After the disaster that was the troll hunt, Merlin had to come up with a new way for his apprentice to use his magic to benefit the kingdom. Arthur wasn't an especially patient man. Merlin knew the king would only wait so long before demanding that Hisirdoux serve him in the same way that Merlin and Morgana did. No matter how many times the two Master Wizards explained it, Arthur didn't seem to understand that even though Hisirdoux was an adult, he was by no means a skilled enough wizard to serve anybody other than himself.
It had taken a few weeks of careful consideration and preparation, but Merlin had come up with a proper plan. Trolls were far from the only magical creatures that Arthur considered a threat. There were fairies, dragons, mages, goblins, and other such beings who they couldn't risk destroying. For some creatures, Merlin harvested ingredients from them, like naiad hair and dragon scales, but he couldn't exactly restock on those ingredients if all of those beings were either killed off or chased out of the kingdom. Then there were the creatures like fairies and goblins, who took revenge on those who wronged them. Even Arthur wouldn't be foolish enough to proclaim war on these creatures the way he did with the trolls.
While the knights were the ones who dealt with the trolls, Merlin and Morgana took care of all the other magical creatures that wandered just a bit too close to Camelot's borders. Merlin was a little shocked at how hard Hisirdoux took killing a troll, but he couldn't blame the boy. Taking one's life wasn't for everybody, and though it complicated matters a bit, Merlin did admire Hisirdoux for his kind-hearted nature. He would have thought that after living on his own and taking care of himself for so long, Hisirdoux would be more cold and distant.
It was more difficult to deal with the creatures other than trolls, but if his apprentice didn't want to do any real harm, Merlin was sure that this would be the method that the boy would prefer.
Merlin dedicated several magic lessons to teaching Hisirdoux the necessary spells for dealing with a variety of creatures. The easiest of all of them was the sleeping spell, which Hisirdoux was already familiar with, but just because something was easy didn't mean that it was simple. Merlin had to teach his apprentice how to make the spell powerful enough to last for nearly a day, which would allow enough time to relocate creatures like goblins.
The one spell that Hisirdoux took to like a natural, and the one that was Archie's favorite, was the one that turned ordinary rocks into precious gems. At least Merlin knew that Hisirdoux, with his magic and his silver tongue, would be able to bribe a dragon to leave the kingdom. If dragons were a common enough threat in Camelot, Arthur would probably be satisfied with the boy handling them. However, dragons only came to Camelot once every five or so years, which was fortunate for the kingdom, but unfortunate for the boy to prove himself.
The most useful and harmless spell that Hisirdoux could use against magical creatures was a calming spell, which was the very kind of spell that he struggled with. Whenever he attempted it, the boy got flustered and nervous, and if the boy wasn't calm, he couldn't expect to successfully calm a rampaging enemy. Merlin didn't give up at teaching the boy, because this was a very important spell for somebody like Hisirdoux, who frequently landed himself in hazardous situations.
Merlin spent nearly a week trying to teach the boy a calming spell, but Hisirdoux just wasn't picking up on it. Magic may take time to perfect, but he didn't seem to be making progress at all. Merlin decided to try a different tactic. Hisirdoux' magic was almost completely instinctive. He could learn how to willfully use magic, but it was rather difficult for him. Merlin knew that if he wanted Hisirdoux to properly learn this spell, he would have to trick his instincts into coming out.
"Master, are you sure this is a good idea?" Hisirdoux asked as he moved the last of Merlin's spellbooks to the side and safely out of the way.
"I assure you, Hisirdoux, it is completely safe," Merlin said as he took his staff and cast an illusion of the knight Galahad. Merlin, who knew the knight well, didn't believe that he was a very confrontational man. Galahad was loyal and protective, and Merlin admired him for that. Hisirdoux' limited experience with Galahad gave him a different view. The boy saw Galahad as strict and intimidating, which was why Merlin chose this knight as the base of his illusion. If Hisirdoux was going to instinctively calm anybody, it would be somebody he wanted to avoid confrontation with, such as Galahad.
Even though it was just an illusion, Hisirdoux stiffened when he saw Galahad standing in front of him. They both knew that Merlin's illusion couldn't harm him, but not many people felt completely comfortable having a sword, even a fake one, aimed at them. Hisirdoux took a deep breath and raised his arms defensively.
"Do you remember what you must do?" Merlin asked.
"Stay calm and-" Hisirdoux flinched when the illusion Galahad swung his sword. "-and don't let my fear show."
"You need to share your calming energy, and you can't do that if you let your nerves get the best of you." Merlin said sternly.
