Chapter 24

The Wandering Woods were eerie. Even in the early evening, when the sun was relatively high in the sky, it was a dark as the dead of night thanks to the shadows which the trees cast. The terrain was too dry and uneven, the trees and foliage too dense to continue on the horses so Rowen and Arthur moved on foot. Perhaps the creepiest part, however, was the silence. There wasn't even the quietest sound of a bug moving on a leaf or a bird flying from a branch. Only the crunch of their footfalls.

"How far do we have to go?" Rowen asked.

"The caves are right in the centre of the woods. If we make camp now and continue at first light, I reckon we'll be there by evening in two days."

"That'll be nearly four days since they went missing," Rowen quickly worked out, "Someone in Camelot will notice something."

"Perhaps. But Gaius will try his best to keep peace, I'm sure of it."

They sat down heavily on a fallen tree, "Arthur, you've left Camelot unsupervised. We'll be gone at least six days."

"I know," Arthur said, drawing his sword and sharpening it with a stone, "But what else could I do? There was no time to organise something else and-"

"You wouldn't trust anyone else to save them," Rowen finished, "Yeah. I get that."

"I just don't understand," Arthur said, "Why them? If they took Guinevere, they could have easily taken me as well. And why only the five knights they did? What about Merlin? Why would they take a servant instead of the king? It makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense. Whoever did this is messing with you Arthur. They kidnapped the seven people most cherished by you. The seven people they knew you couldn't live without."

"Then why not you as well?"

"I have no idea. But whoever did this is clearly more interested in playing games than anything else. They take away the people you love most and force you to walk for three days to find them, all the while worrying about what's happened and if they're alright. That's practically torture, Arthur. And when we get there-"

"They'll just kill us all," Arthur said, "But how the hell did they do it? Camelot's five best knights who have survived every battle they've been through and are trained to perfection. A man who is supposedly the most powerful warlock to ever live. And the Queen from right by my side. Now, I know Guinevere can hold her own in a fight well enough, but not only did they get her, but I never even stirred. I was practically touching her! And nobody saw a thing. How does anyone kidnap seven people without being noticed? What's more, if Gaius said Merlin didn't come back, they must have taken him from the corridors. So where were the guards? And surely at least one of the knights must have been on duty. But no one noticed them missing from their posts."

"Arthur, you shouldn't overthink it now," Rowen told him, "I know it's scary and you're worried about them- I am too. But we won't get any answers until we've found them. So let's focus on getting there, alright?"

"I'm the king," Arthur said, "I shouldn't get so worried like this. My father-"

"Stop, Arthur. Firstly, when your father lost his wife, he turned against an entire population because of his own mistake. Do not compare yourself to him in a situation like this. And secondly, the fact you're concerned is a good thing. It means you care, Arthur. You don't have to pretend you're something you're not. Your people love you for being you. The kind, caring, strong, just King that you are."

"I'll take first watch," was all Arthur said.

The next day, they walked mainly in silence. They were following a river which, according to Arthur's map would take them straight to the Bosburn Chasms. It was actually quite a beautiful walk, despite the creepy overhanging silence. Not even the river produced any sort of trickling sound. They didn't run into any other life form, but they were constantly on guard. So when Arthur put a hand in front of Rowen to stop her, she instinctively reached for an arrow from her quiver. But, curiously, Arthur didn't draw his sword.

His eyes were fixed on the river. Rowen followed his gaze and gasped quietly. There, floating towards them on a large leaf, was an elegant wedding ring.

"That's Guinevere's," Arthur breathed.

Rowen waded into the water, thankful it wasn't too deep, and collected the item, "It's alright," she said, "They're just taunting us. It's mind games."

Nevertheless, Arthur took it from her with a tense jaw and put it away carefully. Over the next two days, more items belonging to their friends were sent to them as if whoever was responsible for kidnapping them was mocking the King. Which, to be fair, they probably were.

