The Destiny of two

Chapter 35 ~ Final Challenge

The next day Merlin and I were down at the armoury preparing Arthurs his things. I took out the blade and held it up in front of me. I smiled at the sight of it. The blade was so beautiful.

"That is a fine blade," 

Merlin and I jumped at the sudden person talking, we look behind us and see Uther. I put the blade down and smile.

"It's for Arthur," I say.

"He won't be needing it today." Uther states.

Merlin and I look at each other. Uther walks towards us.

"I will be taking Arthur's place," Uther explains.

"But, sire--" Merlin begins.

"Prepare me for battle," Uther says, ignoring Merlin.

"Arthur should be the one that fights today," I say.

"The grievance is with me.  The fight is mine." Uther says calmly.

I quickly cover up the sword.

"I don't have your armour." Merlin states.

"That'll do," Uther points to a random set of armour "It's likely to make little difference." 

Merlin walks around to Uther. He flips the cloth off the blade.

"I'll get you your sword," Merlin says quickly.

Uther picks up the blade, I open my mouth to say something but decide against it.

"This one will be fine," Uther says while staring at the blade.

"No, Sire.  You don't understand" Merlin says while picking up Uther's armour.

"That blade was made specifically for Arthur," I explain.

"Who made it?" Uther asks, looking at me.

"Uh, Tom, the blacksmith," I reply.

Merlin puts Uther's armour on.

"It's worthy of a king," Uther says.

Uther holds the sword out and looks at it.

"You would be better off with a sword you trusted," Merlin says, trying to convince Uther to use a different sword.

"No. It has almost perfect balance." Uther swings the sword. "Tom is not the royal wordsmith. I'm surprised Arthur went to him."

"That was us," Merlin gestures to me.

Uther looks at Merlin. 

"We felt he needed a better sword," I say quickly.

Uther looks back at the blade. 

"You two show him  the most extraordinary loyalty..." Uther says.

"That is my job, Sire," Merlin replies.

Uther looks at me, "Why do you show him such loyalty? You are almost always with the two of them."

I smile at Uther, "I'm loyal because I have to be, don't I?

"... Beyond the line of duty," Uther says 

"Well," Merlin walks off to grab Uther's cape "You could say there is a bond between us, all of us." 

"I'm glad," Uther grabs the cape and looks at us "Look after him."

As he walks out, he stops and grabs a helmet, then continues.

I look at Merlin "We promised the dragon," 

"I know," Merlin states.

He grabs my hand and drags me out toward the arena. We arrive just in time to see Uther hit Tristan's helmet off. What was underneath was horrible; its whole face looked rotted away. It had black skin; its eyes were demonic. The wraith swung its head to look back at Uther. It roared and continued attacking Uther. It went full-on he kept on hitting Uther's shield, so much that Uther. Fell over, causing Uther to drop the sword. The wraith jumped up and slammed his sword down; luckily, it got stuck in Uther's shield. The Wraith could not get his sword out, Uther eventually kicked the shield, causing it to slam into Tristan. Uther jumped up and grabbed his sword, Trist lifted his the shield that had his sword stuck in it, giving Uther a good place to hit Tristan. Uther rammed the sword into the wraith. Suddenly the wraith started shaking, and fire spread out from where Uther stabbed it. The wraith exploded, causing Uther to fall over.