"I know, I know, just…" Hisirdoux took in a shaky breath. "Just give me a minute." Merlin would be willing to give Hisirdoux all the time he needed. They weren't in any rush. In a real confrontational situation, time would be of the essence, but this was a safe environment. Merlin would rather Hisirdoux take his time and learn how to do the spell right than for him to rush himself and mess things up.
Messing up spells could end disastrously. Sleeping spells might backfire and affect the caster instead. Rocks that were turned into gemstones may turn back into rocks after just a few hours, which was a fairly harmless consequence in and of itself, but could be deadly if the gemstones had been used as a bribe for dragons. Merlin suspected that if a calming spell backfired, it might aggravate someone instead of soothing them. Merlin didn't believe that his illusion spell could be aggravated, but there was no reason to tempt fate.
"Take your time," Merlin said. For reasons he didn't understand, his words only seemed to make Hisirdoux more nervous. "It's just an illusion. There's nothing to fear."
"Yeah, I know that," Hisirdoux scowled, some of his irritated attitude showing through. Merlin didn't understand where this boy got his attitude from. It would be suicide to live on the streets and be so disrespectful to everybody. "You're not helping."
Merlin huffed and crossed his arms, unimpressed. If you don't want my advice then please, show me how you've mastered this spell."
Hisirdoux grimaced and glared at Merlin. The calming spell he had started forming began to flare out. Hisirdoux yelped and lowered his arms sharply, dropping the spell completely.
"Would you stop that?" Hisirdoux said nearly desperately. "I can't focus with you judging me."
"I'm teaching you," Merlin said. That required a fair amount of judgement, otherwise how was he supposed to know what Hisirdoux was doing wrong and how he could improve?
Hisirdoux sighed and started to gather up his magical energy. Merlin could tell that it wasn't as strong as it should be, but if Hisirdoux didn't want his assistance, he wouldn't provide it. The boy needed to learn his limits. Hisirdoux closed his eyes and took a deep breath. With most any other spell, Hisirdoux' magic would likely get stronger at this point, but if anything it wavered even needed to allow his instincts to take control, which meant that he had to believe that there was somebody who needed to be calmed.
Merlin waved his staff in the air and his illusion of Galahad made the same motion with his sword. Hisirdoux gasped, his eyes opened wide in a panic. The boy tossed his half-formed spell at the illusion of Galahad. The illusion, which was outlined in green, the color of Merlin's magic, flared up a bright blue before it dimmed to a teal color. The expression on the illusion's face darkened and it tightened its grip on its sword. Hisirdoux whimpered and took a step back, only for the illusion to step towards him.
"Master, this isn't funny," Hisirdoux' gaze darted to Merlin for a moment before it quickly returned to the illusion of Galahad.
"Does it look like I'm laughing, boy?" Merlin scowled. He stomped his staff on the ground to end his spell, but nothing happened. Merlin narrowed his eyes and waved his staff, but the illusion didn't follow his command. "You've agitated my spell."
"I didn't try to!" Hisirdoux' voice cracked. "Make it stop!" He yelped and ducked when the illusion swung its sword at him.
"I can't." Merlin said. "Your magic has mingled with and corrupted mine." Perhaps corrupt was a strong word, but Merlin didn't know how else to explain it. "You need to undo your spell before I can regain control of mine."
"I don't even know what I did!" Hisirdoux looked around for something to save him. "This...it's just an illusion, right? It can't hurt me."
"It shouldn't." Merlin said. The illusion should be just that, an illusion. He had no way of knowing just how his magic would react to Hisirdoux'. The boy still looked nervous, but he clearly wanted to trust Merlin's word. "It's not that difficult, Hisirdoux. Just take a deep breath and pull your magic back."
Hisirdoux took in a forced, shuddering breath as he held his hands out. Before he could reclaim his powers, the illusion of Galahad swung his sword at him, hitting the boy solidly in the chest. Because it was an illusion, it didn't stab through him, but there was force behind Merlin's magic. The force knocked Hisirdoux back harshly, throwing him against the wall.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, while at the same time it went too quickly for Merlin to do anything about it. He couldn't do anything but watch as Hisirdoux hit the wall so harshly that he could hear the impact. All the shelves where Merlin kept his potions and larger potion ingredients shook.
The force of Hisirdoux hitting the wall caused the vials to shake just enough that some of them tipped over. Merlin grimaced as his potions dripped down into the drawers where he kept many of his ingredients. Those goods would be contaminated, and it would take months to replace all of it.
