Chapter 10: The Once and Future King

Woods Outside Camelot

563 AD

A man with blond hair with a strong build ran through the forest with a wards in his hand. Another man with raven dark hair with a swimmers built followed. It was the dead of night, the only light coming from the full moon above.

Looking behind him, the man with the blond hair didn't see another man in front of him.

"Ah, the future King of Camelot!" The raggedy man with wild brown eyes and English accent said holding a sword towards the prince. "My mistress will reward me greatly."

The man with the raven hair stepped in front of the king with his sword raised.

"You will not take him."

"Oh, but you see young knight, I have something neither of you have," the man lifted his hand and the two men went flying a few feet back. At the same time, the man's eyes glowed a faint mute yellow. "I have magic on my side."

The knight stood quickly, "Magic will do you no favors against me."

The knight didn't see the princes' injury to his shoulder that was bleeding profusely.

The man ran towards the knight playing offense with the sword, trying to finish the fight quickly. The knight side stepped the man casually, like this is something he had done everyday.

Again the man raised his sword, but was stopped as the knight ducked below and stabbed the man through the heart. 

"Should have known to never go up against a knight of Camelot, right Arthur?" The raven haired knight turned towards the prince, Arthur and saw the bleeding for the first time. "Arthur!"

"Jackson..." Arthur's English accent was slurring slightly. 

The knight quickly got down the check the injury and looked the future king in the eye.

"You will not die, do you hear me!"

"There is nothing you can do."

The knight looked at the ground and seemed to be fighting an internal battle with himself.

"Yes, I can."

The knight put his hand on the princes' wound and like so many times before, he felt a familiar feeling in his gut and water soon came towards the two men. The princes eyes became wide as the water came towards the knight and slide onto his hand. 

When the knight opened his eyes he removed his hand from the future king's wound and there was nothing seen. Not even a scar.

The knight carefully looked up into Arthurs eyes to see confusion, disbelief, and betrayal.

"How could you-?"

"Arthur I just-"

"You didn't think I deserved to know that you have magic?" Arthur quickly stood and looked towards his friend with anger in his voice. "You know it is forbidden in Camelot."

Jackson looked at his friend in sadness, "I wasn't supposed to tell you or anyone."

Arthur approached Jackson with hard eyes. The two only a breath away.

"Who has the authority to tell you that?"

"My mistresses."

"Your mistresses, huh? Did they send you here to destroy us? To make all of these people who have found sanctuary away from magic miserable?" The knight didn't respond. "Answer me!"

Jackson took a deep breath, "I was sent here to make sure you didn't die and that Camelot didn't fall." Jackson took and step back as he answered the future king calmly. "And I don't have magic... well you might consider it magic, but I was born with this power."

"You were born with it?" Jackson nodded. "How?"

"It's a long story..." Jackson sighed sadly.

"Well we have time, since we are stuck in the woods with no way of getting back to Camelot!" The future king crossed his arms and waited.

"Do you know about Greece?" The knight finally muttered.

"Of course I know about Greece! How could I not? Father hired tutors to teach me all about other kingdoms and how they fell, so that we could learn from their mistakes."

"Then you know that the Greeks believed in Gods and Goddess." Jackson took another deep breath. "What most that weren't from that time don't know is that they were real."

"Oh, so now you want me to believe in their bedtime stories?"

"It's true."

"Oh yeah? Then tell me how you know, since you 'aren't from that time'."

"Gods would come down from Olympus and fall in love with mortals. That love would almost always result in a half-blood, a half-god half moral. These half-bloods are hunted down by monsters and killed if they don't know how to defend themselves."

"And you know this-?"

"Because I'm a half-blood."

"You're half-god?" Arthur asked in disbelief. "You expect me to believe that rubbish? You are almost as bad as Merlin with your stories."

"My father is Poseidon, god of the Sea, Storms, Earthquakes, and Horses."

"Prove it."

The knight walked towards the creek he had summoned water from. Instead of stopping he continued walking. Walking on to the water. 

He turned and the future king's mouth was wide open in disbelief. This look turned into aw as Jackson said a single word towards the water.

"Jump." Fish started jumping out of the water to impress the prince of the sea, not daring to disobey.

The knight slowly came towards his prince where the two stood face to face.

