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How Not to Arrange a Party, Chapter 4

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They reached the clearing just as a band of cloaked and masked men charged through the trees. Most of the druids were on their feet in an instant, but a young man, who had been injured, wasn't so quick. A sword descended towards him, but Merlin lashed out with Magic, sending the man flying. The druid looked at him gratefully, and Merlin nodded, before repeating the action several times more. Tristan and Bedivere were surrounded by Men, and Arthur was fighting four of the men. Dodging the blasts of magic, Arthur was thankful that he had trained a few times against Merlin, but resolved to do more of it. He was suddenly hit squarely in the chest by a bolt of energy, and few back twenty feet. Landing in the ground, he looked dup in time to see his attackers blasted into the trees by Merlin. His manservants face was masked by an expression of hatred and determination that he had only ever seen once before, when Morgana had attacked. He ducked a blade that came swinging from his left, and slashed at the wielder, rewarded by the man collapsing to the floor.

Merlin realised that Arthur could handle himself, and ran towards Archie and three other druids. Their powers were not for attacking, and they were having trouble holding the twelve men around them at bay. Suddenly, Merlin's eye caught a flash of silver and red in the group, and one of the druids fell. Rage filled him, and Merlin felt the core of his power pushing to be unleashed. He let it go. The result was chaos.

The men around the druids went flying into the centre of the clearing, and knocked over several of their comrades. The fire spilled over and set light to all of the dried leaves and bracken on the floor. The flames spread rapidly, engulfing the clearing in a bright light. The attackers who were engaging Tristan and Bedivere turned to gasp at the sight, and Merlin lashed out, sending them hurtling toward the trees. They collapsed, piled in a heap, but Merlin was already dealing with another group. Kaden was holding his own, but was relieved, though startled, when his attackers went flying into the centre of the clearing. The piles of men grew as Merlin sent wave after wave of magic hurtling towards them. Within moments, all of the attacking men were beaten, and Merlin was getting shocked stares from everyone still standing.

The fire was still spreading, but, with the last dregs of his full power, Merlin caused a light drizzle to douse the flames. Once the flames were out, Merlin released the excess energy inside him and took a deep breath. Turning, he saw awestruck faces on the druids, which matched the expressions he was getting from Arthur, Tristan and Bedivere. Bedivere whistled softly, looking at the carnage,

"Remind me never to piss him off…" he said, softly, then grinned. The others soon followed suit, and Merlin found himself enveloped in hugs. The druids held back, a sense of decorum and respect holding them in their place, but Archie had no qualms about hugging him.
Arthur grasped Merlin's shoulder, shaking it slightly,
"I don't like being made redundant…" he said, but the smile on his face weakened the serious tone in his voice, and Merlin grinned.
"Erm… Oops?" His grin faded at the sight of the downed man, and his eyes widened slightly. "I did that…?"
"And saved our asses," Bedivere continued for him, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

Merlin couldn't help but feel relieved when he found that most of the men were just unconscious. He wasn't a killer…

It took nearly half an hour to bind the men, with vines that Merlin had dragged from the trees. Whilst the others had been trussing their attacker up, Merlin had been working on the druid who had been stabbed. Luckily, no-one else had been seriously hurt, but it took all of Merlin's ability to heal the wound in the young man's chest. He had managed it, however, and the wound was now barely more than a scratch. The druid's gratitude had been too much for Merlin, and he had night on had to order the man to stop thanking him. The druid, whose name was Baylin, had finally got the idea and had shut up, heading off to help his comrades. Merlin had sat down, intending to get a few moments rest, but found himself nodding off to sleep.

Arthur looked over to Merlin, and realised that he was asleep. Remembering that Merlin was meant to be resting anyway, he had started to worry. Using magic like that couldn't be helping him to heal properly from the after effects of his wound… and Arthur had noticed that he had been suffering slightly, though he had tried to hide it. Resolving to let him sleep, Arthur and the others finished tying up the men just as the sky began to lighten.
"Right…" Everyone turned to Arthur, who stifled a yawn. "It's been a long night, and I'm pretty sure that we won't be attacked again. We all need sleep, so I say we get a few hours in before morning properly hits us."
"Your majesty…?" It was the druid that Merlin had healed, and he looked rather scared, If Arthur admitted it, to be addressing him.
"Yes?"
"Emrys… Merlin… He said I shouldn't sleep for a few hours… I could keep watch…"
Arthur nodded.
"Okay. If that is okay with you then it's a good plan."
"It's fine Your majesty… I'm really not all that tired…"

Merlin woke up to bright sunlight on his face. Looking up, he realised it must be nearly noon and roused himself. Looking around, he saw everyone asleep, aside for Baylin, who was focused intently on a small flower in front of him.
Getting silently to his feet, Merlin made his way over, and realised that the Druid was making the plant grow. The small bud was opening to reveal a bright purple flower, and Merlin spoke up.
"It's beautiful…"
The druid started, but smiled.
"It's really just practice Emrys… Shaping something as it grows to encompass your ideas…"
"I've heard of that… never attempted it… And please, call me Merlin."
The druid smiled and gestured towards to another small weed on the ground, then shrugged.
"The incantation is 'bláth ag fas bi mo mian'"

