Day 13 (Continued)
The moment they'd stepped into the maze Merlin had felt wrong. It wasn't just the knowledge that he didn't have magic that was getting to him, it was the fact that without magic Merlin was useless and if they came across anything all he could do was duck and cover. "Come on Emrys, the others will get ahead if we don't hurry." Arthur picked up the pace and consequently made Merlin go faster since the young warlock was clutching his sleeve.
"I don't know how to use a sword," Merlin quietly admitted and there was a small chuckle coming from the Prince shortly afterwards. "Why is that funny?"
"I've seen what you can do, can probably guess how powerful you are, yet you can't even do the most basic of things."
"Why would I ever need to learn how to use a sword? My magic protects me."
"Incase a situation like this happens. What if someone discovered how to block your magic? You'd be defenseless." His laughing continued as they rounded a corner and suddenly silenced when they both looked up at a large snake that could easily swallow them whole.
Arthur shoved him backwards without even looking at him and Merlin fell back against a hedge wall, his sword landing on the ground a few meters away. He watched from where he sat as Arthur swung his sword with skill that was clearly drilled into him since birth and attacked the snake, no fear on his face. Merlin wished he could be like that, to go into a battle with the confidence he would come out alive. Even with magic he feared it was never enough.
Back on the island he had always chosen to run rather then fight.
The battle with the snake was over before he knew it and Arthur wiped his sword clean of blood, quickly sheathing it as he turned to face Merlin. With an eye roll and a smirk, Arthur offered his hand to help Merlin to his feet which the warlock took. Once standing Merlin grabbed his sword and looked sheepishly towards who he now saw as a warrior. "Sorry," he muttered.
"What for?"
"Not being able to help, I guess I won't be much use in this task."
"Nothing to apologise for Emrys, I knew you'd be of little help to me in here. Lets to make sure you come out of this alive alright? I can't always protect you in here, you'll have to defend yourself at some point." He patted Merlin's shoulder and walked off, indicating the conversation was over.
Merlin walked slowly past the snake that lay dead on the ground and paused to watch as it dissolved, vanishing into thin air. His eyes instantly picked up the trails of magic left behind and unconsciously his fingers trailed through the air, hoping to catch some of the magic for his own. However it passed through him with no effect and a sigh left his lips, he already missed his magic and barely any time had passed.
"Emrys!"
Running down the path he caught up with Arthur who was glancing from right to left, deciding which path to take. "Right," the word left his lips before he could stop himself and Arthur looked at him with question in his eyes. "I think, just a hunch." For some reason Arthur didn't hesitate when he turned right and when Merlin grabbed his sleeve he didn't stop the warlock or mock him.
Silence followed as they walked down a never ending path and Merlin itched to say something, to question Arthur about his life. It wasn't everyday he got the chance to talk to someone. Eventually he'd be sent back to the island where he'd only have himself for company.
"Spit it out," Arthur suddenly said and when Merlin didn't reply he looked back at him. "I know when someone wants to ask something of me. Just ask but I can't guarantee an answer."
"Back in Camelot ... do you have friends?"
"A Prince doesn't have friends, such a luxury cannot be afforded. Friends can easily become enemies."
"A real friend wouldn't turn against you," Merlin commented.
"How would you know? You don't have any." He flinched from the harsh words directed at him and fell silent, his gaze falling to the floor. Arthur spoke the truth but it still hurt. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. You just chose to speak of a subject I'm sensitive about." There was a pause and Merlin thought that was it when Arthur continued. "I used to have a friend when I was younger and there was a time when I couldn't imagine growing up without him. However he betrayed me and ever since I can't bring myself to care for another."
"That was just one person, you shouldn't cut yourself off because of that."
"I haven't cut myself off, I just don't have any friends." Merlin couldn't imagine leading a life where it was a conscious choice not to have friends. "Did you have any before you went to the island?" Arthur asked, not bothering to ask why Merlin had been on the island, he knew no answer would have been given.
"I had one friend. When I was growing up I was picked on a little because of my ears, this friend defended me and ever since we became the best of friends. We did everything together. There were times that we'd run through the forest and pretend we were knights running from beasts, which we obviously defeated with magic in the end. They were the one person I wasn't afraid to use my magic around. The only one who didn't look at me like I was a monster."
"Surely your parents had magic?"
"Yes but I could do things, things they had spent their entire lives trying to master, before I could even walk. My Mother used to walk into my room and find the ceiling looking like the night sky, the stars so bright that it felt like you were really outside. I was told that normally it would take great concentration and power to do such a spell, yet I did it when I couldn't sleep and needed something to do."
