The now exposed group had been listening to the entire conversation between the two magic wielders, hanging on every word and analyzing everything silently. Emrys wasn't going to let Morgana hurt anyone else, so who had she hurt? Well, other than everyone in Camelot...but it had to be something recent for Emrys to confront her now. Apparently, the Calyx, the guardian between the worlds, had told Morgana that Emrys would be her doom. The two present who had been there with the Calyx, Arthur and Gwaine, remembered her well; her dark eyes, her sadistic laugh, her black robes, she wasn't really one to joke around. So...was he on their side? Would he help them? Morgana really wanted to fight Emrys, but why? So Emrys wouldn't kill her in the future? But...Emrys didn't want to even hurt her. None of this made sense, and they could only watch and wait to see how things played out.
Morgana had thrown a few bolts of energy at Emrys, white lights with green mist swirling around them, which he had easily blocked, until one broke through his golden, transparent shield. It burnt through Emrys' red robe and into his shoulder. Emrys only looked at it briefly, obviously not thinking it as harmful, but Gaius and everyone else had seen it too, and it was deep. Maybe not life-threatening by itself, but deep nonetheless. The bolt had singed and burnt the robe, exposing a red tunic that he wore under his robe. The exposed skin was covered in oozing, red blood.
That was when Gaius had jumped out, concerned for his friend. Friend? So he was at least on Gaius' side, right? Anyway, here they were, listening to Emrys try to draw Morgana's attention back to him, away from the group. Was he helping them? Protecting them? Well...whatever the case, Emrys' not-so-subtle ruse worked.
Morgana let out a stream of magic in Merlin's direction, the green swirls flying around the white light. It looked like a bolt of lightning except it was smoother. It was flying through the air, making the very air crackle with electricity.
"M-Emrys!" Gaius shouted loudly. He was seriously concerned for his ward. Merlin was already injured, blood from his shoulder wound crept into his white hair and beard, tingeing it a pinkish color. Why was this happening? What was going to happen? Would Merlin be alright? Would Merlin's secret be revealed? Gaius was pale with worry. His blue-grey eyes were wide and dry with due to the whipping wind, his mouth was open and his throat was dry with anticipation. Though his brow was wet with nervousness and fear for Merlin.
Gaius and the other members of the Round Table watched as Emrys thrust out his left arm, palm facing forward, and screamed, "Percusserit cum industria clausuris adversarios." His voice was rough and there was a bit of pain in it. Probably from his shoulder wound. Gaius could tell that Merlin was tiring, and that wasn't good for any of them, especially Merlin. If he was too weak to defend them, Gaius didn't want to think of what could happen.
Everyone gasped as a similar white light with blue tendrils escaped from Emrys' open palm, on an intercept course with Morgana's beam of light. Each beam of elemental magic met in the middle of the two sorcerers. It started growing slowly, growing to about the size of a person's head and started humming as well. The humming started quietly, then started resonating.
The members of the Round Table could only gape and grasp the hilt of their swords tighter and they watched everything, no one knew what was going to happen, but they did know that they were in danger.
Emrys was definitely against Morgana, that was for sure. But, was he against them? Or was he on their side? It was anyone's guess. They had all heard the story of when Emrys had put a 'love' spell on both Gwen and Arthur, but they also knew that he really hadn't, there didn't need a love spell. Which begged the question, why had he been there at all? There had been speculation that maybe he had come to drive the blame for the spell to himself, therefore drawing blame away from Gwen as Arthur had said. Arthur had told them that Emrys' words had inferred that. Merlin had agreed, but they weren't sure what to believe concerning the wayward sorcerer. They could think one thing, and it turned out to be another. They didn't know. Leon made a mental note to ask Emrys later if they made it out of this.
Then there was the time when Emrys had 'killed' Arthur's father, King Uther. Gaius had explained that Emrys had done all he could, and that there had been a magical necklace around Uther's neck, and it would have undone any healing magic Emrys tried. It had been Morgana's work, and it had later come out that it had been Lord Agravaine that had placed it around his brother-in-laws neck. So Emrys hadn't killed Uther. Right? Or had he? Again, they weren't sure what to believe. Had he been working with Morgana? But...then why would he be fighting her now? Well...they could always find out later.
