FINALLY! got this chapter done. It's not exactly how I would want it, moving things into place as they are, in hindsight I would have done things a little different earlier on, but as this is a first draft, it gets written around rather than bothering to go back and sort it out. This is the fun of writing stuff... a little mind-bending at times, but always fun ;-)
"Where Arthur?" Uther demanded loudly.
"Here!"
He ran back into the camp to find them all up and moving swiftly. Lancelot was in the process of loading and checking weapons and passing them around to the others. Not a single one of them turned to look at him.
"He couldn't have gone far!" Merlin announced loudly, sounding rather stressed.
"I haven't," Arthur replied. It caused Merlin to frown, tilting his head as if he heard something, but it didn't register.
"He's not here!" Uther said.
"Yes I am!" Arthur announced, and then looked around, looking back to where he came from. Then he looked at the others, who moved around him as if he was not there. Morgana swiftly crossed the campsite, brushing closer to Arthur but she took an unconscious step round him, to avoid walking through him. That was the only indication she gave that he was there, and Arthur didn't think they were avoiding him deliberately.
"I think we've got a problem," Leon pointed out through the arch that led to the causeway. Arthur crossed the camp and hopped over a low wall, looking out and seeing the fires moving in the woods.
"Haven't they heard of torches?" Arthur asked himself, or anyone that might hear him.
"That's not a torch," Merlin said pointing to the ball of light that appeared to be moving towards them. A shadow of a figure could be seen moving underneath it, making their way down towards the causeway. Arthur turned, thinking that perhaps Merlin had heard him, maybe he had, but his words sounded like an independent statement, not an answer to Arthur's question.
"Magic?" Gwaine asked. Merlin shrugged and then holding out his hand chanted something and a glowing ball of silver light slowly formed, expanding as Merlin's eyes glowed golden.
"I'll take that as a yes," Arthur said, this time he decided he was talking to Boris as the wyvern gave a grunt, trotting across the camp to follow him. No one noticed the wyvern either. "Any thoughts on who?"
"It seems like someone else wants to take us on," Gwaine said. "Let's face it, the queue is quite extensive."
"No, this is it," Arthur said, he turned and looked back from the way he had just come. From wherever it was he had been. The old version of Merlin had said as much. "Every hint I have been given, all the clues we followed, it was a trail of breadcrumbs, leading to here. Merlin said so, he waited here, for me and all that while he wasn't idle. This is where we have to be, but we have to stop them until we know what's going on."
"We don't know who they are?" Uther snapped. "There are too many odd references to be able to pin this down. And now they could have Arthur."
"No they don't," Arthur announced.
"How could they?" Merlin asked.
"They don't Merlin. Don't go near them!" Arthur shouted, thinking that perhaps he might still be heard on some level.
"As we have no means of crossing the water other than the causeway, we have no means of getting out. They will have us trapped if we don't do something," Percival said.
Arthur blinked and hissed in irritation. "We are not trapped. But we have to keep the island secure. They cannot get over this causeway until I've found what I need here. This is my place, I don't want them here."
"We can hold the entrance," Leon snapped. "Arthur wouldn't have left, so we just need to find where he is here, and keep this section secure."
"Thanks for listening," Arthur murmured sarcastically. Leon frowned, looking around in confusion.
"Can you hear that?"
"What?" Uther snapped.
"Great, unsurprising that you can't hear me," Arthur said.
"We have to find out who this is," Morgana said. "If we know that, we know what kind of fight we have."
"Except more than a few people have snuck up on us," Lancelot said. "No point making a fuss about it. Keeping the causeway secure is all we need to do now."
"Why?" Percival asked.
"Because, it's important. And maybe we should try and find out if Arthur's out there."
"I'm seriously not! Merlin!"
"Can you scry for him?" Morgana asked Merlin.
"I'm not sure. I don't think we have time."
"Oh for God's sake, I'll go and look."
Arthur ran off onto the causeway, Boris behind him, no one made any attempt to stop him from heading out of the shelter of the castle. Arthur ran forward confidently, staying low and watching the movement high in the hills. He heard the sounds of the others moving behind him, although they still seemed unaware of him, a low grunt that told him Boris remained close.
