Everyone was completely speechless. Gwen still had her hand over her mouth, masking her gasp. She still had thick tears rolling down her beautiful face, now even more so. Elyan was still standing at Merlin's feet, his hands becoming clammy with the hilt of his sword still in his hand. Leon just stared open mouthed, his blue-grey eyes as wide as the chicken Mary served in the palace. Percival froze where he stood, his brain not processing what he was seeing. Arthur still stood where he was, his feet frozen, after uttering 'It's Merlin,' he had lost all mental ability, his mind freezing as his best friend lay on the floor. Excalibur still lay among the leaves on the ground, forgotten.
Gwaine was the first to come out of his shocked stupor. He rushed to Merlin's side, his dark brown hair flying behind him as he flew to his friend's side. His knees skidded against the dirt as he reached the boy's side.
"Merlin?" he tried. Seeing it didn't even stir the man, he tried again, taking Merlin's uninjured shoulder in his firm, cupped hand. "Merlin!" Tears were threatening to fall as he tried to rouse the fallen warlock. This was no longer Emrys the questionable sorcerer; this was Merlin his first, best friend. This could not be happening! There was just no way.
Merlin looked even worse now that he held that familiar face. His face was slick with sweat, and his head still dug into the ground beneath him, creating a dent in the dirt. Merlin was mumbling some words, his full lips moving, but no real, coherent words coming out, only gasps and yelps of pulsing pain every now and then. The man's breathing was short and erratic as his body convulsed slightly. His eyelids were shut tight against the sunlight, never once releasing their firm hold on his eyes. He looked paler that he ever had due to blood loss and shock. In short, he looked like he was dying.
Gaius rushed over when Gwaine did; there wasn't the threat of interfering with the changing process anymore, so like a man thirty years younger, he leapt to his wards side. He had sweat on his brow as his mind contemplated what to do first. His mind had frozen when Merlin had changed, the part of him that could detach himself from the situation fled as soon as the old man's face had. The cold hard truth hit him and he could no longer deny the fact that was so inevitably Merlin, his ward, his loving, surrogate son.
"Gwaine, put pressure on his side. Gwen, I need you!" He barked orders as he regained his composure. He sucked up his dejected, anxious thoughts and swallowed them. He didn't have time for them now. Especially now. No. He needed to focus. He would not let Merlin die.
Gwaine took the cloth that was still laying against Merlin's side, but before he could get a hold on it, green magic shocked him like it had Guinevere. He pushed through as Merlin's blue magic wrapped itself around his arms and hands, protecting him like it had Gwen. Gwaine knew it was Merlin's magic protecting him. One, who else's could it be? Second, it just felt so much like Merlin. He couldn't explain it, he just knew.
Gwen was shaken out of her daze at the mention of her name, so suddenly, in fact, she jumped. This wasn't the usual, hurried, my-patient-needs-attention Gaius. This was frantic, anxious, scared Gaius.
She rushed to Merlin's side, falling on her knees as Gaius instructed her to apply pressure to his still bleeding shoulder wound. It was no easy task considering how much Merlin was fidgeting.
Her lavender dress crinkled underneath her knees as she shifted, her cocoa eyes betraying her emotions. Love, wonder, shock, awe, and overall desperation played along her irises as a tear rolled down her face. What the heck is going on? If the situation hadn't been so tense, so hectic, so very desperate, she might have figured it out, might have connected the dots, but she could only focus on one thing right now. Her friend needed her help, and if she could only put pressure on his bleeding wound, so be it.
"Gwaine, Gwen, I need you to get that robe off him," Gaius said.
Gwaine and Gwen unlatched the clips at the front pulling the red material away, revealing Merlin's usual clothes; brown trousers, red tunic, and his favorite grey neckerchief. The familiarity of their Merlin hit everyone as the clothes were revealed, making them all start again. Gwaine looped Merlin's left arm out of the robe, while Gwen removed Merlin's right arm. Merlin himself just gasped as this all happened, oblivious. But when they finally got it off, he started shivering violently. Both went back to applying pressure to the still bleeding areas.
