Merlin cursed as he struggled through the sand to the top of a large dune. Finally reaching the top, he surveyed the land as the sun set. Mordred scrambled up beside him, noting the flash of gold in the older man's eye.
"Do you see anything?" Came Mordred's quiet tone.
"An encampment. A day to the north west. They live in tents, they're nomads, apparently. Hopefully they don't leave before we get to them."
"Would it be wise to seek them out? They may be hostile to two ragged strangers appearing out of the ether."
"We need water and food. They are camped around the closest water source. I could call up a storm, but we have no receptacles for water. And that still wouldn't solve the food problem. The only thing I can sense are snakes and the like in our vicinity. I'm not quite desperate enough to torch a snake and eat it and I've read the snakes here are extremely venemous. I wouldn't know how to make one edible. Plus I'm curious about these nomads and their land."
Mordred sighed.
Merlin smirked. "I can get us out of harms way if I need to, and I doubt that they have any type of containment for sorcerers. If we find a city we should be cautious of course, but this just looks like a small tribal encampment. Come on." He walked to the edge of the dune, grinned again at Mordred and flung himself down the incline with a hoot of exhiliration, surfing down most of it, and tumbling the rest. Mordred blinked, then smiled and followed suit. He rolled to the bottom, laughing as he came to a stop next to Merlin, who stood and chuckled as he held out an arm to help Mordred up.
Mordred was trying to control his laughter as he attempted speech. "Stuck" - (cackle) - "gods know where" - (cackle cackle) - "leagues away from Camelot, with no food or water, the most powerful warlock in the world and a druid are rolling down snake infested sand dunes and chortling like children."
"We may be morons, 'but it's jolly good fun!' I needed a Holiday." Merlin replied. "Let's just hope the royal prat doesn't get himself killed while I'm not there to protect him."
...
"There must be a way to get them back Gaius." Arthur was standing in the library, scratching his head. Their search for more information on the doorway stone had proved fruitless. The information given detailed no way to reverse a transport, or anything else remotely helpful. Geoffrey had a tome in his hands and was still scanning it.
"They could be dying! Maybe someone else should go through, but with a pack with food, water, and medicine. Hell, maybe even horses!" Arthur continued.
"You can't take a Horse through, sire, and I vehemently advise against sending another person through, even if Gwaine did volunteer." Gaius replied. "You may just be wasting another life."
Arthur kicked a stack of books over, causing Geoffrey to surface for a moment from his reading to glare at his king, then return to the volume in his hands.
Arthur growled irritably, then broke the silence again. "Dammit Gaius! Mordred is a knight of the round table, and he's barely out of his teenage years, he's still a child, even if he acts much older. And Merlin...he's my best friend, Gaius." Arthur faced the old physician head on, his voice breaking. "Even if I am a royal prat to him and even if he is an insubordinate twit...he's like my brother. I can't just accept that he's dead." Arthur blinked, cleared his throat and turned away to look at the shelves of books. "And anyway, Gwen and Gwaine would kill me if I didn't try to help him."
Arthur glanced at Geoffrey for a moment, then turned once again to face Gaius, this time levelling an accusative glare at him. "And Merlin is like a son to you! You should be worried too!"
"I am, Arthur, but Merlin is more capable than you think." Gaius said wearily. "He will take care of himself and Mordred. I have faith in him."
Geoffrey abruptly shot his head up and stared at Gaius, who responded with a truly fantastic raised eyebrow. "It seems..." Geoffrey began, he seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then looked at Arthur. "According to the text it would be pointless to try to send sir Gwaine, sire, because only those with magic can activate the portal, which, now that I think on it, seems obvious."
Gaius folded his hands in front of himself, and closed his eyes.
...
"Merlin..."
"Yes?" Merlin answered, not bothering to look back at the knight as he slogged through the sand.
"Couldn't you...can't you just perform a transportation spell? I know it only works over short distances. I don't know the spell, but presumably you could just grab my arm and take me with you."
"It's dangerous to do it over unfamiliar territory."
"But-"
"And I never learned the spell." Merlin grumbled.
"Ah." Mordred said crisply, once again displaying the manner of someone extremely perturbed but trying to hide it.
"I wasn't really expecting our current circumstances. I'm not a bloody seer!" Merlin grouched.
Mordred sighed. They marched over the moonlit sand in silence for a while, until once again Mordred broke it.
"Merlin..."
"Yes?"
"At the stream...thank you for taking my side. And for not abandoning me in the desert to find my own way." Mordred said quietly.
Merlin glanced back at him, then away, not altering his pace. "When Ewan had his sword at your neck, I thought about making him stumble forward, stabbing you through. I hated myself for it, but I did think about it. Then I remembered a frightened child crying out in my mind for help, wounded and alone. Innocent of guilt but pursued for the crime of living. You are currently innocent of guilt sir Mordred, Druid Knight of the Round Table of Camelot." Merlin's eyes were on the horizon to the north, and his tone was steely as he continued, "but should your guiltlessness ever alter, know that I will pursue you to the ends of the earth and destroy you."
Mordred stopped in his tracks. "You said you were not a seer. Yet you speak as if you know that I will commit some heinous deed. Why don't you just tell me and get it over with?"
Merlin stopped in the middle of the dune he was climbing, and he turned to face Mordred, both ignoring the sand that was blowing around them. "It is prophecied that you will kill Arthur Pendragon." Merlin growled.
