The room was old. Dust lay thickly on the floor; part of the wall had fallen in, stones littering the ground. Elaine groaned and reached out a hand. Dust floated up, and she coughed. She blinked, trying to place herself, trying to assess. Stumbling a little on her first attempt, she pushed herself to her feet. She blinked, looking around, confused.
She became aware of pain in her hand and, frowning, she glanced down. Shards of the orb were sliced into her palm; blood dripping to the floor. More shards lay on the ground. She pulled out the ones in her hand first and then gathered as many as she could find. She wasn't sure that it was of any use. But just in case…
Elaine started to move towards the hallway, and then stopped. It had been dark in the room, save for a little light cast through one of the broken walls. But she saw now a figure lying in one corner of room. She moved towards it carefully, and then blinked: Arthur's unconscious form. She hesitated and considered. She then looked round the room: noticed the grime and cobwebs in the corner. The concern in her expression deepened, and she hurried out of the room.
It was another hour before Arthur stirred. He let out a grunt of pain. He had a roaring headache, and the prospect of opening his eyes was not appealing. But he forced himself into a sitting position. A wave of nausea washed over him and he held still for a moment, riding it out. Then he reached up, and tenderly felt the back of his head. There was a bruise back there, where he'd hit the wall, but no blood. Good.
He winced and stretched his arms, before getting to his feet and looking round.
Where was he? How had he gotten to this room? What room in the castle, for that matter, was this old and ruined?
Something was wrong.
He frowned. Where was Elaine? Where was Merlin? He turned to look out the doorway. He had thought he had heard Merlin call his name just before the orb had shattered.
Looking round the room again, he realized, broken and smashed as it was, it did appear to be the same room that he had been in with Elaine. But that was impossible. Even if the orb smashing had caused some damage, it would hardly have caused this much dust to accumulate? And why would he have been left here?
Alarm seized him. What if Elaine had succeeded? Could she have actually beaten Merlin? But even that didn't explain what his eyes were seeing.
He hurried out of the room, ignoring the pain in his head. He needed to find Merlin. He had gone the entire length of the hallway before he realized something more wasn't right. There was damage all along this wall. Stone blackened, walls bashed in, debris scattered on the ground. Arthur slowed and looked around him. Everything looked strangely…old, covered in a layer of dust, just as it had in the room he'd just left. Could a fight between Merlin and Elaine actually explain all this?
Arthur burst into a run, changing course to make his way towards where Gwen and Morgana had spent the night, near the druids' rooms. But as he neared the bedchambers the damage grew worse. More debris, more shattered walls, and dark patches that looked suspiciously like dried, very old, blood. He stopped dead when he came on the first body. From the armor he recognized it as a knight of Camelot. But the body was old and decayed.
Magic. It had to be some kind of magic Elaine cast. Some spell to kill that also aged bodies. It had to be. There was no other explanation. He called Gwen's name as he hurried on, his concern growing into full-fledged panic now. He had to find Guinevere!
The number of bodies increased. He recognized armor of castle guards, knights…and then other figures in robes and peasant clothes. What had Elaine done? What had happened here?
He wasn't surprised when he reached the bedchambers and found them empty. Without even stopping for breathe he ran back the way he'd come and towards his and Gwen's room. It too was empty. The furniture smashed, dust coating everything here too. But no body. It was small comfort but it was something.
Then something caught his eye. It was broken too, like everything else in the room, but a small cradle was in the corner near the bed. He stared at it. There had certainly been no cradle there before. Why-?
"What is going on?" he muttered to himself.
Taking deep breaths, trying to stay as calm as possible, he next made his way to the throne room. As he entered it, he came to a dead stop. Bodies littered the floor thickly, entangled and on top of one another. The throne was broken into so many pieces it was hard to tell which bits even had once belonged to it anymore. Three of the four walls were charred, while the fourth was completely gone, bashed inwards, large chunks of it scattered across the floor, some on top of more bodies.
As Arthur looked through the now gaping hole, the view showed Camelot, and his heart sunk. Surely, surely more than Elaine had to have been at work last night to cause what he was now looking at.
It was early dawn, the sun just rising. The castle gate was a heap of stones and beyond that was the blackened skeleton of what once had been Camelot.
He couldn't stay in the castle, not with the bodies and destruction, and he needed answers. There'd be no answers in this ruin. Only deafening silence. Confused and dazed, Arthur found his feet automatically carrying him outside. He moved along the cobblestone streets, staring, unable to comprehend, at the ruins around him. Most of the damage seemed to have been caused by fire, but it didn't look recent. That was confusing. He couldn't have been out for then a few hours and yet everything around him looked as if it had been destroyed years ago.
There was not a sign of life anywhere, not even the distant noise of birds. From the throne room he had glimpsed the forest beyond Camelot, and it too had been burnt and destroyed for as far as the eye could see.
Bodies could be seen, tangled in the ruins. They too were just as aged as everything else.
Arthur hadn't thought about where he was going. He'd just walked. But suddenly he found himself outside of Gwen's old home: their home once upon a time. It was now just a few broken timbers, blackened and decayed. It was in this house he had fallen in love with her. It was in this house they had spent the first months of the marriage…where was Guinevere? Was she alright? Was she safe? Or was she-
No. He couldn't even form the words in his head. He wouldn't.
He felt his knees give way under him and he sunk to ground, looking at the ruins of their home.
"Gwen…"
What had she said to him? "Be safe. I'll see you in the morning."
What had happened? What was going on? Where was she? Where were Merlin or his father? How could you black out for a few hours and awake to all this. What sort of dark magic could destroy and age a city, a castle, and its people, over the course of one night?
He closed his eyes and took in deep breaths, trying to calm his heart which had begun to beat alarmingly fast, trying to focus, trying not to give into the despair that was threatening to overwhelm him. He had to keep his mind clear. He had to think. He had to stay focused. There had to be answers somewhere. There had to be Gwen somewhere.
And then he heard footsteps.
He jumped to his feet, and turned, hoping beyond hope or reason that it would be Gwen coming to find him or Merlin with an explanation and some plan to set everything right.
Arthur almost didn't recognize the man. He was leaning heavily on a staff and looked so old, so decrepit. But there was the familiar kindness in his expression that softened the features.
"Gaius?" Arthur blinked, almost in disbelief.
The old man squinted at him as if he had trouble seeing. He moved closer, his steps slow and painful. When he was only a few feet away, his expression turned to one of utter shock.
"Arthur? Arthur, is that really you?"
"Gaius what's going on? What's happened here?"
Gaius came right up in front of Arthur and, looking up into his face, held up a hand to feel him, as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. "Arthur! It is you! I didn't think you would ever come…Merlin always said so. He has always believed you would come back one day."