CHAPTER 2 : LOSS OF A GOOD MAN
In desperation, Arthur had them light a fire to give them at least a little light. It seemed to take Nathan forever to get a steady flame. He wished Merlin had been there as he could get a fire going even on a wet night.
Glyn was still sitting close to the crevasse as that was what it obviously was. Arthur suggested that it had probably been covered with a mat of tree roots sufficient to hold up weeds to camouflage it. The others stood around unable to do much in the dark. Finally, Arthur went and sat by the fire and the other joined him except Glyn who kept calling softly, "Ged, it's me! Can you hear me? I'm staying here until we get you out."
Arthur said, "He should be over here, he'd be safer."
"Let him stay there, he's in shock they have been together since they were fourteen and arrived at Camelot to train as squires." Aislin added, "Eleven years together builds strong friendships. I'll keep an eye on him."
Glyn sat looking at what in the daylight had appeared to be a ten foot width crack in the ground, divided by one section which had filled with rocks. The edges down to it were now steep with frequent little pebble slides. He'd been closer but the ground had the texture of a mattress and he had scooted back on Nathan's command. He was afraid to go much closer in case the surrounding area collapsed swallowing him as it had Ged. He was scared and felt lost but knew that his king would figure a way to save his friend.
Around the fire, the others were not as confident. They had in their time witnessed landslides and rockfalls and seldom had the results been positive. Arthur was deep in thought, he hated losing knights. Bad enough to lose one in a hard fought battle but to lose one on a hunting trip from something as insignificant as a hole in the ground seemed ridiculous.
Arthur had only seen the result of the subsidence, he had not witnessed the actual collapse.
Sir Charles and John who had remained with the horses, had been happily chatting when they heard voices, figuring that it was the hunting party returning, John had taken the sacks out of his saddle bags anticipating the arrival of meat.
Two knights had walked up placing the meat on one of the large boulders and the hide on the ground beside it. He had nodded at them, then realised by their silence and their faces, that things had not gone according to plan. He motioned for John to pack the meat away, Nathan gave him a hand. In the meantime, he had then learned the news and Arthur's wanting him to return to the site of the accident.
With the meat in sacks and left up on the boulder, he'd left John with the horses and followed them. "Wait here for us to return," he told the young man and then added, "It's safe just don't wander off!" He left John desolately looking at his equine companions. That's why the squires usually travel in pairs when away from the castle, they still needed support from a friend in difficult situations.
-0-0-
Darkness was falling as Merlin and Gawaine came upon John. The horses had alerted him that people were coming even before he could pick up the footsteps. He sighed in relief to see Merlin.
"You were left alone with the horses, while they all went hunting?"
"No, Sir. Charles was here with me but Sirs Nathan and Caedrik returned with the meat," he gestured to the sacks on the boulder doubting that they could see it anyway. "But they had to return with Charles as there had been an accident."
Merlin's heart dropped, the kid hadn't mentioned Arthur.
Gawaine interrupted his thoughts by saying, "So, what has happened?"
"Seems Sir Gedwynn was swallowed by a hole and they can't get close enough to see him or pull him out."
Merlin breathed a sigh of relief and then felt guilty. This area was riddled with depressions and probably underground waterways and caves. He should have voiced his opposition to taking the shortcut in the beginning when it had only been a suggestion. But he had other thoughts on his mind and said, "Which way did they go?"
John pointed to his left but it was going to be impossible to follow without some sort of light. Merlin scrambled onto a boulder and looked around. In the distance, he could see the glimmer of what he hoped was a fire. He turned to the squire and said kindly, "Are you all right by yourself, John?"
The boy nodded looking anything but confident, Gawaine put his hand on John's shoulder saying, "Of course he is, Merlin, he's a senior squire of Camelot. Come on if we're going to find them we'd better make a move." He reached into his pocket and took out an apple and some dried cheese which he handed to the boy saying, "You missed supper but this will keep you going. There'll be venison tomorrow by the looks of it."