Then there was the time when Leon, Gwaine, Elyan, and Percival had met Emrys in the forest only a few weeks after Uther's death. He had been struggling to mount his horse. So why had he brought one in the first place? He hadn't had anything packed onto the horse, so there really wasn't a need for one. But anyway, the Knight's confronted him, attempting to arrest him, attempting being the key word. When they had said that Arthur would have wanted him alive, Emrys had pretty much threatened the King's life. He'd said that if they didn't let him go 'then there is every chance that I will kill your king!' Then he had literally manhandled, well... magic-handled the Knights into defeating themselves. All in all, it was quite spectacular...and utterly humiliating. Gwaine lay knocked out on the dirt ground while Percival, Elyan, and Leon were all used as stairs for Emrys to climb onto his horse. Very honorable. In fact, afterwards they made a pact not to tell anyone what happened.
They were all still groping with their own thoughts, when suddenly Emrys turned to face them. His watery blue eyes gazed at each of them in turn, his mouth set in a thin, tense line, while he swung out his right hand sharply. His was still putting out elemental magic, excreting a thin line of magic into the glowing, growing, humming white orb with his left hand.
Everyone flinched back when Emrys hand swung up. Gwen grabbed for Gaius shoulder, clutching the blue material of his robe. Elyan stepped closer to his sister, sword in hand to protect her. But somehow they knew that Emrys wasn't going to hurt them, that he wouldn't harm them. He hadn't actually hurt the knights when he magic-handled them, and no, they weren't stuck on that, so why would he hurt them now? But also...why would he protect them? Why did he seem familiar?
Emrys' palm was open, facing towards them; his long, thin, boney fingers spread in the air as he yelled, "tueri dilexit ones cum impenetrabile scutum." Gaius could almost feel Merlin's fatigue as he used even more magic. He looked so tired, as if the only thing keeping him awake and alert was adrenaline.
A golden ray of light escaped from Merlin's open palm, different shades of blue embedding itself within and around the beam, and suddenly, like it hit a wall, it stopped. Instead, when it stopped, the golden light grew and spread in a large sphere shape, completely enveloping the group in its wide hold. It felt warm...safe even. But why? Arthur had always imagined magic being cold and harm. So why did this feel warm, safe, like it would protect them as fiercely as it could?
Regardless, their pulses heightened as they felt trapped, but only a little. The shield gave them a bit of peace and security that swords could not. But why?
The wind that had been blowing stopped immediately as the shield completed its shape. Arthur hair stopped flying as well as everyone else'. They could still see clearly, though their view was slightly colored golden with streaks of blue here and there. Their hearing wasn't impaired in the least, Gwaine thought he might even be able to hear better, he could certainly hear the knights banging their swords against the golden wall and the humming from the still growing ball of elemental magic.
Suddenly, the humming from the growing sphere grew infinitely louder. That stopped the knights from banging the shield and instead they turned their attention to the happening fight. The saw Morgana staring hatefully at Emrys as he only stared back at her. Then, as suddenly as the glowing ball came to be, it grew infinitely bigger before it exploded.
Gwen shrieked as she clutched Gaius' shoulder, her long fingers rumpling his thick blue robe. Everyone else yelled as well, jumping a bit, just...a bit more manly...er. Everyone's eyes were wide with surprise and wariness, they still didn't really know what was happening or what would happen, but something was certainly happening.
They watched as the glowing sphere divided itself into shards, some larger, some smaller. Each trace of glowing white light had both green and blue wisps of magic wrapped around it, fighting their own individual battles as the dangerous shards went flying. Some flying into the sky. Arthur had to wonder if any hit flying birds. Some hit trees where it scorched the bark, leaving black streaks before they fizzled out. Some hit the ground, singing the leaves and causing small fires that were quickly out out. Some even hit the shield. It didn't even waver as the shards collided into it, blue wisps of magic enveloped the shards, crushing them against the golden shield, which only glowed brighter before settling down, waiting for more.
The shielded group watched with wide eyes as one shard ripped through a flimsy shield that Morgana had put up. It shattered the thin gold and green shield and sliced through her black dress, tearing at the skin on her leg. She crumpled, grimacing and yelling in pain. She gazed at Emrys in fear. She knew she was done, that she had lost, they could see it on her face.
Then they all watched as one of the rather larger shards broke off from a large group near the ground, and headed straight towards Emrys. He didn't seem to notice as it headed towards him, but they all did. In fact, Emrys looked towards them. He gave them a weak smile, or sort of one. It looked kind of like a grimace from the earlier hit he had taken. It was then that the shard had struck him, their shield even momentarily wavered. The group could only see part of it, as they were at the wrong angle. But from what they could see, it shredded his thick red rode, embedding itself into his side, making him start to bleed...heavily. The shard didn't go all the way through, it had dispersed, defeated by Emrys' magic before it could, but it was still deep. It even momentarily lit his robe on fire, before it burnt itself out.
