EXT. EALDOR – DAY
Arthur trained the village men. "I won't be able to teach you everything there is to know about fighting with a sword, but you can learn the basics: the stance, how to parry a blow, how to land your own. On my count! One! Two! Three! Four! Now, you may have to watch for the feint. So, keep your feet moving, and only stay in range long enough to land your blow. And again. One! Two! Three! Four!"
Morgana, Anne and Gwen watched the training as they sharpened swords.
"One! Two! Three! Four!"
"There is no way they're going to be able to hold Kanen off," Morgana said.
"Men aren't the only ones who can fight," Gwen stated.
"Again," Arthur ordered. "One! Two! Three! Matthew. I want you to organise sentry duty to keep an eye out for Kanen and his men.
"Be glad to," Matthew replied.
"If there's any sign of attack, I want you to ride straight back here. I don't want you fighting all on your own."
"Ha-ha." He nodded.
EXT. EALDOR – DAY
Arthur drew water from the well to drink.
"Looks like the battle's already fought and lost," Morgana said.
"They'll toughen up," Arthur reasoned.
"They need to," Gwen and Anne told him.
"How are we doing for weapons?"
"There isn't much, but we should be able to scrape together what you need," Morgana replied.
"It's not the weapons that worry us," Gwen admitted. "It's having enough people to use them. We think the women should be allowed to fight."
"You haven't enough men. If they were trained soldiers, maybe you'd stand a chance, but they're not."
"It's too dangerous," Arthur told them as he walked towards the resting men. "Right! Back on your feet! Come on, let's go!"
INT. EALDOR, HUNITH'S HOUSE – NIGHT
The Camelot party slept, except for three.
"We don't stand a chance," Gwen said.
"Arthur can't see that," Morgana stated. "He's too stubborn."
Merlin and Colette woke.
"Why do you think he came here?" Anne wondered.
"The same reason we did: Merlin and Colette. Arthur may act like he doesn't care, but he wouldn't be here if he didn't."
INT/EXT. EALDOR, COMMON BUILDING – DAY
Arthur spoke to the men. "We're not going to be able to defend Ealdor with sword and sinew alone. We're going to need a plan. We need to find some way of limiting their mobility and drawing them into a trap. If we fight them on their terms, then..."
A village woman screamed. Arthur and the men rushed outside to investigate. Matthew was slung over a horse.
"Get him down from there!" Arthur ordered.
The village men took Matthew down as villagers gather around. Arthur read the note that was on the arrow in his back.
"What does it say?" Merlin and Colette asked.
""Make the most of this day, it will be your last.""
"Matthew!" Matthew's fiancée cried. "No! No! No!"
"You did this!" Will shouted. "Look what you've done! You've killed him!"
"It wasn't his fault," Merlin said.
"If he hadn't been strutting around, treating us like his own personal army, this would never have happened!"
"These men are brave enough to fight for what they believe in, even if you aren't!" Arthur retorted.
"You're sending them to their graves! You killed one man. How many more need to die before you realise this a battle that can't be won? When Kanen comes, you haven't got a chance. You're gonna be slaughtered."
INT. EALDOR, WILL'S HOUSE – DAY
Merlin and Colette followed Will into Will's house.
"Don't bother, Merlin, Colette," Will told them. "I'm not interested."
"You should be," Merlin argued. "Because tomorrow Kanen attacks, and whether you like it or not, we'll have to fight."
"Not if I'm not here."
Colette shrugged, letting out a sigh. "Well, that's up to you, but the rest of us are staying. Join us, Will! This isn't about Arthur, this is about your friends. Are you really going to abandon them?"
"What, like you and your brother did?"
Colette pursed her lips. "Merlin and I are here now."
"Yeah. Yeah, you two are. And you two could end this. If you two used your magic, then no one else would have to die."
"You know we can't," Merlin said.
"Can't or won't? I'm not the one abandoning these people, Merlin. You and Colette are."
INT. EALDOR, HUNITH'S HOUSE – DAY
Arthur sharpened his sword. Merlin sat down next to him, glancing to see his sister walk past with a sullen expression. Arthur turned, noticing the same expression.
Merlin said, "William's father was killed fighting for King Cenred, so he doesn't trust anyone of nobility."
"Do you think the villagers believed him?" Arthur asked.
"No. He's always been a troublemaker. They're used to ignoring him."
"And if he's right?"
"He isn't."
Hunith overheard them from inside her house.
"I'm treating these men like soldiers, and they're not. You've seen them fight. They... they haven't got a clue! You need to tell them all to leave the village before Kanen returns."
"No, we're going to stay. We're going to fight, and we're going to win."
"Merlin, it can't be done. The odds are too great."