John watched them leave, he would have given anything to be going with them but he knew from his training that horses were a necessity and had to be guarded. Without horses, it would take them days to arrive home...if they ever got out of this awful area. He settled down to wait for daylight.
-0-0-
Gawaine followed Merlin slowly, the going was tiring, each step had to be tested, no striding out. Merlin had a rag wrapped torch which did little but helped them follow the trail of broken twigs and bent weeds.
From this level, he couldn't see the glow of whatever had caught his eye or even smell any smoke. It was as if the very land absorbed light and scent. He allowed his mind to focus on Arthur and by honing into his presence kept walking in an almost straight line. Every now and again, they flushed some night dweller which scurried away.
Merlin finally stopped and said, "With all these boulders and uneven ground it is difficult to see any flames. Can you smell any burning?"
Gawaine shook his head in the dark and then remembered to say, "No."
"Let's widen our search. You stand here and I will walk around you in a circle. Yell if you lose sight of my torch."
Gawaine said, "Merlin, the flame is so pathetic, if you go more than six feet away, I won't be able to see it."
"Don't worry, I'll talk the whole time, turn toward my voice if you can't see the flame." Merlin walked out six feet and Gawaine heard, "Shit that hurt!"
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, a boulder just took a bite out of my thigh."
Gawaine smiled as he watched the flame when he could however, often Merlin was either in a depression or behind boulders. He could however hear his voice singing one of the bawdy songs from the knights' tavern in Camelot, then he swung into something original...
"There once was a young King called Arthur
Who ordered an ale and a garter
The garter he saw belonged to a whore
But luckily Gawaine got there faster..."
Gawaine roared laughing as he thought, 'Good old Merlin, still clean of mind and body.'
If he had been quiet, he would not have missed a distant voice calling, "Hello?"
Suddenly Merlin was again beside him, Gawaine wiped the tears from his eyes. "You're wasted on Arthur," he said, "You should be on the stages of the world."
Merlin led the way again, not having seen any flame. Suddenly, he stopped dead and Gawaine almost wiped him out, before adding, "Are you all right?"
Whispering, Merlin said, "I thought I heard something." He yelled into the dark, "Hello! Anybody there? …Arthur?"
They listed in silence and finally heard a muffled sound from their left. Merlin immediately turned and led the way shouting as he walked, "Hello! …anybody…Arthur?"
Again a noise but this time Merlin had already seen the faint flickering of a flame. He yelled, "We can see the fire!" Suddenly it blazed higher, someone was trying to make it brighter for their benefit.
The next thing he knew voices were approaching them and Arthur and Caedrik came out of the darkness.
"Merlin, am I glad to see you! What are you doing out here?" He nodded at Gawaine saying, "You too. How did you find us?"
"We decided to walk out to meet you but you never arrived and then we found John and he told us what had happened. Did you get Ged?"
Arthur shook his head. "Nothing! Maybe in the daylight tomorrow we'll be able to do something. He's a strong young man...he could survive...couldn't he?"
They had reached the fire and Gawaine plunked himself down next to it. Someone handed him a water-skin and he had a long drink. Merlin refused as he wasn't thirsty, he was just overwhelmingly relieved to have found Arthur safe and sound.
Arthur, Merlin, Gawaine and Aislin sat around the fire as Arthur brought the others up to date on what had happened. He glanced over at Glyn who was still guarding the hole, nothing Aislin had been able to say had convinced him that he should leave it and join the others near the fire. He could have ordered him to but he decided to leave it up to him. They could see him and he didn't seemed inclined to do anything foolhardy. He was just sitting quietly waiting for his friend to be found.
Nathan seemed to be asleep as he sat with his arms wrapped around his knees and his head resting on them. Caedrik was propped against a tree.
Arthur turned to the others saying, "We should really try to get some shut-eye. Once it's light, we will have to plan something." They were all tired after their day's journey and the added stress did nothing to make sleeping easier." Arthur stood up and walked over to a boulder sitting against it, Merlin followed him.