Leon, Percival, Elyan, and Arthur all came over from their respective positions, standing as close as they could, while still not prohibiting the movements of the workers. All of them still had shock written all over their faces; more prominent now though, was bewilderment. They had no idea as to what had just happened. The only thing they knew was that Emrys had changed into Merlin before their very eyes. So Emrys was Merlin. Merlin was Emrys. But...how? Each individual mind was grasping at straws, wondering how in all of heaven and earth, Merlin, their best friend, was a sorcerer.
Arthur was still in complete denial of the whole situation. There was no way that Merlin was a sorcerer. His best friend. His closest companion other than Guinevere. His first real friend. It hurt too much. No way, Arthur thought. There is no way. He wouldn't believe it. But then why was Merlin, his Merlin, lying on the ground not two feet in front of him, bleeding heavily and looking like, no, worse than he had when he'd drank poison for Arthur, all those years ago? Why?
Gaius was digging around his medicine bag hastily, he finally found the vial he wanted, honey mixed with a herb that helps blood clot. Merlin needed it more than anything, and there was only so much he could do with Merlin's wound so fresh, his skin so tender.
"Gwaine, move the gauze, I need to give him this," Gaius said.
Reluctantly, Gwaine let go of his firm grip on the gauze, pulling it away from the bleeding wound. The gauze itself was already soaked with Merlin's blood, tinged a deep pink color.
Gaius poured some of the contents of the phial into the wound, then Gwaine re-administered the pressure, and he had to admit, it already seemed like Merlin was bleeding less. Next, Gaius did the same to Merlin's shoulder, dripping some of the thick substance over the wound.
Merlin gasped both times when the cold contents of the phial hit his skin, shocking him awake. His thick eyelashes opened as his eyelids fluttered.
"G-Gwaine..." Merlin managed to gasp out, seeing his friend at his side. Oh, it hurt so bad. Merlin gasped again, his breathing still quick and shallow. Was that Gwen? Gaius? Where...Then Merlin saw everyone else above him as well. This is not good.
"Merlin! It's alright. I'm here. You're gonna be alright, mate, I promise," Gwaine choked, a tear slid down his grizzled face.
"Morga -" He said. He couldn't finish as another wave of pain hit him.
Gaius answered this time. "She's gone, Merlin, you did it. She's gone."
Merlin only bobbed his head in response, grinding his teeth in pain. His eyelids were clenched shut as he gasped again. He was fading in and out of consciousness, the sweat on his brow shining as he tried to stay awake.
Gwen gave Gwaine a desperate look which he returned. He had to be alright.
Arthur felt a tear sliding down his own face. What was going on?! He ran his hand frantically through his hair, feeling helpless. He could deal with the magic later, when he knew Merlin would be alright. His eyes were red-rimmed as he looked down on best friend.
"Gaius...w-what?" Leon started. He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out how to finish the sentence, but Gaius understood anyway.
"There's no time to explain right now, we need to get him back to camp, he needs to stay warm," Gaius said, the tone of his voice leaving no room for argument. He gathered his supplies back into his bag, securing the lid.
"Let's go, then," Gwaine said, completely serious.
He looped his arm around Merlin's back, avoiding his bleeding shoulder, and behind Merlin's knees.
"This is going to hurt, Merlinh" he said. Merlin only nodded in answer-he knew it would.
Gwaine quickly pulled Merlin closer to him and lifted him up into the air. Merlin yelled out in pain, curling in on himself. He scratched his head on Gwaine's chainmail as he did so, another tear sliding down Merlin's face. He fought back a rising sob. Oh, it hurt so much. "O-ow."
"Sorry, mate," Gwaine uttered, sincerely. He ignored his own pain in his right hand from where he had hurt it sparring. They had to get Merlin back to camp, keep him warm, he had already lost so much blood...and this was the only way to do it. Gwaine hated it.
He walked as fast as he dared back to camp, Merlin slightly bouncing in his strong arms. Everyone followed behind him, not missing a step. Merlin was hurt. That was pretty much the only thing going through each of their minds. Then there was, Merlin has magic, Merlin is Emrys, and the most popular was what in the name of Albion is going on! They didn't know what to believe, what to do, they only knew Merlin was hurt...badly.
