The Cult of Emrys
Chapter Two
Disclaiment: The Author only owns what she owns, and nothing she doesn't
A\N: A new chapter this soon? Wow. It's a surprise for me too. But since the response was absolutely phenomenal, it kind of inspired me to get this out quickly. Makes me feel guilty about some of my other fics, but let's not get into that. Anyways- To anyone who also reads Plans I do have the next chapter about halfway done. So that will get an update soonish. But anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter of The Cult of Emrys!
Previously:
"Emrys." Dras said shortly, an unspoken threat hanging in the air.
Merlin didn't seemed cowed but spoke anyways, "Talking, Dras. I'm sure you've heard of the practice. You certainly run your own mouth often enough."
"But the Pendragon? Why Emrys, think of his unworthiness! I mean, great Emrys, speaking to the Pendragon butcher! The absolute sacrilege. " Dras said mockingly, "Are not your servants better conversationalists? Someone will surely take offense."
Arthur felt himself start to get riled. He wasn't a butcher! He was a prince! Soon to be the Crown Prince even! Not a townsm- oh. Dras had meant it as an expression, not another mistaken identity.
Well, with crazed madmen it was hard to tell…
Unless he wasn't mad. Unless Merlin was the sorcerer Emrys!
...
Then again, that would mean that Dras thought that Arthur had a career of butchery and that was too farfetched to contemplate. That solved it then. Apparently, Dras was delusional.
…
Merlin took a deep breath, wondering how far he could go. When conversing with Dras, Merlin always had to remember that as long as Dras underestimated him, he was that much closer to winning the long game. Or, well, making Dras fail- as was his entire goal. Merlin had long discounted a win on his own behalf where he not only got his revenge but his life and freedom as well. Merlin had to remember to use his brain, not his acidic heart. Right now, he needed to distract Dras from noticing the sword.
Expressing his hatred was only a plus.
"Good. If the prince holds a better conversation than the servants, then perhaps the dolts need replacing. I mean, you were the one who hired them."
"Oh, Emrys, how your stinging words wound me!" Dras looked as sorrowful as a fox who was caught before he could kill the last chicken in the henhouse, "Tsk, Tsk. You'll need to learn diplomacy before you take the throne. Camelot shouldn't have to suffer another rude king."
"Then you should stab yourself now." Merlin suggested, "Save the kingdom."
"Stab myself? But with what? You wouldn't have happened to have a sword on you, would you? Because we both know how pathetic that would be." Dras pouted, giving a significant look to the old blanket covering Arthur's blade.
Merlin made no outward reaction. Arthur sprang up and tried decapitation.
Merlin felt his eyes grow wide as Arthur moved fast, swinging his sword with precision from years of practice. However, it wasn't fast enough. Not when Dras could slow down time and put up a shield.
Dras started laughing, a loud friendly guffaw. The rest of the camp was watching them now. Dang it.
"You've had your fun, my friend. But don't you think it's time to face the truth of the matter? Nothing you can come up with in that bigoted little brain of yours will even annoy me. I don't want to ruin your hope, as I do believe in being kind to simpletons, but living in a world of delusions in neither encouraged nor healthy." Dras had his arms spread theatrically, and talking loud enough for everyone to hear, "As an educated man, I find it my duty to look after those poor unfortunates who just don't have the capacity for thought. I apologize, but you are no longer a prince, my friend, after all, ruling is above your regrettable capabilities. It is actually a kindness that I have removed the burden of the throne from your weak and feeble mind! In fact, to show that I am indeed a gracious man, I will allow you to keep your little toy. After all, it would be heartless of me to take the possession of a child."
With that, the man sauntered off to his own tent, a beloved smile possessing his face. A few of the cultists of Emrys even clapped, while others snickers and gave approving nods of their head.
Merlin wished he had just a little bit of magic back- just a little. Just enough to remove Dras's head.
He shifted his gaze back to Arthur, wondering how he had reacted.
Arthur's posture was soldier straight, his sword at his side in a position that should of looked stiff, but since the prince was so familiar with his blade, it merely looked comfortable. His face was blank, exempting his eyes which showed a whole range of emotion.
"His mistake." Merlin commented,
"What?"
"You're not his friend. I highly doubt you're going to take that lying down."
"You're right," Arthur scratched his neck, "I'm not going to be beat by a madman! His delusions are bizarre! Can he recognize anyone correctly? Do the people here usually just ignore his insanity? I mean, he thinks that you're Emrys! You!"
