A/N: Hello my dear readers, so here's the next chapter for all of you. I fear some of you may be a bit angry at me, but I still hope that you all enjoy this chapter. There are only a few chapters left after this one. Again I would like to mention that I'm not English (but I have an incredible beta reader, she's great), so please forgive me for any mistakes I have made.

Disclaimer: I wish, I truly wished that I did own Merlin or Rise of The Guardians, but sadly...

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Jack stared at both North and Bunny, they were nervously pacing through the workshop. Tooth was ordering her fairies, though it was clear that she wasn't focused because she had to correct herself many times. His eyes shifted to Sandy, who was staring out of the window, though he knew that the sandman was working hard to find Merlin.

He felt the same as the rest of them, he was worried and his only comfort was the little ice dragon brushing against his hand. He turned to look at her and smiled kindly at the little creature. 'We will find him.' Though he knew he said it more for his own benefit than for hers, he needed the words more.

'Guys.' He looked up when he heard Tooth's voice. The fairy had finally finished ordering her fairies and was now sitting on her chair, staring at the others in the room. 'We need to talk.' They quickly gathered around her and she turned to Sandy. 'Have you found him?' Though all knew the answer already, Sandy would have told them if he had found anything. The sandman simply shook his head and Tooth bit her lip. 'Do you really think that Pitch has him?'

Jack quickly jumped up and landed next to her on the armrest. 'It has to be Pitch, I could feel it.' He pulled his legs to his chest. 'Do you... do you think that Pitch is hurting Merlin?'

None of them answered him, instead they all dropped their eyes, avoiding his glance. It was again Tooth who spoke. 'I'm certain that he will be fine, Merlin is strong... I...' She turned to look at Jack. 'Did he tell you anything about where he came from before he came to Burgess?' The winter spirit shook his head. 'I thought so... I have been thinking about it and I think that Merlin hasn't told us everything.'

'Vhat are you talking about, Tooth?'

'I have to say, it actually was rather obvious when you look at his name... To come immediately to the point, I believe, no, I'm certain that Merlin is the Merlin from the Arthurian legend, King Arthur and all.' She looked at the startled faces of the other guardians and she quickly added. 'I mean, he has the magical power and all and his last name is Emerson, which you could easily turn into Emrys, which is the name given to The Merlin by the druids.'

Jack crouched a bit closer to the Tooth fairy. 'Really you think he could be that Merlin, that would be awesome!' He said in excitement, though his enthusiasm was quickly diminished at the thought that Pitch still had his friend in his grip.

Bunny stepped forwards and crossed his arms. 'Would that really change anything, Pitch still has him.'

'But it could also mean that Pitch's strong enough to fight him, I mean, what I have heard about The Merlin he's an incredible warlock.'

Jack wanted to say something, but was interrupted as he saw Sandy, jumping right in the middle of them and waving with his hands, he clearly wanted their attention. It didn't take them long to realize what it was that Sandy wanted to say, he had found Merlin. 'You found him?' Sandy looked Jack in the eye and nodded. 'Then let's go.'

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They landed an hour later in the deserted lands of Russia, it was cold and he could see both Bunny and Tooth shiver from the cold wind that rushed through the woods. Jack himself felt rather good, it was a cold he enjoyed, though he didn't really enjoy the wind that brushed against his skin.

He turned to look at Prism, the little ice dragon had wanted to come along and they had decided that it was a good idea, because she was a part of Merlin's magic and she may be able to find her quicker than they would be able to.

It didn't take them long to find the large cave that rested between the woods. The Easter Bunny walked in front, the torch in his hand illuminating the cave, while North carried a torch at the back of the group, not wanting to be surprised from any sides by Pitch's shadows.

Though that didn't stop the shadows from attacking, they had barely entered the cave when a wave of nightmares washed over them, for a moment everything was black. Jack immediately let his magic spread out, the icy blue encountered the black, freezing it at the touch. He quickly snapped around and fired at a shadow that was about to jump Bunny.