After about ten minutes of uncomfortable, desperate silence, they finally reached their campsite. Gwaine maneuvered around the general clutter of everyone's makeshift beds, holding Merlin firmly in his arms, but not enough to hurt him further.
Percival and Elyan ran in front of him, pulling various blankets over and setting them a few feet away from the burnt out fire. Gwaine bent his knees, trying to ease Merlin down as painlessly as possible. He set him on the blankets, making him yelp out when his back touched them, upsetting his side. Gwaine finally got Merlin's whole body lying on the bed as Arthur came rushing over. He tucked his balled up cape under Merlin's head, lifting it a few inches from the ground.
Gaius came over, resting his knees right beside Merlin. Gwen sat by Merlin's head as Gwaine stayed at Merlin's other side. Arthur positioned himself by Merlin's feet. Everyone else just gathered around, standing behind, watching with bated breath.
Gwen touched Merlin's forehead with her palm. "He's burning up, Gaius," she said worriedly.
"Arthur, I need some fresh water," Gaius said.
Arthur got up and looked around the camp. He spotted an empty bucket that had previously held food stuffs. He rushed over to it, then over to the stream nearest their camp. He filled the bucket as much as he could with the cool liquid and rushed back to camp. He set the bucket next to Gwen as she untied Merlin's neckerchief.
She dipped Merlin's neckerchief into the cool water, wringing it out before placing it on the man's forehead. His temperature was still rising. She quickly wiped down his face in an attempt to cool him down, but to no avail.
"We need to keep him warm. Someone start a fire," Gaius said, still tending to Merlin. He rubbed some salve over Merlin's shoulder, it wasn't nearly as bad as his side, but he would take longer on his side, so he did this first.
Elyan hopped over to the fire, placing some logs from their meager supply on the ashes. He added some kindling and tried starting it with the flint. A spark flew, but nothing caught. He tried again, and again, with the same result.
"I can't get it to light, the woods too wet," Elyan said, his eyes wide with worry. What would happen if they could get a fire started?
Gaius sighed heavily, his eyes sad and tired. He looked up to the general group, murmuring "I'm sorry."
They all raised their eyebrows, wondering what he was talking about. This wasn't his fault, so why was he apologizing?
Gaius leaned down closer to Merlin, his white hair nearly brushing Merlin's shoulder. "Merlin? Merlin," he said. His voice was soft, but everyone could still hear him. "Can you hear me?"
Merlin opened his eyes slowly, fighting the wave of pain overcoming him. He saw Gaius' blue-grey eyes above him as he nodded. He closed his eyes again as the wave hit him, his face scrunched in pain as he gasped.
"Merlin, we need fire. The wood's too wet. I'm sorry, my boy, but we need your help," Gaius said. Everyone looked at him, wondering what he meant.
Merlin nodded as he turned his head. He looked into Gwaine's face and saw desperate worry. That wasn't good to see. Not at all. Especially on Gwaine's face. He was always carefree, laid back, laughing. He couldn't focus on that right now; he had to light the fire. He looked past Gwaine and at the pile of ashes that had wood piled on top of it. Elyan still knelt by it, trying in vain to lite it with the flint stone. They all knew his secret; Merlin knew the ageing spell had collapsed when he was unconscious. He felt terrified of what would happen now, but he had to focus on one thing at a time.
Merlin turned his head to the side, his fingers flexing against the blankets that lay underneath him, crinkling them in Merlin's hold. His shoulder ached as he turned his head. He reached inside him and felt his magic like a pool inside him. He reached for it and pulled it up inside him, bringing it forward for him to use.
He tried to control his breathing as much as he could to say the spell. His breathing was still erratic and hurt his lungs, but he had to do this.
He looked towards the unlit wood, gazing at it. "F-Forbearnan." He gritted his teeth against another wave of pain that crashed down on him, making him yell out.
Everyone stared at Merlin while he said the foreign words, and then they gaped as a healthy fire started up from the small pile of wood. What!