As a group they paused by the edge of the causeway, before it rose up into the woods. Arthur narrowed his eyes as he stared through the trees. All they could still see were the lights moving in the darkness on the slope above them. Some had paused, clustering in a small group.
"That's about the place we were starting to set up camp, before we changed our minds," Lancelot said.
"So they know we're here," Gwaine said.
"We're not meant to be anywhere else," Arthur informed him.
"Could they have got to Arthur?" Lancelot asked nervously.
"No," Arthur said, loudly, in the hope someone got the hint. Annoyingly they didn't.
"With magic, maybe."
Merlin and Morgana looked at each other.
"We're best to manage this."
"You're not going without me," Gwaine said to Merlin. Lancelot looked concerned but nodded.
"I'll stay with Morgana."
"Stay close, and we'll keep you shadowed," Merlin said. Arthur stepped back, watching as Merlin and Morgana's eyes flashed gold and a second later, although they didn't disappear entirely, the four of them seemed shrouded in darkness.
"Stay here," Lancelot said to Percival and Leon. "Keep the causeway clear. You two should stay out of sight."
Uther looked annoyed. "Arthur's my son, I'm not leaving him."
"He may still be on the island," Leon said. "And it may take more than Percival and me to hold the causeway."
"Plus, your shoulder is not totally healed from the gargoyle incident."
"Grotesques," the rest of them corrected in a idle fashion. Uther rolled his eyes.
"I don't think we should delay," Lancelot informed them. Uther looked annoyed, and then nodded.
"Pull back as soon as you can, especially if Arthur is not with them."
"Er... I'm here guys, I'd better stick with you," Arthur said to Merlin, who turned his head again, as if hearing something, but it didn't quite register with him.
As they turned and headed out, it unfortunately, chose that moment to become rather inconvenient for Arthur.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
It was either the moment that the spell surrounding him wore off, or as soon as he stepped far enough away from the centre of the power, the little pocket he was tucked away in seemed to tear.
Arthur couldn't entirely describe it. Everything went dark, but that didn't panic him, for some reason the darkness felt safe, and warm. It reminded him of when he had been little, one of his first memories, of getting up and toddling over to his mother's bed and scrambling under the duvet, snuggling against her warmth, comforted by the familiar smell of her.
It distracted him for a moment, and then the sudden tingling of his skin returned him to the situation in hand. Whatever surrounded him brushed against his skin, lightly, as if he had broken through a myriad of spider's webs, the threads breaking, but clinging to him as he pushed his way through.
There was no violence to the sudden snap that seemed to draw him back to reality. It just happened. He didn't fall, or stumble. When he broke free, he just stood there, alone. Glancing at his watch was no help, he hadn't done it just before he fell through so he couldn't tell how much time had passed. It was long enough for the others to have dispersed, so Arthur stood in the forest with just Boris for company. He gave a sigh and glanced around.
He had the option of returning over the causeway, back to the main point of power, which was where he was meant to be. It would mean his father would cease worrying, but the others were wandering out in the forest, trying to intercept whatever threat was coming their way. Arthur bit his lip and thought. That was a bad thing to be doing. They were meant to be on the island. On a sudden instinctual whim Arthur put his hand out and felt, again, the subtle flow, the sensation of spider silk, on his arm. There was something around the island, protecting it. They had walked through it without any sense of it before, because they were expected, and wanted.
The picture had been drawn for him, Boris had been sent to lead him, and Merlin had, as he had just told Arthur, set everything up for him. Arthur had read the stories, Merlin hadn't been ready the last time. He was not meant to be, Arthur was meant to have been lost, kept safe for when he would be needed again. The barrier was there to stop it happening too soon, and Merlin hadn't needed to protect Arthur, or he had done something to make sure that Arthur got here.
No power on Earth could kill Arthur before he was meant to be at risk. Merlin had done his work behind the scenes. Arthur had found all the references, and hints. The only people in danger were the people out looking for him, thinking that he might have been taken by the enemy.
Arthur blinked and huffed. He couldn't go back to safety just yet, it wasn't him that needed protecting, it was his job to protect the others. That was what he was there for after all.
"Come on Boris, and stay alert."
