He offered the council men a small bow of his head before he exit the room upon the end of the meeting. Today he had been the first to get there, much to everyone's surprise, but he was also the first person to leave the room at the end of it. It was a little past noon, and he had promised a certain someone that he would, without a doubt, join her for supper this afternoon. He had found himself drifting around the last couple of times, only realizing what time it was when it was too late. She made him promise to come, and promise he did.
He begun to traverse down the now familiar hallways, before an all too familiar feminine voice echoed from behind.
"Merlin." the voice spoke, and the young man turned towards the source.
"Freya, I was just headed.." he begun, gesturing in the direction of the dining hall.
She smiled towards him. "I know. But I was thinking that perhaps we could have supper somewhere else today. We always eat in the dining hall, and a change of scenery would do us both good, don't you think?"
"Of course. Did you have anywhere in mind?" he replied, his gaze trailing away from her face, and towards the basket she was hunching down to retrieve off the floor.
"Well, the weather is nice for an autumn day. I have been thinking that we could head out to the farmers district, and find ourselves a nice patch of grass and eat outside today. The sun should linger longer on the southern side. I already packed some food, so if you are ready to go?" Freya spoke, the smile lingering upon her face.
"I'll just go and get my jacket. Actually, I could meet you there. Should I take the basket with me? It looks a little heavy." he spoke, a slightly sheepish smile appearing on his face, for seemingly no reason. It happened, mainly when he was around her.
"No, it's fine. It's not heavy at all. I'll meet you just outside of the southern gates then. Don't take too long."
"Oh, I won't, trust me. I'll be there before you know it" he stated. He stood there, grinning like a fool for several moments.
"Merlin?"She spoke.
"Oh, right.. I should get going."he finally let out, removing his gaze from the woman. He started into a jog down the hallway, his ears catching onto the sound of a soft chuckle behind him.
As he rounded the corner, he smacked himself across the head. "No. Don't even.." he warned himself lowly in a soft growl. He felt like he acted like a love-struck fool, which he probably was. He'd deny that fact to himself, though. Because he most certainly was not going to fall for her a second time. Though he most likely already had.
He walked with big, hurried steps down the hall, until his ears picked up on an abrupt echoing sound from behind. He came to a sudden halt, casting a glance over his shoulder. There was nothing there, but he couldn't help but to furrow his brow. It had almost sounded like footsteps. He stood there for several moments, waiting for somebody to round the corner, but nobody did.
The feeling of being watched made goosebumps run up his arms. Perhaps it was nothing, but it sure didn't feel like nothing.
However, enough time had been wasted, and he hesitantly turned his gaze away from the direction of the sound, and continued on down the hallway.
As he walked, an occasional glance was cast over his shoulder, but there was never anyone there. The feeling of being watched lingered though. It lingered for quite a while.
He shut the door to his room firmly behind himself, striding across the floor to retrieve the jacket he had nonchalantly flung onto the floor the day before. He slid the jacket on over his tunic, sub-consciously straightening out the sleeves a little while casting a gaze towards the mirror. A hand absentmindedly moved up, fixing his hair. He headed back towards the door, opened it, and shut it close behind him. He rarely locked it, but today he did.
He glanced down the hallway before he begun walking once more. The eerie feeling of being watched never left him.
He took a deep breath as he exit the main building, allowing his gaze to trail over the main district. It was as busy as ever. He then made his way towards the southern gate, traveling down the main road until he exit the main district and entered the housing district. Here, the main road was so crowded and packed with people, he found himself slipping into a side road in order to get there quicker. He usually would have stuck to the main road, but he had already wasted so much time. Freya was sure to be growing a little impatient by now, and he didn't want to keep her waiting any longer. Fetching his jacket shouldn't take fifteen or closer twenty minutes. He didn't want her to think that he had forgotten about her, nor have her worry.
The buildings around him were mostly constructed out of stone, with an occasional wooden building. Most buildings in the sanctuary were made from wood, but then again it wasn't often he headed to the southern part of the sanctuary. He supposed he wasn't that familiar after all. Laundry had been hung on wooden poles between the buildings, suspended above the ground between two windows, clearly a collaborative effort between the two families. This side road was oddly calm, and the sound of the nearby main road was drowned out from behind the buildings. He could hear the distant sound of a few dogs barking, and the cry of a baby in one of the nearby houses. There had to be a stable nearby, because he could smell a faint scent of manure. The scent mixed with the scent of smoke, which probably came from one of the forges on the main road. This street however, seemed oddly abandoned. He had only seen a handful of people walking past him. He thought that more people would have drawn away from the main road, and into the less packed side roads. He had a sudden desire to get back onto the main road. This just didn't sit right with him, but perhaps he was just feeling a little paranoid.
