Arthur's body is agile. He's the best knight in the land, his swordplay is the quickest, his mind the sharpest and his courage the strongest. He has been unbeaten in the mortal world, a title he holds most dear to his heart. To the common eye Arthur would be able to defeat any foe, down any beast, slay any enemy.
But these traits mean nothing in the Land of Dreams where Arthur is now prisoner. Arthur's virtues, skills and trophies are for naught, he is reminded as each blow from the vile Minotaur strikes him down again and again , his shield barely able to hold it back and legs unable to sustain his own weight.
"But brother," there is a heavy taste of discord and hatred on her tongue, "I thought you were the most capable knight in the land? They call you the White Knight, do they not?" The Woman's throne rests at the peak of a cracked wall, from each side extending a mass of earth and rock. In its layer, row and seat, a coliseum of sorts. No one sits in these chairs; only the queen is permitted to watch the tournament.
The Minotaur raises it's mace and brings it swiftly to the ground. Arthur is not accustomed to this world and is slow and weak. His roll barely brings his body out of the weapon's path. It slams into the ground, cracking the hard rock beneath their feet. Arthur barely escapes the swing of the neck blow, it clips his arm and he spins to the ground.
The Woman laughs as she watches the delightful show. She picks up a rotten apple from a broken bowl and bites into it, the juice of a green worm gushing out from her teeth. She smirks and continues to cackle, practically screaming in delight. Arthur is glaring up at her through the small slits of his White Helmet, watching as her voice causes the crimson sky to crack black and purple, thunder echoing the jagged lines. The Minotaur catches him off guard as a blow to his side knocks him into the air and back against the hard coliseum wall. The Woman stands up and raises her hand, pulling the beast back. Arthur winces under broken bones.
"You are powerless without your warlock, aren't you?" The Woman asks, she takes another bite of her apple and smiles. "Is he on his way? Does he even know where you are?"
Arthur doesn't respond to the accusation, he assumes she means Merlin, but his mind wanders, does she mean Gaius? Surely Merlin isn't a warlock, he couldn't -
"Tick... tock... goes the clock, will you survive my attack?" The Woman's rhyme interrupts Arthur's mind.
"Tick... tock... goes the clock, until your armor cracks." She laughs in playful pleasure as he lowers her hand, signaling. The Minotaur walks forward and continues it's assault. Arthur pulls himself to his feet, sword and shield in hand, legs firmly planted to the ground.
"Tick... tock... goes the clock, three days until I sing!" Morgana begins to wail, her madness causes the sky to erupt in lightning. The Minotaur roars with her, its eyes glowing a fierce red. "Tick... tock... goes the clock, until Camelot buries her king."
Arthur raises his shield as the Minotaur draws close.
Merlin, help me.
xxx
Merlin jolts awake from his slumber at the crack of thunder. Arthur's words are echoing through his head. He gets up and runs out of room, through the main room of Gaius's chambers, out the door and down the hall. He can feel Arthur's pain, can feel him burning and tearing.
Merlin rushes into Arthur's room, not even bothering to use a proper key but magically throwing the door open. He leaps to Arthur's bed and lights the bedside candle.
"Arthur!" He yells, and he shakes Arthur's body. But Arthur doesn't wake, he doesn't even stir in his sleep. Thunder crashes as the storm outside roars into full swing, its power vibrating through the castle walls. Merlin slings Arthur's arm over him, using a charm to make him lighter, and carries him towards Gaius' chambers.
xxx
The Woman stands up as the sky continues to darken, her face confused. It's been hours since she weaved her magic into Arthur's mind and Arthur can feel himself weaken but also strengthen. The Minotaur seems to respond to The Woman's will completely. There is a dead silence as The Woman sniffs the air as if trying to discover a hidden scent. Her face wrinkles into a snarl.
"That stench," She spits, "Emrys!"
The Woman looks down at Arthur, his soul in White Armor, unbroken by the Minotaur. Her upper lip twitches and she extends her hand, black wisps of energy begin to collect in her palm and the air starts to thicken.
"It seems I will have to fortify this world, and that is going to cost me a part of my life. No matter, I would gladly trade my life energy to ensure your death and the death of your seed, Pendragon." The Woman sighs and launches the orb into the sky.
Arthur scorns at her. "You forget your lineage, witch."
