| Nico | Date: Sunday, 2015/June/07, 9:49 PM | Message # 1 |
 Sunday, December 14th, 2014
Group: Officers
Messages: 69
Status: Offline
| The Warlock's Flame
[Warning I have playing with Idea of Uther actually being somewhat human, for we saw minor instances where he is a good father]
Chapter Five:
"Rise and Shine!" Merlin exclaimed whilst pulling back the curtains.
Arthur blinked away the fuzz out of his sight and when his vision refocused he saw his lanky manservant standing by the window the sunlight making him look momentarily divine.
Then he noticed an odd weight on his legs.
Arthur sat up and was shocked to see a pair big brown eyes looking back at him.
"Buenos Dias Arthur!" Leo called happily with a blindingly cheerful smile.
"Good Morning to you Leo" replied the prince ruffling the boy's hair.
Leo laughed and hopped off the bed to allow Arthur to stand and stretch.
"So what's on the agenda today Merlin?" Arthur asked as he stepped behind the dressing screen.
"Well first you have a court meeting with your father to discuss the visit of King Bayard of Mercia, which if everything goes right you should be done with that by mid-morning the latest"
Merlin paused to take a breath
" Then this afternoon you have training with your knights."
The prince glanced at the warlock with quizzical stare
"Merlin, you never this astute with my schedule."
Merlin blushed
"Well maybe I prefer to lead by example"
Arthur puzzled over this for a few moments and then glanced over at the little demigod that was wandering around the chamber exploring it.
Then it clicked, Merlin was trying to look good in front Leo.
Once Merlin finished helping Arthur dress he turned to his prince with absolute conviction
"Arthur...I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart...for accepting me for who I am...gifts and all" the warlock waited to see what reaction his heartfelt statement would garner from Arthur.
The blonde royal looked at Merlin with fondness in his eyes
"Your very welcome my friend, I realize now that magic is not evil...it is much like a sword; a sword by itself cannot be good or evil; it is the wielder who decides whether to cause great destruction or use it to protect those who cannot protect themselves"
Merlin smiled he couldn't have said it better himself.
"Sire mind watching Leo while I fetch your breakfast"
Leo ran over to Merlin and tugged on the lapel of his jacket to get his attention
"Merlito, I'm hungry too"
Merlin smiled that's when he kicked himself, he had forgotten to give Leo his breakfast.
"Not to worry Leo, you and I can share" Arthur assured the little half-blood.
Leo smiled
"Garcias, Princeito"
Arthur turned to Merlin
"Grass-siass means thank you right?"
the servant nodded.
"Yes he and I will await your return"
The warlock left the room vowing to be back soon.
Now Arthur was alone in his chambers with Leo.
He looked at the young boy who was inspecting the inkwell on the table.
Leo started looking around for paper and found some in the corner of the room by the prince's wardrobe.
The son of Hephaestus walked over took a blank piece of parchment.
He carefully pulled the inkwell from Arthur's desk.
The demigod found a nice spot by a window and plopped himself down.
Arthur walked over with curiosity, wondered what the boy was doing.
Leo pulled out the inkwell stopper and dipped his fingers in the ink and started to draw a picture by the looks of it.
Arthur chuckled and walked over to the water basin by the door and made sure it was full so that the boy could clean his ink filled hands when Merlin returned.
The prince sat himself at his desk and proceeded to watch the fiery demigod draw.
He took a moment to reflect on how natural it felt to have Leo in the room.
Arthur glanced back over to his young charge noticing the look of absolute concentration on his face, his coca-colored eyes not once drifting from the paper.
Arthur then heard the door open he knew it wasn't his manservant since it took a few minutes to get to the kitchens.
It was surprising to see his father, Uther Pendragon walk through the door.
The prince gazed upon his father with recognition.
Uther was a robust, middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties.
He had cold, critical blue eyes and his head was clad in a fringe of graying hair.
