Title: The legend of a Warlock who Served the Once and Future King
Author: Lamiabellascrittore
Rating: T+
Warnings: Mild language. Violence. Some adult situations- Deal with it. There is more to come. Happy soon to be Halloween .
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or any of the characters. If I did there would be a season six, seven, eight, and so on, and a movie, of course.
Spoilers: Possibly.
Summary: Merlin and Arthur go on a mission that was supposed to be strictly reconnaissance. However, nothing ever goes as planned, and they get separated. Merlin is kidnapped by Morgana and Arthur must find a way to rescue his ever loyal servant. But, will Arthur still save Merlin after he learns Merlin has magic? This story is building up to the battle of Camlann. The sequel to this one.
A/N: Okay, so this is my first Published Fan Fiction. Please read and review.
If you liked it I will continue. Please be kind. ;) The more you review the more likely it is that I will continue this story and more. Sorry for any errors, it becomes difficult after editing it so many times. It becomes a lot like a word repeated over and over again until it no longer makes any sense.
I hope you enjoy...
Chapter 13
Scarlet Letter
Arthur and his knights road on through the night and into another sunset and when the sun set once more and the cold had them shaking in their saddles, they still refused to stop.
It wasn't until twilight the next evening that they came across the camp Arthur and Merlin had been ambushed.
Without a word Arthur dismounted and tied his horse, Passelande, to the same branch he had tied Hroegen when he and Merlin were here last. He had left Hroegen back at the stables. He and Llamreil's needed some much needed rest.
He looked around. Crossbow bolts scattered the ground. The only indication that they had been attacked.
"Tie your horses. We go on foot from here." Arthur said, walking to the tree Merlin had shoved him behind, knocking him out of the way of a bolt. He heard his knights dismount behind him, tie their horses and fallow him dutifully off the trail and farther into the woods.
Arthur honestly had expected some questions, or at least a complaints, mostly from Gwain, but none came. It was just a testament to each of their moods.
In the meeting before they had left, Arthur had informed everyone of his nightmares, or rather visions that Morgana had been sending him every night since he and Merlin have been separated.
He expressed his unease about not having any other distressing visions since the night he arrived back in Camelot. That, he seemed to recall, sobered everyone up even more than the through that their friend was missing.
He knew it surrounded him in a dark cloud that ate up all the light, suffocating any hope that Merlin would sill be alive. He could imagine it was much the same for them.
He looked behind him and glanced at Sir Ranoue and Sir Garret. Well, he knew three out of five of the knights would feel the same. He walked around the side of the tree and stopped dead in his tracks.
Dried blood was smeared on the roots near where Merlin had been crouched. Arthur grit his teeth against the sudden wave of panic. That was a lot of blood. He took a deep breath to steady himself.
He felt more than saw his knights approach. He heard a low whistle.
"That's a lot of blood, almost to much if you ask me," Sir Garret said, not meanly, but not sympathetically either. "Doesn't look like someone could survive that kind of blood loss."
Arthur and Gwain looked at him sharply. Gwain shoved him in the shoulder hard. "Oi!" Gwain exclaimed. " Merlin's a tough kid, he's alive." Arthur was silently thankful to the knights confidence, his own was wavering and with the blood and the visions, he had a terrible, terrible feeling that if, when, they found Merlin, he wouldn't be the same.
"This way," Arthur said grimly.
Tuning his back on Garret, Arthur fallowed the path Merlin and Arthur took as they fled the Saxons. He could easily fallow the Saxons prints, but nobody could locate his or Merlin's. It was as if they had been wiped clean.
"I think we should split up. Maybe find another trail." Leon suggested from Arthur's right.
"Yeah. Holler if you find anything." Arthur said, watching his knights break into groups. Sir Garrett and Sir Ranoue, Sir Leon and Sir Percival started to search the area, leaving Arthur to his thoughts.
Normally when they split up into groups, Merlin was right by his side, yammering his ear off. But standing here on a search patrol, alone, was unnerving. Even more so because they were here searching for Merlin. It brought to life the realness of the situation. That he may never again see Merlin alive. Once more Arthur had to fight down the raw and unrestrained anger coursing through him. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword squeezed the hilt, his knuckles leeching of color.
"Over here!" A loud booming voice broke his haze, and he sprinted into action fallowing Percival's voice.
It didn't take long for Arthur to locate the others who had all gathered around a small corpse of trees. He pushed his way through to the front to see what had their attention, and for the second time that day, he froze. His blood ran cold and heartbeat out of control.