"You dare lump me in with the sick kin of your ancestors? Of your father? We may share... blood but we do not share -" The Woman shrieks at her inability to separate her and Arthur's ancestry. The Minotaur roars in response to her anger. Arthur takes this advantage, his quick mind at work. Over the past few hours he has become more and more accustomed to this world, and he's gotten a firm grasp on what it takes to manipulate the world around him. Mainly his armor.
He lifts his arm and throws his sword at The Woman; he wills it into a velocity faster than any arrow he has ever shot. It catches her arm, slicing it and forcing her to her knees, out of view of the field and out of control over her creature. In this distraction he bolts towards the Minotaur and wills his gauntlet into entropy, then morphing it into a dense, long claymore.
One second Arthur is kneeling on the ground at the edge of defeat, the edge of breaking. The next he's rushing past the Minotaur, full weight into his step, and brings the blade down on the beasts head. Arthur can feel the resistance but he wills the blade and all of a sudden the Minotaur's bones are for naught as the blade rips through it like paper. The sword rings as it slices into the floor, lodging itself for a second, before dispersing into a white smoke and reforming on Arthur's hand.
Arthur's White Armor begins to shine as he feels his courage, his willpower, his soul restore itself at the conquest of the enemy. There is a wet thud as the creatures body collapses to the ground.
The Woman stands up and attempts to recollect herself, but she sees her creature ripped in two on the ground. Her plans foiled, The Woman glares at Arthur and raises her hands.
"This is my world, Pendragon. This is my world, and you are going to see the full potential of what I can do to you here."
The ground begins to shake and Arthur strives for balance, the ground beneath him opens up and he falls into darkness.
"I will break you, Arthur Pendragon, and then I will keep you here until the end of time."
xxx
"What do you think it is?"
Gaius looks over Arthur's body, checking every inch for puncture marks or any signs of enchantment. Merlin does his best not to blush when Gaius pulls Arthur's underwear down to check for venereal symptoms. Gaius seems to spend a lot of time checking Arthur's inner thighs and Merlin can't help but feel a little jealous, being his personal servant he's never been able to touch Arthur in that way, and in the past twelve hours both Gaius and, potentially, a woman have.
Merlin shakes his head for a second, Merlin, are you seriously jealous because an old man is currently checking your straight king for signs of an injection, of a probably seriously deadly toxin or something? What is wrong with you? You can be jealous of the girl, just not of Gaius.
"I do not see any signs of injection or a sting." Gaius remarks. "But it seems like he is dreaming, so there must have been some type of enchantment."
Merlin walks over and looks over Arthur, he does look like he is sleeping. He can feel a dark sinister presence surrounding Arthur. It's familiar, like Merlin has been afflicted by it before.
"I think this is the work of a Somniomancer, a deadly and potent dream sorcerer." Gaius concludes. He walks over to his library and pulls out a heavy book. "I haven't seen magic like this since before Uther banned magic, long before. And even then it was rare."
"Is it curable?" Merlin asks.
"Yes... and no." Gaius flips through the pages of his book, "here we are. It seems that spells like this have a time frame, the enchanted must free himself before said time frame expires, or else he becomes severed from this world."
"Wait... what?" Merlin asks.
"Really Merlin must I explain everything?" Gaius sighs, "there is this world, the after life, and then the dreamworld. When you dream, your mind goes to another place, but where exactly? No one knows. Dream casters can sever you from this world and keep you in that world until the day your mortal body dies. However, this process takes time."
Merlin looks over Arthur's body and his gut starts to feel dense, what if Arthur doesn't wake up? Merlin's fists clench and he sniffs back his feelings.
"How can we save him?" Merlin questions.
"You're going to have to join him in his mind." Gaius answers.
"Okay, how?"
"Are you sure? It is dangerous."
"Of course, Gaius! I must -"
Gaius raises his hand to silence Merlin, he nods and Merlin knows he understands.
"Merlin, you must know, if you fail to save him, you too will be trapped in the dreamworld."
Merlin's neck tightens and his fists clench, he's saved Arthur's life hundreds of times before, but this time something is different, something is telling him to turn back.
"I understand, Gaius." Merlin coolly replies, and he takes a deep breath.
Gaius walks over to his station and begins to open bottles and pour contents into a pot. "Then I will start the sleeping drought that will let you enter his dreams. But I must warn you Merlin, you may find parts of Arthur in there you didn't know existed, parts that you may have never wanted to learn."
Merlin nods and can only hope that he can save Arthur from whatever evil this is, before both of them are trapped in the dreamworld forever.