Author's Note: Hi guys! So sorry for these next couple of weeks, I'm kind of in vacation mode. Wow did I have a hard time writing this chapter, I honestly still can't tell you why! At least I have a better idea of where I'm going after this chapter. Yet again, sorry but it's up now! Thanks to all your reviews they mean a lot to me! If anyone ever has a question, comment or just wants to talk please feel free to pm me!
Anyone have any good coffee place suggestions in Seattle?
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
The scream was subtle, Arthur and Merlin exchanged confused looks. They both heard it. Did they?
Gwaine came fumbling out of the clearing, sprinting ahead. Arthur and Merlin were directly behind him.
Seeing him secured their suspicions, the scream had called out to Gwaine.
"Mother!" Gwaine's voice was hoarse, as if he had been crying.
Arthur and Merlin ignored this trying to catch up to the knight ahead of him. They lost him through the woods. They were both panting when they stopped.
"Where'd he go?" Merlin tried to say through breaths.
"Mother!" Another scream from Gwaine answered the two and they instantly sprinted off.
They found him staring as a woman. She had older features, her hair was tucked in a loose black braid. She was pale and when Merlin and Arthur looked closer it seemed as if light was bending around her. When they looked at her legs it seemed as if they disappeared into a mist. She outstretched her hand to caress Gwaine's cheek. He began to breath in but no air came, the woman was stealing it.
Gwaine began to scream, a scream that was slowly loosing purpose behind it.
"Gwaine!" Merlin was the first to react, pulling Gwaine from the woman. He was coughing, his eyes closed, his skin ice cold. Arthur lunged at the woman but there was nothing to grasp and with a wretched scream she disappeared.
"We need to get him out of here," Arthur was now kneeling next to them, picking him up and slinging him across his shoulder, Merlin attempted to help on the other side but obviously wasn't as strong as Arthur.
"Gwaine!" Both Arthur and Merlin smiled when they heard the others have woken up as well.
"We're over here," Arthur shouted back. In a matter of seconds the knights were with them.
They gently placed Gwaine on the floor.
"Is he breathing?" Merlin wasn't sure which one of the knights said this.
"Barely," Merlin watched as his friend's chest barely rose.
"The scream," this was Elyan, "It was his this time," he continued to mumble, more to himself than anyone else.
"He's freezing," Merlin was touching his wrist, searching for a pulse.
"What happened?" This was Percival, staring at his friend on the floor.
"I don't know," Merlin was searching for answers. Thankfully, the king stepped in.
"Merlin and I were talking and we thought we heard a scream call Gwaine's name," Arthur looked at the man on the floor, "We thought it was nothing, just a trick of the wind when Gwaine came barreling out of the campsite, we found him with a ghost of a woman."
"She was taking his breath," Merlin mumbled this now making eye contact with the king.
"Can we do anything to help?" Elyan spoke but didn't move, still staring at the body on the floor.
"We need to-" As Merlin began to speak he was cut off by Gwaine shooting up and coughing. He took a heavy breath in, before quickly letting it out.
"Gwaine," Arthur was on his knees again and the rest of the knights had taken a step closer.
"Good to see you cared," Gwaine smirked before letting out a few coughs.
"What happened?" Arthur waited a couple of moments before asking.
"I heard my mother calling," this came out of Gwaine's mouth slow and confused. His head was tilted and his eyebrows scrunched, "I haven't seen my mother in years."
Arthur gave Merlin a look before standing up.
"You're still unwell, let's get you back to camp." With that, Elyan and percival bent down and helped the knight stand. Arthur had decided on asking Gwaine more about it when he was fully restored.
The walk back was longer than than expected. Gwaine coughed every couple of minutes which caused everyone to stop and wait for him to be able to walk again.
When they got there the campfire had sizzled into a small flame. Merlin reached for the wood and instantly started rebuilding the fire.
They had set Gwaine down near it as his skin was still cold.
"Gwaine, do you remember her touching you?" Gwaine looked up at the king who was leaning against a tree nearby.
"I remember seeing her smile," he smiled at this, "then she reached out and touched my cheek and I was no longer able to breath." He looked at the fire before returning his gaze to the group, "I don't know how but I started to scream, it felt as if she was ripping my soul from my body."
"Do we know anything new about what these creatures are?" Arthur was now pacing. Nobody answered.
"Arthur, I said I haven't seen my mother in years, that's because I was told she had died in a raid." Merlin had noticed Gwaine was nervously fidgeting with his fingers.
Arthur paused his pacing, "That woman back there did not look alive, she barely looked human."
"She didn't have legs, Arthur," Merlin hadn't spoken in a while.
"We should rest," this was Leon, "We need to get back to Camelot as soon as possible." Arthur went to argue, he needed to know more, but when he looked upon his knights faces he only saw exhaustion.
"We ride out at sunrise."
It had taken Arthur a while to go to sleep. His eye's were closed but his head racing. He tried to distract himself, listening to the crackling of the fire, the snoring of his men. He had realized that Gwaine still had an uneven breath but decided to talk to him about it tomorrow, tonight he needed his rest.
