Strongest of the Warlocks: Chapter Nine: A Cure For a Servant

AN: Haha, it's been awhile since I updated this fic, but I was struck with a brief bit of inspiration, seeing as my birthday was the 26th and I was trying to update several fics at the same time (it didn't go so well, but the fics have at least been updated, so there's that)

I've probably been destroying you all with how long I've waited to update this fic, so sorry about that, but enjoy the chapter!


"You are more special than you realize."

Merlin remembered the day her mother had told her that. She had been young and wide-eyed and irritated beyond belief. Her mother had seen her practicing her magic, as Iseldir had always told her to –magic was like any other muscle in the body, it needed to be strengthened from use– and had been so angry with her.

The young warlock had burst into tears at being berated in such a way, not understanding why she needed to hide who she was; she wanted to use magic in the free air, not hidden in the forest as if such an act was criminal!

Her mother had given her a sad smile and tried to smooth the tears rolling down her cheeks, but Merlin had shied away from the touch, not really understanding the warnings her mother and Iseldir had given her at the time.

It seemed so foolish, her anger at her mother for smothering her, and it was only much later that she understood truly why Hunith had fought to keep her safe.

Merlin remembered a time when Iseldir had taken her with him and his tribe as they journeyed through the White Mountains.

"Beyond the mountains lies the Valley of the Fallen Kings," Iseldir had told her, "and just beyond that lies the Isle of the Blessed."

"The Isle of the Blessed?" Merlin had asked curiously, her fingers playing with the buds of a blue lobelia she had been unearthing with his careful instruction. "What's there?"

"Currently nothing but the Old Religion…magic, Merlin, pure magic." Iseldir's eyes had glowed slightly and Merlin's entire face had lit up. "It is a place of solitude and silence…and it is not a bad place to learn to harness ones skills in the magical arts."

"Are there books there?" Merlin asked eagerly, bouncing on her knees at the merest idea of books on magic.

"Perhaps," Iseldir said evasively, "but those that train there go on to become High Priestesses…very powerful figures in the Old Religion…perhaps it would be too challenging for you?"

Iseldir's eyes glinted as Merlin's round cheeks had flushed with color.

"Of course not!" Merlin cried stoutly. "I'll be one, one day, a High Priestess, just you wait!"

And Iseldir had given her a smile that made Merlin feel as though he was very proud of her response, and that by itself brought an incredibly bright smile to her face.


The next day Morgana came with Gwen to see to Merlin's condition, and the lady's face fell at the sight of her friend.

Merlin seemed to have worsened in the night, going off of how Gwen had described her to appear when she had pressed her for information.

The dark-haired girl appeared to be asleep, or perhaps she had merely fallen into unconsciousness, it was difficult for Morgana to tell. The sickly grey of her skin was more pronounced than before and she breathed in and out shallowly. The only contrast on her flesh was a red rash spread over the side of her neck and visible along the length of her arm.

Morgana privately thought she looked to be someone who was on their deathbed and she had to wonder just how much time she had left before the antidote would have no effect.

"How is she?" Gwen asked as Morgana stood in silence, sitting beside her friend and laying a hand gently against the hand that was resting against Merlin's slowly rising chest.

Gaius replaced the wet cloth on his ward's forehead, pushing her hair aside when it fell in his way.

"She took a turn for the worse in the night," Gaius said somberly, sitting down heavily on Merlin's opposite side. "The increased potency by enchantment was greater than anticipated…she seems to be fighting it off best when she's asleep. I've been giving her something to keep her under."

"Is that wise?" Morgana couldn't help but ask.

"Perhaps not," Gaius had to concede, "but she'd be in too much pain otherwise…its best to leave her as she is."

A crease formed between Merlin's eyebrows, her thoughts miles away, trailing after Arthur as though flying through the air on a bird's wings above.

His chainmail clinked as he moved and Merlin saw he'd forgone his crimson cape that was typical of the Knights of Camelot. He led his horse with one hand, taking purposeful steps through the forest.

Arthur didn't see the creature hidden in the darkness underneath a canopy of fallen trees, but Merlin did.

"What're you thinking, you idiot?" she demanded, standing beside him frowning in irritation only to start suddenly when he turned suddenly, his eyes sweeping over her general direction.

Merlin clapped her hand to her mouth before whispering. "You can hear me?"

But then he turned back around, leaving Merlin a bit confused. It was obvious to her that she wasn't actually there; she was back in Camelot dying of poison. So perhaps she'd found a way to separate her spirit from her body and therefore appear where the prince was. But how could he sense her presence when she was little more than a wisp of wind?

"If you can hear me…scratch your eyebrow."

Arthur did not do so, however, he did wrinkle his brow slightly as he drew out the man and Merlin overlooked his shoulder, her eyes falling to the parchment that Gaius must have given him while she was out of it.