Merlin about fell over. How dense was this prat?
"And to confuse me with an idiot child?" Arthur shook his head, "The man has clearly taken leave of his senses."
Merlin's head tilted to one side. Well, at least this meant that Arthur didn't know about Merlin's magic yet. If Arthur was this oblivious then perhaps the alliance could continue. Anyways, it wasn't like Merlin had access to his magic anymore, Dras and his foul collar took care of that. It might be too difficult of a concept for Arthur that while Merlin was born with magic, he didn't have any now, so Merlin still wasn't going to shout about it but he could relax a little.
Merlin wondered if Arthur had received any head wounds in his knight training.
…
Arthur wasn't sure why, but the knowledge that Dras was an insane sorcerer made his confidence rise. What did he have to worry about? A bad theater performance? Sure, the man's speech had been a little insulting if taken seriously, but it would be uncharitable of him to take the words of a madman to heart.
No. That was a lie.
If Arthur could then he'd challenge Dras to a duel for that grave insult. It was an affront to his honor. Such words gave Arthur license to kill his captor, even if the abduction hadn't taken place.
No matter if Dras was mad, Arthur was going to end him.
Arthur knew that the man had known exactly what he was saying. Those words were so cutting that they must have been prepared.
The sorcerer didn't take him seriously, didn't fear him, didn't even see him as an equal. Instead, Arthur had been demoted into an act, a skit to rouse the troops.
Arthur was not exactly happy about that. He was used to being at the top. The only people who would dare argue with the prince of Camelot were his father and the Lady Morgana. Even then, Uther was the king as well as his patriarch- He was supposed to be of a higher rank than Arthur. Morgana was Morgana, she argued with everyone. But none of his knights, not a servant, and certainly not a peasant, had ever not shown him the respect his rank demanded.
Sorcerers were supposed to be the scum of the earth. His father declared them to undeserving to live. They were supposed to be the lowest rank imaginable.
The airs Dras put on were disconcerting. His words were too polished, his clothing too tailored. He looked like a nobleman, if not a royal, who not only had a scholar's knowledge but also a commander's experience in the world. He was a far cry from the ratty old sorcerers that Arthur was used to seeing, the thin and dirty elders who spoke of dead relatives as a pain that never healed, a pain that pulled them to revenge. None of those sorcerer's were particularly talented, and a simple sword dispatched them if they didn't make it to the pyre.
It struck Arthur that Dras was more regal than his father.
Dangerous territory, Arthur warned himself, trying to regain that fleeting self-confidence found in careful control. It was much better to think of Dras as overdramatic and senseless. Arthur resolved that he would not 'fall' for Dras's showmanship.
After all, Arthur allowed this logic, Dras had clearly planned that encounter. Carefully controlled the situation, and only showed what would make him look good.
Arthur's pride alone refused to give in so easily to such tricks.
Now Merlin was looking at him as if he was the crazy one. Arthur sighed. Merlin may have been strange but for some reason Arthur liked him. Perhaps he better give an explanation…? It wasn't like he owed the peasant anything but-
"I'm not giving Dras the satisfaction." Arthur said. It was a tad oblique but Merlin seemed to understand.
"That's my motto." Merlin admitted, "He will never get a cooperative action from me."
"What happened to all your cynicism?"
"Still there. I never said I had become a good little soldier did I? I'm full to the brim with rebellion."
"Idiot."
"Prat." Merlin shot back.
"What the heck?" Arthur looked at his sword and shrugged, "Want to plan a rebellion then, Merlin?"
"No, I don't much feel like it."
"Too bad, you don't have a choice."
And that was the start of an actually thought-out plan of chaos.
…
This was the most fun that Merlin had had in years! He hadn't displayed such a big show of uprising for a long while, and this time he had a partner in crime. Two times the insurgence!
The point of the current plot was to raise such a big ruckus that the knights of Camelot would find them easier, or at least Arthur.
It would have been beautiful if Merlin still had his magic under his control. He could have burnt Dras's tent to the ground, created fearsome monsters out of the smoke, and chased around his longtime captors with intent on dooming them to the worst afterlife they qualified for. Yes, he might have daydreamed about it occasionally.
As it was, a torch lit oiled canvas on fire just as well as a flash of his eyes. Imagine that.
And a sword could cut the horse's reins to free them for running away.
