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Merlin couldn't believe that he had been so stupid!
There was a reason why acting on instinct was always the best thing for him. He had waited until the men had bundled him closer to Jachira and kept his eyes down, making sure that no one could see the tell-tale signs of the gold beginning to infiltrate his irises. As soon as he thought the time was right, he had caused nearly all of the men to trip in what he hoped was a believable manner. They hadn't stood a chance against his magic and Merlin had torn his arms free and raced towards Gwaine. The still-stunned knight had seen him coming, grinned and driven his elbow back into one of the men holding him, managing to fight his way lose. Merlin had a grin on his face as Gwaine had taken a step towards him, believing that his plan had somehow worked and they had got away with it.
But what he had forgotten about, however, was the power of Jachira's magic.
Gwaine had just gestured a direction for them to dart in when Merlin had felt a tendril of magic approaching. He had turned to try and ward it off before Gwaine noticed anything, not realising that he was the target. In the same manner that Jachira had brought Gwaine down to the ground in the first place, the magic wrapped around Merlin's neck and he was yanked off his feet before he could even think of a counter-spell. Gwaine turned, yelling out for Jachira to let him go, but the man simply smirked.
Judging by the shiver Merlin could feel, he knew the sorcerer had just made the magic visible. By craning his head back, he managed to not only alleviate the pressure on his neck slightly, he could also see that there was what appeared to be a golden thread connecting him and Jachira. One end around his neck, the other held in the man's hand. Jachira had grinned at Gwaine's pleas and proceeded to stand on the end, making Merlin's back arch as he choked and scrabbled along the ground as he tried to draw a breath. The magic was unrelenting and he could feel darkness beginning to tug at the corners of his vision. Every time he thought he could work some of his own magic, the pressure seemed to increase and the power slipped away again.
He was only vaguely aware that he was being used against Gwaine once more. Jachira effectively ordered the man to get onto the altar himself, and when Gwaine hesitated, the magic tugged and Merlin gasped. That time, his sight really did dim and by the time that he managed to focus, men were finishing shackling Gwaine's hands above his head before clamping manacles over his ankles as well, keeping him firmly pinned to the altar.
Merlin gasped for breath as Jachira stepped closer, drawing the magic away in a tantalising manner. Letting his lungs fill themselves again was the only thing that Merlin was capable of for a moment, magic being far beyond his reach. A couple of bandits dragged him to his feet and before Merlin could react, he felt his back hitting the altar. Chains secured him down in the same way as Gwaine but Merlin felt a spark of hope as he realised they were just ordinary shackles. He couldn't feel any binding magic on them, his powers were still his own…
But of course, just like everything else with the escape attempt, that was too good to be true. Before he could even considering whether he could use magic this close to Gwaine (deep down, he knew there was no choice, not when they were going to die if he did nothing!), Jachira stepped between the two altars. There were two thin chains in his hands, a pendant hanging from each. He rested one over Gwaine's chest, ignoring the abuse he received in response and then turned to Merlin. Merlin could only meet his gaze coolly as the second was lowered to his own, and he instantly gritted his teeth to stop himself from screaming. The cuffs from before might have dampened his magic down, but this felt as if it was seeping into his very soul, poisoning his own power.
His eyes had screwed shut and he felt a hot tear seep from behind his closed lids as he tried to control his breathing. This thing hurt! By the time he managed to open his eyes and glance at Gwaine, the knight was looking at him sympathetically.
"We'll get out of this," he promised, and Merlin realised that he clearly thought the tears were for their predicament. Merlin managed a shaky smile and nod, knowing that if anyone was going to be able to get them out of this, it was Gwaine. The warlock tried to tilt his body to one side, attempting to get the pendant off, but the chains were too short and did not allow him enough movement. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Gwaine's hands moving. Merlin awkwardly craned his head around and gaped when he saw the knight somehow had what looked like a small pin in his hand and was trying to line up a way of picking the lock.
Merlin could only gape, and go back to wondering how his ideas just led to things being so much worse than when they started.
But despite the hope that Gwaine was going to be able to at least get himself free, Merlin found that he was watching Jachira with trepidation as the man came to a stop at the foot of the altars, arms widespread and head tilted back. Gwaine still hadn't managed it and Merlin had a feeling that they were running out of time. Out of desperation, he arched up again, trying to do something. While he might not have had enough movement to get the pendant off, he did manage to somehow look into the crowd.