Eventually his mind trailed back to the start, who was this woman in white and why had she mentioned a sorcerer Emrys. He had grown to believe magic to be evil, but she had said he was Camelot's only saviour, and for some reason he believed her. She had called herself Destiny, or did she say she knew his destiny. Arthur was unsure and eventually decided to put it to rest, his head too tired to try to recall the conversation. Sleep took him quickly after this.
"Arthur," the voice was mellow, a slight push on his shoulder, "Arthur," the voice repeated itself and Arthur tied it to Merlin. He blinked a couple of times before seeing his servant.
"Is it time to go?" Arthur was now able to look at Merlin and noticed he had a confused look on his face.
The sun had just began to peek over the horizon, bruising the sky purple. "We need to get back to Camelot," Arthur instantly began to pack up his section, commanding Merlin to help.
It took a matter of minutes for them to be riding again.
The journey back felt short, they raced home. Nobody spoke, Gwaine was too weak to tell any stories and the king was pushing them forward in the heat. It had set a vibe that made no one else want to speak either.
The sight of the castle was sickening. Men, women and children were all laid across the courtyard, their skin ice cold, their bodies lifeless and still. Guinevere was waiting for them at the stairs.
"How many?" Arthur was looking at the bodies, not his wife.
"Thirteen," The queen's voice was quiet and Arthur could have sworn he heard fear, even though she hid it well. He looked back at her, before walking into the castle.
"Gather the council at once," Merlin nodded, doing as he was told.
Merlin felt it odd that Arthur didn't mention the woman he saw. When the knight's brought up his and Merlin's similar attacks he quickly dismissed the subject.
Guinevere had talked to them about the attacks in Camelot, and how they were similar to Gwaine's.
"They would scream out names, family members, friends," Guinevere paused to take a breath, "The next thing I would hear is their screams leaving their bodies."
"The only case where the victim has survived had been with Gwaine, the reason being because we pulled him away from the spirit, after the connection was broken." Arthur looked around the table, he felt useless. "Like the dorochas, fire seems to keep them away, the difference between these spirits is that they call out to you, they pull you from your home." Arthur stopped talking and stared at the center of the round table. He felt all eyes on him yet he didn't move. He contemplated telling about the Woman in White but eventually decided against it. "Council dismissed." The room stood from their seats and a chorus of "thank you, Sire," before the room emptied. In it now only sat Gwen, Merlin, Gaius and the King.
"Do you have any idea what these spirits might be, Gaius?" The king finally looked up from his fixated spot.
"I believe so, Sire," Gaius gave Merlin a quick stare before returning his gaze. "They are the tormented souls of the Earth. Souls that have not been able to rest. They crave a hunger that can only be fed from human souls."
"How were they conjured?" Arthur quickly shot back.
"There is a woman," at this Arthur instantly made eye contact with Merlin, "She was said to grant favors."
"Favors?" Arthur turned back to Gaius, "What kind of favors?"
"Almost like a bargain, a deal of some kind," Gaius was struggling to find words to explain.
"So this woman, she would be getting something out of this as well?" Arthur's face was filled with confusion.
"Yes," Gaius paused, "More times than most does this woman ask that she gets repaid in the future, for whatever that may be."
"And you believe this woman was the one conjuring the creatures?"
"She is the only one I can imagine being able to conjure them," Gaius paused again, reeling his thoughts, "Sire, she is one of four."
"One of four, what?"
"On of four children of the Earth." Gaius noticed the room's confused expressions and decided to continue, "I do not know much about them, there is very little writing regarding the children. From what I have gathered is that there are three sisters and a brother born from the Earth, they each take on many forms depending on the subject they are talking to." Arthur ran his fingers through his hair, he looked more stressed than confused.
"They all had a part in this?" Arthur said this more like a command than a question.
"Only one is known to grant favors to the people, her name is Kaia."
"Is this all you know about her?" Gaius nodded in response. "You say children, does this mean..."
"They take many forms, Sire" Gaius paused again and the room fell silent. "Sire, someone must have asked her to perform this, she was never known to cause destruction without a reason."
"Did Morgana do this?" Gwen was the first one to mention what everyone else was thinking.
"I believe so," Arthur stared up at Gaius.
"How do we stop it?" Gaius looked at the floor before looking back at the king.
"Kaia is known to bargain, but it is in fact almost impossible to find her, and if you do find her she only cares to negotiate with very few."
"I'm a powerful man, I'm sure I can persuade her to stop this."
Gaius nodded, but he was staring at Merlin who had a blank expression.
"Is that all, Sire?" Arthur nodded and Gaius bowed before exiting.
"The woman," Arthur mumbled after Gaius left. Gwen stared at the two but they dare not look away from one another.
"You think it was Kaia?" Merlin had already put two and two together. But the woman he met did not seem interested in asking for a favor, instead she was warning him of the road to come.
"Who else would it be?"
So yet again, this chapter was really hard for me to get through. The "children of the Earth" are my own creation kind of, you'll see as we get later on in the story what they resemble and stuff like that. I'm not too pleased with how I ended this or began this or wrote any of this chapter but you know...
Sorry again for the late upload of this chapter and chapters to come.
Reviews would definitely be appreciated because they make me so happy to see!
Thank you all for continuing to read! -Olivia