Chapter 4: Bad Bounty Hunters
I know this is a long chapter, but so much happens here! Please note there is some gore involved and a few deaths, so if you hate gore and people dying, skip onto the next chapter! Thankyou!
Merlin dashed through the castle down the narrow, winding corridoors past all the chambers which seemed to all be deserted. The moon light poured through the stained glass windows, lighting up the castle whilst the silvery stars just randomly scattered themselves about for decoration to make the blackness of the night skies look attractive.
Merlin was pumped up and prepared to take the Bounty Hunters full on! He felt desperate to destroy them before they found Freya and took her away. "THOSE BOUNTY HUNTERS ARE DEAD!" his mind yelled. Suddenly, as he sprinted round a corner he noticed four muscular men approaching him. Surprised at their sudden apperance, Merlin skidded to a halt and faced the four Bounty Hunters, who all rolled their eyes at him in menacing glares that made Merlin feel intimidated. "In a rush are we, boy?" asked the smallest one, smirking smugly. Merlin didn't know how to reply. "Errrrrrmmmm..." he began, his voice breaking. The four men burst out laughing. "Well you should be scared of us! Especially if you're hiding the Druid Girl!" commented the smaller than the tall man but taller than the middle man, Hunter. They all stopped laughing and started eyeing him up and down suspiciously. The tallest man wandered threatingly up to Merlin and started to circle him. Merlin gulped loudly, causing the man who was circling him to chuckle darkly. "Tell me, my good young man. Do you know anyone called Freya?" asked the man. "No, I've never met anyone called Freya before!" lied Merlin, trying to sound confident although his voice was shattering away. "Are you sure about that, sir?" questioned the tallest man, as he grasped both sides of Merlin's face and tipped his head back. "Because if you're lying to me, then I promise you I won't make your life worth living at all! Infact, I could break you into thousands of tiny pieces right here, right now! All you have to do, is tell me if you have her or not, and tell me the truth! If you do tell me the truth, I won't snap your neck in half! Plus, if you do have Freya, I will give you all the gold you could ever wish for and need to become richer than the king of this castle himself, in exchange for her! However, if you lie to me, then I will kill you, if not, seriously injure you! And if you don't have the girl, then me and my friends here will just have a bit of fun with you and then leave you alone forever to get on with your worthless life! So, I shall ask again, for the last time, do you know anyone called Freya?" repeated the man. "I'm never going to tell a brute like you!" refused Merlin, lashing his leg forward and kneeing the man in his groind. Crying in pain, the man collapsed onto the ground, clutching his groind which was stinging with immense pain as rolled around sobbing bitterly. "HEY!" screeched the middle sized man, charging full speed at a deturmined Merlin. As the man approached Merlin, his eyes glew a luminous gold, sending Merlin flying into the wall across the other side of the corridoor! HE HAD MAGIC!
Merlin scrambled to his feet, gawping at the four men stood before him, thier eyes all glowing gold. Merlin's face paled till it was as white as fresh snow. This couldn't possibily be true! Bounty Hunters weren't sourcerers! "W-W-Who are y-y-you?" he spluttered. The smallest man grinned wickedly. "You do not know? We are the the cousins of the man who was horrifically slortered by that evil beast called Freya! We have come to claim our revenge on his awful death by hunting the girl down and torturing her till she can no longer breathe or see the light! You know where she is, don't you?" asked the smallest man, looking like some sort of animal preparing to pounce. "I won't let any of you hurt her!" cried Merlin. The men all laughed again. "And what are you going to do about it? You're nothing but a serving boy, a mortal! What could someone like you do to someone powerful like us?" shouted the middle-sized man. "Watch me." growled Merlin, his eyes glowing gold. The four men yelped in shock as they were sent soaring through the air. Once on the ground, they all leapt to their feet and gasped at Merlin. THE SERVING BOY HAD MAGIC!
