A/N: Hi there :) I'm sorry for this update being really late! I had so many things on my mind these last few days that I just didn't get to continue this story. But now I have and I just hope you will enjoy reading it :)

Chapter 3: The Magical Centre

Merlin could feel his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. There was no going back now! But was he really doing the right thing? How would Arthur react? What if he did not accept him for who he really was?

Hundreds of questions were running through Merlin's mind as he saw the King, Gwaine and Leon approaching him. He knew Arthur would choose those two to come with him. Leon had been in his service the longest of all his most trusted knights and represented everything a knight of Camelot stood for and Gwaine, well… it was no secret that he and Merlin had become close friends over the past two years and if Merlin's life was at risk, nothing would stop him from coming with Arthur anyway.

Merlin had been thinking a long time about how their meeting should take place. First he had thought about using the aging spell again, but had dismissed this plan immediately, since Arthur definitely would not react well to seeing the supposed murderer of his father again. He needed an appearance that was unknown to the King, one that looked likeable and trustworthy. It had taken him a while to find the right person he wanted to resemble and in the end his choice had fallen on a farmer, Merlin had grown to like as a child. He probably had been the only person in Ealdor, apart from his mother and Will, who had not treated him like a misfit. Yes, he was definitely a good choice.

Even though Merlin had not used this spell in a long time, it still had worked straight away and now he looked exactly like that farmer from his village.

Once the three of them were close enough he readied himself but before he could even begin to say something, the King beat him to it.

"Where is he? What have you done with him?" he snarled.

Merlin had never seen Arthur this furious before and at the same time this… afraid. Truth be told, he actually felt sorry for him.

Here they were again, the self-doubts, nagging and clawing at him, making every of his decisions even harder than they already were. Merlin was almost on the brink of backing down from his plan, but he stopped himself at the last moment. No, he could not risk everything like that now, not when there was so much a stake. He just hoped that one day Arthur would understand why Merlin was doing what he did and be able to forgive him. And if not, then Arthur was not the friend, he had hoped he was.

The young warlock composed himself, before he finally began to speak:

"He is not here. I can assure you, however, that no harm has come to him."

Merlin had tried to make his voice sound as steady as possible, but his answer did not really seem to satisfy them so he kept on talking before someone could interrupt him.

"There is something I want to discuss with you before I will take you to him. You might have already wondered why there was no ransom demand at all?"

He did not wait for them to answer but continued straight away. "It is because it is not money that I seek from you."

The knights and Arthur exchanged astonished looks. What else could this stranger want from them if not money? It just did not make any sense…

"All you have to do is listen to what I will tell you!" Whatever little patience Gwaine had seemed to have, it was gone now.

"We don't have time for this! Take us to Merlin, now!" The young warlock just shook his head. "I'm sorry, I won't do that."

"Well, then I might as well kill you where you stand!" Gwaine growled and before Merlin knew it something hard and cold pressed against his neck. Great, apparently it was not only Arthur who always carried a hidden dagger with him, to say nothing of the fact that they carelessly had put Merlin's life on the line by bringing weapons.

"Do that and you will see Merlin never again." It was not even a lie…

"Listen to me first! And all your questions will be answered!" he tried again, this time more forcefully.

Gwaine looked at Arthur for a second, who nodded in return, and put the dagger away again. Yet, the suspicion was still clearly visible in his face.

Merlin finally dared to breathe again.

"Fine. Go on then, what is it you have to say?"

'All right, this is it. Just don't lose your head now', the young warlock cautioned himself.

He then waited a few moments until his heartbeat went back to its normal pace and took a few more deep breaths, before he felt confident enough to begin with his story.

"Do you know where you are, my lords?" Merlin asked. They all nodded, Arthur and Gwaine felt no need to answer the question but Leon did.

"At the Sceadu stones. They were once erected by some druids living in this area."

"That is correct, but it is only half of the truth." He paused for effect.

"A long time ago, this stone circle was a place for prayer. The druids would come here to pray for their deceased and even to communicate with them. However, that was when the druids were still allowed to practice their abilities freely. But, as you already know, this changed very quickly. The more the other people learned about magic and what it could do, the more they feared it. They started to hate it and everyone who was capable of using its power."

Arthur stiffened at the word 'magic'. He did not like where this was going. Merlin noticed his uneasiness but continued with his story nevertheless.

"Eventually, magic was banned from the land and from then on, the druids and all other magic-users had to hide their abilities. But that did not keep them from coming here. Since the villagers around here had always avoided this clearing, in fear of it of being haunted, it was the perfect place for the druids to continue practicing the Old Religion. It became their centre of magic."

Merlin expectantly looked at the three men in front of him. Arthur's face had turned into a stony mask.

"And now everything you see here in this clearing, every plant, every animal, even the air you breathe is still part of this magical centre."

Arthur saw the stranger suddenly raising his arms up to the sky and speaking words in a language that he could not understand. Once the words were said the King felt the earth beneath his feet starting to vibrate, catching him completely off guard and almost causing him to lose his balance. He watched in horror as the sky began to darken and a wall of dark clouds began moving towards them. Fearful, they backed away.

Merlin could feel the magic of this place now running through him like a stream. Now they had to feel its power too. They just had to!

Suddenly Merlin's world exploded in searing pain and his vision started to blur before he knew no more.

The first thing Merlin was aware of was the pain shooting from his head down his entire spine. It made him feel dizzy and he had to take a few breaths before he felt ready to even attempt to open his eyes. Once he did, his vision started spinning and he immediately shut them again with a groan.

'God, what happened?' Merlin could not recall anything… where was he? And why did his head feel like it had been hit by a horse? He tried to raise his hand to his head to feel for a lump or anything that would explain his headaches, when he found that he couldn't! He couldn't move! Something was keeping him from moving. He was trapped! That was enough for Merlin to start panicking.

He had to get away! Somehow! He didn't care how! Arthur! Where was Arthur? ….

Why was no one helping him?!

A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter then please leave me a review and if you didn't then just let me know what you didn't like about it ;) Every criticism is highly appreciated :)