Chapter Text
Merlin was seven summers old, playing with his newly acquired friend named Will on a day like any other. He had helped his mother Hunith out early that morning with a few chores that a small child was able to do, and was reminded in the strict but loving way only mothers seemed to be able to pull off, to be careful and to not use his magic where others could see it before sending him off to play.
Merlin ran off into the forest where the rest of the townspeople usually went to chop wood, and it wasn’t dense enough for him to be worried or scared about getting lost. He climbed on the stumps of some of the fallen trees for a couple of minutes before growing bored and deciding to wander farther into the forest.
There in the forest, he saw another little boy around his age, with his pants rolled up to about mid-calf, ankle deep in a little stream. Merlin walked up to the edge of the stream and called out to the boy. He introduced himself as Merlin, and the boy in turn said his name was Will.
Merlin had then taken off his socks and boots that his mother had helped him put on earlier, and copying Will, also rolled up his pants before stepping into the small stream. He waded through the water to where Will was standing and peeked over his shoulder where he could see a small handmade fishing pole in the water.
“Why are you standing in the middle of the stream to catch fish?” Merlin asked as he peered back up at Will.
“The fish wouldn’t come any closer to me, so I thought standing in the middle might help,” Will tried to explain. “But they keep avoiding me anyway.” He pouted.
Merlin knelt down and picked up the fishing pole out of the water and handed it over to Will. “Maybe you just need a worm at the end of it. Mom said adults use bait to lure the fish in.”
Will thought for a moment before nodding his head. “How do I find a worm?”
“I can help!” Merlin declared proudly before walking back over to the edge of the stream and jumping out. The water made the dirt cling to the bottom of Merlin’s feet and he scrunched up his nose at the odd feeling it made.
Merlin walked over to a few bushes farther away from the stream and began his search for the perfect worm. There was some splashing a couple seconds later, and Merlin guessed it was Will coming to join in the search.
A few minutes passed before Merlin was holding up a long fat worm victoriously. The two boys worked together to attach it to the end of Will’s fishing pole, and before they knew it they were giggling and telling jokes together beside the stream as they attempted to catch a fish.
Merlin was having the best time with his new friend, and hated when it was interrupted so soon. He assumed that it was his mother coming to find him, but when he turned to look it wasn’t his mother that stood by the path back to the village, but a man in full chainmail armor.
“Are one of you boys Hunith’s son perchance?” The man asked. Will turned to look at the man and shook his head, but didn’t go back to his fishing.
Merlin’s ears perked up at the mention of his mother’s name and the recognition must have shown on his face. “I was passing through and just so happened to overhear that she was looking for her son.”
A small warning bell rang in Merlin’s mind, but he pushed it down and ignored it. His mother knew of his usual hiding spots and his love for this forest, but perhaps he had wandered further in than he thought in his attempt to find entertainment.
“I’m her son,” Merlin admitted with a small nod of his head. “Do you know what she needs me for?”
The man smiled, and Merlin would later wish he had been able to notice just how insincere of a smile it was. “I don’t. But perhaps I could walk you back and you could ask her yourself. How does that sound?”
“Alright,” Merlin smiled brightly and waved goodbye to Will before beginning to follow the stranger through the forest. They walked in silence for quite a while and Merlin followed behind the man without really paying too much attention; too busy counting all the yellow flowers he saw along the way.
The man suddenly stopped in the middle of the path, causing Merlin to bump into him and fall onto the ground. Merlin sat up and rubbed the back of his head, wincing as he touched a tender spot. Merlin began to glare up at the older man for making him fall over but stopped short when he saw the look on his face.
The man wasn’t smiling anymore and there was a guarded iciness that made goosebumps travel up Merlin’s arms. He didn’t seem warm and friendly anymore, but now instead, he seemed to be the complete opposite.
Merlin froze as the warning signal in his brain began to scream louder and louder. He began to regret ever ignoring it in the first place as the man knelt down in front of him so that they could be eye to eye.
“Sorry kid,” his tone was neutral and Merlin highly doubted he was actually sorry for anything. “It’s just orders.”
The man was fast. Much faster than Merlin’s little body and before he knew it, there was a piece of smelly cloth covering his nose and mouth. Merlin screamed into it, but by doing so sealed his own fate. With all the screaming, Merlin needed lots of air, and inhaled more and more of whatever it had been laced with. It wasn’t long until he began to grow tired and he was being slung over the man's shoulder as if he weighed nothing.
Merlin could hear the distant sounds of footsteps running their direction and prayed that someone had heard his cries for help. One of the last things he saw was the terrified face of Will and knew he felt just as terrified as Will looked.
That same terror was the last thing he registered before he slipped into unconsciousness.