Not just a servant Chapter 32, a merlin fanfic

Author's note: Hello, guys! Fifteen reviews for the last chapter. Yay! Now that's more like it. Keep reviewing my lovely readers and I'll keep updating fast. Last chapter's question's answer: King Joffrey Lannister Baratheon. I don't know why but whenever I close my eyes to picture Sauron Erestris, I see Joffrey. Today's question: Who's your favourite novel writer? Mine is Charles Dickens. Okay, this is the chapter we've all been waiting for. Let's get on with it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or The Elder Scrolls series.

Chapter 32

Not just a servant

" Who's going to be the champion of Sauron Erestris? " Merlin asked the messenger who was sent to the Amatan encampment.

" Arthur Pendragon, my king. "

Nayem and Daegal who were sitting on a horse at Merlin's both sides whispered. " No. "

Merlin licked his upper lip and then said, " Very clever move, Sauron. Very clever. He's the best swordsman in Albion. Not even I can win if I play fair. "

" But you're the best one we have. You even defeat Gilli everyday now without breaking any sweat. Alator, Roy, Maes, Fuery... heck not even queen mother Hunith is not as good as you. You are a natural talent in swordsmanship. Surely you can handle Arthur. " Daegal said confidently.

" You're saying this because you haven't seen him fighting. " Gilli said as he came riding towards his friends.

All of them were at the no man's land between the two army waiting for the champion of Amata ( which was happened to be Arthur ). Roy was at the command of the right army while Alator was commanding the left army. Maes would be acting as the commander of the central army if something bad happened in the duel.

' As if something bad would happen. ' Merlin thought confidently.

" That man is a prodigy. I have seen him fighting in the decennial tournament of Camelot. I doubt even using magic would have brought me victory. " Gilli chuckled.

" It's a good thing I have made you lose against Uther. Otherwise you wouldn't be standing here beside me. An enraged Arthur is not someone you want to cross sword with. That man can fight multiple knights with his eyes blinded for crying out loud. " Merlin said while grinning.

" You shouldn't take this lightly, Merlin. If you are telling truth about Arthur, then you have little chance to win. Why did you even invoke the right of single combat? " Nayem asked. He was now sounding enraged. His accusing glare set firmly on Merlin.

" Don't worry too much, Nayem. Even though Arthur has the ability to defeat me, I am the only one in this world who knows all about Arthur's strength and weakness. He is a master warrior but he always follows the knight's code in duel and he doesn't play dirty. " Merlin said with a mischievous grin on his face.

" You're going to play dirty? You're going to use magic? " Daegal asked in disbelieving tone.

" No. Of course not. I'll take him apart less than one blow if I use magic. " All three of the king's companions rolled their eyes. Sometimes, they really forget that their fierce king is still a young man and like all young man he also likes to show off time to time.

" There are other ways to play dirty. " Merlin finished giving all of them a wink.

" But playing dirty is not like... " Gilli couldn't get to finish his sentence as Merlin stopped him in the midway.

" What? Not like me. Believe me, I don't like it too. But as the proverb goes, desperate time calls for desperate measures. Arthur's dragon sword can pierce through my armour. A feat only a few swords in this world are capable of. If I don't play dirty, I am toast. For the sake of my kingdom and a less bloody outcome, I am going to do it. " His voice was determined.

" Here he comes. Sauron's champion. " Daegal said getting everyone's attention.

Arthur Pendragon was riding right towards them. Clad in chainmail and steel plated armour. His helmet's visor was up. His dragon sword resting at his hip was gleaming in sunlight. All in all, he looked like the perfect knight in shining armour. He was riding on a stallion with one rider following him.

Everyone beside Merlin took a deep breath.

" This is it. " They all said in unison.

