lost continents (au merlin; m/a) part eight
lost continents
part eight
warnings for some violence, non-graphic sexy tiems
"War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
- J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers)
Liam and Paul’s mother insisted that they get everything free. This includes free food from the diner, a deed that would make you a goddess in Will and Gwaine’s eyes, free rooms in the inn and pretty much everything else.
Arthur sneaks into bed while everyone was at dinner, contentment rolling around in his stomach and chest, crawling up to his eyes, finally letting them close. He doesn’t know what time he wakes up but he knows that when he does, there’s a warm body next to him.
“Mmm,” he sighs happily.
“I can’t remember the last time I slept in a proper bed,” Merlin tangles his fingers in his hair. “I bet it’s all sturdy and stuff.”
“No sex,” Arthur says sternly, not even bothering to open his eyes.
“Mean,” Merlin says and Arthur can practically hear his pout. “You were amazing today.”
“You really think so?” he asks sleepily but he manages to lift up his face and see him.
“Yeah, I really think so. The town trusts you and believes in you. Liam got some people to volunteer as fighters and he says we should start training tomorrow. Gwen’s ready on the weapons front and Lance and Leon are equipped enough to train them. It’s better than nothing.”
“How’s Paul?”
“He’s got a new hero now,” Merlin has his finger travel the canvas of Arthur’s face tenderly. He pulls Arthur closer and lets him use his chest as a pillow. “Go to sleep.”
She stirs in the middle of the night, only noticing the absence of the body that’s supposed to be next to her.
“Come back to bed,” she says groggily. She sees Leon’s figure by the window, the moonlight casting a blue hue on his handsome face. A face that almost looks angry, as well.
“You were having another nightmare,” Leon tells her.
“It’s nothing,” she sits up.
“No, it’s nothing, Morgana,” he faces her. “I’m your boyfriend and I know that sounds lame and too temporary for us but I have to know these things and I need you to tell me. It’s you and me, just like it’s always been.”
“I know,” she breathes out heavily, brushes the hair that’s obstructing her view. “I know this hard for you but it’s hard for me, too. With Paul and…Mordred-”
“Don’t talk about him!” Morgana yells in a fit of unexpectedness. “They took him from me!”
Usually, when Leon brought up the tender subject of her son, all she did was result in a few sobs and he’d have to say things that would never be true in her ear, and not telling her it was hurting him just as much as it was hurting her. Not this time, though.
“No! They took him from us!” Leon yells back at her. “He was as good as my son, too, Morgana! I care about him more than I do myself!”
“You don’t know how it feels! You don’t! You can sleep soundly at night and only be reminded by him once in a while. I see him every day, every night, in every little boy and I’m still looking for him. I’m his mother, Leon, and it fucking hurts.”
“It fucking hurts me, too. Sometimes I wonder if we’re even in a relationship, Morgana, because you take this in your steps, not in ours. I’ve always been here and, whether you like it or not, I always will be.” Leon and Morgana lock eyes and he can see so clearly that she’s crying now.
“I want you to be,” she says. “I love you, you know that, right?”
“I love you, too. It’s just…I need to hear it once in a while because I’m here always. I loved our life together; taking care of Mordred, taking care of you…I just want to take care of you again.”
“I’m sorry,” she says timidly. “I’m a bitch to you sometimes and I can’t help it. Talking about Mordred hasn’t been something I’ve been good at. After two years, it’s still something I don’t want to talk about.”
“’s alright,” Leon says, still fuming.
“Just come back to bed, will you?” Morgana smiles.
Leon sighs and looks at her, sees how beautiful she is, even when she’s a wreck like this, with her messy hair and eyes watering and knows full well he can never run from her, just like she’s never going to be able to have a life without him, watching over her and protecting her with all he’s got.
Arthur wakes to the coos of, “Aren’t they just precious?” He blinks his eyes and sees Lance, Leon and Gwaine looming over him.
“Oh, yes, so precious it’s nauseating,” Gwaine nods.
Merlin gives a sleepy laugh next to him and Arthur rolls off the bed, makes sure he feels the ground beneath him and puts on a shirt because, obviously, Arthur would’ve had to have sex with Merlin after he said all those wonderful things to him. He’s a sap, he knows, but so’s Merlin, secretly.
“Come on, we’ve got training with the lads and ladies,” Leon says cheerfully.
Arthur might’ve dreamt it but he could’ve sworn that he heard Leon’s voice last night, as well, only in a higher octave that it usually was, like he was angry. But whatever remnants of the anger have seemingly subsided and all Arthur can see now is a man who is pumped and ready to go.
