Ok guys, it's happened again! This chapter got so long that I had to split it, so the story gets even longer- lucky you! This chapter is basically what happened in ep 12, but the second half it, which I will be posting as a separate chapter, will be more of my version of what happened. Obviously, I had to set the whole sleeping thing up like it happened in the show for my version to work. Enjoy!

Chapter 20: The Fires Of Irdisholas

"Where's my Father?" demanded Arthur. Merlin had seldom seen him so worried, as he watched the Prince run to the throne room in search of the King. They pushed through the great double doors, only to discover he wasn't there. It was completely empty. "Where is he?" Arthur shouted.

They ran from the throne room towards Gaius' chambers. They were totally empty, apart from the physician, who sat slumped over his desk, obviously asleep. Merlin ran to him, and shook him in vain to wake him up.

"Merlin, we have to find my Father," Arthur reminded him. He didn't want to leave Gaius, but he knew he had to make sure the King was safe.

The first place they ran to was Morgana's chambers. It could be that the King went up there to check that she was alright. However, the only soul in the room was a sleeping Gwen, whom Arthur swiftly picked up off the floor and lay on Morgana's bed.

Merlin felt a twinge of jealousy as he saw the way Arthur was looking at Gwen. It was obvious that he still had feelings for her, despite her recent marriage. He watched painfully as Arthur brushed a lock of hair from the sleeping girl's face.

Upon hearing a rustling behind them, Merlin and Arthur turned around and edged slowly towards the curtain. It moved again, and Arthur moved closer still. Suddenly, he pulled the curtain back, and they both heard a scream which made them jump out of their skin.

It wasn't until Arthur grabbed hold of the woman to keep her still, did Merlin realise it was Morgana that had been hiding behind the curtain. She struggled in Arthur's grip.

"It's me Morgana, it's me!" he shouted at her, making her calm down slightly. It was obvious that she was totally terrified, but Arthur needed to get to the bottom of this. "What happened?" he asked.

"I didn't know it was you!" she squeaked, still very shaken by the events around her.

"Calm down Morgana," Arthur said soothingly "Just tell me what happened." The tone of his voice seemed to do the trick, and Morgana took a deep breath to begin her story.

"People were complaining, saying they were feeling sick," she explained in a low, shaky voice.

"And then?"

"Everyone started falling asleep. Everywhere I went!"

"Was someone here?" Arthur asked. Morgana simply shook her head. "Why were you hiding?" he asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

"I told you, I didn't know who you were." Her voice was low now; less frightened, but aroused suspicion in Arthur.

"Where's my Father?" he demanded. Morgana looked down and then back up again at him.

"I don't know," she said.

"Arthur, she's distressed," Merlin reminded him, recognising that his temper was rising.

"She was awake, that means she must have seen something!"

"I didn't see anything," Morgana said in a mere whisper. Arthur was shocked by the intensity in her eyes. She seemed to be telling the truth, but things just didn't add up.

"You saw people getting sick, what did you do?" he demanded. She looked shocked, almost hurt by his question.

"Morgana, I don't understand!" he exclaimed "Why is it that you're the only one awake?" Merlin's own suspicion was aroused at this question. There was no way that Morgana could resist the spell unless something was protecting her. Her lack of an explanation gave Merlin even more cause to doubt her.

Arthur just sighed, realising that he wasn't getting anywhere with this "We don't have time for this," he said "Come on you two, we have to find my Father." Morgana nodded, grateful that her interrogation was over. The three of them left Morgana's room and walked down the corridor, Arthur seemingly faster than the other two. Merlin came a little closer to her and said in a quiet voice, "Don't worry, I won't say anything."

"About what?" she asked.

"About the illness."

"That has nothing to do with me!" she retorted perhaps a little too quickly for Merlin's conscience, however, he didn't say anything.

"No, of course not, but you have magic," he stated.

"You haven't told anyone have you!"

"No, and I won't tell Arthur, but..." he paused "There must be something keeping you safe. I think that must be it," he whispered.

"Right," she agreed, not looking entirely sure herself. They were interrupted by Arthur's voice echoing down the hall. "I found him!" he shouted.

The two of them ran to Uther's chambers to see him sleeping over his desk and Arthur pulling him upright.

"You see, he's fine," said Merlin. Arthur turned to him with an astounded look.

"He is not fine!" he exclaimed, showing Merlin his Father's sleeping face.

"He's just asleep," Merlin reminded him. Arthur let go of his Father, who fell back onto the desk with a loud thud. "All we have to do is find a cure- a way to wake them." Arthur leant on his Father's desks and shook his head.

"Who could have done this?" he asked himself, his eyes looking straight at Morgana. "You're the only one who's not been affected Morgana, there must be a reason."

