Familia pt.13

Hello, hope you are having a good day.

They had been riding for an hour. Merlin was shivering and whimpering. He was in and out of consciousness as they traveled. Merlin was almost asleep when he started coughing. Arthur stopped his horse and then grabbed the reins of Merlin's horse and stopped it. He then put a hand on Merlin's back as Merlin coughed. When it was over, Merlin weakly looked at Arthur.

"How do you feel?" Arthur asked.

"Weaker. I'm so tired." Merlin answered.

"Don't fall asleep just yet. We'll be there soon. Hopefully by nightfall."

"I'll try."

So they continued on their journey. Merlin was getting weaker by the minute. It was almost nightfall when they got to the valley of the fallen kings. Merlin had fallen asleep. Arthur got off his horse and woke Merlin up. Merlin woke up and allowed Arthur to help him get off the horse and into the crystal cave. When they got in, Arthur carried Merlin till they reached the crystals.

"I'll be right back. I need to get our stuff. You can go back to sleep if you want." Arthur said. Merlin nodded. He fell asleep quickly. Arthur went out to get their stuff. When he returned he saw Balinor beside Merlin.

"Balinor, what are you doing?" Arthur questioned.

"I'm helping my son. When you left he started having a nightmare. I helped him. He's weaker. I've healed him a bit but it will take time. It'll take about 4 days before he will be healed enough to travel back to Camelot. He's lucky that he survived the journey here." Balinor explained.

"He's strong."

"I know. He's like his mother."

"His like his mother in some ways but I think he's more like his father."

Balinor smiled and then walked away. Arthur made a place for Merlin to sleep. He tried to make Merlin comfortable. He made a fire and watched over Merlin. Every so often he gave Merlin some medicine that Gaius wanted Merlin to take. Arthur was warming dinner up, when Merlin woke up.

"Merlin, how do you feel?" Arthur whispered.

"A tiny bit better." Merlin rasped. Then Balinor appeared. "Father?"

"I'm here, Merlin. Just relax." Balinor calmly said.

"It hurts to breathe. I'm in so much pain. Even when I sleep I'm in pain."

"I know but it'll get better."

"I'm so scared. I can't sleep."

Balinor kneeled down next to Merlin and wiped the tears from Merlin's face. Merlin began to relax a bit. Balinor shushed Merlin and calmed him down. Then Merlin's eyelids began to feel heavy and he went to sleep. When he was asleep, Balinor kissed Merlin's forehead. Then Arthur pulled a wooden dragon out of Merlin's bag. He gave it to Balinor who put it next to Merlin.

"You made that for him." Arthur realized.

"Yes, I did. I see he kept it." Balinor answered happily.

"He always has it with him. It's something that he treasures. He has a wife and 4 kids. They are all very cute."

"I'm pleased."

Then Merlin started screaming.

TBC