"You're the most foolish prince I've ever had the misfortune to meet," Merlin berated him, taking full advantage of the fact that he couldn't really hear a word she was saying. "What's going to happen you get yourself killed trying to find this flower, hm? I reserve the right to say I told you so when we meet in Avalon!"

Arthur gave no notice that any of this concerned him.

Merlin sighed. "It's the right fork, idiot."

The blonde-haired man rolled up the map once more and strode forward, taking the right path as she had instructed, even if he hadn't really heard her.

They walked for a stretch of silence, mostly owing to the fact that Merlin had run out of insults to throw at the prince and was currently sulking over spending her last day in the world invisible.

The trees became denser and the fog that had been lighter when they had first begun had gradually thickened and became a bit opaque that even Merlin in her ghostly form found it difficult to see.

Merlin had never been to the Forest of Balor, but it certainly gave off an ominous feel.

Arthur descended through it, horse and Merlin in tow and gradually the fog faded back once more and that was when Merlin saw the figure huddled over a broken log.

It was a woman with a head of dark hair, not unlike Merlin in that aspect. She wore a long red dress and her shoulders shook as she cried softly, hugging one arm which bore light claw marks as from an attacking beast.

Merlin recognized the face instantly as that of the servant named Cara, the one who had told her about the poisoned cup.

Anger flared inside her as she jabbed a finger in her direction. "You!" she snarled as Arthur tied his horse on a nearby tree and moved forward in concern. "Don't tell me you're falling for that injury?" Merlin in turn demanded of Arthur. "I mean look at it! That barely counts! It's obvious she was the one who made those cuts! They're far too neat to be the product of a beast!"

Arthur knelt beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked her and Merlin cursed his chivalry, just this once, especially when the woman gave a scream as the Cockatrice made itself known.

Merlin doubted she'd ever seen such a creature before in her short life. It was vaguely reptilian with sort of fins that fanned out on either side of it as it moved. And it was moving forward steadily as Arthur warned the woman back, pulling his sword free.

It was only once he had his back to her that the woman –Cara– turned towards where Merlin's spirit stood, and Merlin knew at once that she could see her just as Arthur could sense her.

Oh, Merlin, she crooned in Merlin's mind in a way that was so sharply intrusive that Merlin had to grip her head tightly to alleviate the painful throbbing, so close to death and yet still you cling to life. You will not last much longer…and neither will he.

Who are you? Merlin demanded, still managing to glare despite the pain resonating in her skull.

I am Nimueh, the woman said, and her eyes gleamed a bright luminescent gold. The last of the High Priestesses of the Old Religion.

The Cockatrice gave a cry ahead of them as Arthur threw his sword through the air to lodge in the fleshy part of its underbelly, killing it.

Nimueh stood and stumbled backwards, still giving off the impression of fear, as if she was worried that Arthur would then turn his sword on her.

Merlin hoped she could feel just how hard she was glaring at the back of her head.

A hand was extended in a peaceful manner that was surprising, given how much of a complete prat Arthur was on a general basis. "It's alright," he said, "I'm not going to hurt you…Who did that to you?"

He gave a slight gesture to the cuts and bruises on her upper arm.

"My master," Nimueh said quietly, and Merlin grumbled, though she did have to concede a human making the cuts was more likely than the Cockatrice. "I ran away from him, but then I got lost…Please don't leave me!"

Merlin wondered if Arthur was a sucker for big wet eyes, because it certainly seemed that way to her.

"I won't," Arthur promised. "I'm not going to."

"You can take me away from here?" Nimueh asked eagerly.

"Not yet," Arthur said, his eyes sweeping across the surrounding area to land on the cave nearby encrusted with ivy and overshadowed by ferns. "There's something I have to do first."

"Why have you come to the caves?" she asked curiously.

"Like you don't know!" Merlin complained, clenching her hands into fists and shaking them at her. "You piece of—"

"I'm looking for something," Arthur told her. "It can only be found here."

"What is it?" Nimueh pressed. "I know this place…I could help you."

Arthur considered her for a moment. "It's a type of flower that only grows inside the cave. It's very rare."

"The Mortaeus flower?" Nimueh was smiling and it sent a chill down Merlin's spine. "I know where they are. I'll show you."

Merlin groaned loudly as he followed after her. "Come on, Arthur! You can't just trust someone you've barely met! Look at her! She's obviously leading you into a trap!"

But Arthur had a nasty habit of going straight into danger and leaving Merlin to scramble after, so Merlin followed a bit mutinously after the pair right into the depth of the cave. The darkness around them made the glow of Merlin's form more obvious, even if it was only visible to her and Nimueh.

Their torches flickered in the draft from the cave before they took one last winding turn to come out in a gaping cavern. There was a narrow ledge barely connected to the opposite cave wall upon which several of the flower in question were littered across in abundance. Most were either too high or too low to reach, but there had to be at least one that he might be able to reach, if he stretched.

