Thank you India Moore, Newsie4eva, and Mike (no sorry, no romance in this one!) for reviewing! I appreciate it!
AN: Sorry this is so late, school was insane this year, but I am done now, so hopefully I can update at a decent rate again.
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Merlin knew it was just a matter of time before Arthur came asking questions about what happened to him. He had no idea what to tell him. His run in with Nimueh was one thing, but getting out of the tree was another. He thought back to his escape and still could not believe he was alive.
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It felt like forever. The vines were tightly wrapped all around Merlin and he could feel every cut they had made. The more Merlin struggled the tighter the vines got. He realized very quickly that this was not a normal tree, but a very enchanted one. He had to calm down and compose himself. Merlin closed his eyes and concentrated on his magic, he let out a force that made the vines fall away. Merlin did not waste time, he brushed the vines off and began to struggle trying to crawl to the top of the trunk. He thought he was going to be free, but then the vines came back in full force. One grabbed his arm and hard enough for Merlin to fall back onto the vines. He heard a pop when he landed.
As soon as Merlin hit the bottom of the trunk the vines wrapped themselves around Merlin pulling tighter than before. This time there were more vines as well. The boy's shoulder felt like it was on fire, it was definitely out of place. The vines were drowning him, taking over his body completely. Magic was not working and he was exhausted from trying. He could barely move, but Merlin knew that Nimueh was going to destroy Camelot, and he could not do anything from inside the tree.
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Merlin was snapped out of his thoughts when someone knocked on his door. He looked up to see the prince standing there with a sympathetic look on his face. Merlin knew this meant that he had run out of time to think of what to tell Arthur, he still had no idea exactly what he could say. Arthur came in and sat down on the chair next to Merlin's bed.
He looked Merlin over. "How are you feeling?"
"I'll be alright Arthur." He sounded pathetic saying it, he was still tired and hurt.
"Look we didn't…we looked for you, but…there was nothing, it looked like a struggle and we found your scarf, but that was it, and we knew Camelot was getting attacked…"
"Arthur, it's alright, I know how it must have looked, and it would not have mattered how much you searched, you would not have found me." Merlin looked at his hands.
Arthur shifted a little in his seat. "What did happen to you out there?"
Merlin waited a bit before answering. "Nimueh."
"She attacked you?"
Merlin nodded.
Arthur looked confused. "Why you?"
Merlin shrugged. "I don't know. I saw someone when we got attacked in the woods and followed them, turned out to be her."
Arthur was staring at Merlin's shoulder. "What did she do to you?"
The servant was not sure what to say. "Umm…she trapped me, in a tree."
"A tree?"
Merlin gave a small nod. "Yes."
"But how did you escape?"
Merlin looked up at Arthur and thought about that. He remembered how much it hurt to be in that tree, surrounded by vines and branches. Hours were spent trapped there while Merlin tried to center all his energy. He knew that if he could just focus his magic then he would be able to escape, but at that moment the pain was all he could think about.
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Merlin had known that she attacked him so she could set her sights on the kingdom. Without Merlin in her way, she could conquer it with little effort. He tried relaxing as much as possible, and found that the vines had loosened a little bit. Merlin closed his eyes and focused on his magic, he could feel it build up more and more until he unleashed a burst of magic. He felt the vines and branches begin to recede back into the earth. The tree rumbled and Merlin knew that this was his only chance, he had to crawl out of the tree or he would be stuck there forever.
There was not much time for Merlin to get out, he crawled as fast as he could with an injured arm, and made his way through the tunnels of the tree. It was almost like a cavern. The tunnels of the tree were widening and Merlin was able to move faster. A strange whooshing sound came from behind him, and Merlin knew the vines were coming back, ready to constrict him back down into the tree.
A little ahead of him, Merlin could see light; he was almost out of the tree. Merlin could not remember how he got from one end of the tree to the opening, but he was there and almost free. Merlin grabbed the edge of the opening with his good hand and hauled himself up and out. The cold winter air felt refreshing compared to that of the inside of the tree. When Merlin was about half way out he felt a vine wrap around his ankle and begin to pull him back down into the tree. He grabbed the outside of the trunk with both hands, and arms and held on. His shoulder felt like it was on fire, but then he felt a terrible pain in his side.
Merlin screamed and did not even realize his magic went out with it, but it was enough to cause the vine to fall away. Merlin pulled himself out of the tree and rolled over on the ground. His whole body was shaking and Merlin was out of breath, he felt exhausted but was worried the vines would come back. He looked at his side and found a large gash about five inches long. A branch must have dug its way in when the vine pulled him down. With his hurt arm he put pressure on the wound and used his good arm to stand up. After figuring out where he was and what direction Camelot was in, Merlin walked.
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"Sire?"
Merlin looked away from Arthur and saw Gaius standing in the room.
Arthur nodded towards Gaius. "Ah yes, I just wanted to come see how Merlin was doing. He told me about Nimueh and was about to tell me how he escaped."
"I am sorry sire, but that will have to wait for another day, Merlin needs rest." Gaius knew Merlin had used magic to escape, and would not be able to explain that to Arthur.
At first Arthur wanted to protest but he stood up. "Of course, I will let you rest." He began to walk out of the room, but looked back at Merlin. "I'm glad you're alright."
Merlin gave him a small smile and a nod in return.
After Arthur left Gaius checked Merlin over.
Merlin smiled at him. "Thank you, I'm still not sure what to tell Arthur."
"Oh I'm sure you will think of something."