Morgana's face looked panicked and scared. She obviously didn't know herself, and turned to Merlin for some kind of help, begging with her eyes. He stayed silent.

"I don't know," she answered, her voice shaking terribly.

"That's all you keep saying!" Arthur exclaimed with annoyance "You must know something!" He came over to where she was standing.

"I don't know they just fell asleep one by one!" she cried helplessly. Merlin finally took pity on her and spoke,

"It's obvious," he said "When she started feeling sick, Gaius gave her a potion, right?" he looked at Morgana, hoping she would be smart enough to cooperate. But Arthur wasn't an idiot.

"You said she was sick, you never said that." Ok, now he had to think.

"She was one of the last to be affected;" he answered "Somehow the potion must have helped."

"What about everyone else?" Arthur persisted. Merlin racked his brains for an explanation, trying to maintain his poker face.

"By then Gaius was too ill, he didn't have a chance to treat anyone else," he said, hoping Arthur wouldn't notice the contradiction in his story. Arthur looked at Morgana, who merely smiled in agreement.

"Go and see if you can find this potion," he told Merlin, who rushed off at once. "We have to search for life in the lower town, Morgana; you stay here and look after my Father." He picked up a sword from the table. "Here." He gave it to her "Protect him with your life." She nodded in agreement as he left.

Merlin had run down to Gaius' chambers, but he had no intention of finding the fake potion. He went straight to his room and got out his spell book, searching for a spell to wake Gaius up. "Ok Gaius," he said as he found the right spell "This is going to wake you." He chanted a spell, which made Gaius sit up immediately, with a huge grin on his face.

"Gaius!" Merlin exclaimed, a massive smile on his own face. He came over and looked at Gaius' completely vacant eyes, and his smile faded. He still wasn't awake. Flicking through his book again, he stopped when he arrived at another possible spell.

"We could try this," he said, and chanted the spell. No sooner had the words left his mouth, did Gaius' chair snap, and he fell straight to the floor. Merlin froze, his mouth wide open, wondering what to do next. "Well maybe not," he said, searching for another remedy.

He huffed and leant over his book in frustration. "Come on Gaius," he complained "I need you to wake up." He turned another page "Ah, here we go," he smiled. This time, Merlin's spell only caused a gush of cold water to fall onto Gaius' face. He tried looking again; however, he was interrupted by Arthur calling his name. He quickly shut the book, his heart skipping a beat in the hope that Arthur hadn't seen anything.

"Come quickly!" was all he said. Merlin got up and ran after the Prince.

Arthur led him to the top of the castle, where they could see eight horses riding towards Camelot, cloaked figured riding them all.

"According to the legend, there were only seven knights of Medhir," Merlin said, noticing that there was an eighth horse leading the knights.

"Then who's the extra rider?"

"I don't know. But we're defenceless." Arthur answered nothing to this, and just stated that they needed to get back to his Father.

Morgana was still guarding Uther when they returned to his chambers, shocked at Arthur's proposal to move him. "It's one of the first places they'll look," he said.

"What's going on!" demanded Morgana.

"We're under attack, there's no time to explain, grab his legs Merlin." He did so with extreme difficulty, as the King's rear end was weighing him down and causing the pair of them a real problem to carry him.

"Don't sweep the floor with him, pick his feet up!" Arthur rebuked him.

"His feet are not the problem!" Merlin said breathlessly.

"Morgana, give him a hand," Arthur told her. She came over and picked up Uther's other foot, helping the two boys.

It was a little easier carrying Utherthis way, however, Merlin couldn't help but let out a laugh when Uther's head began to crash into all the apples that were scattered on the floor. He never thought he would see the King like this.

"It is not funny Merlin!" Arthur warned him. He tried to keep in his laughter as they carried him further. "Did you find the potion Morgana took?" Arthur asked. Both Merlin and Morgana looked at each other in panic.

"Uh... no," Merlin said. Arthur growled in anger at this as they managed to drag Utherinto Arthur's room. Merlin and Morgana both let him go, letting him fall to the floor with a thud.

"We can't just leave him here!" Arthur insisted "We have to lift him onto the bed."

"Why, he's not going to know any different," Merlin reminded him. He really didn't think he could lift Uther onto the bed without passing out.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted. Merlin sighed and went to the bed.

"We'll get him a pillow then."

"Merlin, he's the king!" Arthur exclaimed.

"All right! Two pillows!" Merlin answered as he brought the pillows over to Uther and placed them under his head. Arthur rolled his eyes at the sight of his Father lying on the floor like that.

As they both stood up, Merlin felt a bead of sweat drop from his forehead, and he had a feeling is wasn't because of his physical efforts. He looked over at Arthur to see him also a little out of breath. "Are you alright?" Merlin asked.

"You feeling the same?" Merlin nodded and wiped his forehead.

