Merlin's magic (Oneshots) 1

The magic realm (part 2)

A.N. // I think I had to rewrite this chapter like... 5 times. And I'm still not too happy with it.
But I finally know where I'm going.... kind of.
I hope.

I also made a little Character drawing for Tanus. It is the first design I made for them. It's not a 100 % how imagined them. But if you have trouble imagining them, there is a small guide.

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There was something strangely off about those creatures. Sure, they seemed tall and dangerous with their yellow eyes, but that wasn't Arthur's concern.
He couldn't SEE them is what alarmed him and kept him on edge. Yes, he could see the tiny moss ball, but that was just adding to his confusion.
The other creatures? They were close, almost at his very heel, and yet he couldn't tell what they looked like. How tall they were. What form they had.
It was like they were made purely of shadows.

Merlin walked next to Arthur. Close, like he was waiting for an arrow aimed in Arthur's direction and planned to jump in front of it.
At the same time, Arthur could only hear his own steps. Everything around them was quiet. And it was almost upsetting how quiet Merlin could move as well.
Since when was Merlin so quiet? It was almost graceful.
Merlin was anything but graceful.
The man was terrible at stealth. How on earth did he manage to evade all those leafs and sticks to break, like they did under Arthur's leather boots?

Arthur actually had a lot of questions he could ask Merlin. Like.... when had he been touched by magic to the point he could be send into the magic realm?
Or, why the creature was concerned about him. Like, why did it care about Merlin?

The tiny moss ball was hopping in front of them. Only now did Arthur notice that it was wearing something. Some kind of rags that were draped over it's shoulder and held by a simple button.
Other than that, it had a stick in it's hand – leaf - thingy.

"Say, what was your name again?", Merlin asked all of a sudden and Arthur almost stumbled over the next root he was supposed to step over.
The moss ball turned it's head. Again, without stopping to walk. Fully around, detached from it's body, like they didn't have to be together all the time, but were anyway.
"I'm Tanus. It's an honor to meet you, my lord.", they said and saluted. (2)

Arthur paused in his mind. Those creatures must have their information wrong. ARTHUR was the king, not Merlin. Addressing his servant as a lord would be hilarious, if Arthur wasn't so goddamn paranoid at all those eyes watching them.

Merlin chuckled nervously. "Pleasure to meet you, Tanus.", his eyes flickered to Arthur.
"But I'm no lord. Call me Merlin. You should call HIM Lord. This is Arthur Pendragon. The once and future king."

The moss ball stopped and Merlin almost stumbled over them. But Tanus jumped into Arthur's general space, up and down. Their body turning around to him as well now, before the tiny staff suddenly grew in size.
Tanus hopped on to it's twigs to distance themselves from the ground. And therefore be eye level with the current king of Camelot.
Arthur leaned back as Tanus leaned forward. somehow the now branch they were sitting on didn't fall over, defying gravity as though it meant nothing to them.

Than they reached out a leaf to touch Arthur's face. They tilted their head and then.....
They laughed. A full on belly laughter echoed in the forest, or were it the creatures that chimed in?
Arthur pressed his mouth shut, feeling offended for some reason. Still more terrified than angry.

"What is there to laugh about?", Merlin asked, eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms offensively.
"Merlin, don't be hostile, you heard Gaius's warnings.", Arthur hissed back, but the moss ball hopped on their branch to face Merlin again.
"He looks funny for a king.", Tanus grinned, not at all mean, just amused.