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DISCLAIMER - I do not own any of the characters in this fanfic, they all belong to the BBC.
Chapter Four - A Battle in the Woods
The sun was setting and dark was creeping over the buildings of Camelot. Merlin had not moved from Arthur's chambers, all day he answered question after question as the King paced in circles around the room.
"I've told you everything Arthur, I swear." Merlin said.
Arthur merely scoffed. "There was a time where I would have believed that."
Arthur watched as the wizard sighed, he did not think that Merlin was lying to him... but then clearly he had been fooled before.
There was a knock at the door, both Merlin and Arthur turned to face it, neither of them expecting the interruption, the door swung open and Gwaine stood nervously before them.
"I am sorry to have to disturb you Sire..." He said, his eyes glancing awkwardly at Merlin, "But we have had reports of Saxons roaming the woods, they are believed to have attacked the outer towns."
Arthur rubbed his eyes, he was so tired. "Very well." He mumbled, "Prepare the horses we ride out to meet them."
Gwaine nodded and made a swift departure.
"You too Merlin." Arthur said.
Merlin looked up at his King, startled. "Are you sure you want me there?"
Arthur grimaced. "Oh yes, most definitely.
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The leaves crunched beneath the hooves of their horses as they made their way through the woods. Arthur, his knights and of course...Merlin.
Arthur was not sure why he had insisted that Merlin should come, maybe because he wanted to act as though nothing had changed, except of course everything had.
If the Knights noticed the lack of conversation between Arthur and his servant they made no comment, only Sir Gwaine kept casting furtive looks between them.
As they made their way deeper in the woods the sound of men could be heard; loud shouts and jeers echoed through the trees.
"Only a bit further..." Sir Percival said quietly.
The men nodded in silent agreement and urged their horses downward toward the clearing where the Saxons were hidden.
The Knights rode into the clearing and all the Saxons stopped what they were doing at once. A chill rippled through the air as it always did before battle.
The Saxons were not a particularly handsome bunch, covered in dirt and dressed in rags...but they were big and Arthur had seen what they could do in a fight. They were ruthless.
"Look who it is!" One of them sneered, "The noble knights of Camelot and their false King."
Sir Leon sat up straight, "There is but one true ruler of Camelot and that is King Arthur."
The Saxon spat onto the ground. "He sits on a stolen throne."
The Knights all withdrew their swords and immediately the Saxons drew theirs.
Arthur looked around at his Knights, each willing to fight in his name and then his gaze lingered on the Saxons. They were evenly matched in numbers as far as he could tell... Then Arthur's eyes then finally fell on Merlin, sat atop his horse with his eyes narrowed in concentration, ready to strike at any moment.
How hard Arthur not noticed him before?
"Lower your weapons." He said.
The Knights all faltered, "But Sire -" Began Sir Leon.
"I said lower them." Arthur ordered. "Merlin will deal with this, won't you Merlin?"
All the Knights turned to Merlin, each shocked.
"My Lord, he is just a servant." Sir Leon said feebly.
Arthur met Merlin's gaze. "He is much more than that."
Merlin held his King's stare and there was no anger in the young warlock's face, only resignation. Without a word Merlin swung off his horse and landed gracefully - too gracefully - onto the ground.
He walked toward the Saxons with a measured pace and Arthur counted every step. He could feel the tension in the air, every one of his Knights looked anxiously forward, holding their breath as one.
Merlin stood in front of the Saxons, his back straight and expression unreadable.
"Drop your weapons." Merlin said quietly. "I do not wish to hurt you."
The Saxons laughed and the one who had spat looked up at Arthur. "Is this a joke?" He said. "He doesn't even have a sword!"
Merlin took another step forward and this time when he spoke he sounded different, cold and indifferent;
"I don't need one."
Silence swept over all of them as they each took a moment to take in what this meant. Sir Leon and Sir Percival looked to Arthur for answers but he betrayed nothing, only Gwaine seemed to understand, his mouth falling open in shock. The Saxon snarled and then in one swift motion, made to charge at Merlin.
The nearest one - the leader - ran at Merlin with his sword high in the air, the sun shining off its tip. As he swung it down -in what most definitely would have been a killing blow - he went flying backwards through the air, his head hitting the floor with a sickening crack.
One by one the Saxons attacked him but none had the chance to even scratch him, Merlin threw his palms up and a gust of wind so violent blew them all away. Scrambling from the ground one of the Saxons ran toward him, waving a flaming torch in his hand, with one arm gesture from Merlin the flame exploded and the man caught fire.
His screams were deafening.
On and on it went, until only one remained.
He was younger than the rest and thinner too, patchy stubble lined his face making him seem even younger. Shaking, he picked up his sword and threw it at Merlin. Merlin's eyes flashed gold and the sword stopped mid-air before dropping to the ground with a dull thud.
Merlin took a step toward the boy and for a brief moment Arthur was afraid, not for Merlin but for the Saxon.
Merlin's eyes glistened as he bent down to face him.
"Do you work for Morgana?" He asked, his voice quivering.
The Saxon boy's eyes darted around, as if trying to find an escape but seeing none. Finally he nodded.
Merlin stood up. "Tell your mistress that Emrys is done hiding. Tell her that if she wants to put an end to this that she must meet him at Camlann in a weeks time... at dusk."
The boys eyes widened, nodding frantically he scrambled to his feet and ran. Then he was gone.
Merlin turned to face the Knights, each one of them sat atop their horses looking down on him, the illusion of the simple servant boy had shattered into nothing.
There could be no mistaking who held the real power here.
Waheyy! Sorry for the slow update!
I have a good idea where I want this story to go/end, I imagine there will only be three/four more chapters left :)
MsDeacs xx