Chapter 4: Two birds with One Spell

Meanwhile with the future Merlin:

Merlin just finished setting out the picnic lunch when he heard a loud splash coming from the nearby stream. He looked up in alarm but was immediately relieved to see his six-year-old daughter unharmed, sitting in the water with a slightly bewildered look on her face. He sighed in fond exasperation and stood up. He walked over to the sopping wet child. He stood by the bank and looked down on her, trying to make his face look stern.

"Kessa," he said firmly, "I thought I told you that you were not allowed to play in the water until after we ate lunch."

She looked up at her father with wide eyes. "But I'm not playing in the water," she said, still sitting in the stream.

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "You're not playing in the water?" he asked.

"No," she said shaking her head.

"Mm-hm," he said. He crossed his arms and looked at her. "Are you sure? Because from here, it looks an awful lot like you're in the water."

"Yes," she said, "but I'm not playing. I'm just sitting."

"Kessa," he said in warning.

"It wasn't my fault, Papa. I fell."

"You fell?"

"Yes," she said. "I couldn't help it. I was just standing by the bank and I fell. It's very slippery."

"I see," he said. "And how did you end up in the middle of the stream? That's a very long way to fall."

The young girl looked around, as though noticing her surroundings for the first time. "Oh!" Merlin watched her as she tried to think of a good excuse. Finally she sighed and her shoulders slumped. "There was a frog. I wanted to catch him." she looked at him, her lower lip trembled and she gave him a big, doe-eyed look. "Are you angry?"

He sighed. The girl had him wrapped around her little finger and she knew it. He took a step in the stream and held out a hand to her. She stood up, grasped his hand, and carefully made her way over the slippery stones. "When I tell you to do something, or not to do something, there's usually a reason," he said once she was out of the stream. He knelt down so he was eye level with her. "It's very important that you listen to me. The water can sometimes be deeper or faster than it looks. You could have been hurt. Do you understand?"

She nodded. "Yes, Papa."

"And that wouldn't be a very good way to spend your birthday, now would it?" The birthday girl shook her head.

Merlin smiled. "Good. Ready for lunch now?"

"Yes," she said with a grin and then gave him a big hug.

"Ack!" he exclaimed in mock horror. "You're all wet! It's a good thing I know an easy way to fix that." His eyes flashed and their clothes dried instantly.

She giggled. "That tickles," she said.

He grinned at her. "It does?" he asked. "How about this?" He scooped her into his arms and started tickling her belly. She gave a delighted shriek and tried to pull away. "Stop!" she said laughing, "Papa, stop!"

Suddenly Merlin froze. His head shot up and he looked around the forest warily. He felt a strange shift in the air. The surrounding magic started churning slowly at first, but increasing in intensity, like the waves at the start of a storm at sea. He clutched his daughter tighter to him. He did not know what was causing this, but it could not be good. His first priority right now was to protect her from whatever this was.

"Papa?" the girl asked, sensing her father's tenseness but not sure exactly what caused him to stop playing.

"Shh," he said. He glanced around the clearing. Suddenly he was hit with a stabbing pain. He gasped as he felt as though his insides were being ripped out of him. He fell to the ground, gripping his daughter tightly to him. He struggled to stay conscious as every instinct screamed to protect his daughter. It was a losing battle and he was vaguely aware of Kessa crying before everything went black.

Pain was the first thing Merlin was aware of as the haze of unconsciousness slowly lifted. His head was throbbing. Muscles he did not even know existed were aching, his skin burned, and he felt a heaviness on his chest that was making it difficult to breathe. He felt like he'd gone three rounds with a flock of angry griffons and lost. Badly.

He lay still for a moment, trying to get his bearings and figure out what happened. After a second, events came rushing back to him and he gasped, his eyes flew open to search for his daughter. It didn't take him long to find her. His eyes opened to see her tear streaked face inches from his own. "Gah!" he said in surprise.

"Papa!" she cried, flinging her arms around his neck, "You're okay!"

