A/N: I do not own.
Also, I'm going to say it here, thanks for all the reviews so far. Really, they mean a lot.
They didn't have a plan, not beyond: get out of these manacles, get out of the cell, find Merlin, get out.
That was not really a plan.
Arthur was glad Percival had imparted his knowledge of their manacles being magically restrictive, probably just a safeguard and not for them specifically, but that they were also reinforced. They couldn't break out of them by brute force alone. It wasn't much, but it could be useful. And it proved they had a sorcerer as their captor.
Of course, that was when Gwaine had fiddled with his cloak, ripping of the button used to attach it for wearing, and revealing it had a metal bar that was used to sew it on. He then promptly used that button to pick the lock, his manacle clicking at it unlocked.
"Ok, so Gwaine's out, mind freeing the rest of us?"
"Hello?"
He froze, knowing he wasn't the only one in the group to do so, eyes trailing to the vent in the floor of their cell.
That was...
"Merlin?"
"Arthur, are you alright, where are the others?"
"Merlin." the prince knew he visibly sighed in relief, "we're all here, we're ok. Are you?"
"Sort of."
"Are you down there?"
"Considering you're above me, I'm going to say yes."
Merlin's voice was echoey, he was probably very far below them, but Arthur wasn't near enough the grate to check.
"Ok, we found Merlin, Gwaine get these off us, work out how to get the door off, we'll..."
"Arthur there's something I think you should know..."
"We'll have to split up to find the entrance to Merlin's cell."
"Arthur, you're sitting by the only entrance to my cell."
He faltered, "What?"
"My cell is really tall, and that grate is the only way out, but..."
"Ok," Arthur was already reforming his plan, "we get rope, we lower it down, Merlin can climb up..."
"What if he'd chained up too?"
Leon, the voice of reason.
"We lower someone down, they can free Merlin, then both come up."
"Guys?"
"Where do we get the rope?"
"Hey!"
They all fell silent, turning back to the grate.
"Does it help you to know we're by the coast?"
There was a beat of silence before Gwen asked, "How do you know we're by the coast?"
"There's seaweed on the floor of my cell and I can smell the salt and this cell has a tideline."
They were left in an ominous silence, all coming to terms with what Merlin was implying.
"Plus, you know the water's up to my knees and I was dry earlier, sooo, yeah."
"Ok, Merlin can get out when the water is high enough."
"Merlin," he looked over to see Gwaine at the grate looking down, "are you chained up?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure whether there's enough chain for me to stay above the tideline, or if I can swim that long. Not with my ribs and shoulder the way they are."
Damn.
There was a splash from below and Gwaine snorted, "Did you just trip?"
"Uhh, can I say no? Gods its cold. Could you hurry this up, please?"
Their plans were just going to have to move up the schedule a bit.
.
.
.
Merlin had woken when the water had started rising, the sound of the water rushing in far louder than he had expected, echoing in the large cell. Only once it had surpassed the height of the vent did it quieten, allowing him to hear the voices above him.
His friends.
It almost distracted from his immanent death sentence.
Almost.
It wasn't long before he couldn't touch the ground anymore. Forced to tread water to stay above the waterline. There was no purchase on the walls.
He was cold and exhausted, even before the water started rising.
It just kept rising.
"Merlin, you have to keep swimming."
"Gwa'?"
"It's going to be a long night, but you have to keep yourself afloat, please."
"S'c'ld."
"We're going to get you out. I promise."
He kept on swimming.
He was just so tired, and his limbs burnt, and he just wanted to give up and stop this because was it really worth the...
A gulp of salty water shocked his eyes open again and he choked and spat, forcing himself back above the surface of the water.
It'd been hours. He was now close enough to the top of the cell that he could see his friends through the grate, not just shadows but faces. Worried faces.
"Merlin, when you're high enough, reach for the bars, we can hold you up for a while. Let you rest."
Did he... know that voice? He did. It was... was... Leon. It was Sir Leon.
He just didn't have the strength to answer.