"It can. We're going to make Kanen rue the day he ever came to this village. All you need to do is get the men ready for battle, and the rest will take care of itself."
"How?"
"You've just got to believe in them. Because if you don't, they'll sense it, and the battle'll be lost before it's even begun."
INT. EALDOR, COMMON BUILDING – NIGHT
Arthur addressed the villagers. "Tomorrow morning, the women and children should gather what belongings they can carry and go to the woods."
"We're not going anywhere!" Gwen and Anne argued.
"I know you want to help. The women can't stay here. It's too dangerous."
"The women have as much right to fight for their lives as the men do!" Gwen told him.
"But none of you know how to fight."
Anne shrugged as she said boldly, "The more of us there are, the better chance we stand!"
The women stepped forward.
"This is your home. If you want to fight to defend it, that's your choice. I'd be honoured to stand alongside you. Kanen attacks tomorrow. Kanen's brutal. He fights only to kill, which is why he will never defeat us. Look around. In this circle, we're all equals. You're not fighting because someone's ordering you to, you're fighting for so much more than that. You fight for your homes. You fight for your family. You fight for your friends. You fight for the right to grow crops in peace. And if you fall, you fall fighting for the noblest of causes: fighting for your very right to survive! And when you're old and grey, you'll look back on this day, and you'll know you earned the right to live every day in between! So you fight! For your family! For your friends! For Ealdor!"
The villagers stood with swords raised as they, Merlin and Colette chanted, "For Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor!"
INT. EALDOR, HUNITH'S HOUSE – NIGHT
Hunith sat pensively in her home. Merlin entered and hung up his jacket while Colette followed.
"Come here," Hunith said.
Merlin and Colette sat down beside her and she stroked their faces.
Hunith continued. "I do love you, my boy and girl."
"What's wrong?" Merlin and Colette asked.
"I should never have gone to Camelot. I've ruined everything for the two of you."
"You haven't," Merlin reassured. "Why would you say that?"
"I know what you're both planning to do."
Merlin sighed. "If it comes to a choice between saving people's lives and revealing who Lettie and I really are," he shrugged, "there is no choice."
"You two can't let Arthur or Anne know about your gift."
"Why not? Maybe it's meant to be this way. And if they doesn't accept us for who we really are, then he's not the friend we hoped they were."
---
The next morning, Colette made her way to the kitchen to see Gwen with a bowl of food. "Is that for-"
"Arthur," Gwen said. "Did you want to give it to him?"
"Please. I'd like to speak with him anyway."
Gwen nodded and handed her the bowl of food. "Good luck."
"Thank you."
EXT. WOODS – DAY
Arthur stood watch. Colette brought him a bowl of Hunith's home cooking.
"Arthur, my mother made you some food," Colette said, handing him the bowl.
"Thanks," Arthur replied as Colette turned to leave. He added with a mutter, "I think."
Colette stopped and turned back around. "Food is scarce for these people, you shouldn't turn your nose up at it!" Arthur stared at her. "Oh, no. I-I shouldn't've spoken to you like that. I'm sorry."
"Colette."
Colette started leaving. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. It won't happen again."
"Colette!" She turned to face him. "Thank you. You're right. And you were right to speak up. I should've listened to you, Anne, Gwen and Morgana." He muttered, "We're going to need all the help we can get."
"We'll be fine."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I have faith in you. I mean, we all do."
"Thank you. You're all right, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Last night you looked rather downcast."
"I'm fine, Arthur. I promise."
Arthur studied her expression and nodded slowly. "All right."
INT. EALDOR, HUNITH'S HOUSE – DAY
Merlin started to help Arthur with his armour.
"No, not today," Arthur said.
"Put on your own," Merlin told him.
They dressed for battle. Merlin struggled with the buckle on one of his bracers. Arthur helped him out.
"You ready?"
"My throat's dry."
"Me too." Arthur held out his hand and Merlin shook it. "It's been an honour."
"Whatever happens out there today, please don't think any differently of me. Or of Lettie."
"I won't. It's all right to be scared, Merlin."
"That's not what I meant."
"What is it? If you've got something to say, now's the time to say it."
Morgana and Anne entered and the former said, "Arthur. They've crossed the river."
EXT. EALDOR – DAY
Arthur went down the line of villagers, shaking hands. "You ready?"
"Ready," a villager replied.
"For Ealdor."
He reached Gwen and Colette and shook their hands. "Are you two frightened?"
"Not in the slightest," Gwen answered.
Colette shook her head. "No."
Gwen, Arthur, Colette and Merlin took their hiding positions. Kanen and his men rode out of the woods and into the village.
"Hold," Arthur said. "No one moves until they give the signal."
Kanen and his men stopped and looked around the empty village.
"Hold," Arthur said again.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," Kanen called.
