Chapter Text
Merlin considered himself lucky. Lucky in a relative form that is. Not so lucky when he considered he was in the woods, freezing, on a horse, and had been riding all day. Not so lucky when he thought of the threat the bandits posed that they were trying to catch. But, for the time being, Arthur was save, as were the knights. They were alive and through some miracle still had all their limbs attached. So yes, Merlin considered himself pretty lucky. He was riding at the front of their party of fifteen knights. In front of him, King Arthur and Sir Leon were in deep, hushed conversation.
“What you reckon they’re talking about?” Gwaine who had come riding beside him said.
“Probably what Arthur is going to make me cook. Food is all he talks about these days.”
Gwaine laughed. Hard enough for Arthur to turn around and shoot Merlin a suspicious look. To which Merlin smiled innocently causing Arthur to roll his eyes at him.
“Got something to complain about Merlin? Might as well do it out loud.”
“Not at all sire. Out in the woods with bandits lurking around. What would be there to complain about?”
Percival snorted behind him and quickly tried to cover it up with a cough.
The bandits they were chasing had been terrorising the outskirts of the land for weeks. Travelling through the villages while stealing from the people and plundering the lands. Every time the message of a new raid arrived, Arthur immediately sent knights to investigate. And every time the bandits had vanished by the time they arrived. Arthur had been quite worked up about it. So when a message arrived that a large group of people carrying weapons had been spotted travelling south, Arthur had not hesitated and they rode out immediately.
“Toughen up Merlin, we won’t ride for much longer. Try to stay seated in the meantime”
“Well with our luck” Merlin retorted, “we’ll all be captured or dead by sunset anyway.”
Arthur shook his head “I love your optimism.”
“Sire” Leon called, getting Arthur’s attention “look.” Leon sped up and halted a yard away, clearly seeing something Merlin hadn’t. The rest of their small party followed swiftly. Out from behind the dense trees a deserted camp became visible. Merlin saw multiple extinguished campfires and the grass on the ground was tramped.
Elyan descended his horse and walked up to the remains of a campfire. “It’s cold, the thugs are long gone.”
Gwaine followed his example and looked around. “Are you sure we’re talking about bandits? This camp is large enough to accommodate a small unit.”
“Spread out” Arthur ordered. “See it you can find any hints of a trail, how long ago they left and who these people are. If these are the bandits we’re after we have greatly underestimated their numbers.”
And so they did. Merlin climbed from his horse, carefully tying her to a nearby tree and walked into the middle of the camp. It was od Merlin thought. The space was completely empty, nothing was left behind. There was no sign of people leaving in a rush or any signs of a struggle. And yet…
“What are you thinking?”
Merlin spun around startled to find Arthur so close behind him. He pointedly chose to ignore Arthur’s smug smile at having successfully sneaked up on him.
“I’m thinking it’s od” Merlin explained. Arthur raised a brow as if to ask “What is?” Merlin gestured to the deserted space.
“It is completely deserted, and I can’t see any signs of a struggle. They did not leave in a rush, yet didn’t care to hide their camp. They just picked up their stuff and left.”
“And?” Arthur asked in that annoying voice he used when he already knew the answer but wanted Merlin to explain it to him anyway. And Merlin, the stupid prat that he was, never could resist.
“Well, either they are incredibly stupid and have no clue they might have people tracking them. Or, they simply don’t care. They are confident enough to risk lighting fires and, by leaving the camp they are almost begging us to follow.”
“Precisely” Arthur said a small smile on his lips. He looked almost proud? “They outnumber us by far and they know it. They know that if it comes to a fight we are in trouble.”
“We found horse tracks heading south” Leon said as the knights returned from their exploration.
Merlin looked at Leon’s grim face with confusion. They had a trail to follow, the bandits were heading south. That was good news was it not? So why was south bad? Then it dawned on him. South was in the direction of…
“I fear they might travel through the Valley of the Fallen Kings, my Lord.”
Great, just great. Because nothing ever went wrong in the Valley of the Fallen Kings.
“We could go around” Merlin opted.
“We could” Arthur said. “But it would mean an extra day’s ride and we might lose the trail.”
Gwaine clasped Arthur’s shoulder “Well princess, you are the king. You get to decide.”
Arthur sighed looking pensive for a moment. “We go through. We cannot afford to put even more distance between us.”
And thus they went through. Maybe Merlin wasn’t so lucky after all.
……………………………………………………………………………………
Right from the moment they passed the stone statue that marked the entrance of the valley, Merlin was on edge. Well, he was always a little jumpy but how could he not be? Treats seemed to come from all directions these days. It had reached its peak when Arthur had just become king. Every enemy of Camelot had sought to test the newly crowned king. Arthur wasn’t even aware of half the murder attempts Merlin had stopped. So, Merlin had decided he earned the right to be a bit on edge. Arthur however didn’t share this opinion.