The best thing about the plan is that the risk of backfiring was, well, low to anything that actually mattered. Not that Merlin actually cared about anything other than revenge, hadn't for a long time, even if he did admit that he would feel sorry if Arthur died. So close to the final invasion, Dras didn't have time to handle the two chaotics. Since they weren't dead already, he couldn't kill them without interfering with his own plans. Blank check for mischief.
Somehow, it had become a competition. Merlin had been performing malicious pranks for years, but Arthur's collar was empty of all the bans that Merlin had on his. Merlin's experience wasn't that much of an advantage because he had to be extremely creative. Arthur could always fall back on Merlin's suggestions for old favorites that had been useful before, but the camp kept more eyes on Arthur as well which add some difficulties. Merlin was largely invisible but was restricted by magic, while Arthur was mostly free but restricted by his visibility.
Originally, it had been a simple 'leave a trail for the knights to find' but it quickly became 'these two teenagers have lived serious lives for too long and here's an outlet where causing trouble was the goal!'
Merlin's previous actions against the camp had always spawned from pure malevolence. With Arthur's competitiveness, his own apathy towards his own life, and years of vengeance occupying his existence- It became fun.
The main rules were just to cause as much havoc as they could before they were caught and stopped.
By the time Dras bothered to knock the competitors out, three tents had caught fire, a dozen horses had escaped, a goat had chewed all of Arell's clothing, the nightly stew had the full supply of spices dumped in there, four money pursed were buried while another was tossed in a tree, the stock of honey had been slathered on a tree where someone had set up a hammock, six hammocks had been damaged in ways that wouldn't show until their owners climbed in, and the camp anvil had been hidden.
All in all, Merlin was pretty satisfied.
Some of his hatred was finally able to be channeled in a, somewhat, constructive way. Only a little though. Teeny tiny bit.
…
Dras was slightly amused as well as highly annoyed. Did these boys really think a little irritation would do anything for their cause? He found it interesting that the two had formed an alliance so quickly. Who would have thought that the most powerful warlock of all time was bound by destiny to the tyrant's son?
He knew the prophecies. He was probably the most learned in them in all of Albion. He had to be to follow his plan.
Dras knew very well that the Pendragon brat was the Once and Future King. However, no matter the young Pendragon's reputed values, Dras was never going to let Uther's spawn sit on the throne. Years before, when he had seen a charming little boy show his friend a dragon made of embers, he had decided that that part of the prophecies could be cannibalized.
Emrys was the real protagonist. He was the power, the magic. He created a version that with selectively chosen passages, made Emrys not only the savior of magic but the king to protect them all. The tale of a sorcerer king who would end Uther's reign struck a chord with many of the oppressed and it became child's play to gain followers. Hardly anyone knew the true versions, with the community living in frightened isolation and largely decimated by Uther's extermination, it was simple to turn a whisper of an old fairytale into the marching song of an army.
Every sorcerer was desperate. Dras preyed on that. He offered both vengeance and peace, the beginning of a new era and yet respect to the old ways.
The druids were even easier marks. They're culture ensured that they were raised to revere Emrys. Some of the elders resisted Dras's version of the prophecies but the average druid didn't know enough to argue.
The magical community accepted that Emrys would be a great and powerful leader. That was enough to take Dras as far as he needed to go.
The nonmagical people could be easily bought by gold, or the promise of better times. They were not fond of the executions, the way that even if they accidently gave they're business to a sorcerer that they could be burned as well, and that they're taxes were used to fund witch hunts instead of useful infrastructure.
Too bad Dras had made Emrys an enemy early on in his scheme. Murdering his village had not been a good introduction. But the boy was nothing but a tool, and his instability then had made it possible to take his magic. It had been flowing off of him in waves, he had exhausted himself with grief and rage, and that had let Dras collar him successfully. If the specially designed band had been place on the boy when he was at full power then it would have either killed the boy, from such a quick deprivation of his magic, or exploded the band. The solution to temporarily lessen the boy's magic had been gauche, yes, but it had been necessary.
Emrys was more of an object than a person anyways. As long as Dras possessed his enormous power and his image then all was well.
The Pendragon was troublesome. The only reason he was still alive was that since Emrys's power was meant for the use of protecting the Once and Future King, Dras wasn't sure that it would allow the Pendragon's death. Until means of proving that the Pendragon was unnecessary, the brat would be kept alive. Perhaps he could at least be used politically? His camp of most loyal followers, the ones who knew that the Cult of Emrys wasn't really ruled by the Emrys, seemed to enjoy his little show earlier. Desecration of enemies always excited a crowd.
