Author's note : Hey guys. At last, I have returned from my month long hiatus. I have got A+ in all subjects in the HSC examination ( Equivalent of A level ) and placed 648th in the national medical college entrance exam among 85,000 examinees. I have got chance to admit myself in the fourth best medical college of our country. I am on my way to become a doctor ( Alhamdulillah ) . Thanks for all your well wishes.
Anyway, here's the long awaited chapter. Thanks to all of you who waited patiently. I will try to update more quickly as there is a long vacation ahead of me.
Enjoy and review, please.
Chapter 17
Into The Jerall
' Father don't go there. '
That was the first thing Aithusa told him in his mind when she heard that Merlin was going to Amata..
When he asked the dragon why, at first, she refused to say. He didn't want her to force. But eventually, she opened up and told him everything.
How she got imprisoned in the well of Sarrum with Morgana, how Sarrum tortured her, how she got all her injuries.
She shared her painful memories with her dragonlord and father. In a way, she felt relieved. As if a great burden which was forced on her vanished.
The same couldn't be said for her dragonlord. He felt horrible and terribly guilty. At the same time, he felt rage and anger. He realized that Sarrum's cruelty had been worse than the rumours spread across Albion.
As he was hearing Aithusa's sad tale, he promised to himself that he would take revenge. He would take revenge on those scums who had hurt Aithusa and Morgana. They would rue the day they were born for hurting his kins.
And now as he, Merlin Ambrosius, king of Elmet rode through the cold northern plains of Albion, the thought of avenging Aithusa was the only thing in his mind.
There were seventeen riders with him. Hundreds volunteered to go to the rescue mission in Amata. But as it was a covert mission, Merlin refused politely to take them with him.
He only took his closest friends, advisors and the top-most skilled warriors and mages from the Catha and Druid people. They began their journey in the morning four days ago, and after three days' hard ride , they crossed the border of Elmet and Amata. They continued to ride north-east as their destination The Jerall Mountains was at the north- east of Elmet.
By the midday of the fourth day, the high peaks of the mountain range had came into their line of sight. As they came closer, they noticed that a wide pass went right between two mountains and at the mouth of the pass, at least one hundred horsemen were gathered.
They were listening to a man who was giving a speech. Merlin guessed that it was their captain. Suddenly Nayem spoke up from his right.
" What do you think they are doing ? "
" Maybe they are blocking the pass. " Iseldir voiced his suspicion.
" We can't be sure until we get closer. " Merlin said.
The other seventeen riders nodded and they began to follow their king.
When they were almost one hundred yards away from the group of soldiers, they were noticed.
The captain of the horsemen shouted some orders and they began to form ranks.
When Merlin and his company came much closer, Merlin looked at his right. Freya was riding right beside him.
" I am going to talk with their captain. My bet is they are the soldiers of Amata. "
" No, you are not doing it alone. We are all coming with you. "
" Freya, this will be perfectly safe. You are forgetting who I am. "
Freya rolled her eyes hearing Merlin's boasting. " Of course, I haven't forgotten who you are , O mighty Emrys ! "
Some of the younger riders snickered hearing Freya's mocking tone.
Freya continued. " But that doesn't mean you are invincible. We set out together to complete a quest and we will do it together. "
The other riders looked as much as determined as Freya. Nayem came closer to Merlin and placed a hand on his shoulder. " Together. " He said.
Merlin nodded and said, " Together. "
The eighteen horsemen began to ride in a single rank. The other group's captain came out of his group and raised his hand. The captain was very muscular. He wore a scaled armour. Merlin looked behind him and saw all the other horsemen were wearing identical sccaled armours like the captain.
Merlin felt uneasy while looking at their armours. Something was not right about those things.
" Halt ! What business do you have here ? " The captain's rough voice stopped Merlin's musing.
Merlin pulled his horse's rein and halted.
" We want a safe passage through this pass so that we can go to Amata's capital, good sir. "
" I am sorry. " ( Although Merlin could bet that the captain didn't feel sorry at all ) " But this pass is sealed off for the time being. You have to bypass the mountains and take the Irumitar road. "
Merlin furrowed his eyebrow in suspicion. But didn't voice it.
" But that would take ten more days. Can't you make an exception? We are in a bit of a hurry. "
This time the captain's mask of calmness fell.
" Turn back or die. "
Merlin could see anger was flaring in the captain's cold black eyes. He gave a short laugh and said, " Alright. Alright. No need to be so harsh. " Then Merlin's demeanour changed suddenly. His face became stoic.
" I think I need to make myself clear. You will let us pass or each one of you will die a painful death. "
The captain was shocked at the sudden change of Merlin's expression. He soon pulled himself together and began to laugh.