A dried bloody hand print marked the smooth bark of the young tree. The print was smeared, but it was unmistakably A human print. Under the print was a message in red scrawled messily on old parchment paper. The letters were shaky and distorted, as if whoever had written it was in a hurry and in excruciating pain, and lying of the forest floor as Merlin's neckerchief soaked in blood.
Arthur knelt down to better read the writing. He had to kneels before his knees just gave out in sorrow. The handwriting was Merlin's. Arthur had read enough of his speeches, written in Merlin's hand, to recognize it. The letters read as if it were a Dear John letter. A goodbye of sorts.
Arthur,
If you are reading this, then that means you haven't found me yet. Obviously. I am writing this letter only because I have no other options left. I'm sure you have figured out by know that Morgana is the reason I never made it back. She is powerful, and I hadn't a chance.
Arthur ripped the letter from the tree and kept reading. That dull ache in his chest started up again. The more he read the more he felt like he was burning.
I doubt that this letter will even reach you but I had to try. Tell Gwen and Gaius I'm sorry I couldn't make it home. There is no escape, not yet. Not only a day ago Morgana and her men transported me to an abandoned castle in the Valley of the Fallen Kings, at least that's as far as my bribes could get me. The guard I bribed to get this letter to you wasn't exactly cheep, but I needed to tell you something if these are to be my last days.
Arthur stood up, the letter held firmly in his hands. He felt his heart lodge in his throat and a fear start to simmer in his chest. He shoved his panic down and continued to read. He could feel Gwain trying to read the letter in Merlin's blood by leaning over his shoulder.
I fear that I'm losing myself, or that I already have, I don't know. Nothing seems real anymore. I don't feel real anymore. Maybe I'm not, and I'm just in a dream that I need to wake myself up from... No. Of course that's idiotic. Dreams weren't supposed to be filled with so much torture... Maybe, maybe I'm already dead and I'm in hell. Oh, God, I don't know. My grip on reality is slipping through my finder faster than time.
Merlin seemed to ramble for a second, giving Arthur a look into his friends mental state. Spots of red splattered the page as Merlin's hands were no doubt shaking.
She has dark magic at her disposal and she is determined to break me. I think she plans on using me in her war, and if I must bend to her will, if only for a while to keep you safe, I will. I will do my best to bid my time and wait for a way to get free, but should her hold on me prove to be to strong... Arthur, I need you to listen carefully. Morgana has nearly managed to break me on her own already. Even now as I write this I fear that by the next moons rise, the Merlin you knew will be gone, and in his place another will stand. I will fight for as long can, as I am able but I am running out of time.
Arthur's hands were shaking now.
If you do somehow succeed in finding me, be weary. Not all is as it seems, and God forbid you do find me, and Morgana has already manage to truly break me...run. Run and leave. Don't try and defeat her, or save me. You wont be able to. Morgana's magic if far to powerful for you to combat her, and I am to weak at the moment to try and fight much longer. But if you should ignore my warnings, like I know you will, then you must grant me one wish.
Arthur's breath caught in his throat, and he choked. He shook his head in denial.
If I am in Morgana's control, and the Merlin you know is gone, you must kill me. I fought for as long as I could, so Forgive me when I say that I'm sorry too ask this of you. I'll keep trying Arthur, but even if you succeed in saving me... I'll still be Merlin, but I wont be the same.
Forever you're servant
till the day I die,
Merlin
Arthur stared at the words for a very long moment. The red letters swimming in front of him. You must kill me. I wont be the same. Till the day I die. This couldn't be how it ended.
Gwain snatched the letter from his hands and read and re read the letter.
"Well?" Gwain asked, looking at him expectantly. "We going after the lad?"
Arthur just looked at him, like 'are you kidding, of course we are'.
"To the Valley of the Fallen Kings it is then." Gwain said triumphantly, his mood seeming to have lifted, and a steely determination lit his eyes once again.
"To the Valley of the Fallen Kings." Arthur agreed, distractedly. How could he ever kill Merlin. He may push the limits of the Kings Anger, but Arthur could never bring himself to raise a weapon to his brother.
So ignoring Merlin's warnings, just as Merlin predicted, Arthur chose to believe wholeheartedly that Merlin was strong enough to overcome Morgana's will. After all, this was Merlin were talking about. He is the most stubborn man he knew, other than himself. An ever loyal servant.