Nayem presented Merlin's favourite sword to him. It was a very long sword named ' Uchigatana '. A sword which was forged in an oriental country named Nippon's style. A blacksmith of Nippon had come to Albion centuries ago with a group of Imperial Nipponese sorcerers. Nayem's ancestor, Torien Silvenor learnt to forge Nipponse longswords ( In Nippon, they were called Katanas ) and passed down the knowledge through the generations of Silvenor family. And the sword Nayem was presenting to Merlin was forged by Nayem himself one year ago.

That sword had become Merlin's most favourite one and he had chosen Uchigatana as his duel's weapon. The king of Elmet took the sword out of the scabbard Nayem was holding. The sword's long blade shone brightly in the sun and the king's companions couldn't help admiring the beauty of the sword.

" Don't die, okay? I'm sure Freya and queen-mother will be quite mad at us when we return for drugging them. They will chew us whole if we don't bring you back alive. " Gilli said while giving Merlin a nervous chuckle. Merlin chuckled back and gave an affirmative nod.

Merlin looked towards Arthur Pendragon. He was now very close to them only perhaps a hundred yard away. Merlin lowered the visor of his helmet, his eyes glowed gold once to mask his true voice. Then he was galloping towards his opponent, his former best friend.

He didn't hear Daegal whispering. " Go bring victory, our champion. "

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Arthur stopped at the middle of the no man's land and got down from his horse. The other rider got hold of the rein of the horse and began to return to the Amatan camp. He saw the champion of Elmet was galloping towards him. After coming close enough, he got down and nudged his horse gently.

To Arthur's surprise, the horse went back to the Elmetian army without any rider.

' Must be magic. ' Arthur thought.

The king of Camelot gulped down. Sauron had told him that Elmet's champion wouldn't use magic. But what if he did? What if Sauron had sent him here to outright murder him in cold blood under the guise of a duel?

" Shall we begin? " Elmet's champion's voice brought Arthur back from his reverie. He was standing very close to Arthur. Maybe two or three yards away. His visor was down. So, Arthur couldn't see his face. All he could say that he was taller than Arthur a little and he was of slender build. He was holding a unique type of very long one-edged sword on his right hand.

Arthur had never seen such kind of sword.

" Well? " The Elmetian asked again.

Arthur realized that he still hadn't answered. He looked directly to the warrior.

" Isn't it customary according to knight's code to keep your visor up while talking to a knight before a duel? " Arthur asked. He was actually irritated and a bit offended by the warrior's behaviour.

" My face is gruesomely scarred, your majesty. It might distract you if you see my face. It is King Merlin's wish not to show my face to you. Forgive me if that offends you, your grace. " The warrior said. His voice was a little muffled because of the visor. But Arthur couldn't make out how old his opponent might be.

Arthur nodded in approval. He was here to win the duel. Not to chit-chat with his opponent. So, he pulled out his sword from his scabbard and said, " Let's begin then. "

Then it started. They went in circle for a few seconds to see who would attack first. When the Elmetian made no move to attack, Arthur made the first move. He lunged forward to attack. But the Elmetian side-stepped and dodged the attack.

Thus began their deadly dance. Slash, block, parry, dodge. Slash, block, parry, dodge. They were doing the same things for quite some time. Arthur had to admit that his opponent was good. He deduced that the Elmetian might not be as strong as him but he was agile. He still hadn't been able to land a blow on him.

He dodged every single of his attack. And Arthur blocked most of the Elmetian's attacks. But Arthur had never fought with someone like him. His fighting style was different. He executed each of his attack with finesse. He fought with grace and Arthur realized none of his knights were as good as his opponent. Not even Gwaine. They kept on fighting for some time.

Arthur began to realize that his opponent was becoming tired as he dodged more than blocking. Soon, he would be out of breath and Arthur would finish this. This had gone on for long enough.

Then, something very unexpected happened. The warrior looked over Arthur's shoulder and said in a very familiar and statled voice which he had not heard for two years.

" Gwen? What are you doing here? "

Arthur made the foolish mistake to look back to see if his wife had really been there.