"There they are," Nimueh said, gesturing with her torch in the general direction of the flowers.

"Keep back from the edge," Arthur warned Nimueh after glancing down the side of the ledge over which Merlin's ghostly form was hovering, her legs crossed and her lips drawn in an annoyed frown. "Don't worry, we'll be out of her soon."

He missed Nimueh's smirk, but Merlin did not, and she readied herself for a fight, for she had a feeling that even though she had no physical form, her magic could be used with only her spirit.

"Eorðe, lyft, fyr, wæter, hiersumab me," Nimueh whispered and Merlin growled at the meaning behind the words. She doubted she had enough energy in her current state to counteract the older woman's spell, but she could possibly slow it down by chanting in reverse.

"Hiersumab me, Ic can stanas tobrytan," Merlin began.

"He bæs frorw geband, weox under wolcnum," Nimueh's eyes flashed to Merlin's angrily.

"Eorðe ac stanas hiersumab me," Merlin continued, her eyes glowing a bright impossible gold and Nimueh gritted her teeth together as the cave began to shake, torn between the two opposing powers.

"Weorbmvnde bah Eorðe ac stanas hiersumab me, Ic can stanas tobrytan," Nimueh intoned, drowning out Merlin.

"What are you doing?!" Arthur demanded, struggling to remain upright before losing his grip on the torch that fell so deep down in the cavern that Merlin could no longer see its light.

"Hiersumab me!" Nimueh finished and the ledge crumpled away entirely so that Arthur had to lunge to the opposite cave wall in order to remain where he was and not fall to his death. He managed it, but just barely, Merlin could see, judging by how he breathed in and out sharply and with a bit of strain.

"I expected so much more," Nimueh said coldly, "your protector put up a much better fight."

Arthur didn't have much time to puzzle over those words.

"Who are you?!" he demanded instead.

"The last face you'll ever see," Nimueh told him, her blue eyes icy in the firelight as they drifted to the portion of the wall above Arthur's head and Merlin shivered at the sight of such a large spider with pincers large enough to make her uneasy. "It seems we have a visitor."

Arthur grunted as he attempted to edge away from the spider from the ledge he was still clinging to, but it was difficult work, and then the spider dropped down to his ledge.

Merlin looked down at her hands. The luminescent color of them was fading; she was nearly transparent. If she tried to use magic to save Arthur again, she could fade away entirely, and she didn't know if that meant returning to her body, or going…on.

But this time Arthur didn't really need her help. He clutched the ledge with only one hand, withdrawing his sword with the other and making a swipe at the spider that ultimately missed, but the spider didn't give up and neither did Arthur.

The spider made a lunge and Arthur batted it away with the sword, sending it tumbling down into the ravine. It made a small shriek as it fell and Merlin released a relieved breath.

"Very good," Nimueh said, as though praising him in a sarcastic manner, which seemed highly likely given her current attitude as Arthur tossed his sword onto the ledge and gripped it once again with both hands. "But he won't be the last. I'll let his friends finish you off, Arthur Pendragon. It's not your destiny to die at my hand."

Perhaps it will be yours, Merlin, her voice whispered in Merlin's mind. We shall meet again, next time as equals.

That's unlikely, Merlin hissed back and a small laugh parted from Nimueh's lips as she turned swiftly with her torch and left Arthur and Merlin in the darkness, ignoring Arthur's yell of "Who are you?!"

But there was no answer.

"And this is yet another example of why you should have listened to me in the first place," Merlin muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Arthur would only be able to hold that ledge for so long, and eventually he would fall, without the threat of other spiders showing up…but it would be a bit hard for him to grasp anything to pull himself out if he couldn't even see where to grab anything.

Merlin wracked her brain…what was that spell? She'd learned it a few days ago…it wasn't as complicated as the one Nimueh had just performed, but it was still was a bit difficult to roll off the tongue.

Her sigh was loud and clear. "If you die for this," she told him even though he couldn't hear her. "I'm going to kill you."

"Fromum feohgiftum on fæder bearme," she breathed, her eyelids fluttering as the color beneath burned gold once more and her strength slowly trickled away. "Formum feohgiftum!"

Her form warped into that of a brightly glowing orb that rose steadily into the air, illuminating the cavern just enough to give Arthur light to see.

Naturally, though, the first thing that slipped out of Arthur's mouth was: "Come on, then! What are you waiting for?! Finish me off!"

Merlin felt exasperated, but that was mostly a knee-jerk reaction to the Prince Prat.

She hovered above him and at long last, he pulled himself up, gasping, onto the ledge he had been clinging to so desperately. He replaced his sword, preparing to climb further when her light fell upon the flowers growing in a small tuft not far away.