"So, you have magical talents of your own? Impressive, I must say! Especially for a serving boy! Who would've guessed it?" declared the averagely sized man. "Why fight us though when we are from the same kind as you are? You should be helping us! Not attacking us! We apologize for treating you so badly and threatning you in such a blood-thirsty manner! If we knew you were a sourcerer, we'd have never done any of those things we did to you! Please forgive us!" apologized the shortest man. "Now then, time to get down to buisness! We're offerring you a choice, boy! Help us find Freya, and our RICH family members will award you with ANYTHING you want! Or, refuse to aid us, and die! The choice is yours', so choose wisely!" offered the tallest man. Merlin didn't have to think about it. He wasn't going to give Freya up to these monsters of men! "NEVER!" he screamed, his eyes lighting up with gold. The men were tossed into the walls surrounding them. The tallest and the average-sized men both broke their necks from the impact, killing them. The smallest and middle-sized men furiously stood up and cast their spells together as one enitity at Merlin, which was a screeching ruby-red fire ball packed full of magnificent power! Merlin remeained calm and used his own spell to block the attack and send it back at the men, however the shortest one had reactions wuick enough to duck down. Unfortunately, the other man was hit by the ball, and he exploded into a pile of smokey ashes!
The shortest man weakly climbed to his feet and glared with pure hatred at Merlin, who was now starting to worry. The man opened his mouth and to Merlin's disguist, a scaley cobra slipped out and slithered across the floor towards a trembling Merlin. The shortest man cackled with evil delight as the cobra hissed angrily at Merlin. Suddenly Merlin heard footsteps hurrying up towards him. "MERLIN LOOK OUT!" warned Arthur, drawing his sword. Merlin dived out of the way as Arthur slashed his sword at the cobra, cleanly slicing its head off and sending blood splattering everywhere, even covering Merlin! "NO!" bawled the final Bounty Hunter, as Arthur raced at him. However, the Huntsman used his magic once again to snatch Arthur's sword off him. Arthur screamed in pain as his own sword was swiped through his side, tearing through his shirt and ripping out some of his skin! Arthur gasped for air as he fell to the floor, his hands and arms crimson with the blood spilling out of his sides! "ARTHUR!" cried Merlin. The Bounty Hunter sent the sword flipping through the air to Merlin, who was about to cast another enchantment until Freya suddenly appeared out of thin air and stood infront of Merlin protectively. Merlin screeched in terror as the sword flung into Freya's chest, the blade passing through her heart. Merlin caught her as she fell over.
"Why did you do that Freya? Why why why? I could have used my magic!" breathed Merlin, in shock. "I sensed you were in danger during my sleep in your chambers, so I got out of your bed and sneaked out past Gaius who was asleep! I was eager to find you, I didn't care if I was seen or not! You mean too much to me Merlin, to ever abandon! I love you with all my heart! I always have done and I always will!" explained Freya, her eyes gazing dreamily into Merlin's watery ones. "I love you too, Freya! Oh please please don't leave me! Not again! I've missed you greatly since you left, and you haven't been back for long! We could've done so much together! We could've fled from here and been free to go to that place with mountains and a lake! The place you love, remember? We could've been happy!" weeped Merlin. Freya used the last of her strength to place her flat palms on Merlin's cheeks and whisper to him, "Remember me." Then died in his arms. The love of his life.
Freya...don't go...please...NOOOO!" shrieked Merlin, tears streaming out of his eyes and forming puddles along the floor. He had lost her for a second time, but this time, it was for good. She was dead and there was nothing he could do about it. He felt so ashamed of himself! Why did he not push her aside? Why did he not use his magic quicker in the first place?
Watching Freya die meant that the Bounty Hunter had accomplished his mission, and so he laughed with relief at the death of his enemy. This infuriated Merlin who was about to attempt to use his magic on the blood-thirsty tyrant until Sir Leon creeped up behind the man and stabbed him in the back with his sword, casuing the Hunter to stop laughing and collapse onto the ground, dead. As he should be. Leon nearly cried out in horror as soon as he saw Arthur lying unconcious on the ground in a pool of fresh blood, his side split. Praying he wasn't dead, he lifted the prince off the ground and held him in his arms as if he was a bride. Leon glanced worridly at Merlin and sighed sympathetically when he saw Merlin cradling and crying over Freya, his one true love. Infact, the very sight brought tears to Leon's sensetive eyes. However, he soon shook himself out of it and decided to go and find Gaius so he could treat Arthur before it was too late. He origianlly intended to ask Merlin what had happened, but with Merlin in tears, it was not worth bothering him over such matters. So Leon left for Gaius' chambers with Arthur lying frozen solid like a statue in his arms, barely even breathing.
Merlin kissed Freya on her forehead and stroked her rosey cheeks lovingly. "Goodbye, my sweet angel! I will miss you than more than ever now, but no matter what happens, you'll always be in my heart! I'll never forget you, I promise you! I'll take you to a place with mountains and a lake, and bury you there!" he said softly to her. He then raised her off the floor and carried her away bridal style.