"How is he?" Merlin asked. He was currently sitting on a fallen tree, looking out towards the smoking castle. Arthur had been getting worse and he had been worried that the wound would take the prince's life.
"He should be fine in a couple days. The problem was not the wound but the infection." Kagome told him as she sat down next to him. "I managed to take away most of the infection, the salve can handle the rest."
Merlin glanced over at the young witch he had come to love. He stared into her eyes, watching the peace that they reflected. He had been amazed to see her so calm with all the devastation around them. She truly was a creature of magic.
Merlin brought an arm up and rested his palm against Kagome's face. He had, yet to truly, take in the fact that they had reunited. "I thought I lost you." Silently he vowed that he would never let her out of his sights again.
"When you were not at the castle with Gaius, I was worried that Morgana had found you." Kagome had told him how Morgana treated her. It was much like how she treated himself. Morgana had tried to kill him numerous times and would no doubt have tried to kill her. Kagome was a threat to her and she knew it.
Kagome pulled back with a grin on her face and placed on hand on her chest in a humorously shocked manner. "Like I would let that woman capture me."
Merlin smiled at the young woman letting out the first small laugh he made all week. She knew exactly what to say and what to do to put him in a better mood.
Swords clashing could be heard echoing in the forests. I was becoming more and more difficult to hunt. Morgause and Morgana must have realized they were hiding within the forest and had been sending men into the forest to look for them.
"Gwaine!" Elyan said alerting the man to the enemy behind him. Gwaine quickly blocked the oncoming attack and managed to push the man away. This was the second time a patrol had spotted them. At this rate, they were sure to be found.
Arthur managed to knock a sword out of the soldier's hand, tossing it away from him. He kicked him as he bent to pick up the sword, watching as he started to tumble down the hill. Looking around he tried to see how the others were faring. Gwaine was busy fighting two men, using both his sword and his head. Elyan was fighting a soldier off in the distance.
Arthur turned to look for the last member of the group, Kagome. He had told her that she should stay in the cave with the others, where it was safe. However, the stubborn woman told him that he was not in charge of her and that she had been the one hunting during the time he was ill. When he finally spotted her he was quite shock by what he saw. There she was near a big tree fighting three men. The sword he had noticed attached to her hip, moved to block and parry every oncoming attack. He had heard from Gwaine and Elyan that she could fight, but he did not expect her to fight with expert precision. Her moves looked like a dance, the way she twirled and glided around the men with an elegance he had never witnessed in sword fighting. It was beautiful to watch.
Kagome managed to avoid all her assailants' attack, while slowly moving them towards her goal. When they were but a step away, she swung her sword as had as she could, knocking them off their feet and into a pit below.
The only men that remained were the one Gwaine was fighting and the one Elyan was fighting. Gwaine had managed to knock the other man out, leaving only one left out of the two he had been fighting. The dark soldiers seemed to realize their companions were taken out when the three people who were not fighting surrounded them. They flashed each other a look before scurrying off in the forest.
"How many of those traps did you create?" Gwaine asked noticing the pit off in the distance. She never ceased to amaze him. He had noticed her fighting, never once had he seen anything like it.
Kagome smirked while she glanced back towards the pit. They had come in handy twice now. "I made a few along the different paths I found, just in case I ran into patrols." It was partially the truth. She created them in case she ran up against a patrol with too many men to fight. Her powers made small patrols like this nothing, but she could not use them with people around.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Arthur said, staring at the girl in shock. No woman he had ever met knew how to fight as well as a knight of Camelot, or better in this case. Sure he had met some women, like Gwen who knew the basics of wielding a sword, but never one who had mastered the art.
"What surprised that a girl like me could kick grown men's butt?" Kagome joked at him. Arthur looked completely shocked. She knew that he had talked to both Gwaine and Elyan when she had asked to join their hunting party. So what was he shocked about? "I was trained by several different masters." It was true in a way. She had watched Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fight, Sango taught her some basics, and Midoriko taught her everything else she knew. "So, you can no longer tell me to stay where it is safe."
Arthur could only watch as she walked off. "Please tell me I am not the only one surprised by that?" He whispered to the group of men beside him. All the men shock their heads. "Surprised me too when I first saw her fight. That elegance." Elyan replied. His thoughts mirroring the other men's exactly.
Merlin cautiously made his way out of the cave, not wanting to alert anyone to his departure. He had talked to Freya and she told him he needed to get to the lake as fast as he can, that she was going to help him. He wanted to return before the others noticed he was gone and would need the assistance of the great dragon in order to make the journey.