Elyan, who was still right next to the fire, jumped back and stared at Merlin and his sister, who was openly gaping at the jumping flames. They had seen Emrys doing magic earlier, but this was their Merlin. He didn't have a white beard, or wrinkled eyes, but he still could do magic. Merlin. Doing magic. He was a sorcerer. The realization hit them all again, but harder this time. Now they saw him, Merlin, doing magic. It sunk in like stones thrown into a deep lake. Merlin was a sorcerer. It felt so strange, so wrong, but so right at the same time. It was a total paradox, but they didn't have time to mull over it now.
Arthur stared, his heart stopping as he gasped at the flames. He saw Merlin's eyes change from their usual brilliant blue to a bright gold color. Just like Morgana, he thought. No. Merlin wasn't Morgana, he wasn't evil. No way...right? He had just been fighting her, so he couldn't be anything like her. Right? Arthur's views on magic had been steadily changing, but magic was still bad, wasn't it? But Merlin wasn't bad. Merlin was the kindest person Arthur had ever met. But...
A tear rolled down Arthur's face. As much as he tried to convince himself that Merlin was nothing like Morgana, he couldn't hold onto the words, he couldn't hold onto anything he was in so much shock. His views on magic had been steadily changing, even before the Druid boy had possessed Elyan. There had to be a reason they always got out of tight, impossible spots, right? What about when Morgana wasn't able to use her magic? Someone had to have done something so she couldn't use it. He just never thought it would have been Merlin. Of all people.
Merlin gasped in agony as another rush of pain hit, drawing everyone's attention back to him. His face was scrunched in pain as he curled in on himself slightly, gasping. Gwaine talked to him reassuringly, trying to comfort him, by rubbing his arm while still putting pressure on his wound. "It's going to be alright. Its ok, Merlin. We're here."
Gwaine hadn't really been fazed by Merlin's display; all he saw was a friend who desperately needed help. He had had his suspicions anyway. How else had they gotten out of so many tight spots? The only thing any of their stories had in common was Merlin, even from the stories he'd heard before he came to Camelot, Merlin had always been there. He didn't have any proof of it...well...until now. He was surprised no one else had thought of it.
"Gwaine, I need you to lift his torso and remove his tunic..." Gaius said, completely oblivious to everyone's eyes still darting between Merlin and the tangerine fire.
Gwaine lifted Merlin's torso, wrapping his arm behind the man's back, making Merlin gasp and open his eyes marginally. He grabbed the hem of his tunic on one side, while Gaius grabbed the other, and together they slowly lifted the material, damp with sweat, off him. They slid it upward, brushing Merlin's injured side, making him flinch and shut his eyes tight as he panted and then held his breath against the rising pain.
"Sorry, Merlin, almost there," Gaius said. Merlin nodded, his black hair sticking to his pale forehead.
They reached Merlin's chest and Gwaine retracted his arm so they could maneuver the material around it. He quickly put his hand against Merlin's bare, clammy back as they moved the shirt upwards. Percival and Elyan came over and helped maneuver Merlin's arms out of his sleeves. The movement upset Merlin's shoulder, making him cry out.
"Sorry!" Elyan said. They finally got his arms out of their sleeves and Gwen grabbed the hems of the shirt, pulling it over Merlin's head by herself.
"G-Gaius..." Merlin coughed out. His face was flushed due to his fever, but the rest of his skin was pale and clammy. He was still shivering violently, his teeth chattering as they clicked together.
"Isn't there something you can give him Gaius?" Gwen sniffled. She still had tears rolling down her face. Merlin was in serious pain and it literally hurt her to see him like this.
"I'm already working on it," he replied. He was mixing different herbs and concoctions into a single phial, adding some water and shaking it. "Keep holding him up."
Gaius leaned forward, still shaking the medium sized phial. It was changing from a green to a purplish color, the herbs mixing to create the desired substance.
"I'm afraid this won't taste very good, my boy, but it'll take away the pain," Gaius said.
Merlin nodded, panting, as Gaius put the vial against his flushed lips. Gaius lifted Merlin's chin a bit while opening his mouth, slowly pouring the contents into Merlin's mouth. Immediately, Merlin began to choke and cough it out, but he managed to swallow just enough of it.