The robe was so heavy, Percival guessed, Emrys hadn't even felt it. The blues and greens from the shard swirled around Emrys new wound, each battling for dominance. Still, Emrys didn't notice. He was too focused on Morgana and what she would do next.
"I'll be back!" They heard Morgana scream. They didn't bother looking at her as they were still too focused on Emrys and his condition. He looked bad. His shoulder was still bleeding heavily and now there was the injury to his side. He looked tired as well. His pale lips were set in a tense frown as he gazed at Morgana.
They only looked at Morgana as the wind started whipping faster and faster. her dress fluttered in the wind, the part that was torn flew even more so. Her hair whipped against her pained face as she squeezed her eyes shut against the wind. She was soon taken away by the swirling vortex.
Emrys let out a sigh, they watched as his shoulders drained themselves of their tension.
Then they saw...that he noticed. The tenseness returned to his shoulders in a sudden leap, they saw the facial expression change from one of relief to pain...pain and fear.
Emrys looked at the group, all who were staring at him with openly concerned and worried expressions. Emrys had protected them. He didn't have to, not at all, especially with the way they had treated him, the way the Pendragon's had persecuted, hunted his kind...but he had, protected them. And now he was the one that needed help. He was the one that needed protecting.
They watched, helplessly as he fell to the ground, grasping at the air for invisible holds, stirring up the leaves as he squirmed against the growing pain. They saw as he reached down, flinching back when his hand neared the wound, then pushing through the pulsing green magic to touch the deep wound. They saw as his hand came back up covered in blood, his hand was shiny with the crimson liquid.
They started beating at the weakening shield once more, hoping to destroy it to go to Emrys help; he had helped them, now they wanted, felt the need to return the favor, as if they knew him.
Gwen and Gaius called out Emrys' name, willing him to respond. He didn't, only groaning as he bled onto the forest floor. They could all see he was in a very bad way, and the longer he was alone, unaided, unattended, the worse the wound, and his condition, would become. Both his wounds could become infected very quickly with the way he was squirming and flailing.
Emrys was still squirming on the ground, yelling every now and then and curling in on himself slightly. Gwen could only imagine the pain he was in. Leon watched as the man lifted his head slightly to inspect his own wound, brushing aside his long, speckled beard, then laying his head back onto the hard ground, closing his eyes.
Everyone was yelling his name now, trying to get him to stay conscious and to put down the shield. They didn't know if he could hear them, understand them, or if he was even really aware of what was happening.
Quite suddenly, the shield gave way, the colors exhausting themselves and blending with the air. Everyone stopped yelling for a moment as they realized they could move, they didn't sheath their swords yet, they were too busy running towards Emrys. He wasn't a threat at the moment anyway. He looked too weak to sit up, much less magic them all away.
"I need my medical kit," Gaius said, that much was obvious. His voice was pinched in concern as he looked at his ward. He could only walk briskly towards him, as his old legs were too old to run nearly as fast as he wished he could.
"I'll get it!" Elyan turned and ran back towards their camp, the leaves crunching under his boots.
Arthur was the first one to reach Emrys. He knelt down on his right side. Arthur's chainmail made it harder to kneel, the metal catching behind his knees as he bent down. He tried to get Emrys to stop squirming, to calm him down, because it would only make it worse.
Guinevere went on Emrys' other side, kneeling right next to the wound, trying to get a better look, her lavender dress upset the leaves, causing some to fall on Emrys' already dirty red robe. Gwen could just tell by the way it looked that it was bad. She knew next to nothing about magic, but she just knew by instinct that Morgana's green magic swirling around and going into the wound definitely wasn't a good thing.
Leon came up behind Arthur, grabbing his shoulder, pulling him away from Emrys. Arthur stood up and followed, leaving Emrys in Gwen's capable hands.
"What is it?" Arthur asked. His voice was tense with everything that had happened, what still could happen.
"Is it really wise...to help him?" Leon asked, cautiously. His blue eyes held a wariness that was so clearly Leon. "We don't know his motives as all, or what he was doing."
Leon wanted to trust the man, he seemed familiar, a good familiar, but he was still a bit edgy.
