A/N: Thank you SnidgetHex, GuestM, Hodophile-Sandhiller, PadrePedro, Buckhunter, and Guest for reviewing!


Chapter 2

Merlin handed Gaius a cup of hot tea, concerned about the lingering chill after his encounter with whatever creature that was. Gaius nodded his thanks as he took it, one hand clutching the blanket wrapped around him tightly. At least he was alive and awake. Merlin couldn't bear the thought of having slept through Gaius's murder.

The door opened as Arthur entered, looking groggy and dressed in his sleep shirt. Merlin had sent a guard to wake him immediately. If this thing, whatever it was, attacked people in their sleep, then the whole castle probably needed to be woken up.

"What happened?" Arthur asked, giving them both a furrowed look.

"Something attacked Gaius in his sleep," Merlin explained. "I've never seen anything like it before, but I bet it's behind the other deaths."

Arthur glanced at Gaius in concern. "Are you sure?"

Gaius shrugged. "I can't be certain, but I trust Merlin's judgement."

"I'll get back to the research," Merlin added. "I just thought you should know right away."

Arthur's expression pinched with worry. "I left Gwen asleep in our bed."

Merlin grimaced. "You should probably wake her. We should wake everyone, at least until we know more."

"Or at least take shifts sleeping under someone's watch," Gaius put in.

Arthur nodded. "I'll have the guards sound the alarm and be on the lookout. What did this creature look like?"

Merlin tried to describe it as best he could. "It was about this big," he finished, holding his arms about three feet wide. "They'll know it when they see it."

"Alright. Keep me informed."

He left, and Merlin sat down to continue his research.

"I'll help," Gaius said, shifting on his bed.

"Finish your tea," Merlin countered. "You can help once you've warmed up."

Gaius harrumphed. "Who's the physician here?"

"Who's the court sorcerer?"

Gaius huffed but resumed sipping at his tea.

A short while later, the door opened again as Lancelot let himself inside.

"I heard what's happening. Some kind of magical creature is loose in the castle?"

Merlin nodded. "I'm trying to identify it."

Lancelot took a seat across from him. "Where can I start?"

Merlin passed him a book and repeated his description of what he'd seen. The two of them got to work, and Gaius joined them once he was recovered. They spent hours scouring the books, to no avail.

By the following evening, everyone was tired but unsure about sleeping. So Arthur ordered people to group together and set watches among them. Merlin kept doggedly pursuing his research.

"You've been at this for twelve hours, Merlin," Lancelot said. "You should take a break and get some sleep. I can keep searching while standing watch."

Merlin shook his head. "You go first."

Lancelot sighed and gave him a look, but he knew better than to try to win this argument, so he pushed himself away from the table and went to lie down on the patient cot. Gaius had gone to bed an hour earlier, and Merlin flicked a worried look toward his bed in the back. Rubbing at his face, he turned his attention back to the heavy tome laid open before him.

The night wore on, and Merlin still hadn't found anything. The words were beginning to blur together on the page no matter how much he tried to clear his vision, so he finally gave in and went over to wake Lancelot.

The knight woke with a start and immediately sat up. "What is it?"

"I'm ready to take my turn," Merlin said humbly.

Lancelot nodded and stood up. "Still haven't found anything?" he asked sympathetically.

Merlin shook his head and plopped on the cot.

"Alright, I'll keep the midnight oil burning."

Merlin hummed as he lay down to sleep.

The next morning, he was roused by the aroma of a strong smelling tea. Wrinkling his nose, he looked around the room groggily to find that the sun had risen and Gaius and Lancelot were up. Lancelot was still seated at the work table, sipping from a steaming cup. Gaius brought one over to Merlin and handed it to him without preamble.

"You're going to need it," he said.

Merlin took a sip and grimaced; it was quite bitter. But if it was going to help him focus, he'd drink it all. Everyone was counting on him to find a solution to this.

He shuffled over to the table and got back to researching with Lancelot and Gaius, the only sound the occasional crinkle of a page turning as they continued to have no luck.

Arthur came by a short while later. "Any progress?" he asked.

"Not yet," Merlin regretfully informed him.

"We've only scratched the surface of all the magical texts in Camelot's library," Gaius added.

Arthur exhaled heavily. "And if what we're looking at isn't in one of them?"

"Let's cross that bridge when and if we come to it."

He nodded but didn't look encouraged.

The door behind him swung open wider as Gwen came hurrying in. "Arthur! There's been another death."

Merlin's heart dropped into his stomach and he lurched to his feet. "What?"

"Who?" Arthur asked tautly.

"Haleth, one of the maids."

All of them momentarily abandoned their research to follow Gwen back to the servant's chambers where a small crowd was gathered. Gaius pushed his way through to see the victim, who was just like the others had been.

"You were supposed to be in watches!" Merlin said angrily at the other servants.

"I was!" one of the men exclaimed. "I was awake the whole time, I swear. I didn't see anything."

"Nothing?" Arthur pressed.

He shrugged helplessly. "Haleth looked like she was having a bad dream. But nothing came in here, I swear to you, Sire!"