"What happened to them, your friend I mean." Merlin was about to answer when his footsteps halted, his eyes staring ahead at the man stood in their path, the very same person they'd just been talking about. The Prince looked ahead and saw what Merlin saw, "Will right?"
"To pass you must face your greatest fear," the man said but in a voice that was not his own. It was clear to the both of them that this wasn't 'Will' but another magic trick. "Both must pass if you are to reach the end." He vanished much like the snake did and they were left with two doors ahead, each with a letter engraved into the wood.
"A and M," Arthur pointed out and frowned. "Clearly the A is meant to stand for Arthur but what does M stand for? Shouldn't it be E?" He looked towards Merlin in question and he gave a small shrug, not wanting to confirm or deny what Arthur was questioning. "It'll be interesting to see what I most fear, I was under the impression I feared nothing." He strolled forward and threw open the door, surrounding them in a white light that caused Merlin to close his eyes.
When Arthur opened his eyes he was surprised to find himself in Camelot. At first he thought that maybe he'd never left, that everything until then had been a very weird dream, at least he thought that until he saw that Emrys was stood beside him. The sorcerer who had never once stepped foot inside Arthur's home. "What is this place?" Emrys asked.
"We're in Camelot ..."
"This is your home?" The sorcerer didn't wait for a reply before he ran from the room and through the halls of the castle, Arthur quickly following. Soon they were outside in the courtyard where all was silent and he frowned, this time of day there should be over a dozen people walking past them. "I didn't realise your Kingdom only accommodated one person."
"I don't understand ... this isn't-"
Suddenly the sky above them darkened and Arthur shivered as a large breeze came up behind him, his attention now being moved to the growing fires around them. He ignored the tug at his sleeve that he knew was the sorcerer as people emerged from thin air, all of them injured and screaming in fear, their legs taking them quickly across the open ground to take cover. It soon became clear what they were running from.
Cenred's men were running across the bridge with swords raised, blood covering their blades and satisfaction on their faces. They were taking the Kingdom for themselves. Where was his Father? The Knights? Someone should have been here to protect the people. "Arthur," a quiet voice broke his thoughts and he turned on the spot to see an older version of himself coming down the steps. He had never seen himself look so tired and unmotivated, he wasn't even carrying a weapon.
"You have my Kingdom but please don't harm my people!" The older Arthur begged and his heart stopped dead in his chest. Camelot was his, Uther was not to blame for the attack and Arthur wasn't even trying to fight back. He was giving up. Arthur had failed to be the King his Father had been. "Have mercy!"
"Arthur," the voice spoke again and his face was taken between two cold palms so he was staring into two blue eyes. "This is not real. You fear that you'll fail as a King, that your people will suffer if you fail to protect them but this hasn't happened yet. Camelot is safe. Your future does not have to become this if you do not allow it."
"What if I can't lead them? I am not as strong as my Father, I could make a mistake, Camelot could-"
"You are stronger then you think Arthur Pendragon. The fear you feel for this outcome is not unusual, every King fears failure, don't become a King who doesn't believe they can make a difference. You see before you what can happen if you give up, show everyone that you may not be your Father but someone better. Someone who will fight to protect his people and create a Kingdom that will be known throughout history."
The world around him disappeared and not once did his gaze waver from the sorcerer's. No, from Emrys's.
They were back in the maze like no time had passed and Arthur realised he'd reached up to hold onto Emrys's wrists, keeping his palms on Arthur's cheeks. Neither spoke a word as they stood there in silence and Arthur didn't know how to express his gratitude for the help he had received. Without Emrys he would have lost himself in his fear. However now wasn't the time to stall, Emrys still had to face his fear and they still had to find the centre of the maze.
"If I asked you to close your eyes and not see what I fear, would you?" Emrys asked.
"That's hardly fair."
"It's for your own good. I know what I'm going to see and I know how to get past it, however you will see what I see. With your fear I didn't feel scared because I did not care for a Kingdom that was not my own. My fear is different." Arthur frowned at his words, they made little sense. "What I will face would scare even the bravest of men."
"I highly doubt anything you are scared of will scare me Emrys. Lets get this over with so we can win this round."
Emrys looked at him silently for a moment before dropping his hands, directing one towards the door marked 'M' and it swung open, once again he found himself surrounded in a white light.
