Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews of the first chapter!
Continuing on with our heroes adventure!
disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Arthur opened his eyes. Everything hurt.
He glanced to see the others slowly stirring as well around him, in the dim light of torches that were placed on the wall of the unknown place. He pushed himself up and over to Gwen, who had a small cut on her cheek.
Merlin and Mila both looked bruised as well, so Arthur could only imagine his own face.
"Are you alright?" He asked his love.
Gwen nodded and looked to the others. "Merlin? Mila?"
The two servants glanced at each other and nodded their confirmations.
Mila looked up and around. "A hidden temple?"
As of to answer her, a voice boomed around them, almost shaking the walls.
"You have entered the Challenge of the Lisaigh! There is no turning back only forward."
"We didn't mean to come here!" Arthur called out.
"There is no turning back only forward!" The voice repeated. The four looked at one another.
"What is the challenge?" Merlin inquired cautiously.
"You will walk the paths alone and with your companions by your side, each facing your deepest fears."
"I don't like the sound of that..." Arthur muttered.
"Only together are you balanced and will you stand"
The group looked at one another. "There's
only forward," Gwen repeated. "We have no choice."
"Right then," Arthur said. "Let's get this over with."
He and Merlin grabbed torches from the wall and moved forward, the girls following.
They looked at each other before walking through the first doorway.
Gwen gasped as her skirt caught something, tugging her back. Merlin reached out to grab her, losing his balance as well. He gripped her to him as they hit the wall. It spun with them, locking them on the other side away from Arthur and Mila.
"Gwen! Merlin!" Arthur rushed to the wall. Mila felt around.
"It's solid," she searched for some sort of crack or opening, but could find nothing.
"This must be what the voice meant. It said it would split us up..." Arthur said.
"Then our best luck of finding them is moving forward," Mila concluded.
Arthur nodded and started to walk. He then stopped and turned to her, holding out his hand. "Here... so we can stick together."
Mila nodded, giving him her hand as they moved forward.
*M*
"Arthur! Mila!" Gwen called.
Merlin felt around the wall. "It's no use," he finally said. "We have to go forward. There must be a way back around."
He lifted the torch, glancing around the room. "This way," he said, moving forward.
Gwen followed after him, looking around. The room began to take shape around them. "Merlin," Gwen said with warning in her voice. He looked around as the familiar shape of a room in the castle cane before them.
"This looks like..." Merlin started.
"My chamber," Gwen said.
But the decor of the room was plain. Ragged. The air became stiff and heavier. The wood of the wardrobe was rotting, that the door has fallen off it's hinge and the clothes inside were that of a servants.
"Gwen..." he looked to her. She glanced around at everything with sadness in her eyes. Her own clothes changed to that of a servant girl.
There was a strange essence that seemed to consume them, making what they saw before them appear real. Merlin genuinely felt that he was at the castle, it was hard for him to keep in mind that they were not home.
Suddenly angry chants were heard from outside the "window".
"Peasant Queen!"
"False Queen!"
Merlin looked to Gwen, who looked like she was ready to break. "Gwen..."
She looked at him and, almost as if in a trance walked to the window. "Listen to them Merlin. They hate me."
"Gwen, the people love you." Merlin placed the torch into a spot on the wall and went to her.
"Do they? They talk behind my back. What kind of a Queen could I honestly be?"
"The best kind," he said with confidence, placing his hands on her shoulders. "A Queen who has walked among her people and knows their troubles, first hand."
"They want a princess who knows court affairs."
"They want someone who listens to them," he locked eyes with her. "And you do. And you care, more than anyone I know. You are the symbol of compassion in my eyes."
Gwen looked at him, touched by this, "...Merlin."
"You were my first true friend when I came to Camelot," he told her. He placed his forehead against hers. "I would die for you and all that you stand for. I believe in you and your rightful place as my Queen at Arthur's side."
Gwen's eyes cleared as she looked at Merlin, and the chamber around them dissolved back into the temple.
"Thank you Merlin" Gwen wrapped her arms around him. "I am lucky to have such a wonderful friend."
Merlin smiled and grabbed the torch.
Suddenly he heard a chatter above him. His eyes slowly raised towards the ceiling and he lowered his voice to a steady whisper, as he held his hand out.
"Gwen? By chance...are you also afraid of bats?"
Gwen shook her head, but then froze at his inquiry, realizing the reason for it. She looked above them, and saw the ceiling moving with several dozen fuzzy bodies.
Her eyes went wide, and Merlin's hand clasped over her mouth before she could gasp.