By the time they were standing in front of the Bosburn Chasms, they had six distinctive items all wrapped up in carefully Merlin's neckerchief. There were two rings. Gwen's wedding ring and one which used to belong to Percival's father. The man never took it off in memory of his fallen family. Then there was a buckle from Leon's cloak. It was different to the ones which all the other knights had as Arthur had gifted it to the man as a show of gratitude after so many years of faultless loyalty. Next came Gwaine's necklace which had been tied to a twig as it floated down the river, followed by a simple charm which Elyan always wore on a string around his wrist. It showed a small hammer, cast in bronze and was the mark of a blacksmith; a gift from his father. Finally, there was an ornate bracelet. They both recognised it as being Lancelot's, but neither knew of any special meaning behind it.

Merlin's red neckerchief had been the last thing to appear in the stream and Arthur had grabbed it immediately, wringing out the water. He held it for a few seconds sadly before he and Rowen placed everything else inside it and folded it up.

"I'll take it," Arthur had said and a tone in his voice told Rowen not to argue.

"It's not your fault, you know," Rowen had said kindly as they walked the last stretch.

"No? That's funny, because last time I check it was my wife, my servant and my knights who were missing," Arthur snapped back.

"That doesn't mean you're responsible for them being taken. I mean," she hopped over a particularly large log, "What are you meant to do? Not love anyone? Live your life completely alone?"

"Maybe."

"Arthur, you're the man you are because of the trust you put in others."

"And look where it gets me! Either I get betrayed or the people I love are hurt and being used against me."

"How many times are you going to listen to this same speech before you learn, Arthur? I know I've given it to you enough and no doubt Merlin has too. You are a good king. A great king! The people love you, the kingdom is strong, you are honourable and selfless. Stop thinking every bad thing that happens is your fault."

"We're here," Arthur cut her off and she didn't have the chance to continue because her own shock had silenced her.

The Bosburn Chasms certainly looked dangerous. Even from the outside, the jagged stone wall towered so high above them that it cast shadows everywhere. There seemed to be only one entrance on the ground which was helpful but as Rowen looked up the cliff face, she could see hundreds of other holes which led straight down to a fatal drop. That wasn't so good. If they got lost and walked out the wrong opening, they'd certainly fall to their deaths. Even the river which wound straight into the caves, couldn't be relied on, there was a thin waterfall coming from every possible exit.

"Well," Rowen muttered, "This going to be fun."

Arthur clutched the red fabric close to his chest and the items inside jingled as they clashed together, "Let's go. Stay close to me."

They found out pretty quickly why the Bosburn Chasms were named chasms. Only a few steps into the tunnels, they came across a huge opening in the floor. The drop was so deep, they couldn't see when it ended, despite the natural daylight which flooded in. Rowen and Arthur looked at each other solemnly and edged around the drop carefully. There were openings to new caves everywhere they went. Some led to more epic drops, others to dead ends and after taking some paths, they were sure that they were either much higher or much lower than the previously had been. As a general rule, the pair stuck to following the river, but when even that forked off down different tunnels, navigating became much more difficult.

Perhaps they should have been leaving a trail of how to get back but, as the river was flowing in the opposite direction to their walking, they planned to just follow the current back in the opposite direction. The further they walked, the more and more chasms they nearly fell into and the more frequently they seemed to be changing altitude. If they ever came across an exit, Arthur would take a few tentative steps forward and peer out to see how high they were.

"Where are they?" he growled on multiple occasions.

The caves were staring to grow dark as the sun set.

"Arthur, maybe we should stop and rest. We don't have any sources of light and we can't see where the drops are."

"No."

"I don't want to either," she admitted, "But we're no good to any of them if we're miles underground and dead."

"We'll rest here," Arthur decided as if it was his idea, "As soon as there's light we continue."

