Greetings peasants. This here is the first duo-author story on our FF account, and we decided to combine two of our favorite BBC shows: Merlin and Sherlock.
Unlike some other Merlin/Sherlock crossovers where Sherlock and John use time travel to get to Camelot, in this one the characters always lived in the "land of myth and time of magic," so it doesn't take place during any specific time in the Sherlock series. However, this does take place during Arthur's rule and after Merlin freed the Great Dragon.
If you're worried about not knowing one of the shows well enough to "get" this story, let us put your worries to rest. We have a friend who, even though she hasn't watched all of either show, tells us she enjoys this story.
Notice: If you're worried about Merlin spoilers, though, then this story might not be for you.
We'll refrain from saying more, keeping in mind that this story is a mystery, and we don't want to give anything away before you even read the first word. So, without further ado, we present chapter one!
"Sally?" called the muffled voice of a stocky young man to his wife, as he entered their two-room home from the back. He yanked the door closed, muting the sounds of the bustling Camelot street behind him.
"What is it this time, Billy?" his wife replied lightly. She was preparing their evening meal in the other room.
His footsteps clunked on the stone floor of his workshop, approaching the curtained doorway to the kitchen. He brushed past the curtain and leaned in the doorframe.
"Oh, you know," he said dismissively, his voice no longer dampened by the curtain. He fiddled with his hammer, and he caught the bright brown glance of his wife when she looked up from where she knelt by the fire. She gave him a smile that showed her large upper row of teeth.
William returned the expression but sighed deeply. He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes and down his face, fingers giving his dark stubble a scratch. Moving forward to sprawl in the wooden chair by her, he said, "Have a few last-minute orders I need to finish by the morning." He expertly passed his hammer back and forth between his hands.
Sally pursed her lips and nodded, her curly, black hair bobbing.
"My hammering won't keep you up, will it?"
She smirked at him. "I can hardly fall asleep without it by now." She carried the kettle of stew to the table behind him. There was the sound of sloshing stew and clunking wooden spoons as she filled his bowl and returned to his side to press it into his hands. He caught her waist with one arm and rested his face on her side, savoring the brief moment of affection. She kissed the top of his head and took it as an opportunity to take his hammer away as if it were a little boy's toy slingshot.
"Eat first, then work," she ordered lightheartedly as she stepped away, hips swinging out of his reach.
William turned his attention back to his dinner and obliged to her command, spooning some food into his mouth. His teeth worked away at the tough but rich meat. "Sally, considering what you have to work with, this is delicious."
She was facing the other direction to ladle out her own bowl. When she turned around she rolled her eyes and said, "As you said, considering what I have to work with." She wasn't the most humble of people, Billy knew, but she also seemed to never react well to compliments.
He decided to press on. "All the more reason for you to apply for royal chef. I'm sure you could make some even better food with what the castle has to offer." He divided his attention between her and his food nonchalantly.
"Who said they were looking for a new one?" She leaned back against the table, full concentration on her food.
"Leon was talking about it when he brought in some armor this afternoon. Apparently, they're having people try out the job, and they haven't had one decent meal since their old one's hanging."
"Hanging!" She finally looked up.
"Apparently she was some kind of witch."
Sally shook her head. "I swear they're going to go crazy over that sorcery nonsense up there. It can't be nearly as common as they make it out to be, can it?" She gestured with her spoon as she spoke.
"You can guess where I stand on that matter. I'm the one making the weapons they use to defend Camelot against it. Speaking of which…"
Sally strode over and retrieved his empty bowl, planting another kiss on his head. "Right, you better get to work."
He stood with a grunt and picked up his hammer from the table. He paused at the curtain, but didn't turn around. "See you in the morning, love," he said, then passed through the doorway into his workshop.
"In the morning," Sally returned.
Billy worked the bellows up and down with a stiff arm and aching shoulder, spraying the ashes and smoke up at his face from the stone fireplace. His eyelids twitched and moisture welled up in his vision. When he swept his hand across his forehead, he smeared a mix of sweat and soot over his face and through his shaggy hair. The salt of his sweat stung the many singes he'd already accumulated that night.
He wielded his hammer and leaned into his work, the bent sword straightening bit by bit with every strike of his hammer. Over and over the clang, clang, clanging resonated up to the rafters of his workshop, only interrupted by the occasional shifting of ashes in the grate or rushing boom of the bellows.
Billy was already sweating so much that he hardly noticed a liquid had dripped onto his arm until it ran all the way down to his wrist. He tucked in his chin to examine his arm, and he wrinkled his nose.
A yellow stream of sappy liquid was oozing off of his arm and onto the floor. Whatever it was, it filled his nostrils with a pungency like putrid meat. He wiped at it with his other hand, and immediately the lesions on his fingers began to sting. Cursing, he wiped his hand on his shirt, his breath quickening as the burns swelled.
His tight throat let out a cough, and he looked to see if it was from the smoke. The fire was dying from his inattention, barely fuming.
The room was full of the awful stench, now, and it was making his head throb. It was what he imagined a cremation would smell like.
There was a scuffling sound behind him and he whipped around to see Sally, illuminated by the candle she was holding. She stood in the open doorway. "It's pitch dark in here, Billy. I thought you were working."
"I was. I got distracted."
"By what?"
"Just some burns on my hand. Nothing to worry about."
She stepped a bit closer, then wrinkled her nose. "What's that smell?"
"That's just what I was wondering."
She was about to respond, but then her eyes shot upward. Another rush of the disgustingly warm, cloying liquid ran down Billy's back, but he didn't have time to look up past Sally, who seemed to be rooted in place, wide eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Something humongous, cold, and sinewy smashed onto his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. His lungs were too crushed to make any noise, the thing was so heavy, and it writhed about on his back, smooth, cold, and crushing as marble. He squirmed frantically. The breath on the back of his head sounded like the hissing of a burning log. It made his skin crawl.
More of the liquid trickled onto the back of his head and into his ears. He was barely able to squeeze out a painful cry of, "Sally! Sally!" The crushing weight and smell of rot was overtaking him.
There was an explosion of pain in his neck, and he said no more.
P.S. from Queue: If you're rereading this chapter (for whatever reason) and find it unfamiliar, that's because Fluffy and I rewrote it, along with the second chapter. Don't worry: the events are still the same. We just thought it no longer represented our style or skill as writers and didn't want something less than our best to be a reader's first impression of this story. If this is your first time reading this chapter, and your curiosity is now piqued as to what it originally looked like… y-you really don't want to know. However, just to appease you, we won't "keep this curiosity door locked," to quote Dustin Henderson. We plan on posting a few chapters of "bloopers" once this story has concluded. You might find the original versions of chapters one and two among those. We'll see.