He turned to head down into one of the smaller alleys that lead back towards the main road. But before he had the time to react he felt a blunt, stinging pain wash across his head as he fell backwards and to the ground witha loud thud and a slide. His skin felt sore from the fall, and it also felt moist. For a moment, he was completely disorientated.
He forced his eyes back open, attempting to focus his gaze on his surroundings. Around him he saw silhouettes. His brain needed a moment to process the information. Red. Red cloaks and red masks.
One of the silhouettes held a wooden staff within it's grasp. It seemed to be red too on the end, but that was not paint or dye.
He was struggling to piece everything together, until he felt something warm and sticky run down the side of his head. A hand rose, touching the substance. It was red as well. He was bleeding. Sluggishly he moved to thrust his hand forwards, still dazed from the impact to his head, in an attempt to force them all backwards and into the surrounding walls. But before his hand could finish the movement, a force pulled him from the ground at the mutter of a few words. He felt a sinking sensation in his gut, before his body crashed into a nearby wall. It knocked the wind cleanly out of him, rendering him a gasping and limp mess on the ground.
He heard a voice. A male voice. It was deep and rough. He couldn't make out exactly what was said, but heard something along the lines being disappointed. It carried a humoristic tone to it, as if the individual was amused. Merlin turned his head in their direction, as he struggled to get himself onto all fours. His gaze was beginning to focus again. First he noticed the red substance that fell from his body and onto the ground, and then it fully turned towards his assailants.
Seven silhouettes. The one in the center held the wooden staff. He seemed to have been the source of the deep and rough voice. His cloak could not conceal the size of his body. He looked as though he could've snapped Percival in half with his bare fists, had they ever met in battle.
He found support on the nearby wall, pulling himself up to a stand. They allowed this, even after an ambush like they had just launched upon him. They had caught him off guard, he was outnumbered, and they were all sorcerers.
A hand thrust out towards his assailants as he attempted to escape with the wall as support.
One of the sorcerers fell victim to his thrust, but shortly after he found himself lifting off the ground for a second time, through a collective effort of the remaining six. Violently they send him crashing into yet another wall.
The impact made a sickening sound, and he released a scream of pain, which only lasted a moment before the air was once again knocked out of him. He was momentarily pinned against the structure, before he was released, dropping down to the ground below with yet another thud.
He gasped, trying to cough so that he may catch his breath, but all he found was a sharp pain that ran across his chest. Wide-eyed he stared towards his assailants, his heart racing.. A ringing sound echoed through his ears, reducing all the surrounding sounds of their voices to mere mumbles.
The seventh assailant joined the others again, seeming a bit worse for wear as they all closed in on him. An intense feeling of fear washed over him, as he attempted to pull himself into a crawl across the ground. He flung his arm towards the approaching group, his eyes flashing yellow for the second time in this encounter. He sent three of them flying backwards in one fell swoop. It however cost him his balance, causing him to slip down onto the ground once more.
Desperately, he raised a hand again, but it was a little late. A force pushed him mercilessly back against the wall, this time pinning him. It seemed to be a collaborative effort of three people, as the three he had knocked away seemed to be regaining their composure.
How could this be happening? He had almost singlehandedly defeated an army with the use of magic alone, but seven sorcerers seemed to be all it took. This was an entirely different form of fighting. He was helpless. He had lost the moment they caught him off guard. The blow to the head had made him sluggish, dazed and disorientated, while numbing his senses with pain. He never stood a chance, and now he couldn't even move, let alone escape. He was struggling to breathe, his body was aching all over. He could almost swear that they had broken a few bones in his body, and he was bleeding.
He couldn't even try to escape any more. Three of them had him pinned against the wall, while the large cloaked man with the staff approached. The things they had said had eluded him, but they hadn't said much at all. It made it all even more frightening than it already was. It seemed as though they only had one mission in mind, and he feared that he knew what that mission was.
The bloodied end of the staff was placed against his chest, pushing against his midsection. The pain was intense. He couldn't help but to cry out, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes shut. Something else was said, but he was in too much pain to register what it was.
He was struck again, before he was abruptly dropped to the ground. His ears rang, and his vision blurred as he saw a mass of silhouettes being flung back violently. He heard the sound of a feminine voice. He tried to lift his head to catch a glimpse of who it was, but instead he found his consciousness slipping away as the sound of combat filled his surroundings.
The last thing he felt before he fell completely unconscious, as combat continued on, was a pair of hands grasping onto his body, pulling him across the ground.