Good morning! Today I bring Chapter 30. Merlin's perspective. Here will be lots of information and then the journey will continue. Well, I hope you like it.

I'm not own from Merlin.

Merlin dropped the knife he had held so angrily and dropped to the ground, dejected. He didn't understand what had just happened to him, but he knew wasn't himself. Everything had begun when he had sat on that throne of the temple… Then, all was blurred and confusing.

They walked the road through the depths directly to the exit. Along the way, Merlin intended to remember everything that had happened, as he did not accurately remember some things or had some gaps in the memory. The case with all this was that something within him had arisen. Something he had been waiting for ever since...

He tried not to get too confused or stressed about it in case he suddenly fell to the ground passed out. He felt weak. Very weak. On several occasions, Morgana and Hilda had to hold him and help him continue.

Occasionally, Hilda would cast concerned glances at him that he used to answer with a nod or a little smile to tell her that he was fine, even if that wasn't entirely true. The important thing was to get out of there, and if he had the opportunity to talk to Hilda alone it would be perfect because really his mind was all questions at the time.

They arrived at the cave where Kilgarrah had supposedly been a while ago, the Great Dragon, handcuffed as before in Camelot (before, he was now well flying free around the city). Merlin felt some pity at the thought that the dragon had spent many years locked up, but thinking about his age that he supposedly claimed he was, he thought that for him it should have been a blink.

Hilda showed Merlin there the symbol he had come to town for. And when he could observe the expression that was going through Hilda's face, giving her an older air than usual, Merlin understood that that symbol could mean nothing good.

And worse did it mean when he understood what that symbol was doing there. It was the symbol of the Wodrem, beings of fire and darkness.

It couldn't be...

Did that mean Balinor actually comes from those Wodrem? Or did someone just put it on him when they handed it over to Telvar? Then, whoever the person who gave Telvar to Balinor, he must have known the secret of the Wodrem...

That looked bad to worse.

They came out of the depths finding a surprise: it was getting dark. Have they spent so much time there locked inside the depths? They were supposed to get to Ealdor that day, and in the end, they had entertained themselves in the depths. Merlin thought of Arthur and Gwen, who did not know where they had gone, but apparently, Morgana read his mind, for after reaching the main street, she walked away after saying that she had to warn them of their arrival.

It couldn't have been better for Merlin.

They arrived at Hilda's house with an orange sky. Hilda seemed nervous, prone to throwing and dropping things out of her hands and bumping into people along the way. That was not normal in Hilda, who seemed always confident and determined of herself.

When they arrived at his room where two envelopes, one yellowish and one white, and the black notebook were still on top of the silk. Hilda invited Merlin to sit down. The boy obeyed as he looked strangely at what was on the table as if he had not seen them before.

Hilda headed out of the room, and Merlin took advantage of that moment so that he could gossip at the yellowish envelope, which was in a way his, but felt he should not read it. He disobeyed what his mind indicated and followed what his heart and soul asked of it.

Merlin carefully read the letter of the yellowish envelope, and as he advanced, more confused and stranged he was. Was that letter for him? He read how the person who gave him that claimed to know who he was and invited him to join him. At the end of the letter, the symbol of the Black Crow was appreciated. Just by looking at it for a thousandth of a second, Merlin wrinkled the letter tightly and left it on the table.

He went to get out of the chair to look for Hilda when he warned by the corner of the eye the other envelope. He took the letter and let himself be carried away by the desire, curiously reading what it was written. But he couldn't get too much, as it was reading two lines when Hilda came back with a giant book on her arm.

Merlin raised his head and, seeing Hilda's expression, instead of apologizing, said:

"Whose two cards are these, Hilda?"

Hilda left the book on the table, in whose title Merlin could read: "Art of Healing; how to heal with magic."

"No one," she answered dryly, taking both cards with overwhelming force, and turning around without looking into Merlin's eyes

"Can I at least know who gave you all these "gifts" for me? Well, apparently, he didn't exactly plan to help me," Merlin asked, starting to distrust Hilda.

