Set after 4x08. Not slash. This is my First Merlin fan fiction, but not my first story that I've written. I've nearly finished this story already so you won't have to wait for ridiculous amounts of time for the next update. I will update every Tuesday,Thursday and Saturday and if i feel like it, Sunday as well. No beta reader, so I apologize in advanced for any mistakes. I did my best to catch them all. It's not terribly long, but I had fun writing it. Hope you enjoy it just as much.
Chapter One
In her small hut in the forest, Morgana smiled to herself as she finally had all her hard work pay off. It had taken weeks to research and find the perfect spell and even more time to modify it and perfect it to her needs. She had created the potion within a few days after the hard work and research. Even now, the vile potion sat in a small delicate bottle on her small wooden table. The waiting was almost unbearable when, finally, Agravaine walked through the door.
"I came as quickly as I could. What is it?" Agravaine asked in a slightly winded voice.
Morgana turned to him, the small bottle held delicately between her forefinger and her thumb. She held it up to the light for him to see.
"What is that?" he asked with strange curiosity.
Morgana handed him the bottle and smirked,
"The end to all our troubles."
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Merlin gave Arthur the small bottle. Arthur had been complaining of a headache since after breakfast and had requested something to alleviate some of the pain. Merlin had run to Gaius somewhere in between all the chores Arthur had been so kind to give to him, and just finally managed to give it to the irritated king. Arthur guzzled it down and shoved it back into Merlin's hands.
"Thank you Merlin," he said with a sarcastic hint. "At least you managed to get it to me before I was already asleep."
Arthur's headache had risen from the conflict of the past few days. The conflict being an argument that went nowhere. It just seemed to go around and around, the same points being stated and it was making him sick. Quite literally at this point.
"If I have to break up one more argument..." Arthur trailed off as he sat down and took off his boots, the effects of the medicine starting to take effect.
Merlin stopped pulling Arthur's nightclothes from the wardrobe. "Why not just give them both what they want?"
Arthur stared at him.
Merlin started to turn away slowly when he barely dodged one of Arthur's boots that flew past his head. "You really need to work on your aim, sire." The other boot came flying at him. Merlin managed to dodge again as he moved towards the door after gently placing Arthur's nightclothes on the changing screen. "Are you feeling alright sire? That headache must be worse than I thought." Merlin said turning his head to the side while tugging open the door behind him.
"Merlin!" Arthur nearly yelled as his stood up.
Merlin ran out the open door and swiftly shut it behind him. He let out a deep breath with a smile and went on his way.
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Gwen didn't realize how much time had passed while she did her chores until it was already dark. Most of the castle was asleep, and she would have to walk home alone in the dark. It made her nervous whenever things like this happened, but she gathered her courage and walked out the castle gates.
As she walked, every noise made her jump and the shadows seemed to move. Paranoid, she glanced over her shoulder, and to her horror, saw a man walking towards her. Relief spread through her as she recognized the man as Merlin. She nearly called out to him, glad for some company in the chilly night when he turned down a street. Curiosity overcame her fear of walking alone, and she turned down the same street.
Gwen wondered where he could possibly be going at this time of night, a girlfriend perhaps, or maybe he was meeting a friend, possibly one of the nights. She almost called out to him again, when he stopped, looked around and stealthily moved to the shadows in a way so very unlike him. They were now near the city gates, guards standing watch dutifully through the night. Merlin melted into the shadows and easily slipped past them without so much as a sound. Gwen looked around nervously, took a few breaths, and cautiously copied the movements of her friend. To her surprise, she remained absolutely silent and slipped just as easily through the gates without the guards notice. Gwen then focused on catching up to Merlin, who had started to enter the forest. Whatever he was doing, she had a bad feeling about what she would find, but now she couldn't turn back. She had to know what Merlin was up to.
Gwen, thankful she hadn't worn one of her more expensive gowns, managed to move quickly and silently, a few feet behind Merlin. She was well out of earshot, but maintained him in her eyesight. After a while, Gwen considered turning back, but then Merlin stopped. Gwen hid behind a large bush not too far away, now within hearing distance, and saw there were three others standing in front of Merlin. They all wore robes of browns and grays and stood tall as the trees themselves. Gwen, realizing they were druids, was nearly shocked enough to forget to listen to what they had begun to say, but caught herself just in time.
"Thank you for seeing us, Emrys." The leader said.
Gwen noticed they called him by a different name and stored that information away for analysis later. She could only see the side of Merlin's face, but still saw him nod almost imperceptibly. "You said it was urgent. Is it about Morgana?" Merlin asked.
Gwen's eyes were already wide with the realization that he was meeting with druids and probably had before, but at the mention of Morgana, Gwen stiffened and felt a small surge of anger. Morgana had betrayed them all and was constantly planning on killing Arthur. Gwen listened more intensely for the druids reply.
"Yes, it is. Word had reached our ears of one of her plans. We wish to warn you." The leader said slowly. Merlin motioned for them to go on. "We have heard that she has been searching for information on some very dark magic. Magic that has nearly been forgotten, but could be revived with her amount of power."
"What kind of dark magic?" Merlin asked.
"We believe she wishes to create a powerful illness. One that would be very difficult to reverse, even for one with as much magic as you possess. We do not know how she plans to use it, but it could target anyone she wishes, or even spread to all of Camelot. Whatever her intentions are, they do not bode well for the future of Camelot. Of this I am sure."
"I thought creating illnesses was rather common among dark magic," Merlin said. Merlin and Gwen both thinking of the plague created by the Afanc.
The druid shook his head. "It is not that common. Only powerful Sorcerer's can create illnesses. Some are easier to create than others, most are side effects of other things, but the easier it is to make, the easier it is to reverse the effects. From what we have heard, it sounds like Morgana's was not be easy to make. If this is true, it will not be easy to reverse either."
"What am I supposed to do about it? Do you have a way for me to stop this from happening?" Merlin asked.
"I'm afraid not. We only came to warn you, for that is all we can offer. Death itself may soon visit Camelot. Prepare yourself." The druid said slowly before they bowed deeply, and slowly walked away into the mists and disappeared.
Merlin stood there for a minute, before turning and walking back towards Camelot. Gwen sat in silence and shock. Morgana was planning to kill again, perhaps thousands, but that was not what concerned Gwen. The fact that Merlin was consorting with sorcerers, druids, was troubling her mind. Furthermore they had made it sound like Merlin had magic himself! For all Gwen knew, Merlin was a druid. They had called him Emrys and treated him with great respect and also expected him to do something with this information. How many times has Merlin talked with the druids without anyone knowing? Should I confront Merlin? Should I tell Arthur? The thoughts went spinning through Gwen's mind.
Gwen eventually picked herself up and made it back home without incident, thoughts still churning inside of her head. Gwen went through the motions of getting ready for bed, and laid under the covers of her blankets. She would get no sleep.
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Meanwhile, in the castle, Agravaine was in Arthur's room. The king slept peacefully, unaware of his fate. Agravaine stepped over to Arthur's table and pulled out the small bottle Morgana had given him. The contents were clear, but from what Morgana said, the effects of what were in that little bottle were terrible.
Agravaine gingerly opened the bottle and silently poured all the contents into the kings water jug. The water he would drink in the morning.
Agravaine couldn't help but smile as he slowly closed the door, taking one last look at the unsuspecting victim. Soon his troubles would be over.
"Good night, my king. Sleep well."
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hope you liked my first chapter. I would love some feedback on how to write better. Let me know if you think this should be a reveal fic or not. I am at the point where you can still decide if you like. Let me know!