He wondered what he would do with Morgana, known as le Fay in some of the prophecies. He could easily kill her. She wasn't even aware of her abilities yet, let alone fully trained. Since she was supposed to be the opposing force to Emrys, the source of his power, he couldn't just let her run around. If he could somehow work it out then perhaps he could leech off her magic as well.
Uther would burn. That was simple.
Tomorrow would be a day of great excitement. After years of planning, this was it. Tomorrow would be his smooth takeover of Camelot, and nothing would stop him.
Nothing had the ability to.
Certainly not the two teenagers of destiny. Ha. They weren't waking up until after Dras had the dungeons at his disposal.
Though, he did really wish they had left the hammocks alone. The screaming thumps were interrupting his beauty sleep.
A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews! For a while I've been writing oneshot crossovers and Supernatural fics so this is quite a jump. No one quite reviews like the Merlin fandom, do they? I hope this chapter also meets your satisfaction, I know its a little less dramatic (dreaded comedy snuck it's way in) and had a bit of exposition but it's kinda setting up for Camelot. As I said last chapter, I'm planning for this to be a short and quick fic so I'm going to be moving kinda fast instead of basking in status quo. Next chapter will be big, warning you now. As in exciting, not lengthy. It'll probably be about average for this fic in terms of word count.
So, again, I loved all of you're reviews! I hope this chapter was a good reward.
WhatIsThisNormalYouSpeakOf - Thanks for the first review! I have provided more and put a little bit more on Dras. I don't want to give everything away about him yet, but it was your suggestion that gave me the idea to give him a focus in the point of views. I know I'm kinda liking him so far, so I'm glad that you found him interesting as well!
battlemaiden518 - Thank you! I'm glad you liked the first chapter! I hope you also enjoyed the second chapter as well.
guest - I'm extremely happy to hear that the idea has interested you. I got so into it that I wrote half the first chapter on my phone and then decided that I should probably do something with it because it kept holding my interest. I have a lot of "doodles" on my phone that I never get around to finishing, let alone publishing. Well anyways, thank you very much for reviewing!
aRangersHorseLovesApples - How is less than 24 hours? lol. I'm glad you like this fic so far. Hopefully the rest of my updates while continue to be swift. Thank you so much for reviewing!
stormus- Yeah, the characterization of this is so interesting. I'm trying to balance the early versions of the characters with the new experiences and I find it very interesting. Like Merlin is darker, as you said, he's lost hope, doesn't value his life, and craves vengeance but at the same time, he naturally has a good heart, he's still snarky, and destiny has still bonded him to Arthur. I'm being very careful with Arthur since this is pre-season one Arthur which means Full On Prat, and yet the circumstances don't allow for him to lord over everyone. In some ways, he's having to grow up faster because right now his life is in danger, as is Camelot, which always bring out his responsible side anyways. He's in an utterly new environment with people that completely baffle him. So, yes, that's fun to play with. Especially since he's still the most oblivious character on the face of the earth- In fact, I felt I had to rationalize a little bit of it to return to the more dramatic tone. Arthur logic is sometimes sooo out there that in this incarnation, some of it's intentional on his part because there are some things that he'd rather not think about. I blame Uther since its proven that he and his son don't exactly have matching moral compasses, and before Merlin it seems that Arthur didn't really challenge it. And- well, I'll stop here :)
Anyways, thanks so much for you're review. It makes me excited that someone else is interested in the changes AUs do to characters.
Felicity P- Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it. Did this chapter come fast enough? :D Anyways, thanks for reviewing, I appreciate it!
dee- Oh, thank you! I'm extremely flattered. I really appreciate that you took the time to review! :)
GoldenFireFish- Oh, wow, such compliments! I'm glad that you enjoy my writing style! I know it's not perfect, but it's what I do, so I'm glad you like it. Thanks so much for reviewing!
CheshireCat- I'm glad you like the idea! What's coming up will prove to be pretty interesting, at least in my opinion. I know I'm excited to write it at least :)
Thank you for taking the time to review!
1983Sarah- Yay! I'm happy that you like it so far. I hope this chapter is ok. I know chapter three will prove especially interesting... So, thanks a lot for reviewing! I highly appreciate it!
So, how was this chapter? Is anyone particularly interested in a particular aspect? Do you want anything elaborated? Or are you ready to see the Cult move into Camelot? And, yes, I understand that Dras's speech may have been reminiscent of a few things... Particularly the first sentence. Did you notice?