Percival felt the same, but he didn't take sides...there was just something about Emrys that seemed familiar, trustworthy. He felt he was a pretty good judge of character and he felt that Emrys didn't want them hurt, he had protected them after all so why would he hurt them. Percival might have felt way, but he wasn't about to talk down the man who had just saved their lives.
Arthur understood his need to be cautious, as Leon always was. They certainly didn't know what Emrys had been doing, or his motives, but he had saved them. One way or another Emrys had saved them. They weren't supposed to have been there, much less jump out in the middle of a magical fight, but they had. And Emrys had protected them, he had used up his own strength, his own magic to ensure their safety, they could all see he had already been tired before he had erected the shield, afterwards he was even worse. He deserved their help, for the sake of chivalry, if nothing else.
"I don't know Leon, but he helped us, we should return the favor. And look at him," Arthur said, turning around to glance at Emrys, "he's not threat, not right now."
Leon gave him a reluctant nod. What Arthur said was true; he wasn't a threat right now, they would deal with that later if it came up. Besides, they were all concerned for the man, all of them, it showed by the concern on their faces, though some held more than others, and it showed in their posture.
Leon was also slightly impressed by Arthur. If he had seen an injured sorcerer a few years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated in killing him, no matter what he'd done. Then Merlin had come along and changed him, now here was Emrys, quite possible dying on the ground, and Arthur wanted to help him.
"G-Gaius?" Emrys choked out, his voice was thick with pain as thin tears made their way down his face, partially clearing away the caked dust, making him look even more pale. Gwen looked down and into Emrys face, her own face pinched in concern for the downed warlock. Her eyes were sad as she tried to make Emrys more comfortable, not an easy thing to do when the patient is flailing in pain.
Gaius came over, and took Arthur's former position, his blue robe touching Emrys' red one as he knelt. He was very, so very worried for his wounded ward. His side was bleeding heavily, his shoulder too. Where is Elyan! He needed his bag if he really wanted to help Merlin.
"Don't worry, I'm here, you're going to be alright."
Gwen heard his voice crack, she wasn't sure anyone else did, but she had. Gaius obviously cared for Emrys a great deal. Gwen wondered absentmindedly how long they'd been friends. That had never been revealed, only that they were friends and Gaius had protected him when Arthur had felt the need to track him down, and then when Agravaine had questioned him. Gaius was loyal to the man, and Emrys was loyal back. Had he only protected them because Gaius had been in their company? Or because he had honestly wanted them all safe?
Arthur had told her what Gaius had said after he'd been kidnapped. 'I'm not the only one seeking to protect you.' And he'd only said it after he'd been questioned about Emrys. That couldn't have been a coincidence...could it? Did that mean that Emrys was and had been protecting Arthur? Gwen had to admit that they'd had some close calls, that unexplained things had happened just in the nick of time that had been just that...unexplained. Now that she thought about it, they had never been explained afterwards either, never questioned. So...maybe they subconsciously trusted Emrys. But why would that be? Why?
Maybe it's his eyes, Gwen thought. Now that she could see them, though filled with tears as they were, they were familiar...trustworthy even. The blue orbs practically begged to be accepted, trusted, but why would that be? True, he was a sorcerer, and by the laws set down by Uther, he had every right to be killed. But this was a different kind of need. This was a need that was said silently among friends. He needed to be accepted, trusted. But again, why?
Arthur came over again, the knights trailing behind him. They had their swords still out, though they were not aimed at Emrys, they just didn't think of putting their swords back into their scabbards.
Emrys eyes were watering, partially from the pain and partially from dirt that had become caught in his eyes. Gwen did the best she could to clear his face with the hem of her dress. He just looked so sad, and so tired.
"Is there anything you can do for him Gaius?" Gwaine asked, his voice serious and flat.
There was just something about Emrys that made Gwaine want to help him, feel concerned for him. He was still squirming on the ground, head grinding into the ground, while his eyes rolled in their sockets, he mumbled something, but they didn't understand what he said. He was in a very bad way, and Gwaine felt the need to help, or at least make sure he got some help, and since he was certainly no physician, the job was left to Gaius, who looked so downhearted at the sight of the man in question he'd probably help even if Arthur ordered him not to, not that Arthur would...in fact, he looked like he felt the need to help Emrys just as everyone else.