"We're getting sick!" he whispered. They both looked around the room in silent panic, unsure of how long they had till they too would fall asleep.

"We can't let it happen; we must keep my Father hidden."

"Why don't we disguise him?" Merlin suggested.

"That might just work!" Arthur gasped.

"We could dress him up as a woman!" Merlin said enthusiastically, hoping to be able to get his own back on Uther for everything.

"That on the other hand..."

"... We could dress him up as a servant," Merlin said with slightly less enthusiasm.

"That's better!" said Arthur.

"I'll go and get him some clothes," Merlin offered as he shot out the door.

He had no intention of getting Uther any clothes. He ran as fast as his tired legs would carry him to the dungeons, and down the stone steps to see the dragon.

Merlin froze when he saw the dragon curled up in a ball in front of him, snoring. "Please not you as well," he begged in panic. If the dragon was hit by the spell too, then they were surely doomed.

"I need your help!" he yelled, hoping this would wake him. He eyed the dragon suspiciously, realising that he wasn't really asleep. "Don't pretend," he said "I know you're listening to me." The dragon yawned and stretched its mighty wings as it sat up.

"I don't need to listen to you Merlin, you always say the same thing- 'help me, help me'" he mimicked the young boy half heartedly. "And yet you refuse to give anything in return. Now you will face the consequence of that decision. Camelot's end is nigh, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I know I promised to free you, and I will!" Merlin shouted desperately, hoping it would be enough to convince him. The dragon's laugh made Merlin panic even more. "I will, I promise!" he yelled helplessly.

"I no longer trust your promises," the dragon replied bitterly. Merlin could feel tears forming behind his eyes.

"I swear on my Mother's life!" he shouted.

"Careful what you say!" the dragon said, creeping forward with every word. Merlin wondered whether this was truly a good idea. But nothing less would convince him, and Camelot would die. Arthur would die.

"You have to help me," he begged.

"This is an oath I believe you will honour," said the dragon.

"I will," Merlin agree, relieved.

"It is one thing to cast a spell that puts everyone to sleep- the power to maintain it, is a very different matter. It will take more than just words to break this enchantment."

"What do you mean?"

"You must eradicate the source."

"Great, what is that?" Merlin asked, glad that he was finally getting somewhere.

"Not what, but 'who'" he told him "Such spells need a vessel to give them strength. The source of this pestilence..." he paused before saying, "Is the witch, the Lady Morgana." Of all the things that the dragon could have told him, nothing could have prepared him for that. Nothing. He had always suspected Morgana to be unpredictable from the moment he found her capable of assassinating the King. But he couldn't believe that hi friend would result to something this evil. She wouldn't.

"It can't be," he whispered.

"I have warned you about her in the past, but you have refused to take heed. She is dangerous," the dragon emphasised. Merlin could anticipate what was coming. What he had to do. This made his eyes well up and his chest become heavy with guilt. "And now she has chosen to turn her back on her own, by joining forces with the witch Morgause," the dragon continued.

"Morgause?" Merlin asked, not expecting this "What does she have to do with the spell?"

"Morgana is the source Merlin; however, it was Morgause who cast this curse on Camelot."

"The, I should stop Morgause, not Morgana!" Merlin said, an invisible weight being removed from him as he realised he didn't have to hurt Morgana.

"No Merlin," the dragon told him "Morgause cannot undo the enchantment. Morgana is the source, and she must be annihilated." Merlin sighed again, cursing the dragon for giving him false hope.

"How do I stop her?" Merlin asked, his voice merely a whisper.

"That is easy, young warlock. You must kill her," the dragon said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. He recognised that tone. It was the same one he had used when he told Merlin that he must stop loving Arthur in order to save him.

"No!" he whispered. He didn't know if he was pleading with the dragon or not. Pleading with him to change reality.

"The spell is woven with such force that even you are not immune." Merlin was barely listening by now, the mighty voice of the dragon a mere hum that he could hear through his own cloud of grief. "If you do not stop her, the Camelot will fall and Arthur will die, and the future you are destined to share will die with you." Merlin nodded slowly, not daring to look up. He knew what he had to do. He couldn't let Arthur die, but he would not become a murderer. Gwen had once told him that that would make him just as bad, and those words had stuck with him.

If Morgause was controlling the magic, then he must confront Morgause, not Morgana. It was the only the way that he could rid his mind of guilt, and with this in his mind, he left the dragon, running back up to Arthur.

So as I said, this is another split- sorry! And sorry if you found this a little boring because you've already seen the episode, but there were no two ways around it. The next part will be the resolution of the whole operation and I hope you think it's a good one (I think it's kinda lame, but maybe it's just self-criticism. I'll let you be the judges)

Till next time fans and PLEEEEASE R&R, even thought you've seent his ep (puppy dog eyes)