No. 7: My Spidey-Sense is Tingling / Helplessness / Numbness / Blindness

Whumpee: Merlin

(Takes place ~Season 1 or 2)

Another day in Camelot meant another magical being terrorizing its people. Merlin hoped that when Arthur was king and magic was restored to Camelot as the Dragon told him, magical creatures wouldn't have this unspoken vendetta against the city again… "Really should ask the Dragon next time I see him", he thought as he clomped after Arthur and his knights on the latest patrol to find this horrible magical creature.

Two days ago, Uther and the court had sat and heard the story of a young village girl, Ruby. There was a nocturnal creature coming in and taking all the adults from their homes. If anyone tried to fight back, it spat in their eyes – first the numbness would start, then the blindness would set in. After the blindness came the fever and finally, death. The villagers near the White Mountains were fairly poor, living off the land, but banding together in communities.

"What is this creature?" Uther had leaned imperiously in his chair.

Merlin could still hear the helplessness in her voice. "It has the body and head of a snake, my Lord, though it's the size of two houses standing on top of each other and it moves without a sound."

The usual rush was not unfamiliar to Merlin. Uther of course, sent Arthur and the knights to search along the western plains towards the White Mountains. As much as he was scared to lose his only son, Arthur was the only one he trusted in the fight against magic… which meant a big rush for Merlin as he got together Arthur's pack, his pack, food for the group, and water canteens.

"Are you finally ready, Merlin?" Arthur asked from atop his horse. Merlin snorted. Oh yes, the great prat – not thinking of anyone but himself. Merlin finished fastening his packs to his trusty mare and mounted up quickly. The quicker they left, the quicker they'd be back.

The few days it took to get to the White Mountains were fairly uneventful – of which Merlin was thankful for. Arthur and his knights tended to loosen up a bit more outside of Camelot, acting more like a band of well-behaved brothers than a bunch of snooty, prattish knights. Once they got a little closer, though, Merlin could sense the magic in the air…. And it was spooky to see villages empty, fields unattended, and roads without a trace. Animals either ran free or were kept up in pens, and when the knights went through each village searching for survivors, they let them out to roam. "Better to be on their own with a little chance of survival than to die of hunger," Sir Leon had said in response to Merlin's confused look.

Soon, the White Mountains became part of their surroundings instead of a distant goal. Merlin's magic was going off the rails with each step closer to Ruby's village, and it was clear from a single glance at just how dire the situation was. Children were working in teams to till the fields and take care of the animals. It didn't seem right to see so many small bodies doing the work of 10 grown men.

They landed in the small clearing of the town, and Arthur put on his "princely voice" as Merlin liked to call it. "Right… Who's in charge around here?"

It was clear Arthur had no idea how to talk to children. They all quivered under his gaze. Finally, a small boy with a roundish, dirt-streaked face at the back spoke up, voice shaking. "Sire, sir… wha' happened to Ruby? Did she ever make it to ye?"

Arthur didn't yet see the full impact of his bigness: his shining armor, his 17-hand black stallion, his princely voice, or the fact that 7 grown men were shifting behind him, not really knowing what to do in this situation. Merlin was staring at him, but Arthur still didn't get it. With an inward sigh, Merlin clambered off of his horse, coming to a halt and crouching down by the boy.

"Yes, of course she made it to us. That's why we're here – Arthur and his men are here to help," he said in a low, calm voice as he glanced behind him. Whatever insult Arthur was planning on throwing his way was going to have to wait.

"Ruby didn't come with us because we wanted to fight the creature first… so instead, she's going to stay in Camelot until we come back. She'll be staying with Gwen, who's one of my best friends and is going to take really good care of Ruby. Is that OK?" Merlin learned early on in his village life that kids always liked questions.

"Oh, thank the gods, thank ye," the dirt-streaked boy said with a sigh.

Merlin smiled. "I know you all care for her. So what are your names?"

The boy went first. "I'm Thomas, then that there's Mary, and Shailene, Edward, Ulfric, and Magdalene."

Merlin kept smiling, making eye contact with each one and committing their names to his memory. "Nice to meet you. I'm Merlin, and that's Arthur, Belvedere, Leon, John, Robert, William, Alaric, and Bernard." With that, each knight squirmed uncomfortably in their saddles. They knew how to fight, jab, parry; they knew how to track, kill, and dispose of animals… but their knightly training never taught them how to handle children.

Ever since Merlin scrambled down and started talking to the children, Arthur had known he was losing control of the situation. And if there was ever anything his father had taught him, it was always to maintain control.

"Right, then, MER-lin, thanks for making introductions." He swung off his horse. "Sir Leon, Sir Robert, Sir Alaric – check the buildings to the right. The rest – the buildings to the left."

As the knights dismounted and tied their horses to the fence, Thomas stiffened. "We're not the only ones here."

