The Golden Age Universe
As Shadows Fall– Chapter 2
~Fran Gipani

Disclaimer- So I obviously don't own Merlin no matter how much I'd love to :'( but I do own my OC Brooke

Note from the Author- Thank you to my Beta SailorPetal for checking it over :)

Notes on the Setting- So basically the prologue to this universe was set in season one episode one and then this is set starting at the end of series four :)

Merlin lay on the ground in an agonising pain, not yet out cold he heard the sound of a huge amount of people entering the clearing. He knew he needed to get up and do something but it was as if his body was holding him back, telling him there was nothing he could do but it wasn't like him to give up so he wasn't about to now. Knowing that all of the knights' trust in him could go up in smoke didn't faze him as Merlin used magic to visualise what was going on around him. Using every ounce of his strength Merlin pulled himself into a standing position; with his head spinning he began to mutter a spell which would counteract his pain and dizziness. Almost instantly his head cleared and the wobble in his legs almost ceased, the pain in his chest though didn't fully disappear.

He closed his eyes and a deep confident voice left his mouth causing a still silence to fall over the clearing. As he spoke the words of the spell he closed his eyes, completely immersing himself into the spell. When Merlin opened them again his usually bright blues irises flashed a brilliant gold and a wave of golden power burst from his hand. He moved it slowly in a circle around him and as the beam of light hit each bandit the men were blasted back out of the clearing. As his eyes flashed back to their original blue Merlin saw all eyes on him. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out under the pressure of the drain of his magic was Arthur's face portraying a mixture of shock, hurt and anger. Merlin fell backwards into nothingness with one thought lingering at the front of his mind; "What have I done?"

~O~O~O~

More loud yells broke the shocked silence; the knights all turned to see about fifty more bandits making their way to the clearing with a determination and speed that worried them all. In unison they all drew their swords, again ready for the battle. But the battle never came. From behind them a deep confident voice began to speak an ancient tongue. Arthur knew what was happening but after believing for so long that it could only be used for bad he dreaded the outcome. For no magic user was good. It then occurred to him that there was only one person present that could be doing it. The voice was coming from behind him...but it couldn't be. As a bright beam of light was cast around the clearing blasting the bandits back he turned around to see his menservants eyes a bright gold. His first feeling was shock, then the painful anger overtook him and every nerve in his body was telling him to hurt Merlin, show him how angry he was at his betrayal. The pain that Merlin,hismanservant...no...his friend hadn't trusted him with that piece of vital information. What else had he been hiding from him? It was Merlin's expression that troubled him the most; the look on his face showed that he could see from Arthur's expression all that had just run through his head. There was a flicker of hope there that Arthur could see...but only a flicker as Merlin's eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground.

Arthur stared round at his knights whose shocked expressions mirrored his own. "Merlin's a sorcerer." He stated the obvious his voice shook a bit as he spoke. He leant against the tree staring down at Merlin in awe.

"Yes." Gwaine stated simply, though he would usually have a joke that would slip right in to the situation perfectly, this wasn't the time for joking around, "I know but right now we need to help him." Gwaine knelt down by Merlin who was now even paler than before and was sweating a bit though his body was ice cold. "He's freezing; we need to get him back to Gaius."

"He's right." Percival said, "We need to ignore the previous revelations until we know he is safe." He turned to Leon who seemed to have cleared his head better than Arthur had and was, in a way, second in command. "What about the girl? Merlin seemed pretty set on saving her."

"We will take her back to Gaius as well; she needs treatment more than Merlin I think." Leon said as he walked over to Arthur and steered him over to his horse and instructed him to climb up onto the animal.

Elyan helped Percival lift Merlin securely onto Gwaine's horse in front of him. Then when Merlin was secure in front of Gwaine he helped to get the woman on to Percival's horse. Once both were safe the others all mounted their horses they began the long ride back to Camelot. No one spoke a word, all lost in their own thoughts about what had just happened.

~O~O~O~

Gaius tutted to himself, he had overslept a little that morning and was behind in getting the medicines and remedy's out to people who needed him. Who he really needed was Merlin but at that point Merlin was out in the woods with Arthur and the knights, this was of really very little use to him. It shocked him however to hear the sound of frantic fast feet getting louder as they approached his door. The door was then banged open to reveal a very worried looking Percival and Gwaine both carrying a body each; one to be a very pale Merlin, and the other a body of a young woman whom he seemed to recognise from somewhere. The two men were then followed in by Arthur, Elyan, Leon and a very confused but worried looking Gwen.

"Wha...what happened to Merlin?" his eyes darted from Merlins pale face and then up to Arthur waiting for an answer.

Arthur swallowed, "We aren't fully sure..." He stumbled as his usually superior manner fell to his feet. He looked over to Merlin's lifeless figure who Percival had now placed on the bed, "...we were attacked by bandits and he got hit. When the bandits were all dead another huge amount came into the clearing. There were so many of that not even we could have fought them off."

"And..." Gaius prompted worriedly. He had guessed what had happened next and didn't really want to hear but he knew he needed to know.

"...and" Gwaine continued as he lay the girl down on the spare bed on the side of the room, "Well Merlin, he was unconscious and then suddenly he was able to stand and well..."

"He used magic to kill all the bandits. He saved us but it seemed impossible...I mean, It's Merlin." The frown on Leon's face portrayed exactly how unbelievable the situation was.

However it was Gaius's reaction that shocked them all, "Well of course he did." He raised an eyebrow, "How else do you think you have survived every other time you were mortally wounded? Merlin has saved you in more ways than one since the day he met you. Leave him to get better...then you can arrest him or whatever you want to do but if you do I would think about it first think about whom he is to you really." Gaius looked to the girl, "Who is she?"

