Here's the second trial. As previously Italics are spells and bold italics are mental communication. Thanks for everyone's great reviews and to everyone else who has been reading. Also I am forever in Roses-as-lips debt for her beta. Enjoy and please review. x

Chapter 14

"The next trial will be a test of your talents." Idris said. He turned to face Arthur, "You claim to have been trained to kill since birth, well it's time those skills were put to the test."

Arthur reached up to pull the blindfold off but Idris caught his wrist, preventing him from removing it.

"This is a true test of your talent, you must remain blindfolded."

"But how am I supposed to fight if I can't see?" Arthur protested.

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Idris said looking pointedly at Isabelle.

He released Arthur and backed away a couple of paces. Isabelle saw the broad man with the sword move towards Arthur and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Idris was clearly expecting her to do something but she didn't have a clue what. Her mind scrambled round for a solution but before she could find one Idris spoke.

"The trial starts now."

The large man lifted his sword and swung it at Arthur viciously, clearly expecting an easy win.

"Arthur duck!" Isabelle screamed at him, running forward.

Arthur sensed the urgency in Isabelle's voice and his training took over. He dropped to the ground, cushioning his fall on his hands. Knowing what his next move would be if he was in the other man's position he rolled to the side just as a sword thumped into the ground where he had just been.

Isabelle ran forward as Arthur dropped to the floor. She didn't know what she was going to do but she knew she had to help Arthur. However before she reached him Idris grabbed hold of her, preventing her from moving any closer. She struggled in his grip as Arthur rolled to avoid the blow.

"Get off me!" She cried as she struggled.

She tried to break free of Idris' grip but he was too strong. She felt the intrusion in her mind and started to push him out. However his voice echoed through her mind, making her pause.

If you go to him you forfeit the trial, you won't get the antidote.

Isabelle stopped struggling as the truth of Idris' words sunk in. Satisfied that she wasn't going to run forward again Idris loosened his grip on her. She frowned as he kept one hand clamped on her arm but as his voice spoke in her head again she understood.

You need contact to maintain the connection unless the two people are particularly close.

Idris looked at her meaningfully as the words reverberated through her skull however Isabelle didn't understand the importance of his words. She glanced over at Arthur to see him still on the ground, avoiding the other man's blows.

I have to help him! She thought back frantically.

You can. Remember what I told you at the start; you are to be his eyes.

Isabelle saw that Arthur had raised himself off the ground and was crouching, preparing to move. The tall man swung at him once again.

"Look out!" Isabelle cried as Arthur jumped backwards to avoid the blow.

"Gee Isabelle, real helpful. I'd have never thought of that!" Arthur shouted back sarcastically.

He drew his sword and held it out in front of him. Opening all his other senses he tried to sense anything that would help him tell where the other man was.

You need to have faith in his skills. He has been trained to fight since he was a child. He would have to prepare for situations like this. He may just need help applying those skills.

Arthur was getting more and more frustrated. He had always taught his knights that if you cannot use your eyes in a battle then you should open your other senses to hear your opponent. However all he could hear was the cheers and cries of the druids around them. He only just heard the whistle of a blade through the air in time to raise his sword and block it.

"It's too damn loud." He muttered angrily.

Suddenly the sounds of the druids died away and Arthur feared for a moment that he had gone deaf. However he heard the unmistakable crunch of grass to his left and knew that his opponent was circling him.

"Better?" Isabelle called.

"Yeah, but how?" Arthur asked confused.

"Never mind that." Isabelle brushed aside, "To your left."

Arthur swung his sword up to protect his left side and felt the other man's blade make contact with his. He knew he could parry blow like this but he was never going to win as he couldn't attack without seeing his opponent's weaknesses.

Communicating telepathically is an interesting thing. Idris mused in Isabelle's mind as if he was talking to himself, You can share images, scenes or even what you are seeing at this very moment with the other person. And it is said that if two people have, say known each since they were born and grown up together, then it is not necessary for both parties to be in possession of magic.

Isabelle stared at Idris who was watching the fight with a neutral expression on his face. Her mind was reeling with what he'd just told her. She now knew how she could help Arthur but she didn't understand Idris' motives for telling her this.

Why are you helping us?

Because you were right. We need Emyrs. And Emyrs can't help us unless you get the antidote. And to do that he... Idris jerked his head towards Arthur, ...needs to complete the trials. And according to Azaria we can't restore magic to Camelot without both the prince and Emyrs so his death isn't going to benefit anyone.

But you just spent the last trial trying to kill him. Isabelle pointed out incredulous.

I wasn't trying to kill him; I was trying to get you to reveal your magic. If he finds out that the girl he's known his whole life has magic and isn't evil then he might start to realise that his father's views on magic are wrong and that magic in itself is not evil.