Aislin said to Charles, "Give them some space, Arthur is worried about Ged. I don't think the outcome will be positive. The land collapsed inward with smaller boulders and larger rocks. I doubt that he is still alive. "
Gawaine was going to say something positive about knowing of people buried and then dug out days later as they had managed to find an air hole and had survived the initial fall. However, this area was strange, the landscape seemed determined to make their life even more difficult than it would normally be, so he refrained from saying anything and as Aislin turned to try to get comfortable, he just nodded his head.
Merlin say down next to Arthur within touching distance, then on second thought he scooted closer so their legs were touching.
Arthur said, "You don't know how much I'd wished that I had taken you when we left but I knew that hunting is not a favourite pastime of yours so I went off with the others."
Merlin smiled, "Thank you, as I really had no desire to tramp across the area for a second time."
"I never thought I would be away so long, I figured a couple of hours at the most. Then on second thought, I was glad that you were back safely with the others. How did you get Leon to let you and Gawaine go?"
"Well, time wise, you should have been making your way back to us so we just said that we would walk out to meet you. Leon must be regretting that he let us go. He'll have imagined all sorts of scenarios from bandits to bears, from badgers to boogeymen!"
Arthur smiled; he felt one hundred percent better with Merlin at his side. Merlin said, "You should try to get some sleep." He slipped his arms around Arthur's waist and said softly, "I make an exceptionally good pillow if the need arises."
"Merlin, you're so boney that I think comparing yourself to a luxurious pillow, even in this situation is a slight exaggeration. But thanks all the same…" He ran his finger along Merlin's cheek from his eye to his lips and smiled at him. He knew that Merlin was trying to take his mind off Ged's disappearance and he appreciated it.
Merlin dozed fitfully, Arthur was curled into his chest, snoring slightly. Every now and again a shiver would shake his body but Merlin had nothing that he could throw over him to keep him warm and he thought that the shivers were probably connected to his dreams not the temperature.
He watched the sky lighten and he realised that he was facing the East. Day was slowly arriving. He didn't wake Arthur as they would need more than ribbons of light in the sky to be able to see clearly what had happened to poor Ged.
He glanced over and could just make out Glyn keeping his vigil.
-0-0-
Merlin must have dozed off as he was awoken by the birds. The sun was up and the area looked almost tranquil. He ran his lips over Arthur's ear, blowing lightly. Arthur, stirred reaching for Merlin who shifted his weight slightly, "It's light, time to wake up!"
Arthur groaned and rubbed his eyes. It alway surprised Merlin how deeply he could sleep and how hard it was to wake him but just for a few seconds before his brain clicked into gear and he became ready to face the world. The only time that he was difficult to get up was when they were home, Merlin knew that there were days when the two of them would quite happily have spent the day in their chambers, closing out the word and not bothering to stir from bed.
He smiled, soon they would get home and after the first few hectic days of catching up on things, Arthur would finally have more time on his hands to become his and they would have a few days to themselves. However, not today as they had to get Ged.
-0-0-
There was no delay for so as soon as they got up, they carefully, made their way to the crevice. In the daylight, it looked more menacing than before. It was surprisingly deep and from the mat of grass and entwined roots hanging over the side, much broader than they had expected. Luckily only one person had fallen in.
Merlin was all for sliding on his stomach to the edge to peer down to see the extent of the landfall. He explained that Gawaine and Arthur could hold his feet so he wouldn't go over. Arthur said adamantly, "No, Merlin! No one needs to go any nearer than necessary."
Aislin said, "Could we make a bridge across the centre with trees and then maybe one of us could crawl across to look down?"
The others agreed but Nathan said, "Arthur, I'd like to walk the length of the crevice and see if maybe there is any area where someone could slide down and walk back until they get to the rockfall."
Caedrik immediately said, "I'll start at the other end."
Arthur looked at them and agreed but only on the understanding that no one was to go into the hole without clearing it with Aislin or him. "Go in groups of three but keep a lookout for edges which might give way."
Caedrik motioned to Glyn and Gawaine to join him while Nathan went with Aislin.
