A.N: I'm absolutely in love with season 5 of Merlin. So many good episodes. I loved last night's so much but I was kind of hoping for something a little different at one point. I wasn't really disappointed when it didn't happen but I decided to write it out myself. It's been a while since I've written anything for Merlin so here's hoping I've not gone rusty.

NOTE: If you haven't already guessed. SPOILERS. Lots of tasty spoilers for 5x08 "The Hollow Queen" especially. If you haven't seen the episode GO WATCH IT NOW and then come back. This is an AU of episode 5x08 from when Merlin and Daegal are going to stop Albin from killing Arthur. Also, non-slash, but plenty of bromance.

NOTE 2: Okay, so I go a little carried away with this. It was supposed to only be a one-shot but I ended up writing quite a lot (like 5000 words…) and I've decided to split it up into a two-shot. Also, I had no idea what to call this; it's mainly inspired by the episode title. Enjoy.

Hollow Duty

By Justine Themis

The pain in Merlin's leg was agonising. The stick he had picked up to try and lift some of the weight from it was doing very little to help, though it had managed to keep him from falling over every time the pain caused his leg to buckle.

Daegal had offered to help half-carry him, offered more times than Merlin cared to count. But he had refused; Merlin was quicker on his own. Daegal would try to be careful helping him walk and they didn't have time to be careful. Merlin had to find Arthur before it was too late.

Panic was slowly rising in the back of Merlin's throat. He could not find Arthur anywhere. He wasn't anywhere Merlin thought he would be. There were still a few other places he had yet to check but time was slowly running short.

Merlin slowed to a steady limp, his chest was heaving and sweat laced his brow. Daegal stopped beside him, watching him with worry. The pain in Merlin's leg had numbed somewhat from the adrenaline, but it did little to lift the exhaustion his body was putting him through. He could already feel his head fogging from the after-effects of the tincture he had taken; soon enough he would unable to even put weight of his legs. He had to act quickly before he became useless, otherwise Arthur would surely die.

"We need to split up," Merlin said through deep breaths; now that he had stopped moving so quickly the pain in his leg began to elevate. Merlin pointed off to the left, "You go that way. Check every room."

Daegal shook his head, "I'm not leaving you." Merlin knew Daegal was trying to help, but following him around was doing little for either of them; splitting up would be a much better course of action.

Merlin tightened his grip on his make-shift cane. "I'm not asking." Merlin said. Any other time, Merlin would have felt guilty for how he was speaking to the Daegal. He was only trying to help, Merlin reminded himself. "I need you to go that way. I have an idea where Arthur may be but whoever's going to attack him might be doing so from elsewhere. I need you to look out for anyone suspicious. Just until I can get to him."

Daegal hesitated still.

Merlin looked at him desperately, "Please."

Daegal looked Merlin in the eyes for a moment before he finally relented. His shoulders sank and everything about him told Merlin he was still unsure about the whole idea, but he nodded. "I'll do everything I can." he said before turning and running off in the direction Merlin had pointed to.

Merlin was limping off in the opposite direction in an instant, his cane scraping loudly against the floor.

Merlin had not remembered King Sarrum until a few moments ago. Merlin mentally kicked himself for his forgetfulness. With the king visiting they're bound to be in the throne room, Merlin thought. Arthur had mentioned a few days back about forming a treaty with Sarrum in the hopes of finding Morgana. But in a room surrounded by armed knights the attacker wouldn't dare make an attempt on Arthur's life at a short distance. They would need a vantage point, somewhere high and over-looking the throne room. But there were approximately four points from where the attacker would have good view over the throne room, and therefore over Arthur, and Merlin did not have time to check each of them.

His best hope was to get to Arthur first. If he could get to Arthur he could protect him no matter where the attacker was coming from. If not he could only pray that Daegal would be able to find the attacker before Merlin was too late.

The stairs were a challenge for Merlin. Not only were his legs now shaking but the steps curved dangerously at one point, making it hard to hold his footing and he slipped. His cane slipped from his hand and he fell half-way down the steps on his backside before he managed to gain his balance. Unfortunately he did so on his bad leg and the pain in his leg erupted into agony once more. He bit his lip to stop himself from crying out and breathed through the pain before pulling himself up. He hopped the final few steps, using the railings and wall as leverage. He found his cane at the bottom of the stairs and continued heading towards where he hoped Arthur would be.

Merlin had tried muttering a few spells for his pain and injuries, but whatever Morgana had given him must have done something to his magic as well. He could still feel the thrum of it inside him, but it was as weak and exhausted as he felt. He remembered far too clearly how his magic had fought against the poison Morgana had forced into him, how it had throbbed and bubbled inside him, trying to rid the vile liquid from his body. But it had lost and his magic was still recovering. Had it not been for Daegal, he would have surely died.

