Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
Chapter ten: Last chance and broken bones.
Daegal looks round, not far from him Merlin was sitting with his back against a tree. Around them dusk was creeping through the landscape. Merlin had been resting for the last couple of hours, he was into much pain to move. Daegal suspected Merlin had more than just a couple of broken ribs, but there was no way to treat him out here in the middle of a forest. Since Merlin's magic had taken care of that patrol of Camelot guards, it was too dangerous to go near any villages. Merlin had helped Gaius treat a great many people in his time, anyone could recognise him. Since Merlin had rescued Alice from the flames the number of patrols had also increased, it was a miracle they hadn't been found again. Behind him Merlin gasps in pain as he forces himself to his feet, Daegal quickly takes his arm as he almost falls over.
"Maybe we should stop for the night?" Daegal mutters.
Merlin shakes his head. "We have no supplies. Tonight is going to be cold, if we stay out here, we will freeze."
"But where can we go? Going near any village is too much of a risk."
"We have to keep moving and hope some of my friends find us. They must be out looking by now, I was supposed to be back hours ago."
Daegal nodes. "What if they don't find us?"
Merlin shrugs. "We will just have to keep moving and hope we find somewhere. If I remember correctly there should be an old hunter's hunt near here, the last time I was there, no one lived there. Me and a friend were traveling to a place called the isles of the blessed. We had to stop for the night, we found the man who lived there, dead. But of course someone may have moved in by now, lets hope no one has."
Daegal nodes. "But we are traveling towards Camelot. We are bound to be caught."
Merlin shakes his head. "No we are traveling towards the valley of the fallen kings, the hut I am talking about is near the far entrance to the valley. I also know where the crystal caves are, from there I can send a message to a friend and they will come and get us. I am in no fit state to cast a teleportation spell."
"I sometimes wish I had magic," Daegal mutters. "My mother used to do such good with her power. Before we were forced to flee our village when someone told Uthur about us."
Merlin smiles sadly. "Uthur was a great man in many ways. But what he did to those with magic was unforgivable. I just hope Arthur is different, I had hoped to tell him about my magic. But I choose to save a life at the worst possible time, but I do not regret what I did."
"I'm sure Arthur is different, he has made peace with the druids hasn't he?"
Merlin shakes his head. "He said he will leave them alone and let them live in peace. But he has not accepted their magic, that is what the druids stand for, peace, magic and knowledge. It like you have a coin but you only want one side of it, you cannot have one without the other."
Daegal nodes. "You used to be his manservant?"
Merlin nodes. "Yeah, had been for nearly four years."
"So he trusts you? Maybe you could change his mind."
Merlin sighs. "It's too late for that I lost my chance the moment I saved Isolde life. If I return to Camelot I will be killed, even if Arthur doesn't want me dead the guards and knights have no option but to kill me, it is the law."
"Then it is a stupid law."
"Tell me about it."
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Gaius sat holding Alice's hand, as she sat across from him at the table. Hunith was across the room, cooking. Since Merlin had vanished the whole kingdom had been worried, Merlin often went off on his own. But he had been due back for lessons hours ago, since that time a couple more assassins had been caught. Gaius knew his ward was more than capable of looking after himself, but he couldn't help but worry. Alice smiles sadly, Merlin had risked being caught to save her from the flames and possibly made himself Camelot new most wanted. When Alice had been in Camelot she bad seen how loyal Merlin was, if a patrol was to find Merlin he wouldn't fight them, at least she didn't think he would. At that moment a druid appears through the door.
"A patrol of Camelot guard where found, all knocked out. A witness described the person who did it, we believe it was Emrys. He was injured and had someone with him, they were heading towards Camelot. Alator believes they are heading for the crystal caves, if Merlin was hurt he wouldn't have the power to use a spell to get him back here. The great dragon has just flown out to see if he can find them, with the help of the little white dragon."
Hunith rushes over. "You said he was injured. Do you know what type of injures?"
The druid shakes his head. "All the witness said was he was badly hurt, the other boy had been supporting him."
Hunith collapses into a chair, it was her job as a mother to worry about her son. Alice quickly pulls Hunith into a hug.
"He'll be fine, I'm sure of it." She mutters. "If he was able to knock out a whole patrol, he's okay."
Gaius nodes slightly. "In my time of knowing Merlin, he has survived many things."
Hunith nodes. "He is my only son, he is all I have."
"Hunith, he will be fine."
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Daegal and Merlin make their way into the valley of the fallen kings, this was the path he, Arthur and the knights had been ambushed on not that long ago. Merlin shivers slightly as he remembered what had happened not long after Morgana had found him, he had tried to kill the king. Around them the forest was almost in complete darkness, the silence was deafening. Nothing moved, there wasn't even the usual wind you had in this area. Merlin couldn't help but feel like something terrible was about to happen, but the valley always gave him that feeling. Beside him Daegal was glancing around, looking a lot like a startled animal.