"Arthur, I can't just stay here, I'd feel much better being involved." So Merlin and Arthur joined Nathan's group.
The crevice was at the most ten feet across and probably twenty feet long. The groups were able to keep in touch with each other. As they walked Glyn said sadly, "Sir Caedrik, he's gone hasn't he?"
Knowing better than to give false hope, the knight said to the younger man, "It doesn't look good that we'll find him alive. If he is at the bottom of that rockfall, he would have been seriously hurt."
"I'll miss him…" said the younger knight.
Sir Caedrik put his arm across his shoulder saying, "I know you will and so will all of us. Come on, let's see what we can do."
It was Nathan's group which found that their end of the crevice rose to ground level and looked quite solid. Merlin said quietly to Arthur, "I could make my way down that edge and walk along the bottom back to the rockfall. Check it out and come back the same way."
"…and if that starts another rockfall, how are you going to manage then? Sorry, Merlin, I have no intention of letting you do it!"
"But, I'm the lightest and if Ged needs medical help, I would at least be able to figure what to do."
Arthur looked at him, what he said was true but he'd heard how fast the rocks had fallen. Ged hadn't had time for anything other than a shout of surprise as the ground gave way. "Do you think he is still alive?"
Merlin glanced up and then back at his feet. He rubbed the toe of his boot against the back of his other leg and shaking his head said, "No…! But I wouldn't be able to live with myself, if I didn't at least find out."
"If you let anything happen to yourself…I'll never speak to you again!" said Arthur slipping his arm across Merlin's shoulders. Then just as abruptly he turned, calling to the group at the other end, "I think we can get a man down this end."
Merlin sliding down the end of the trench, felt his feet touch the bottom. It was cold and damp and smelled of decaying vegetation and the earthy smell of soil. He managed to reach the rockfall, walking carefully not wanting to touch either of the sides of the crevice which seemed soft and likely to cascade in at the slightest provocation. At the rockfall, the earth with the weight of the rocks was solidly compacted. He knelt quietly, trying to feel if there were a living soul within the fall but he got nothing. Looking up he could see only the tops of the trees and the sky. He got to his feet and Arthur standing at the end of the crevice could see him and called to him but he just shook his head.
Hands were willing to help him up the slope onto more solid land and he said, "I'm sorry…no one could have survived the weight of the rocks and rubble."
Glyn said, "Sire, can't we get his body to take it back to Camelot?"
Merlin saved Arthur from answering by saying, "Glyn, we couldn't move all that rock. It would be a monumental task, taking hundreds of men. I don't think he suffered, he was possibly dead as his body hit the bottom of the crevice. Some of those rocks are boulder sized. If one had hit his head he would have been killed outright."
-0-0-
In the early morning light, Leon was awake, he had hardly slept and had decided to form a search party for the hunters. He had left with Gavin, Rook, Simon and the squire Rhylin. They took Merlin's and Gawaine's horses with them and backtracked following the trail set by them the previous evening. If Leon had one thing to regret it was that he had allowed the two of them to wander off but he had honestly thought as they had, that the hunting party was probably on its way back. He wouldn't be able to face Arthur if something had happened to Merlin.
In what seemed no time, they came upon John standing defensively in front of the hunting party's horses. His body showed relief when he saw that it was knights and not bandits as he had first suspected.
He quickly brought Sir Leon up to date on what had happened. The four knights set out to find Arthur leaving Rhylin with John. Leon told the squires to cook some of the venison for themselves as no one had eaten anything since last night and poor John was hungry as his last meal had consisted of the apple and dried cheese which Gawaine had given him.
Simon took a few moments to congratulate John on having kept the horses safe. He said, "The Squire Master will hear about this. Good Work, John! The king's and the other knights' horses are probably thirsty so while the meat is cooking take them to the stream and water them," adding to Rhylin as he took a bag of oats off Gawaine's horse Hazlit, "Divide this among the ones which John's been guarding."
Then the four of them left, leaving the two squires alone.
