Quite a nice lengthy one here, guys! Hope to hear your thoughts! And sorry about the huge gap, but inspiration seemed to be taking a holiday and only returned yesterday morning, so I sat down and wrote this for you! Hope you enjoy!
-Livvy D. x
The moon was well up in the sky when Arthur and his company entered the building. They had no clue where their warlock was hidden, but Arthur figured that it wouldn't take too long to search the building's rooms. He signaled for Elyan and Percival to stay here, then he and Gwaine proceeded through the dark hallway.
To say that Arthur was not nervous would be untrue, but determination overpowered his will to turn and run away, which increased very time he heard a scream from within the depths. It was not reassuring to him (as it was to Gwaine) that he couldn't recognise a scream from Merlin, as it just increased his fears of his best friend being dead.
His footsteps were as soft as his bed which was so far away and as silent as his heart which he could swear was no longer beating for fear that Nomed would hear it.
"Gwaine," he whispered under his breath, "he'll be somewhere down here."
"Arthur, have you been here before?"
"Once."
They proceeded down a flight if stairs in silence. There were two guards at the foot of the stairs, but Arthur and Gwaine killed them easily. And then Gwaine gasped. All around them were cells with various types of people in them. Men, women, children - all of them were trapped. Arthur was disgusted.
They watched the knights with large eyes as they proceeded through the room. One man opened his mouth to shout, but a woman clamped her hand over it, shushing him as she did so. They wanted Arthur and Gwaine to succeed on their task. A small child came up to the bars around his cell which he shared with a nearly dead man and a skeleton, he held his hand through the bars and looked up at Arthur with tear-stained violet eyes.
Arthur knelt on the floor and clasped the child's hand. "What's your name?"
"M-my name's Brayden, s-sir."
"That means brave, doesn't it?"
"Y-yes sir."
"How long have you been here?"
"Seven years, sir. I was born here b-but my mother died."
"I'm sorry." Arthur then stood, and turned to Gwaine. "We can't let these people stay here. We have to set them free."
"I know, I agree. But it will just anger Nomed and he'll manage to capture them again," Gwaine said, rarely the voice of reason.
"Then we'll have to kill him," Arthur decided.
"Arthur, we can't! Even with Percival and Elyan helping he'd defeat us. Magic users are too powerful."
"Alright. Let's just get Merlin out of here, then we'll go back to Camelot and get help."
"Arthur..."
"Did you say Merlin, sir?" Brayden asked. "As in the Merlin, the one who stood up to Nomed?"
"Why? Do you know where he is?" Gwaine asked.
"He's in the cell at the end, sir. But he's dying," Brayden said, he sounded full of remorse and sadness.
"How do you know?"
"Well, when he first got here, sir, he used to talk to us, and tell us wonderful stories of an amazing kingdom - Camelot. When the guards told him to shut up, he retorted and said he'd always have a right to speak even if it was only to annoy his master-" at this Arthur snorted,"-so they tied his mouth shut, sir, until Nomed ordered them to release Merlin because he needed him to be able to speak. Well, now we never hear him talking, sir. And talking was one of his favourite things to do."
"Thank you. Yes, he is one to enjoy a chat," Arthur said, walking away from the child to the end of the hallway. He checked left and right in the cells as he walked in case the child had got it wrong. Everywhere he looked there were broken people, people who had been broken physically and mentally.
And then, he found him. On his left was a cell with bars exactly the same as all the others, no window, no seat, no nothing except a few strands of straw on the stone floor. In the corner of the tiny cell was the slumped, near unrecognizable form of Arthur's beloved manservant.
"Merlin!" Arthur hissed, yet Merlin did not stir. "Oh come on, Merlin. I need your help with this!" When Merlin still didn't respond Arthur turned to Gwaine, who shrugged unhelpfully. The king rattled the bars to Merlin's cell (those two words seemed so wrong to Arthur) in a vain hope to rouse the boy. It worked.
"Ar-thur?" Merlin croaked. He turned round slowly and Arthur tried not to punch the wall in anger at his best friend's chest. Gwaine couldn't contain it and Arthur soon heard the sickening sound of knuckle against stone. He payed no heed to his companion and instead crouched down on the floor. Merlin crawled over to his master and clasped the bars for support.
He looked dead.
"Merlin, you idiot."
"Prat, what've... What've I done?" Merlin closed his eyes.
"Okay, come on. Stand up and help me with the lock."
"I can't... It... Won't open."
"It will. I know it will. Work with me here, Merlin." With that, Merlin stood up, then promptly fell back down.
"The shackles... Cut the... Cut the shackles," he gasped out. Arthur didn't understand why that couldn't wait until later, but he complied, snaking his sword through the bars and slicing the metal clasp. They clashed to the floor and sparks flew as they hit the stone. Merlin looked up at Arthur and Gwaine and smiled. Not a goofy, stupid grin, but a small thankful, relieved smile which made Arthur a bit uncomfortable.
Then Merlin seamed to find new energy and stood, picking up the shackles as he did so.
"Why do you want to bring those?"
"I know that... That if they're with me... No-one'll have to wear them." Arthur decided to question Merlin further later. He passed the shackles through the bars to Arthur who attached them to his sword belt begrudgingly. Then he stood and shook the lock, trying to break it. When that didn't work he resulted to using his sword to pick at the links.
"Come on, Arthur. Nomed could be here any second!" Gwaine said, panicking.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Arthur retorted, exhausted.
Merlin was hesitant to use magic. He knew he shouldn't. The manacles suppressed his magic, but when they were taken off, it returned. However, it took a while (Merlin knew from Gaius' books) and it was not wise to use magic immediately after the suppression devise had been removed.
So Merlin was hesitant. But he did. He used it. His eyes flashed gold and Arthur cut through the chains, which clattered to the floor. Merlin immediately felt a mixture of excitement and exhaustion, the second being the more powerful feeling and he swayed precariously. Arthur steadied him.
"Okay let's go!" He all but shouted, hoisting Merlin over his shoulder and beginning to walk briskly down the hall. Half way down he noticed Brayden looking up at them, mouth open in awe.
"We're coming back for you," Arthur said.
"Who are you?"
"My name is King Arthur of Camelot. And this Sir Gwaine, most noble knight of the Round Table."
"You're the King of Camelot?! The King of..."
"Yes. And I will return, as soon as my servant's well."
"Your servant, sir?... Is Merlin your servant?"
"And friend," Gwaine put in. Arthur nodded slowly.
"Yes," he agreed. "Yes, and friend." Arthur could feel Merlin smile on his shoulder, and he responded by nearly running out of the building to get Merlin to safety. That's what friends did, wasn't it?
Hope it was okay! Can't wait to hear any of your thoughts and hopefully the next chapter (and I promise you now that there will be a next chapter) won't take quite so long to get up! xxxx