A/N: Thank you Buckhunter, elbcw, Guest, and Dee for reviewing!
Chapter 3
After moving away from the fog and yelling for the others to no avail, Arthur called for them to stop for a rest. Merlin helped ease Lancelot down to sit and then crouched in front of him.
"I want to check your eyes," he said softly.
Lancelot gave the barest nod, otherwise holding himself rigidly as Merlin reached out to unwind the scrap of Arthur's cloak from around his face. The skin was still speckled bright red without any salve to soothe some of the irritation. Lancelot took in a deep breath, then forced his eyes open. Merlin held his breath as he watched his friend's expression.
Lancelot stared straight ahead, then swallowed hard. "Still nothing," he whispered.
Merlin's heart fell and he wordlessly wrapped the makeshift bandage back around his friend.
"This is permanent, isn't it?" Lancelot said hoarsely. "My time as a knight is over."
"You can't think like that," Merlin insisted. "I'm sure Gaius will have something that can help."
"If we ever get out of this place," he mumbled.
Merlin looked up and shared a grim look with Leon, who'd been listening in. Things were not looking good, but they'd been in dire situations before. Surely nothing could top Morgana taking over Camelot with an immortal army. Merlin gazed around at their surroundings helplessly.
"Let's keep moving," Arthur spoke up. He always wanted to keep moving.
Not that sitting in one place would help them anyway, so Merlin and Leon heaved Lancelot to his feet and braced him on either side as they followed after their king, keeping the perimeter of the fog in sight in the hopes of coming across the others. Every once in a while one of them would call out for them.
"More flowers," Leon suddenly announced.
Lancelot stiffened next to him and Merlin.
"They're not the same," Merlin quickly assured him. They were a different color, chartreuse yellow, and mostly growing on the ground, not the trunks of trees. They also weren't moving. Still… "We should keep our distance," he warned.
Both Arthur and Leon nodded in agreement.
They gave the patch of flowers a wide berth, or so they'd thought. Leon stepped on a vine snaked across his path, and a flower bud suddenly shot up from the distant blossoms. It burst open and a cluster of barbs went shooting through the air. They struck Leon in the side of the neck before any of them could blink an eye.
"Arthur!" Merlin yelled, dragging Lancelot backwards and hopefully out of range.
Arthur drew his sword and ran back to grab Leon, hauling him away as well. Leon looked stunned as he reached up and plucked the barbs from his neck. He stared at them blankly for a moment before his eyes rolled back and he went boneless.
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted in alarm.
Merlin had to let go of Lancelot to rush to Leon's side.
"What's happening?" the blind knight exclaimed.
"It must be poison," Merlin said. He snatched up the cluster of spicules, careful not to touch the tips. Not that they offered any insight; he'd never seen anything like them before.
"Do something!" Arthur snapped.
"How?" he shouted back. He frantically felt for the pulse point beneath Leon's jaw. Already it was racing. Merlin knew a little of what Gaius would do in this situation, but they didn't have any supplies for him to work with!
"Merlin."
"I need herbs," he barked tersely.
Arthur flung his arms out. "We're in the middle of a forest! Find some!"
"A forest with plants that keep trying to kill us!"
"Merlin," Lancelot's calm voice interrupted. Even with his eyes covered, he exuded a stolid presence, the person Merlin could always depend on.
He paused to take a steadying breath. Right, he had to try, or Leon would probably die.
He pushed himself to his feet. "Stay here," he snapped, then turned and hastened through the woods, searching the underbrush for anything he could use.
When he finally found a patch of herbs, they were wilted looking and sickly. Apparently nothing good thrived in this accursed place. Still, it was better than nothing. Merlin hastily gathered everything that was there and hurried back.
"Do you still have water?" he asked Arthur urgently.
Arthur twisted around to retrieve his waterskin and handed it over. "Some."
Merlin cast about for some stones and grabbed anything within reach. It was going to be messy and haphazard, but he had little to work with. He crushed the herbs on a rock, then added a tiny bit of water at a time until he'd made a glumpy sort of paste, which he then slathered over the cluster of pinpricks in Leon's neck.
"Hopefully this will draw out some of the poison," he said.
He dipped his finger in some of the poultice and spread a little inside Leon's mouth. It couldn't hurt to get some internally as well.
Merlin rocked back on his haunches. "That's all I can do. I'm sorry."
Arthur nodded solemnly. "Of course. Gaius would be proud."
It was hollow praise, especially if it turned out none of this helped Leon.
Merlin cleared his throat awkwardly. "Can you see if you can find any more that look like this?" he asked Arthur.
Arthur furrowed his brow, but took another look at the herb and then stood up to go do that. Once he was far enough away, Merlin bent over Leon and tried to cast a healing spell. He felt his magic surge within him and flow into his friend, but he couldn't tell whether it'd had much of an effect. Leon didn't open his eyes and sit up, in any case.
"Did it work?" Lancelot asked quietly.