"Rest now, Merlin," Gaius said soothingly, placing a hand on his wards arm in a fatherly gesture. "Sleep, my boy. You've done enough."
Everyone watched as the heavy tension was slowly released from Merlin's body and his kaleidoscope eyes fluttered shut. Gwaine gently lowered him down, as Gwen eased his head slowly down onto Arthur's cloak. Merlin's breathing evened out a bit, though it was still much too shallow to be healthy. He still shivered, but not as much. His lips stilled as sleep took him.
Then everyone let out a collective sigh, relieved that at least Merlin wasn't in any more pain. The strained, intense situation was over, and now an uneasy silence filled the camp.
Percival and Elyan, seeing that they couldn't help anymore, exchanged uneasy glances before Elyan put a comforting hand on Gwen's shoulder, then retreated to sit on a log a few feet away. No words were exchanged between them, just dismayed looks every now and then that said it all.
They didn't know what was going to happen, good or bad. They were both concerned for their sleeping friend, but then there was the magic. They didn't know how anyone was taking it.
Gwen re-wet the cloth and put it back onto Merlin's forehead.
Gaius took a deep breath, and then began to search through his medical bag again. He pulled out a needle and sew thread and began to stitch Merlin's shoulder. The bleeding had stopped for the most part due to the potion Gaius had given him. He then took a rag out of his medical case, dunked it into that water that was still there, and began to clear away the dried blood from Merlin's shoulder.
Gwen began to wipe Merlin's pale face and chest down with his damp neckerchief, clearing away the tear tracks on his face. He was sweating and shivering at the same time despite the warm fire that glowed beside him, despite the warmth of the late afternoon sun still shining into their camp. He looked dreadful. Her tears had stopped falling, but that didn't stop them from pooling in her brown eyes. She was so scared. Not of Merlin, no how could she ever be afraid of him, but of what could happen to Merlin. He just looked so bad. And then there was Merlin's magic. What was going on? Her world felt like it was crumbling, like she didn't know her friend anymore. The last friend she'd had that had magic...No. Merlin wasn't like Morgana. He was the nicest, kindest soul Gwen had ever met. He'd been her first real friend. And now...
Arthur had never felt so helpless in his life. His best friend was lying on the ground, looking horrible, and all he could think of was the magic. What was wrong with him? He wanted to help, but something kept stopping him. Was it the magic? What he just still too shocked? His mind screamed at him to move, to help, to protect, but all he could do was stand there and watch from a few feet away. His eyes watered with despair and helplessness. He sat down heavily on a log a few feet from where Leon sat. His hand rose of its own accord and began kneading the skin between his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on, and he didn't dare interrupt Gaius to ask for a painkiller. Merlin needed him more; he would deal with his headache and Merlin later.
Leon felt much the same. He had been there when Merlin had first stopped Arthur from bullying his other servant, apparently the same day Merlin had come into town. He didn't look like he could harm a fly, much less do magic. But that's exactly what had just happened. Merlin used magic. What did that make him? Evil? No, surely not. Not Merlin.
Gwaine continued to put pressure on Merlin's side, blue magic still wrapping tendrils around his arms. It felt warm and comforting. It reminded him of Merlin. Yes, it's true that this was Merlin's magic protecting him from the still swimming green magic, but he felt as though he could pick Merlin's magic out of hundreds of others. It just felt familiar.
He shifted his hold on the gauze while Gaius readied some other potion to give to Merlin. Gwaine didn't know what was going to happen. Merlin's biggest secret had just been blown wide open. He knew that Merlin wasn't evil. How could he be? Merlin could always help out a friend in need. He had when Arthur had gone to the Perilous Lands on a stupid I-have-to-prove-myself quest. He had when Gaius had been falsely accused. Merlin had run after both of them, bringing Gwaine along to help. No, Gwaine didn't think Merlin was evil. He was still the same man.
"Gwaine, I need to put this on Merlin's wound," Gaius said. Gwaine pulled back, taking the gauze with him. The blue tendrils holding onto Gwaine's arms let go, retreating back into the wound.