"Are you sure this place is safe, Merlin?"
"No, but it is our only hope of getting hold of Alator."
"This place is giving me a bad feeling."
Merlin glances at Daegal for a moment. "Only people with magic get that feeling here, it is possible you share your mothers gift."
Daegal smiles slightly. "My mother always used to call it animal instincts, I could always sense danger but she never said it was magic."
Merlin smiles. "Well you have a right to be worried, this place is usually teaming with bandits. Ever time I have been here, I have been ambushed or chased into the valley. We will, hopefully, be fine. There is only two of us and we have nothing of value, so the bandits might leave us alone."
"And if you are wrong?"
"Then we might get into a bit of trouble, nothing that shouldn't be too hard to deal with."
They keep walking until Merlin suddenly stops.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Daegal asks.
Merlin holds up his hand for silence, both he and Daegal listen. For a moment there is nothing but silence, then they hear it, a laugh, well more than one person laughing not far ahead of them. Through the trees you can see a pale orange glow of a fire. Merlin and Daegal both glance at each other, a bandit camp. Slowly the two of them make their way off the path and through the trees hoping to circle around the camp. As they make their way along the ridge above the bandit camp, one of the bandits spots them and fires an arrow. Merlin loses his balance as his ankle gives way and slips, missing the arrow by an inch. He slides down the ridge, into the camp Daegal quickly follows, knowing both of them had been seen. As Daegal helps Merlin to his feet, the bandit leader steps forward.
"What do with have here?" he mocks. "Two boys spying on our camp." He draws his , suddenly turning serious. "Who sent you?"
"Why would we want to spy on you?" Merlin ask, slightly surprised anyone would want to get close enough to a group of bandits to spy on them.
"Why would we tell you?"
Merlin shrugs. "Well if that's all, we better be on our way. We have places to be, as much as it's lovely chatting with you, we have to go. Places to be and what not."
The bandit raises his sword and steps towards him. "You're not going anywhere, boy!"
"If you value your lives, you won't take another step." Merlin growls, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with bandits at the moment.
The men around them laugh.
"Do you know who I am?" The bandit leader laughs. "I've killed knights of Camelot, they are far tougher than you boy." He points his sword at Merlin's neck. Behind Merlin, Daegal looks around in alarm, there were far more men, than had been in the Camelot patrol.
"Last chance." Merlin warns.
"What are you going to do," He growls. "You don't even have a sword!"
"I don't need one." Merlin answers. His eyes flash and the bandit leader is thrown back, around them the rest of the bandits run off.
"That went well." Daegal mutters. "Only two warnings?"
Merlin shrugs. "What can I say... I'm in a bad mood."
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Aithusa flew over the trees, Kilgharrah wasn't that far behind. Aithusa was looking for Merlin, the two dragons had been told Merlin had been heading towards the valley of the fallen kings. Aithusa may have been a young dragon, but was fiercely protective, more protective than Kilgharrah. Through the trees below Aithusa notices two people walking, one of them is Merlin. Aithusa drops thought the air and lands on Merlin's shoulders, causing him to jumps in surprise and yelp in pain.
"Oh, hey Aithusa." He greets, with a slightly pained voice.
Not long after Kilgharrah, who wasn't far behind, lands a couple of seconds later and studies Daegal and Merlin closely. Daegal takes a step back in surprise and fear, before glancing at Merlin.
"Young warlock," Kilgharrah greets. "Why did you not call for help? You are injured."
"I did not want to bother you," Merlin answers. "My injuries are not that bad. Oh this is Daegal by the way. He's been helping me."
Kilgharrah turns his gaze to Daegal. "I must thank you for helping my lord, we must leave now. Merlin needs to have his injures treated."
Daegal just shares at the dragon, before turning to Merlin. "It can talk."
Merlin nodes. "It's just a shame he can never give a straight answer when you need it."
"We must leave now Merlin." Kilgharrah commands.
"Okay, okay, but Daegal has to come with us. Before he helped me, he was on his way to the perilous lands. You could say it's a way of thanking him for helping me."
Kilgharrah glares at Merlin. "I am not a horse Merlin."
"I know, you're a dragon. You would have to be quite stupid to make that mistake. The size difference is quite massive, plus you breath fire, horses sadly enough do not."
Hey, just a couple of questions. Does anyone know the names of the druids, I know there is one that begins with 'I' but I have no idea how to spell it. And does anyone know if Aithusa is male or female? I'm sure Aithusa is male, but I have heard people say Aithusa is female. Next up will hopefully be the moment of truth,
Blessed be,
TreeOfLife1997.