How he ever saw anything amiss considering what he was going through, Merlin had no idea. But movement caught his eye and he managed to crane his head back even further. Only to find his eyes widen as he realised there was a fight going on literally paces from them. The sheer number of bandits that had gathered around the altar, no doubt wanting to see what the magic would do, meant the noise had been muffled and the fight obscured from view by the front row. Merlin looked to the side to find that Gwaine was also looking into the crowd and he had seen something. The knight winked and then went back to trying to pick the locks. Despite the fact that Jachira had begun to chant and Merlin could already feel a slight coldness beginning to creep up his body, the warlock truly began to feel the hope they could get out of this.
For there was no denying who it was fighting to get to them.
Before he had the chance to call to Arthur, Merlin gasped, his back arching. For a moment, he had no idea what was happening, but then he saw the same thing was happening to Gwaine. The pendant on the man's chest was glowing slightly and Merlin felt his eyes widen as a golden light seemed to almost drain from Gwaine into the pendant. Judging by the way the feeling of coldness intensified, Merlin had a feeling the same thing was happening to him.
"Arthur!" He knew the prince would most likely ridicule him for screaming for help for the rest of eternity when they got out of this, but Merlin didn't particularly care at that moment in time. All he cared about was that there was an afterwards in which they were alive for Arthur to mock him. Right now, he couldn't use his magic and Gwaine was too busy having his soul sucked out of him to think about picking the locks.
Judging by the way the bandits who had yet to notice the fighting fell back suddenly, Merlin had a feeling that Arthur had indeed heard his call and seemed to be thinking along the same lines in regards to saving the mocking until they knew there would be a later. He seemed to just appear out of nowhere, but rather than doing the helpful thing and removing the pendant, he shot between the altars and stood menacingly in front of Jachira. The sorcerer didn't seem to even notice that he was there from where he was too wrapped up in the magic to be paying attention to what was going on around him.
To Merlin's relief, Lancelot and Percival swiftly followed Arthur from the chaos. Percival began using the hilt of his sword in order to break Gwaine's manacles while Lancelot kept watch over them.
"The pendant," Merlin hissed, knowing that Lancelot was the one person who would understand quite what it was doing to him. The knight glanced down at the bound warlock and seemed to realise in an instant the glowing stone on his chest was the reason why Merlin was still bound. He snatched it up, luckily only holding the chain rather than the pendant and quickly dropped it to the floor. Immediately, Merlin felt his magic take control once again as it tried to heal itself from the attack it had just survived. One glance at Percival and Gwaine showed they were both preoccupied with the chains and Arthur was still facing Jachira. That was all Merlin needed for his eyes to flare and his chains to snap, allowing him to finally sit up. As Percival brought the hilt of his sword down one last time, Merlin let the magic seep from him once more and snapping Gwaine's chains in the same way.
Merlin swiftly slid from the alter, wrapping a piece of shirt around his hand before snatching the pendant away from Gwaine as well. Considering the way the man seemed to exhale and slumped for a moment before allowing Percival to start helping him up, Merlin had a feeling that Gwaine had felt what the pendant was doing even if it was not in the same way that Merlin had. He dropped the pendant down next to his own, trusted that Lancelot was shielding him from view and set them both on fire. To his surprise, they didn't melt the way he had expected, but exploded. The golden light burst from the pendant once again and for the first time in a while, Merlin felt warmth flood him. Something told him they had just been given back what the pendant had stolen from them.
"We have to get you both out of here," Lancelot hissed, jerking his head towards where Leon and Elyan were fighting to keep an escape route open. Percival practically shoved Gwaine in front of him in order to force the man to move rather than joining in the fight, but Merlin dug his heels in when Lancelot did the same thing.
"Not without Arthur," he yelled, turning on his heel and spinning back towards where he had last seen Arthur. His heart caught in his throat as he realised that removing the pendants had broken Jachira's concentration and he had become aware of the prince standing in front of him. The sorcerer was throwing magic at Arthur, and although the prince had managed to deflect some spells with his sword and simply ducked out of the way of others, Merlin knew that it was a one-sided fight. Jachira was simply toying with the prince and Merlin felt as if his heart was going to burst from his chest when he saw the sorcerer pull another chain out of his pocket. Merlin watched, frozen, as Jachira seemed to drag Arthur towards him in a web of magic before forcing the pendant in contact with Arthur's bare skin.