"It's alright," Gwen interjected. "We believe you."

Merlin pursed his mouth in consideration. "Gaius was having a nightmare when the creature attacked him."

"You think that's related?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know…" He looked at Gaius. "What was your nightmare about?"

Gaius looked discomfited by the question. "I doubt it was related, Merlin."

"Why? What was the nightmare?"

"It was rather personal."

If he was hoping to deflect with that, what he got was a round of concerned looks from everyone instead.

His shoulders sagged. "It was the Purge. And you were there, Merlin, being sentenced to burn, and there was nothing I could do to…" Gaius's voice hitched and he looked away to compose himself.

Merlin's throat tightened. He'd lived a long time fearing he'd be sentenced to a horrible death if people found out about his magic.

Arthur looked ill as he said staunchly, "That will never happen."

Gaius nodded. "As I said, I don't think it's related."

"But without more survivors, we can't say for sure," Merlin countered. "And we add nightmares to the list of things to search the books for."

"Even if you're right," Lancelot spoke up. "How could no one have seen it attacking Haleth?"

Gaius's brows furrowed. "Perhaps since it is a magical creature, only Merlin can see it."

Merlin frowned; he hadn't thought of that.

"Then how are we supposed to defend against it?" Arthur asked tautly.

As usual, everyone couldn't help but look to Merlin, who didn't have an answer for them.

It looked like no one would be getting any sleep until he figured this out.

Merlin, Gaius, Lancelot, and even Gwen spent that day buried in books, trying to find any reference to a creature that killed people in their sleep, or invisible monsters, or how nightmares could be related to magic, all to no avail. And the longer they all went without proper sleep, the more difficult it became to concentrate. Merlin found himself having to reread sections multiple times because he was too tired to process what he'd glossed over.

Gaius, Lancelot, and Gwen at least were able to catch some naps with Merlin in the room to keep watch. But Merlin himself couldn't risk falling asleep, and neither could anyone else in the city.

But as time dragged on, people inevitably lost the battle to stay awake, and two more bodies were found. Merlin was at the end of his rope.

"You need to rest," Lancelot urged.

He stubbornly shook his head.

"You're no good to anyone if you drive yourself to the point of collapse," Gwen pointed out. "I promise we'll all stay awake while you're sleeping."

"And if it comes after me?" he countered. "You won't be able to see it."

"If it looks like you're starting to have a nightmare, we'll wake you," Gwen promised.

"We're all doing our best, my boy," Gaius put in. "Including you."

Maybe, but Merlin hated it when it felt like his best wasn't good enough. But he was so exhausted, so he pushed himself to his feet and lurched over to the cot. He was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.


The clanging of dull swords was lackluster compared to the knights' normal vigorous training. Elyan, Gwaine, Percival, and Leon were simply trying to stay awake, so they thought some sparring might help. Nothing too strenuous, since they were all running on little to no sleep, just enough to get their blood pumping. But their reflexes were slow and somewhat clumsy, making for a not very engaging bout.

Gwaine let his sword fall from his fingers and plopped down onto the ground, flinging himself backward to lay with limbs sprawled out.

"Get up," Leon told him.

Gwaine grunted. "Don't wanna. Just let me close my eyes for a bit; you can stand watch."

"And if the creature is invisible to us?" Leon snapped. "It's not worth the risk."

Percival went over and grabbed Gwaine's arm to bodily heave him upright. Gwaine scowled.

Elyan's own head kept dipping forward with the weight of his own fatigue, and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why don't we go back inside," Leon suggested. "Find something else to do."

With muted hums of agreement, they all started slogging toward the castle. Elyan could barely keep his feet. He tripped and pitched forward, reflexes too slow to throw his arms out to catch himself. He saw the blurred edge of the archery target rack as his head careened toward it, and then blackness.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of his old home in the lower town. It was dark, and Elyan felt an inexplicable trepidation as he stood before the door, steeling himself to knock. There was no response, so he let himself in.

"Hello?" he called.

Gwen and his father were sitting at the table with their supper, and their joyful expressions instantly turned hostile at his interruption.

"What are you doing here?" Gwen said coldly.

"I came back," Elyan replied. "I'm home."

"Home," his father scoffed. "You turned your back on home long ago. You are no son of mine."

Elyan's heart twisted at the recrimination. "I've changed," he said earnestly. "I've finally found a purpose, something good and noble. I'm a knight."

"Good for you," Gwen said. "But you don't belong here anymore."

"Gwen, please…"

Her hard eyes bored into him like daggers. "I'm too disappointed in you, Elyan. Leave. It's what you're good at."

"Father," he begged but was suddenly grabbed from behind and dragged out of the house and thrown into the street. Elyan looked up to find Arthur standing over him, expression set in stone.

"You are hereby banished from the kingdom of Camelot," he intoned. "You're not fit to be a knight."

"I can be," Elyan said. "Just give me a chance!" He swept his pleading gaze around at all his friends, who all glared back at him with scorn.

Elyan choked on despair and fell to his knees, drowning in it.