3

The Drawing of the Dark (a revised version)

After they left, I remained. I sat down and leaned my head against the trunk of a tree, staring up at the green foliage above. This was insane! Now that they were gone, and I didn't have the proof staring back at me, I wondered if I had just imagined it all. Waking up in a forest that you definitely did not fall asleep in was one thing, but meeting the legendary characters of your favourite TV show was quite another altogether! What was going on?

At least now I knew why the forest looked familiar; it definitely was the forest that was seen in Merlin often. I had to be dreaming. Maybe I would wake up before they returned, and I would never know if I could have saved Mordred from his fate. On a different note, what if they didn't return at all? What if they didn't trust me, and had informed the guards that there was a crazy girl claiming that she'd seen the future in the forest, just sitting around waiting to be caught?

"No, Bailey!" I chastised myself, "Mordred was planning on helping Kara anyway; he will return!" But what if Merlin didn't? My plan to save Kara, Mordred, Arthur and all the others hinged on Merlin healing Kara with magic. I wasn't sure if Mordred was strong enough or even knew how to accomplish such a fete. Then I had to laugh at myself. This was crazy! It was most certainly a dream, and thinking otherwise was foolish and silly. I would just have to wait and see what happened!

So, I waited. And waited. And waited some more. I sang songs quietly under my breath. I certainly didn't think about Mordred's bright blue eyes at all, or the way his smile sent my heart pattering. In fact, the name Mordred didn't even cross my mind. I was completely 'Zen' about the entire matter!

By the time it finally began to get dark, I wasn't feeling so Zen. The previously mild chill in the air had dropped to a cold wind. I huddled into my cloak. I couldn't make out much through the gloom, and the fact that a caravan of knights had been slaughtered by Saxons in a clearing nearby wasn't helping keep me calm. The fear that I wasn't dreaming and that Mordred and Merlin had left me here was now very real!

Just when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, I saw the glow of torches down the path and could hear footsteps. I waited until I could make out Mordred's handsome face before standing. My limbs were cramped with the cold. When they saw me, both men ran over.

"I told you she would still be here, Merlin!" Merlin nodded, but through the dark, I couldn't tell if he was smiling or not. Mordred was though, beaming at me through the flames of his torch. I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by the wail of a cold gust of wind. I shivered, quite violently, and drew my cloak tighter around my body. Mordred's eyes widened. He murmured, "You're cold," and before I could protest, unclasped his cloak and threw it over my shoulders. Despite the relieving warmth, I shook my head.

"Won't you be cold now?"

"No, I'm carrying the torch. I'll be fine!" I tried to return his cloak, but he wouldn't hear of it. Seeing that it was pointless, I just smiled, thanked him, and snuggled into the warmth. Merlin watched this all with an amused look. It was hard for me to think of him as anything but the goofy-looking boy who'd arrived in Camelot all those years ago, but he was certainly a man now, and much more confident, although there was the same sadness in his eyes that all adults had. It wasn't crushingly sad, just weary, because he'd seen so much and still had much to do.

Cutting off my appraisal of himself, Merlin asked, "What now?" I turned back to Mordred and asked him to locate Kara with his telekinesis-voice-thing. He nodded and closed his eyes. I knew what happened next, but I wasn't expecting to be able to hear it when it did. It was like Mordred was whispering in my ear, but loudly and with great vibrations rolling across my brain.

"KARA…"

We all waited a few seconds, and then I heard it, fainter than Mordred's speech had been, but still fairly clear - "MORDRED…" The sound sharpened and grew much clearer in definition. I waited until I was sure he had a pinpoint on her location and that the communication had stopped. Then, I decided to try something. I closed my eyes and thought about reaching out with my inner voice to the attractive knight beside me.

"MORDRED..." There was a suspended pause hanging in the air. Mordred looked over at me in surprise. The torch cast his features into shadow and made his eyes glow even brighter.

"BAILEY?"

