Merlins magic flickered off and he was left sobbing on the ground.
Arthur and the knights slowly walked over towards Merlin as if trying to soothe a wounded animal.
"I'm a monster." Merlin whispered, knowing the destruction he caused.
At these words Arthur bent down and, for the first time in his life, gave Merlin a hug.
The knights followed suit and soon Merlin was surrounded by his friends.
"You could never be a monster." Arthur whispered back.