He does know that. Or, well he's starting to realise it. And I will tell him about my magic just not now, not like this.

Isabelle pulled her arm out of Idris' grasp, breaking the connection. She focused on Arthur and the druid who were circling each other carefully. Every now and again the man would swing at Arthur who would just manage to parry the blows and then they would return to circling.

She focused on the severely diminished pool of magic inside of her, reaching it out towards Arthur. She wasn't sure how this was supposed to work having never done it before. She felt Arthur's presence in the clearing and hesitated, worried about the effects this would have on him. She pushed the fears aside, knowing that if she didn't do this it would probably have much worse consequences for him.

She reached her magic towards his presence and felt it connect. The sensation was distinctly different to the feeling she'd had when she'd done this with Bliant and Idris. She felt her consciousness slide into his and she was suddenly over whelmed by his thoughts. She realised that, though she told Idris she wasn't ready to reveal her magic to Arthur, he'd have to be a complete idiot not to realise it now.

Arthur? She asked tentatively.

Isabelle, what the hell is happening?

She heard Arthur's puzzled reply in her mind and beamed to herself, pleased it had worked.

Um...I don't know. Isabelle replied, not really expecting Arthur to believe her.

Shock resonated through her as Arthur seemed to accept her words and turn back to the fight. And he calls Merlin an idiot, she thought with a smile. She could feel Arthur's emotions through the connection she'd just established. She could feel the strain the battle was talking on him and that he was still feeling shaky after the first trial. She felt a slight nudge and realised that Arthur was half-heartedly trying to push her out. However he was so focused on the battle that his attempts weren't really working.

No offence Isabelle but I'm trying to concentrate and you prying through my mind is a little distracting.

Isabelle jumped as she remembered why she had forged the connection in the first place. She gazed intently at the fighting pair and tried to project what she was seeing into Arthur's mind. Her first few attempts were a failure and she sighed frustrated, wishing she knew more about magic. Having spent most of her life keeping it hidden she hadn't really had a chance to learn much about magic and she was severely regretting it now. Having insisted that Arthur let her come, convinced he needed her to replace Merlin as his magical protector, she had failed to come up with a solution to help Arthur in either trial and had needed outside help. And now she was even failing to use the help she'd been given. She sighed angrily as the images she was trying to place into Arthur's mind still refused to travel along the connection she had forged.

Come on Isabelle, she thought to herself, even Bliant can do this and he's only ten. She once again cursed her upbringing for isolating her from the magical community. She had learnt the wide range of healing spells she knew from a local hedge witch but she didn't know anything about communicating with other sorcerers, or even those without magic. She hadn't even thought it was possible without extensive preparation on both sides until Bliant had linked with her during the first trial.

She took a deep calming breath, relaxing her body. She closed her eyes and instead of trying to push the images towards Arthur she concentrated on bringing Arthur's mind to hers. She imagined him feeling what she was feeling, hearing what she was hearing and seeing what he was seeing. She opened her eyes and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she wasn't the only one seeing the scene before her.

Arthur froze as a scene blossomed in his mind. He could see the clearing they were standing in. His eyes widened in shock behind his blindfold as he realised that the two figures he could see in the middle of the clearing were him and the man he was fighting. His mind whirred as he tried to comprehend what was happening. This was definitely the work of magic but it seemed to be helping rather than hindering him. Arthur was finding himself more and more confused. The longer they were with the druids the more Arthur's views on magic were changing. His father had always taught him that magic could only be used for evil and therefore anyone possessing it was evil. But Arthur had seen the children innocently running around and he couldn't comprehend how anyone could think them evil. And now it seemed that someone was helping him and Isabelle complete the trial.

Arthur move!

He had momentarily forgotten where he was but Isabelle's cry in his mind had jolted him out of his thoughts. He saw the man swinging his sword at the image of himself and brought his sword up to block where the man's blade would hit. He was slightly perturbed to see the image of himself also bring his sword up. However he was distracted from this as he failed to raise his sword fast enough and pain lanced through his left arm as he felt the man's blade pierce his skin.

Isabelle gasped and grabbed her left arm as pain lanced through it. However upon inspection she realised that there was nothing visibly wrong with her arm, so why was she in such pain? She frowned as she searched for anything that would explain the shooting pain in her arm.

Isabelle is there a reason why I seem to be seeing your arm?

Isabelle jumped at Arthur's voice and looked back at the battle, remembering that she was supposed to be helping Arthur fight. She saw blood running down Arthur's arm and suddenly she understood why she was feeling the pain in her arm.

Am I seeing what you're seeing? Arthur asked curiously.

It would appear so. Isabelle replied slowly.

Apparently we have some outside help.

