Born of Magic

Hunt gone wrong (what else is new?)

Merlin really hated these hunts. He honestly didn't even know why Arthur insisted that he come with every single time. But Merlin supposed he should be glad Arthur did drag him along. The gods only know how many times Camelot's crown prince would have been dead otherwise. The secret warlock had been stumbling around all day in order to scare the animals away before Arthur had given up and ordered him to set up camp.

As it would turn out, the manservant didn't need to do all that much. Lancelot was tending to their horses, Leon and Elyan were skinning the few animals Merlin had been unsuccessful in scaring away, Percival was setting up some tents and Gwaine had been sent out into the woods to collect firewood, as everyone needed a break from his tavern stories, while Arthur stood guard. Merlin helped Percival with the tents and they finished just a few minutes before Gwaine came back with the firewood which was promptly taken from him by Lancelot and handed to Merlin. No one wanted a repeat of what happened the last time Gwaine was in charge of actually starting the fire. It was a good thing that they had chosen to camp right by a lake that time. Merlin was just about to start with dinner when the battle cries rang out. Bandits, because why would they get to have one peaceful outing?

The five knights and the prince jumped right into battle, while Merlin took a moment to assess the situation. One of the bandits had noticed the seemingly unarmed and alone servant and charged at him. Merlin used magic to drop a branch from a tree on the bandits head, effectively knocking him out. Merlin then grabbed the large man's sword to make himself seem less of an easy target. Still on the sidelines, Merlin used magic to drop more branches and make bandits trip over their own feet or the occasional root. Lancelot had been surrounded by three bandits, and Merlin knew the knight wouldn't be able to fight his way out of the situation without sustaining injuries. Merlin felt his magic turning his usually blue eyes into pools of gold, and within a second, one bandit had a broken arm, another had been thrown to his back and the third one couldn't seem to find the strength to hold up his axe. Once Lancelot had properly finished them off, he turned to give Merlin a smile of appreciation. But the smile quickly vanished as he saw something that the warlock had failed to notice.

"MERLIN LOOK OUT!" Merlin turned at Lancelot's words and only just barely managed to avoid getting his head cut off with a broadsword. He wished he could say the same for his arm. Merlin cried out as pain exploded from his right shoulder and halfway down to his elbow. Before he could gather himself enough to even think about using magic to save himself, a blur of red barreled into the bandit and brought them both to the ground. Seconds later Elyan showed up to help the prince while the remaining four knights dealt with the few bandits left.

"Merlin," the crown prince was now kneeling beside his manservant on the ground. When had he fallen down anyway? "Merlin, you clotpole, how did you even miss that bandit? Hey, I'm talking to you, do not close your eyes." If Merlin didn't know any better he would say that the young Pendragon seemed worried about him.

"That's my word," he mumbled out.

"And it suits you perfectly, now lay still. Elyan, find some water to clean the wound with, Lancelot, set up a bedroll next to the fireplace, Leon, get that fire going, Gwaine, keep Merlin awake. And Percival? Please find somewhere to put the bodies that is not in the middle of camp." The warlock felt something press against his bleeding arm. He suspected it was Arthur trying to stop the bleeding but with his blurred vision, he couldn't be sure. Gwaine was babbling on about some fight he had gotten into at the tavern a few weeks prior, a fight Merlin remembered because he had been the one to drag the drunk knight out of it, but it wasn't long until his voice faded to muffled background noise. Merlin was still conscious, feeling every bit of the pain in his arm. When he felt the magic in him flare up, he quickly screwed his eyes shut, fearing they might turn gold otherwise. Using every ounce of willpower in his body, the secret warlock managed to force the magic trying to heal him back. Someone started slapping him in the face, that someone most likely being Gwaine, and without thinking, Merlin raised his arms to wave the drunk away. That was a bad idea. He didn't get very far before letting out a loud groan of pain before finally passing out.

This isn't particularly long evidently, but the chapters will get progressively longer as the story goes on.