Merlin FanFic

The beast

They had been riding for hours and still hadn't found anything. Merlin started to grow irritated as they continued searching. He wondered how Arthur could keep going and still be determined after all this time. The sun was slowly fading, so Merlin knew it was late afternoon. He also knew that if they didn't return, Uther would get worried and send out a search party for Arthur. With this in mind, Merlin rode up beside Arthur.

"Don't you think we should head back now? We are after all near the borders on Cenrad's kingdom and it will take a few hours to ride back. We wouldn't want you're farther to be worried." Arthur stopped his horse and gave Merlin a funny look.
"Merlin. We are not leaving this hunt until we have found something. I don't care if my father sends out a search party. They will just have to join the hunt." Merlin rolled his eyes and moaned internally. It was just like Arthur to be like this and not want to give up. It was good in some cases but in times like this, it really annoyed Merlin. Merlin held back, so he was a few paces behind Arthur and watched him from a distance. He could tell Arthur was getting annoyed, too, that he hadn't found anything. He also knew that Arthur would take his frustration out on him if he didn't watch it. Merlin knew that it was part of the job of being a manservant but he always hated it and felt unappreciated. It was times like these that Merlin hated being a servant and having to keep his magic hidden. He craved to be free and equal without hiding who he was. Merlin was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that Arthur had stopped as well as the other knights and carried on going. Only when he heard a mighty roar did he stop and find that the knights were far behind him. He glanced around quickly but found nothing. Merlin then heard the roar again and turned his horse in the direction of the sound. It was near Arthur. The roar erupted once again and soon came a loud crashing. Merlin raced his horse back and was just in time to see that a mighty beast came charging out of the trees and towards them all. The knights jumped from their horses and drew their swords and spears and drew into a defence. They were ready to strike and Arthur was at the front as always leading his men. Merlin knew this could end badly, so he quickly jumped from his horse, landed softly on the ground, and moved into the nearby trees, ready to assist them in any magical way without being seen. Once in the trees Merlin crouched down and watched in horror as a pale ghost appeared and roared. It was as pale as milk and it had a bull's head which had caused the roaring noise. Merlin felt his knees begin to tremble and he watched on in horror as the creature got ready to attack.

Arthur was on the front line as always and prepared his men to fight whatever they had come across. It was nothing like Arthur had seen before and he feared that he may not be able to defeat it. He called his knights together and they all stood close together with their shields ready. Arthur pointed his sword in the direction of the bull and stood ready. The bull then charged foreword towards the knights of Camelot. Arthur pushed his fear aside and yelled at his knights to strike foreword and fight. Arthur ran as fast as he could so he could have force behind his sword and as he got closer to the bull, he concentrated on killing it and protecting his knights. As Arthur was a few steps away from the bull time seemed to slow down. Arthur could sense everything going on around him and everything was sharper. The bull was charging and had its eyes set on Arthur only, and when Arthur looked into the eyes of the bull, he could see only death. It made his steps falter as he was stunned and the knights rushed forward and stood in front of him to protect him. One of his knights then lunged foreword at the bull. The bull ran at him as the knight swung and went straight through the bull and fell to the ground on the other side. Arthur couldn't believe it. No one could strike the bull. Another knight then went to strike, but suddenly, the bull took its eyes off Arthur and lunged at the knight. He grabbed the knight, lifted him as if he weighed nothing, and brought his mouth down to his neck and bit. The knight screamed out in pain and thrashed but then fell still. He was dead. The bull dropped the knight and looked back at Arthur. Arthur was horrified. The bull's mouth was covered in blood and it looked crimson against his pale complexion. The bull then moved foreword towards the rest of the knights. Arthur had to do something as he knew that his knights would be slain if he told them to fight. No one could defeat the bull.
"Fall back!" Arthur yelled, and the knights followed the command and fell back, eyes still on the bull. The bull then roared, and as if knowing they would escape, the knights lunged forward. Arthur then saw something run from the trees to the side of him and towards the bull. Arthur turned to look and found that it was Merlin.
"No Merlin!" Arthur yelled but it was too late. Merlin ran at the bull and intercepted the attack. Arthur knew that Merlin had no weapons and would be completely defenceless. He ran forward, knowing that he had to protect Merlin.

Merlin ran at the bull knowing that he had to save Arthur. He vaguely heard Arthur shout his name as he ran but ignored it. Arthur had to live as it was his destiny. Merlin ran at the bull and the bull then focused on Merlin. When his eyes came into contact with Merlin's, Merlin stopped dead in his tracks. He had never seen so much horror behind them and pain of the innocent that he had taken the lives of. Merlin was paralyzed by the pain and became breathless from the power of emotion that came over him. The bull was about to attack and strike when a pair of arms grabbed Merlin and pulled him. Merlin fell back weakly and was dragged across the ground. Merlin was still reeling from the horror he had seen in its eyes. Once Merlin was dragged away, he was dropped to the floor. This snapped Merlin back, and he turned to find that Arthur had saved his life. Merlin looked back as he heard the roar of the beast.
"Time to go." Arthur said and Merlin couldn't agree more. He jumped to his feet and ran after the knights to their horses. They leapt up on their horses and raced in the other direction towards Camelot. Merlin looked back and found that the beast was no longer perusing them and Merlin finally could breathe again. They all rode back in silence, all shocked by what had happened. Merlin glanced at Arthur and found that Arthur looked troubled. Merlin knew that Arthur would be beating himself up about that knight's death and wishing he could have done more. That was Arthur. He might be a prat but Merlin knew that he cared for his knights. Merlin turned back to look where he was going and frowned. It was a beast that he had never seen before, and when he got back, he was sure that he would ask Gaius what that beast was. When he looked into its eyes, Merlin knew that it was a beast of magic. Merlin had seen the pain of many innocent people, but he had also seen that the beast had a lot of magic, and Merlin sensed it, which put him on edge. The knights reached Camelot at dusk and rode straight up to the castle where Uther was waiting. Merlin got off his horse and went to Arthur, who had already gotten down and was walking towards his father. Merlin wanted to see what they knew but he had chores to do first. He would see Gaius later, and together, they would work out what the beast was and how to destroy it. Merlin had a funny feeling that he would need his magic in order to kill the beast.