This time when he opened his eyes he didn't have to be reminded that it wasn't real. He found himself in an unfamiliar place and Arthur presumed he was underground from the way the walls looked. There were even roots growing down the walls. Turning to look at Emrys he saw his expression was still and masked, not revealing or indicating whether this was what he feared. Then again fearing a room was rather stupid considering how Emrys said most men would be scared of his fear.
"E-"
His hands instinctively reached up to cover his ears as a loud sound went through the room and he didn't understand why Emrys just stood there, staring towards the door that Arthur guessed would open. What was going to come through it? A beast? The thing he feared? Or nothing at all?
What he did not expect was for a small, cloaked figure to open the door and slam it shut, the locks he hadn't noticed before now bolting shut. The figure double checked the locks before running over to the bed now appearing out of thin air and they pulled the cloak tightly around them, their gaze never leaving the door. That was when Arthur realised it was a small boy, one with huge blue eyes and it took a few minutes for it to click that it was Emrys as a child.
"What's going on?" Arthur couldn't help but ask with his ears still covered.
"The monsters are coming for me," the boy replied instead of the man. His hands shook as he clutched the cloak around him, "Night falls and the monsters always come for me. No matter how far I run or where I hide they always find me. I must remain brave and strong, they must never scent my fear. If I am brave then they'll come get me. They won't leave me here."
"Emrys, explain."
"I was eleven when I was brought to the island and left with nothing. I first lived above ground so I could sleep under the stars but I soon realised I was not alone. The island had creatures of its own and I had to quickly learn how to hide from them. What magic I had used on instinct became a necessity to survive and I began to form a place to live underground, a place where the monsters couldn't find. No monster could get through the doors to my new home."
Arthur had dropped his hands as he listened to Emrys and when he finished the Prince noticed the shrieking sound had stopped. That didn't mean the young boy was any less frightened. He remained sat up in bed with his eyes fixed to the door. If anything he looked even more scared. Maybe when there was silence it made him wonder where the monsters were, at least when you heard them you knew they weren't right outside your door.
"You fear the beasts." It was a statement not a question however no answer was given. "Emrys, was it the beasts you fear? Cause if that's true then you know you're no longer on that island, I know being stuck with me isn't exactly fun but it's a lot better then being stuck here. Remember that you're back in the maze and this will all be over."
"It's never over," the man whispered and the image around them changed.
The noise outside was quieter now but constantly there and Arthur went to look at the boy, except now he was looking at a teenager. A bored expression was across his face and he was throwing a ball of light against the wall, his eyes still focused on the door but not out of fear. They looked at it with expectation. "You stopped fearing the beasts," Arthur pointed out.
"That's obvious."
"So that's not what you most fear," he added.
"Clearly."
Now he was confused. He had thought this was all about Emrys fearing the creatures on the island, that was what he had explained, except now it had become obvious that wasn't the case. Apparently Emrys couldn't get past his fear either because the maze didn't appear, they remained in the room underground where they watched a young sorcerer lose hours of sleep but not because of the monsters.
Arthur decided he needed to step in and crossed the room to face Emrys, "What do you fear in this room if it's not the monsters?"
"Nothing."
"That's a lie. We were taken here for a reason and I'm here to help you like you did for me, except I can't do that unless you let me."
"I was eleven when I was brought here," the teenager spoke and Arthur decided he was going to get more out of him then out of Emrys.
"You've already told me that."
"I was here until you took me."
"Again, I already knew that."
"I was here for twelve years."
"This is getting us nowhere," Arthur said in frustration and walked over to sit on the bed. As he sat beside the teenager he looked towards the door and knew nothing could harm him here, it was magic, this had already happened. His eyes drifted sideways where they landed on a large wall covered in markings, markings that were simple lines that were repeated hundreds of times. The ones at the top left looked like they'd been there a long time.
"What are those?"
"A line for every day I was left here," Emrys now spoke up.
He hadn't realised how long it really had been for Emrys until he saw the hundreds of lines covering the wall and he watched as the lines began to duplicate until the wall was no longer enough. Another wall began to get covered until the entire room was marked. "My fear became reality," Emrys said and Arthur realised they both now stood in the marked room, no furniture in sight. Not even a bed to sleep in.
"You feared that you'd never leave the island?" This time he made sure to make it a question.
"You're getting warmer," Emrys muttered and walked over to the markings. "When this room was filled I stopped marking how long I had been here. Seemed pointless and depressing."
"For heaven's sake tell me what you're afraid of!"
"That i'll stay here forever-"
"That's what I said-"
"-and nobody would come and get me."
