The Prophecy is No More
Chapter 3
Merlin hid behind a tree with Declan. Ever since the attack last week, there's been more patrols from Camelot around the area. They were still hiding out in the cave, until the right time came for them to move to a safer place.
Declan tapped his shoulder and pointed at a group of knights riding along the path. "What are we going to do, Merlin?"
"We have to distract them." Merlin said. He looked around for anything that looked helpful. When his gaze settled back on Declan, he noticed the little smirk on his lips. Declan started chanting a spell, his eyes flashing gold for a moment. Merlin followed his gaze, which was concentrated on a huge bush. The bush moved, as if someone was walking through it. The knights noticed it and went towards it, disappearing behind the trees.
Merlin grinned, "Nice one."
"Thanks," Declan smiled back. "We should get back to the cave."
Merlin nodded and they made their way to the cave, that was not-so-subtly hidden. They immediately went to Eldric, who was talking to some of the other druids.
Eldric's eyes lit up when he saw them. "Is it safe to move?"
"Yes, but we have to be quick." Merlin replied. Eldric nodded and went to inform the druids to pack up. Merlin and Declan split up, both of them going to pack their belongings, which wasn't much. After packing as quickly as possible, he made his way back to Eldric and Declan, who were gathering everyone at the entrance of the cave.
Eldric put them into three small groups, as to not attract too much attention. One with Eldric at the lead, the other with Merlin and another with a fellow druid and Declan. They were going three separate ways, with Merlin's group going to the left and deep into the forest.
They planned on moving to Cendred's kingdom, near a small village, but far enough from it to not get caught. It was a day's walk, especially with children who were sure to get tired easily. The journey was especially dangerous with so many patrols who were bent on finding and eliminating them.
Which brought him back to the attack from last week. Anger boiled within him just by thinking about it. Merlin hated him, by him he meant the prat, by prat he meant Prince Arthur. How dare he attack their camp? They were defenseless, there were children, innocent children that didn't deserve to be hunted down like animals. And Merlin hated him for it (and Uther, the one that started it in the first place). Why can't people just understand that magic is not evil, but it's the heart of the user that matters? Why? There's no point in thinking about it now, he had to keep everyone safe.
They silently made their way through the forest, no one talking and no one snapping a single twig. They were scared, Merlin could tell. He was scared too, but he had to put on a brave front for them. The walk was silent, luckily for them, it went without trouble. Merlin looked up at the sky, it was mid-afternoon and by the looks of it, everyone was tired, which was expected since they've been walking for hours.
Merlin spotted a nearby lake, he smiled and turned to address the group. "There's a lake over there and I think we should stop to take a break."
Everyone agreed and went to either rest or eat some snacks. Merlin himself had only a small piece of bread and he rested his tired body against a tree, watching the druids as they went through their business.
His thoughts wandered off to Prince Prat (Arthur) and King Prat (Uther) and he couldn't understand why they would want to kill such innocent people. But he shook his head out of those thoughts and thought of only one word, protect. Protect the his people. And that's exactly what he did.
After about thirty minutes, Merlin got everyone to start walking again, although quite grudgingly. Surprisingly, the next couple hours went without much trouble, which he was glad for, he really didn't feel like dealing with . . . well . . . anything.
Ironically, this had to be the time an arrow whizzed right past his face. Merlin sucked in his breath as his eyes widened. He turned around to check on the druids and relaxed when he found that they were safe, but still scared. He warily looked around for any signs of knights or bandits or anyone that'd likely attack them.
Suddenly battle cries erupted from the trees and bandits (phew, bandits) came running with axes, maces, swords and technically anything that's sharp and pointy. Merlin took on a battle stance, seeing in the corner of his eyes that the fighters in their group did the same and attacked with a spell already forming on his lips.
He sent a fireball shooting past a group of bandits, some managing to dodge but others getting somewhat incinerated in the process. In the corner of his eyes he saw a couple bandits flying back and hitting a tree, no doubt a work of one of the druids.
