Chapter 3-The Druids

Hey guys, I know it's been a long time and I'm so so sorry. I've really struggled trying to write this chapter in a way that works with the later ones. On the bright side I have already written the next 9 chapters, so it was just this one that was holding me up! I hope you enjoy it, I don't own Merlin, but Elizabeth, Kay and Laudine are my creations :D

It was the next day when I was woken up yet again, this time by someone knocking on my door. I threw on my clothes before opening the door to find Gaius standing there, "Is something wrong?"

"Merlin has disappeared, I fear he has gone after Morgana," Gaius told me. Just as a guard appeared behind him, "The king wishes to see you at the tunnel exit."

I nodded my head before travelling down there. I saw Arthur, Uther and some guards inspecting the damage already, "There's some confusion as to how that was broken. By the looks of these scorch marks..." Arthur explained.

Uther interrupted, "There is no confusion. It was magic. The same magic that was used to start the fire in Morgana's chambers. Where does the trail lead?"

"To the forest of Essetir," Arthur informed us.

"We've long suspected that the druids have hidden there," Uther nodded.

"The trail will lead us straight to them," Arthur smiled.

Uther looked impressed, "Take no prisoners. It's time we rid ourselves of these druids once and for all," Uther left.

Arthur turned to Gaius, "Where's Merlin?"

"Erm...He's, er, he's not well," Gaius tried to excuse Merlin.

Arthur rolled his eyes, "He's still upset about Morgana, isn't he?"

"We all are," I said simply.

"Tell him to stop pining, pull himself together, and get back to work," Arthur said shortly, before heading off I followed him, "I take it you want to come."

"I always like a good hunt," I said with a smile trying to hide my real emotions behind the mask that I had to keep in place.

Arthur looked at me in confusion for a second, "What is the real reason?" he asked, seeing straight through me.

"I need to make sure Morgana is okay," I said knowing that this was partly true.

Arthur seemed to accept my answer this time nodding before he turned to get up on one of the horses, I followed suit and soon we were riding out of Camelot with the dogs following close behind.

Arthur and I spent most of the time in silence before we reached the forest, only then did we begin to talk, "Are you worried about her?" I asked him.

"Of course," Arthur responded truthfully.

"We'll get her back you know we will," I assured him and myself at the same time.

"And we'll kill anyone who has laid a finger on her," Arthur said darkly.

We only rode out to the forest before taking the rest of the journey by foot. It was overall quite boring. As we followed the dogs I swore that I would teach Merlin some magic so he could hide his tracks from others next time he tried to sneak out. He was making it fair to easy.

There wasn't really much time for talking as we ran steady after the dogs, it was only when we reached a campfire, which obviously Merlin had left behind that I knew we were getting close. It was also the same time that I felt voices enter my head, different people all talking to each other. I leant my head against the tree trying to focus on blocking out all the thoughts that meant we were drawing close to the Druids. Arthur touched my shoulder lightly, "Are you okay?" he whispered to me.

"Yes, just got a bit of a headache," I excused myself, feeling the voices calm down to a low droning sound in the back of my head.

"We need to keep moving! This way," Arthur said taking my arm as we continued through the forest. We barely travelled five minutes when we could see smoke rising up from ahead of us. I felt dread filling me up as I knew it would be a massacre, this was confirmed when I heard Arthur speak, "Remember the King's orders! No prisoners!"

We moved silently through the forest. I knew I had to come up with a plan a way to save as many Druids as possible. I let the thoughts of the Druids enter my mind again and searched through them trying to find the leader. It seemed his name was Aglain, I focused on his mind letting myself enter his mind and call out to him, "You're in danger. You need to run."

"Who is this?" He called back to me.

"My name is not of importance, Uther's men are here they are ordered to kill anyone who is in the Camp. You need to run, now!" I yelled out in my mind before cutting off my link to him and trying to find Merlin's mind in the masses, it took slightly longer than I expected by which point we were just outside of the camp, "Merlin. It's Elizabeth, don't react. Don't look surprised. Arthur is outside the camp with some men, it will be a massacre. Get out, get out of there now!" I ordered, as Arthur moved into attack.

The majority of Druids had begun to run already when we attacked. I pushed myself into the fray searching around for the person I needed to find. I saw Merlin, running up the hillside and quickly followed him. I could hear Arthur following behind with the dogs as I turned the corner to see a fog coming towards me. I made my way through it grabbing Merlin's arm and pulling him up to one of the trees, "Clever," I complimented as we watched Arthur and the guards enter the fog. They paused as if catching their bearings, "So now what?"

"We run," Merlin whispered to me before we took off. Arthur quickly following us. We keep moving ahead before hiding away behind a tree as the guards ran passed.

We came out of hiding and I turned to Merlin, "Morgana?"

"Won't leave," Merlin informed me.

I nodded running back towards where the other must have gone, and came to a stop as I saw a face I never thought I would see again, Mordred. He yelled out as the guards surrounded him sending them flying backwards and killing them. I walked slowly forward ignoring the way Merlin tried to pull me back.

"Elizabeth," Mordred smiled at me.

"Mordred, you need to run. Stay safe little one," I said calmly to him watching as he disappeared over the hill.

"Are you okay?" Merlin asked from behind me.

I shook my head, "They were nearly killed Merlin. They are peaceful people, they don't deserve this pain. How can we just let them die?"

"You know as well as I do we have to stay with Arthur," Merlin said obviously feeling more calm than I was at that moment.

"I just wish..." I began.

"Elizabeth," I heard Arthur yell out.

I sighed heavily before adjusting my outfit, "You better disappear Merlin," I advised him as I walked back towards Arthur and Morgana, "I guess you're right, in the end we all have our roles to play."

Okay, so this is an awful chapter, and I am sorry, but I'm shattered and trying to write this one was really difficult. I promise you the next few are going to be a lot better.

Until next time,

Artistic-Blue-Eyes

xx