Arthur furrowed his brow. "What do you mean? Who else is here?"

Jutting out his bottom lip, Thomas said, "there were a few that chose to fight. A few that are still alive. In there," he motioned to a small building to their right.

"Show me," said Arthur, and as always, Merlin tagged behind.

It didn't look good. As soon as they entered the warm dark room and the presence of adults dying under dark magic, Merlin's hairs stood up. In various lying positions on the bed, table, and floor, were four village people. Merlin immediately went to each of them, working out the basics Gaius had taught him: how hot or cold they were, how fast their hearts were beating, how lucid they were. More heartbreaking was how hopeful Thomas was looking at him. He was expecting a miracle and Merlin couldn't give him one… because even if he were an expert with his healing magic, the dark magic that he sensed coursed through their veins was too potent. They would be dead before sundown.

Arthur wanted to distract the little boy from the forms wrapped in blankets, so he steered him outside, meeting his knights ready with their reports. Leon's group was first.

"There's plenty of food, Sire, in that building," he pointed. "There's no one else here from our search."

Belvedere was next.

"The same for our group, Sire," he said. "We need to start making a plan."

Arthur glanced up at the watery afternoon sun and agreed. "Thank you knights. Go take care of your horses and we'll meet back here in five minutes." He squared off with Merlin and Thomas. "Go get the rest of the group. We need to know what we're fighting against."

As the sun went lower in the sky, frustration in the little group started to mount. Merlin had to tell all of them that the four adults in the other outbuilding were not likely to wake up again. Thomas and the rest of the children were able to give some detail, but since the creature only went after adults, it was difficult to have a definitive plan not reliant on guesswork. Arthur sighed. Magic was always the unseen, unknown enemy. It would be useful to find someone – anyone – who would know about this creature. Based on Ruby's sketches with Gaius, it seemed like it was some sort of cobra, with the fan at the top of its head. But according to the children, it was really, really, big, and it was really, really, mean – not a lot to work with.

They took a break to eat at sundown, thinking again of how to defeat a really big enemy that you couldn't hear, and by the time you saw it or felt it, it would be too late. The knights stretched for battle, putting on their chainmail, and Merlin and sent the children off to bed, promising them that they'd be there in the morning, good as new.

The night drug on, knights hidden in windows keeping watch, and Merlin and Arthur at the middle. "Arthur," Merlin started. "I'm not sure about our plan."

Arthur snorted. "What plan? We have a half-baked notion. If we can manage to cut the snake off at the head, it should die."

Merlin hesitated. "Call it a… feeling. Snakes are notoriously used for dark magic…. According to Gaius, that is… I'm not sure that if we cut off a head, another one won't grow in its place."

Even though he would never admit it in a million years, Arthur was learning to trust his friend's "feelings". "OK, so what would you propose?"

Merlin bit his lip in thought. "What if we cut it off at the head and the middle at the same time? I've seen some charts that Gaius has, and all its organs are in the middle."

Arthur was going to take all the help and advice he could get – no matter how foolish it sounded. He gathered the knights and told them the update, finding some extra swords and handing them out as well. Merlin stiffened. "It's here."

Arthur threw him a sideways glance. "How do you know?"

Merlin shook his head, face paling. "Call it a feeling."

"Ugh, you and your feelings, Merlin" was the last thing they heard before the roof was neatly plucked off and they were staring into the red, bloodless eyes of a 40-foot cobra.

"On me!" was the cry and the knights charged. Looking back, Arthur couldn't have found a fault with how his men fought: a group went for the head, throwing spears and swords and finally chopping it off. The snake seemed to smile before a new head started to grow in its place, while the second group sliced it clean across the belly. The snake wobbled and finally fell, vanishing in flames and fire. Through the smoke, the knights started shouting their congratulations. Arthur turned around to see how Merlin was, and time seemed to stand still as he ran to his servant who was collapsed on the floor, shaking.

As the knights were throwing their swords, Merlin was throwing every spell in the book at this snake. He finally was able to succeed, using the same spell that Nimueh had tried to use to kill him – but not before the snake gave him a knowing glance and he felt liquid go all over his face. Even though he tried to squeeze his eyes shut, he wasn't sure if he actually succeeded. Everything started to get a black shadow to it, and his whole head felt numb, even his ears. "Oh, this isn't good," he thought as he felt himself crumble to the floor, only seeing Arthur's pained face before his eyes closed.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Arthur was ready to pick up Merlin and take him back to Camelot at a full gallop right then and there, but certain steps had to be taken. He was too impatient for this – things weren't happening fast enough! The knights knew how close Merlin and Arthur were becoming, and they also knew that at first light, they'd be asked to ride hard and fast to Camelot. There were a lot of preparations to do before then. The children weren't able to sleep during battle… little heads poked around the corner as soon as the fight was over.

