A.N. It's quite funny how many people referenced this to 'Supernatural', when I've never actually seen the program ;)
You may also have noticed that I have changed the name of the two previous chapters. Do not worry, that's all I'm changing =), it's because I have decided to write this story in a series of 'episodes' much like the actual program. There will be 3-5 parts to each episode, and I'll try to complete one episode a week (though that might be pushing it)
Okay, without further ado – lets move on to part 3 of this particular episode.
Even the bravest of men would scream when faced with the Fallen Angel Elvira.
As it happened, Arthur not only screamed - he thrashed about, trying to flee from Elvira. Elvira pounced, her fingers tense and rigid. Her clawed hands dug into Arthur's shoulders and her mouth touched his. Lips connected, and soon Elvira was kissing Arthur. Blood ran down Arthur's shoulders from where she was digging her talons.
Elvira threw back her head and laughed at Arthur's shocked and outraged expression. "I am akin to the devil! Did you think that I would not lust for man?"
She fixed her gaze upon Arthur's, they stayed there, frozen until Elvira pulled away.
She licked the blood off her talons seductively, before walking off. With a wave of her hand, the ropes that bound the men and the pillars that they were bound to disappeared. As did the pathway to the crystal island. Elvira stood on the cliff top for a moment. She looked at each of the boys in turn and winked, before disappearing.
Arthur crawled to Merlin, not used to having his limbs unbound yet. Merlin was conscious, but only just. The claw-marks on his face were bleeding profusely and his blue shirt was becoming caked in blood. Arthur wondered for a moment why the 'Angel' had licked the wound, but decided to ignore it – he had more important things to worry about.
There had to be some way of getting out. Surely there was some miracle, hidden passage that the Angel hadn't thought of?
"Merlin, are you alright? You look terrible," He inquired, trying to lighten the mood.
" 'm 'kay," Merlin mumbled, his eyes drooping. Arthur frowned; the wounds to Merlin's face were obviously more serious than Arthur had originally thought.
He tore off a section of his tunic, ignoring the irritated sound that the servant made when he heard the tearing sound,
"Oi! 'm go'n t' hav' t' fi' tha'!" (Oi! I'm going to have to fix that!) He grunted, not able to move his face too much because of the pain it caused.
"Yes you are, isn't that going to be fun!" Arthur teased, not really concentrating on what he was saying, he was focused on keeping Merlin conscious,
" 't's noh!" (It's not!) Came the irate murmur. Merlin look at Arthur intently, but made no attempt to move. Arthur dabbed at the sticky wound with the cloth, managing to remove most of the blood. Merlin gasped in pain, but didn't cry out, which secretly impressed Arthur quite a bit.
Merlin sighed and his eyes drooped some more, almost closing.
"Hey!" Arthur yelped before slapping the servant on the other side of his face, "No falling asleep!" Arthur leaned in closer to Merlin, examining the wound. He shook Merlin's shoulders roughly, and the servant's eyes cracked open once more. Arthur sighed in relief.
The Prince let out a pitying whistle; the wound was at least an inch deep, and it was secreting a thick puss, as well as blood.
Arthur frowned.
"-thur…" Merlin whispered, his voice quiet. Arthur looked at the servant, waiting for him to elaborate, "Here, I 've 'ome b-ban'ages," (Here I have some bandages,) Merlin reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out some scraps of cloth.
Arthur wiped the wound again, and then put the bandages on the right side of Merlin's face. The wound was bleeding so profusely that the cloth stuck onto Merlin's face without any assistance required.
Merlin let his eyes close, he was in pain and he was exhausted. His head slumped and his clenched hands relaxed. Arthur shook the serving boy to try and wake him up, but it was no use. The boy was asleep.
Arthur sighed, his friend needed Gaius, that much was certain.
Suddenly there was a rattling sound and a torrent of rancid water tumbled down from a hole in the ceiling of the cave. Arthur frowned. Since when had there been a hole there?
But sure enough, there was a cone of light falling from the ceiling. Arthur went over to the light, his frown becoming more pronounced. It was a perfect circle – not something nature could have created. But something else told that to Arthur more than the shape of the hole – there was a little girl with a bucket peering in.
The ceiling was too far away for Arthur to be seen, but he suddenly knew exactly where he was.
He was in the catacombs of Camelot.
Elyan, Gwaine and Gwen sat in the Hallway of the Kings discussing a particular missing prince. Uther's throne was empty, the house of Pendragon quiet. There had never been a time such as this; not once had the house of Pendragon been so weak. The king's mind was addled, his son was missing and his daughter had turned on the city of justice.
The long stone hall was dark and night time had fallen a long time ago. Lancelot entered and the two looked up at him hopefully. Lancelot shook his head without a word, dispelling the hope in the two knight's eyes,
"Where are they?" Elyan whispered, "We've searched all of the neighboring villages, forests and lakes. We've even searched the entire city but there's no sign of them,"
"We haven't searched everywhere…" Gwen breathed softly, "There is… one other place we could look," She looked at Elyan pointedly.
"No…" He realized, "No Gwen, we can't go in there…"
Gwaine looked at the brother, and then the sister, and then back again, "What?"
Elyan didn't look at him, "Gwen, you know what's down there better than anyone! You know the risks,"
Gwaine perked up, "Risks? I like those,"
Lancelot glared at him, and punched him in the arm,
"What?" Gwaine exclaimed, "I'm just saying that it sounds like fun!"
