AN: As you can tell sometimes I don't bother changing the Author's Note.

But I'm so excited to get to season 3!

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin in any way, shape, or form! I do own Elizabeth Malinor and any other characters I make up!

Enjoy!

"So you mean to tell me that the Druid girl that the bounty hunter has been looking for, you helped her escape?" I asked Merlin.

He hesitated. "Well...sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of'?"

I had been told by Uther to keep my eye out for the Druid girl whenever I was in town, which was quite a lot. Morgana and I loved taking walks there and buying little knick knacks.

But I hadn't been spending so much time with Morgana lately. Ever since I found out that we were sisters, I was wary of being around her because I would be scared that I'd blurt it out to her.

Anyways, back to Merlin's issue.

I had known that the Druid girl was loose in Camelot, but I had no idea that Merlin was keeping her somewhere.

"I mean that I rescued her, Lizzie," Merlin pressed. "Halig was going to sell her, I couldn't let her come into harm's way."

"So this Druid girl-"

"Freya," He corrected.

"Freya, then," I agreed. The name sparked something within me, and I instantly clutched on to the feeling like a lifeline, hoping that a memory might be drawn out. "What are you going to do with her?"

"I don't know yet," He answered. "I just need some help."

"With what?"

"Well, I need to get her some food and clothes and-"

"Merlin, a bounty hunter has a very high price on her head," I informed him. "Protecting her would be really dangerous."

He gave me an offended look. "I helped you hide Mordred, from Uther, no less!" He protested. "Besides, when have you ever disagreed with helping someone?"

I hesitated. I didn't want to tell Merlin about my funny feeling, because it might just turn out to be nothing, but I felt like it might. I sighed. "What's her dress size?"

I wrapped my cloak tighter around me as I followed Merlin's lead. The basket in my hands held the leftovers of my dinner (which was a lot-my funny feeling had me feeling all nauseous) and a dress that was hopefully Freya's size.

Merlin led us to a secluded sector of the palace, where no one would think to go looking for someone. He held the torch out farther as we walked into the place.

"This is where you're hiding her?" I asked.

He nodded. "It was the first place I could find after I helped her escape."

"But she's been missing for a couple of days," I said. "Why only come to me now?"

"Because the bounty hunter questioned me earlier and Arthur caught me stealing his food," He answered.

"But why me?" I asked.

"You're my friend, aren't you?" He asked. "I trust you with my life. I know Freya will trust you with hers."

"Is it magic that draws you to Freya?" I questioned. "Because she's a Druid?"

"I don't know," He answered. "There's just something about her. I can't quite explain it."

For some reason, my heart started sinking a little. "The only reason behind something like that that I've heard of is love."

"Love?" He scoffed. "No, I don't...I don't..." He tried.

He quickly stopped when we got to Freya. She didn't look much older than me, and she had brown eyes with matching brown hair. I thought her hair might look nice, if it wasn't a bedraggled mess. Merlin was right-she was in real need of a dress, for hers was a tattered mess. She had some bruises, and was covered with dirt.

Freya looked up, and instantly recoiled when she saw me. Merlin saw her fear, and tried to calm her down. "No! No, this is Elizabeth. She's a friend of mine, she'd never do anything to hurt you."

"I-I've brought something for you," I brought up, holding up the basket. "A dress, some food."

I moved closer to her, and this time, she didn't try to recoil. I crouched down next to her, and held out the basket. "I'd never hurt a friend of Merlin's."

Carefully, she took the basket from my hands. "Thank you," She whispered.

I stood up, and walked back over to Merlin. I grabbed his arm, and pulled him aside so Freya couldn't hear us. "Because you mean a lot to me, Merlin, I won't say a word to the King about this. But, Morgana and I got Mordred out of Camelot. If you cared about Freya, you'd do the same for her."

"Promise that you won't tell anyone about this? Especially not Gaius?" He asked.

I gave him a look. "Who do you take me for, Merlin?"

He still looked a little uneasy, so I held up my pinkie. "Do you want me to pinky swear?"

"What is a pinkie swear?" He asked. "You've mentioned it before."

I rolled my eyes. I grabbed his hand, and hooked his pinky around mine. "There. Now, if I break the promise, I'll owe you hugely. Pinkie promises are very important, Merlin." I glanced at Freya. "I really hope you have a good plan."

I gave him a pat on the arm, gave Freya a nod, then left. It was kind of hard being in there.