Merlin was bundled up in a blanket. His head felt a bit better, but maybe that was just him getting used to the numbness. Now that he had slept a little, he was feeling not bad – considering the fact that his vision was getting a little darker, shapes and shadows becoming longer as the camp moved around him, in constant motion before the sun rose all the way up in the sky.

As soon as Thomas had peeked around the corner and saw Merlin laying in Arthur's arms, he had scurried over and wouldn't leave the warlock; one hand was constantly pressed against Merlin's and the other was rubbing in soothing patterns. Merlin didn't need a crystal to know that Thomas would grow up to be a healer.

"How are we doing?" Arthur half-whispered to Sir Leon as he stopped to give a status report.

"Almost ready, Sire. The extra stores of food are loaded into the wagon with plenty of room and blankets for the children. The four dead have been buried – looks like they were Mary, Ulfric, and Magdalene's parents. The other children are tending to them." His gaze shifted to Merlin. "How is he holding up?"

Arthur grimaced. "Not good. It looks like he got a face-full of the poison. The numbness is moving onto blindness – he doesn't know that the first signs of light are already here."

Leon shifted and nodded. "Then it's best to get him to Gaius as quickly as we can. The men are resting in shifts, my Lord; they're ready to ride in a shifted pattern to get him there quickly."

Arthur could have fallen over at that news. Being able to continue onto Camelot straight, as one knight took over for another in a round-robin, would cut the two and a half days' journey to one. He never expected his knights to make such a sacrifice for Merlin, but then again, the idiot did have a knack for making friends of unexpected people. He sniffed and straightened up. "Right, then, that sounds like a plan. Please tell the knights to be ready to round-robin and make sure Merlin gets to Gaius as quickly as possible."

First light brought a hustle of activity. Sir Leon was in charge of their little caravan, bringing along the food and children. Sirs Belvedere, John, William, and Robert all left, getting a head start on the caravan for their posts. Sir Robert had given up his horse to pull the cart, and that left Sirs Bernard, Alaric, and Arthur to guide and guard the little caravan. Arthur had pulled Merlin into his saddle, carrying him and providing stalwart comfort to his friend. Over the course of just a few hours, Merlin's blindness had continued to grow, and now he was in a weird state of darkness at all times. He wasn't sure when to sleep, when to eat, or even what to do.

They set out at a jaunty trot, tone somber as everyone started to process just what happened. Time seemed to stand still as their path on the way home stretched on for miles.

They were first to meet Sir Belvedere on the path – he had been hand-grazing his horse and munching on some dried meat and cheese. The time to get Merlin from Arthur to Belvedere wasn't long at all, and soon, Belvedere was racing through the forest with Merlin.

"What's… what's happening?" he asked in a rare state of lucidness. Belvedere immediately slowed to a walk, checking his warmth and giving him some water.

"It's OK, Merlin – you're going to be just fine," Belvedere assured him. "You got hit pretty bad in a fight, and we'll get you to Gaius."

"Oh… OK…." Merlin muttered and immediately went to sleep – which Belvedere took as a hint to speed it up again.

They soon met Sir John on the path in the forest. Sir Belvedere's horse was exhausted, and he had been forced to walk and trot for too long. Once again, Merlin was shuffled from one horse to the next, and Sir John's horse shot off down the path, fresh from his long rest since the morning.

Merlin didn't wake up at all with Sir John, and pretty soon, Sir William and his horse came into view.

"Sir Belvedere said he had woken up a little with him, but he was completely unconscious with me," Sir John reported. "The blindness had set in this morning" – he looked at the gray afternoon clouds – "may time be on your side, dear friend."

Sir William was all business. "Thank you, I'll run with the gusts of wind," he told Sir John before blustering down the path at a hard canter. Merlin felt like a warm towel draped in his arms, making no sounds other than an occasional pant of breath. He genuinely liked the servant; he liked his pluckiness and energy… it was good for Arthur to be surrounded by people like Merlin. He focused on measuring his horse's energy, and soon came to a jaunty trot as the forest cleared out and the city of Camelot became a distant goal. Down a small hill and he found Sir Robert to gallop the last leg into Camelot.

When Merlin was transferred to Sir Robert, he woke up only slightly – deliriously talking about a dragon. The two knights shared a glance, knowing Merlin needed Gaius's ministrations and care as soon as possible. Sir Robert took off at a full gallop, through the meadows and up to the lower town. He was forced to take it down a gear to a canter when he entered the lower town, but thankfully the people were trained to get out of any knight's way when he was going full-speed to the citadel.

When Sir Robert reached the courtyard, he shouted at the guards, "Get Gaius! Get the Court Physician!" and scrambled off his horse, carrying Merlin in his arms. He reached the physician's tower in record time, and watched as Gaius took a long look at Merlin, dangling and feverish in his arms.

(continued in Chapter 9)