Hey guys here is chapter 7 :) it's a little shorter than the last but I hope you enjoy it! Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any of the characters. Merlin belongs to the BBC.
Back in the crystal cave, Merlin still stood frozen to the solid floor beneath him, his blue eyes wide and resembling those of a deer caught in the firing line of a hunter's gun.
He had made the terrible mistake of looking at the foreboding crystals. It hadn't really been his fault, he had been so transfixed and horrified when he realised what was happening to his magic he had continued to stare at the wall where the beautiful gold shimmer had disappeared. Unfortunately, in its place was the crystal which had drained and absorbed the warm glow that was his magic and now the warlock's eyes were locked on it, and he was ensnared.
He tried, he really did, but he could not shift his gaze from the blue light radiating from it.
He began to feel the familiar sense of deja vu and felt himself mentally pitching forward, plunging towards the icy depths of the sparkling diamond which was pleading with him to know its secrets and mysteries. If only he didn't feel so drained and tired, if only his magic was at full capacity he probably could have resisted the pull, he struggled feebly against the compelling force, striving with all his might to squeeze his eyes shut or wrench them from the offending glow. Yet his efforts were in vain as his vision began clouding at the edges and familiar, yet unseen images began flashing with lightning speed in front of him.
An almighty crash, suffocating black smog, distant screams and wails.
Merlin hardly felt the sharp pain in his knees as they hit the rough ground beneath him.
A roar, a blast of scorching heat, a flash of emerald eyes, the king lying lifeless in front of a smouldering Camelot.
The servant gasped, hands curling into fists on the rocky floor against the bombardment of snapshots being thrust at his already fragile mind.
A bright flash, Arthur kneeling, a sword being brought high above the nape of his neck, faithful friends struggling, screaming echoing, a sickening thud.
Merlin's vision seemed to blank to white before slowly returning, whether it was from shock, the brightness and vividness of the images or his weakened state he wasn't sure. The cave gradually came back into focus as he felt himself sluggishly returning to lucidity, the young warlock was staring dazedly and open mouthed at the rugged ground beneath him as he knelt, supporting his trembling form on his hands and knees.
He panted harshly, the movement aggravating his throbbing chest, shaking his head in denial at what had just played out in his mind's eye.
"No, no, no, no, no" he gasped through ragged breaths, the image of Arthur, his friend, hunched over and about to be executed was seared into his brain "no, no, no" he repeated again, bowing his head and clenching his jaw trying to steady and calm himself enough to attempt to get his wobbly legs underneath him.
He managed to push himself back on his haunches, taking deep, balanced breaths, gradually feeling the frantic flutter of his heart reducing to a more stable thrum. The pictures were whirling around in his muddled mind as he tried to make sense of them, how could that possibly happen? Was it going to happen soon?
Through his jumbled musings, one fact burned clear and certain. There was no way he was going to let anyone execute Arthur.
In the far depths of the crystal cave Merlin could hear the sounds of a disturbance, getting louder before he managed to make out the agitated voices of his friends making their way back towards him.
"If you had just let me hack into the wall princess, we could of been out of here and back to Camelot by now sipping a nice cool tankard of mead" came the irritated voice of Gwaine as the sounds of stumbling foot falls and tumbling stones echoed down the passage.
"How many times Gwaine" Arthur's equally vexed tones echoed off the walls "we can't go cutting into the rock when we don't know how stable it is, we could end up even more severely trapped or worse and never get back to Camelot".
"That rock back there was crumbling, we could have broken through it in no time" the dark haired man retorted
"yes, and brought the roof of the cave down upon us in the meantime" Arthur scathingly shot back.
The knights were beginning to get stressed with the situation and the only outlet for their agitation was one another. The tension between the men was tangible as they finally returned to the most cavernous part of their prison full of the pulsing diamonds.
Merlin had just managed to scramble to his feet before they came into view, the five of them looking a bit worse for wear but nevertheless ok. He clasped his hands behind his brown jacket and attempted to look as normal as possible, masking the turmoil bubbling just beneath the surface.
The knights headed over to him, each man housing a look of concern on his features, Arthur drew nearer to the smaller man, took one look at the servant's pale face and gaping blue eyes before hurriedly placing a hand on his shoulder "Merlin what is it? What's wrong?" he asked, searching the warlock's ashen face for any indication of what had triggered his panic-stricken expression.
And there is chapter 7! I hope you enjoyed it, chapter 8 will be up soon :)