"Now, pull!" Gwen and Anne shouted.
Gwen, Colette and a villager pulled up a hidden gate, trapping the riders inside. Morgana tried to light a fire with flint. Anne tried to help, but both weren't having luck.
"Now, Morgana. Now, Anne. What are you waiting for? Something's gone wrong."
Merlin rushed off.
"Merlin!" Arthur yelled.
Kanen spotted Merlin running. "There's one. Get him!" Merlin dodged the arrow. "Kill him!"
Merlin dodged again and reached Morgana and Anne, still desperately trying to light a fire. "Give me the flint."
Morgana handed them over and Merlin pretended to use them and said, "Baerne."
Merlin lit a fire and a prepared line flamed up, trapping the riders.
"Come back!" Kanen said. "Don't run away!"
Kanen's men rode back into the village.
"Now!" Arthur ordered.
The villagers gave a battle cry as they sprung out of hiding to fight. A rider came up behind Merlin, just as Colette walked up, and Will jumped off a roof in his father's armour to unhorse the rider.
"Lettie and I didn't think you were coming," Merlin said.
"Neither did I," Will replied.
Merlin, Colette and Will fight back to back. The villagers started losing. Merlin, Colette and Will stopped to assess the situation.
"There's too many of them," Will stated.
"Not for me and Lettie there isn't," Merlin told him.
Merlin and Colette said, "Cume thoden."
Merlin and Colette conjured a windstorm and Arthur and Anne saw. The villagers started winning and the remaining bandits fled. Gwen, Anne and Morgana hugged. Kanen marched out to face Arthur.
"Pendragon!" Kanen yelled.
Arthur fought Kanen and won, running him through. He then marched angrily towards Merlin, Colette and Will.
"Who did that?" Arthur demanded.
"What?" Merlin and Colette asked.
"Wind like that doesn't just appear from nowhere. I know magic when I see it. One of you made that happen."
"Arthur..."
Kanen picked up a crossbow and aimed it at Arthur.
"Look out!" Will yelled, pushing Arthur out of the way and got hit himself. Kanen died.
"Will!"
"You just saved my life," Arthur realised.
"Yeah," Will said. "Don't know what I was thinking."
"Come on! Get him inside!"
INT. EALDOR, WILL'S HOUSE – DAY
Merlin, Arthur, and a couple village men carried Will inside. Colette followed, blinking away tears.
"That's twice I've saved you," Will said.
"Twice?" Arthur questioned.
"Yeah, it was me. I'm the one that used the magic."
"Will, don't," Merlin and Colette told him and Arthur looked at them.
"It's all right, Merlin, Colette. I won't be alive long enough for anyone to do anything to me. I did it. I saw how desperate things were becoming and I had to do something."
"You're a sorcerer?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah. What are you gonna do? Kill me?"
"No. Of course not. Do what you can for him."
Merlin and Colette nodded. Arthur put his hand on Will's shoulder and led the women out.
"I was right about him. I told you he was going to get me killed."
"You're not going to die," Merlin told him.
"You're a good man, Merlin. A great man. Colette, you're a great woman. And one day, you're going to be servant to a great king and a great princess. Now you two can still make that happen."
"Thanks to you."
"This place has been boring without you two. It was good to see you two again."
"Yeah, you too," Merlin and Colette said.
"Merlin. Colette. Merlin, Colette, I'm scared."
"Don't be. It's going to be all right," Merlin reassured.
"Merlin, Colette..." He died.
Colette threw her arms around her brother as she cried.
Later, the villagers stood at Will's funeral pyre.
"I'm sorry," Arthur apologised. "I know he was a close friend."
"He still is," Merlin and Colette replied.
"You two knew he was a sorcerer, didn't you? That's what you were going to tell me?"
"Yes," Merlin answered. "It was."
"You know how dangerous magic is. You shouldn't've kept this from me, Merlin." He walked over to Morgana, Anne and Gwen.
Hunith walked over to Merlin and Colette and said, "You better be going."
"I don't have to go," Merlin and Colette told her.
"Yes, you do."
"If anything were to happen to you..." Merlin trailed.
"I know where to find you both. You and Colette have to go, Merlin. You belong at Arthur's side. Colette belongs at Anne's and I suspect at Arthur's as well. I've seen how much they need you. How much you need them. You're each like two sides of the same coin."
"Lettie and I've heard someone say that about us before. We're going to miss you."
Merlin and Colette hugs their mum.
"I'm going to miss you, too. When you left, you were just a boy. Colette was just a girl. Now look at you two. I'm so proud of you both."
Gwen, Morgana, Arthur, Colette, Anne, and Merlin rode for Camelot.
Hunith voiced, "When the time is right, the truth will be known. Until then, you two must keep your talents hidden. It's better for everyone."