His magic may be recovering but that did not mean he was entirely useless, even if all he had was a long stick for a weapon. He was the only one aside from Daegal who knew of the attack on Arthur, and it was his job to protect Arthur, magic or not. So Merlin fought through the pain and pressed on as fast as his body was able.

Merlin was heaving when he finally made it to the entrance of the throne room. The door was shut but unguarded, which Merlin thought was slightly odd, but there were voices on the other side and he knew immediately that he had been right. That was all the attention Merlin gave to it before he pushed the door open with a loud heave.

Just as Merlin entered the room he heard the loud twang of a bolt being released from its bow. He heard the sickening thump of pierced flesh and the yell of an injured man and Merlin's stomach dropped. He searched out Arthur and was relieved to find him unharmed, instead leaning over the dead King Sarrum. The bolt had missed its mark, instead sinking into the chest of Sarrum rather than Arthur's.

Merlin looked up towards the southward balcony from where the bolt had come from, just barely catching sight of Daegal dragging the attacker to the floor. Daegal had managed to save Arthur just in time. Merlin was almost sorry that Sarrum had died, but not so sorry that he had died in Arthur's place. If that was the price of Arthur's life then he would take it.

Up on the balcony Merlin could hear the sounds of a struggle between Daegal and the attacker, but then there was nothing and the attacker stood up once more. He couldn't see Daegal anywhere. Arthur and the knights had yet to notice where the attack had come from, too stunned by the sudden death of the visiting king, and the attacker was already reloading for a second shot.

Without thinking, Merlin dropped his cane, his pain forgotten, and ran towards Arthur. He called out Arthur's name and everything seemed to slow down. He heard the twang of the second bolt being released just as Arthur turned towards him and Merlin barely managed to shove Arthur away from the bolt's path.

Time returned to normal and Merlin's shoulder exploded with agony.

The bolt pierced into his right shoulder and Merlin yelled out in pain. The momentum of the bolt knocked him sideways, and he fell flat on his side. The knights seemed to get over their initial shock over Sarrum's death, suddenly aware that their king was in danger. Men began shouting "Protect the king! Protect the queen!" and others gave orders to find whoever had released the bolts. Swords were drawn and men were running in all directions.

Merlin screwed his eyes shut. He dared not look at the bolt embedded in his shoulder, knowing that doing so would only make the pain feel even worse. His breathing came out in short bursts as both the pain in his shoulder and leg seemed to blend together, spreading like wide-fire through his body. He tried pushing himself up but what adrenaline and energy he had had before was now spent and he could barely move his legs, let alone an arm to push himself up with.

Merlin was left lying on the cool floor, the knights too preoccupied in finding the attacker, and he was momentarily forgotten until he felt a hand press against his back and someone calling his name. But then the person beside him was joined by another shouting "Sire, you can't be here! You must leave immediately!" The hand did not move, the person it belonged to protested. The other man continued shouting, "I'll look after him sire, but you must leave now!" and the hand was gone from his back.

New and stronger arms were put under Merlin's legs and back and he was lifted from the ground. They were cautious of Merlin's shoulder, one hand tucked neatly around his shoulder just under where the bolt pierced his flesh so his arm did not move so much, but they must not have known about the leg wound. Any healing his leg wound had undergone was now ripped open. His body spasmed in pain and he groaned loudly. Whoever was carrying him apologised as they moved through a crowd.

Merlin attempted to open his eyes but every movement seemed an effort on his part, so he listened. The throne room had died down some, the clatter of iron boots echoing off into the distance as they searched for the attacker, but there was still an uproar through the castle. Sarrum's men had burst into an outrage, screaming for the blood of their king's killer. One man began shouting about how Arthur's treaty had been a ploy to get Sarrum to come to Camelot to be killed, but he was instantly silenced by another.

Merlin was carried out of the throne room and the noise soon became a dull echo in his head. He remembered little much after that, and soon the light behind his eyes began to fade as he fell into unconsciousness.

to be continued

/A.N: Part two will either be posted tomorrow night or the day after (I haven't really finished editing it yet. So I'll get on to that as soon as I have some free time) but I guess it really depends on if people actually enjoy it. Hopefully there weren't too many mistakes (I've only had a chance to watch the episode once, so hopefully I've got things right. I remember on the first draft I kept spelling Daegal's name "Dreagel" and I had no clue what Albin's name was). The next chapter is much longer (this chapter was about 3 pages, the next is 5 pages long). It took a long time to decide if I wanted this as a one-shot or two-shot, but from its full length I think as a two-shot works better.

Also big thank you to my sister and beta Nada Themis for looking over this for me.

Thank you for reading!

Justine