"Merlin!?"
"Trust me!" I hear his footsteps go up a short flight of stairs, likely the one s that lead to his bedroom and I hear him rummaging through his room.
Gaius will be able to heal me better than Merlin, surely. However, the way Gaius spoke to him...I never remembered Gaius shouting before, not even when I was a boy. He always seemed so calm.
"Can you hear me?" 'Yes but I can't move!' "The king will be hear any moment!"
"He can't die! Its my destiny to protect him!" I can hear the desperation in his voice, and it sounds almost as strong as the pain that, that strange beast has caused me...but what is all this talk about it being his destiny to protect him? Well, whatever it is, Gaius clearly disapproves of what ever method he's using to achieve it. "We haven't done all the things we're meant to do." He sounds more desperate and out of breath than before.
"That is the lament to all men."
"Gaius, he's my friend." He calls me his friend but I distinctly remember him saying that he could never have a friend that could be such an ass. If I live through this, I'm not going to let him live it down.
"Then save him." Gaius sounds defeated. Almost as if whatever Merlin is going to do might be my only option.
I hear the pages of a book turnturning more rapidly than they should for someone looking for a cure for me...and then I hear a strange language come out of Merlin's mouthand then once more. "Maybe it takes time for the spell to take effect?"
'S-Spell? Merlin...Merlin you have magic? You have magic and you were trying to use it on me! I am so sacking you for this! Wait...no...sorcerery...its a death sentence...' I quickly hear Gaius say something about the bite being a death sentence before I can't hear anymore.
I feel my father lift me up from the table and carry me out of Gaius' chambers. I could feel my father's heart pounding wildly against my side as be carried me. I could feel his tears fall onto my chain mail and armor. Not long after that I feel the both of us fall. 'My father...the king of Camelot...fell to his knees in agony...for me, his son...and judging from the amount of knights carrying me we are in the courtyard.'
I know I should be feeling my bed underneath me but I suppose I truly passed out before I could, because now I am following a man quickly down a flight of stairs I have never seen before. He is carrying a torch and if I'm not mistaken, it's Merlin in front of me.
Finally he stops at a large open cave and what I see has to be impossible, because there is a dragon in front of me and Merlin looks so unafraid and almost familiar with the dragon. "I have failed Arthur, failed in my destiny."
"And yet you would not be here if that were true."
"He was bitten by the questing beast. He's going to die."
"Does he still breathe?" The dragon tilted his head.
"Only just."
"Then there is still time to heal him." I can see a sympathetic smile cross the dragon's features, but what I can't figure out is why a dragon would want me to live. Especially a dragon under my father's castle.
"I've tried. I cannot save him."
"You do not know how to save him."
"But you can tell me how?"
"Perhaps, but it will not be easy."
"I'll do anything."
"Anything?" 'No, Merlin don't!'
"Please just tell me what I have to do."
"Very well. The questing beast is a creature conjured by the powers of the old religion. You must use the same ancient magic to save him."
"The old religion died out centuries ago."
"The old religion is the magic of the earth itself! It is the essence of which binds all things together. It will live long beyond the time of man."
"But how will that help me save Arthur?" 'Why do you want to save me?'
"You must find those who still serve it. Those who hold dominion over life and death."
My vision of Merlin and the dragon go pitch black for a moment and apparently my hearing is returning because I can slowly begin to hear my father. "Gaius, why does he speak of his servant in his fever dreams? Why does he ask about...why we want to save him?"
"Merlin was the last face he saw. It's likely that his life force is holding on to the last pieces of what he knows."
"But why his servant?" My father sounds confused and concerned at the same time. I hadn't realized I was talking about what I was seeing.
"I'm not entirely sure, sire. I...will go prepare something to ease his passing after I examine him once more."
"Of course." I could hear footsteps leave the room, and then I feel my father place his hand on my shoulder. "Gaius and Merlin will surely find something. They have to. You'll come back to me won't you my boy?"
When father left Gaius sat down next to me. "I will likely never understand the connection you and Merlin share. It goes beyond anything I've ever seen. I know you probably heard what he tried to do. I can only ask that you not be hard on him. You're his best friend and I have a feeling the two of you need each other."
He's a sorcerer. You know about it. You're supposed to be my father's friend. Merlin is supposed to be mine. I trusted him...what do I do now? If I live through this, what WILL I do?"