I nodded, surprised and happy that he could hear me. I said, in my normal, outside voice, "I didn't know I could do that!" Mordred smiled at me, and I felt a slight tug in my gut. I prayed that this wasn't a dream, because all I wanted now was to help this Druid boy and to save all the people he and I cared about in the process. We stared at each other, his eyes searching and full of wonderment, mine just dazzled and amazed. I felt a flicker of a hopeful idea, but then immediately looked away. "We should get going," I broke the contact because we did really need to leave, but I also broke it because if this was a dream and I woke up in the near future, I didn't want it to crush me.

It didn't take us very long to locate the cave. Merlin and I made sure that all traces of our walk weren't to be found, even though, if the plan succeeded, it would be irrelevant. I didn't want to take any chances!

As we drew closer to the cave, I turned to Merlin.

"Can you heal her leg with magic?" I inquired, then let out a sigh of relief when he nodded. "And did you bring some supplies?" Another nod. I smiled thankfully. Mordred, who had been forging on ahead and was ready to run into the cave to see Kara, dropped back when he heard us talking.

"Why do we need supplies?" he asked.

"Because she needs to leave as soon as Merlin heals her," I replied. Mordred looked devastated at this.

"She couldn't rest here for a couple days?" I shook my head vehemently.

"If she stays any later than tonight, Arthur will find her!" At least, it only took him and Merlin a morning to do so in the episode. Now that our path was cleared, I wasn't certain, but the best way to go about doing this was if Kara was gone. She was the risky move, the changing factor, and she couldn't remain. Not if I was going to save Mordred, that is! I prayed she would see sense and go willingly and not endanger us any more than she had to.

I didn't agree with Arthur for executing Kara in the show, but that didn't mean I was a fan. I liked her because she made Mordred happy, but at the same time, I hated her because her death would eventually lead to the deaths of a great deal many of my favourite characters. Only now, those characters were walking beside me. I couldn't let her screw up my rescue mission!

"There's another reason you don't like her," the unwelcome voice in the back of my head chimed in, "it's because Mordred loves her, and you wish you had someone like that!" I dug my nails into my palm. The truth sucked and it hurt, even when it came from inside your head. The way he'd looked at me back there though…Gah! What was I doing? He loved Kara. End of story! And, if for some reason that changed, I didn't belong here any more then he would in modern-day London (if he even existed and wasn't some manifestation of my obsessive consciousness!) Not to mention the fact that there was still every chance he could turn evil and go running off to Morgana if just one of us made the wrong move! No, if ever there was a boy that was off-limits, Mordred was it was a capital 'I'!

While I'd been rocked with inner turmoil, we had reached the mouth of the cave. Mordred hadn't brought up any more objections to my instructions, which was good.

"I think it would be best if I stayed out here," I said to my companions. The echoes of my inner voice were still fading out, making me a little uneasy about coming face to face with Kara. "I can keep watch, and this way, she won't get frightened by so many people she doesn't know." Both nodded. Without another word, Mordred pushed through the vines blocking the entrance and hurried inside towards Kara. He was obviously eager to see her. Merlin glanced at me. I was fiddling with the clasp of Mordred's cloak and looked up, a little sadly. "You should go," I told him, "The sooner she is healed and on her way, the safer Arthur is." Merlin brushed aside the vines, but the look he gave me over his shoulder said that this conversation (though we had yet to technically start it) was not over.

I couldn't hear much from where I stood, just Mordred's quiet voice, a few exclamations from Kara now and then, and the shuffling of leaves as they moved around. I could picture very clearly, thanks to the episode, what was going on, and my gut tightened with jealousy. "Damn it Bailey, you are not seriously jealous of a television character are you?" Well, thanks helpful inside voice, but it looked like I was! I comforted myself in that there were variations. For starters, Merlin was there. I heard him explain what he intended to do to heal her leg, and then the murmuring of ancient, magical words. I couldn't help it; I was too curious and excited. I drew the vines back, and could see Merlin's hand glowing where it hovered over Kara's leg. His eyes were flashing with the yellow circle that had come to mean the usage of magic. My heart raced. I didn't care if it was a dream or not, it felt like I was witnessing something extraordinary first hand. I watched as the magical light faded, and I let the vines fall back into place.

My heart had yet to return to its normal pace when Merlin emerged.

"Her leg is healed," he told me, "and she should be ready to leave within the next hour."