Hilda turned slowly, even with the letters in her hand, and, without looking him in the face, replied:

"It was Sigan. Cornelius Sigan. I think he was the hooded man who was at my house that night."

Hilda looked hurt, almost sorry.

"Cornelius Sigan? Wasn't he Telvar's friend?"

"That's right."

"Was he the one who made me go to the depths of the town?"

"Indeed."

"And for what reason?"

Hilda took a few seconds to respond, in which she looked out the window at the orange sky hopelessly.

"I think, if you've already read the letter, you'll know."

Merlin nodded.

"To lift him up again."

"And for you to join him," Hilda added. For the first time, Merlin could see the pain and worry in the brightness of the old woman's eyes. "You know what, Emrys? You are, and I don't think I'm the one telling you for the first time, the most powerful magician in the World. You'll see in time that people will try, so to speak, to conquer you and get you to come to them. And more now, that you're still young and, if I may say so, with little experience. Experience is the key to wisdom. Without it, nothing could be known. No matter how many books you've read, a boy will never know the same thing as an old man, no matter how illiterate the old man is.

"So you're saying that Sigan tried to brainwash me since I am young?"

Hilda looked him in the eyes and smiled faintly fondly.

"Something like that" Hilda looked down in pain and, looking at the window again, said: "This was all a plan from Sigan, I would say. He was who made all these. He knew one day you will come. Also, he knew about the Wodrem, since he went into the depths and God knows what he did there. Bad times are coming…"

"But you eliminated Sigan's Shadow, didn't you?"

Hilda looked at Merlin with a painful look.

"No, I just expel him out from there"

Hilda sat down as saying that, looking at the window.

"And where is he now?" asked Merlin with a broken voice.

"I don't know exactly. I think he is still there, waiting for the moment. You have to be careful, Emrys, I think he will go for you."

Merlin nodded, not knowing if say something. The old woman left the cards on the table, and after that, a long silence flooded the room. Merlín looked at the other envelope.

"And the other?" asked Merlin, indicating with a head gesture to the other letter that he had not yet finished reading.

Hilda looked at the letter and after looking at it wistfully, she replied:

"From Telvar."

Then Merlin understood and knew he shouldn't insist anymore. That said it all.

An uncomfortable silence prolonged in which Merlin could only feel coupled, as Hilda's eyes began to moisten. Fortunately, it didn't last that long and Hilda looked him in the eyes with the silhouette of a question that seemed to eat away at her tongue.

"Did you have a father?"

Merlin looked at her strangely, overwhelmed by such a sudden question.

"Yes."

"Did Sigan know him?"

Merlin took a while to respond, weighing the subject. It was true now that he was thinking about it. The spirit of Sigan had commented that his father had been there, in the same place. What did that mean?

"If so, I did not know. In fact, I don't know much about my father."

"Is that why you came here?"

Merlin looked back at Hilda.

"Well, Telvar instructed me to come here to talk to you."

"Why exactly?"

"I suppose because of the locket. Speaking of which, where is it?" Merlin suddenly asked nervously after seeing that there was no trace anywhere of the locket.

"You took it to the depths with the red stone."

Merlin took his hand into his jacket pocket and sighed with relief as he found it there. He lifted it up and observed the stone with the symbol curiously.

"So this is the symbol of Wodrem..."

"Where did Telvar find it?" asked Hilda.

Merlin hesitated whether to tell her the truth, lie or say nothing. He chose to tell the truth.

"He found it from my father."

"What?" asked Hilda missed.

"As you hear. Telvar found a newborn in the woods with this locket around his neck. That newborn was my father."

Hilda looked at Merlin with an indecipherable expression, between surprised and overwhelmed at the same time.

"What was your father's name?"

"Balinor."

Hilda glanced at Merlin with a gaze that the boy had never seen in anyone, a sinister and sharp look.

"I know who Balinor is."

And that's it. It will be a second part, knowing more about Balinor. And then, the night will come... And the trip to Ealdor will begin.

I really hope you liked it and, as always, you can tell me what is bad, what would you like to have, if you like it how it's going or not... I will be really grateful.

Thank you to all the people who are reading the story!

LegolasHV