Hello. Today I bring the second part of Chapter 20. At least! Yeah, I have taken more time for this part. The previous chapter wasn't for me really good (I don't know exactly why, I only think is badly written.), so I wanted to have more time to do this one. I think this is a really good chapter, not only because of the way of writing but the story, that at this time is all related to the others, you will see. All I have to say is that in this chapter the red stone that is mentioned looks like the stone that had Tauren in the episode "To Kill the King" to use magic with Tom. This has not relation to the stone in this story, but I only wanted to inform you about how it looked like.

Anyway, I hope you like it.

I'm not own from Merlin.

"I have to give you something."

Hilda grabbed Merlin's wrist too tightly for what that old woman seemed to have and directed him down a small corridor until he reached a rectangular room, small like the one Merlin had in Gaius's quarters, with a double bed in the center of the room, a window in which the morning rays of the sun loomed towards the back garden, and some wooden furniture, such as a wardrobe, a small table placed in front of the window in which a candle still lit rested along with two chairs and two bedside tables, which made the stay smell like old wood, a smell very similar to that which Telvar's cabin gave off.

"Sit in a chair and wait a minute. I'll be back in a few seconds."

Merlin obeyed and sat in the chair on the side of the window, looking at the backyard. He watched Hilda leave the room in a hurry, but those rushes were not compared to the nerves Merlin felt at the time. How was the old woman supposed to know who he was? It was impossible, only a druid could know such, and she did not exactly look like a druid...

Merlin hesitated for a few seconds in whether to stay or run away as soon as possible with the others, who were supposedly in town, buying supplies and food for the trip, especially thinking about the return. How could they think about the return in those moments? Oh, of course, they didn't have to bear the burden of knowing that your father was the man they were looking for under the name of Balinor, the man who had to go and save Camelot and then be executed for using magic for a common good.

Merlin waited a few seconds later, really thinking about leaving there and following the road to Ealdor. Each time it seemed to him that Hilda was less trustworthy. He didn't know why he prejudged a poor old woman like that, who had even been a Telvar's friend. But he couldn't stop thinking about what the woman said she knew and what she knew but wasn't saying, because Merlin knew she had hidden part of the story deep in her mind.

Hilda came interrupting Merlin's thoughts, who became stiff and tense to see that she brought a small packet of green silk decorated with golden filaments in her arms. It was bulging on several sides and looked dirty to be a seemingly pretty, expensive silk.

Hilda sat in front of him, on the other side of the window, and left the package on the table. He looked at him, and began to say:

"A few years ago, a hooded figure entered my house. It was midnight, and I slept peacefully when the noise of the figure made me lift up and I found it. Instead of scaring me or screaming, I asked him the reason for his arrival here. And so, without any words, he just warned me that one day Emrys, the Emrys himself from the druid tales and prophecies, would come back and come to my house and claim what he had just given me," pointed out the green silk package placed on the table with a head gesture. "A packet of silk is what he gave me. And with nothing more to promise me to give it to you, he left as he had gone. And, oh the impatient and the wait I have had to give for the day to come when you, Emrys, will come to my humble abode for the miserable purpose of knowing about this town's past and bringing a very dangerous locket. Ever since you came here, I knew there was something about you. Now I know who you really are. The time has come for you to open the package, which is why you came here, I suppose.

Merlin didn't understand exactly what was going on. Did he really come for the package? No, what nonsense, he had never heard anything like it in his entire life. He thought the woman was making a bad joke to him, so he looked at her suspiciously.

"What's inside?" asked Merlin with a fulminant look.

"I swear by my name that I have not opened the package or observed what was inside," she answered solemnly as if it was a peace treaty between two kingdoms.

Merlin didn't know what to think of it all. The woman didn't seem to lie about her story, but there was something Merlin didn't like. So, following his instinct, he got carried away by his impulses and slowly reached out to the package, and once he held it in his hands, he began to open it with trembling fingers. He felt something emanating from inside, like a river of crystal clear water that carried him to the stream and helped him. A feeling of the most abnormal, no doubt.

When he was finally able to unwrap the silk and gold filaments, he could see that a fire-colored object was lying on a yellow envelope and an untitled dark leather little book with what looked like dragon scales on the deck. The strange object appeared to be oval but irregular in shape, and that's when Merlin realized it looked like a stone or a mineral, but at the same time it didn't look like it. It was completely strange, and he was increasingly relying less on that gift and on Hilda, who seemed really curious about the contents of the package.

"What does this mean?" asked Merlin without hiding some mistrust and disdain. Luckily, Hilda didn't seem to notice and gave her an affectionate, sweet smile.

"I thought you, Emrys, would know," she said, but seeing Merlin's unsafe face, his smile slowly disappeared. "Or didn't you come for this?"

"No, I've never heard of it or come for it."

Hilda looked at him with a strange look, which seemed to try to decipher Merlin's mind. He looked down and pointed the yellowish envelope with his index finger.

"And what does it put there?"

Merlin looked more closely and was able to appreciate a fine, narrow blood-red script that read: for Emrys. Merlin frowned, intrigued. What did this mean?

"Hilda, who was the man who gave you this?"

Hilda looked at him as if she had asked her what her favorite animal was.

"I don't know, I couldn't see his face from the hood. Besides, it was night," she remarked as if that explained everything.

Then Merlin knew that this could not be good at all, but just when he thought of it, the species of stone shone like the same fire.

"I don't understand anything, so you're telling me that, not knowing who that man was, you trusted him to give me this?" asked Merlin looking at Hilda in pain.

Hilda didn't seem to say anything. In fact, she didn't look up or move a muscle. She had simply stared at the glow that that stone had shed. Merlin looked again at the stone and could see letters emerged as words written in flesh on the surface of the stone being read: follow my path.

Merlin definitely didn't understand anything. He was going to open the window and throw that cursed stone when Hilda grabbed his wrist again as she had done moments ago twice already.

"No!" she exclaimed in a powerful voice, and seeing that she had lifted her voice, hawked, and, lowering her voice and indicating the black notebook, said. "Read the book first."

Merlin looked at the woman, already with total distrust. He really hoped this wouldn't end badly or that Hilda would have done all this to take him down. Who knows, maybe she wasn't as holy as she appeared in her story. A young woman with an impossible love. Yes, sure...

Merlin looked down at the black leather book, resembling dragon flakes, with no title or cover. He hesitated for a moment before reaching out and cautiously opening the book, fearing that at any moment a dagger would come out of the book.

The first impression he had was that it looked like a diary, not an informative textbook or anything like that. And the second thing that struck him was that it was written with calligraphy that he did not know, with sullen and clumsy strokes, without any flourish or curve. In fact, it looked more like runes than letters.

Merlin looked at Hilda as if she could find the answer on her face, but she only answered her gaze indicating with a head gesture the red stone that this time said:

"Follow me."

Off. What will happen? Who was the hooded figure? What did he want? How did he know about Emrys? Yes, I know, lots of things that aren't clear yet. But you see that little by little the things are being revealed. And you will see that in the end all will be connected and related. I have already the story, so all is planned, don't despair!

Well, what do you think about it? You can tell me what you think, also the bad things, so I could improve.

Thank you so much for all the people who are reading this!

I hoped you like it and see you next time.

Next Chapter: Morgana's perspective. Where is Merlin going? The depths of the Cursed Town.

LegolasHV