With the wyvern lumbering, silently, behind him Arthur headed off, pausing as he reached the top of the incline and he ducked down as a figure moved through the trees. Arthur dropped lower and Boris hunkered down, both of them huddling on the floor as they watched the group of men pass. Arthur's eyes locked on the man leading them, waiting until they had passed by to comment to Boris.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
Boris grunted in response and then Arthur's eyes widened and his head turned sharply as, at the point where they had almost set up camp on the hillside, came the sound of gunfire, shouts, a scream and some blast that looked suspiciously like magic.
"Oh crap," Arthur hissed. "What have we missed now?!"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"So, this is the brave and valiant Emrys."
"I am," Merlin said wriggling against the two men holding him. He glared at the blonde woman opposite him. She stepped over the prone Lancelot, who nursed a gun shot wound to his thigh. Lancelot's eyes followed her intently then snapped to the right as something caught his attention. They moved back a moment later as he dropped his head in acknowledgement.
"And you think you could stand against us?" the blonde woman demanded.
"I didn't seem to be doing that bad of a job until now."
She waved her hand and the two men twisted Merlin's arms causing him to yelp.
"Merlin!" Gwaine yelled jerking under the grip of two other goons who kicked his legs out from under him to get him onto his knees, and they pushed him down. "Leave him alone!"
"Or what? What will you bargain with? The Once And Future King, perhaps?"
Gwaine fell silent. Merlin struggled under the grip of the two men, one of them clamping a hand over his mouth to subdue his words.
"No! Numph!" Merlin protested.
Gwaine hesitated, eyeing the blonde woman uncertainly. "You'll let Merlin go?"
Merlin's muffled words protested Gwaine's question. Gwaine lifted his head and slammed it into the groin of the man on his right. He gave an 'umph' of shock and loosened his grip. Yanking his arm free Gwaine followed up by punching the man on his left, just under his ribs, wincing as the man's hold on his arm caused it to pull and there was a pop as his shoulder dislocated. Through the haze of pain Gwaine grabbed the knife in the man's boot and threw it in the direction of the blonde woman. She raised a hand and deflected it as if it was nothing more than a mildly irritating fly.
Gwaine tried to struggle again but the man slammed a hand into Gwaine's damaged shoulder and he howled as the pain rippled through him. He had half risen but the pain brought him back to his knees.
"Leave him alone!" Merlin yelped and then sagged as someone hit him on the back of the head. The two men holding him released him, letting him drop to the floor. Gwaine watched in horror as the youth stood over Merlin, hitting him again. He looked up and smirked at Gwaine, who slumped in shock.
"Mordred?"
Merlin groaned, stirring slowly, face down on the ground and too dazed to do anything.
"Yes," Mordred said. "Arthur did enough research to find my place in the legend, and none of you thought to do anything about it."
"What?" Morgana gasped, she stood up from her place of concealment, still holding a gun and pointing it at Mordred. "You, it was you, all the time. I trusted you, I took you in!"
"Yes."
"Is that all you are going to say!" Morgana yelled and then as her eyes flashed gold she screamed in pain, dropping the gun and falling to the floor. Several men rushed in to grab her and the blonde woman glared around, her own eyes rippling with flashes of gold against the brown irises.
"Do not touch her!"
The venom in her voice caused the men to pause and Morgana looked up, staring at the woman before slowly getting to her feet. She eyed the scene warily, glaring at her cousin and then staring at the woman and her eyes drifted to the men who had closed in, but now were too wary of touching her.
"What is going on?"
"You don't recognise me, sister?"
Morgana frowned. "Why would I? I don't have a sister."
"That is what Uther wishes you to believe, but it is a fact. You were given no knowledge of my existence, or your true purpose in this world. Your magic was given to you for a reason."
"I've read the legends, they are quite murky on some of those facts."
"However, you must have heard the name Morgause."
"Yes, of course. But are not my sister now, so why would you believe that?"
"It is a fact, not only of legend, but of blood, our blood is the same. I am your sister."
"We are not the people from those times, we have their memories, and perhaps their purpose, but I am not going to be so blinkered, or led by the nose by something written centuries ago. I'm not that stupid!"
