Hey, sorry for the long wait, finally found time to write this, hope you'll like it and thx for the reviews/alerts, appreciate it! =) and I'll try to post the next chapter sooner!
Also, thanks to goodythreeshoes, my excellent beta! (Any remaining mistakes are completely my fault! :D)
at: random reader: thanks for your review! glad you liked it so far!
Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2
The next minutes then were very strange to watch for the gathered people and even for Merlin. While he of course had his magic to slow down time, he could still barely comprehend what was happening. The very moment Merlin, well the other Merlin, and the knight had appeared the fifteen sorcerer panicked. And now, the hall was a chaos filled with fire-bolts and several other attack-spells, which were hurled at the two at random, but strangely enough none of the spells hit one of the intended targets. Instead, they crashed into columns or walls, making chunks of debris fly everywhere, which damaged the room quite thoroughly. However, every time one got close to Merlin, the second, or the knight it would simply vanish, only to reappear seconds later to be launched into the other direction toward the sorcerers.
They in turn were unable to stop the reflected magic and when hit died immediately. After only a few minutes more than half of the attackers were dead and the other half were desperately avoiding their own spells, before they finally realized that if they didn't create the bolts none of them would come back to them.
Only six sorcerers were still standing after stopping the spells and all of them were furious, but underneath the anger one could easily see that they were frightened. The tallest among them then stepped forward slightly and faced Merlin.
"This isn't over yet, you can't protect him all the time."
And with that he and his friends disappeared.
.
.
"What the hell was that?" King Uther exclaimed, breaking the unnatural silence in the hall.
Merlin and his companion turned around to face the others and the still nameless knight answered -"well, I thought that was quite obvious? Some sorcerers were trying to kill the king, again."
"They didn't try to kill me," corrected Uther scathingly.
"Yeah, I know, I said they tried to kill the king, not you." And turning to Merlin he added "Who's that old fool anyway?"
"How dare you, gua.." Uther exclaimed venomously, however before he could finish his order he was interrupted by none other than Merlin, the second.
"My lord, let me apologize for Sir Galahad's rudeness, but you must understand that he has never had the pleasure of meeting you. And where- well, when, we're from you are no longer the king, your son is. Therefore please forgive his ignorance." That statement successfully shocked everyone. Even Uther stood fast for a moment, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.
After that revelation Merlin could see the differences between him and the other Merlin even more easily. First of all, he was definitely older, how much was hard to say, but certainly over five years. Furthermore the clothes he was wearing were a lot more expensive than any that Merlin could afford right now. He was clad in black breeches, new looking leather shoes, like Arthur had, a dark blue tunic, which changed color if the lighting was different, a well-made jacket and (*gasp*) no neckerchief. The only things around his neck were two pendants, which were at the moment well-hidden under his shirt, yet the two heavy looking silver chains, who disappeared under his shirt, indicated that they were there.
The knight next to him, Galahad, was wearing a typical knight's armour (chainmail, belt, boots, red cape, sword) with the addition of two strange arm protectors, which had, if Merlin wasn't mistaken, some rune patterns branded on top, and his cape had a slightly different crest on the back. But before he could investigate further Arthur piped up.
"You're telling us that you two are from the future?"
"Yes, Sire," replied Galahad swiftly.
"Magic," exclaimed Uther with disgust, which only brought him a scowl from the knight and Merlin's attention, who replied "would you rather see your son dead, Sire? It was the only way to save him and you for that matter; none of you would have survived, if they had succeeded with their plan. Also, I can assure you that we act under our lieges orders. Things change…"
Ignoring that ominous ending and the interruption of his father, who was once again silenced, Arthur continued his questioning.
"Those sorcerers are from the future as well?"
"Yes, Sire," the knight answered again.
"And why do they want to kill me, or the past me?"
"Because they can'.." the knight started, but was stopped by Merlin, who raised his hand to cut him off, and continued himself.
"There are several reasons, but none of them are your concern."
"Excuse me? They tried to kill me and as you just said yourself I am your king, therefore you have to answer my questions."
"No, you're not my king, not yet at least. And no- I don't have to answer anything." While stating that Merlin lifted one of the pendants that hung around his neck, which showed the Pendragon's crest- a dragon with intricate patterns surrounding it and a small ruby placed at it's heart.
Uther, who had watched the exchange silently, stared at it astonished before he spoke up.
"Impossible, how did you get that?"
"What is it, father?" the clueless prince interjected.
"This pendant is a sign of absolute trust and loyalty. Trust on the side of the king, who gives it to his most faithful adviser and friend, and loyalty on the side of the receiver, who hereby swears his everlasting servitude. At the same time he gains the right to defy his master's orders, if he thinks it is for the best of the realm. Also, it gives him immunity from prosecution, unless the holder commits treason. For several centuries there has been no king who has made and entrusted one of his subjects with such a pendant, but its shape and form is well-known." Geoffrey, the librarian and adviser, explained after the king motioned to him to do so.
After the explanation Arthur looked positively stunned and dumbstruck.
"You mean I gave that idiot-" he said, pointing at Merlin he continued "the right to do as he pleases without having to fear any consequences… What was I thinking?"
The future Merlin listened silently before simply turning and walking toward the exit. When the king (Uther) ordered him to stop he only slowed down a little and called back to Galahad- "protect them, I'll go after the rest of the sorcerers. And call me Emrys," he added to the others, "that'll make it easier to distinguish us." He motioned to the other, younger Merlin, who stared after his future self in awe. Then just before he exited the room Emrys seemed to wave goodbye, and just like that the room reassembled itself magically in front of everyone.
He was so aloof that neither Uther's indignant bellows nor Arthur's shouts bothered him at all, he just left.
He couldn't wait till he could do just that, Merlin thought, painfully aware of the seething looks he was getting from the king and his son. And this time it wasn't even his fault!
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