I had slept peacefully for most of the night, but closer to the hours of the morning, my nice, happy dreams...changed.

Instead of being in control of my dreams and having myself sitting in a field and making daisy chains, I was suddenly dreaming of Camelot. Arthur and the knights were fighting some creature, who looked absolutely terrifying. It had the body of a panther, with bat-like wings. It looked like it was attacking the knights, and I could vaguely see Merlin in the background. I also saw a flash of a lake, but it was so brief that I nearly missed it.

The roar of the beast was enough to wake me up. I shot up in bed, taking deep breaths as I tried to calm myself. I immediately looked down to my healing bracelet, and panicked when I realized that it wasn't there. I pushed my blankets off, and got out of bed to look for it. I found it eventually under my bed. It must have slipped off in the middle of the night and rolled under there.

That explained the sudden appearance of my nightmare.

I slipped it back on my wrist, and sighed in relief. I crawled back in my bed, and attempted to go back to sleep, feeling so much better that I wouldn't have that awful dream again.

But I had to tell Gaius or Merlin about it.

I woke up before Gwen could come get me, and quickly changed before going searching for Merlin. I checked Arthur's chambers first, since he might have been doing his morning chores, but Arthur informed me that Merlin had already made his rounds with him and that Merlin should be doing his laundry.

So I went down to the Royal Laundry Room (yeah, that's actually a thing) and asked if any of them had seen Merlin. Apparently, nobody had seen him all morning.

So I finally went to his house. I knocked on the door, and Gaius let me in. "Ah, Elizabeth! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I'm looking for Merlin, actually," I answered as I walked in. "I've been looking for him everywhere. I have to talk to him. Do you know where he is?"

"He should be working for Arthur right now," Gaius answered as he turned back to his work.

"I know, but I just checked with Arthur, and Merlin wasn't with him," I explained. "Then I checked every other spot imaginable and I can't find him. Is he maybe out looking for herbs?"

"Nothing that I've asked him to look for," Gaius said. "What is it that you need to talk to him about, anyways?"

I sighed, sitting down on Gaius's bench. "You won't believe me. You never do."

Gaius sighed. "Elizabeth, I'm sure it can't be that bad."

I huffed. "Fine, but don't dismiss what I'm about to say," I told him, pointing a finger directly at him. Gaius nodded, and I opened my mouth. "Sometime during the night my healing bracelet fell off, and I had a nightmare."

"What happened in it?" Gaius asked as he sat down next to me.

"The knights were in it," I began. "Arthur. They were fighting some sort of creature. I can only assume that this is the creature that Uther has been hunting," I guessed. Morgana and I had been advised to stay in the castle at all times in order to be kept safe from the creature.

"You saw it?" Gaius asked. "What did it look like?"

"Uh, I don't know how to describe it," I tried. "It looked like a panther. Had wings of a bat. It was very scary, Gaius. I think it might be of magic."

Gaius nodded, before he brightened up. He stood up, and went over to his bookshelf. He scanned the titles of his many books for a few seconds, before pulling out the book he was looking for. He opened it, and flipped to a page. "Here," He said, gesturing me to him. He pointed at the image in the book. "Was this what you saw?"

It was exactly what I saw. Well, not exactly, but that was pretty much it. "Yes, that's it," I told him. "What is it?"

"It's called a Bastet," Gaius explained. "It's a curse that sorcerer's can bestow upon people. The victims are forced to abide by the creature's instinctive drive to hunt. I believe this is what's been killing the citizens in Camelot, it would explain the human footprints that are at the scene of each murder."

"But who is the Bastet, do you have any ideas?" I asked, leaning forward.

Gaius nodded. "I believe it is the Druid girl that's escaped Halig's clutches."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Freya? But that's preposterous."

"Freya?" Gaius questioned, mirroring my look. "You know the Druid girl?"

Busted! I couldn't tell Gaius the truth, Merlin would never forgive me. "No! Did I say Freya? I meant...fried...eggs."

Gaius gave me a disapproving look, and I broke. Come on, it was Gaius's disapproving look. You know, the look?

"Fine, I know her!" I admitted, feeling as if I was tied up in a dark room and Gaius was shining a light in my face.

"Are you the one that helped her escape?" Gaius asked, obviously not putting it past me to do so.

"No, I swear," I insisted.

"But you do know who did it, don't you?" Gaius asked.

No, I was not going to give that one up. "I made a promise that I woudln't tell."

"Elizabeth..." Gaius started.