Contaminated ingredients were the least of Merlin's worries at the moment though. He watched in concern as a few drops of various potions fell onto Hisirdoux' head. Merlin knew what each and every one of his potions was created for, but they weren't meant to be mixed with each other. There was no telling just what effect the potions might have on him.
"Hisirdoux," Merlin stepped towards his young apprentice. The boy flinched and tried to stagger back, only to hit the wall again, jostling the vials. It wasn't too bad, just making some of the jars shake, but one of the larger potion containers, which had broken when it had fallen over, rolled off the edge of the shelf. It fell and struck Hisirdoux' hand, stabbing into it deeply.
The boy's eyes clouded over and he swayed slightly on his feet. He moved to pull the glass out of his hand, but both of his hands were shaking too harshly and he accidentally pushed the glass deeper in. It looked incredibly painful, but Hisirdoux didn't even cry out in pain. He just looked drowsy, and when Merlin took a closer look at the potion he knew why. It was a sleeping serum, an especially potent one. Just a few drops could make someone fall asleep, and keep them asleep for several hours. Merlin didn't want to think about how the potion could affect someone when it was exposed directly to their blood.
Merlin moved towards Hisirdoux and caught him just as he started to fall forward, already unconscious. "Hisirdoux!" The boy's breathing had slowed so much that for a horrifying moment Merlin thought that he had stopped breathing completely.
Merlin frowned in confusion when he saw a light wave of pale blue magic, Hisirdoux' magic, flow into the boy. Following the magic's start, Merlin saw his Galahad illusion, back to its normal green color. Merlin reached for his magic and pulled it back. He was far too relieved when the illusion disappeared and the magic returned to him. His magic was no longer limited by the corruption of Hisirdoux' magic. The boy's accidental spell must have worn off when he'd fallen unconscious.
At least that was one less problem he had to worry about.
"You're much more trouble than you're worth, boy, Merlin scowled, not truly meaning it. Hisirdoux was a handful, but he couldn't resent the boy for that, and he wasn't about to just leave him to his own devices either. As long as Hisirdoux needed his assistance, and there was help he could provide, Merlin would do what he could to help him. It was his duty as his master.
Merlin carefully grasped at the glass in his apprentice's hand. The bottle had broken on impact, leaving just a few large shards in the boy's hand, and it only took Merlin a moment to pull them out. The wound bled quite a bit. Normally this wouldn't be too much of a concern, as Merlin had healing salves and potions, but those were among the potions that had spilled over. He would have to care for the hand in the normal way.
Merlin picked up Hisirdoux, frowning at just how light the boy felt in his arms. It just didn't feel healthy. That would have to be a concern for a later time. He had to focus on what he could do now. Merlin carried Hisirdoux to his room, partially to give him a comfortable bed to rest on, and partially to get him away from the spilled potions.
The moment that Merlin stepped into Hisirdoux' room, Archie, who was resting on the bed, lazily opened an eye and looked up at them. The moment that Archie laid eyes on Hisirdoux, his eyes widened in alarm. He stood up and arched his back. Archie transformed into dragon form and spread out his wings to make him look larger and more intimidating.
"What did you do?!" Archie glared harshly at Merlin. The old wizard suspected that the only thing keeping the familiar from blowing fire at him was the fact that he had Hisirdoux in his arms.
"I did nothing," Merlin scowled, though privately he was wondering the same thing. His young apprentice was unconscious and hurt because he'd been attacked by Merlin's own magic. He may not have done it on purpose, but that didn't excuse anything.
Merlin laid Hisirdoux on the bed, and Archie immediately jumped onto his chest and hissed threateningly at Merlin. It took some quick thinking for Merlin to think of something to say to keep the familiar from attacking him.
"I need your help," Merlin said. "Be angry if you like, but we must think about Hisirdoux right now." Merlin kept his gaze on Archie. He couldn't bring himself to look at his apprentice's face. It was too still, too calm. It didn't suit him at all.
Archie huffed, making smoke come out of his nostrils. His tail twitched in aggravation. "...Fine," Archie folded his wings back. "What can I do?"
"Does Hisirdoux still have his small stash of potion ingredients?" Merlin asked.
"You said he was allowed to have them." Archie hissed.
"I'm not angry with him," Merlin was starting to become rather tense. The longer he left the drops of sleeping serum in Hisirdoux' blood unattended, the more potentially dangerous it could be for him. He didn't have time to deal with an irritated familiar. "My potions and ingredients are unusable, but I need to make a cure."