He was unbelievable! Nearly dying and still refusing to leave without the twice damned flower! Even with spiders crawling up towards his position.

Arthur reached and missed the flower several times before managing to snag it and place it carefully in the pouch before clamoring up the wall after Merlin's orb.

And then Merlin was floating up and up and all she could see was white.


Merlin could feel the sunlight on her face more than anything else, and then she felt the weight of her limbs, as though Arthur had made her put on armor once more (but ridiculous armor that didn't fit her in the slightest).

There was a downright terrible taste in her mouth and her lips were dry. Her eyes felt as though they were sewn shut, but she forced them open as much as she could manage, despite the sunlight glaring.

"Ah, you're awake!"

Merlin blinked blearily as Gaius' face swam into her field of vision. His eyes were soft as he took the seat beside her. "How do you feel?"

"Ghastly," Merlin rasped as her uncle helped her sit up slightly, helping her take a few gulps of water.

"At least your humor is intact."

Merlin arched an eyebrow. "How bad was it?"

"You almost didn't make it," Gaius said somberly, checking her pulse for an erratic heartbeat. "You were barely breathing when we got you the antidote, and then you slipped into a healing sleep. That was five days ago."

Merlin blinked and stared at him in incomprehension. "Five days?"

"Indeed," Gaius said. "Gwen and Morgana have been in to visit, Sir Leon as well, and Arthur once he was let out of the dungeon."

"Dungeon?" Merlin said blankly, not understanding what he was talking about. "Why was he in the dungeon?"

"Uther was not pleased with his son disobeying his orders," Gaius told her, "he locked Arthur up upon his return; Gwen had to sneak out the Mortaeus Flower in order for me to concoct an antidote."

Merlin winced at that. "How is he?"

"Better than you're doing," Gaius said, looking her over, "but you've healed a great deal."

Merlin closed her eyes, breathing in an out deeply, raising a hand with difficulty to her throat, massaging the skin there.

"M'tired," she murmured, which was crazy even to her, since she'd been asleep for more than five days, but Merlin could barely keep her eyes open.

"Oh, not so fast, you need to eat something before you go under," Gaius warned, but he still only managed to force a few gulps of broth down her throat before she fell asleep once more.

When she awoke Arthur was by her side and it was the strangest thing to Merlin, mostly because it didn't really seem like something he would do.

"Do princes visit their maidservants after near-death poisonings?" she asked suddenly and he jerked at the noise, making her smirk.

"You're so funny," he sniped back, but she could see the relief on his face, and it took away some of the bite.

"It's one of my finer qualities," Merlin agreed, raking a hand through her hair only to discover it had been hastily re-braided into a messy plait. Her other hand moved pinch the fabric of his tunic's sleeve between her thumb and forefinger, pulling his attention to her face.

"Thank you," she said simply, "for saving my life…I know I didn't really want you to, but thank you."

Arthur shrugged it off as if it was nothing and both of Merlin's eyebrows rose. "Yeah, well, it was nothing." He almost sounded embarrassed. "A half decent servant is hard to come by. I was only dropping by to make sure you're alright. I expect you to be back to work as soon as possible."

She tilted her head. "Whatever you say…what's that?"

"What's what?"

Merlin's eyes narrowed this time. "I may be on several potions that dull the mind but I'm not stupid, Arthur. What. Is. That?"

She was pointing a finger at a long package that Arthur had clearly been intending on leaving behind and making a fast getaway before he could explain it.

"Er…it's your sword," he said, holding it out to her, and Merlin took it flummoxed, removing the wrappings to see the metal beneath.

The only thing she recognized was the hilt, which had been the same since the day Percival had crafted it for her. The blade itself was far sleeker and slimmer than the clumsy blade she remembered.

"Gwen's father re-forged it," Arthur said. "Think of it as a thank you for saving my life."

"You didn't have to," Merlin said a bit weakly, trailing a few fingers over the new blade that suited her slender form better just as Arthur's wide blade suited his broader body (though most people were broader when compared to Merlin).

"Just take it," Arthur said, sounding half annoyed and half exasperated.

"Fine, I will!" Merlin retorted.

"Good!"

"Good!"

Arthur stormed off and Gaius shook his head at Merlin.

"I swear the pair of you are children who can't agree with each other and when you do, you're thrown off balance."

"I am not a child!" Merlin insisted, incensed by his words. "But he sure is!"

Gaius muttered something under his breath as he left Merlin on her own.

"Gaius! Come on! You cannot think I'm a child, I mean –Hey, Gaius, are you listening to me?"

Why did Hunith send him her too-willful daughter, again? Gaius couldn't quite recall.


AN: The scene with Merlin yelling at Arthur in spirit form was inspired by YuYu Hakusho, wherein the main character finds themselves dead and still tries to communicate with the living.

I know it's been awhile, but hopefully this lived up to all of your expectations.

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