Meetings & Reunions (Mordred &Merlin)

[Calumira]

YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT AND YOU TRY TO TELL ME WHAT I NEED
But your smile can never sell me
WHAT I DO NOT BELIEVE

Calumira had left Stonedown to head north to a small village along the northern border of Camelot that had been hit hard by a very contagious sickness. The village was only about a day’s travel from where she was and as they had asked for any help from healers or physicians, she felt the need to go and see what she could do. She traveled with the messenger that had come from the village and one other man who was a physician the messenger had picked up along the way as well. They had only been traveling for about a half a day before they were attacked by bandits on the road. At first the two men insisted that they just give the bandits whatever they wanted and hope that they would just leave afterward. However, one of the bandits insisted that the men hand over Calumira as well, and that was the moment that the three travelers made the decision to fight back against the ten bandits that attacked them.

At first the three figured they would all end up dead, knowing that the odds were stacked against them and there was really no way they could overcome the bandits on their own. By what seemed to be pure luck, a patrol unit from Camelot came upon the traveling party and immediately stepped in to assist them. The bandit grew much more concerned when the Knights came to the traveler’s aid and so one of the men grabbed Calumira, yanking her away from the others she had been traveling with. In the chaos of the fight that ensued, she was able to get herself free of the man & get her hands on a crossbow. However, in placing herself in the fight than she also made herself a much more blatant target. Though she was able to keep one bandit at bay long enough for a Knight to kill him, she was not aware of the bandit behind her that sliced across her back leaving her bleeding and in pain but thankfully, not mortally wounded. As she staggered away from the bandit, she watched him fall to the ground with a sword through his back and a Knight standing behind him. She tripped moments later and her head hit a rock on the ground making the world around her fall into complete darkness with no sound, no light, and no thought of anyone or anything.

- W O R D S : 406 - T A G G E D : Mordred & Merlin
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CREDIT:
LYRICS B Y PAUL STANLEY IT’S NOT ME

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[Mordred]

Mordred had been riding as part of a Camelot patrol when he heard the clash of steel. Up until that point, the patrol had been uneventful, finding no trace of anyone unwanted hiding in this part of the kingdom. This changed when the three travelers and ten bandits came into view. The travelers did not stand a chance. None of them looked strong or in any way able to handle themselves in a fight, and it was clear the bandits were taking advantage of that and their greater numbers to take as much as they could from them. The knights wordlessly urged their horses to go faster, the four of them drawing their swords and lining up with the bandits. At first, they tried fighting on horseback, but the fight was too chaotic and the people too close together for this to be very effective. Mordred dismounted with the rest and began working his way to the travelers so he might protect them.

One of them, a woman, appeared to be a target for the bandits. Mordred did not want to think why. He ran over to her, finding to his dismay that one was already upon her, leaving a thankfully not fatal gash across her back. It was long and deep by the look of it, and would need urgent medical attention if she did not want to bleed to death. Furious now, he barred a clumsy blow from another bandit before stabbing the culprit in the back before he could do anything worse to Calumira. Loathing filled the young man's eyes. His heart grew cold as he watched the man die, not feeling guilty for taking his life. He turned, ready to end another life.

That was when Calumira tripped. Whirling back round, he lunged forward to catch her, but was too late. He winced in sympathy as she took a nasty blow to her head, knocking her unconscious. There was no time to check her condition; other bandits were upon him. With a shout, he blocked a couple of attacks, darted to one side, and disarmed one his a heavy blow to the wrist. The man snarled and made a grab for Calumira, but Mordred drove his sword into his armpit. He collapsed as the blade reached his lungs and heart. With five dead at his hand and those of the other knights, the remaining five bandits exchanged fearful looks and backed away from the knights. They would be pursued and most likely killed if they tried to run, and didn't fancy their chances against the knights, so instead dropped their weapons and yielded.

"She's injured. She needs treatment," Mordred waved a hand down at Calumira by his feet, speaking to the other knights. One was tying the hands of the bandits together with lengths of rope, one was calming the horses, the other calming the two conscious travelers. The knight by the horses nodded to him.

"She can't be treated here. Take her back to Camelot, to Gaius. He had the supplies to heal just about any wound. Go now, as fast as you can. We'll take these bandits back for Arthur to decide their sentence," the knight told Mordred. He crouched down and gently moved the girl's limp body, lifting her up as carefully as he could. He had no idea about the extend of her injuries and did not want to hurt her. With a sigh, he lifted her onto his horse, tying her into the saddle before climbing up himself. Kicking his heels, he rode slowly at first. It was a worry of his that the already wounded woman would fall, but she seemed to be secure so he gradually increased his speed.

