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Chapter 2

Run

"Run!" Arthur screamed at his knights. They had to retreat. there was no way any of them stood a chance out in this fray. Merlin took Arthur's hand and the two dashed off as quick as they could. Merlyn could hear screams and clash of metal yelling at her from every direction. It was terrifying, but she steeled herself. They almost reached the edge of the field when a few Saxon soldiers had spotted them. A knights came at them with an ax at hand, but Arthur easily deflected his attack and pushed him away. Another came at them with a sword. He was going to cut right through Merlyn, but Arthur blocked it as well and twisted the man's arm and used it to cut through the man himself.

"We have to get out of here! Fast!" Arthur screamed.

Merlyn let out a dry shallow laugh, "Really? Cause I thought we'd stay and enjoy ourselves a picnic."

"This is no time for jesting, Merlyn! Quick! Grab a sword or something. I can't protect you like this!" Just then Merlyn spotted an archer aiming at Arthur's head. She quickly used her magic to disrupt the tree next to him and dropped a large broken branch on top the man and knocked him out. She needed to start being more careful. It this kept up, someone would be bound to notice her abilities.

Since Arthur was too distracted looking after Merlyn, he didn't notice the man coming at him with a club. Merlyn saw him, but before she could react he struck the king. "No!" She screamed. She quickly grabbed a fallen sword and impaled the man before he could finish the job. She reached for her king and tried her best to lift him, but he was so heavy. "Damn it, Arthur! I told you to lay off the bloody chicken!" At least he wasn't completely out, once she got him to his feet, he managed to walk a bit. "But do you ever listen to me? No! Now look where we are now!" She got him into the woods. They were going to make it out scott free, but then she saw two mounted soldiers running after them. Thinking fast, she shoved Arthur behind a tree. It was big enough to hide them from the Saxon's view, but she knew that wouldn't shake them for long. So she looked over Arthur, made sure he was still out of it, then turned back and let her eyes turn gold.

Suddenly a snake came and snapped at one of the horses. It spooked them both and they set off running with their riders trying not fall of their backs. Without wasting another moment, she took Arthur by the waist and hoisted back to his feet. Thankfully the rest of their escape went uneventful. After several hours, Merlyn found a safe place under a small cliff for them to rest and got a fire going. She knew it was risky since someone could spot them by the light, but it was so cold out, she feared they'd freeze to death before anyone could find them. She couldn't find any food either. Everything from rabbits to berries were scarce in these parts of the forest and hard to come by. She'd be lucky to get squirrel by morning.

As nightfall set in Merlyn let her mind wander back to the ambush. It was a surprise that the Saxons were able to find them, especially considering Morgan couldn't have known they were traveling through Anni's homeland. She would have expected them to come through the east. However what she found more surprising was that she ran into Mordred. She had dreaded his return for all these years.

Merlyn had hoped she wouldn't have to cross paths with him again, but now that she had she didn't know how she felt about it. Kilgharrah had told her he was a risk to Arthur's safety. When he was a child she brushed off the warning, but now that he was a man and in light of her recent vision, his reappearance made her very uneasy. She knew what she had to do, should he pose a threat, but thought of it still tightened her chest. He hadn't done anything to make her believe he would harm her king. Even though he had been with the Saxons, he didn't take part in the battle. In fact, he tried to help her. Maybe she was being naive about this. Despite his actions, everything pointed to him killing Arthur one day. Perhaps not now, or even a year from now, but one day he would turn on him and bring his reign to an end. Which made her conflicted because her soul purpose was to ensure that didn't happen. Merlyn went back and forward with her thoughts until the moon was up high in the sky. Eventually her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted to sleep.

Merlyn woke to find Arthur's hand over her mouth and Morgana's men hovering over them on the cliff. Thanks to the bush and roots around them, she and Athur were left unnoticed, but they had to stay quiet. One peep and they would be done for. Several minutes passed and eventually the Saxons continued on, but the two remained still a bit longer till they knew they were out of ear shot.

"That was too close." Arthur muttered as he got to his feet.

Merlyn just nodded and trail on behind him, "You're telling me. We need to get out of these woods as quickly as possible and head back to Camelot."

"I'm not leaving my men, Merlyn." Arthur replied firmly. "I know you want us to regroup, but I can't abandon them out there."

