Merlyn - Arthur x Female Merlin [1]

PROLOGUE: When We Met

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Night had fallen in the woods but the young boy was not scared. He was used to the woods, he loved the woods. Red banners flew with a golden dragon roaring upon them all around the young boy's small camp. Five knights were sat around a burning fire with the young boy, the flames reaching for the sky. It was a quiet night and the young boy thought they were safe. However, he had never been attacked in the woods before; he always had an escort and had never truly been in danger (from what he had known). The moon was high in the sky and the young boy was mesmerised by the light shining in the sky. No one saw them coming, no one heard them either.

Suddenly out of nowhere, an arrow came flying by and buried into the neck of one of the knights. Blood spurted from his neck and he was dead in an instance. The young boy screamed as blood splattered onto him before he was grabbed and pulled into the body of one of the other knights. The knight had his sword drawn while the other three knights surrounded them with their own swords drawn. The silence was shattered by a chorus of battle cries.

"Bandits!"

"Protect the Prince!"

A group of bandits jumped the unexpected group. Arrows flew everywhere, swords clashed as the knights defended their future king. Whilst the knights were skilled warriors who fought with honour, the bandits were ruthless and brutal. But more importantly they had the numbers.

A dagger raced through the air into the skull of another knight, leaving the three knights and the young boy. The young boy clung to the knight as he began to panic when two more knights fell leaving only the knight he was clinging to alive. He was scared. The last knight and the boy were trapped. The five remaining bandits all sneered at them as they closed in on the two victims.

Silence filled the woods. Nothing moved in the area, everything held its breath. When an arrow suddenly flew through the air and lodged itself into one of the bandits' neck before another arrow flew into the forehead of the next bandit. The young boy watched in astonishment as the bandits fell with one shot. The knight, seizing the opportunity, lunged forward and stabbed another of the bandits but he was forced to let go of the young boy as a male bandit with a double ended axe swung at them. Being out of the knight's arms made the young boy an easy target, something the only female bandit knew. Quickly, she unsheathed a dagger before she began taunting her way towards the young boy who had only just started training with a real sword, there was no chance he would beat the bandit.

The knight fought bravely against the experienced, crazy bandit. The bandit hacked and slashed at the night with a gleeful snarl. The knight was able to block the vicious moves of the bandit until a cry shot through the air. It was high and shrill. It was the prince! The knight's head shot around to find the young boy on the ground with the female bandit on top holding him down with the dagger raised. As the knight was distracted the male bandit swung his axe straight into the knight's stomach. The knight was able to swallow his scream of pain but then he realised the truth of the situation: the prince was left to defend against the two bandits.

The young boy stared in terror as the dagger glinted in the light above him. He was trapped. The female bandit was strong and he couldn't dislodge the attacker. He was going to die. He struggled as much as he could but as the dagger was plunged down towards him, he screwed his eyes up tight and waited for the pain. But it never came. Instead the female bandit fell off of him, landing beside him. Opening his eyes, the young boy found himself staring into the eyes of the female bandit but the once vicious eyes were now cold and lifeless. He thought the arrow that was sticking out of her head would have something to do with that. Noticing another presence, the young boy found a young girl about his age staring down at him with a bow in her hand and an empty quiver on her hip. She offered her spare hand to him. The young boy took it. She had saved him.