In Sickness and Health.
Chapter Two
Summary: Gwaine and Merlin are attacked by a sorcerer. While Gwaine comes out scratch free, Merlin realizes that not only has he fallen sick, but his magic. Now, Merlin must rely on the help of others to cure him before his time runs out.
Everything was completely black.
I have to stop drinking so early, Gwaine thought groggily, or start drinking earlier, perhaps. He sat himself against, well, whatever was behind him and tried to recall what had happened. The knight remembered waking up, running into King Princess in the hallway, eating breakfast, and then getting the horses-
Wait, that couldn't be right. One, why would he be getting his horse to go to the tavern, and two, why was he getting horses? Gwaine looked around him again. So he wasn't in a tavern, and there didn't appear to be any horses. Stumped, he tried to think of anything else that had happened yesterday. He had talked to Gwen about how she liked being Queen on his way to talk to Gaius about a hangover, but then he had been rudely interrupted by Arthur. Apparently Gaius needed a knight to go galloping in the woods with Merlin.
Oh. Merlin! He frantically looked around for his friend but to no prevail. Surely he had set up his own bed close to his. Wait, he wasn't in a bed, either! What the hell had happened?
The sudden sound of horse shoes brought Gwaine back to his surroundings. Quickly the knight located his sword and jumped up into attention. Once he saw who it was, however, he instantly relaxed.
"Gwaine!" Leon shouted.
"Ah, Sir Leon," Gwaine grinned. "Having a nice evening stroll through the woods?" He watched as his fellow knight dismounted from his horse with a worrisome frown. Shit, Gwaine thought. That couldn't be a good sign. "What's happened?"
"What's happened?" Leon repeated dumbly. "Gwaine, your horse came back to Camelot two days ago- without you, in case you didn't notice. We've been searching for you and Merlin ever since."
"Two days? Merlin?" Now Gwaine was thoroughly confused. Surely they hadn't been gone that long. And, speaking of Merlin, where had he gone? "Wait, you're searching for Merlin, too?"
Leon's frown instantly intensified. "You mean he's not with you?" Gwaine just shook his head. "Damn it."
"Damn what?" another voice questioned. Gwaine's eyes landed in the direction of the voice just in time to see Percival heading in their direction. The large knight smiled when he saw Gwaine, but his smile was wiped away when he saw the concern on his friends' faces. "It's good to see you, Gwaine."
"Likewise," Gwaine nodded back, "though it would be better if we knew where Merlin was." Gwaine saw a flash of sadness in Percival's eyes before the knight sighed. "How long have Merlin and I officially been missing?"
"Officially? Two days, but it's almost been four days since you two were expected back to Camelot," Leon supplied. Then, turning to Percival, he said, "Go find Elyan. Tell him we have Gwaine, but Merlin's still missing."
"No need," Gwaine muttered, pointing behind him. Elyan stood in the clearing, obviously trying to keep his expression neutral. The new arrival glanced around and immediately as though something was wrong. He gave Gwaine a questioning look before Leon supplied him with the answer. "Merlin's missing."
"We'll find him," Elyan weakly replied. He, too, seemed unsettled by Merlin's absence. The young knight placed a comforting hand on Gwaine's shoulder before turning his attention back to Leon. "We need to report back to the king, but we shouldn't stop searching for Merlin."
"He's right," Percival agreed.
Leon looked thoughtfully at all of the knights before nodded. "Then it's settled; Gwaine and Percival will report to Camelot-"
"I am not-" Gwaine started, but Leon halted him with his hand.
"Let me finish," Leon sighed. "Once you report to Camelot, despite my better judgment, I want you both to return to this clearing. Elyan and I will search to the north-", he pointed, "and you two will search in the opposite direction-" once more, he pointed. "If Arthur joins, as I believe he will, then tell him what's happened and take him with you. We will all be back at Camelot by nightfall. Understood?"
"Thank you," Gwaine nodded, his voice betraying his growing concern.
"Don't thank me yet," Leon frowned. "Not until we've found Merlin."
-M-
Arthur was furious. It had been four entire days since Merlin and Gwaine left, and his mind was reeling with all the possible places they could be right now: being held hostage by bandits, falling off a cliff, being attacked by Morgana or- well, and- Cenred, off drinking at a tavern… That was it- they had been drinking to excess and were walking back shamefully right now! Of course, the deep feeling of dread growing in the pit of his stomach told Arthur otherwise. Merlin was always getting in trouble, and Gwaine- well, trouble was how he had met Gwaine! It was his own fault, really, for sending two stupid, supercilious, dollop-heads in the middle of the woods by themselves.
A knock on the door broke Arthur's train of thought. The young king sighed. "Enter." Much to his surprise, a very disgruntled Gwaine and an equally disgruntled Percival appeared.
His hearted dropped when he saw their faces.
"What happened?" Arthur asked quietly, fearfully. Percival's eyes flickered toward Gwaine, but neither knight replied. "Tell me what happened!" Arthur tried again, this time much louder, and much more demanding. "That was an order!"
-M-
Alator knew something was wrong. He could feel his magic stirring inside of him, and it was rather unsettling. Attempting to clear his mind, he decided to take a walk. Darkness was creeping up on the sky, so such an innocent action should be safe even for him. His mind kept reminding him that something wasn't right, though, and the more he walked the more restless his magic grew.
The sounds of approaching footsteps made Alator halt. Quickly he found a tree to hide behind, and his golden eyes rearranged the leaves to hide his footprints. Perhaps he should have stayed home after all. As he listened to the footsteps, he grew even more anxious. This person was walking far too fast to be a traveler seeking camp. No, this person was running to something- or from something. The most unsettling news, however, was that he could sense magic on this person. Alator's instincts took over, and he started running. He had felt that kind of magic before, and it never ended well. Soon enough, the sounds of screams filled the air, and Alator picked up speed. The closer he was to the screams, the stronger another sense of magic was. It seemed familiar, but it also felt-distressed, perhaps?- as if it were sick. A growing sense of dread built inside Alator, and he quickened his pace yet again.
Suddenly, the magic he had sensed burst inside of Alator, and he was jolted still. Wherever the magic was coming from, it was close by. Eyes glowing, he searched around the dark woods in an attempt to locate whoever possessed the magic he was feeling. Finally he found a darkened figure not too far away, and he immediately started off in that direction. Soon enough the distressed figure was in seeing distance, and he crouched down next to it. On closer examination, Alator found that it was a boy, granted, a boy with strong magic. He put a hand on his shoulder, earning a heart-wrenching, pain-filled whimper. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Alator whispered. The boy remained unconvinced, however, and refused to move. Sighing, Alator looked over what he could see of the injured man. He frowned. Other than a few bruises and cuts, there didn't seem to be anything wrong. He laid his hand back on the boy's arm. "No!" the withering form cried, and he tried to release a surge of magic. Alator's growing sense of dread, it seemed, had been warranted after all. The boy was obviously of magic, but of a magic that indeed had been attacked. He, unfortunately, believed he knew the cause of it, but that didn't matter right now. If he was right, then the boy needed to be treated now. "I'm sorry," Alator started, "but I need to take you somewhere safer for treatment." Then, he turned the boy over and revealed his face. Alator gasped at what he saw.
"Emrys."
-M-