"A pinkie swear, Gaius!" I defended. "A pinkie swear! I can't break that!"

He gave me a funny look. I quickly cleared my throat and changed the subject. "Either way, what makes you think it's Freya that's the beast?"

"It makes sense," Gaius started. "Halig mentioned that the Druid girl he had captured had been cursed. The first attack happens a mere day after she escaped? It cannot be a coincidence."

I huffed, letting the information sink it. I hated to admit it, but Gaius was right. Everything led to Freya.

But...but it was impossible. The girl that I saw looked like the most fragile, terrified, nice woman I have ever seen. Could she really be turning into a dangerous creature at night?

And oh, Merlin. He had feelings for Freya, I knew it. I didn't think he'd take kindly to Gaius accusing Freya of being a murderer.

Gaius leaned back slightly. "The King must be informed."

I snapped my head in his direction. "But you can't."

"Too many people have died, Elizabeth," Gaius argued. "I won't let another innocent life be taken."

"She can't help it that she can't control herself!" I protested. "It is not her fault, and she most certainly doesn't deserve to die because of it."

"I am sorry," Gaius said sternly, looking over at me. "I must."

I stood up abruptly, shaking my head. "Please don't tell Uther until I can figure out a plan," I begged.

Gaius shook his head. "She must be found as soon as possible."

I had paced around my bedroom for the rest of the day, debating whether or not to tell Merlin that his new lady friend could possibly be a horrible, terrifying, murdering beast.

Yeah, that wouldn't go over well.

The door to my chambers suddenly opened, and while I expected Morgana (as she was literally the only one to enter my room without permission), I was pleasantly surprised to see Merlin. I sighed in relief and ran over to him. "Merlin, I've been looking for you everywhere!"

I took notice of the bag on his back, and stopped in my tracks. "What are you doing with the bag?"

He looked at it a little uneasily, and then turned back to me. "Because we are friends, Lizzie, I came to say goodbye."

My stomach sank. "Why, are you visiting Ealdor?" I asked, though I knew it was wishful thinking.

Merlin shook his head. "No. I'm leaving...with Freya. You were right, I have to get her out of Camelot."

My mind immediately went to what Gaius had said about Freya. The words flew past my lips before I could stop them. "No, you can't!"

Merlin gave me a funny look. "And why not?"

I hesitated. I really didn't want to tell Merlin this. But for the safety of him and Camelot and maybe even Freya, I had to. Maybe if I told him, we could figure out a way to undo the curse on Freya. "Because Freya is cursed," I said, my voice cracking slightly.

Merlin's face turned into an angry expression, something that I'd never seen before. "Why does everybody keep saying that?" He asked.

"Because we're speaking the truth, Merlin," I insisted. "Freya is a Bastet. She's been cursed to turn into a vicious killing creature every night. If you were to leave with her and travel at night I don't think she'd be able to stop herself," I explained. "Freya seems like a nice girl. I'm sure she doesn't want to kill. That's why I'm afraid. She has no control."

"Don't say those things!" Merlin protested, and I flinched slightly because of the tone of his voice. Merlin never raised his voice at me, even if he was really angry at me.

I brushed off the hurt. "Merlin, you have to listen. I think that Gaius has gone to Uther and told him that Freya is the Bastet. Uther knows that it is a creature of magic. He also knows that the Druid girl is missing. The price on her head is now even bigger than before, and for helping her, you can be killed," I tried explaining in the nicest way possible. "If you won't listen to proper reason, at least take her out of Camelot, but come back. If you are found out as an accomplice-and since Halig suspects you already, it wouldn't be too hard to figure it out-you'll be killed. If you hide her somewhere, you and I can figure out a way to undo the curse on her," I offered, though it made a tiny crack in my heart to do so. I felt slightly hostile towards Freya for reasons unknown to me, but I wouldn't see her dead, especially since Merlin cares for her so much.

Merlin still looked pretty mad, but sighed. "Fine. I'll go get her and leave. I should be back in a couple of days."

"Be careful," I made him promise, and he nodded.

"I will," He said, and he was suddenly out the door, without so much as a goodbye.

I was confined to my chambers when the warning bells had sounded, alerting the kingdom to an intruder. I tried to leave, as night had fallen and Freya was most likely the reason why the warning bells went off, but the guards stood in front of my door and refused to let me out. So instead, I ran over to my windows, and opened them as I stood my head out.