Morgana snapped the last four words, making sure her contempt showed. "And Uther has done nothing but encourage and help me. He's the one that helped me develop my powers."
"That can't be."
"It is. Mordred could tell you that."
The blonde woman turned to glare at him. Morgana watched and then, since nothing seemed to be forthcoming from the opposing side, she continued the conversation. If nothing else she could delay and wait for the others, although she felt at a loss as to what they could do, except retreat to, and hold, the little island.
"So, in what way are you my sister?"
"Through our mother. Before Gorlois met her. She was too young to keep me, she gave me up to people she trusted. Your mother believed in the prophecies, she dreamt of them, just like you have."
Morgana's jaw clenched. "They are not prophecies, they are just flickers of what happened before."
Morgause slowly stepped forward, walking a little way around the circle of people, moving towards Morgana. Gwaine snarled and tried to struggle, although the attempt was feeble. The men holding him didn't touch his shoulder but the shifting of hands on him told him the threat was there. From across the clearing Merlin slowly looked up, his eyes wide, a look of mild disbelief and horror in them. Gwaine inwardly cringed, wondering if it sounded like he had really meant the implied exchange, Merlin for Arthur. He could perhaps try and tell Merlin it was a bluff, if they got out of this situation, but he couldn't honestly say he would be telling the truth. Merlin knew him well enough to know that.
Morgana watched the woman's approach, shifting her feet so she could face Morgause as she approached, but her eyes occasionally flickered to Mordred, who stood over Merlin, watching him carefully. Merlin slowly struggled to his hands and knees, blinking as he tried to work out what was happening around him. He looked at Gwaine, who glared over Merlin's head to Mordred. Merlin turned to follow the stare and eased himself away from the youth, who looked ready to hit him again. Mordred smirked.
"But you know the stories, there were always hints of my existence," Morgause said.
"Then," Morgana argued. "There was no reason to believe that everything was exactly the same. It isn't the same."
She shifted warily as Morgause stepped forward.
"Sister, is it not your destiny to play lackey to others. You have the potential to be a High Priestess, to control the magic that has long been lost. It is yours to control."
Morgana stared at her, looking at Morgause as if she was trying to see something that was not entirely clear to her.
"Sister, you should be with us, not a feeble second to that!" Morgause turned her gaze to Merlin, who looked up, still stunned from the blows, clearly not entirely comprehending what was happening around him. Gwaine shifted again, watching Merlin with concern.
Arthur paused as he came close to the area of the confrontation, crouching in the bushes as he watched the person he had been following enter the clearing. The men around the group, shifted again and Arthur, as he caught sight of their faces realised he recognised one or two of them.
"Sorry to interrupt."
Morgause looked displeased by the man's entrance. Arthur could get a clearer look at him now he had entered the light of the campfire, the brightness within the circle darkened the shadows of the forest around it. Getting on his hands and knees he crawled under the nearby bushes, moving slowly, feeling the branches scrape against his clothes. He eased round a few stiffer limbs to prevent them from snapping and revealing his location. Behind him he could hear Boris' low, also careful, movements. Turning his head he lifted his hand.
"Stay."
He murmured the word and felt no surprise that Boris obeyed instantly. Merlin had the power to control them, and the old version had left Boris. Arthur had no doubt that one of the instructions he had given the wyvern was to obey Arthur's commands. Arthur exhaled and turned his attention back to the scene in front of him and studied the source of his contention. He watched Lancelot's eyes flash in his direction, Arthur nodded and then flicked his eyes towards the action occurring in the clearing. Taking the hint Lancelot gave no further indication that he knew of Arthur's presence. Arthur watched the scene in front of him with interest.
Cenred hadn't changed much over the years since Arthur had last seen him, when he had gone to ground after Aled's business interests had gone belly-up. Working as his second in command had presumably been a sideline to what he had been really doing, keeping an eye on Arthur. He supposed the blond woman might had simply been following the same trails that Uther had, but Arthur got the feeling that his mother had given secrets away to someone.
The former pimp's hair was still dark, and long, and he still had a perchance for black leather. He still looked, Arthur eventually mused, pretty good, and he presumed that the body underneath the leather was well-maintained. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Why are you thinking that?" he murmured to himself.