Isabelle marvelled that Arthur still hadn't realised she was the one using magic. Though on reflection she remembered Merlin telling her about times he'd used magic in front of Arthur and he hadn't noticed. She smiled, it seemed that Arthur's denseness could pay off sometimes.

Arthur however had focused back on the battle. Now he could see what was happening he was finding it much easier to fight. He still found it weird that he could see himself moving at the same time he did, but he pushed past that and was pushing the druid back. He marvelled at the man's swordsmanship. He was holding his own against Arthur for much longer than most of his knights could. He decided that there might be something in what Isabelle had been saying yesterday about allowing ordinary people to become knights.

However the last trial had taken its toll on Arthur. His body was aching and the pain in his left arm seemed to be getting worse. Every swing of his sword was taking more and more effort and he could feel his weary muscles screaming in protest with every movement.

Spotting this the other man thrust his sword under Arthur's guard and knocked the sword out of his hand. Arthur stumbled backwards at the force of the blow. They had moved nearer the crowd of watching druids whilst they were fighting and as Arthur staggered backwards the crowd behind him parted, preventing him from crashing into them.

Backing away from the advancing man Arthur cast around for anything that could help him. His sword was too far away for him to grasp without putting himself within the other man's reach. Arthur cursed whatever notion that had made him decide not to bring another weapon to the trials. Sound suddenly overwhelmed him, as the druids voices, which had somehow died away during that fight, reappeared; after the calm silence, it was deafening. Above the noise however he could hear his heart pounding frantically and his blood rushing through his veins. Fear gripped him as he realised that, for the first time in his life, there was no way out; no one was coming to save him.

Isabelle struggled against Idris who had once again grabbed hold of her. She had seen Arthur drop his sword and had tried to run forward to help but Idris was holding her firmly in place. All she could do was watch in anguish as Arthur backed away from the advancing man. She had her own sword strapped around her waist but Arthur was too far away for her to throw it to him. She sobbed as emotion overwhelmed her and she felt the spell enclosing them in silence break. Suddenly the noise of the druids washed over her. The sound pressed in on her and she screamed in frustration and anger. She pushed against Idris again, adding her magic to her force, trying to get him to let go. However he held firm.

"He's not failed yet." Idris spoke into her ear, "Stop thinking with your emotions and try using your brain."

Isabelle shuddered as she felt Idris' clammy breath on her neck as he spoke. But she realised that he had been right before, maybe there was still hope. She tried to reach for her magic to do something, anything, but she was dried out. She was using the little she had left to maintain the connection with Arthur but she couldn't bring herself to break it.

Arthur heard Isabelle's scream above the din that was now pressing in on him and felt another wave of despair wash over him. He didn't know what the druids would do with her once he was dead. He hoped they would allow her to return to Camelot but her scream had sent fear for her coursing through him. And now he realised he wasn't going to be the only one to die; they had failed the trial so Merlin wasn't going to get the antidote. Arthur felt utterly defeated, it was only reflex that kept him backing away from the advancing sword.

"I'm sorry Merlin."

Behind you!

Isabelle's yell burst into his despair ridden mind. Arthur frowned, unsure what on earth she was going on about.

I'm more worried about what's in front of me Isabelle. He replied scathingly.

However the moment he thought this he felt the back of his leg collide with something sharp behind him. He knew that there must be some sort of stone behind him and realised that Isabelle must have been warning him that his exit was blocked. He closed his eyes behind the blindfold, preparing for the inevitable.

Arthur turn around and grab the sword! Isabelle screamed, Stop being a prat and just take the sword!

Arthur could have sworn he heard Merlin's voice combined with Isabelle's as she spoke the last sentence. This jolted him out of his depression and into action. He spun round and reached out, feeling the hilt of the sword behind him. He grabbed hold of it and felt energy radiate from it, shooting up his arm and through his body. He vaguely thought that he'd felt the sensation before but he couldn't place it. Pushing that aside he pulled the sword and felt it release smoothly. He didn't even think about why the sword was there or what it was being stored in.

Isabelle heard Idris' sharp intake of breath as Arthur pulled the sword free and felt his grip on her slacken as he froze, shocked. Isabelle staggered back as she felt the wave of energy that was now pouring from Arthur through the connection she had formed. Her eyes widened as she realised where the sword had come from, something she had missed when she had spotted it in the heat of the moment. However what made her gasp was what she saw when she cast her eyes round the clearing.

"Oh my god Arthur."

x-x-x

Morgana sighed in relief as Merlin stopped moving and relaxed. His cries had become increasingly louder and Morgana could have sworn she'd felt power emitting from the fragile boy when he had spoken last, even though the words had been frivolous cries to Arthur. But he had quietened and she was glad he finally seemed to be getting some rest.

Merlin smiled in his sleep as he saw Arthur and Isabelle in his mind's eye and was glad the prat had listened to him for once.