Merlin knelt down and watched what the druid did then, when he thought he had the hang of it, he muttered the spell, and felt something from the plant. Like some kind of connection. An idea came into his head, and he felt the plant follow his will. He didn't realise that the druid had stopped what he was doing, and was looking at him, awestruck, instead Merlin was focused on his project. He also failed to notice the steadily growing group of people around him, including Arthur, Bedivere and Archie, and didn't hear an astounded Baylin say that it took many years to master what Merlin was currently doing…

Time stood still for Merlin, as he was sharing his mind with the nature of the plant, and he eventually realised he was satisfied with his work. He felt like he was pulling out of a strange dream, and opened his eyes to find a crowd of faces peering at him… no, not at him, at the plant at his feet.

Looking down, Merlin saw, for the fir time, his creation. The flower was blood red, its tips lighter than the centre of the petals, and the velvety petals were shot through with streaks of gold. The leaves, themselves, were a deep auburn, giving the flower depth and a sense of magic about it.
"Impossible…" he heard one of the druids whisper, and Merlin looked up.
"What's impossible?" Merlin asked.
"The skill takes years to master… and to match your ability, even the greatest of our masters find difficult to do…"
"Oh… Well… This was just instinctive I guess…"

Sensing Merlin's awkward state, Arthur interceded.
"Yes, that's all very nice, but we had better be moving if we have any chance of reaching the druids by Nightfall."
Merlin shot him a grateful look and got to his feet, leaving the druids to gawk at the flower.
Soon after, Merlin, Kaden, Bedivere and Arthur were riding towards the druids.
Tristan was to lead the druids back to Camelot, and inform Leon and the others of what had happened. If Arthur and the others hadn't returned three days after that, then they were to send out search parties. They had decided to leave their attackers tied up, and to send man back for them from Camelot. If they had escaped, well, they couldn't help that.
It was a good plan all round, and Merlin couldn't wait to get away from the gazes that followed him around, though he pitied Tristan having to try and tear them away from the damn flower. Kaden and Bedivere were acting as scouts in front and to the sides of Merlin and Arthur, and were trying to pick up any traces of the Brotherhood or their men, though so far they had not succeeded. Arthur turned to look at Merlin, a frown on his face.
"Merlin? I just thought of what that flower reminded me of. The crest of Camelot. The red background and the gold dragon…?" Merlin grinned.
"That's what I was thinking of. I shouldn't have bothered though. It caused te druids to admire me even more…"
"And only you can think of that as a bad thing…"
"It is a bad thing. I don't want to be seen as some… some…"
"Hero?"
"Well, yes…"
"Well, I'm sorry to say it Merlin, but I don't think you have a choice. You are a hero to them. You got them their freedom… gave them hope… Heck, you've saved me and Camelot more times than I care to remember. Of course they see you as a hero. And they have every right to."
"But that isn't me…" Merlin glared at the exasperated look on Arthurs face as he replied.
"For such a smart and powerful person, you really can be an idiot at times Merlin… "
"You think I'm smart…?"
"Well… Look, that's beside the point. What matters is that you stop thinking of yourself as some servant from Camelot."
"But I am a servant from…"
"But you are a damn sight more than that and you know it. You are the most powerful sorcerer in the history of forever, you are the smartest and bravest guy I know, and you're a damn good friend to boot. Damn it Merlin."
"Wow… Was that a compliment?"
"A string of them actually… but don't let them go to your head…"
"But Arthur… I don't know how to be… that person."
"Well… you kind of already are…"
"… Oh…" Merlin thought about that and his eyes widened. "I'd never thought about it like that before…" He yelped as a fist caught him in the shoulder. "What was that for?"
"Being an idiot… and making me sound like a moon addled idiot…"
"…Fair enough."

Merlin had cheered up considerably after that, and had shown it by amusing the other three by making leaves swirl and dance around them. And so the day past on into late afternoon. The sun had just started to dip beyond the edge of the forest when they arrived at the druid camp, and night had fallen by the time explanations had been exchanged.
A large group had gathered around to hear, and Merlin was told that many of them were from the other settlement, the women and children that had managed to escape. However, here were still some left unaccounted for.
They were left in peace to eat a stew that the druids had provided, but they said little, wrapped up in their own thoughts. Eventually, silence filled the cave as the day came to a close. The others slept, but Merlin found that it was too stuffy for him. Getting softly to his feet, he made his way outside and shuffled leaves and plants around to make a soft area on the ground. Lying down, he stared up at the stars and sighed. This was going to be a tough one. He eventually let sleep cover him and was soon dead to the world.
Just wanted to have a little drabbley bit where I showed a different side to Merlin.
Hope you liked it???
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