1

Wesley, Merlin and the other battle-mages looked over the now calm battlefield. Bodies were scattered like clothing in a child's room. The snow around them had turned red from the blood of their fallen friends. Many of them wept, a handful were crying as they hugged corpses of dying friends. Those who specialized in healing magic were healing the wounds of the soldiers who still had hope of living. But the two Court-Mages (Merlin and Wesley) simply stood there in the snow. Wesley felt nothing but pity for the dead; not because they had perished, but simply because they did not have the strength to survive. And Merlin's face was blank- void of all emotion. If she felt anything at all for the fallen she did not show it. The snowstorm began to grow stronger, the wind whistling as it tossed the snowflakes to and fro.

"Lady Merlin," Wesley called. His voice was sad and grim. Even though he did not feel any sadness or remorse for the soldiers who had died here, he spoke in a sad voice out of respect for the dead. "Please lead the mages to the east gate and assist Grandmaster Nanashi."

Merlin nodded, and without uttering a word, she teleported the mages away; many of whom were not ready to leave the corpses of their friends. But still, they were pulled away from them by Merlin's magic.

Wesley infused his pupils with mana and closed his eyes.

"Observe: Arthur Pendragon." The mage whispered this incantation and instantly he was able to see Arthur's location. The king was in his room in the castle, lying on his bed and staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Good. He didn't do any fighting." Wesley said through a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes. Wesley snapped his fingers and teleported to the castle. 'I'm not sad about the deaths I've caused.' Wesley thought to himself. 'What bothers me is what Arthur would think if he ever figures it out. And now that Lady Merlin is back, it could only be a matter of time.' Wesley approached the door to Arthur's room. He held up his fist to knock, hesitated and then did it.

"It's me, Wesley." The mage told him through the door.

"Oh! Come in!" Arthur replied. Wesley could tell by his voice that the king was happy to see him. He opened the door and walked in.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Cheered Arthur, as he threw himself at the mage and wrapped his singular, muscular arm around him. Wesley blushed, and then hugged him back briefly before they both let go.

"Thanks." Wesley said, his face beaming with the joy of knowing Arthur cared.

"How was it out there?" Arthur asked as he sat down on his bed. Wesley sat next to him.

"We lost many good soldiers." Answered Wesley honestly. "We only won because Merlin returned from her quest."

"She did?" Arthur leapt from the bed and a look of excitement and joy washed his face.

"Yeah." Affirmed Wesley. He was giggling a tiny bit at Arthur's excitement. Which made the king tone it down. "She's assisting Sir Nanashi at the moment. We're quite sure there are no more at the north gate."

"How many of the mages died?" Arthur asked, his face was suddenly grim.

"About two thirds."

And then, tears began to run from Arthur's violet eyes. "I'm a terrible king!" He cried. "I could have helped. I could have saved-" And like lightning, Wesley's hand struck Arthur's cheek like a hammer to a nail, leaving a red mark.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Never talk about yourself like that!" Roared Wesley. One of his biggest triggers is when people he cares about talk poorly about themselves. "You're a great king. If anything, it's my fault so many died!" Arthur assumed Wesley was talking about his failure to save the people he was fighting alongside, but Wesley wasn't talking about that at all; although he let Arthur believe he was.

"I'm sorry." Apologized Arthur as he rubbed the cheek that was slapped. Wesley put his hands on the king's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. He wiped Arthur's tears away and smiled at him.

"Now, let's get you an arm!"

Arthur looked shocked. "You found a way to do it already?" He cheered.

"I did. If you think I wouldn't be able to think of it on the spot, you've underestimated me!" Wesley replied. "Now, I need you to take off your shirt and lay on your back."

"I-" Arthur started, blushing a bit.

"Oh, it's fine! We'll be sleeping together tonight, won't we? Compared to that, this is nothing!" Wesley laughed.

"You're right." Arthur agreed. He took off his shirt as instructed and laid on the bed.

Wesley's face turned red. He was blushing so hard at the sight of the shirtless, muscular king in front of him.

"So hot..." Wesley said to himself. "-In here! So hot in here!" He added once he realized he said it out loud. But Arthur heard it and knew what he meant.

"You do look pretty hot" Arthur said. "You know, because of the temperature." Arthur winked. And Wesley was sure he wasn't talking about the temperature. At this point, Wesley's face was as red as a strawberry.

Wesley infused his hands with green mana, and placed them on the stump that used to be Arthur's arm.

"Here's to hoping this works!" Muttered Wesley.

"This might not work?" Panicked Arthur,

"Shhh! Don't distract me." Snapped the mage.

"C̴͎̠̬̤͚̓̐̌͌̅̊̌̃̒õ̸̫̥̰̜̦̩̎̀̂̈̌̿͒̔͝p̵͇͔̬͂̏͑͂̈́̓͘͜o̵̢̬̹͖̭͚͔̤̞͊͜͝j̸̲̳́̋ụ̷̡̼̤͙͙̪̼̋̽̍̅͊͘ͅ.̸̢͈̤̲̰̭̂̇͜ ̸̡̘̤̰̥̖̳͕̉̏̌̒̓̕͜M̷̟̖͇͊̍̏̕͝ấ̴̭̽c̶̜̻͘ă̵̮͍̰̪̼͖̫͎͗͘t̶̨͈̫͎̪̻̠͍̃̏͗̂͝ơ̶͙̩͕̖̘̦̫̓͜j̷̙̳̤̹̿̄̽͋̈́̈̏͝ṳ̷̧͇̺̝̤͐͋̂͝.̷̣͚̠̔̿̈́̿̕͝ ̸͖̹̹͓̜̘̥̜͇͍̑Ẉ̷̬̻͉̠̲͍̭̈́̒̓̀̾͠ë̷͖́̿̎̋̀l̴̼͌͑̍̐̑̂͠d̷̡̯̟̗̠̈́̈́̄͒̍̉̈́ǒ̸̬͕̖̩͈̼̾̽́̓̕j̷̩̮̙̱͎̠͓̝̹̀̅͒̽̇͗̓͜͠u̶̝̬̣̳̿͆͝.̴̢͍̱̝̥̣͕̌͛̈́̐̈́͊̿͋̋̓" Wesley uttered inaudible words, a technique he

picked up during his time with Merlin. The very air in the room began to glow a dark-green. Magical energy swirled around, knocking things over. The room began to shake. Wesley was recreating a body part. And while it's simple to imagine, it's a very difficult process.

Meanwhile at the east gate, the azeels were defeated with the help of Merlin. But she was sensing a presence similar to the azeels in some of the troops who had had their wounds exposed to the Azeels' blood. Merlin suspected that they only had a few weeks to live.