"Arthur, be reasonable. We can come back! With greater force-"

"That's what we we're doing to begin with Merlyn! I won't risk anymore lives. I'm serious. The only reason any of my men are out here is due to my folly. What kind of king would I be if I returned without them?"

"Well, a live one for starters." She arched a brow.

"My decision is final. I'm going after them."

Merlyn opened her mouth to argue, but held her tongue. It was no use to argue once he made up his mind like this, so she nodded and let out an annoyed sigh, "Fine. Then we best get a move on then. We only have so many hours of daylight."

Luckily they hadn't ran into anymore Saxon's as the trekked through the cold woods, but now they had other concerns. They were in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, or transportation. They were screwed.

"If only we had a horse." Arthur sighed.

"Or a pig." Merlyn added.

"You can't ride a pig."

"No, but we could eat it. Roast it over a fire with carrots, parsnips, and apples-"

"Merlyn."

"You're right. that'd be a waste. The apples are much better suited for pie."

"Stop."

"I need to eat something, Arthur. I am starving!" She growled, she threw her hands up in frustration, then something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. "Wait a second... are those rabbits?"

Arthur looked up and saw the pile of dead game just sitting out in a clearing. It was odd to be sure and very suspicious looking. It was no doubt some sort of trap for the weak minded. Good thing he and Merlyn were- Wait a second, Merlyn was waltzing right up to it! He had to stop her! "Merlyn, what are you doing!? Don't touch those-"

Snap! Too late. As soon as she snatched them, she screamed and she found herself caught in a net up in a tree. "-rabbits. You just had to follow you stomach, didn't you?" Thankfully Arthur had been far enough that he didn't caught as well. Instead he smiled and laughed as he watched his friend struggle to escape.

She mocked his laughter, "Yeah, yeah. Quit laughing and help me get down from here! We don'y have time for this!" She snapped.

"I don't know, I'm thinking we should stay and hang around a while now." He smirked, "What do you say?"

"Arthur! I say cut me down now!" she tugged on the ropes, but it did nothing.

"Is that any way to speak to your king?" he ask, which only earned him a nasty glare from the young witch and a swinging fist.

"Get close enough and I would gladly show you the proper way I should speak to a bloody king. What happened to all that nonsense of chivalry you spout these days?"

"Fine, fine." The blond sighed and found the rope that was keeping her suspended in the air, "No need to get your knickers in a twist." He took his sword and cut her down. She fell with a short shout and a thud. which again, made Arthur laughed when she sat up with her messy long black hair covered in leaves and twigs.

She blew a strand out of her face and glared at the king. "Bloody twat." She curse under her breath.

"I heard that."

For the past several days Merlyn and Arthur had been walking on foot to reach Ismere. Long had they left the dense woods and now found themselves in a frozen wasteland. Snow was falling, food and shelter were scarcem, and the wood was wet, so there was no chance to warm themselves or fight the cold. Also neither of them had suitable clothing for the icy weather, thanks to the raid. The only fortunate they had was the dead rabbits she found a couple days ago. She spent night drying them out over a steady fire before they started crossing the snow. It wasn't much but it would get them by till they find their men, or at least that's what they told themselves.

"Keep up Merlyn. It should only take us three days to make it to Ismere. If we keep it at this pace it'll take us a week."

"It would have only taken us three days if we had horses." She reminded, "Which we don't have. Also we're off to save fifty men in a castle filled with hundreds, with an army we also no longer have. Not to mention our attire-"

"Merlyn!" He snapped at her, but she held her ground.

"No! We should have gone back to Camelot!" She shouted. "We're not going to be able to save anyone if we keep going on like this! If the cold doesn't kill us, then our hunger surely will. Tell me Arthur, what good would we be to those men if we freeze and die out here first!"

"We're almost there!" He pressed, "If you would stop-"

"Oi! I hear something!" They heard someone shout from their left.

Arthur and Merlin immediately stopped their bickering and ran for closest cover they could find.

"I'm tellin' you John. Its just the one of the captives." Merlyn looked over and saw a man with a bushy grey beard and covered in furs rode into her view. Thankfully the snow bank they were behind was quite wide and tall, so they were completely hidden from the men. "You think anyone else in their right mind would be out here?"

Another man, this one was large and stocky rode up next to him. "I swear to the gods, if this is another false alarm, I'm gonna-"

"Enough. We're loosing daylight." Another deep voice spoke up and Merlyn recognized it immediately. "The Lady Morgana isn't known for her patience."