They settled down, shoulder to shoulder against a wall, just as darkness shrouded them completely. Neither could see anything at all. It possibly would have been better to rest next to one of the exits in the cliff face where there would at least be the light of the moon, but then they ran risk of falling if they shifted in their sleep.

Arthur was about to ask if it was worth either of them keeping watch, when the tunnels were filled with tiny glowing lights which cast an almost comforting feel to their surroundings. Arthur shot up to his feet, "We keep going."

Rowen wasn't going to argue. The glowing balls provided them with plenty of light to see exactly where they were going. After a while, Rowen got frustrated with walking around aimlessly and decided to try something she should really have thought of before. 'Merlin,' she thought, 'Merlin? Can you hear me? Merlin?'

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked and she jumped, "You look terrified."

"I'm fine," she snapped. From then on, every few minutes, she tried communicating with Merlin. But he never replied. That meant one of two things. Either he wasn't near enough to hear, or, something much worse; he couldn't reply.

It must have been nearly morning again when they finally came into a sort of grotto. The cavern they stood in was huge, but so was the perfectly circular hole in the middle of the floor. Around the pit, were seven huge horizontal rocks which vaguely resembled tables. The golden balls, which had been providing light for Rowen and Arthur, were positioned around the room, a couple hovering above each rock, illuminating what lay on top of them. There, like dead bodies on top of a stone coffin, lay each of their friends. They were equally spaced out and a thin stream ran between every one. Leon was directly in front of them, Lancelot on his left, followed by Percival, Merlin, Gwen, Elyan and finally Gwaine on Leon's right. Impulsively, Arthur made to run into the cavern. Rowen couldn't pull him back in time. The second he had left the tunnel, the stone slabs began to tilt upwards. It wouldn't take long for all of their friends to be tipped straight into the hole.

"Go!" Arthur yelled, "Get them off!"

By the time Rowen had even taken a step, Arthur had already dragged Leon roughly to the floor and was moving to Gwaine. Rowen managed to pull Lancelot to safety pretty quickly and reached Percival before Arthur had even placed Gwaine on the ground. Unsurprisingly, however, moving Percival was considerably harder. She pulled and pulled, but the knight wouldn't budge.

"Arthur!" she yelled, "Help!"

The king was mid-way through lifting Elyan down to the floor and looked up, seeing her struggle. He glanced longingly at Gwen, but after depositing her brother on the floor, seemed to apologise silently to her and ran straight past to aid Rowen. The cavern was so huge that it took a couple of minutes for him to reach her. Thankfully, the stones were moving so slowly that they were only halfway to being upright when Arthur arrived at her side and together they hauled Percival to safety.

As soon as they did so, the rocks began tilting at a faster rate and an echoey voice filled the space. A figure appeared in the entrance which they had come through, "I'm impressed, Arthur Pendragon."

"Who are you?" Arthur yelled. He had to yell because of how far away the newcomer was, but something told Rowen that he would have anyway.

"There is no time for that. You can save only one. As soon as you move one, the other will be thrown into the chasm immediately."

"You get Merlin," Arthur whispered, "Wait until I'm by Guinevere and we move them at the same time."

"Ah ah ah," the voice said, "None of that."

A second later, Rowen found herself tied up with ropes and forced to the floor, unable to move. She had no idea where they had come from or how the person had heard what Arthur said. She'd barely heard the king and he was standing right next to her. This other person was hundreds of feet away but had heard a whisper perfectly.

"The choice is yours, Arthur Pendragon. I must say I was surprised when you didn't save your queen first. You could have made things so much easier for yourself. There is still time to get to either. If you spend much longer choosing, I doubt there will be time to get to your Queen. So, who will it be?"

Rowen had never seen Arthur look so genuinely conflicted. He looked between Merlin and Gwen desperately as if he could will them both to wake up and scramble to safety.

"Arthur," Rowen said calmly, "Go to Guinevere."

"What? No!"