She was not there. Then it clicked inside Arthur's head. He was tricked. Before he could move his head back to his opponent. He doubled down at the sudden pain he felt right on his abdomen.

The Elmetian had hit his abdomen brutally by the dulled edge of the sword. And before Arthur could recover, the Elmetian kneed him to the chest and landed an uppercut punch on his lower jaw.

That was not the end. Arthur was kicked on his shin followed by another kick on his right heel. That blow was decisive. Arthur lost his balance and fell on the ground.

The Elmetian didn't waste a second. He kicked hardly on Arthur's sword arm forcing the king to let go off his sword. He kicked the sword out of Arthur's reach. Arthur tried to get up but the Elmetian's knees were hardly pressed on his chest forcing him to stay on the ground.

Arthur realized that this was it. It was game over for him. He wouldn't be able to get back to Camelot this time. This time there would be no miracle ( or Merlin ) to save him at the last second. The Elmetian raised his peculiar sword to land the final blow and suddenly Arthur felt afraid. He was afraid to die.

' Who isn't afraid to die? ' His inner voice asked.

Arthur closed his eyes for the cold embrace of death. But it never came. He heard the sound of the sword coming down but instead of the sound of stabbing, he heard the sound of the sword embedding onto the field. Arthur opened his eyes. The warrior was still on him. But his sword was resting upright beside his head embedded on the field.

The soldiers of Elmet were all cheering at the victory of their champion. They were all chanting in unison. After concentrating enough Arthur could make out what they were saying.

Long live the king.

Arthur's eyes widened when realization hit him directly on the face. He was fighting with the king of Elmet. That meant...

The Elmetian warrior stood up and removed his helmet.

Then, he saw him. His best friend. He looked so different from the last time he had seen him. He had longer hair now. He now had a trimmed beard. Three jagged and gruesome scars ran along his face. If it wasn't for the unmistakable blue eyes, Arthur would've had hard time recognizing him. But it was him. There was no mistake.

" I beat you at last, Arthur. " He said flashing a very familiar smile.

It was his best friend, Merlin.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

" I beat you at last, Arthur. " Merlin said flashing a smile of victory.

Granted Merlin had cheated a little bit but it was Arthur's own fault for falling for his trap. ( A trap Merlin knew Arthur would certainly fall for. Arthur was after all very sentimental and sensitive about Gwen )

In the end, it was Merlin who won. So, Sauron would have to retreat, right?

' Well, that is questionable. ' Merlin thought bitterly.

He looked at his fallen opponent who was still on the ground and too surprised to say anything.

" Is Sauron going to retreat now as he promised? " Merlin asked Arthur.

But Arthur didn't answer. He still looked dazed.

" Your grace? " Merlin asked hesitantly. Maybe Arthur was offended being called by his first name. After all, they were not friends anymore.

That got Arthur out of his stupor. He looked clearly at Merlin this time ( with a hurtful gaze? ) and began to stand up. When he was on his feet again, Merlin asked for a second time. " Is Sauron going to retreat? "

Arthur moved his head left and right. " No, he's going to attack. He never planned to respect your terms. " He said in a calm voice.

' What a disappointment. It seems Sauron is pushing for his own humiliation. ' Merlin thought.

As if to prove Arthur right, war horns began to blow on Amatan side and their cavalry were already on formation.

Daegal, Gilli and Nayem came riding towards Merlin in haste.

" My king, give us the command. We're ready for war. " Nayem said frantically.

" There's not going to be a war, Nayem. Don't panic. Take Arthur Pendragon with you. I'll handle this. " Merlin said. His eyes were still on the Amatan army.

Gilli got down, came forward and shook Merlin by shoulder. Merlin looked back at his friend. " Merlin, listen to me. War is inevitable. This is not like that time. There was only one hundred then. Now it's thirty thousands. You can't succeed this time. Please, Merlin. Don't act rashly. " Gilli pleaded.