Next to him Prism was doing almost the same, her mighty jaws bit down on the shadows and as soon as her fangs met the darkness the creatures froze. She gave them a few strong shakes before throwing it against the wall and it shattered at the impact.

He turned to look further, eyes fixating on more danger, but he met with an empty hallway yet again, it was clear that some of the shadows had already fled, but it was also clear that Pitch was indeed somewhere in the depths of these tunnels.

They didn't need more encouragement as they made their way deeper into the darkness of the caves. They walked further under ground for at least another ten minutes before the light in the caves became slightly brighter and they entered a large chamber. The walls loomed over them and for a moment Jack could only stare up, his eyes searching for the ceiling, but it was hidden far above him in the shadows.

His eyes snapped back as he heard Tooth's startled cry. He looked at her, but as soon as he saw that she wasn't in trouble he followed her eyes. His eyes fell onto Merlin's body, his friend lay sprawled out on the ground in the middle of the room, unmoving, and he felt as if a hand tightened itself around his heart. 'Merlin!' He screamed before taking off.

Behind him he could hear the others shout for him to stop, but he didn't listen, he needed to know if Merlin was okay. He practically let himself fall down to the ground, but just before his fingers touched Merlin's skin he flinched away, he could feel the dark that emitted from the raven's body. This wasn't good, this was definitely not good!

But before he could do anything he felt a large hand wrap itself around his neck and his staff was yanked out of his hand. He started to kick and struggle, but it only caused the hand around his neck to squeeze tighter and he immediately started to panic, he couldn't breathe, his lungs screamed for air.

He could still hear how a angry North shouted. 'Pitch, let him go!' So it was pitch who had captured him.

He could hear Pitch's cold voice near his ear. 'Don't you dare come any closer, I will snap his neck!' Again the pressure on his neck was increased and a dark laugh echoed through the chamber, the large walls increasing the sound... though it could also come because of the lack of air.

Black swam through his vision and he was at the edge of conscious when he heard a loud scream next to his ear and the pressure around his neck disappeared. His head met the floor hard, but he didn't care about that, he desperately gasped for air and after a few breaths his vision started to clear up. In front of him he could see two hairy legs and it took him a while to realize that Bunny stood protectively in front of him, while Pitch was glaring at the Pooka.

He desperately searched for Merlin and his eyes settled on the body lying behind Pitch, he needed to get to Merlin!

He flinched as two strong arms grabbed him around the waist and he panicked, immediately lashing out. 'Jack, Jack, calm down.' He immediately froze and his eyes met those baby blue eyes. North helped him up and gently wrapped his arms around him to steady him. 'You okay?'

'Y-yeah, I'm fine, thanks.'

Another pair of hands grabbed him at the cheeks and Tooth looked him over, especially his teeth, before she turned back to glare at Pitch and she shouted at him with her high pitched voice. 'Pitch, you monster, you will pay for what you have done to Jack and Merlin!'

'Ah, my dear Toothania. I must say that I had expected you all here sooner, especially since I have your little friend.' The last he said with wicked eyes as he sank to his knees, his hand brushing through Merlin's raven black hair.

Prism growled next to him as Jack himself shouted. 'Don't touch him!'

Pitch chuckled, but removed his hand and stood up. 'Fine, then come and get me.' And with that said Bunny and North let out a battle cry and charged for him, Sandy doing the same only without sound. Jack immediately rushed back to Merlin again, while Tooth covered him from the nightmares that emerged out of the shadows.

This time he didn't flinch away, instead he broke through the barrier and lay his hands on both sides of Merlin's head, hanging above the warlock. He breathed deeply out as he felt the soft heartbeat beneath his cold fingers 'Merlin... Merlin, can you hear me, please Merlin, please wake up.' The little dragon was softly whimpering next to him, looking desperately at her master. Merlin stirred beneath him and a small smile crossed over Jack's lips. 'Merlin, wake up.' His words were spoken slightly louder.

Then those eyes opened themselves, those eyes, those once sky blue eyes were now pitch black, they looked dead. Hands crept up his chest and again he felt two hands wrap around his neck.