Archie frowned and gestured under the bed. "We don't have a lot yet, but what you've given him is in the crate to the left." Merlin would prefer that Archie grab the ingredients himself, as he was too old to be kneeling on the ground and reaching like a teenager for secrets hidden under the bed. Archie didn't look like he was interested in moving from Hisirdoux' chest any time soon, and it would probably be a mistake for Merlin to try to force him.
Merlin pulled out the crate and looked through the ingredients available. There was very little variety. Most of the ingredients were just common, everyday things that Merlin normally had a surplus of. Fortunately, for the cure that Merlin was thinking of, these simple ingredients were almost all that he needed.
"This should do well," Merlin carefully considered the ingredients he had before him. It should be just enough to make just a single portion, which was all that he needed. "I need a few additional ingredients though," Merlin looked at Archie, who was watching him suspiciously. "Can you fetch some spices from the kitchen and a sea holly flower?"
Archie's claws dug into Hisirdoux's tunic. "Why don't you go?"
"You can travel faster than I can," Merlin said. "And someone has to stop the bleeding and get started on the potion." Archie's fur bristled, but after a long moment he sighed and nodded.
"If anything happens to Douxie while you're watching him, I will show you just how fearsome an angry dragon is," Archie said before he flapped his wings and took off. It was difficult to take such a small and furry dragon seriously, but Merlin knew that Archie's words weren't just an empty threat. He was fiercely protective of Hisirdoux.
Merlin sighed and just looked at his young apprentice for a long moment. The boy was far too still. He may be sleeping, but Merlin knew far too much about magic to take that as a reassurance. Sleeping potions could be lethal when not used correctly, and direct exposure to blood was certainly not how the potion was supposed to be used. Merlin doubted that Hisirdoux would die from this incident, but if just a few more drops had gotten under his skin it could have been a completely different story. It was chilling just how close to disaster they had come, and Merlin blamed himself.
He knew this accident was just that, an accident. It was unfortunate, and something they should try to avoid in the future, but an accident nonetheless. Still, Merlin felt he should have been better prepared for something like this. He was a Master Wizard, he should be able to have complete control of his magic. Merlin had learned years ago how to keep his magic from being corrupted by other wizards, but he'd let his guard down around Hisirdoux. The boy may still be learning, but that was no excuse. Hisirdoux' magic may be immature, but it was quite powerful and had a lot of potential, especially when the boy was under stress and felt the need to protect himself.
Merlin grabbed the washing bucket that he had convinced Hisirdoux to keep in his room. It was his way of encouraging the boy to be more hygienic. The water would come in handy to clean the wound and wash the potions out of his hair. Merlin would normally use his magic to conjure water, as it would be easier and he would be sure that the water was clean, but he didn't trust himself at the moment. Merlin's magic wasn't nearly as temperamental as Hisirdoux', but things could still go horribly wrong if he tried to use a spell when he was concerned or stressed.
Hisirdoux had already been hurt that night because of Merlin's lack of control with his magic, and he wasn't going to risk it happening again.
Merlin slowly and as gently as he could began to clean the cut. It was bleeding quite a bit, and it looked quite deep. If Merlin's potions were still uncorrupted, he would use the healing salve. The cut would heal over in a moment, and it wouldn't even leave a scar, but he couldn't do that. Merlin had to treat the cut without magic, let it heal on its own, and deal with the guilt he would surely feel every time he would see the scar that he knew would form.
Hisirdoux had a lot of scars, and he didn't seem bothered by any of them, but Merlin wondered if that would still be the case for an injury that had been caused by his master's own negligence.
Trying to deal with his apprentice's injury, Merlin couldn't help but remember a time many years ago when he'd done something incredibly similar. It was when Morgana had just barely started to learn her magic, and she and Merlin didn't quite trust each other. Back then, Merlin had been concerned that Morgana was conspiring to kill the king. He didn't have any proof, and even now Merlin had no idea where his conviction had come from, but he had been so concerned and cautious.
Merlin had let himself get careless. At one point he'd lost control of his magic and allowed it to flare out. A startled Morgana had ended up falling down the staircase and hitting her head really badly. Morgana had nearly died. Merlin had been lucky that everybody had been convinced it was an accident. Nobody had known of his involvement, but Merlin had spent a long time blaming himself. His nightmares had been haunted with the memory of the sound of Morgana hitting her head, and Merlin knew that he would end up with a few more sleepless nights because of this incident.