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The next day Merlin was sick of sitting around. He needed to get up and do something, so he decided to see if Arthur needed him for anything. Gaius was already out doing his rounds so Merlin left and headed to the Prince's chambers. It was past breakfast, but he knew that Arthur would be back from his meeting with his father about that attack on Camelot.
When Arthur walked in his chambers he did not expect to see Merlin there picking up.
Merlin put some of Arthur's clothes in a basket. "A few days without me and this place looks like it's been hit by a storm or something."
"Merlin, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be resting." He shut his door and came into the room.
"I am done resting, I could not sit still anymore."
"Look you are still hurt and pretty much useless to me with one arm, so you do not need to do that." Arthur took the dirty tunic out of Merlin's hands and threw it in the basket.
"I am not that hurt, and besides I can manage fine with one arm."
Arthur's face got serious. "How did that happen?"
Merlin looked at the ground. "The first time I tried to escape, vines pulled me back down."
"That must have been, awful."
Merlin shrugged.
"If you need to talk about it…" Arthur's blue eyes met Merlin's and the servant could see the guilt.
"It's not your fault Arthur, there is nothing you could have done."
Arthur nodded. "I know, I just wish I would have been there."
Merlin smiled. "I am here now, so it's alright." He went back to picking things up.
"How exactly did you get out of the tree Merlin?" Arthur still wanted to know.
"I don't know exactly, the vines loosened and I guess the magic wore off. I managed to get through the rough of it and climb out." It was not the best excuse, but it was all Merlin could come up with.
Arthur seemed to except that answer and went to his desk to deal with paperwork. He did not say anything else about Merlin working. He would not tell the servant this, but he was glad to see him up and moving. When he thought he was dead he did not want to think how it would have been without the boy there at his side. When he and the knights got back to Camelot, they did not have time to think about Merlin much because Nimueh was attacking, and now he was glad he never had to stop and think about it. He just hoped that all the horror was behind them. He thought back to that day, it had plagued his mind since Merlin came back.
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Arthur, Merlin, and the knights were following tracks in the woods. Gaius had told them to destroy a stone that was causing magical creatures to attack Camelot. He hoped it would have been a short and easy journey, but knew that anytime one was dealing with magic, they could never be too careful. They seemed to be getting closer when something seemed to hit a tree trunk near one of the knight's faces and explode. Arthur was quick on his guard and the knights made a formation. With their swords drawn, they waited for their attacker to show themselves.
The air was silent, all that could be heard was the uneasy breathing of the men. Arthur saw Merlin's head snap towards the trees before another blast of something almost hit them. This time however it did not stop with one, more and more attacks were coming from multiple directions, and Arthur realized this was no normal weapon. They were fighting the sorcerer.
"Spread out and find the source!" Arthur gave his orders and took off with two knights towards the place of the last blast. He looked back to see Merlin walking opposite of them, but did not have time to think on it.
They never found the sorcerer, but they did find the stone, a dark red ruby-like object, and destroyed it. Arthur thought this would be cause for celebration and their trouble would be over, but he was wrong. They all met back in the clearing where the attack happened and noticed someone missing.
"Where's Merlin?" Arthur did not see his servant anywhere.
Leon looked around. "I am not sure Sire, I do not remember seeing him in the attack."
Arthur nodded towards the spot he saw Merlin last. "I saw him go this way, stupid idiot's probably lost out there."
They walked off towards that direction calling the boy's name. His tracks were clear enough to follow in the snow and made it easy enough to see that Merlin was not just lost. All the knights saw the signs of a struggle in a clearing.
Arthur's face fell. "Find him."
The knights took his orders and began searching. Arthur walked across the small clearing at something that caught his eye. There were marks in the snow as if someone had been thrown and skidded across the ground as well as a few drops of red. Arthur bent down to look closer, blood.
"Sire!"
Arthur rose up to find Leon standing next to a tree holding Merlin's red scarf. It was tattered, but clearly the boy's. The prince walked slowly over to Leon and grabbed the scarf from his hands.
"We need to find him." Arthur began to look around.
The knights followed suit and they looked until dusk was approaching, there was no sign of him anywhere.
One of the knights took a step forward. "Sire, if I may, we need to get back to Camelot in case the creatures are not gone, I hate to think it, but I am afraid Merlin's fate is sealed."
Arthur looked at the scarf still in his hand. If he could he would not give up until he found something, but the knight was right. He had a promise to keep to his people, and he had to make sure they were safe. They were having no luck finding Merlin, so Arthur decided he would send search parties when he got back to Camelot. If he would have known he would never get that chance then maybe he would have stayed and searched.
"Yes, you are right of course. We will ride back." Arthur stared at the clearing hoping something would present itself to help him find Merlin, but nothing ever came.
Merlin got put to the back to Arthur's mind when he got back to Camelot and found a sorceress attacking. He had to protect his people above all else.
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Arthur thought about that day. He was practically standing on top of Merlin and had no idea. He kept thinking that if he would have followed Merlin when the attacks started, maybe he could have protected him. Or if he went back when Merlin managed to drag himself out of the tree, he could have helped the boy back to Camelot. But Merlin was forced to get out of the tree alone and walk to Camelot half dead. Arthur tried not to think about it and went back to his papers. Not long after Merlin had finished picking up, the warning bells went off. Arthur ran to his window to see people running and a cloaked figure approaching the castle.
Merlin looked at Arthur. "What is it?"
Arthur looked angry. "She's back."
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AN: Thanks for reading!