A Light Like the Sun (Merthur fanfic)

Part 13

Ellie and Gwaine were sitting on the couch sharing stories and laughing when Arthur and Merlin came striding into the flat. Arthur was carrying a long sword.

"Is that...?" Ellie began.

"Excalibur," Merlin confirmed.

The sorcerers of Albion had acquired medieval weapons to use against the sorcerer hunters since, according to Willie, they had an odd fascination with ancient weaponry. Arthur had picked out a sword of worth to use in the battle but now he had a weapon that had been his own. With Excalibur, he felt that much more confident.

Moments later, Willie came bursting through the door.

"Sorry to barge in like this," he panted, "but it's the sorcerer hunters. They've made camp."

Willie, Ellie, Gwaine, Merlin, and Arthur stood on a grassy hill looking down at the sorcerer hunters' campsite. They really were doing this thing old-school, Merlin thought. Setting up camp the night before a battle was to commence was classic. The hunters obviously knew their campsite would be seen, large as it was. They had obviously wanted to let the sorcerers know that they were present and meant to conduct their battle the following morning.

"Couldn't we..." Ellie stammered, "Couldn't we just, you know, attack them now?"

"I like the way you think," Gwaine grinned.

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Arthur said, "fighting a battle in the darkness of night would not be of advantage to us. We would be tremendously hindered."

"Best wait 'til morning," Willie agreed.

"We should set up camp too," Gwaine determined, "let them know we're ready to fight."

* * *

The sorcerer hunters sat around their campfire drinking spirits and laughing jovially. Nothing fed their lust more than the prospect of an upcoming fight. They'd already recently killed one of Albion's sorcerers, to send out the message that they were coming for battle. Micah the Purger stood up to speak.

"Fellow hunters," he began, his voice rough, "tonight we gather here on the eve of the most important battle we have ever faced. We are the metaphoric sons and daughters of our savior, the great and mighty Uther Pendragon, the only noble king to rule over the ancient kingdom of Camelot, and the inducer of the Great Purge that all but rid his land of sorcerers!" The hunters hooted. "Unfortunately, sorcerers prevailed and spread their wickedness. Many of them exist today. My father, his father before him, and his father before him, and so on and so forth, have worked to continue Uther's noble work. We, in his name, have purged many of the world's remaining sorcerers! Their numbers are dwindling and we will strike them where they are strongest and largest in number: In Albion! We will strike down his disobedient son, Arthur Pendragon, and all of his atrocious sorcerer friends! At tomorrow's dawn, our weapons will taste the vile blood of these sorcerers and their magic will flow from their open veins and our world will be restored to its glory and righteousness of no perversion from magic! The land will again be pure and Uther's vision will be realized!" The hunters cheered and roared.

"As you all know," Micah continued, "my son, Myrik, has come up with a brilliant plan to help us win this battle!" Some of the hunters clapped and cast glances of admiration at Myrik.

"It is something that we have been working on for a few years now. It has taken a lot of time to track down the necessary knowledge and procedures. We have even had to compromise some of our values to invoke this weapon, which I know has been a concern for some of you," he glanced around daring anyone to speak against him, "But I assure you, it will be worth it!"