Chapter 12
Merlin lay flat along a field, the long grass tickling his nose. He was taking part in another one of Arthur's 'survival courses', this time involving hiding from Arthur while the prince tried to hunt him. So far about half an hour had passed, and Arthur had still yet to have come even close to the field. To be fair, only a very skinny person such as Merlin could have remained hidden by the grass, and Arthur probably had assumed Merlin would overlook that. Fat chance,Merlin thought, as he shuffled further into the middle of field. He heard the crunch of boots on rocks, and immediately began to hold his breath. He heard heavy breathing straight ahead of him, which continued for a few minutes, then seemed to fade away as footsteps sounded once more. Merlin sighed in relief and sagged his shoulders, making the grass ripple around him. Suddenly, an arrow flew towards him and landed roughly a foot right of his head. Merlin shot up like a bullet, revealing a circle of angry looking knights, and a smug looking Cenred.
"Hello again Merlin. Did you miss me?"
"Where's Arthur?" Merlin demanded, sounding not that much braver than he felt.
"Don't worry, the prince is fine. In fact he's on his way back to Camelot right now with some friends of his..."
Arthur had finished counting to one hundred, having given Merlin a head start, and began tracking his way through the forest. He saw several broken twigs and footprints marking the way, making the path to Merlin easier to follow.
Very sloppy, Arthur thought to himself. He was actually surprised at how badly Merlin had covered over his tracks, considering how much control he had over his magic. Well, he is very clumsy, the prince considered, and he continued to follow the track.
The trail finally ended at a large cliff face, and a sense of unease filled Arthur. Surely he would have seen Merlin by now if he was this bad at hiding. Suddenly, 5 of his father's knights appeared from behind the trees, along with a man he didn't recognise. The knights came towards him and Arthur immediately protested as they tried to tie him up.
"What are you doing! Unhand me at once! Wait until my father hears about this!" he yelled indignantly.
"Ah, but you see young prince, it is under your father's orders that we do this," the strange noble said with a sneer in his voice. "All your precious daddy wants is for you to be returned home, and for his land to be free of those with magic, and in return Morgause and I get to spend some time with your little friend. Merlin, I believe his name was," Cenred jeered, smirking at the angry expression that smothered Arthur's face and the way he struggled to break free of his captors grasp at the mention of the young warlock.
"Leave Merlin alone, he's innocent! If you dare harm a single hair on his head, I'll-." But what Arthur was going to do was cut short by one of the knights hitting him over the head with the blunt of a sword, and Arthur knew no more.
Cenred raised his one gloved hand, and the men surrounding Merlin began to advance. Merlin managed to use magic to knock out some of the first round of knights, when suddenly one managed to fire a dart into his arm, and the young boy collapsed to the ground, barely able to keep his eyes open. He vaguely felt something metal snap around his neck, and the last thing he heard before completely falling unconscious was Cenred's voice saying,"I look forward to making you scream."
Once more, sorry for the late updates. On the plus side, we are now finally intO the main storyline... Yay! It only took 12 chapters and a prologue! :) Expect to see some new characters appearing in your next update as Merlin finds himself in Cenred's training camp,including Freya and Gwaine :) will Arthur save them? Stick with me to find out :)