"Where are you going?" Kagome asked softly. She had managed to persuade Arthur to allow her the first night watch. He seemed to be more inclined to receive her aid since the battle today. She had hoped this meant he would allow her to join him when they tried to stop Morgana.
Merlin jumped at the sound of the female's voice and quickly turned to look at her. If she had not of spoke, he would have thought her to be asleep. Her eyes were closed as she rested against the tree, one hand dangling over a knee, the other wrapped around her sword.
She looked like Arthur did when they camped out, like a knight. Glancing at the glistening sword Merlin remembered what he had overheard Gwaine and Elyan talking about. Kagome had fought off three immortal men with her sword. Arthur had been trying to teach him, but he was not very skilled. He was a wizard, not a warrior, but it appeared as though Kagome was both.
Looking back toward her face, he noticed her royal blue eyes were open and she was staring at him. "I need to go somewhere." Merlin told her before looking around. Why was she not in the cave? "What are you doing out here?"
"I was assigned the first watch." Kagome explained. "It is a good thing, too. If it had been any other they probably would have stopped you."
Merlin had completely forgotten about the people-keeping lookout. Kagome was right, if anyone else had seen him, he would have never been able to leave unnoticed. "You will let me leave?" Merlin asked. She had to know that he was going into enemy lands.
"We have a duty to protect this kingdom." Kagome told him turning her head to look at the full moon. "Besides, if you do not return, I will hunt you down." Kagome said jokingly.
Merlin nodded with a smile before heading towards the clearing he always met Kilgharrah. He would return, not only to save Camelot but also for her.
Merlin returned sometime around lunchtime. I seemed no one but Kagome noticed his disappearance. He quietly made his way towards the cave. He did not want to alert anyone to his return. Unfortunately, he forgot about Kagome's sensing powers.
"They are all out scouting, well, except for Gaius." Kagome said walking up behind the startled wizard. Merlin tossed her a look before walking into the cave normally. He was going to die of a heart attack if she kept this up.
"What is that?" Kagome asked, noticing the beautiful sword. She knew it was no ordinary blade, she could feel power radiating off the blade. So..this was what Merlin had to retrieve, the legendary sword Excalibler.
"It is a sword that can kill the dead." Merlin told her as he made his way over to his bedding. He did not want Arthur finding this sword. He was the only one who needed to know its power, well and Kagome.
"So it can kill the immortal army." Kagome stated in amazement. Sure, her weapons could kill the creatures, but this was infused with a different type of magic, one as ancient as hers.
Merlin looked over at her. How did she know it could kill the army? He had not been aware of their undead state until recently. "Yeah. How did you….?" Merlin asked.
"This is not my first time around the undead." Kagome told him. Kikyo was the first undead she came across, but she had experiences with others. "I could recognize it in their auras."
Merlin started covering the sword with the blankets. "Having a little lie down, Merlin?" Arthur's voice asked as he entered the cave. He had not seen Merlin all day and had figured the man was still asleep or goofing off.
"No." Merlin said looking over his crouched shoulder.
"Good. Because the time for sleeping's over." There was a look on Arthur's face, one that had not been seen since their return, the look of hope. He had recovered from the shock of finding out Morgana was his half-sister and of her betrayal.
Merlin stood up to face the approaching prince. "You seem better."
"You're hopeless at a lot of things, Merlin. Well, most thing, in fact. But very occasionally, quite by accident, you say something useful." Kagome could not tell if Arthur was giving Merlin a compliment or an insult.
"Really?"
"Yesterday, amongst all your gibberish, you said something that, if I didn't know you, I'd be completely fooled into thinking you were..." Arthur trailed off trying to think of the correct word he wanted to use.
Merlin looked as perplexed as Arthur did. What did he say that made an effect on the prince's mood? "What?
"Wise." It was the only word Arthur could think of, that described how Merlin appeared on that occasion. What Arthur did not know was that Merlin was wise. He was far wiser than most his age.
Merlin gave Arthur a disbelief look, a small smile tugging on his lips, and shook his head.
"Nah."
Before Arthur could tell them anything about his possible plans, they heard shouting and it was slowly approaching their position. Arthur pulled out his sword and made his way to the front of the cave were Gwaine was waiting, sword drawn. Merlin was right behind them. Kagome leisurely walked out, knowing exactly who was approaching the cave. She came out right as Arthur grabbed Gwen.
"Guinevere!" Arthur shouted pulling the woman into his embrace. He had been worrying about her since they left the castle. Elyan had told him she was not in the dungeons with the others and was worried something happened to her.