"I don't know," he said glumly. "Healing spells have never been my strong suit." He reached out to feel Leon's pulse again. It was a bit steadier. "I think I bought him some time."
"That's good."
Arthur returned a few minutes later, empty handed. "You're right, nothing familiar grows here," he said with frustrated defeat.
Merlin nodded. "What now?"
Arthur's mouth pressed into a tight line. If they stayed in the hopes some of the others would find them, Leon would only get worse. But if they went on, they might never see Gwaine, Elyan, or Percival again.
"We keep moving," Arthur declared grimly.
Merlin didn't argue. He understood the dilemma, and frankly didn't know what the right course of action was himself. So he took hold of Lancelot while Arthur slung an unconscious Leon over his shoulders, and they set off at a hobbling pace through the dark forest.
.o.0.o.
Arthur clenched his jaw as he took one staggering step after the other, Leon's dead weight draped across the back of his shoulders. He knew Merlin had done what he could with their limited resources, but he could feel the heat beginning to burn within his first knight. Leon was dying, Lancelot was blind, and three more of his knights were missing. How had it all gone so wrong?
He heard the crinkling of leaves up ahead and pulled up short.
"What is it?" Merlin whispered.
Arthur slowly eased Leon down to the ground so he could draw his sword, waving at Merlin to be quiet. He had no idea what manner of abomination would reveal itself next, but Arthur was the only one capable of defending his men now, and he was going to with every fiber of his being.
He edged closer to the sounds shuffling within the thick foliage, raising his sword in preparation. He aborted his strike with a jolted shock as Gwaine stumbled through the shrubbery, his own sword held aloft. Both of them exchanged startled looks, then shook their heads.
"Bloody hell," Gwaine muttered. "Good to see you're still alive."
"Likewise."
There was more crunching foliage behind Gwaine, who half turned to wave Percival and Elyan through. They all looked a little rough around the edges, and Elyan was holding his arm cradled to his stomach.
"What happened?" Arthur asked.
"More bloody plants trying to eat us," Gwaine growled. His brow furrowed as his gaze slid past Arthur to the others. "What happened to you lot?"
"Same," Arthur said grimly. "Leon got hit with some poisoned barbs."
"Elyan's arm is broken."
Merlin pushed his way forward at that. "Let me see."
Percival handed Elyan over to his care and then went to Lancelot, ducking his head and saying something quiet in the blinded knight's ear.
The rest of them waited while Merlin set Elyan's arm and used the knight's own cloak to fashion a sling around the splints. Then he went to check on Leon, whose fever was still burning. They were all battered and dispirited, and Arthur could see clearly on their faces that hope of escaping this place was swiftly waning.
"We should keep moving," he said, because that was the only option they had and to stay still was to give up and wait for death.
"We don't even know which way we're going anymore," Gwaine groused.
Arthur's mouth pursed into a thin line. Gwaine wasn't wrong. Wandering around aimlessly might feel like not giving up, but it could still lead them to death.
He straightened with an idea. "I'll climb to the top of the trees. I'll be able to see which way we need to go from up there."
They all automatically craned their heads back to look at the dark, twisted canopy.
"Maybe I should go," Gwaine said.
"Or me," Percival chimed in.
"I'll do it," Arthur said staunchly. He'd gotten his friends into this mess; he'd get them out.
He took off his sword belt and handed it to Gwaine so it wouldn't inhibit his climbing. Then he walked toward a tree that looked like it had a few reachable footholds.
"Be careful," Merlin said.
Arthur didn't return his concern with a quip this time and instead jumped up to grab a low-hanging branch, then hauled himself into the tree. The gnarled and knobby branches gave him plenty of places to grab, but they were also so twisted and close that he had to twist and contort himself, like a rat winding through a maze of obstacles. He slipped a couple of times, sending his heart rate into a panic, even though he managed to catch himself.
Finally he broke through the top of the canopy and into open air. The wind buffeted his face like a cold slap, and he sucked in a ragged breath of it. He hadn't realized how stifling the air was below. He took a moment to just breathe, then carefully turned to scan the top of the forest. It stretched for miles, but he spotted open fields and a river due west. It wasn't that far to go.
Filled with a surge of confidence, Arthur began to climb back down. Scraggly twigs scratched at his face and hands, adding to the myriad of small cuts he already bore. He dropped the last few feet to the ground, grunting as the impact reverberated up through his knees.
"The edge of the forest isn't far," he declared excitedly as he turned to face his friends. He froze in shock. The entire area was filled with a seething mass of vines. They had flooded the forest floor and crawled over the trees like a wave of snakes. Arthur caught sight of Gwaine first, the man being held aloft in a cocoon of vines coiled around his entire body.
One by one, Arthur spotted the others, all wrapped up and gagged by the living organism. Muffled cries tried to get his attention, and he went for his sword, only to remember that he'd given it to Gwaine.
Before he could cast about for a weapon, several vines shot toward him, lashing around his legs, arms, and torso. Arthur yelped as they coiled about him, trapping him in their clutches like everyone else.