Merlin heard a scream, a child's scream, and spun around to find a little girl backed up against a tree with a bandit pointing a sword to her chest. He narrowed his eyes in anger, thinking of one word in particular, protect.
Merlin rushed to the girl, he threw his hands forward, making the bandit fly back and away from the fight. He kneeled down and gently grabbed the girl's shoulder, looking at the sobbing girl in the eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked gently.
She nodded, still sobbing, but to his relief she started to stop. Merlin stood back up, keeping the girl close to him and shielding her from the bandits attack. As he threw another three bandits against a tree, he started to notice some bandits receding back into the trees while some stayed unconsciously on the forest floor.
Merlin sighed in relief when he looked around to find that most of the druids were alright. Merlin looked down at the girl, who hid behind him in fear. "It's okay, it's safe now." He said with a smile.
The girl simply looked up at him, then at the area and up at him again. She smiled back. Thank You, Emrys. He heard her grateful voice in his mind.
Your Welcome. He said back to her. What's your name? He asked out of curiosity.
"Kara!" A woman called and the girl spun around in recognition of the name. She beamed as she ran to the woman in question, embracing her in a hug. Merlin smiled at the happy sight, the girl - Kara - hugging, who he could only assume was the mother.
The mother let of the little girl and looked at him with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Emrys. How could I ever repay you?"
Merlin waved away the question. "There's no need, I'm just glad I could help."
The mother held Kara's hand and led her away from him, with Kara looking back at him with a smile on her face.
After that, Merlin went to check on any injured druids and tried to heal them. Not that he was good at healing magic or healing in particular, so he usually ended up making the healthy druids take care of the injured.
After that was done, Merlin gathered the druids in a group and started walking towards their destination again. Distantly Merlin wondered why bandits (bandits of all people) would attack a group of sorcerers, there was a very high chance that /bandits would probably loose against the fight. At least it wasn't the knights, then they'd all be on their way to the pyre.
It was nightfall by the time they made it well past the borders to Cendred's kingdom. Merlin knew that they were very close to the planned meeting place, but he decided that it would be best to not travel the rest of the way in the dark. So, everyone settled into their sleeping bags in exhaustion, planning on making their way in the morning.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
Arthur was frustrated to say the least. He was hungry, tired, sore from riding all day (actually, week) and he couldn't find the goddamn druids. They were either very good at hiding, or they were gone already.
So, Arthur thought it was a waste of time. Not that his father agreed. He was the one who sent him on this wild goose chase in the first place. Not that his father thought it was a wild goose chase.
Too bad ranting in his head won't fix anything. He hoped some miracle would drop by so that they could finally capture the goddamn druids.
Ironically (or maybe not), this had to be the time they heard footsteps and the rustling of leaves.
"Sire, I think those might be the druids." Sir Leon stated out the obvious and Arthur had to withhold form rolling his eyes. He led the knights to the source of the noise, eager to get this over with.
Sure enough, it was the druids, although in a much smaller group then he remembered. Arthur gathered the knights around him and told them do of their plan.
The druids definitely won't expect them, so the knights got off their horses surrounding the unsuspecting druids. He gave them the signal and arrows started firing, some hitting their target while others missing. Then they charged into battle.
Arthur attacked, stabbing and slicing anyone in his way. He managed to tie their arms and legs.
A druid, probably in his forties with short brown hair and brown eyes, came up right in front of him. The man shot a fireball at Arthur, who dodged it, but not without getting his chainmail singed in the process.
The druid shot another fireball towards him, Arthur managed to dodge it again, but this time he was quick to run up to the druid. He sliced through the man's arms, making a deep gash appear.
Arthur ignored the blood and simply tied the man's arms and legs and brought him to the other captured druids.
After that process repeated itself with multiple other druids (but with different spells), the fight started to die down.
