Chapter Four: Men and Monsters
Merlin swallowed hard, his entire body tensing for an attack. Arthur was in front of him, sword drawn, shoulders rising and falling more quickly than before.
It was all the young warlock could do not to shout when he uttered a pointed "Run!"
Lightning ripped through Merlin's core and sent a burst of kinetic force from his outstretched palm, throwing four of the monsters back against the wall with a cacophony of loud cracks. He didn't wait around to see how the others would react—he and Arthur ran.
The back of the grocery store was further than he'd anticipated, and within seconds they were overcome by the screeching swarm at their heels.
Merlin watched something shift in Arthur's eyes. The young warrior's lips curled into a determined grimace as he let out what could only be called a battle cry and swung his sword as though all the power in the world were surging within him—it was a spectacle Merlin had witnessed time and time again.
The companions fought back-to-back as they made their way to the side exit. Arthur swung again, thrusting his blade through the abdomen as the monster howled in an alien sort of pain. Merlin hissed a runic phrase as one of the remaining creatures came down on his king with a meat cleaver, his words setting the improvised weapon ablaze in its hands. The beast yowled and dropped the blade, turning his eyes to Merlin only to be swiftly impaled by King Arthur. The monster fell at Merlin's feet as the two companions exchanged a nod of comradery before rushing the door.
The lock gave way with the weight of two full grown men against it and opened with a metallic screech. With three monster's remaining on their heels, Merlin and Arthur broke free of the building and poured into the light of day.
The young warlock's heart dropped in his chest. Standing before them was a yowling mob of what must have been thirty of the beasts—human faces but with eyes like bloodthirsty animals, all locked on their prey. Had they been waiting for the others to flush them out or was this just an unlucky occurrence? There would be time to think about that later—Merlin hoped.
The two survivors flashed each other a glance. There was no hope of escape without a fight, especially since these monsters had about twice their human speed. Without needing orders from Arthur, Merlin thrust out his hand, flattening a thin strip through the rioting swarm before the king and the sorcerer rushed forward in harmony.
The unnervingly human wails of the monsters as Arthur ran them through were beginning to cut into Merlin's conscience. After all, not long ago they had all be people. But his emotions fled when he was seized by the shoulder and turned to glimpse a blood-soaked garden-hoe being swung full force at his head. With a flash of his irises and an internal surge of electricity he sent the once-human back on its heels in a pile of smoldering flesh.
When they saw light through the riot Merlin heard Arthur's command.
"RUN!" The king bellowed with unfamiliar desperation. Merlin didn't think twice before barreling after the armor-clad warrior, unable to block out the howls of the predatory horde at their backs.
Adrenalin keeping exhaustion from taking him under, Merlin was at Arthur's side as they fled down the main road—knowing that the hellish throng was spilling down the street behind them, leaping cars with superhuman might and militaristic formation.
Arthur grabbed him by the sweatshirt, swinging the sorcerer into and alley and slamming his back against the brick wall. Merlin was about to set off another missile of kinetic energy when an unfamiliar arm seized him from behind and pulled him deeper into the alleyway.
Three men tore in from behind them, wielding military-grade firearms and spraying the horde with a hail of bullets. Merlin turned to Arthur who'd gone white as a sheet—his lips parted and his eyes wide in a way Merlin had never seen. Monsters fell in the streets as the swarm was peppered with lead from a man who was now shouting incoherently in the chaos. The two men behind him were more collected—standing straight and looking far less enthralled by the action. A fourth man was standing behind Arthur and Merlin. The young sorcerer was yet to get a good look at him.
"Back! Fall back!" One of the two calmer men shouted over the cacophony of gunfire. Merlin felt a tug at his shoulder and suddenly the group was running at full speed toward the other end of the alley. Dumpsters groaned under the weight of the swarm as it funneled into the small space.
When they broke out of the shadows once more, Merlin saw a tall chain-link fence up ahead. Another man was holding it open, his own weapon slung across his shoulder, and was waving for them to speed up and file through the metal gate. Merlin followed the men through the opening just in time for the makeshift soldiers to pull it shut and fasten the latch. The Beasts slammed into the fence full force. It groaned loudly, making Merlin fear that it might come down.
A quick glance around told the young sorcerer that they were standing on an abandoned football field.
"Come on." The man who'd been guarding the gate gestured to the announcer's box that loomed over the center line. Merlin ran his eyes over Arthur who was panting and sweating heavily under the weight of his armor. The king couldn't seem to take his eyes off the guns the men were wielding. Merlin wanted to make sure his companion wasn't injured, but aside from looking shaken up and mortified by half of the things going on around him, Arthur was fine. This sent and unexpected ripple of white-hot relief down the young warlock's spine.