"Say I believe you, why are you here? Why are you in Camelot?" Arthur asked refusing to belief what he saw.

"For you Arthur. I am here because you need me. I don't know exactly why, but I'm here to help you." Arthur turned away from his friend. "Arthur I would never betray you. It's my fatal flaw."

"Fatal flaw?" Arthur turned back with an eyebrow raised.

"Fatal Flaws are mental or physical weaknesses that often cause someone's downfall. Everyone has one, but half-bloods fatal flaws are dangerous and usually deadly."

"So what is yours?" Arthur asked. "Too clumsy? No, no too quiet-"

"Personal loyalty." Jackson stated looking towards the sky, where the Huntress constellation would one day be. "I would and will risk my life and even the world for those I care about. When someone I love dies I tend to blame myself. When someone I trust betrays me, I cannot forgive them easily or at all."

"So, you're serious?" Jackson nodded looking at the prince again. "And your mistresses?"

"The Fates." Arthur looked at him weirdly. "They measure everyone's life and basically decide when someone dies."

"Fantastic."

"And there's something else you need to know... I'm from the future... I won't be born for another thousand years."

~ ~ ~

AD 567

"Look at you," a woman with deathly black hair and pail skin said knelling beside the king of Camelot. "Not so tall and mighty now." The king looks the smirking woman in the eye. "You may have won the battle, but you've lost the war... You're going to die by Mordred's hand. Oh don't worry dear brother, I won't let you die alone. I'll stay and watch over you," the knight and servant stood behind the Witch with their swords drawn, "as the wolfs eat your corteges and bath in your blood."

"No." The knight with the midnight hair said making the witch turn.

"Time for all this bloodshed is over." The servant stated holding a sword in the direction of the woman. "I blame myself for what you've become."

"Merlin-"

"This has to end." Merlin, the servant, stated cutting off the Knight.

"I'm a high priestess," the witch, Morgana, stated standing high and mighty, "no mortal blade can kill me-"

Merlin stabs his once friend in the gut. As she slowly goes down, Merlin never takes his eyes off of hers. "This is no mortal blade. It was forged in a dragons breath."

Merlin slowly lowers the witch to the ground and takes the blade out of him. As he watches her take her final breaths of life, the knight rushes to the king. Within seconds both men are helping the king stand.

"Brought peace at last." The king, Arthur, stated.

~ ~ ~

As Merlin dragged Arthur off of the ancient dragon, both the dragon and the knight looked at each other then back at the two in sadness.

"Merlin," the dragon started, "there is nothing you can do."

Merlin stopped and looked at the dragon, "I failed?"

"No young warlock. For all you that you have dreamt of building has come to pass."

The knight looked on sadly as his friend's servant carried his best friend.

"I can't lose him!" Merlin yelled. "He's my friend."

"No man, no matter how great, can know his destiny." Jackson stated sadly.

"Some lives have been foretold, Merlin," the dragon said. "Arthur is not just a king. He is the once and future king. Take heart, that for when Albion need is greatest Arthur will rise again." Merlin looked down at his dead friend. "It has been a privilege to have known you young warlock. The story we have been apart of will live long in the lives of men."

The warlock watched the dragon as he flew away to end the rest of his life.

Merlin turned and looked at the Lake of Avalon, where he sent of the woman he loved. The lady of the lake. He gently raised the blade towards himself and studied it before throwing the sword into the lake, where his love caught it and brought down to protect until it was needed again.

After laying his body on a boat in the lake, the warlock began to cry. In his grief, Merlin sent the boat towards the Isle of the lake.

"I'll find him." Merlin turned towards Jackson with red eyes.

"How?"

"I'm immortal." The warlock looked at his friend in disbelief. 

"Did Arthur-?"

"Yes. He found out a few years ago. But I promise you Merlin, I will find him and when I do I will come find you also."

~ ~ ~

The queen sat on her thrown looking at her late husband's family ring as the room full of Camelot's people sat for the announcement they were called for. The queen looked beside at at the knight standing by her side and nodded.

The knight turned towards the people and knights, "The King is dead. Long live the Queen!"

"Long live the Queen! Long Live the Queen!" The people in the room yelled.

"Long live the Queen!" Merlin yelled with the people.