Hopefully this chapter is a little more interesting than the few before it. Please tell me what you think!

Chapter 8 – Secrets Unleashed

Arthur slumped down next the huge table that stood in the middle of the Great Hall. It was the first time he had sat down since the earthquake struck. He had spent all the time trying to shift the huge boulders that lay between the Great Hall and freedom. Fear had been driving Arthur and the others for a long time since their energy and hope ran out. Fear that if they were stuck in the Great Hall for days on end, they would starve…

It was the few Knights in the room that had ordered Arthur he had to give himself a rest. He hadn't looked at his ankle that he had twisted when he had fallen down the stone stairs, and now it was becoming hard to put weight on it. Arthur didn't want to sit around doing nothing, he wanted to help, and he was worried that if he didn't keep his mind going, panic might set in. But the Knights insisted.

Glancing around the huge Great Hall, Arthur saw that some people had already gone into panic and shock. Everyone was helping at the entrance to the Great Hall, carefully lifting stones from the top and discarding them on the floor, apart from a servant and a maid who were standing in the far corner of the Great Hall. They looked like they knew each other, and were clutching each other as they both sobbed, probably fearing the worst for the people they loved within the walls of the castle.

Arthur watched, and thought about the person he wanted to have arms around, giving comfort, wherever she was…

A loud and sudden crack brought Arthur from his placid thoughts. He leapt up as more rocks suddenly tumbled down from the ceiling, loosened by the removal of ones below them. The Knights, soldiers, servants and maid helping yelled and stumbled backwards as stones scattered around at their feet. For a few, horrible moments, everyone in the room thought that all the rocks were going to crash down on top of them.

But then the Great Hall grew still and silent again. Nothing moved.

Everyone stared at the new pile of rocks that had come thundering down on the Great Hall entrance. All the work they had done for who knows how long, had just been destroyed in only a few seconds. They had been getting closer to their goal, the top of the entrance had been cleared of rocks, but now they had been replaced with even more.

Arthur tried to hold back a groan, what were they going to do now?

"Is everyone all right?" Arthur asked, advancing forward towards the entrance and trying hard to suppress the despair building up inside him.

No one spoke, they just nodded slowly. Arthur glanced at each of them, all looked unharmed. The only fresh blood came from Sir Leon's still open head wound, they needed to do something about that wound, but getting out of the Great Hall was everyone's current priority.

A couple of the guards began to move forward towards the entrance again, anxious to get started at taking down the rocks; they had a lot of work to do. But Arthur spoke harshly to them:

"Don't, it's too dangerous." He could see in his head the whole thing collapsing again, and if it did, they might not be so lucky, people could get hurt, or worse.

"But what are we going to do?" Sir Leon asked, turning to look at Arthur. Arthur stared in the Knight's bright blue eyes with his own. He could see fear nestling there, one of the best and bravest Knights of Camelot was scared. And he wasn't the only one, Arthur just hoped no one could see it reflected in his own face.

He shrugged as if he knew that everything was going to be all right, and was about to give some sort of suggestion to help with the helpless situation, when he heard pounding footsteps outside the Great Hall, coming to a halt at the entrance.

Merlin arrived, he had run all the way from Uther's chambers. The devastation he had left seemed to be worse, if that was possible. The doorway to the Great Hall had been completely filled with stone from a ceiling, even more so than before. But what concerned him most was that Aldwin was still sitting on the stone floor, his back resting against the wall, but his body was motionless and his eyes were closed. There was no greeting for Merlin this time.

Fearing the worst, Merlin bent down and started to try and find Aldwin's pulse in his neck, he felt horribly cold.

"Merlin? Merlin is that you?" There came a voice, not from Aldwin, but from within the Great Hall, Arthur's voice.

"Yes," Merlin's voice was full of relief as he responded; he had just found Aldwin's pulse. It was slow, it was faint, but it was still there. "I'm with Aldwin."

"Is he all right?" Arthur asked quickly, "he was talking to me for a long time, but then he suddenly went quiet."

"He's in a bad way," Merlin confessed in a murmur. There was no point lying, lying wasn't going to make anything better. He glanced down at Aldwin's leg; his make-shift bandage was blood-stained. "He needs to get some help," Merlin called to Arthur through the boulder blocking each other from view. "But Gaius is trapped, and the corridors are empty."

"Well there's not much I can do about it either," Arthur pointed out as he called back from inside the Great Hall. There was humour in his voice, as if things had become so bad there was nothing you could do but laugh in desperation.

Merlin froze, as if it had only just hit him: it was all down to him now.

Merlin stood up slowly, thinking about what he could do, but he had never felt so powerless. Only one radical thought came to his whirring mind over and over again that felt lost in a world he did not know. He stared at the barrier between him and Arthur.