Merlin's wound looked worse now that it had stopped bleeding for the most part. It was large, first of all, probably about the size of Percival's fist. It was purple and black and red and pink and blue. It just looked painful. Then, the worst part.
It was swimming with green magic. Morgana's magic. It was going in and out of Merlin's wound, threading itself into his flesh, and then coming back out. Everywhere it went, the area glowed a shade of green. And it went everywhere. Merlin's blue magic fought back of course, also threading itself into Merlin's flesh in an effort to heal him. But Morgana's magic was faster, it broke through the blue strands, taking over where there had blue magic.
"Gaius...what?" Gwaine started. He heard Gwen gasp when she saw it, the others coming to look as well. Everyone's eyes opened as they saw the wound, various amounts of gasps echoing around Merlin. It wasn't a very good sight at all, or a good sign at all. Something was happening, and it obviously wasn't good.
"I don't know, Gwaine, I just...don't know. I've never seen this before," Gaius answered tiredly. He truly had never seen this before. Morgana's magic swam in Merlin's open wound, and he didn't know what to do. The only thing he could do was treat Merlin for the wound itself and wait until he woke up to talk to him about it.
He took a handful of the gooey, orange substance he made in the bowl, and started spreading it around Merlin's wound, avoiding the more injured, tender parts of his wound. Merlin gasped in his sleep when the cold substance touched his skin, his body flinching of its own accord. Then he settled back down, breathing out heavily.
"I need you to lift his torso up again, Gwaine. I need to wrap that," Gaius said. He brought up a fresh wad of gauze and a stark, white wrap for it.
Gwaine slid his hand behind Merlin's thin back once more, lifting him up slightly. He was still surprised at how light Merlin was.
Gaius put wad of clean gauze again Merlin's side, when Arthur knelt down and grabbed ahold of it, holding it against the wound. Gaius looked up into Arthur's blue eyes for a moment studying him. His face held worry and confusion, and tears pooled in his eyes, but the worry and sadness and need to help was more prominent. Gaius hadn't known what to expect from the King, but this wasn't exactly it.
He just nodded at Arthur's sincere face and started wrapping the cloth around Merlin's waist. Leon helped, keeping the cloth tight as he and Gaius passed it back and forth over and under Merlin. When that was done, Gwaine gently eased Merlin back on the floor. Percival grabbed a hunk of covers and brought them over, where Gaius gently laid them on Merlin's sleeping form. It was late afternoon already, the sun beginning to set. No one had noticed how much time had gone by; they were too worried about Merlin. They still were.
"Now what?" Leon asked cautiously.
"Now...all we can do is wait." Gaius answered.
Everyone hated that answer.
They all thought Merlin was out of it. Completely and utterly unconscious. But he wasn't. No. He wasn't. All the sleeping draft had done was make him focus on his own battle. His own little war. The war raging inside him.
Morgana's magic was inside him, infecting, corrupting and eating away, destroying his own magic. It wasn't very good. Not at all.
Blue tendrils shot out and pushed at the invading green magic, fighting it, pushing it back, but it wasn't enough. He was too weak. His magic was too weak. Morgana's magic pushed passed Merlin's, shoving it out of the way and making its way deeper into his body, further weakening him. How had this happened? Why?
Merlin couldn't, for the life of him, figure it out. He gasped as Morgana's magic broke through another magical barrier he had made. It wasn't working. Morgana's magic was killing his magic, him. Merlin was magic, if it died, so did he. And that couldn't happen. Couldn't.
Merlin mentally threw a new wave of his magic at Morgana's, making hers cringe and flinch back before becoming even more determined - could magic be determined? - and shoving the blue and gold tendrils away, crushing them. This couldn't be happening. He was losing.
So Merlin fought and tried to focus on his own battle, making little headway as he resisted her pressing magic. He wouldn't let her magic do this, he couldn't. He had to fight. For himself. And for Arthur. And Gwen. Gaius. Gwaine. Leon. Percival. Elyan.
He had to fight...for his friends.