“We’ll meet you downstairs for breakfast, then,” Lance says, clapping a hand on Leon and Gwaine, pushing them out the door.
Merlin has, apparently, fallen asleep again, face-down into the pillows, wearing only his large shirt that barely cover his arse and Arthur smiles at the sight. He presses his body on Merlin’s and buries his face in the crook of his neck.
“Wake up,” he urges him.
“Grr, no,” he moans sleepily.
“Come on, I need my biggest cheerleader with me,” Arthur says.
“Fine,” Merlin turns around and Arthur traps him with his arms.
“Thank you,” he leans down and kisses him good morning. He goes out and the door slams behind him without Merlin even having to speak an incantation.
Once again, he’s wondering why he’s got to meet the blasted Emrys fellow when he’s got a great sorcerer right in his bed.
Everyone except Merlin is seated around the wooden table, including Liam and his mother. Paul is behind the counter and serving drinks to the rest. Now, Leon and Lance aren’t smiling anymore, their faces are grave as a letter is passed from one hand to the other.
“What happened?” Arthur asks.
“We got a letter from the Knights. The bandits were right,” Lance answers. “They’re coming tomorrow evening for Paul. The bandits are going to be there with them so it’s safe to say they’re going to wreck havoc.”
“Wreak havoc, how exactly?” Arthur crosses his arms.
“We don’t have much, sire, but they’re going to take everything. The crops, our spoils. We won’t make it through the month if they take them,” Liam’s mother says. The title ‘sire’ makes him etch a bit but he supposes he’ll have to get used to it.
“What happens if they take Paul?”
“Everything worse than that, sire.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what they do with sorcerers, Arthur,” Morgana says.
“I’ve heard stories but…”
“They become both puppet and puppet masters. They control the knights, put spells on them, and Cenred controls them. You’d think the foundation of his army would get special treatment but he treats them as badly as he does everyone else. Shackled in chains, imprisoned.”
“But Paul…”
“They would do the same to him without hesitation,” Leon nodded.
“That’s the most horrible thing I’ve heard,” Arthur sits down next to Gwen, barely containing the anger he feels and the sympathy for the people that have already been caught.
Imagining Morgana being imprisoned like that, having Paul’s powers abused, Merlin’s life on the line, it’s a cruelty he didn’t know existed.
“Come on, breakfast,” Will passes him a plate with a sympathetic smile.
He eats without much taste and he doesn’t even know what he’s eating until his plate is cleared and Merlin’s already come down. He manages to get Arthur out of his daze by putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, rubbing his thumb there, helping him stand.
“I’m alright now,” Arthur says.
“Alright,” Merlin nods but he doesn’t leave his side as they walk outside. He can’t lose Merlin to this war, he just can’t.
Before he knows it, they’re in a wide field, with dozens of citizens of the town of Daira. The girls split them up into group, into people who will fight and people will be on look-out and be the brains of the batch.
Gwen, Merlin and Liam stay with the brains while Arthur, the other boys and Morgana stick with the brawn. He has to hand it to Gwen; the weapons they’re using are great. His own sword stays beside him as he surveys the men and women, seeing them match their partner’s blows. They aren’t trained soldiers but neither are any of them. He spots Merlin’s eye in the middle of all the training and smiles to himself.
“Sire?” a woman asks. She’s unsure of her abilities; he can see it in her face.
“You’re doing great; just keep following us, alright?” Arthur smiles at her reassuringly.
“Thank you, sire,” she nods.
They carry on for a few more hours, until the afternoon sun blazes and sets them on heat and they all take a breather under roofs and their hands around cups of water.
“Is everything alright?” Gwen asks.
“Fine. As fine as we can be,” he shrugs. “Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah, we do. We’ll meet up after lunch with the people,” Gwen nods. “How are you feeling? Cause I’m feeling great but maybe it’s just because I’ve got a chance to get my hands dirty. They’ve got a couple of computers here but it’s enough for me. It’s been years since I’ve even touched technology.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You sound pumped,” Arthur laughs.
“Oh, I am,” she nods vehemently.
She practically skips off to the inn and he’s alone once again. Do they have a chance at all?
After lunch, he’s sort of lost hope that they’ll win at all. He’s heard the stories of the Knights, of how ruthless they are and because of the spell most of them are under, they will kill a child without even a slice of remorse.
It’s horrible and these people don’t have a clue. It’s not as if he knows any better but he has more at stake. If he ruins this, if they either take Paul or anything else, then what are the chances that he can govern a kingdom for the rest of his life? These people trust him and he can’t betray that by sending them to their graves.
