Natalie meets Merlin in a strange way. We learn a little more about the only character I can call my own. Enjoy!

To Save a Life

As soon as she entered the city gates Natalie felt strange. She felt a gate enter the essence of her mind and she nearly stumbled into a passing guard in surprise.

"Watch it there, miss," the guard said, helping her get steady on her feet.

"Thanks," she said vaguely, her mind curiously following the barrier of magic she recognized. It was almost a line of magic connecting something, and so she began to walk through the lower town as she mentally followed the magic and arrived at the steps of a tower she assumed was part of the royal court. She walked inside, eyeing the guards on either side of the door. They continued looking straight ahead, so she followed their lead and ignored them, following the narrow hallway until the mental chain turned towards a door. She looked carefully at the plaque next to this shut door, which read "Court Physician." When she tried the door it was locked fast, but she pressed her hand against the knob and a second later the door creaked open menacingly, and she walked into the room.

When she was inside Natalie looked about herself in wonder, momentarily forgetting the magic that led her into the room in the first place.

Books lined shelves that were at the top part of the walls. Dangerous, rickety staircases perched at the edges, standing in wait for when they were needed. An empty fireplace loomed gloomily at the end of the room, her vision of it blocked by what looked like an array of potions, liquids, and vials. Sunlight shone through the grimy window, and Natalie followed the rays to an almost-hidden door preceded by a short flight of stairs. She could tell that the magic line headed up that way, so, cautiously and stealthily, she moved up the staircase and opened the door. She peeked her head inside before snapping the door shut again. Parylised with shock, she reviewed the image she had just seen with hate.

It was a young, handsome man—not very muscley but making up for it with his looks—with a gaping wound in his stomach. He hadn't moved a muscle upon her glance, but what caused her to jump back was the significance of his eyes—a light, sharp gold.

This boy was magical, hidden right in the very chambers of Camelot itself! He had also looked very injured and wasn't moving; therefore, Natalie reached into the depths of her mind and followed the chain right up to the bed of the man. There seemed to be something stopping the chain from reaching him completely, and curiously won her over. Pushing her mind to its limits, she followed the chain at an alarming rate in the other direction. It whizzed through Camelot and left the city behind, shaking through a forest, over a mountain and to a valley. It slowed and then stopped abruptly and she unknowingly entered the mind of the other person.

"He must be dead, it's been over a day," the woman said to herself as she paced the length of a long, dark tunnel. Natalie recoiled, realizing that she had entered the mind of the instigator, and she forced herself out of the mind. Latching onto the chain with the entire strength of her mind, she pulled against it and tore the link from the woman's mind. This force sent her reeling back to her original location as the link disappeared. She heard the ghost of a woman screaming before she fell back into her own mind.

The link was gone and instantly Natalie felt better. She looked at the door hiding her face from the man and she concentrated on floating a cloth to cover his eyes. Then she entered the room, satisfied that he couldn't see her identity, and knelt next to the bed. She held her hand over the wound in his stomach, feeling the bind to magic it possessed. This must have been what the woman had been talking about. Carefully she let her mind explore the wound.

A soft moan escaped the man's full lips. She jerked away, stopping the search. Quickly, she decided to heal him and once more she allowed her mind to wander through the depths of the wound, healing the deepest parts and working her way to the surface. When nothing was left but a fresh scar, Natalie stood up, satisfied with her work. She turned and started to walk away from the man.

"Thank you," a voice spoke in her mind. She didn't answer, afraid that it would give away her identity, and she rushed from the room and the Court Physician's home.

Now, I'm going to make a pledge for everybody. Ready? Here we go:

I, silver_doe287, do hereby swear to update my fanfiction story/ies as much as possible, and will never abandon the readers again.

Signed, silver_doe287

Happy? Want some cookies? Sorry, I'm a terrible cook. *throws black burnt cookies away* How about a quick update instead? ;) I'll get back to you guys on that.