An Enemy Unknown
Merlin was running. Branches smacked into his face as he ran through the forest, intent on escaping from the creature chasing him. His chest heaved as he gulped in lungfuls of air and his heart beat faster than it ever had before. His eyes scanned the path in front of him, attempting to see through the thick blackness of the night.
From behind, a terrible roar sounded, causing the ground beneath Merlin's feet to tremble. Unfortunately, it was at that exact moment that he placed his foot into an unseen hole, sending his body tumbling to the ground.
Panic overcame the young warlock as he scrambled against the ground, trying to right himself so that he could keep running. Pain shot up through his leg with his efforts, and he cried out, releasing his feelings of not only pain, but panic and terror as well.
As Merlin lay on the forest floor, a dark form came racing at him. He couldn't make out any of the creature's features, but the thing was big and dark. As it grew closer, the fear within Merlin continued to grow, clouding his thoughts and preventing him from doing anything. A small part of the warlock's brain attempted to summon his magic instinctively, but for some reason, his magic wouldn't respond as usual.
All Merlin could do was watch as the dark being loomed above him, steadily approaching Merlin's face. The last thing Merlin remembered was the sound of the beast as it finally descended on him and a blinding light flashing in the night. And then everything went black.
The first thing he felt was pain. Pain so severe that it felt as if a thousand knives were being driven into his body over and over again.
As he lay on the ground, his senses started slowly coming back to him. Originally, the pain had been so intense that everything else had been blocked out. Now with his sense of hearing starting to return, he took in the muted sounds of some muffled voices, the crackling of a fire, and the the footsteps of someone approaching.
With great effort, Merlin managed to crack open his eyes. He instantly shut them upon being met with the blinding rays of sunlight. The pain momentarily overwhelmed him once again, and his face contorted in an effort to get through it.
Eventually, he was able to turn his head to the side enough so that when he was able to open his eyes once again, he was met with the sight of a familiar looking pair of boots. Said pair of boots moved slightly as their owner crouched down, coming into Merlin's line of sight fully.
"You're awake," Arthur said as he looked down.
Merlin's only response was to groan. Yes, he was awake, but at this particular moment in time, he wished he was dead and free from the pain coursing through him.
During this thought, a second person arrived to stand next to the prince. Merlin was slightly surprised at the sight of Gaius bending down to begin his examination.
Gaius began to poke and prod at Merlin's body, muttering to himself as he noted his ward's responses to the various touches. As he picked up Merlin's arm to double check a bandage on it, he commented, "You gave us quite the scare. The last you were seen, you were running out of the city gate as if your life depended on it. Missing for two solid days until a scout out on patrol found your unconscious body lying on the ground."
Merlin took in the information, trying to figure out what exactly had happened to him. He couldn't remember much. Feelings of terror and flashes of a terrible creature raced through his mind. But why? Where had the creature come from? Why had he been running from it?
The prince disappeared for a few seconds, returning with a water skin that he handed over to Merlin. Merlin attempted to set up enough so that he could take a much needed drink, but his body refused to cooperate with him. Arthur reached out and grabbed him, helping to prop him up enough so that he could drink a few gulps of water.
Once he had quenched his thirst for the moment, Merlin managed to ask, "Where am I?"
Arthur and Gaius exchanged looks with each other. Finally, Arthur replied, "About a half a day's ride from the castle. You didn't make it too far before collapsing."
Well, thought Merlin, that didn't really help to clear things up.
"Merlin, do you remember anything about the day you ran from the castle?" asked Gaius. Merlin attempted to sort through the scattered collection of memories that he had. He could remember coming into contact with...something. He just couldn't put his finger on what that something was. He shared this with his two companions.
Deciding to let Merlin be for the time being, they started getting things ready to head back to the castle. Merlin, not being of any help in the situation, closed his eyes once again and drifted back to sleep.
When Merlin awoke next, he was lying in the bed Gaius used when injured people were brought up to his room. The throbbing in his head had lessened substantially and it didn't hurt too bad when he moved his head to look around him.
"Gaius?" he called out.
The old man came bustling into view at the sound of his ward's voice. "Awake, are you? It's about time!"
Merlin patiently endured another round of poking and prodding from Gaius. All the while, Merlin was trying to once again search through his memories of the past few days. The harder he tried, the more frustrated he became with himself. The frustration built up within him was eventually released through an angry sigh.
"No matter what I try, I can't remember anything of significance," explained Merlin, his voice gradually growing in volume. "I catch small glimpses of things, but before I can focus on them, they disappear!"
Gaius stared at him for a long minute, trying to figure out a way to help his young ward. After a time, his mind latched on to an idea that just might work. "Merlin, I want you to lay back down and close your eyes."
"Gaius, how in the world is that possibly going to be of use?"
"Humor me, Merlin. Lay back and close your eyes."
Merlin muttered to himself as he did what he was instructed. He settled himself on his back and waited to hear what Gaius would say next.
"Take a few deep breaths. I want you to focus on the magic that courses through your body."