He leaves Leon in charge of training as he goes to organize his mind. He should’ve known Merlin would notice and follow him.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
“I’m not sure,” he looks out into the town, sees the houses and the men and women and he feels a pang of guilt.
“Would you like me to suck your cock, just to make you feel better?” Merlin shrugs.
“Maybe later,” Arthur says and gives a weak laugh as he sits next to him on the bench.
“What’s wrong? Tell me.”
“They don’t have a clue. These people, we’re sending off to fight and they don’t even know what they’re fighting against.”
“They volunteered, Arthur.”
“It doesn’t make me feel any less guilty, Merlin.” Merlin exhaled and shuffled closer to Arthur, taking his hand, intertwining their fingers.
“It’ll all work out, I promise,” he says softly.
“You can’t possibly promise that. Aren’t you forgetting we’re in a war?”
“Aren’t you forgetting I have magic?”
“Merlin, you can’t,” Arthur’s eyes focus solely on Merlin’s face.
“Arthur, if it comes to a choice between saving people’s lives and revealing who I really am,” he says, “then there is no choice.”
“There are always choices. And I choose not to let you make a stupid mistake like this; I choose not to lose you,” the last sentence comes out, admittedly, as a whimper, like a plea.
Merlin doesn’t properly respond to this but he stands up and gives Arthur a kiss, saying, “I’ll see you later,” when he pulls away.
For a moment, he’s alone to wallow in own misery of potentially losing the first person that he might have the possibility of falling in love with, but then he hears another voice, softer but just as insistent as Merlin’s was.
“He really cares about you, you know,” Morgana says.
“And I him. Did you hear him?”
“Yeah,” she nods.
“He’s crazy,” Arthur rubs his temples.
“He’s in love. He wants you to win this so he can prove to you that you can do it.”
“Oh and how am I supposed to do a bloody thing with him tied in chains?”
“You should have more faith in him. He knows what he’s doing,” Morgana puts a hand on his shoulder. “Now, come on, stop being such a pathetic arse about it. We’ve got people to train.”
“Honestly, how does Leon keep up with you?” Arthur stands up, wraps an arm around her shoulder.
“You really don’t wanna know, love,” Morgana smiles evilly.
“Obviously, we can’t defend Daira with sword and sinew alone,” Arthur speaks out the crowd. They have all gathered at the field and Gwen has quite cleverly devised some sort of megaphone thing that makes his voice loud and clear, even to the people standing at the back. “We need a plan.”
“Sire,” Liam interrupts. “If we may.”
“Sure,” he nods. Liam, Gwen and Merlin take center-stage and talk the crowd.
“Since Paul is our number one priority, I’ll take some men with me and hide him in the woods before the battle breaks out,” Merlin says but he’s clearly awkward and not quite leading them. “Gwen will devise a trap for some of the Knights, using the computers from the town but she’ll need help. Those who volunteer should follow her after this. Arthur, Leon and Lance will be leading the people to fight. This will act as a diversion. As soon as Paul is safe and the trap is set, Lance will give the signal to hide. Don’t come out under any circumstances until we tell you to.”
“What’s going to happen?” a woman asks.
“I’m going to use my magic to set the trap and Arthur’s going to fight them off and make sure they don’t come back again,” Merlin explains. Arthur nods at the three of them and talks to the crowd once again.
“People who don’t want to fight should follow Merlin and Paul into the woods until it’s safe to come out,” he says.
“We’re not going anywhere!” a man yells indignantly.
“If you want to stay, then it’s your choice,” Arthur nods. “I respect that because, right now, you are the bravest people I know. You fight something bigger than thugs and bandits and Knights. You fight for freedom, for your family and friends, for your livelihoods, for an innocent child to live his life. If you fall tomorrow, then you’ll fall fighting and you will die for the noblest of causes. Tomorrow, you’ll fight for everything and everyone you love. Tomorrow, you fight for Daira!”
Arthur raises his sword and the action is mimicked by those by his side, Leon, Lance, Merlin, all of them, and the crowd. And after a while it all becomes a haze of proud people and the unending cheer of, “For Daira! Daira!”
The night comes sooner than Arthur would’ve liked because that means tomorrow is sooner rather than later and there will be precious few hours to set everything in motion. Merlin looks in doubt, as well.
“Tell me it’s going to be alright,” he says in a whisper.
“It’s going be alright, Merlin,” he kisses his bare chest.
He seats his legs on either side of Merlin, lifts him up by the arms and leans down to kiss him in a soft, faint way that will make him want more of their feelings colliding with each other in their mouths. Merlin looks gorgeous like this, under him and lips red and eyes dark with promises. He knows he needs this as much as he does.