"Move slowly," he told her.
They side stepped their way towards the door.
*M*
Arthur and Mila reached a room that opened up. Torches lined the walls.
"It's almost cheery in here," Mila commented. They walked forward, still hand-in-hand, when the floor started crumble beneath them. Arthur latched onto a pillar, pulling Mila towards him, putting a hand around her waist to hold her closer. Her arms gripped around him.
Mila are you alright?" He asked.
"Yes sire." She glanced down and felt pale. Only a small bridge was left of the room, and the drop beneath them lead to darkness. "No sire," she corrected herself.
Arthur looked down and tightened his grip. They weren't too far from the starting platform.
"Hold on tight," He instructed her. With all his force he jumped and pushed himself back onto the platform. He stood and held out his arms to her. "Come on Mila, it's not that far."
Mila nodded and did the same, Arthur caught her in the process.
They looked ahead at the bridge.
Arthur walked closer and glance over, kicking a rock down... but there was no sound of it landing.
He edged out onto the bridge, feeling unsteady and then stepped back.
"Arthur, I don't think I can do this," Mila looked at him.
"To be truthful, I'm not sure I can either," he admitted.
"Heights?"
"Heights"
Mila and Arthur smiled slightly at each other.
"But we have to," Arthur said.
"Easy for you to say," Mila replied. "I'm not as brave as you."
"Brave isn't from lack of fear," Arthur told her. "It's doing what you know must be done, despite being afraid of the outcome."
"That was almost poetic."
"Merlin said that to me once. It always stuck with me," Arthur rolled his eyes at her raised eyebrows, "please don't tell him though."
"You do think fairly highly of him, don't you?" Mila asked him.
"Of course I do. He's, probably, my best friend." He looked at her sternly, "and don't you be telling him that either!"
Mila smiled and then looked ahead of them, losing it again.
Arthur followed her gaze. The bridge would only fit one person at a time...
He held his hand out to her again. "We do this slowly, carefully, and together."
Mila looked at him and nodded, giving him her hand, and they began to side step their way across the bridge."
*M*
Gwen and Merlin walked through a doorway, and into what looked like a tomb.
"Well that's not ominous," Merlin said as they looked around. "Look," she pointed out a familiar sarcophagus.
It was Uther's.
Around them marked names of people they knew.
Gwen felt her heart sink. Elyan was listed.
So was Gaius.
"It's...not real." Merlin reminded her.
"It's still not pleasant to look at." Gwen said. "Or think of."
Merlin nodded and held out his hand to move her forward. "Come on. Let's keep moving."
Gwen started to walk, his hand at her back, but she stopped.
"That is the opposite of moving," Merlin stated as he bumped into her.
"Merlin," she said lookin ahead.
In front of them was a well carved sarcophagus that could only be one person.
"Arthur."
"Is this me again?" Gwen asked. "I feel my fears are taking over."
"It's not just your fear," Merlin said as he studied the form and they walked a bit closer. "I am constantly afraid I will fail him."
"Merlin you do everything you can," Gwen reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are no knight and you do more than any servant I've known. You are fiercely loyal and you protect him in so many ways."
Merlin looked at her, and then back. "I know it's not real, but seeing it just reminds me of what I constantly try not to think about."
"I know," Gwen said. "I never want to think of what may happen to Arthur. Every time the two of you leave on your horses, I wonder if it'll be the last time I see you go."
They both stood a moment in silence.
"Let's go," Gwen said.
Merlin nodded.
*M*
Arthur and Mila weren't far from the end of the bridge.
Together they had been moving slowly across.
"Just a few more steps," Arthur informed her.
Just as he said that there was a loud crack, as the end of the bridge started shift.
The both froze. Arthur leaned his weight down to test each step, pulling hem forward.
"Mila, on the count of three we are going to jump."
"Arthur I don't think I can make that..." Mila practically whispered. "I'm behind you, that is too far a jump."
"I need you to trust me." He gripped her tight. "One. Two. Three!"
As they jump- he pulled her forward and to the side of him, and the bridge crumbled away.
They hit the other side, chest first and scrambled to climb up.
They sat, catching their breath and looking at the where the bridge was. They then looked at each other and started laughing. Arthur stood and pulled Mila up and they gave each other a quick victory hug, pulling back and continuing to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
Came Merlin's voice.
They looked behind them to see their missing pair.
They rushed to each other.
"You're alright?" Arthur asked.
"Yes," Gwen replied.
"Let's keep moving on then."
That's all for now folks!
Review.
Favorite.
Follow
All that good stuff!