He gave an involuntary grunt as her weight shifted and her knees dug in his chest. At least he knew why his chest felt heavy, the girl was kneeling on him.

"Yeah," he said after he caught his breath. "I'm okay." He shifted her slightly so that she was beside him instead of on top of him. He sat up and scrutinized her, checking for any injuries. Other than red puffy eyes from crying, she looked unhurt. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Do you feel pain anywhere?"

The girl shook her head. Her eyes filled with tears and he pulled her close as she started to sob. He just held her and made soothing noises as she cried. Inwardly he cursed himself. He was lucky. He didn't know what had happened but they were relatively unhurt so far. If he had lost his daughter, he didn't know what he would have done. He could not believe he had grown so complacent. They had been at peace for so many years that he had let his guard down. Well, he wouldn't make that mistake twice. Now he had to find out who or what had attacked them and why.

After a few minutes, Kessa gradually calmed down and her sobs slowed to a few shuddering breathes. Merlin leaned back from her and wiped her tears with his thumb. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded, "yes, Papa."'

"Good." He looked her in the eye. "I know this is really scary and I am not sure what exactly is going on. We need to figure it out but in order to do that, we have to be really brave. Can you do that? Can you be brave for me?"

She sniffed. "Like the knights are brave?" she asked.

Merlin smiled. "Exactly like the knights," he said.

She thought for a minute and then got a determined look on her face. "I'll try," she said.

"Good," Merlin said with a nod.

Kessa's face grew a bit troubled. "But I can't promise I won't be scared." She admitted.

Merlin grinned. "That's okay. I think even the knights get scared sometimes."

Kessa's eyes grew wide. "Really?" she asked in astonishment.

Merlin nodded and then stood up, his aching muscles protesting at the movement. He suppressed a groan. I'm getting too old for this, he thought. But at least I'm not as old as Arthur.

Once he was on his feet, he glanced around the clearing. The picnic he had set up was gone, as was their horse. Which meant they would have to walk back. Which meant that he would no doubt be carrying Kessa the majority of the way back. He suddenly sympathized with Kilgharrah when the dragon complained about being used as a horse. He pushed that random and unhelpful thought aside as he continued to assess the situation. He frowned. It didn't make sense. Where did the horse and picnic go? The horse could have managed to pull away from where he tied it if the knot was not secure. But picnics did not just run away. Someone could have stolen the horse and the picnic, but then why leave the two of them undisturbed.

"Kessa," Merlin said frowning at his surroundings, "did you see anyone before I woke up?"

"No," she said. "Why?"

"Because our picnic is gone," he replied.

Her eyes widened. "What?" she asked. "But that had my birthday cake!"

Merlin's lips twitched. "I'm sure if we ask nice, the cook will make you a new one."

The girl pouted. This was not turning out to be a very good birthday at all.

Merlin closed his eyes and cast out his magic to get a feel for the spell that had hit him. He gasped as he felt the magic in the air. It was chaotic! Magic was always wild, like nature, but this felt…injured. Out of balance. No wonder he ached, magic itself ached. And he could feel the disharmony of magic impacting the wilderness around him, causing nature to be in pain and unbalanced. There was something very, very wrong. Magic had not been this out of control in many years. The great purge had damaged more than families and lives; it had ripped magic apart and knocked it out of balance. Once Arthur had accepted his destiny, the two of them worked to right the wrongs that had been done to the land and unite Albion and magic once again. Magic had been healed for many years now. So how did it come to this state? He was only unconscious for minutes. It would take years for magic to become so unwound as it felt now.

Well whatever it was, it couldn't be good. And he would have to warn Arthur about both the attack that happened to him and the state of magic. He could not help but feel that things were only going to get worse. There was a bigger plot here that he could not quite see yet. But he had a feeling he was once again going to have to take up the role as magical protector to Camelot and The Once and Future King. He sighed. Well, the peace was nice while it lasted.