Their kiss deepens and it must be magic because before he knows it, he’s naked and so’s Merlin. The warlock smiles deviously and tells him positively dirty things as he gets the bottle of oil by the bed side.
Soon, the only sounds that he can hear are moans and gasps and things that can’t be understood and the slapping of slick skin against sweaty. The only thing Arthur thinks of is beautiful, you’re fucking beautiful like this, and I want this forever.
He must’ve said that last thing out loud because when they’re done and sated and Merlin curls up against him like a cat amongst dirty sheets that smell of devious deeds, deeds that they indeed want to repeat some time in the not-so-distant future, the warlock says into his skin, “I want this forever, too.”
“I can’t let you make some stupid mistake tomorrow, one that’s gonna cost me you because I really do need you. I know my destiny is supposed to be this great King but I can’t do a fucking thing if you’re not there, as well.”
“So, basically, you’re saying you want to spend your life with me,” Merlin says, looking up, his eyes playing tricks on him.
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Should you be on one knee when you propose to someone? Or at the very least, clothed?” Arthur laughs, convinces himself he isn’t actually proposing and coaxes Merlin and himself to sleep.
“Is everyone ready?” Arthur asks anyone who’s wiling to answer.
“Just about,” Will nods.
The afternoon left them a few hours ago and now they’re only down to the few last minutes before the cars full of Knights roll out and they’re faced with a fight because he’d be naïve to think that the Knights and thugs won’t go down without a fight.
He sees Merlin come through the crowd and the breath he didn’t know he was holding comes out in a sigh of relief. He and some men took Paul and the other children into the woods, making sure they would be safe.
All eight of them are assembled in the street and in a few minutes, they would split up; Gwen would be with her tech team, that includes Liam, and work with the electrical trap she set up in the streets, Morgana, Lance and Will would be with one half of the battling team, taking the thugs out while Arthur, Leon and Gwaine would cope with the other half, working on the Knights. Merlin would be watching from afar, until Lance blew the signal for him to use his magic to set off the bulk of the trap.
“What’s our status?” Arthur asks.
“Sentries make the cars to be a few kilometers away. They’ll be here in minutes,” Gwen answers.
“We should split up now, then,” Lance announces. They exchange the normal hugs and reminders of, “Be safe,” and, “Don’t make a stupid mistake,” before they leave their separate ways.
Except for Merlin, though, who pulls Arthur in by his shirt and kisses him deep and insistent. He says nothing after that but he wears a smile that surely assures him that everything will be just fine.
Soon enough, the other half of the fighting group is gone to the other side of town and Arthur’s in the street with a batch of men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of their town. He admires them, he truly does.
“Sire,” a man in the crowd says. “Whatever happens, we’re glad you came to us.”
“Thank you,” he almost feels like crying until Gwaine curls a hand on his shoulder and he knows he would just be mocked mercilessly if he did. He hears Merlin’s voice in his head, suddenly, and he says, “They’re here. Get ready.”
And, sure enough, he sees the gleam of the cars that the Knight come in, the long stretch of black that open to reveal a dozen Knights, at least, all dressed in their sharp uniforms, guns kept in their pockets but their hands on weapons they can handle, knives and swords and crossbows, much like them. He notices the man who steps out last; he recognizes the face and sneer.
“Edwin,” he says, the name bordering on a hiss.
“My, my, it’s King Arthur. Coincidence, don’t you think?” Edwin says.
“I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to finish you off,” Arthur says. Leon holds him back, unexpectedly, for he was the one that got shot by Edwin.
“Let’s not make this about me and you. Where’s the boy?”
“Away,” Leon answers.
“And you think that wise?” Edwin asks.
“Wise enough,” Gwaine nods.
“Very well. If you won’t tell us where he is, we’ll just have to fight it out of you,” Edwin raises his fingers and with a snap, the Knights go into battle mode and raise their crossbows and knives.
“On my mark,” Arthur says to the people behind him.
But before his mark, it happens. Before he’s even aware this is a game of chess, they move first. The arrow shoots through the air and Gwaine propels himself in front of Arthur, the arrow shooting him in the leg.
“Oh, fuck,” Arthur curses. “Now! Now! Fire now!”
The men and women he’s led go into battle frenzy as Arthur hoists a barely-conscious Gwaine up and away from the street. Once he’s sure he’s situated as comfortably as he can be, he finds Leon in the midst of all the fighting, stands by him and raises his sword to take down the Knight fighting his friend. Leon’s a stubborn ass, he’s got a shot wound but he still wants to fight.