Merlin opened one of his eyes and stared at his guardian. His look clearly told Gaius he thought that the exercise was pointless. However, when Gaius refused to acknowledge the look, Merlin closed his eye and began to breathe deeply.
"Good. Focus on your magic and use it to guide your thoughts. Allow it to resurface the memories that seem to be blocked." Gaius' voice drifted off toward the end as he watched Merlin's face.
On Merlin's end, he had finally settled enough to focus on the magic that had always resided within him. For a time, he allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of connecting with something that was such a fundamental part of his being. As he relaxed into the feeling, he could feel his mind start to wonder. His body began to loosen as he completely gave himself over to the magic coursing through him.
Memory after memory flitted through his mind. As each memory made an appearance, he could feel his magic wrapping around it, sorting through them in an effort to find the necessary memories.
He was unsure of how much time had passed before he caught a glimpse of a dark figure. Merlin visibly flinched when the image appeared in his mind. The flinch was partially due to lingering fear and partially due to his magic reacting to it so strongly. It was as if his magic was attacking the memories, wrestling with whatever was blocking them to gain back control. Long, uncomfortable moments passed as they battled against each other, but at long last, Merlin's magic must have won because a flood of memories overwhelmed him.
He had just left Arthur's rooms for the evening, and he was walking through the corridors, intent on finding his bed to collapse into. He passed no one as he walked, a little out of the ordinary, but Merlin barely registered it because of the extreme exhaustion that he felt.
He had just turned into another hallway when he began to feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Feeling uneasy, he turned to look behind himself, but there was nothing to be seen. He kept walking, his pace slightly quicker than it had previously been. The feeling of uneasiness continued to grow within him, but still, he could find no reason for its existence.
His heart jumped in chest when he rounded a corner and came face to face with a shadow moving out from behind one of the wall tapestries. He froze where he stood, staring as the creature's form slowly took shape, the fear he was feeling growing all the while.
He had attempted to reach out for his magic, and he remembered struggling to make use of his abilities. He was able to conjure a brief flash of light, causing the creature to temporarily retreat. The retreat didn't last long.
The creature lunged at Merlin, and his body responded. Fear like he had never felt before took over his body, and he began to run. He ran through the hallways of the castle, finally making his way out of the building and into the city.
He remembered running past some of the villagers, barely registering their looks of confusion at his all out run through the streets. They hadn't mattered at the time. All that had mattered was escaping the dark figure.
Through the streets he ran, weaving between the various buildings and bystanders as his feet thudded against the ground. He ran through the gate, dodging to escape the clawed hand that reached out to grab him. His throat ached from the scream that tore through his throat.
He had run into the forest, thinking that the sheer amount of trees and foliage would slow the creature down, but his plan had failed. He had tripped and fallen down. The creature had loomed over him, and his magic...his magic had reacted like it never had before. White light had exploded out of him, tearing into the creature before him, causing it to let out a guttural growl as it was destroyed.
Gaius watched as his ward's eyes moved rapidly under his eyelids. Merlin's face was expressive, showing his terror as he was able to finally make it through the events of the past few days. He felt bad for the young man. It was easy to see how difficult it was for Merlin to relive the memories.
When Merlin began to mutter, Gaius quickly looked back at the door behind him. Gaius knew that the words leaving Merlin's mouth were words of magic, and he had no desire for Prince Arthur or anyone to enter the room at that particular moment. As Merlin muttered, his voice grew stronger and more powerful. It all culminated into a blinding light bursting forth from his body.
Gaius fell back in shock, blinded by the light that had made an appearance. He rubbed at his eyes, frantically attempting to regain control of his vision. Finally, his vision returned and he saw that Merlin, for the third time, was back to being unconscious. Whatever he had remembered and whatever magic he had brought forth had taken a lot out of him.
Several hours later, Merlin was still in bed, completely out of it. Arthur, having just finished attending a meeting with his father, had just arrived and was asking if any progress had been made on what had caused Merlin's strange behavior.
Obviously keeping Merlin's magic a secret, Gaius relayed what he had witnessed as Merlin finally gained access to his blocked memories. "It's very clear to me that Merlin firmly believes that he saw something on the night he fled the castle grounds. What that was, however, is still a mystery."
"It's obvious that some sort of magic was involved, and my father is pressing me to find the source of this disturbance. Apparently, Merlin isn't the only person to have done something like this. People from all over Camelot have been flooding in, bringing their concerns to us," Arthur revealed.
Gaius grew worried at the news. In truth, he had no explanation for Arthur, although he did agree that magic was most definitely involved. However, it was difficult to figure out when all of the witnesses to Merlin's flight reported that there had been nothing following him through the streets.
Upon asking Arthur if any of the other people had mentioned seeing anything chasing the fleeing individuals, his response was, "No one's seen anything. The people just become consumed by terror and take off running."
At a loss for words, the two turned their attention to the manservant that had begun to stir slightly.
It looked like Camelot was facing an enemy once again, but this time, they had absolutely no clue what they were up against, and they had no idea how to go about defeating the unseen force.