"Where is Arthur?" Morgause demanded.
"The rest of them seem to have headed back across the bridge. I can get a group to cross the causeway and deal with them," Cenred said. "Although, it looks as if they could easily hold it."
"More than that," Morgause said. "There are traps in that area, Avalon is a place of strange magicks."
"So what is to stop something from happening to them?" Cenred said dismissively. "There could be nothing to worry about."
Morgause snorted, pacing slightly. "I heard stories. Merlin buried Arthur there, and he never left. Those of my kind that searched for the remains of the Once and Future King, if they returned, told stories of what existed there."
She hissed the words, turning to glare at Merlin, who had crawled a little distance away from Mordred. He froze, staring back at her. Arthur's eyes narrowed. Merlin was not up to dealing with this. The old version had admitted his mistake on that. Living too long in one form. Arthur had been different, he had been gone for so long, yet he had not lived a sheltered life. The old version of Merlin had left him to live it, to struggle and suffer. Arthur didn't know if he was any better for it, but mentally he was stronger than Merlin. He was screwed up, but he had some dealings with bad, hopeless situations, and this was certainly one of those. Slowly he started to wriggle backwards, jumping slightly as Boris prodded him on the backside.
"Come on Boris," Arthur hissed. "Work to do."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Arthur will come to us," Mordred said. He smirked at Merlin. Morgana hissed in fury, she kicked one of the men flanking her on the leg, toppling him. Morgana flattened him by stomping on his back, using him as a springboard to launch herself at Mordred. His eyes widened as he fell back in surprise. Morgana got her hands around his throat.
"You little shit!"
She didn't get very far as Mordred's eyes flashed and Morgana found herself flung backwards, crashing across the clearing to land flat on her back. It scattered a few of the men, although they closed again to try and grab her. Mordred looked murderous, hand raising and his eyes flashed again.
"Enough!" Morgause roared. Mordred stilled, but he glared at his cousin. Morgana returned the favour. The men flanked her, but again didn't dare go near her. Merlin took advantage of the chaos to crawl a little closer to Gwaine, only pausing as Cenred stepped between them. Merlin hesitated.
"Well, this is certainly interesting," Cenred drawled. He reached down and latched a firm hand onto the back of Merlin's neck. He pulled the youth onto his feet. Merlin attempted to cringe away from him and Gwaine struggled again, gritting his teeth as someone grabbed his arm, putting pressure on his damaged shoulder.
"How long will we have to wait?"
Morgause huffed. "They may not move now until morning. Uther will be careful with his little boy."
"So we have time to fill," Cenred said, running his free hand down Merlin's torso, directly to his groin. Merlin kicked out.
"Leave him alone!" Gwaine yelled.
"It might bring your little king to heel quicker," Cenred said to Morgause, nodding his head in Gwaine's direction. "If you leave that one's almost lifeless corpse by the causeway. No point in wasting this one," he added, looking a squirming Merlin up and down. "Give me a bit of time and he could be making me a small fortune."
Gwaine growled, struggling again, screaming as the man holding him twisted his arm.
"No!" Merlin yelped.
"They'll stop if I tell them to," Cenred said. Merlin froze, eyes wide as he stared up at Cenred. He started to gently massage his hand against Merlin's neck.
"Merlin, no," Gwaine growled. Merlin looked to him and then back to Cenred. The fear and uncertainty obvious on his face as he debated the dilemma.
"Oh, please," interrupted a voice. "As if you are into virgins and wilting violets."
Everyone swivelled to stare at him. Arthur watched the shocked faces and smirked. He stood on a raised log, but as he realised he had everyone's attention he stepped forward, dropping down the short distance to land in the clearing. He studied each person, ensuring that everyone saw him.
"Nice to be back with you," he announced. Several men closed in on him and then backed off as Boris raised his head, tensing his body and snorting.
"Enough, heel Boris."
Boris did, quite placidly. Arthur eased his way across the clearing, aiming for Cenred, who still held onto Merlin. He tilted his head and smirked.
"I mean, you do prefer them broken in."
Cenred looked from Merlin, to Arthur. Arthur raised his eyebrows, and gave his best 'pulling in a punter' smirk.