Merlin put a hand on his friend's shoulder. " I am not that same man, Gilli. I know more now. You trust me, don't you? "

Gilli gave an affirmative nod.

" Then trust me when I say that I know what I am doing. Take Arthur Pendragon and get the hell out of here. Make sure not a single soldier of ours move while I take care of this. Hurry now. Time is of the essence. "

Merlin said and then looked at Arthur. " Where are the knights of Camelot kept captive, your grace? "

Arthur gave Merlin the same hurtful look like before which ( Truth be told ) annoyed Merlin very much. Anyway Arthur talked.

" As far as I know, they are in the encampment guarded by few Amatan soldiers. "

" They are not with the army? " Merlin asked.

" No. "

" Good. Gilli, do as I said. " Saying this, Merlin looked back at the Amatan army which already seemed prepared to attack and would march at any moment.

" You heard the king. Let's go. " Gilli said loudly. Nayem and Daegal wanted to protest but there was something in Gilli's glare that stopped them.

" Let's go, King Arthur. " Gilli said.

" What? Wait. No. You can't be serious. He's just a self-sacrificing idiot. He doesn't know what's he saying. You must stop him. You must. He will be killed if he doesn't come with us. " Arthur said. He was panicking. It was clear in his voice. He came closer and began to shake Merlin's shoulder vigorously.

" Don't be an idiot, Merlin. Go to your army. At least then, you would have a chance. Don't do this to yourself. "

Merlin gritted his teeth hearing Arthur.

' He's calling me an idiot again. He's got some nerve. ' Merlin's mind was boiling in anger hearing the old accusation from Arthur again. It was like reopening an old wound.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. He began to speak again without removing his eyes from the army which had already begun to march slowly.

" Gilli, tell King Arthur to stop calling me an idiot and to go with you. If he disagrees again, then you will take him by force. " Merlin said in a cool voice. He didn't know what happened as he hadn't looked back. But his words did their work. The pressure from his shoulder vanished. And he heard Gilli saying.

" Be careful, my king. "

" I will be. " Merlin said. His voice was almost a whisper.

He soon felt that his friends had left. He took another calming breath. Now he could start his work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Arthur didn't know why he was going with Merlin's men. His mind was screaming to get back to Merlin. To stop that idiot from outright committing suicide. But Merlin's last words.

Those felt like thousand daggers piercing his heart. Merlin's cold voice confirmed what he was dreading for two long years.

Merlin didn't consider him as his friend anymore. He was just another king of Albion to Merlin. And that thought hurt Arthur like hell. He could now feel how Merlin felt during his imprisonment. To know that you once had had a friend and now you lost him for good was a knowledge that crushed Arthur.

They were almost near at the army of Elmet when he heard Merlin.

" PEOPLE OF AMATA. HEAR MY WORD. TURN BACK NOW OR I PROMISE YOU WILL RUE THE DAY YOU WERE BORN. I WILL BLOW ALL OF YOU APART. "

Was it really Merlin speaking? Arthur couldn't believe it. No way he could make such dangerous threat. He was surely bluffing, right? But Arthur could say from his voice that Merlin was dead serious. There was not a single amount of self-doubt in his voice. Arthur looked back.

He saw him. Merlin was standing there. Thirty thousand men were coming towards him. He stood there tall. His posture was strong. Like a hero of Greek myth. A storm was coming towards him and he didn't even flinch. Arthur didn't know what Merlin was doing but he had to admit one thing. Merlin was brave. He was braver than he, Arthur Pendragon ever would be.

Suddenly, Merlin's body began to glow. It was glowing bluish green. Thousands of murmuring began among the Elmetians.

But Arthur didn't heed any of them. His eyes were fixed on Merlin. He was yelling words of foreign language and with each passing seconds, the glow around him began to grow.