" Painful death, huh ? Do you have any idea who we are ? "
" Care to enlighten us ? "
The captain was surprised to see such boldness coming from such a young man.
" We are the warriors of the order of the hunt, the official magic hunting squad of Amata. We killed countless sorcerers. "
Merlin clenched his fist. ' They are the one who has hurt my kind. ' He thought.
Suddenly, Nayem's voice rang inside his mind.
' Their armours are magic resistant. We need to be careful. '
' So, that's what was bothering me. But how come Sauron got these armours ? It's impossible to make those armours without magic. Very fishy. ' Merlin thought.
' Merlin ! You're alright? ' Nayem's worried voice rang inside his mind again.
' Don't worry. Arthur's chains failed to hold me. Their armours are nothing compared to those. ' Merlin gave his telepathic reply to his friend.
But Merlin couldn't shake away his uneasy feeling. He suspected that Amata's royal family wasn't as ant-magic as people used to think.
The captain continued his bragging, " We imprisoned the High Priestess, Morgana. "
Merlin's magic was roaring inside him . Ready to be unleashed upon the man standing in front of him.
The captain didn't stop there. He continued to brag gleefully. " We captured and broke the white dragon. "
Just as Aithusa was mentioned , Merlin remembered how frightened the dragon was while speaking about the time of her imprisonment. The Amatans had put her and Morgana through hell. For two years, they tortured her.
" You will pay for your crime. "
The captain was surprised to hear the cold voice of the young man.
" So, you are a sympathizer of magic . " The captain said as if he had caught a prey.
The captain's words got his men's attention. They unsheathed their sword.
" That's a pity. You are going to die here. Any supporter of magic is an enemy to the crown of Amata. Prepare yourself for death. " The captain said while giving a wicked smirk. His excitement was clear in his voice.
But due to his excitement he failed to notice that Merlin's eyes were glowing gold.
" I don't think so. Look behind you. " Merlin's voice became eerie suddenly.
The captain stopped smirking. He looked confused. He looked behind anyway and he was horrified.
His men were no longer swinging swords menacingly. Rather they were twisting on their horses as if they were in pain. But none of them were screaming. It looked like their voice was stolen. They continued to writhe in pain and after a few seconds, they began to fall from their horses one by one.
To the captain's horror, some kind of liquid was coming out of the soldiers' bodies. The horses ran away leaving their masters. Within minutes, the soldiers stopped twitching and when they did, they didn't look like their old selves.
They looked like as if they were dried up. Like the infamous mummies of Egyptian Empire.
The captain watched helplessly as his men's lives were taken away.
" What did yo... " The captain's words died in his throat when he looked at Merlin. Merlin was no longer looking like a harmless man. Power was emitting from his body. The captain could feel it. And he almost chocked when he looked at Merlin's eyes. They were no longer blue. Rather they were glowing gold.
And it was not just his eye's iris that was glowing gold. His sclera was glowing brightly too.
" Wha- what are you ? " The captain said.
Merlin felt an odd satisfication hearing the captain's trembling voice. It felt good to fight back rather than cowering in shadows and do nothing like he did in Camelot.
" I am the one who will bring back magic in Albion. I am the one who will haunt you and your king's dreams. I am the one who will bring balance in this land. I am the most powerful warlock on this land. I am Emrys. "
The was trembling in fear after hearing Merlin's booming voice. But Merlin didn't pay heed to him. He continued.
" Go, tell your king that the time of opression is just about done. The time of Emrys is coming. The time of magic is coming. And your king will helplessly watch without being able to do anything. Now flee, flee for your life. "
The captain didn't have to be told a second time. He turned around and galloped; never turning back for once.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Gilli was watching the entire drama with bated breath. It was fascinating and scary at the same time. He never saw this side of Merlin before. He looked menacing in his black steel armour made by Nayem while he was talking with the captain in such a scary voice. He never knew that Merlin was capable of such powerful magic. He had seen many great feats of magic during his time with the Catha people but none of them were as great as the magic he had just seen a few moments ago.
When Nayem's voice entered his mind to warn about the Amatans' armours, he became worried. How would they defeat them, if magic didn't work on them. He had thought. Then he saw Merlin's eyes glowing and liquid began to come out from the soldiers' bodies.
At first, Gilli was confused. He couldn't understand what was happening. But after a few moments, it became clear to him. Merlin was sucking out water, the most vital element of human body from them. Gilli couldn't help admiring his king. It was ingenious. As they were outnumbered and had no way to retaliate through the means of magic, his king took them apart from inside. It seemed Nayem warned Merlin and most likely the others too.
Within a few moments, all of the soldiers was lying dead and mummified. Gilli had to admit that he was begining to fear this side of Merlin. The Emrys side of Merlin. The captain fled and they all continued with their journey.
