The Once and Future Heir

Chapter 5

"NOW!" the bearded man shouted to the endless army of armed forces.

War cries rang out from the seemingly calm woods. Men had already lined up and gotten their seige material ready. All they were waiting for was the go signal. Warriors were hiding in the woods to head straight for the entrance to the Camelot castle.

Hidden on top of a small bluff overlooking the battle, the young, bearded man smiled. He turned to the beautiful woman standing next to him and smiled.

"Is this satisfactory, my love?" he asked.

The woman smiled back. "Of course it is, Sweetie."

With a kiss, they continued to watch the distruction their men were causing to the vunerable walls of the castle. Or so they thought.

What they didn't know was that Merlin had overheard most of their plans and had helped Arthur prepare for this upcoming battle. He was still a little bit anxious because there was something missing. One vital point that they had skipped over that could immensely change the outcome of the battle to favor the other army.

Knights were standing silently at the gate,  awaiting the slamming force of the armed men rushing from the woods.

Arthur made his way into the main hall to inspect the way the women were preparing for the injured knights. He nodded as he walked through.

A sudden boom told Arthur that the war had begun and he needed to be outside. The castle walls started shaking and little rocks fell from them.
Merlin had been in charge of keeping an eye on the queen, but more and more shaking told him that he was needed elsewhere.

"ALEX! AAAALLLLEEEXXX!" he cried out, looking desperately around for his young 'sister'.

"Here!" Alex responded, rushing over to him.

He grabbed her shoulders and looked her deeply in the eyes. "Watch the queen. Protect her with your life. Arthur needs a little help."

Alex caught on quickly. Magic was needed. She nodded and swapped places with him next to Gwen. He ran towards the doors, weaving in and out of the wounded warriors. As he reached the door, he turned and looked back at Alex.

Alex, don't be afraid to use your magic, Merlin transmitted. Use it wisely and make sure nobody knows it came from you.

He then turned and ran out into the heart of the battle. Alex felt a wave of panic when she lost sight of him. A million things were running through her head, like how a ball of flame could crush him or, or.....

"Alex. Alex! Come on!" Gaius shouted at her, breaking her moment of fear.

She looked around and realized that there was a flood of men coming in from the battle, all injured in some way. Gwen, Gaius, and all of the other volunteers were scrambling around trying to help the wounded.

Gaius shoved a bucket of water in her arms, splashing her in the process.

"Get cleaning up the knights! Hurry! We haven't much time!"

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Merlin ran through a steady stream of injured knights frantically looking for Arthur. Knowing the kind of man he was, Merlin had a good idea of were he might be fighting.

Fires had erupted everywhere, sending young families screaming from their homes. It made Merlin cry to see how many people were scared and vulnerable to the constant rains of fire. He hoped that Alex was watching over the queen. Arthur would kill Arthur and Alex of she was injured.

Merlin decided that he needed a way to see the other side of the wall where the fire was being shot from. As he looked around, constantly being shoved by frightened villagers, he noticed that there was a stack of hay that was too close to the wall to get scorched that he could easily climb. That way, he could get a better view of the army.

Weaving his way over bodies and broken carts, Merlin sprinted towards the bales of hay. Once he was finally there, he physically attacked the poor, unsuspecting hay and scaled the wall in no time. He was almost to the top when he heard his name being called somewhere down below him. Craning his neck, he was able to see Arthur fighting off the enemy in hand to hand combat.

"MERLIN! GET DOWN YOU IDIOT!" he shouted between killing the opposing warriors.

Merlin shook his head and kept climbing, ignoring the calls from Arthur. Upon reaching the top, Merlin poked his head over the top of the wall and swayed. The amount of men standing and awaiting commands was dizzying.

Using his magic, he searched the valley for the leader. Knowing who it was might be valuable information.

After searching the valley thoroughly, Merlin took a break from straining himself. While he waited for his body to cool down, he looked over everything with normal eyesight. Something caught his eye on the far side of the valley on a bluff. It might have been a glint of armor, Merlin couldn't quite tell. After resting for a few more seconds, Merlin pushed his vision to the bluff where he saw that small flash. There, in the midst of all of the tall trees stood a sight Merlin wasn't expecting.

Completely caught by surprise, he took a step back and nearly fell off the narrow stack of hay. Fortunately, he caught himself just in time and pulled himself upright again. As he did so, Merlin couldn't help but notice something was a little off with the men firing flames soaring through the sky. The armed forces behind the catapults hadn't moved. It was a little suspicious to Merlin mainly because they had a perfectly good opportunity to make ladders and climb over the walls. Merlin realized what was off. Panicked, he started to climb down to run the news to Arthur.

A shrilling scream rang out, startling Merlin so bad that he missed a step and started tumbling down the haystacks. There must have been wood or something under them because he hit what felt like every body part on them. As he came crashing down, he heard whizzing and a sharp pain in his side. Before he could see what it was, his vision went black as he hit his head on the hard rock ground.

Merlin awoke to screaming knights and the earth shattering sounds of metal against metal. Alex was moving around him quickly, grabbing bandages and water.

"Alex..." he croaked.

Immediately, she was by his side feeling his head and stroking his soft black hair.

"Shhh... Its ok, everything will be ok." she soothed.

He tried to move but felt a sharp pain in his side. Alex held him down.

"Someone shot you with a crossbow. It hit your side and we were lucky enough to get it out."

Merlin looked around anxiously. "Where..... Is..... Arthur?"

She point to the opposite side of the room. "There. Shall I call him?"

Merlin nodded. Alex turned and shouted his name several times. Within moments, Arthur was by Merlin's side inspecting his injuries.

"You fool! What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!"

Painfully, Merlin held up a hand. "I know how.... To defeat them.... Morgana and Cenred..... They have a fake army on.... The west side.... Where fire is coming from."

Arthur paled. "Morgana?"

Sorry I haven't updated. Life is pretty crazy. Thanks for reading!

-Hammie