His opponent is a young woman, his age, her eyes are in a daze that betrays the reason she’s in this war in the first place. A spell. She notices his sword and abandons his crossbow, tosses it on the floor where another Knight trips over it.
She laughs evilly and it shakes him to his core and makes him want to wrap his hands around her neck just to make her stop.
“Well, come on, soldier,” she says seductively, pulls him closer until he can feel the gun in her pocket and she sneaks a leg between his thighs.
“No, thanks,” Arthur says angrily. She smirks and pulls out a knife from her boots and shoves it in his face. He grabs her wrist, spins her around until his arm is coiled at her neck.
“Protecting all the wrong things, Pendragon,” she says like it’s a fact. “Well, come on, then. Kill me.”
Before he can stab her in her gut, because he wants to, because the anger in him is unleashing and he wants so much to just kill every Knight in here like a full-fledged massacre, he sees Merlin. His eyes are golden and his hand is raised, aimed at the woman in his arms.
He speaks a spell and suddenly the young woman goes into some sort of shock. He lets her go and she falls to the floor. Her eyes turn a milky white for one scary moment then they look up to her. There was a daze in her eyes before and it’s still there but, now, it’s just pure confusion.
“W-what’s happening?” she asks.
He nudges Leon to come over since he sees the state of the Knights and the battle’s already fought and lost. He takes the young girl by the arms and puts her next to Gwaine.
“Merlin, what the fuck?” Arthur asks him.
“Great, no ‘thanks, Merlin, for saving my life’,” Merlin grumbles.
A horn goes off and they all turn to each other.
“Everybody! Stop fighting!” Arthur yells to his people. The men and women nod and give one last good punch or slap to knock out their opponents. The Knights are too dazed to do anything about it because, as soon as the people shuffle out, the only people left in the street are the Knights, Merlin and Arthur.
“Well, get it on, then,” Arthur says encouragingly.
It’s all Merlin needs then he raises his hand once again and his eyes are more golden and more gleaming than ever before and he can practically feel his power from here. There’s a strong wind around them but it’s like he’s in a protective bubble. He can feel it but his feet are carefully planted on the ground, unlike the Knights who are flying around everywhere.
He knows where Gwen’s traps are. They work like a land mine, one misstep there and the entire string of explosives set by a computer’s hand goes off. All Merlin needs is to cause a misstep. The wind causes the Knight to levitate off the ground and they need to land just where they need them to be. he can tell when it’s done when Merlin stops his hand but his eyes are still golden, still controlling the air, but his arms grabs Arthur and pushes them both to the ground, face-down in the concrete.
One by one, the explosives go off and he hears the screams and he almost feels guilty. Merlin takes his face and covers his ears like he’s read his mind and, then, suddenly, the world stills. Merlin rolls over and laughs.
“We did it!” he yells. “We did it!”
As Arthur stands up and receives the kisses from Merlin and hugs from the other citizens, all he can think of is that he really, really loves Gwen at this point.
They begin to leave the town as heroes. There are even garlands that they hang over them in some form of gratitude. The Knights won’t come back, not after they’ve sent the message that they have the boy. Cenred will not care about them, they know, and the town of Daira is as good as free.
There’s a feeling of personal gratification when they leave with cheers of, “Long live King Arthur!” Especially when Merlin takes his hand, squeezes it out of pure pride.
“Damn. I feel pumped!” Gwaine says.
“Says the guy who got knocked out the first leg of the fight,” Will teases.
“Hey, I was protecting our dear King here,” Gwaine shrugs.
They share stories of triumph of battle as the walk draws on but, after a while, they’re still the same people they were when they first came to Daira. The eight people on a quest.
“How was the Knight?” Arthur asks.
“She’s fine. Better than fine. She remembers everything she’s been through but it’s like she wasn’t in control of her own body,” Lance answers.
“Something Merlin did to her must’ve cracked the spell,” Leon says.
“That’s really powerful magic, Merlin,” Gwen says seriously. “It took Cenred dozens of sorcerers to get the spell right and you did it one day.”
“It doesn’t always end up that way. I used the same spell on Edwin and he convulsed on the ground like he was going through some sort of anaphylactic shock and blood came out of his nose,” Merlin explains.
“Maybe because he did his job willingly. That girl, she was just under a spell,” Arthur muses.
“Maybe…”
“Either way, you were amazing,” Arthur gives him a reassuring kiss. “All of you were.”
“What? No kisses for the rest of us?” Will pouts.
“Har har har, Will,” Merlin says sarcastically.
“Well, come on then, long walk ahead of us,” Lance smiles at them.
part nine