"We don't know..." Elyan answered, "...we had left Merlin at the clearing until we came back from hunting when we got back he was holding her. He asked us to take her back to Camelot because she was apparently important to him

At that point everyone turned to Merlin as he took in a deep breath and groaned, "Gaius...help...her." His eyes snapped open to reveal instead of his usually bright blue ones, his eyes were gold. "Magic...overload; I need...I need rest...just half an hour...then I can heal myself." His eyes fluttered closed again and his body shook a bit before falling still again.

Gaius turned urgently to Percival, "I know I shouldn't ask you but Percival please could you get me some warm water and also some fresh clean water, Gwen I need you to ask a servant to get lots of blankets for Merlin. He is ice cold and he needs to keep warm or he definitely won't be able to heal himself."

"Of course," Percival replied in his usual quiet manner and followed Gwen to the door.

"Arthur, Elyan, Leon, and Gwaine I am sorry but I really need you to leave. It will be easier to work with less people in the room."

Arthur tried to protest but Elyan steered him from the room. The rest followed slowly, back to their separate chambers, still in shock of what had been revealed...all but Gwaine who turned to leave but without the others noticing he stayed and sat by Merlin's bed. Gaius didn't ask him to leave and then turned to where the girl was lying on the spare bed. He assessed her injuries then began to mix a cream to heal the cuts and scratches on her skin.

"Gaius...here are the blankets." To Gaius's surprise it was Gwen not a servant who entered the room at a run and began to spread them out over Merlin. "Will he be all right?" She looked at him worriedly.

"Yes he just needs some rest and then he will be fine. You should go look after Arthur I am sure he is still in shock. Don't worry about Merlin he will be all right."

Gwen nodded and turned to leave nearly bumping into Percival who was entering the door with two buckets of water; one warm and one cold. He was about to put the one with the warm water next to Merlins bed but Gaius stopped him in his tracks, "Could you put that one next to his bed in his room. It's easier if he is in his room; I need this more comfy bed for the girl, as she is in a worse state than Merlin."

Percival nodded placing down the bucket of cold water next to Merlin; he then walked up to Merlins room and put the buck of warm water up there. "Do you want me to carry him up?" As he saw Gaius's nod in reply he picked up Merlin, blankets and all, and carried him up to his room. He then carefully lowered him down to his bed and covered him in blankets. Percival whipped around as he heard Gwaine speak, he hadn't noticed the other knight sitting next to Merlins bed. He had been uncharacteristically quiet. He walked down stairs to partake in the conversation.

"Is there anything I can do for you Gaius?" Gwaine asked quietly, contradicting his usually loud and cheeky character.

"If you would, could you just sit with Merlin?" Gaius handed Gwaine a thick cloth, "Soak this in the hot water and apply it to his forehead. It will help to keep him warm." Gwaine nodded and turn face Percival who was still standing in Merlins door frame, he clapped him on the shoulder as he passed; Percival did the same in return.

Percival was about to open his mouth to ask the same question but Gaius knew what he was going to say and saved him the awkward question, "Could you very carefully move the girl to where Merlin originally had been lying? It is easier to heal her from there."

"Of course Gaius," Percival replied as he effortlessly lifted the girl into his strong arms and then move to be able to easily lie her down on the bed, "I assume you don't need me for anything else Gaius? I will leave you to look after you're patient."

"Percival..." Gaius said tentatively just as the knight had got to the door.

"Gaius?" Percival turned anticipating what the kind old man was going to say next.

"Thank you." He smiled at Percival as the knight nodded his appreciation of the thanks and then left Gaius to help the girl.

As Gaius turned to the girl he got a strange sense of 'Déjà vu', and then he remembered where he had seen her before. The banquet the day after Merlin had arrived. The girl had appeared in front of the high table and taken the daggers blow. That was why Merlin had asked him to heal and look after her; for that event in her future to happen she would need to be here now even if the future event would be her death. Even her death was in the arms of a very different Merlin; a Merlin before he knew her, it needed to happen. Gaius began to clean the cuts and scratches that were scattered over her pale skin; it was as he dipped the cloth into the water to clean it he remembered her name. He whispered it out loud to see how it fit to recreate the memory, "Hello Brooke Myers." Gaius continued to treat her wounds and he carefully bound the deep wound in her side to stop the bleeding until Merlin was able to perform magic again and heal her fully.

~O~O~O~

Arthur had no desire to go do anything, none to eat, none to drink, and even no desire to talk to Gwen. The fact that Merlin was a sorcerer was impossible, incomprehensible and yet his manservant had used Magic right in front of his eyes. How could he have not noticed in the past five years that someone that close to him was keeping such a big secret from him? The confusion turned slowly to anger as he stormed into his chambers, "WHY?" He yelled angrily. Arthur kicked the bed aggressively, his anger clouding the pain in his foot. The feeling that was now beginning of course through his veins, he realized wasn't anger as much now but pain at the knowledge that Merlin hadn't told him. The man who he thought to be one of his closest friends had kept something from him so big that his anger had turned him to be violent. He didn't want to see Merlin, he didn't want to acknowledge him; he didn't want to know if he was ok. Arthur knew he was being childish but he couldn't stand the thought of him. He wanted to forget about him, to forget Merlin had ever existed. He needed to make it so Merlin didn't exist. He felt so broken inside that he didn't think that he would even care if Merlin died. Arthur's mixed feelings of confusion, anger and hurt had overtaken any chance of rational thinking; Merlin had to be punished.

Note from the Author- How do you see Arthur's reaction to Merlins magic, do you think he overreacted compared to his usual character? Or do you think that was just right? Please review :) they really encourage me as a writer :)

~Fran xx