Protector {Merlin}

Chapter 1

          Green was all I could see as I trudged through the dense woods, my sword cutting any vines and branches my way as I walked around in boredom, having nothing better to do. I was in the woods that were really close to the gates of Camelot, you would have thought that there would be guards patrolling the area for any unwanted strangers but there was no one to be seen, more importantly, no one to mess with to pass time.

          You could say that I have a taste for mischief.

          Suddenly, I heard the sounds of weapons clashing and the cries of panic and worry ring to my ears, the familiar noise bringing a mischievous smile to my face. Re-sheathing my sword across my back before removing my bow from my body, taking out a sharp, silver arrow and loading it onto the sleek weapon as I ran towards the source of danger.

          Once I had gotten there, I skillfully scaled a tree and perched atop a thick sturdy branch, taking aim while observing the scene before me: capes of red fought against leathers of brown, metal against metal. Oh, so the mighty knights of Camelot were ambushed by a group of filthy bandits, and not only that, royalty seemed to be present as well. Prince Arthur, son of King Uther Pendragon of Camelot, was fighting alongside his knights, his sword like a snake killing it's victims; fast and lethal.

          Time for some fun, I thought in my head as I aimed towards a rogue bandit coming at the prince with a sword raised for the kill, and it looks like he would have killed the royal personnel if it weren't for my sharp arrow piercing through the cold air and embedding itself on his chest, causing the prince to turn around in shock. That was a mistake seeing as another bandit almost ran him through right then there with his broad sword if it weren't for me once again shooting my weapon of choice with perfect aim, thus killing the bandit that had endangered the royal.

          Arthur: 0 Me: 2

          More bandits swarmed the place, leaving Arthur no choice but to keep fighting instead of looking for the mysterious person that had saved his life twice already. I could see that the knights and the prince were doing good on their own, so I looked around for something to do other than watch the uninteresting fight when something caught my doe brown eyes: it was a boy, too scrawny to be a bandit or a knight so he must have either been a random boy taking a coincidental walk right into a fight or he was the manservant of the prince. Either way, he seemed to be having trouble so I took it upon myself to reload my bow and shoot the two bandits coming his way and taking care of them.

          Seeing that they could no longer hold the fight, the bandits began retreated back to where they came from, running for their lives like the cowards they are. Wow, I can be so arrogant sometimes, I thought in my head, eyebrows furrowed. Now the area was clean of any bandits, the only people present were the knights, the prince, the boy and of course, myself, but they didn't know that, at least, not yet.

          I climbed down the tree silently, making sure not to step on any twigs or anything that might make any noise so that I don't alert the Camelot personnel. They don't seem to be paying any attention as they were busy looking around in basically every direction other the one that leads to me, huh, odd... and stupid.

          Time seemed to slow down as a bandit rose his head, a crossbow pointed straight at Arthur's back. No-one noticed but I sure did, and boy did I ran when the arrow was shot from the weapon. The funny thing is, I didn't run away, no, I ran towards Arthur, towards where the danger lies, and knocked him down before the arrow could even touch him.

          Arthur: 0 Me: 3

          It was silent for a few tense seconds before the knights took action, two of them going after the bandit while the others drew their weapons, ready to attack me in order to protect their prince.

          "Wait, lower your weapons, " I heard Arthur order his knights, making them stand down and instead opted to just stare at me- well my back since they were all behind me- with guarded expressions. I couldn't really hear what was being said next as the only sound I could hear was the blood rushing through my ears as my word began to grow hazy around me.

          Huh, did I forget to mention that when I pushed Arthur out of the way so that he wouldn't be hit by that arrow- no idea why I did that, must have been a reflex to put myself in front of others- the arrow lodged itself into my shoulder? Well that happened. I could feel the blood leaking out of the wound as I took a hold of the arrow and ripped it out, wincing in the process. I did not know if the arrow was poisonous or not- good news, it wasn't. Probably shouldn't have ripped the arrow out that fast because I then felt the wound's bleeding worsen and the pain increase.

          " I said show yourself, or I will be forced to take action, " Arthur probably ordered me. I slowly turned around, the bloody arrow clutched in one hand while the other holding my bow, not wanting to let go of my prized possession. I could see the prince's eyes widen in shock, not knowing that the arrow had hit me.

          Black spots littered my vision. The bloody arrow falling from my grasp as well as the bow, both falling onto the ground with a soft thud. My knees came next, crashing onto the ground followed by my entire body. My head hit a slab of rock as my body landed,  drowsiness taking a hold over my senses and mind.

          I thought this was going to be fun but it certainly wasn't, at least not at the end anyways.

          The last thing I could see was the blond haired prince and the dark haired boy rushing towards me before the darkness washed over me like a tidal wave.