He wore an elegant tunic made with the finest silk, dark maroon in color, a matching pair of pants and sleek black boots that were polished to perfection.
A top Uther's head was a crown made of the finest gold.
"Ah Arthur, I was hoping I'd catch you before the meeting" the king of Camelot stated in a firm, slightly arrogant tone.
"I came find out why none of the magic users I sent you out to capture are not in the dungeons"
Arthur went white while Leo hadn't even noticed someone else in the room, he was too absorbed in his drawing.
"It turned out that weren't just any magic users Father...they were the Hunters of Artemis" Arthur responded truthfully.
Uther blinked a few times before responding
"The Hunters...you actually saw them" the prince nodded "I would have brought them in but I did not wish to bring the wrath of Artemis down upon Camelot"
The king nodded
"Wise decision...and what is that?" Uther asked having now noticed Leo's presence.
Arthur bristled a little at his father's tone
"The boy you mean...that is Leo, he's the...cousin of Merlin's late friend William, the farm boy I told you about?"
"You mean that sorcerer who supposedly sacrificed himself to save you" Uther replied gazing at the boy with disgust.
"He deserved what he got, practicing magic...slaughtered like the monster he was"
BOOM!
Thunder sounded overhead.
"Careful of what you say, according to Merlin, William was a son of Zeus"
Uther paled a little, he had heard of demigods but didn't believe in them.
Arthur continued
"Leo was orphaned...so Merlin with his abnormally big heart didn't want to leave him all alone so he brought him here in hopes he will have a chance at life"
Uther inclined his head in understanding
"Where is your manservant then?"
"He asked me to watch the tike while he fetched my breakfast"
Arthur said gazing fondly at the demigod.
"He really is quite a cute boy Father and well-behaved...so long as he is occupied"
They then heard Leo laugh as he stood and turned to face the king and prince.
There was look of pride on the boy's face as he showed them his now complete drawing.
It was a very detailed drawing of the castle with slight changes that the boy seemed to believe necessary.
It was a very good representation considering Leo was only seven.
Both King and prince were astounded by his talent.
That's when Leo noticed the king's presence.
"I'm sorry I didn't noticed you sir...you're Prince Arthur's father aren't you" Leo said smiling brightly, his boyish innocence shining through
"You have the same blue eyes...and if you're his father that means you are the king of this wicked castle"
Arthur took one look at Uther's face and started laughing
"I'm sorry my lord but you're face is priceless...and don't mind him he just likes anything to do with castles and fortresses" Arthur explained after he recovered from his laughing fit.
Uther continued to gaze at the boy's brown eyes and he defrosted slightly, true to what Arthur said the boy wasn't being insolent and now that he saw the picture up close the improvements that Leo had made to the castle were ingenious.
Uther saw improvements such as specialized catapult and ballista platforms placed strategically across the palace's towers.
He also notice new balconies that served as firing platforms for the kingdom's long-bowmen.
The more he looked at it the more astounded he was, this farm boy was prodigy, he had so much talent.
Arthur's idiot manservant made a decent choice to bring him to Camelot, to allow this child a place to grow up for Uther could tell little Leo would be a great architect and engineer someday.
"It's alright young one...Leo was it...what is your full name?" The king inquired.
"Leonardo Valdez my king but everyone calls me Leo for short" the demigod answered with a tone respect and mirth in his voice.
"Welcome to Camelot Leo Valdez, I hope the manservant treats you well"
Arthur had to do a double-take his father was never that inviting to commoners.
"You have no need to worry about my lord" came the deep tones of Merlin walking through the door with a tray of food.
He set food down on Arthur's table
"There you are sire, they were out of peaches so I got you apples instead I hope that's all right?"
Arthur for once decided to give Merlin a break
"That's fine Merlin, Leo come here since you didn't eat breakfast"
The undercover warlock noticed the picture in Leo's hand as he bounded up to the prince's table and sat in the vacant chair across from Arthur.
"Leo did you draw this...it's very good...you are incredibly talented" and then he notice the demigod's ink-filled hands.