It seemed that Gilli was not the only one who got spooked by Merlin. The other riders were silent too. Even Freya was not talking. She was just riding side by side with Merlin without saying any word.
The uneasiness soon vanished when Daegal said, " That was one hell of a magic show, Merlin. I never knew you were that powerful. We really shouldn't get on your bad side. "
Merlin gave a chuckle. " Told you I could handle them. "
His words lightened the gloomy mood of the people. Iseldir gathered his courage and asked. " But wasn't it a bit excessive, Merlin ? I mean you could've spared them. Surely we would've found another way to get into the pass. "
" No, Iseldir. I have done the right thing. We need to send a clear message to them. Magic will no longer tolerate injustice. It is time for us, magical kind to strike back. They have hunted us like animals while we were helpless. But now fate has given us the chance to wipe out vermins like Sauron from the face of the earth.
And I won't push that chance away. Don't you want to avenge your parents ? " At Merlin's last words, Iseldir stiffened. He spoke up.
" Revenge is not the solution, Merlin. " Iseldir said but Gilli could bet that he wasn't believing his own words.
" I have said that exact same words many times when any sorcerer wanted to kill Arthur or Uther. " He gave a pointed look towards Gilli.
Gilli understood that Merlin was talking about him too. He just gave a nod acknowledging what Merlin was saying.
" I stopped Nimueh, Morgause, Gilli, Morgana from taking revenge while believing that revenge was not the solution. If I had let them to take their revenge, magic would've been reigning free in Albion by now. I didn't believe in revenge and look where it got me. still hates magic. The prophecy is far from complete. Bayard, Arthur , Sauron ; all these kings are spearheading anti-magic hunt. Even your own people are under siege by Sauron's men. They were starving our people to death. They tortured Aithusa. They deserved what they got. " Merlin was shaking in anger. He looked Iseldir in the eyes.
" I hate to kill, Iseldir. I have killed so many. In the past, I killed people of magic in order to protect my false destiny. But from now on, I will kill for magic. I will kill to avenge my kind. I despise myself for saying this. But sometimes revenge is the only solution. "
After that, no one said anything. They entered the pass and soon came across the Druid camps. Hundreds of Druids were there. Merlin and his riders took the Druids with them. Surprisingly, none of them were hurt. But many of them were malnourished. It seemed that Merlin's theory about the Amatans blockading the pass was correct. Daegal and two other healers did all they could to help the sick. But they needed more advanced care and it was impossible without reaching Elmet. So, they began their return journey. It took longer this time as all of them were walking. After two weeks of long walk, they re-entered Elmet.
That was when Chief Ysmir noticed something.
" Wait a second, where is chief Groshem and his clan. "
" They left us. " One of the Druids said.
Merlin was at the lead of the group but he heard the commotion and fell back to know what the matter was.
" Is someone missing ? " He asked.
" Groshem and his clan left the group. " Ysmir informed.
" When did this happen ? " Merlin asked again.
" About two months ago. Groshem and his clan people were the only one among us who knew how to teleport. He was becoming paranoid day by day. Always saying that the Amatans will come and take it from him. So, he and his clan left one day without saying anything. " The previous Druid answered.
Merlin was on the verge of panicking. He thought his people were safe at last. But it seemed that fate wasn't as kind to him as he thought. Then, something clicked inside his mind. He looked at the Druid and asked, " What do you mean by ' it ' ? What will the Amatans take from him ? "
" The cup of life. "
Merlin's heart skipped a bit.
" The cup of life ? How ? I thought I gave it back to Iseldir after the second immortal army was destroyed. " Merlin almost shouted.
He looked at Iseldir. The Druid leader looked guilty.
" It was my fault, Emrys. I teleported the cup to Groshem. I thought by keeping it away from Camelot, it would remain safe. Guess I was wrong. I am sorry. "
Merlin didn't say anything. He walked away with a strong determination that in one way or another, he would find Groshem and his clan. He would make his people safe. He promised that to himself.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
In the end, all of them returned safely to Elmet. All of them rejoiced in the Druids' rescue. All praised Merlin for his bold action and courage. But Merlin didn't feel that. He felt that he did an incomplete job. He knew that as long as he didn' find the last of the Druid clan, he wouldn't feel peace.
Still, he was too tired. So, despite feeling like a failure, he returned to his chambers to rest and soon sleep claimed Merlin Ambrosius.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
I am sorry if this seems a bit rushed and short. Also sorry for any grammatical mistakes. I wasn't writing for a month and I have posted this chapter only to fulfill my promise. So, don't feel bad. I will try my utmost to do a better job from the next chapter. Speaking of the next chapter, we're going to see Merlin and Freya's wedding next. Please leave a review, guys. I worked hard to get this chapter out. I think I desrve one. It will make me happy.
Happy reading.
- Assassin of Syria.