Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or the song Love Like Winter by AFI
Also, I am aware that I've posted this before, all readers of the 5 Merlin Oneshots are welcome to skip this chapter because I've only made a minor change (minor change=take away one word)
PP: One TWO, i repeat TWO and again 2-letter word. (seriously 'up').
Yeah, thanks Shiv-bot (she doesn't like that) anyway, with all the boring stuff out the way the second chap will be posted in a few minutes if I don't lose connection AGAIN! And the third chap hopefully in a week (I might forget because I have THREE examinations! :O D:)
On with THE FIC!
"merlin? Merlin? MERLIN!" Gaius shook the still asleep figure in the bed.
Merlin lay sprawled out on his small bed with his limbs hanging out in random directions; his tunic had ridden up and the sheets were bunched around his hips; there was a small marking on his left side - this is what Gaius was worried about.
"W-what, mmm... Gaius, don't wanna get up," he mumbled blearily "OW!" he shrieked, Gaius had unceremoniously tipped him onto the floor.
'Fine, I'm up....' Merlin grumbled in his mind.
"Follow me." said Gaius already out of the door.
Merlin began to follow the physician out the room, as he descended the stairs he reflected on the dream he had been having:
He was stood in the outer fringes of the forest, where the trees were spaced out enough that the snowfall had managed to blanket the ground. It was not snowing anymore but the crisp calmness that came with a new fall still remained. Strange transparent statues of ice and spun sugar surrounded him; they were in exotic ethereal unidentifiable patterns. Merlin mourned the destruction that awaited the figures; for he knew with the thaw the snow would be gone and neither could these pillars of beauty remain.
'Emrys....' a voice like the breath of a gentle breeze swirled around him
'Do not mourn what has yet to pass enjoy what still lingers with us – live in the moment!'
Merlin turned calmly as he felt a presence, a dark figure stood, their image distorted by the twisting shape of ice they stood behind. The hooded person stepped out from the shelter and turned as if looking at Merlin from under their obscuring lashes. Standing close to the sugary form, the person ran their tongue all the way up a protruding shape.
Merlin breathing quickened, despite the cold air his breath did not cloud and his skin felt heated, there was a different, an intense undertone to the heavy calmness now, the figure straightened. Merlin stared at the rosy lips which smirked from beneath the hood.
The women approached Merlin and drew down her hood revealing blond hair of a strange unique lightness and dark mahogany eyes. Before he could wonder at her familiarity she acted and the rest passed in a blur.
Red lips sought his and the muffled thump of heavy fabric hitting white softness could barely be heard, her breath smelt like vanilla and when she withdrew Merlin thought the white puffs resembled the most delicate lace. She was like a goddess, like the beautiful winter after it had fully left the dampness and drudgery of autumn.
He loved winter.
And she loved like winter; loved as only winter could.
Her hot breath returned and she bit his lower lip drawing red which she allowed to drip; marring the white snow, then she began to suck, drawing out his life blood. Merlin's eyes fluttered and his knees trembled, he clutched her closer for balance and before the whiteness took him he registered smouldering parallel lines burn down his left side leaving it red and raw-looking as she drew her icy nails down his skin. The burn ignited into a phoenix plume near his hipbone and then, nothing.
Merlin snapped out his daze to look into the worried face of his wrinkled mentor, in some ways the situation was similar to earlier that morning. He looked around to see he had finished descending the stairs and was stood beside Gaius in his usual place; the desk was void of lumpy porridge though or even the many scrolls of parchment. It was instead home to only the usual physicians' medicine making equipment and a single book.
"Merlin, that mark on your left side, was it there yesterday?"
The raven haired boy lifted his tunic to look, four red lines were in evidence and below them a design which he could liken to a dragon but was also reminiscent to a spark-like star; the symbol of magic in the old language.
"Whoa, I thought that was a dream..."
Gaius looked up from the book to fix Merlin with a piercing stare "I think that a seductress has invaded your dreams."
"A seductress?"
"Yes, a powerful creature of unknown origins, they feast on human flesh but for some reason they cannot venture out into the wider world, they are confined to their lairs and attempt, mostly successfully, to lure people to them, they must eat at least one decently sized human a half-century, they can eat other meats but they can only lure sentient beings.
They are creatures of magic but they can only use it to invade dreams, indentify marks and for telepathy. Also, they prefer the taste of sorcerers because of the magick I imagine, they retain the powers of the sorcerer they eat but cannot access it. If the powers of a seductress could be harnessed the wielder would be nearly as powerful as you, more so if they had a fair amount of power to begin with.
They prefer virgins so they can, erm, feast on them in other ways prior to the actual eating and seductresses are, except in very special cases, always female or, at the very least, appear to be.
Here, read this."
Merlin was at a loss as to why he would need further information than had been given but, nevertheless, obliged.
"Wait, those special cases, they're-"
"Wizards, yes, as you've read, in some cases sorcerers have managed to learn to temporarily become seductresses, however the amount of power needed for this is a lot, they cannot use magic in any other way whilst seducing their mark; that includes disguising their appearance. Merlin, this is important, did you recognise the person?"
"Yes, I don't know exactly.... I can't focus on the face as a whole, but they were familiar...."
"Listen, don't think about it today, try not the dwell on this at all whilst away from me; they have already marked you and if this isn't a natural born seductress then you will have more to fear than being devoured if you wander off to find them."
"Also, remember, if they are not a true seductress, they'll not be confined to a single cave but can and will wander freely."
"Yeah, I get you...." Blond, they had blond hair, lovely and pale and beautiful and....
"Hey! Merlin, your mind is wandering off, you were far away then, whole leagues, I'd say. For your sake it had better not have been in the lair of some seductress!"
I begged for reviews on the first posting of this and I'm doing it again. AND, most importantly, many many MAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNY thankyou's to BiteMeBlondie I really wanted to reply and obess over every word you said my dear anonymous reviewer but I couldn't (hence anonymous- I spelt it right without the spell check) so I'm dedicating the next chapter to you because you wanted a continuation.
Anyway, to shamelessly mangle Moulin Rouge 'Reviews are like oxygen, reviews are a many splendored thing. Reviews lift us up where we belong. ALL I NEED IS REVIEWS!