After Merlin finished leaning the cut as much as he could, he carefully bound the injury. Merlin knew that his treatment of the cut had to be painful, especially since he wasn't exactly skilled in this kind of thing, but Hisirdoux didn't so much as shift or moan as he worked. The boy just continued to sleep. Merlin quickly used his powers to get the blood and dirt out of the water and cloth so he wouldn't make a large mess when he cleaned out Hisirdoux' hair.
As soon as Merlin was finished, he grabbed the necessary ingredients for the potion that should wake up Hisirdoux. He wanted the potion to be as ready as it could be when Archie returned. He needed to give this cure to the boy as soon as possible.
The familiar returned sooner than Merlin had expected him to. For a moment, Merlin was worried that Archie hadn't been able to find the sea holly flower, but the small dragon had a few of them tucked under his wing. Archie must have flown really quickly to get the flower so soon. The familiar set the flowers down in front of Merlin as well as a small bag he must have grabbed from the kitchen. Archie immediately returned to his spot on Hisirdoux' chest where he watched as Merlin worked.
The wizard ground up the flower petals and pushed the liquids out of the flower stems. He added these, as well as the prepared spices, to his potion. He let his magic slip into the potion, and then he poured it into a cup. He would normally let his potions sit overnight, at the very least, just to make sure that his magic had time to properly settle in, but he didn't have time for that right now.
Merlin raised Hisirdoux' head, opened his mouth, and slowly poured the potion in, careful to not make the boy choke. Almost immediately, to Merlin and Archie's relief, the boy coughed and moaned. He was still asleep, but Merlin was confident this was a more natural sleep rather than one influenced by magic. Hisirdoux would be just fine, at least for now. Merlin couldn't shake his concern though. This had been a close call, and it hadn't been the only time that Hisirdoux had found himself in danger.
This boy just had a knack for finding trouble. Merlin knew that magic attracted danger, and he and Morgana both faced their own fair share of trouble, but it was different for them. Hisirdoux didn't have enough control of his magic to be able to get himself out of the trouble he found himself in. The boy needed assistance, but there was only so much that Merlin could do for him. He couldn't keep Hisirdoux from wandering into trouble.
However, there was something that he could do, a way to insure that the boy didn't get himself killed.
Merlin put his hands on Hisirdoux' head and let his magic flow over him. Hisirdoux grimaced and shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake up. Merlin paused in his spell when he felt Hisirdoux' own powers flare up in response, but when nothing else seemed to happen Merlin continued. He was grateful that at the moment Hisirdoux' magic was so weak, because it couldn't fight back against the sudden intrusion. Merlin did not want a repeat of that afternoon's incident.
Archie glared at Merlin. "What are you doing?"
"This is a protection spell." Merlin said. A more subtle one than he would normally do, but this was more for the long-term than just for a single battle. It was just a protective barrier of magic that should keep Hisirdoux from getting too hurt. It wouldn't be able to keep him safe from everything, but it was the best that Merlin could do.
Archie relaxed ever so slightly. He nuzzled close to Hisirdoux. Merlin watched them for a moment, feeling like he was intruding in a private moment.
Merlin brushed some of the hair out of Hisirdoux' face before he stood up to leave the two of them alone. He should let Hisirdoux rest. Besides, his workshop needed to be cleaned. Merlin needed to see if there were any potions, tools, or ingredients that he could salvage. And he had a lot of thinking to do. Merlin had sworn to teach the boy how to use and control his magic, but he wasn't so sure how to do that. Merlin wasn't normally afraid of experimentation, but that was what he'd done today, and just look at what had happened.
Merlin didn't know what method to use to teach Hisirdoux, and now he was worried that anything he tried could end in disaster. How was he supposed to teach his apprentice when he didn't know what he needed?
A/N: The reason why I think that Merlin put some kind of protective spell or something on Douxie is because that boy gets shoved around so much in the show, and doesn't seem the least bit injured. Even after his fall where he nearly dies, Douxie is able to walk away from it with just some soreness, probably not even any broken bones.
You have no idea how much time I spent thinking about just what could have caused the scar on Douxie's thumb. I think it's a relatively recent wound, because of how large it is. In my personal experience (and I've heard this can be different for other people), scars don't exactly grow with the rest of the body. I have a scar from when I was 7ounger, about 9-10, and when I look at it now it looks a lot smaller than I remember the cut being when I first got it, because my hand grew, but the scar didn't. If Douxie got the scar on his hand when he was little, at least if his scar is anything like mine, it would probably look a lot smaller.
It's because of how jagged the scar is that I decided to have the cut come from a broken bottle. There just aren't many things that can cause such a jagged cut., as most cuts that I'm aware of are fairly straight.