Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

Chapter eight: Save the King

Merlin and Gwaine raced through the forest as they tried to catch up with Arthur and the other knights in hopes they could stop them before it was too late. The tracks they were following were still clear and that worried Merlin. Why hadn't Arthur order one of his men to cover their tracks? And then all the tracks changed directions.

"They're traveling east!" Gwaine exclaims. "Maybe an hour ahead of us."

Merlin's eyes widen slightly. "We don't have much time!"

And so they carry on running east, following the tracks as they lead through the trees.

"Wait a second." Gwaine suddenly stops and grabs hold of Merlin's arm. "This way."

As they begin running again, Merlin notices what Gwaine had spotted. The tracks doubled back on themselves, it was far easier to cut through the middle rather than follow the tracks round. After a couple minutes running Merlin spots something through the trees and signals Gwaine to stop. Through the trees a party of Odin's men were heading there way.

"Odin's men." Gwaine curses almost silently as they both hid from sight and wait for the men to pass.

Once the two of them are sure that Odin's men are far enough away that they won't get caught, they carry on moving. Merlin knew he could use magic, but he didn't want to risk Morgana finding out that there was a magic user in the area and setting up traps which Merlin had come across quite a few times while on patrol.

Reaching a ridge, both Merlin and Gwaine crawl up it and peer over the top, keeping as low to the ground as they could. The whole area was teaming with Odin's men. As the watched, a small group of knights were being rounded up by Odin's men and Merlin couldn't help but notice that Elyan wasn't among them.

"We're too late." Gwaine mutters.

Merlin smiles. "Not if we even up the numbers."

"Sounds good to me." Gwaine grins in reply.

Without a moment's hesitation, Merlin gets to his feet and walks forward. At first none of Odin's men notice, but once they do Merlin found himself surrounded and sharped blades pointed at him.

"Who are you?" One of Odin's men demand. "And what do you want?"

"Who am I?" Merlin repeated the questions. "No body important. As for what I want, I was wondering if you've seen a man, blond hair, blue eye, about this tall, often wears a red cloak and acts like a complete prat most of the time. He's a friend of mine you see and I can't find him. Maybe you've heard of him, his name's Arthur Pratdragon. Sorry I mean Pendragon."

The man growls at him and lunges forward, but before he even gets close Merlin's eyes flash gold and every single one of Odin's men fall to the ground unconscious.

"Well that went easier than I expected." Merlin mutters to himself as Gwaine joins him.

"Ha," Gwaine laughs, looking at the unconscious men. "I don't think they were expecting that. And couldn't you have at least saved one for me."

"Merlin!" The relieved voice of Leon sounds as he approached them.

"Sir Leon," Merlin replies. "Where are the others?"

"Odin had us slit up," Leon explains. "He ordered them to be taken into the woods and killed."

"Well you better hurry then," Merlin answers. "If you want to save them. And I'll look for Arthur."

"Good luck." Gwaine calls over his shoulder as he Leon and the other knights disappear into the woods to save their fellow knights.

XxX

Merlin hurries down the tunnels as he searched for the tomb Mithian had been leading Arthur to. Thankfully the tunnels were empty of Odin's men, he obviously didn't feel the need for his men to guard them as well with the knights outside taken care of.

Turning a corner, Merlin could make out the faint sound of voices and quickly headed in the direction they were coming from. It didn't take him long to reach the chamber were the tomb was. Percival was pinned to the tomb in the centre of the room and Arthur being held on his knees in front of Odin. On the far side room Mithian stood hugging her father, while she kept a weary gaze on Morgana who was back looking like her normal self.

Light glitters off Odin's sword as he raised it above his head and without thinking Merlin dropped to his knees and growled the words of a spell as loud as he dared.

"Ic þe bebiede þæt þu abifest nu!" Merlin slams his hand down on the ground and his eyes flash gold.

Instantly the ground begins to shake and that was all the distraction Arthur and Percival needed to escape Odin's men. It didn't take Arthur and Percival long to steal their weapons back and take care of Odin's men and as Arthur pushes Odin go the ground, one of Odin's men comes up behind him and prepares to strike.

Arthur spins on his heels and raised his sword only for the man to fall to the ground, to reveal Merlin standing behind him with his sword still raised in the position he had used to attack.

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaims with relief at seeing his friend awake and well again.

Merlin smiles in reply before turning towards where Mithian and her father were standing.

"Hurry!" Merlin calls. "This way!"

Mithian and Rodor quickly and unsteadily make there way towards where Merlin and Arthur are standing. Percival joins them and offers Rodor an arm to help keep his balance, even though the ground had stopped shaking, the tomb was collapsing around them and through the rising dust and falling debris, Merlin caught sight of Morgana raising her hand.

With a flash of gold, Merlin sent Morgana flying back through the air and into the wall on the far side of the tomb. As she fell to the ground unconscious, Arthur grabbed hold of Merlin's arm and dragged him out of the chamber. As they run, the tunnels around them began to crumble and collapse.

XxX

Gwaine, Leon and the other knights whom Merlin had saved outside the tomb were quickly making their way through the woods, heading to where the other knights had been taken for the executions King Odin had ordered. It hadn't taken long for them to pick up the other groups tracks, now it was a matter of getting there before they were killed.

Leon raised his hand and the knights behind him came to a halt. Leon looked through the tree, before signalling the knights to spread out and circle round. Through the treeline the dark coloured armour of Odin's men could be seen with the occasional flash of red from the Camelot knights' cloaks.

Each of the knights ready the crossbows they had stolen once Merlin had taken care of Odin's men and slowly make their way through the trees, their footsteps silent and their movements skilful. Once they are all within range, Odin's men didn't stand a chance. Before Odin's men even had a chance to work out what was happening, half of them had been taken down with arrows in their backs.

And that was all Elyan and the other knights needed, as they surged forward as one, grabbing the fallen men's weapons and quickly taking down the remaining men. The fight was over as quickly as it had begun without a single causality on the Camelot side, while Odin's men lay dead or dying on the forest floor.

"Where's Percy?" Gwaine asks as soon as he realises Percival wasn't among the other knights.

"He's with Arthur," Elyan answers. "Where's Arthur?"

"Merlin's taking care of it," Gwaine answers with a grin.

Leon suddenly appeared beside them from where he had been giving orders to the other knights, "The other knights are going to take care of any of Odin's men which are still scouting the area, meanwhile we need to find the King."

"Relax Leon," Gwaine smiles. "Merlin's more than capable of taking care of it. He can take on entire armies by himself and he has. Two of which were immortal."

"He never faced them directly," Leon points out. He didn't doubt Merlin's skill, power and strength, but Odin was not someone to mess with and what type of Knight would he be if he left his King to fight for himself? "He simply destroyed their source and we can leave our King."

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry again this chapter is slightly shorter than usual. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.