But why would they feel the need to help? This was Emrys; the man who had magic-handled them into defeating one another, who may or may have not killed King Uther, whose story made no sense when he supposedly put a love charm on both Arthur and Gwen...so why would they want to help him? Why did they seem to trust that he wouldn't turn them into toads or something equally less appetizing? Why? Was it because he was injured...badly? No...there was some sense of familiarity...that went further than Emrys...
"I don-" Gaius was cut off when they heard running.
Elyan ran over, his boots crunching leaves underfoot, and his chainmail bouncing and catching the sunlight while he ran. He quickly handed off the circular brown medical case that Gaius had brought to him.
He went to stand at Emrys' feet, nearer to his sister, whom of which was inspecting Emrys face, his glazed over eyes. Did he feel familiar to her too? Elyan just had this sense of familiarity when he was by Emrys. Not the kind that reminded him that he'd been magic-handled by the man. Now that they were supposedly on the same side, Elyan felt something towards him...familiarity, like he knew him. But from where? Why?
Gaius opened his medical bag, He dug out a few vials and a thick wad of gauze. That would definitely be needed. Right now they had to stop the bleeding. Gaius didn't know what to do with the green and blue swirls flying around both wounds, but he couldn't think of that right now, he had to focus on what he did know how to do, the best course of action for the patient, for Merlin, his surrogate son, which at the moment, was gauze to stop the bleeding, and honey to fight infection.
"Gwen. Gwen?" Gaius said. He saw Gwen staring intently at Merlin's face. He could hear puzzle pieces clicking together but not exactly fitting right. Gaius knew she could figure it out, if no one else could, she would. She was a very clever girl. But Gaius also knew that if she figured it out, Merlin's secret would be revealed. True, she had taken the news of Merlin being a Dragonlord very well...but Gaius wasn't sure how she'd take the news of Merlin having magic, of Merlin being Emrys, of everything he'd done...and they really didn't have time to find out.
Unfortunately though, Gaius thought they might not have a choice, Merlin was weakening, and fast. Gaius didn't know if he'd be able to hold such a strong enchantment whilst he was unconscious, injured, and quite possibly dying. He just didn't know. And it scared him. Merlin's secret might very well be revealed, here and now, and he had no way to stop it.
Guinevere turned towards Gaius as he handed her the white gauze. Her hair shifted from behind her shoulders to hanging in front of her she she turned.
"Put pressure on the wound." Gaius said. Gwen could tell that Gaius was having trouble putting on his physician's mask, that he couldn't detach himself from the situation. It must have been horrible to watch your friend go through this.
Emrys started mumbling something, though most of it was unintelligible, Gwen could understand '-m sorry,' 'not holding,' 'too weak,' and 'it hurts.' Then he repeated '-m sorry.' This brought up a whole new flock of questions. What wasn't holding? Gwen was pretty sure she knew what hurt and that he was 'too weak' to do anything. But why had he said '-m sorry?' What was there to be sorry about? He had just saved them from Morgana and the exploding ball of magic. So why was he sorry? Everyone else was staring at the fallen sorcerer, wondering the same thing. They all had various amounts of concern on their faces as they watched Gaius and Gwen work.
They watched Gwen ball up the wad of gauze and begin to put it on the wound, which looked horrible. It was swirling with different shades of green and blue magic, it was still bleeding heavily which was in stark contrast with the ground and the colors of magic, the burnt robe he was wearing was slightly smoking from the small fire that had burnt it when the shard of magic hit it. All in all...it just looked terribly bad.
A tear rolled down Gwen's face. Why was she crying? She barely knew Emrys, so why was she crying? She didn't cry when she was treating people in the temporary hospitals that were so common, and she'd known those people for years. So why was she crying like she had known Emrys for years? She wanted to chalk it down that dirt had just gotten in her eye, but she knew that wasn't true. So what was it about Emrys that made him feel so familiar that she cried when he was in pain?
Gwen started to put the gauze on the wound, her hands nearing the bleeding wound when the green magic shocked her a bit. She flinched a little, then the blue magic, Emrys' magic wrapped itself calmy around her hands and the gauze, the blue mist protecting her. The magic was warm, safe, and with it, she pushed through the hateful green magic and put pressure on the wound. Emrys' flinched a little. Gwen knew this would sting, a lot, but they had to stop the bleeding. She could only hope he lost consciousness before the pain became too great.