It was far away, but I could see the scene from my dream. The knights and Arthur were surrounding Freya, who now looked like the Bastet. Freya made a move to attack them, but Arthur had struck at her, managing to stab her in her side. I gasped loudly at the action, and gripped the window tight as I saw her back away from Arthur, clearly in pain as blood seeped from her wound. Freya limped out of my sight and to another part of the court yard, and I groaned in frustration as I hit the wall. Was Freya okay? Where was Merlin?

After about ten minutes, the guards finally let me leave my room, as the knights had lost sight of Freya and assumed that she had left. I immediately ran to the last spot that I saw her out, but found nothing but a puddle of blood.

"No," I whispered, eyeing the amount of it. Either the wound was so big that she had lost so much blood, or her wound was so deep that she had lost that much blood.

"Freya!" I called out. "Merlin?!"

I remember the spot where Merlin was keeping Freya, and ran to there. I was horrified to see another large pool of blood, and no Merlin or Freya.

"Come on, think!" I said aloud, pressing my hands to my temple. I thought back to my nightmare, and remembered the flash of the lake that I saw.

The lake! That had to be where they were!

But why would they be at a lake? Also, there was a bajillion lakes in Camelot. How was I supposed to know which one exactly was the one in my dream?

I just had to trust my instincts. The sun had started rising when I had set out. I grabbed a horse, and started my trek. I went to the first lake that I could think of, that was just outside Camelot, but they weren't there. I tried so many more, but I couldn't find them. I was finally about to give up, when I felt a sort of tug. I looked around, and realized that I was being tugged into a certain direction.

I started the way that the tugging was coming from, and the feeling became stronger the more I went in that direction. Eventually, I came to what I recognized to be the Lake of Avalon. The water was a clear blue, crystals literally sparkling in the water. It would have been a beautiful sight, if I had not seen Merlin standing in front of the lake in tears.

I slipped off my horse, and ran over to him. "Merlin?" I tried, and he spun around at the sound of my voice. His eyes were red, and there were tears streaming down his face. I looked past him, and saw a boat sailing far in the water, a fire lit in it, and worst of all, Freya wasn't around. That could only mean one thing...

My heart absolutely broke for Merlin as I said, "Freya?"

He choked out a sob, and I went right to him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. He hugged me right back, burying his face into my shoulder as he shook. I rubbed at his back as I let him cry, telling him over and over again how sorry I was.

"I promised to take care of her," He sobbed. "And now she's dead."

"You are not to blame," I insisted, squeezing him tighter. "Trust me, Merlin, you are not." I pulled back, and wiped at his tears. "You gave Freya the one thing that she wanted: to not be treated as if she were some beast. You gave her your love, and that mattered more to her than anything. Please don't blame yourself."

Merlin just cried again, and I pulled him back into a hug and let him.

I'd let him cry for as long as he needed to.

TBC...

Honestly, I had NO idea what to do with this episode (I sort of wrote whatever and hoped for the best) but I'm pretty happy with the way that it turned out.

REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!

THE ADVENTURES OF ELIZABETH MALINOR CONTINUE...

"Sleep well, Arthur," King Alined said as he watched as his jester, Trickler concot an eye dropping potion. "And when you wake, may your thoughts only be of Vivian."

Trickler spilled the eye drops over the eyes of a sleeping Arthur Pendragon.

Lady Vivian examined herself in the mirror, trying to decide if what she was wearing was appropriate enough to visit "her love" in.

"My job, is to woo," Arthur explained to Merlin as he stared out the window.

Arthur stuck a rose in his mouth as he scaled the castle wall that led to Vivian's room.

Merlin barged into Vivian's room, but he was too late as Arthur had already gotten there.

"He's enchanted," Merlin insisted to Guinevere.

"Yes, with Lady Vivian, I can see that!" Gwen retorted.

"Why is it that it's Arthur that always gets enchanted?" Elizabeth asked no one in particular.

Merlin murmured a spell to knock Vivian out, her body collapsing on the bed.

"Nice one," Elizabeth commented.

"Unhand her, or suffer the consequences," King Olaf, Vivan's father, demanded of Arthur in Vivian's chambers.

Arthur refused, and King Olaf threw his glove on the ground in front of Arthur, a clear sign of a challenge.

"Your actions may yet bring war to Camelot," Uther tried getting into the mind of his enchanted son.

Arthur and King Olaf fought.

"This is not going to end well, is it?" Elizabeth stated as she nervously bit her nails.

TUNE IN NEXT TIME! SO CLOSE TO THE FINALE!