It began to become dark suddenly. Arthur looked up and was surprised to see that the sky had suddenly become heavily clouded. Only a few moments ago, the sky was clear blue. Now not even the sun could be seen through the dense dark clouds and to Arthur's horror, he saw that the cloud was densest above Merlin. Thunders began to rumble above Merlin's head as if the cloud was ready to strike lightning on Merlin.

Then...

CRACK.

A single bolt of green lightning came down from heaven and struck Merlin. Arthur didn't know if it was he who screamed or if it was Merlin who screamed. It didn't matter. He just kept looking with horror-filled eyes helplessly.

When the blinding light of lightning and the ear shattering sound of thunder subsided. He saw something unexpected. Instead of seeing Merlin's charred body, he saw Merlin standing there glowing with blinding bluish green light.

He's alright.

Arthur's mind was filled with relief.

Then, Merlin yelled and thousands of bolts of bluish green lightning came out of his body and they went straight towards the Amatan army. The Amatans tried to stop their advance but it was a hard thing to stop a galloping warhorse. Before, they could turn back, thousands of them were struck by lightning bolts. Screams of fear from the Amatan side began to vibrate through the air.

" Retreat. Retreat. " The Amatan army commanders were yelling in desperation.

And soon, there was no living Amatan soul in the battlefield. All that was left were charred bodies of the enemies of Elmet. Thousands of them. The lucky ones ( Most of them were lucky ) had turned their tail and rode for the Mercian border.

A decisive victory for the kingdom of Elmet. A victory earned by Merlin Ambrosius single-handedly.

" MERLIN. "

One of Merlin's men screamed in horror and that made Arthur turn his eyes from the fleeing army to the place where Merlin had been standing only a second ago. Now, he wasn't standing there. He was lying on his stomach. Black smoke was rising from his body.

Arthur didn't know what happened next. He didn't know how he ended up beside his wounded friend. All he needed to know was if Merlin was alive.

And his relief knew no bound when he found out that his friend was still breathing. Some parts of his body were burned but his breathing was even. That's a good thing, right?

Soon Elmetians came for their king and took him away on a make-shift stretcher. Arthur followed them with haste.

Arthur Pendragon wasn't a religious person. But for the first time in his life, he prayed. He prayed to the One who made the sun rise and set to keep Merlin safe. For he wouldn't find peace in his life if he couldn't receive Merlin's forgiveness.

For Merlin had never been just his servant. ( although to his regret, he had said it once ) He was more than that. He was his best friend even though Merlin didn't consider him as his friend anymore. He was his other half. Merlin was his other side of the coin.

He was not just a servant. He was the bravest man he had ever met.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

How did you like it? Let me know, okay? I always love reading reviews. I hope the duel was not as crappy as the duel in ' His father's son '. Now before you start posting reviews like ' Merlin won't kill so many people ', just hear me out:

1. Merlin is no longer the naive boy we all knew during the first two seasons. His character became much darker in season 4 and 5. He would do anything to protect someone he cares about. Hence the frying of Southoron legion in S4 finale. Hence the frying of Saxon soldiers by lightning in S5 finale. And the people of Elmet are someone he really care about.

2. It was a war in this chapter. There's no place for a soft-heart in battlefield. In battle, you can't show remorse to your enemies. Otherwise you will lose. It's just like Cersei Lannister had said: " In a Game of Thrones, you win or you die. " Now I am not saying Merlin is vile like Cersei. But hadn't he done what he did, thousands of Elmetians would have died and Merlin would never let that happen if he can do something about it.

3. Lastly, Merlin didn't outright massacre the entire Amatan force. He only killed those who were coming towards him. When they were retreating, he didn't hurt them. He showed mercy towards them. And he did WARN them.

After saying all these, I can certainly claim that Merlin was not OOC in this chapter. Rather he was completely in character. Sorry if you don't agree with me, I am not forcing my opinion to anyone. I am just stating the facts.

Thanks for reading and please, please, please review. Have a good day or night. Happy reading. Have a good day or night and a good christmas eve to my Christian readers.

Adios.

- Assassin of Syria.