Gwen put more pressure on the wound, leaning in a little bit. Emrys' face pinched in utter agony as his back arched and he screamed in pain. His voice was cracked and rough and his lips the same. Gwen flinched a bit when he did that, but she didn't let go of the pressure on the wound, it had to stop bleeding or Emrys ran the risk of dying. Everyone else jumped a bit, stepping closer in concern.
Gaius stared at Emrys as he lost consciousness. He was seriously concerned for his ward, now even more so. Would his secret be revealed? How would everyone react? Would they hate him? Forgive him? All the questions going through his head, Gaius knew Merlin had already been through it a thousand times, that he had probably imagined every scenario, every detail, every possible outcome, and Gaius had to wonder if he ever thought up this one.
Emrys settled down, his body flopping back onto the ground. His watery blue eyes shut, but he was still squirming. Gwen knew he was unconscious...but he was still in pain. She really felt sorry for him as another tear escaped her eye. She blinked and that's when she saw it.
Emrys started glowing. Well, not him in particular, but his magic escaped from what seemed like every pore in his body and covered him like a blanket. It wasn't much magic, they could all still clearly see Emrys and every profound wrinkle on his face.
Gaius stood and took a step back, he was pretty sure what was happening, and he didn't want to interfere with the process, if something went wrong, Merlin could be hurt even more.
Gwen followed Gaius' example as the blue and gold wrapped itself around Emrys' body. Then slowly...he began to change. No one knew what was happening, save for Gaius, and they all watched with bated breath and wide eyes as he began to change.
Long, snow white hair shortened, changing from white, to grey, to black, while his long beard retreated back into his chin, leaving a clean-shaven chin and jawline. Profound wrinkles and sun spots disappeared, leaving behind still dirty, but tighter, younger skin, the flesh on his hands doing the same. His nose grew smaller as thin, pale lips became fuller, pinker. And finally the transition was complete.
Gaius could only stare and judge everyone else's reactions. Gaius was scared of how everyone would react. He himself was surprised that it happened so fast, so dramatically. Merlin was still writhing in pain, head rolling side to side on the ground, mumbling something unconsciously. So Gaius watched everyone else's reaction.
Gwen covered her mouth with one hand, sucking in a sharp breath, and took another step back.. She now understood why Emrys seemed so familiar, why she had felt the need to help, why she was crying, and why she subconsciously trusted this man, why he had helped them. There were so many emotions running through her head and heart; love, compassion, concern, betrayal, awe, fear. She was in complete shock as she stared at the figure beneath her...so many questions...
Elyan's eyes widened to the size of grapefruits. He was still standing next to Emrys' feet, and his mouth fell open at the sight of who now lay in Emrys' place. A man he had fought beside several time, who had stood up for when he had been discredited. Now he understood why Gaius had cared for him so much, why he himself had felt the need to retrieve Gaius' medical bag so fast. It was all very clear now. And that brought up so many other, numberless questions.
Percival gaped at the man now lying before him. What one had been an old man, was now a close friend. Percival might have known him for the least amount of time as anyone there, but he was still in shock, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide, he just couldn't believe what he was seeing, but now he understood his need to help, and why he had helped them.
Leon gasped as the figure was revealed. The magic retreated back into his skin, leaving behind a long time friend. What in the world?! He didn't know what to say, or if he could say anything at all. He tried, but choked on it in surprise. He was just in a shocked stupor as everyone else was, but he understood why he hadn't fought Arthur so much about helping Emrys, why he'd protected them.
Gwaine stared at the man, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open. The old man had been replaced by a friend-Gwaine's first friend. Now he understood why he had wanted to help, why Emrys had seemed so familiar, why Emrys had protected them. But it brought up so many questions, so many emotions, Gwaine couldn't number them. He could only stare in a shocked, worried stupor.
Arthur did something very unbecoming of a king...he dropped his sword. It clattered against the stones loudly, but no one noticed, no one cared, they were all too focused on the writhing, mumbling body on the floor. Arthur didn't bend to pick it up from where it lay, he was still in the shocked stupor that had made him drop it. Arthur understood now why he had felt the need to help this man, why he had protected them, why he trusted him not to harm them, why his magic had felt familiar. He felt so many emotions towards the man lying on the ground; brotherly affection, compassion, concern, wariness, betrayal, confusion. Oh, he was so confused.
And as his best friend lay bleeding helplessly onto the forest floor not four feet in front of him, he could only think, say one thing, and Arthur was surprised that the words could even escape his parched lips with how choked up he was.
"I-it's Merlin."