"This is no joke, Gwaine," Elyan announced, his voice rising in anger, "There is an ageless evil in there, always listening, always waiting," He looked around the circle, "It would be utter foolishness to enter that unholy place,"
"But Arthur could be there!" Gwen shouted, "We know Arthur, if he wasn't in some kind of danger then he'd be here by now!"
"But going in there would mean certain death, Gwenivere!" Elyan roared
Lancelot stood abruptly and began to walk towards the door, "Where is this place Gwen? I'm going to bring back our prince," He called over his shoulder before stopping. He looked at each of them.
Gwaine stood and walked over to join Lancelot, "Gwen, come on tell us where to go," he coaxed,
"The catacombs," She said quietly,
"It's a fool's errand, we don't even know for sure that Arthur and Merlin are there," Elyan declared, his voice harder than rock.
"Why is he so uneasy Gwen?" Lancelot asked, wanting to clarify everything before he went to his possible doom.
"There is a legend of the catacombs," Gwen began, her voice softening as she began her tale…
Arthur grunted, gripping the wall more tightly. The light had been shut off once more, but a strange panic had settled into his bones – all the legends about the catacombs were true.
Merlin sat up, suddenly awake and saw Arthur hanging off an overhang about ten feet above Merlin. Arthur shifted his hands slightly, and tried to reach another hand-hold. His reach wasn't quite long enough and he returned his hand to where it had been. Merlin rubbed his eyes - surely he was sleeping?
"Not that I care or anything, but is there any particular reason why you're hanging off a wall?" He asked delicately, trying not to surprise Arthur,
And failing spectacularly.
Arthur gasped and tried to turn around, taking one arm off the wall. It's said that in climbing, one must keep three limbs on a wall and never be surprised – so it wasn't shocking really that Arthur fell off the overhang and onto his buttocks.
He cried out, and grasped his behind. "Merlin!" He bellowed,
Merlin raised his hands in an attempt to make friends, as the Prince stomped towards him with a metal object in his hands.
Merlin shut his eyes, waiting for the object to come flying in his direction.
But it never came, the Prince sat down heavily beside Merlin and sighed.
"We're in the Catacombs of Camelot," He stated sadly, expecting a horrified gasp from Merlin, and getting none. The servant just stared at him, cocking his head slightly,
"Is that bad?" He inquired, wincing slightly when he opened his mouth.
"Yes, Merlin, it is very bad!" Arthur exploded, sudden rage bubbling through him, "The Catacombs are the most dangerous place in all of Albion!"
"Then why build them?"
Arthur stared at Merlin, not believing his ears. He knew the boy was an idiot, but had he really never heard of the legend of the Catacombs? Arthur sighed and then prepared to tell the legend that he had learned so well,
"Long ago, when Camelot was just a baby…"
Merlin sat in silence, awed. The tale was frightful and now he was a part of it. He had listened without speaking a word, fearful of what was going to happen next, and now he knew.
He knew what had happened here nearly seven hundred years ago. He had never known that the Great Dragon could achieve such a thing.
He shook his head, that was not important now. He stood and then stumbled. He'd lost a lot of blood, and now his damned body couldn't keep up. Arthur grabbed Merlin by the arm to keep the boy from falling.
They said nothing to each other, they just gave solemn nods before running off.
"Not so fast serving boy," Came the layered voice that they had come to dread. "I do not want you to leave,"
Elvira stood behind them both, smiling her sinister smile.
A smoke crept from her feet and spread, chasing Elvira's prisoners. A man grew from the smoke, his untouchable face screaming in agony. He reached forward, clawing at Merlin's feet.
He should have felt afraid; he should be drowning in it.
But it was not fear that fell into every inch of his body - it was pity.
A.N. Wow, that took me a while to write -_-'
Hope you guys are enjoying Christmas holidays, I went skiing today (I'm in Switzerland at the moment). Happy holidays guys, I'll update soon.
Hoofs Tails Gal - Thank you for taking the time to review this twice! Yeah, that's why I think Merlin hates hunting - it may just be the fact that Arthur keeps on yelling at him =). That's the vibe I get from him, especially with the unicorn. I can't actually write a story without changing perspectives, it's hard to get the whole picture otherwise. (what's a limp!Merlin fan?) If it's putting the main character into pure evil situations, then I love doing that =). I'm glad you found it creepy - that was the overall vibe I was aiming for =)
MerlinandArthurLover - I'm glad you think so =) (I agree with your name - I'm the same ;) )
ncis-lady - I'm a bit of a sucker for the boys as well (hence the fic) But I also love angsty situations involving them both. I have actually never seen Supernatural, but I'm learning a lot about the plot from all these references in my reviews ;)
coymelody - =), there's more heart-pounding stuff to come, mwahahaha!
lunaprinc3ss - I know what you mean about the torturing stuff - I find that angsty situations like these really bring out the characters' true intentions. Plus I just love messing with them ;)
Emachinescat - Thanks for liking my villain - I've got a lot planned for her =D. You'll just have to read on and see, now wont you ;). Cool story for the name, I just piled some random letters together for mine - I always forget which number's at the back of my name otherwise ;).
ruby890 - Don't they always get out? I have got a little plan though - hopefully it'll work =)
Thanks guys, see you soon!