He threw Merlin a look back over his shoulder. “Merlin, quit acting like your own shadow is scaring you. You’re making me nervous.” Arthur stated.
“I don’t like this place.”
“No one likes this place. Now stop acting like you’ve seen a ghost, you’re pale enough as it is.”
“It is literally called the Valley of the Fallen Kings. Last I checked you were a king and I have no interest in you falling over.”
Arthur shook his head and turned forward again. Even by looking at his back, Merlin could picture his exasperated frown.
Next to Arthur, Leon’s horse breezed nervously. Merlin instantly straightened in his saddle.
“See, you’re even making the horse nervous.”
“Or it sensed something.” Merlin replied, his eyes darting around. He really did not like this place. He could feel his magic bubbling on the surface, tickling just beneath his skin, ready to be used if needed.
Arthur sighed “Merlin would you just…”
He didn’t finish his sentence as Arthur’s own horse now huffed in alarm followed by all the others. Merlin had the distinct feeling the air had cooled and it sent a chill down his spine. It seemed Arthur finally took the situation more seriously as he started scanning their surroundings. He drew his sword, and the knights followed his example. Cautiously they rode on.
Merlin felt them before he could see them. He halted his horse and whipped his head up to the edge of the cliff. Not two seconds later fifteen bandits came storming down carrying swords, knives and even an axe.
As on cue, all the knights descended their horses, ready to face their opponents head-on. The bandits were almost all the way down when five bandits on horseback came galloping around the bend. Another six had snuck up behind them. They were surrounded and very outnumbered. This was bad.
Their situation quickly turned into chaos. Arthur and Gwaine joined the party fighting the bandits on horseback while Elyan, Leon and Percival handled four bandits who had now reached the bottom of the cliff. The chaos did have an advantage. Nobody noticed Merlin as he hid behind his horse, and his eyes stared flashing gold.
A man galloping towards Arthur was flown from his horse as suddenly the straps on his saddle snapped.
Merlin’s eyes darted between his friend, trying to see who needed help. He raised his hand and a bandit fighting Leon dropped his sword and found it too heavy to lift again. It gave Leon the opening he needed to strike him down. The man lay lifeless on the ground but Leon had no time to pause. Two new thugs came storming towards him to avenge their fallen friend.
Merlin’s eyes flashed again and one of them tripped landing in front of the other, causing them both to tumble to the ground. They cried out in surprise and Merlin swore he heard bones break.
He had no time to dwell on it though, as his gaze fell on Percival fighting three bandits at once. He made the hilt of a sword burning hot and the man screamed before dropping it.
Merlin kept working that way. Observing, helping where he could. He estimated their numbers were even now. Arthur was now fighting another bandit and Merlin quickly raised his hand again. Arthur did not hesitate to seize the opportunity and cut him down. He saved a knight he could not remember the name of, by stopping a sword just as it was about to hit him. Merlin was so focused on everyone else that he missed the one bandit who was focused on him. He was just about to give Elyan a hand when a searing pain shot through his upper arm. Merlin’s vision turned white and he let out a cry. He clutched his arm and found an arrow piercing his skin.
“Merlin!”
Arthur’s voice Merlin recognised. Merlin watched him finish off the two bandits with whom he was fighting and run towards him. Arthur reached him just as he was about to fall over.
The tie of the battle had turned. Merlin was very light-headed but, saw through the waves of dizziness that about half of the bandits had fallen. The other half had started retreating, realising this was a fight they were not going to win. The knights, thank the heavens, were pretty much unscathed.
“Don’t pull it out.” Merlin uttered.
“I’m not an idiot Merlin, despite your popular opinion.” Arthur snapped back, still keeping him steady. There was no heat in his tone. It was Arthur’s way of dealing with fear Merlin knew.
“Merlin!” Gwaine yelled, spotting Merlin being held upright by his king. “What happened?”
“Archer” Merlin hissed. “Didn’t spot him in time.”
“Can you treat it?” Arthur asked him as the fight had wholly ended.
Merlin looked down at his arm and the arrow pocking out of his flesh. “Probably.”
“Let’s get out of here first” Leon said having joined them. “We’re almost at the end of the valley, there is a stream there. We can water the horses and treat the injuries.”
Arthur looked at Merlin sceptical. “Can you handle riding?”
A horse was going to be painful but Leon was right and Merlin wanted nothing more than to get out of here as quickly as possible. So, he nodded.
“Fine” Arthur said. “You’ll ride with me, lets go.”