Merthur one shots || Merlin

Wolf

Merlin sighed to himself as he finally spotted another flower Gaius had sent him out to get. Even though he was now Court warlock he still volunteered to collect herbs for the physician no matter what time of day it is, which is how he found himself out in the woods just near Camelot's gates in the middle of the night.

Merlin and Arthur had just finished signing yet another peace treaty with a neighbouring kingdom when the warlock was summoned to get some Herbs for Gaius who was treating a sick patient. Arthur assured him he could finish the rest of the meeting and sent him off with a kiss on the cheek before the boy scurried off.

He smiled to himself when he finally found the last flower on the list, the Calandula flower, after searching for what felt like forever. He jumped down from the rock he was standing on and strolled over to the flower, smiling to himself before he picked the flower and put it in the basket with the others.

He was about to turn around and walk back home when he heard a twig snap. He shot up and kept his gaze forward, trying to decipher weather the noise had sounded in front or behind him. After scanning the area in front of him and finding nothing, he shrugged his shoulders and swivelled around, only to come face to face with a very angry wolf.

Merlin gulped and subconsciously gripped his cloak, something he had always found himself doing in danger. His eyes widened when the wolf started to growl as it eyed him intensely, saliva drooling from it's mouth and puddling on the leaves underneath them.

He cautiously turned his head to look for a way out. He knew he would have to somehow get past the wolf to get back in the direction of Camelot which was practically impossible. Merlin briefly thought about using his magic but something about the red in the wolf's eyes told him it was some magical creature that wouldn't go down without a fight and he didn't have the energy to fight it when he could barely keep his eyes open.

"okay, nice doggy" Merlin joked, partly trying to calm himself down enough to think rationally.

When the wold growled in response, showing even more teeth, Merlin knew he was going to have to at least try and defeat it with magic. Which led an either bigger question, would he be too weak to fight it or would he emerge victorious?

Merlin carefully set the basket down and took a deep breath before he muttered a spell under his breath. He felt his eyes gold and the magic surge through his veins before it was released in the form of a fireball.

He let out a breath of relief when the wolf whimpered and staggered backwards. Using it as what could be his only chance of escape, he ran as fast as he could towards Camelot's gates. He kept running as fast as he could, occasionally looking backwards to see if the wolf was following him and to his relief it seemed to still be dazed. Just when he could see the guards on either side of the gates in the near distance, he heard another growl which was followed by the sounds of heavy breathing and nearing footsteps.

Merlin tried his best to use his magic to make him run faster or to slow down the wolf with no avail as it eventually caught up to him and grabbed a hold of his legs, pulling him to the ground where he desperately tried to crawl away. He let out a shuddering scream when the wolf continued to tear through his pants, shaking him around like a chew toy until he moved up to Merlin's torso.

A few more shuddering screams later the wolf had completely torn his tunic and the bottoms of his pants, leaving horrific lacerations all over his arms, torso and legs. His breathing quickened as he tried his best to stay awake but it was no use, he was becoming light-headed fast and could barely keep his eyes open from exhaustion.

The last thing he saw before he was slipped into a state of unconsciousness was the wolf yelping again and falling to the ground with an arrow in it's heart.