The Rise of Arthur Pendragon

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Hooded figures everywhere. People screaming and running. Eyes watering and throat aching from the smoke, Alia chased through the streets of the lower town, dodging fleeing citizens and robed sorcerers. More than once she was knocked to the ground but every time she managed to drag herself to her feet again and work her way further in, towards the heart of Camelot. As the Druid girl rounded a bend in one of the many narrow backroads, she came face to face with one of the dark magicians. His eyes flashed, not gold but red under his hood and Alia felt her arms being pinned against her side and her legs locked together. Helpless, she toppled over and landed with a painful thud on the hard cobbled path. The warlock, obviously satisfied that Alia was unable to move, turned his back on her and glided on, towards the castle. The only thing Alia was able to move were her eyes. She tried franticly to think of a spell that would help her but could not. Then, all of a sudden, she felt the enchantment lift. Quickly, she scrambled back onto her feet and stared around her. But she saw no one. The ally was deserted. "Merlin?", she called, "Merlin is that you? Please don't be angry at me!" There was no reply. Alia hoped that Merlin was there. She knew he would follow her if she left so she continued in the direction of the palace. The young girl had just reached the stone steps and was trying to use the chaos that was still everywhere to hide her from the magicians view. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be for after she had turned around quickly to make sure no one was behind her, she found herself facing another robed sorcerer. Alia gasped. The last thing she saw, was yet another glint of red, before everything went black.

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By now, Arthur had been following the glowing sphere for a while and he was beginning to worry. Where was it taking him? Was it really from Merlin? These thoughts circled around in his head. The King was so busy trying to answer those questions, that he didn't even pay attention to where he was going until the orb suddenly stopped and Arthur looked around. He had ended up on the same hill that he and Alia had been earlier. Staring around in confusion, trying to see properly through the thickening darkness, Arthur saw the familiar figure of a man standing a few feet away. "Merlin!", Arthur called, his voice full of relief, as he jogged towards his old friend. "Merlin?" As Arthur reached him, he saw that the warlock was standing with his face tilted upwards and his eyes closed, muttering something under his breath. For a few seconds, Arthur just watched. Then, all of a sudden Merlin seemed to snap out of his trance. "Arthur! You made it!" The two men embraced each other warmly. "Merlin what were you doing?" "I was trying to locate Alia but I couldn't find her." Then Merlin's face darkened. "Arthur do you have any idea where she is?" Only then did the young King realise that she should have been there with them. Cursing loudly, Arthur quickly explained the story to Merlin, who wasn't surprised. "I saw her running towards the palace. Arthur we need to find her. These are Aragon's men. We're under attack from magic." "Arthur looked like he was about to be sick but he straightened and said sharply. "Then we'll have to find a way to stop them." And so it was decided to sneak back into the castle the way Merlin had come. The pair quickly clambered upon Arthur's horse and cantered off towards the palace.

All was going well and they had made it as far as the dungeons when a hooded sorceress suddenly stepped out from behind a pillar. Before Merlin could utter a single syllable, her eyes had turned red and Arthur and the young warlock we're plunged into darkness.

A/N: Hi :) So I just wanted to ask you what you think of my story so far. I really want to do my best but I kinda need your help for that... Please, please PLEASE if you enjoyed reading this then tell me and maybe even share it? :P If you didn't like it, please tell me that too so I can try and make it better. Thanks!