The bottom level of the announcer's box was dusty and filled with the stench of unwashed equipment. It was dark, but a stream of daylight spilled down a thin flight of stairs overhead.
As the last of the men shut the door, Merlin looked over just in time to glimpse Arthur lashing out with his sword, pinning the nearest of the men against the wall and press the blade of Excalibur against his neck.
"Arthur!" Merlin found himself exclaiming. The remaining four soldiers had their guns on his king before he could blink.
The man against the wall broke into an arrogant smile, tilting his head back and looking at Arthur through long, unruly brown hair.
"Easy Sir Lancelot." The man joked. Arthur wasn't amused—for obvious reasons. The cocky man pressed his gun against the king's abdomen.
"Everybody calm down." Merlin tried. "Arthur—"
"Listen to your boyfriend." The man against the wall smirked. Merlin straightened up, stifling the heat the rose to his cheeks.
Arthur narrowed his eyes in an expression of acute dislike before sheathing his sword pointedly and taking a step back. The man peeled himself off the wall, completely unfazed.
"Who's the knight in shining armor?" The same man spoke, nodding to his previous attacker. Arthur shot him an annoyed glare and answered before Merlin could stop him.
"I'm King Ar—" He bit back his words after he met Merlin's desperate gaze. Merlin knew the king would have no knowledge of his own legend, so he had to hope Arthur understood what he was trying to say. The king looked away from Merlin and continued, "I'm Arthur."
"Arthur." The soldier standing by the closed door repeated. He was a kind-faced man with curly hair and a serious but calming air about him. Merlin wasn't going to lie about how familiar all this felt to him—he just couldn't place why. The man continued, "I'm Liam."
"So now it's just friendly introductions?" The cocky, long haired man who'd just been slammed against the wall broke in, "You know this guy's wearing armor and toting a sword around—not to mention , you know, attacking people with it."
"I think we'd all benefit from at least knowing what to call each other." A new voice broke in. Merlin was taken by how smooth and deep it was as it silenced the chatter of the others. The man speaking was the one who'd held the gate open for them—an almost shockingly handsome gentleman with dark hair and eyes and suntanned skin. Again, that disturbing sensation of familiarity swept over the young warlock. "I'm Landon."
"I'm Eli." Said the tall, dark skinned man who'd already started up the stairs.
"Price." The only one who hadn't spoken yet answered. He was massively tall and thickly muscled, with short-cropped hair and a handsome but hard-looking face. Despite how intimidating he was, there was a gleam of friendliness in his eyes. So far he seemed to be the quietest one in their ragtag gang.
The long haired man was the last of the soldiers to answer. He made sure to flash Arthur a distrustful glare before nodding "Name's Shane."
All eyes were on Merlin who was still trying to sift through his eternity of memories and figure out why these men were so familiar—it couldn't be…
"I'm Merlin—" He said without thinking, immediately fighting the urge to clamp his hands over his mouth. Stupid! He thought.
The men all eyed him curiously.
"Now that's a name." Liam's mouth twitched up into a small smile. "Do any magic Merlin?"
"My—erm—my dad was a literature professor." Merlin lied. "Big fan of the erm—legends and all." He gave Arthur a quick look. The king was smart, meeting the young warlock's eyes and giving him his telltale "we need to talk—immediately" glare.
"As much as I love all this girl talk," Shane joked, "I could really go for some of that food we just risked our lives for."
There was a pause while the curly haired man glanced around at his group. "You two can stay if you'd like." Liam spoke, "you're obviously good fighters given you've stayed alive this long. We could use a couple men like you back at the castle."
"What castle?" Arthur spoke up at last. His tone was dark and imposing—like a king's.
"Ruins in the countryside where we've set up a base for survivors." Landon answered in his smooth, warmly familiar voice.
Despite Arthur's clear distrust for the men who must have seemed so strange to him, Merlin knew it would be best to stay. He gave the king a special look—the kind he used when he silently tried to give the king counsel. Arthur rolled his eyes but must have felt he was in no position to reject the offer and head back out into the mayhem.
"Thank you for your offer." Arthur said nobly, "We'll stay."
As Eli went first up the thin staircase he looked around at his friends.
"So we have an 'Arthur' and a 'Merlin', next thing you know we're Knights of the Round Table."