Merlin hadn't realised how much protection their clothes had offered until he saw the colour immediately drain from Arthur's face. Arthur's hand came up to clutch at Jachira's, trying to push him away. But all that ended up happening was Arthur used that grip to stop his legs from completely buckling. Merlin glanced around to find that Lancelot was the only one watching. The knight nodded encouragingly and by the time Merlin looked back, Arthur was barely conscious. He certainly wouldn't be paying any attention to what was going on around him. Merlin ran closer, once more calling on his magic.
Whether it was because it had had time to settle after its own fight, or whether it was because its destiny, it's purpose was in danger, Merlin didn't know. But all he did know was that he felt more alive than he had done since Jachira had first hit him with the curse back in the clearing, an event that now felt like lifetimes ago. Jachira was smirking again, clearly believing that he had achieved at least some of what he had wanted as Arthur seemed to go limp in his grip. As Jachira lifted his other hand, clearly preparing to finish the enchantment for good this time, Merlin let his own hand shoot out. His palm was aimed towards Jachira and he didn't even say anything as a light erupted from his body and shot towards him. Jachira tried to shield against him, but Merlin's magic simply tore through the man's defences as if they didn't even exist. The sorcerer was blasted off his feet, Arthur landing in a crumpled heap. Merlin ran forward, dropping to his knees next to the prince and was rewarded with a small groan as Arthur stirred. The pendant had fallen from him in the fall and Merlin threw it as hard as he could away from them.
Only to yelp as a hand grabbed his scarf and pulled him away from Arthur. Once again, Merlin found his breathing restricted as Jachira threw him to the floor. Stunned, Merlin didn't have time to react as the man straddled him, knees pressing into Merlin's side. To the warlock's horror, he pulled out yet another pendant. How many of these things did the man have? But that question was for another time as Merlin fought as hard as he could to stop it coming into contact with him. He ended up using his forearm to block Jachira reaching for his neck, but he could feel that he wouldn't be able to hold him off for long. Panting, Merlin tried to call for Lancelot, knowing that he needed help. But the knight was too busy fighting off the bandits again and Merlin found himself squirming as the cursed thing got ever closer to him.
"Don't think you can defeat me, even with all your power," Jachira sneered, clearly believing that he had won. If he was honest, Merlin was beginning to worry that it wouldn't be long before that thought became the truth. Jachira's free hand came out of nowhere, seizing Merlin's arm and wrenching it out of the way.
"No!" Trying to ignore the pain, Merlin found that he was pressing himself into the dirt as he tried to avoid the pendant touching him. Just as he thought that he wouldn't be able to hold Jachira any longer, the man's eyes suddenly widened in surprise and he glanced down at his own chest with an almost comical expression on his face. Merlin followed the gaze and knew that a similar expression must have crossed his own face at the tip of a sword protruding from Jachira's chest. For a moment, the man just continued to sneer before the blade was withdrawn and he collapsed on the servant. Although a boot kicked the pendant out of his hand, Merlin was left to shove the dead weight off him on his own before scrambling backwards, panting slightly as he tried to get the air back into his lungs.
Just as he was thinking about standing up, a hand came into view. Merlin smiled as he seized the wrist and allowed Arthur to pull him to his feet. For a moment, the prince didn't loosen his grip but instead seemed to be visibly checking his servant over. Merlin knew that Arthur would have no idea that Merlin was watching him just as closely, not being sure the damage the magic would have done. But apart from being slightly pale, Arthur seemed to be fine.
"Sire, we need to go!" Leon's yell floated over to them and Arthur quickly let go. Merlin didn't say anything as he stayed close behind the prince, understanding what Arthur's look meant. The prince would never admit to having been worried about him, but Merlin knew he wouldn't be leaving the camp – even if it was just to collect firewood – on his own until Arthur stopped feeling guilty about the fact he had been taken in the first place. Merlin groaned, forcing a smile on his face when Arthur glanced back at him in concern and motioning for Arthur to carry on getting them back to the others. The scathing look the prince gave him almost promised retribution for his cheek, but Merlin found that his mind was too busy thinking of other things.
How was he going to explain why he had been one of the ones taken?
Most of the bandits had fled when realising that it was knights who had broken through the shield, and the magic Merlin had been feeling in the air had vanished with Jachira's death. The area had been returned to nature once again and as Merlin was pulled into the safety of being between Leon and Arthur, he came to a conclusion about how he was going to get out of the awkward questions he was sure would come.
He was just going to see what Gwaine did and follow the man's lead. Despite everything, he had a feeling the knight still wouldn't want anyone to know his true parentage and would no doubt come out with a far-fetched explanation they would still believe. Merlin would just claim the same thing.
And then find a way of avoiding Gwaine's questions.