Merthur one shot

Merlin and Arthur hadn't been fed for a week and they were both exhausted and praying for the rescue team to hurry and rescue them, but until then, the bandits that had captured them were trying to make Arthur's life a living hell. A gigantic man dressed in black dragged the king and his servant to a clearing which was empty except for one tree, and another big man dressed in black, who had a belt holding a leather whip, a knife and a jar of a thick black liquid. Arthur and Merlin looked at each other, knowing this situation couldn't get any worse. The first man bound Arthur's hands and feet with rope which rubbed of his wrists and ankles until the bled and it was impossible for the young king to escape, and the servant was held so that his arms were behind his back and he stood facing the man with the whip, knife and the jar of thick black liquid. Arthur cried out, worried for the sake of his faithful servant. The king had felt strange feelings for the other man and was rather protective of him.

"Feel the pain as your serving boy is tortured Arthur Pendragon. He is just your servant, but the pain that he will suffer is of your doing," the bandit cackled and Merlin tried to struggle against him, but in vain. Without food, he was too weak and he couldn't use magic in fear of what Arthur would do. The king yelled and offered himself in Merlin's place, but the bandits just laughed and began the torture.

First, the man with the torture weapons punched Merlin hard in the stomach and Merlin doubled over in pain. Then there was a hit to his face and on his cheek a large purple bruise formed. After being hit so he was bruised and bleeding, Merlin fell to the ground in agony, but they didn't stop. The man kicked him in the side and Arthur heard a loud crack as Merlin's ribs broke. Then the bandit stamped on the servants arm so that a bone broke and cut through the boys skin and a pool of blood collected there. Arthur wanted nothing other than to be unbound so that he could stop this and then be able to comfort his friend properly. But the torture went on and all the king could do was to watch and yell.

After the men had grown bored of hitting the barely conscious boy, the strung him to the tree so that his back was facing them and they took of his top so that his back and chest was bare. As Arthur suspected, the man grabbed his whip and smacked it across Merlin's back, and a thin line of blood was left there. His back was already bruised and bloody from the beating, but now blood dripped from his back as the whip smacked him. Arthur felt hot tears stream down his cheeks as Merlin began to scream. The whip just kept cracking upon the boys pale skin so that Merlin just wanted to die. But soon enough, the Arthur's delight, Merlin was cut from the tree and he fell in exhaustion on his back. He was so thin. His ribs protruded from his chest and he barely had the strength to live. Unfortunately, this was still not quite the end.

From his belt, the torturer drew his knife and leant down beside Merlin. Without even hesitating, he cut from the servants shoulder all the way down to his hip. Arthur screamed and so did Merlin. Arthur was in more pain than he thought possible, but his pain wasn't physical, it was emotional. Just from seeing his servant being in this agony, he couldn't deal with it. But Merlin wasn't just a servant. He was so much more and didn't even know. Finally, it stopped. The bandit trickled some of the thick black liquid into Merlin's mouth and left the beaten bloodied body behind.

"Poison, the worst kind. He will be dead in minutes, enjoy your last moments with him," he cut the rope from Arthur's wrists and ankle and then walked away, leaving the two men alone.

"Merlin!" Arthur ran to his friend and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Merlin hold on, I will take you back to Gaius, you will be completely fine, don't worry." But they both knew that Merlin wouldn't be fine. The bandit said that Merlin had minutes and it takes at least two days to get back to Camelot.

"Stop... Arthur, just hold me," and that is exactly what Arthur did. He pulled the dying servant onto his lap so that his head leant against his chest. He arms wrapped around Merlin's bare shoulders and the blood leaked onto his hands. Both of them cried silently for a while, neither knowing what to say. The rescue team did come, but when they saw the scene, they did nothing, they just watched and bowed their heads. It had been over a minute and Merlin knew that he only had a few seconds at most left to live. As Arthur cried into his hair and swayed slightly as he held Merlin, the servant spoke, for the last time.

"I suppose... If it's my last chance to say it... Arthur I-"

Merlin was gone. He died mid sentence and the rest of that sentence would be a mystery forever.