Merlin One-Shots

Bandit Attack

"MERLIN!"

Merlin jolted awake as Arthur stormed into his room, a grim look on his face. Surprisingly, Arthur was already dressed, armor and all. This caused Merlin to jump out of bed, worry clear on his face.

"W-What's going on?" Merlin asked worriedly.

"We have reports that there are bandits scouring and attacking the outlining villages for slaves," Arthur explained, watching as Merlin quickly made his bed. "We're going to check it out. Meet us at the horses in thirty minutes."

Arthur then left just a quickly as he arrived, causing Merlin to shake his head in confusion. He quickly dressed, ate an apple for breakfast, and ran out to see Arthur and the knights prepared to leave. Leon, Percival, Arthur, Lancelot, and Elyan all looked alert. Gwaine and Mordred, however, looked half asleep. Arthur motioned Merlin to hurry up and get on his horse, and Merlin obliged. Soon, the knights, the king, and the warlock galloped out of Camelot, leaving it in the care of Gwen. 

*Two days later*

"I'M BORED!"

"GWAINE! WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!"

Said knight huffed in reply and leaned back in his saddle. Arthur sighed with relief as he saw smoke from one of the villages fill the air. He urged his horse forward, and the others soon followed. When they arrived into town however, they were greeted with an eerie silence.

"Something doesn't seem right," Percival muttered.

Just as those words escaped his mouth, they heard battle cries. Out of the homes came a large group of bandits. Surprise soon fading away, the knights and Merlin jumped off their horses, the knight pulling out their swords. Arthur motioned for his knights, and they all formed a protective circle around Merlin. The bandits just thought that the king and the knights were just trying to protect the servant, but they were wrong. Arthur and the knights knew that if the bandits found out about Merlin's magic, they would do everything in their power to take him and sell him as a slave. They decided to try and hide him so he could use his magic without being discovered. 

The bandits soon came into contact with them, and the sound of metal clashing against metal was soon heard throughout the abandoned village. Arthur and his knights managed to run most of them through, while Merlin used his magic from the sidelines. Weapons flew out of bandits' hands, some bandits tripped, and some of their blades turned red with unbearable heat. The bandits were almost done for, but a loud yell of pain sliced through the air like a knife. 

Arthur whirled around just in time to see Merlin fall to the ground, an arrow in his back. Blinded by rage, he tried to fight his way over to Merlin, the knights helping him. They saw two bandits begin to drag Merlin away, and more bandits came to stop Arthur and the knights. There were too many of them, and when they all laid dead at the feet of Arthur and the knights, Merlin was nowhere to be seen.

Arthur screamed in anger as he thrust his sword into the ground, and he fell to his knees. The knights could literally hear Arthur's heart break as he stared at the ground. They waited a little bit before Mordred cautiously approached his friend. 

"Arthur," Mordred stated. "We need to go after them."

Arthur only nodded in reply, retrieved his sword, stood up, and climbed onto his horse. The other knights followed suit, and soon they were riding off deep into the woods.

***

When Merlin awoke, he found himself kneeling on the floor of Cenred's kingdom. His hands where tied behind his back with magical chains that prevented him from using any magic to escape. His back still stung from where the arrow hit, but he felt no blood running down his back.