He brought the water basin over
"Leo, clean your hands first" The boy shoved his hands into the water, washing the ink off his hands.
Leo then took an apple slice that the prince offered to him and began munching on it happily.
Uther watched as his son and the boy enjoyed the breakfast, Merlin had begun cleaning the room, he was currently by the window; gathering the dirty clothes that his son had some how festooned everywhere.
When Merlin stood up he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, there was something big was bolting towards them.
Merlin just had enough time to dive out of the way before the beast came bursting through the window taking a good chunk of the wall with it.
A cloud of dust and debris filled the chamber.
"Arthur, Leo, my king are you all okay!" Merlin called out coughing as the dust tried to clog his lungs.
"Yes" came Uther's voice.
"Well I'm alive" came Arthur's response.
"Leo is fine as well" Uther coughed
"What the hell was that?"
The dust finally settled and now all four could see the assailant.
It was the most grotesque thing ever witnessed.
It was a humanoid creature, it was at least seven feet tall had copper colored skin.
Its face was scrunched like it had run headlong into a brick wall several times.
It's arms were as wide as Arthur.
It's head was shaped a bit like an egg, the most terrifying thing about the creature was that located in the middle of it's face was a large, singular orange eye.
It wore slate-gray iron armor and wielded a large brutal looking double sided battleaxe.
Merlin's eyes went wide as all color drained from his face, if he pale before, he looked damn ghostly now.
"A cyclops...why is a cyclops here" the warlock asked himself but he knew the answer it was here for Leo, demigods always had monsters after them.
Merlin got to his feet and glanced around he saw Arthur on his feet, picking mortar and other debris out of his hair; while Uther had shielded Leo with his body but didn't seem hurt.
Leo was shaking with absolute fear.
"What is that Merlito" came the boy's frightened voice.
"It's a cyclops...they normally work for Poseidon but every now and then one or two go rogue"
Uther and Arthur look at Merlin like he just signed their death warrants.
Arthur drew his sword from it's place by the fireplace.
The cyclops laughed
"No one else has to die prince-ling I only want the demigod...although your little sword can hurt me." the monster rumbled with a boasting tone.
"Like I would let you harm him" The prince snarled defiantly.
"No Arthur, mortal weapons can't harm a cyclops only weapons made of celestial bronze, stygian-iron and imperial gold can harm creatures like him" the warlock informed gesturing toward the big one-eyed menace.
"Then what do we do?!" asked Arthur not know what else to do.
"I wish I had my spear...it's made of celestial bronze...wait a minute!"
Merlin shoved his hand into his pocket and extracted what looked like a coin.
He looked at it a minute before flipping it.
"Merlin this isn't a time for tricks!"
Merlin gave him a glare as he caught the coin but when it landed it was not a coin but a long spear.
It was glorious weapon similar to the ones Arthur had seen in his dream meeting with Hephaestus.
The shaft was brilliant, shimmering with orange-gold glow of the bronze it was decorated elaborate lighting bolt etchings that seemed to glow like the real thing.
The spearhead was fastened to the shaft with a ring of pure gold.
The warlock strode forward
"Stay behind me, Arthur, Leo, King Uther only I can kill this thing"
Arthur was amazed and it didn't escape him that sparks of lightning were arcing across his skin and hair.
"Merlin you're brave and all but how can you kill that" surprisingly it was Uther who said that.
The manservant turned to look at them when the room is illuminated by an electric-blue light.
The king, prince and demigod's vision were drawn to the point above Merlin's head and there sat a rotating, three-dimensional image of a lightning bolt.
It took him a minute but Arthur realized what it meant.
"Remember when I said William was my brother...I wasn't kidding; I too am a son of Zeus."
[Wow not just one demigod but two][Tell me how I did if you notice any grammar mistakes let me know so I can fix it anyway plz read and review]
Nico
Message edited by Nico - Sunday, 2015/June/07, 9:51 PM |
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