"They're fun to break sometimes. And from what I can see, he'll know what to do."
Arthur gave up on the smirk and pouted. "Not as good as me. Put him down."
Amazingly, Cenred complied, pushing Merlin away, turning himself to face Arthur. His eyes looked Arthur up and down, taking in every detail. Cenred looked quite intrigued by what he saw.
"You look a little different."
"Designer clothes, but other than that, not much I think."
"Oh, I don't know."
"Still, I can do it better than he does," Arthur said nodding in Merlin's direction. Merlin looked up from his prone position on the floor and Arthur glared at him, telling him to stay still. The others watched the scene in fascination.
"I don't doubt that. Although, if you stay here, these two will kill you."
Arthur followed Cenred's gaze, looking at Morgause, then Mordred. He turned back after a moment.
"I don't think so. I don't think they can."
"It's me who gets to kill you!"
Arthur turned back to Mordred. "In battle. You lot are the ones who tied yourself up in these knots and the magic, now, won't allow anything else. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You lot deluded yourself into thinking this was all about magic, and now, you've made that magic into what is it. you have to do it the way you imagined. You are so tied to this, and you've now got to wait, because nothing's going to happen until tomorrow. Mordred, you can't kill me until then."
"How do you know that?!" Morgause smirked, her eyes flashed gold. Arthur turned to her and shrugged. One brief glance at Cenred confirmed the man was intently assessing his rear view.
"That is why none of it has made any sense. It's looked like people have tried to kill me, or not, and set up the weirdest things, because that is what they did before. It's all just a pattern. All of it has just been condensed because I've not been here."
Arthur stopped talking as Cenred grabbed his jaw.
"And what if I decide not to let them go. At least not your little friend."
"So, you'll turn him into a damaged wreak, it won't change the outcome of tomorrow. He was not there, that was point. Merlin didn't help Arthur that day, and so he can't help me tomorrow. Leave him alone Cenred, you can have me instead."
"What about my men?"
"You never play that way, and most of them I wouldn't touch with a bargepole."
"And if I say no!" Morgause snapped.
"You can't touch Merlin, nor any of them. You didn't have any influence on their destinies, but Merlin did on yours, so I suggest you back off and leave him alone. Can't you feel it."
Boris could, he had hunkered down, snarling in irritation, although despite how it affected him, he was not leaving Arthur's side.
"Gwaine, take Merlin and go, now! Morgana, help Lancelot, take him back to Avalon."
"I can't."
Merlin said that. Gwaine, however, could. He had somehow defied definition, although from the information Arthur had found, maybe not. There were stories that told Arthur that Merlin had been Gwaine's first concern and something, in present day, had grown from that. Arthur turned to Gwaine.
"Take him away from here."
"Arthur I can't leave you, I am supposed to protect you," Merlin protested.
Raising his hand Arthur put it on Cenred's chest, then he turned and walked away from him. Arthur stepped closer to Merlin and everyone around them shifted uneasily as something moved in the air.
"Yes, you can. I listened to you. The old you. That part of you spent years building that island. You never left me, until you knew it was time for me to come back. I just had a conversation with you about it, you left me Boris, he was put there to find me. But you are not stupid Merlin."
"I don't know," Merlin said. Gwaine lurched up to grab him the moment the guards released him. He wrapped his arms around Merlin and held on. Arthur nodded at him, Gwaine would fulfil that part of his obligation.
"You might have given me some of the passwords Merlin," Arthur said, rubbing Boris' head. "But the fail-safe's are all yours. You find them, while I distract the guards. I can do that."
"But he's..."
"He's my former pimp Merlin, I've done it before, I can handle him. I know what he's like. He looks for the main chance, the moment that these two are not it, he'll turn like a snake. Give me time to charm him, because you need that time more then I do."
Arthur pushed Merlin back.
"Gwaine, take him, and go... now! Morgana go with them."
Morgana looked uncertain but she had gone to help Lancelot up and as she moved back she opened up a gap in the circle of enemies around them. No one dared touch her. Morgause clenched her teeth, at least aware that for now, she couldn't win Morgana over. Gwaine followed in her wake. His job was to protect Merlin, so that was what happened.