He had to get Arthur out the Great Hall; Arthur would know what to do. Why were they wasting time when so many people needed help? Those in the Great Hall could be the only ones able to help those injured, not just Aldwin, who was fading away as the minutes went by. The Great Hall was always used as a hospital or place of refuge when something terrible happened, but at the moment it was more like a prison. And there was Gaius as well, he needed to get out too, and countless other people trapped in chambers. Why were they standing around waiting for a miracle?

Unless Merlin created the miracle.

Silence had settled around, but Merlin had hardly noticed. He was too busy feeling an unusual tingling sensation that ran down his arms to his fingertips, the sensation of knowing the power that could be held in them, the sensation that instinct knew exactly what to do. But would conscience forgive him for it?

Merlin stepped forward and reached his steady arms out so they leaned on the boulders. His usual bright, cheery eyes were suddenly hard and dark. He had thought many times over in his head how he would tell or reveal to Arthur his secret, but he didn't think it would be in this situation, when his very home was falling apart.

"Would you do anything? Anything to get out of there?" Merlin asked Arthur in a dark voice.

Arthur must have heard the serious tone in Merlin's voice, too serious for the Merlin he knew. Arthur wondered what Merlin was planning, but he answered anyway:

"Yes."

Merlin took a deep breath, "you'd better stand back then," he warned Arthur.

Arthur hesitated again, but then for once did as his servant advised, beckoning to other people to do the same. He didn't know what Merlin was thinking, but what was about to happen next, he really wasn't expecting.

Merlin yelled something at the top of voice, in a language Arthur couldn't understand, and yet he recognised with a strange ripple of dread and fear.

Suddenly, the boulders blocking the entrance of the Great Hall, exploded.

They burst from the inside out, cracking into tiny little pieces with flashes of bright gold. The rocks tumbled down on top of each other, flying in every direction. Arthur had to put his hands up in front of his face to protect himself from the flying pieces of stone. The sound that came with the explosion was like a clap a thunder and left Arthur's ears ringing. A great wave of power seemed to fill the room, the same power that had blown the rocks to pieces.

Within seconds it was over, and dust filled the air. Arthur heard the people around him murmuring to each other and gasping in shock, all thinking the same thing: what could have caused such a mighty thing to happen?

But Arthur knew very well.

Lowering his arms, Arthur saw that the entrance to the Great Hall had now been completely cleared. Stones lay scattered all around and dust still lingered in the air, but they were no longer trapped.

Standing at the doorway, was Merlin. Gold light fading from his eyes as he slowly lowered his arms.

For a few moments, Arthur and Merlin did nothing but stare at each other. It took Arthur longer to work out what had happened than it should have, but he was probably trying hard to deny what he had just seen. Or maybe he had already worked it out; his brain just hadn't registered it yet.

But there was no way he could deny it.

It was magic. He knew that the people within the Great Hall hadn't done it, and Aldwin was still unconscious. There was no one else close enough to create such magic, apart from Merlin.

Merlin had just used magic.

Merlin felt the guilt seep into his veins as Arthur set him with a deadly stare. He felt exhausted by using such powerful magic so suddenly, but whatever Arthur was about to do or say, it was worth it, Merlin told himself this over and over again. Arthur said he would do anything to be free from the Great Hall, and now he was.

But Merlin suddenly found himself fearful of the gaze Arthur gave him. He had thought about the different ways Arthur might react when he finally realised the truth, but he had never been sure what would happen. How much had Arthur taken after his father in terms of hatred towards magic?

Not really thinking about what he was doing, Arthur advanced towards Merlin, confusion slowly turning into anger that burned him from the inside. To think that Merlin was a wizard, that Arthur had trusted him for years, and Merlin had kept it secret all this time, made him feel like he had just been betrayed by one of the few friends he felt he had.

Merlin opened his mouth to say something, some sort of excuse, but he could think of nothing to say. He backed away slowly, hoping that Arthur would decide whatever punishment he deserved, it would have to wait. Half the castle had fallen down, he would have to deal with traitors later.

Eyes filled with rage and nostrils flaring, Arthur stopped just before Merlin. Slowly, he raised a hand; and Merlin couldn't help but flinch, he looked as if he was about to strike him for what he had just done. The Knights had swords; Merlin thought suddenly, Arthur could quite easily order his death right where he stood.

But Arthur froze, and the whole world seemed to fall still. Merlin realised that Arthur didn't know what to do.

His friend had just used magic, but he was still a friend.

In the end, Arthur sighed and looked away from Merlin's frightened face. He felt so angry, and yet he didn't want to do anything to Merlin, because he was still a friend.

With what sounded like a growl of frustration, Arthur shoved Merlin out of his way, turned and strode down the corridor, away from the Great Hall and the secrets that had just been unleashed, without even looking back.

Surprised by the sudden force, Merlin fell backwards. His head whacked against the cold stone wall, and he tumbled to the ground. Merlin winced as he rubbed the back of his head, and thought about what he had just done.