Soon enough, the knights found themselves with at least fifteen captured druids and a couple dead ones lying on the ground. By the looks of it, at least ten of them escaped. But it was still better than their last attack, and all these captured druids would surely satisfy his father.
Arthur felt slightly guilty as he looked at the faces of the woman, children and men they captured, especially the children. He felt sorry for the little ones that were to die so young, but then he remembered why they had to do it.
It is to rid the world of the evil that is sorcery. Said a voice in his head that sounded strangely like his father's. Arthur suppressed the guilty feeling and basically dragged them to their campsite where the cages were.
In a couple hours, Arthur and his knights traveled back to Camelot with the captured druids.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
Early in the morning, Merlin was woken up by a fellow druid who suggested that they travel early. Merlin agreed, and so they started walking right after having breakfast (which wasn't much).
In a couple hours, Merlin grinned when he saw Declan's group camping out at the meeting place.
Declan saw him too and his eyes lit up as he shouted, "Merlin!"
Merlin laughed, and shouted back. "Declan!"
The two friends ran to each other and Merlin was about to hug his friend, but remembered that he wasn't the hugging type. All around him, the other druids ran to their friends and family, happily greeting them.
"So, how's your trip been?" Declan asked.
Merlin shrugged, "Fine, I guess." Then he added, "But we were attacked by bandits."
Declan frowned, "Bandits? Why would bandits want to attack you?"
Merlin shrugged, he didn't know either and he was wondering the same thing earlier. "So, how did your trip go?"
"Smooth, no attacks at all, except for wolves."
Now it was Merlin's turn to frown. "Wolves?" Wolves live in that area? He didn't know that.
Declan laughed, "No, Merlin. Wolves don't even live in that part of the forest. I can't believe you actually believed that."
Merlin's face turned red in embarrassment. "I did not!"
"I know that you did for a second, Merlin."
"Whatever, Declan." Merlin said, slightly annoyed. "Have you seen Eldric's group yet?"
Declan shook his head. "No, but I think they will be here soon."
"Ok, so what should we do?" Merlin asked as he looked around at the happy faces of the druids.
"I don't know, you're Emrys. You're the one with the answers."
"That is not helpful, Declan."
"Whatever you say, My Lord." Declan movked, smirking.
Merlin groaned, "Don't 'My Lord' me. That title is annoying. I already have enough people thinking that I'm some sort of god or something."
"I apologize, My Lord. What are we going to do?"
Merlin shot him a 'look' and decided to let it slip. He silently thought of their next move and could only think of one thing to do. "I think we should just make camp and wait for Eldric's group to arrive. Even if they do come here, it will probably take a awhile until we find a suitable place to stay."
Declan nodded and he already had that teasing smile on his face. "See? What'd I tell you? Emrys knows everything."
Before Merlin could answer in a witty way, another druid interrupted their playful banter. "Emrys, what shall we do?"
Merlin sighed, "Set up camp, we'll wait for Eldric's group to arrive." The Druid nodded and left to spread the word. Which left Declan and Merlin to constantly tease each other.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
In the evening, Merlin and Declan were bored out of their minds, using up every silly joke they could think of and having basically nothing to talk about. But, of course, this had to be the time that a small group of druids came into their campsite.
Merlin and Declan ran to them, thinking that Eldric would be with them. Merlin counted at least ten, but he knew that Eldric had more people so he expected the rest of them to come anytime.
Merlin approached a man, his clothes were disheveled and there was a huge gash on his thigh. Worry shot through his heart at the sight, and he noticed that almost all of them appeared to be hurt one way or another.
Merlin told Declan to get the healers. The man wobbled on his feet and almost fell, but Merlin caught him in time. "What happened?" He asked the man.
"Emrys, w-we were a-attacked by knights." The man spoke, the exhaustion evident in his ruff voice. "T-They captured a-a lot of us."
Merlin nodded, and then he called out to a healer who immediately started healing the man.
Merlin looked for Eldric in the new group, but he couldn't find him. Eldric . . . oh no . . . he's . . . he's . . .