"Sir Leon." Noticing the knight standing behind her, he walked up and shook hands with the older knight.
Kagome drew her sword, startling Merlin. She could feel a group of the undead soldiers making their way here. Spreading her powers out she tried to find out how they knew where they were. Gwen's aura, no wonder it seemed a little off, Morgana had put a tracing spell on her.
"We've been found!" Elyan shouted. He, Sir Lucan, and Sir Laufre had been out scouting when they noticed the men approaching the cave. They were all making their way down the hill towards the rest of the group. "They're almost upon us!"
Arthur turned towards Merlin "Get Gaius."
"We need to get out of here. Run!" Arthur shouted as he pushed people towards the chasm by the cave. He followed behind them with Kagome at his side.
Kagome looked back and saw Gaius running behind them, but she did not see Merlin. Turning around she ran past Gaius, as she turned the corner she noticed Merlin emerging from the cave. He did not notice the soldier that was creeping up to the entrance.
"Merlin, in front of you!" Kagome yelled drawing the man's focus from the sword to the dark knight in front of him. He managed to block the attack before making a clean swing, destroying the undead knight. Merlin glanced up at her in surprise, not expecting her to of been there.
"Hurry!" Kagome shouted turning back towards the others. Snapping out of his shock, Merlin followed behind her. They caught up with the rest of the group as a pile of rocks came tumbling into the gorge, blocking the enemies path.
Kagome looked up, noticing the two men in chainmail first. She had never seen them before, but could tell the other did because smiles and relief filled their faces. "Lancelot." Gwen whispered out.
"We need to hurry." Lancelot said. The rocks would only hold them back for so long. He moved towards the small path were the chasm ended.
"I take it that rock fall wasn't an accident." Arthur said. He was happy to see another familiar face. The day seem to be getting better, they now had three more knights.
Lancelot nodded and patted his friend on the back. "This is Percival. It was his strength that brought them down."
"Your Highness." Percival replied with a slight bow of the head.
"Arthur." Arthur said while holding out his hand. Any person who would risk their lives to save his was a friend and he could use all the friends he could get.
Percival looked at Arthur than at his hand then back to his face, before smiling and grabbing the hand. "Arthur it is." He never met a royal that allowed others to call them so informally. He could tell he would like this Prince Arthur.
"What were you doing here?" Arthur asked them, but Merlin spoke up before either of them could reply.
"Er...it was me. I sent for him." Merlin told Arthur approaching the talking men.
"Well, we owe you our lives." Arthur said smiling and shaking Lancelot's hands before patting Percival on the arm. "Thank you."
Glancing back Lancelot noticed someone new to the group. He had met Sir Leon, Lucan, and Laufre when Arthur had trained him in the ways of the knight, but he had never seen the small Asian woman.
"Who is that woman?" He asked looking towards the girl who was talking to Gwen. The two girls seemed to care for another hugging each other and smiling. Arthur looked back and noticed who he was looking at.
"Kagome!" Arthur shouted, gaining the attention of the woman. "Come here and let me introduce you the old friend I was talking about." He had told Kagome about Lancelot before and it seemed to interest her.
Kagome laid a hand on Gwen's shoulder before walking over to the men. Both men were attractive. Lancelot had black hair with a gruffy beard, while the other had a nearly shaved head and a bit of a baby face.
"Kagome, this is Lancelot and Percival." Arthur introduced. Kagome bowed her head slightly in their direction. She had heard about Lancelot from both Gwen and Arthur, as well as from storybooks, but had never heard about Percival.
Both men nodded at the young woman. She was quite a bit shorter than they expected and younger too, only around eighteen years of age.
"Men, this is Kagome, the only woman who could take down any knight in Camelot." Arthur laughed out causing the young girl to blush slightly and the men's jaws to slack.
Kagome elbowed Arthur in the ribs causing the man to hunch over slightly and let out a sound of pain. "Arthur, there is no need to point that part out." Kagome whispered angrily at him. Now she would be asked a ton of questions she did not feel like answering.
"You can fight, Lady Kagome?" Lancelot asked getting over his initial shock. Not that he looked at her he could see how tone her body was and callouses covering her hands, they all spoke of how trained she was.
"Only Kagome, please." Kagome sighed. "And yes, I can fight."
"Arthur, might I ask where we are going to go now? Morgana knows about the cave now." Elyan asked the prince coming up to stand next to him. While they still had time before nightfall, they would still need to gather food. All their reserves were back in the cave.
Arthur looked around taking in everyone's condition. They were breathing hard, probably due to a combination of adrenaline and the running they did. "I know of a place."