He made it to Camelot in good time. Horse slowing down from a gallop, the hooves clattered to a stop on the stone cobbles before the castle entrance. It was easier to take Calumira down from the horse than it was to lift her up. Mordred wiped the sweat his black curls were clinging to from his forehead, eyes darting around for any sign of someone he knew. It would be difficult and could cause harm to try carrying Calumira all the way to Gaius. Some help would be nice. None the less, getting her help was more important, so he began the slow walk to the physician's office, weight down by the woman over his shoulder. All the while he searched for a friendly face to help him.

[merlin12]

Today was one of Merlin's rare day off's, so he had been running errands for Gaius. Merlin was on his way to the forest to pick some herbs that Gaius needed for some new experiment he was planning. Merlin was turning the corner when he accidentally bumped into Mordred. He was about to apologize, when he noticed that he was carrying a young girl who looked to be injured. Quickly he moved to help Mordred carry her to Gauis's chambers.

" What happened?" Merlin asked looking over the girl to see what the extent of her injuries were. There was nothing life threatening, but she was bleeding quite a lot.

Soon enough they arrived at Gauis's. He gently set her down on the table, then seeing that Gauis wasn't there at the moment, walked over to the different medicines and picked out a few that would help with the pain when she woke up. He also grabbed a few items to fix the gash across her back. He walked back over to Mordred and the young woman.

" Mordred. I'm going to need your help." Merlin didn't exactly trust Mordred, he was still suppose to kill Arthur. But did grow up as a Druid, and he needed his knowledge in medicine.

[Mordred]

Mordred was relieved to see Merlin. The young sorcerer was probably the best person he could hope to have seen right now, more capable of helping him carry Calumira than Gaius while being Gaius' trusted friend, the old man having passed on a lot of knowledge to him. He would have given Merlin a smile if it were not for the circumstances. Instead, he walked as quickly as they could, this easier to do with two people to share the burden. "Bandits outside Stonedown. She was traveling with two others when they attacked. They were outnumbered ten to three; it was lucky our patrol passed by," he explained as they walked, "Some bandits died in the struggle, and the other knights are on their way with the survivors," he was glad they had managed to prevent any escaping.

He watched Merlin gathering a variety of medicines and items. Gaius wasn't around, so it was up to them to fix this. Assuming he would be left to observe while Merlin worked, it came as a surprise when he asked him for his help. He thought he did not trust him. Apparently the distrust did not extend so far as to prevent him from trying to heal someone he had helped rescue. That made sense. It was good to know Merlin was not completely against his every action. Slowly stepping closer, he carefully peeled back the ripped clothing to look at the long gash across Calumira's back. It was a nasty wound. While it did not look life-threatening, deep cuts like this could bleed for a long time, and blows to the spine were dangerous as paralysis was a risk. There was no way to test for that for certain except to see if Calumira's legs still worked when she woke up.

He did not touch the wound, but looked carefully enough to try and assess damage. It did not appear to have hit the spine, which was a good sign. The druids were a peaceful people and so had interest in helping others in need of healing, although battle wounds were not so common, again due to being peaceful. The cut was neater than those more commonly dealt with by the druids, the cuts from falls or accidents. "I think her spine's all right. The main risks are loss of blood and infection," he told Merlin. He would be able to close this wound with magic, but he doubted it would bode well if Calumira woke up with her wounds miraculously disappeared, and infection was still a risk even with magic unless the wound was properly cleaned.

Taking a cloth, he soaked it in water before making sure no loose thread from her slashed clothing had made its way into the wound. He dabbed at it gently to remove any traces of mud and blood, pressing down hard to try and stem the bleeding a little. Cleaner wounds tended to get infected less often, but it was hard to clean wounds of all dirt. Dabbing the cut dry, he smeared a gloopy paste over the wound. "That won't help her heal, but it will block any dirt from getting into the wound and causing infection," he informed Merlin. His eyes scanned the herbs and medicines. Some were familiar, others completely alien to him. "I don't recognise some of these herbs... will any of these reduce bleeding?" this was his primary concern now he had dealt with infection as best as he could. The wound would have to be bandaged, but something to stop the bleeding at least while they worked out how to help the skin repair itself would be much needed. "Oh, and it's good to be seeing you again, Merlin. Where have you been lately? Arthur tells me you spend half your life in the tavern, but I don't believe that's true," he tried to make more casual conversation while they worked. In truth, he had been worried Merlin may have been avoiding him, and he suspected that at least some of those tavern visits were covering up something to do with his magic.