Declan put a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing exactly what Merlin was thinking about. "I know that you are upset about . . . Eldric and . . . the others, but now that Eldric's gone, they expect you to take charge."
Merlin gulped, overwhelmed by the feelings of sadness in his chest. He took a shaky breath and slowly nodded his head. "I know." He said silently, wishing that he didn't have to take charge quite so soon, but having no choice. He wasn't ready, at all. And he just lost someone, that he liked, a lot. But he was Emrys and he had to put on a brave front for the people. His people.
The rest of the night everyone mourned for the people who died at the hands of Uther Pendragon.
]_[ ]_[ ]_[
Morgana sat in her throne as she watched Arthur confidently stroll into the throne room and bow before the King. Her heart clenched as raggedly dressed men, women and children were forced to stand before the king. And she wondered, they were the threats Uther was talking about?
She didn't understand. They looked as unthreatening as any normal men, women and children. But they looked worse for wear. Their hairs were a tangled mess, their clothes were thin linens, some of them ripped in places and their bodies were thin, so thin that she wondered how much they got to eat. The thing that caught her eyes the most,The was their wide eyed fear, and she realized, they were terrified of Uther. How can they be evil if they are so afraid?
Morgana glanced at Uther, he couldn't possibly execute them. They didn't even look like they could be killers out for revenge. They looked innocent and frightened and not evil. Definitely not evil. But when she looked at Uther, she could see that he didn't see what she did, he only saw the evil sorcerers in them.
Morgana didn't understand. She didn't understand how she was the only person in this room, this city, that could feel sympathy for sorcerers. But her sympathy definitely won't change Uther's mind, no matter how persuasive she was. He was going to execute them anyway. Like he did to all the others as she had to stand by and hear their painful screams.
At dawn, she stood by her window, alone as the fifteen sorcerers' screams were heard in her mind. She went to her bed, tucking her knees close to her chest and tightly plugging her ears with her hands. If she had been more observant that day, she would've noticed the fire in her hearth flare up.
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A/N: Hello! Phew! Finally done! And a really long story too. :D. And I ended this one with Morgana's POV. She was going to get her own POV anyway. Since Merlin, Arthur and Morgana were sort of the main three characters in Merlin. And because I really like the three. I thought this chapter would be a great way to introduce her and I think the ending was good too. After this, you'll be seeing Morgana's POV a lot more.
That was the first thing I wanted to say. Now let's move on to my second thing. Merlin in this story seems to hate Arthur, and since they didn't really meet yet, it's kind of expected. The only reason Merlin believe in Arthur (in the series) is because of their friend ship (oh, and don't forget destiny, that's how it all started). Merlin will seem more like a leader in this story than in the original series, since did do a little twist in the prophecy.
And Arthur . . . Well, he's still a prejudiced prat. (Merlin reference! Yes!)
Oh, remember Kara, the little girl? And remember Kara, Mordred's girlfriend? The same person. (I'm soo evil!) Originally, I was planning on naming the girl Elaine or Elise or something like that. But then I had this brilliant idea. Why not name her Kara? That would make things interesting. Great idea don't you think?
Lastly (not really) I would like to thank you for all the follows, reviews and favorites. Thank you. I tried to reply to all the reviews and I apologize if I missed one. Now, let's move on to my guest reviewers. I can't reply to you privately, but I can reply to you here.
Replies to the guest reviews:
catherine10: Thanks! And don't worry, I will be updating this story. It'll just take a really long time, but i do try to update as fast as possible, unless there's something more important going on. ;)
anthi35: Thanks! Hopefully this chapter was worth it.
Darthas: Hahahaha! Yup! I agree. Arthur will get knocked out a couple times in the story. You wanna know the fun part? (no, I'm not talking about some fancy knocking out skills) Morgana will be embarrassing Arthur, a lot. Like a lot. I already have a conversation planned in my head, now I just have to figure out where to put it.