"Trust me," Rowen said, "Go to Gwen. Go now, quickly."

She tried to convey that she knew what she was doing in a single look, but Arthur still looked unsure.

"But Merlin-"

"Hurry, Pendragon. There is not much time before you lose them both."

"Trust me," Rowen said again, "They'll both be fine. Go."

Arthur narrowed his eyes, but set off at a small jog towards his wife. He slowed when he passed Merlin, looking reluctantly at the man, but after looking back to Rowen, he continued past his servant. While he ran, Rowen began shuffling as quickly but inconspicuously as she could after him. It proved to be quite difficult given how she was tied up, but surprisingly no one stopped her, so she continued.

As soon as Arthur was close enough to Gwen and was stretching his arms out, Rowen uttered a quick spell and the ropes fell from around her. She leapt to her feet and sprinted the final few feet to Merlin's side.

By some miracle, just as Arthur gathered Gwen lovingly in his arms and the rock Merlin was on flipped upright at an alarming pace, Rowen grabbed his arm. With superhuman strength she'd seen only before in Percival, she heaved Merlin away from the edge, spinning as she did so. It all happened in a blink of an eye but then, in slow motion, she was falling. Merlin was safe, lying completely unaware away from the chasm, but when she had spun, Rowen had knocked herself off balance and was toppling backwards.

She vaguely heard Arthur shout, but her arms were flailing desperately, fighting to grip onto something. She somehow managed to get an unsteady grasp on the edge of the drop, and hung on desperately, heart pounding. She could hear Arthur's footsteps drawing very slowly nearer. If he reached her before her arms gave up, she'd be fine. But already her fingers were cramping and her muscle shaking. Her feet were scrabbling to find somewhere to rest on, but the wall around her seemed to be unnaturally smooth. She was impressed with herself for holding on as long as she did and was starting to think about how she could use her arrows to pierce the ground for a steadier hold when the rock began to crumble.

"Arthur!"

"Hang on!" he shouted back, "I'm nearly there!"

Her arms were burning, her fingers growing slippery from sweat and starting to be cut open as she was pulled back. Finally, Arthur's face appeared above her and he grabbed her wrists, lifting her up and to safety.

"Thank you."

"When you said 'trust me'," Arthur tried to catch his breath, "I didn't think you meant 'I'll save Merlin and kill myself'."

"I didn't mean to," she gasped with a smile.

"I'm not going to ask you how you got out of those ropes until you've helped me get this lazy lot back to Camelot."

"I'm guessing you won't believe I used a knife?"

"Seeing as your knife is still in your belt and those ropes have definitely not been cut," Arthur said, "I'm going to go with a no."

They sat up and looked across the room. The figure was still standing opposite them, nothing more than a silhouette.

"Why did you do this?" Arthur got to his feet and pulled Rowen up too, "Why not just kill us?"

"It was not my aim to kill you, Arthur Pendragon. Call this a test."

"What kind of test puts the lives of innocent people at risk?" he demanded angrily.

"I wanted you to prove yourself to me personally. You showed servants, knights and royalty; magic and non-magic the same level of respect. You prioritised no one person over another, saving your friends in a logical rather than emotional order."

"And what did that prove?"

"That you are as they say. Worthy."

"You're a sorcerer?" Arthur assumed.

"I will let you leave this place with your lives if you answer me something."

"I answer your question and you let all of us go?"

They just about saw the person nod, "I will interfere with your lives no more. It will be up to you to find your way home, however. I fear your journey back may not be so easy as your one here."

"What is it you wish to ask?"

"Do you agree with your father's attitude towards magic?"

"I do not know," Arthur said honestly, looking down at Merlin slightly guiltily, "That is my truthful answer."

"Not the one I hoped for," the person said, "Alas. It will do."

They turned and began walking away.

"Who are you?" Arthur yelled, but he received no answer, "Will my friends be alright?"

The only reply was the soft trickling of the water around them.