"And she understands why?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes." I sagged against the rocky wall, incredibly thankful. Did this mean I'd saved them? Everyone I wanted to save? "Bailey," Merlin seemed uncertain how to broach the elephant of the subject, "what do you know of Mordred's destiny?"

Reluctantly, I faced him. "I know what all the prophets have shown you, but they haven't revealed the entire truth!" I then proceeded to tell Merlin about all that would have befallen if I had not shown up, right down to the battle, Mordred's death, Merlin revealing his magic to Arthur before Arthur died, and everything in between. He was silent, except for the occasional gasp, and still except for the occasional glance over his shoulder to be sure the other two couldn't overhear us.

"I don't believe Mordred is evil at heart," I murmured, wrapping up my tale, "I just think you need to be careful about how much you distrust him, for that was your undoing in all that I saw." Merlin took a breath to reply, but before he could, the vines parted to reveal Mordred and Kara. Merlin and I took a step back. Kara had on her shoulder the bag Merlin was carrying on our way here. I assumed it was full of all sorts of travel- helpful things. She shared a few more hushed words with Mordred - it almost looked like she wanted some more time to say goodbye - but Mordred came over to stand by Merlin and me. I tried, desperately, not to read too much into his gestures. Kara then thanked Merlin, and finally turned to me.

She was just as pretty as she was in the show, small, but with a sort of gravitas that was rather overwhelming. She looked like the kind of person people listened to without having to make much noise. I admired her and hated her at once.

"You must be Bailey." She extended her palm and I shook it. "I am Kara, but according to Mordred, you already knew that." Her voice was soft but cold. I was reminded of a particular evil goddess in one of my old Percy Jackson books, the goddess of snow. Kara reminded me of a subtler, more realistic version of that goddess. Her mouth quirked in a delicate smirk, then she continued, "He also says you foresaw my death and came here to stop it."

"That is true," I replied carefully.

"Then it would seem I am in your debt. Thank you." Kara let her gaze drift over to where Mordred and Merlin were chatting, and her eyes softened with love. I had just decided that she earned a couple points in my book for that, when I heard her say in her telekinesis speech, "Where ever did you find this girl?" in a tone so cold, I was sure my fingers frosted over. Mordred glared at her over Merlin's head, then cast a quick glance over at me. I wondered if he remembered that I could hear them.

"She's a good person Kara. I trust her." My frozen finger tips tingled. Well, Kara had just lost all those redeeming points, and more, but Mordred certainly hadn't!

"It's not that I don't think she can be trusted, it's just…" I waited, wondering what she was going to say, "…she has feelings for you. I know she does, and I'm not fond of leaving you with her!" I flinched as if she had struck me. Was I really that transparent?

Kara didn't give Mordred a chance to respond. She said thank you to us all one last time, and then ran from the clearing like she'd never had an arrow even close to her leg.

Fairly exhausted, we all tromped back to the path. Mordred walked closely beside me, sneaking glances when he thought I wasn't watching.

Finally, he seemed to gather all his courage and in one breath mumbled, "I'm sorry she said all those things. Kara can be…overprotective. Which is stupid, considering I haven't seen her in about five years." I bit my lip and looked up at him. He looked so concerned and entirely real in the torchlight. I was becoming more and more convinced that this was not a dream with every step I took. If that was the case, I needed a place where I could lay down my head and get some rest. Almost as if he had read my mind, Mordred straightened suddenly. "Did you stop in Camelot before finding us?" I shook my head. "Do you have a place to stay?" Again, but more hesitantly, I shook my head.

"My home is rather far away," I murmured. All at once, the reality of what was happening hit me and I swayed on my feet. No Mom, no Colin, no running water or TV or musicals or anything I knew. I was like a fish out of water, but make that an inconspicuous fish that looked like it could survive, but really couldn't.

Merlin turned in sympathy, saying, "You could stay with Gaius and myself, at least for the night." I blanched. The fact that these two were so willing to help filled me with even more admiration for them.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed. "Thank you both so much!" They both smiled. Damn! Why couldn't Mordred have looked like some kind of troll? This was just too much for me.

"Now all we have to manage," the attractive and very non-troll-like Mordred quipped, "is getting back inside Camelot with no one noticing!"