Merlin stumbled into the TARDIS, slightly worn out by the workout he had received. He had never expected to get into a sword fight again, but was grateful he had been practicing with the immense amount of spare time he possessed. That guard had been trained well, but was a novice when it came to open combat, where you had to improvise to survive.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" the Doctor asked incredulously as they entered into the confines of the control room. Gilbert fluttered down to meet them, perching upon the Doctor's shoulder.
"I hung around King Arthur himself for fifteen years," answered Merlin as he stretched his arms out, "and he was famed for being the best warrior in all of Albion. I was bound to pick some things up, despite how uncoordinated I was in my youth. And plus, remember. Two thousand years. Enough free time to fill up three lifetimes." The Doctor nodded.
"And your pockets?"
"Magic."
"Ah, of course. Is it like my TARDIS? You know, does it work the same?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, are they bigger on the inside, or…?"
"No, little naked fairy people live inside them and disassemble things to the molecular level, then reassemble them again when I need them." Merlin twisted his back, eliciting a few satisfying pops from his spine. The Doctor looked utterly bewildered at Merlin's statement. "I'm joking, turniphead."
"Your sense of humor is very strange," the Doctor remarked.
"Thanks," Merlin intoned sarcastically.
"It's all right. Nothing but a work in progress," the Doctor reassured, pulling controls. "But we have to get back to your present time to test this bringing people back from the dead thing."
"All right, get on with it, then."
The Doctor nodded, pulled a final lever, and the TARDIS was off yet again, hopefully to the right location this time around. They whirld chaotically for a few minutes, before touching down with something sounding like a splash. Wind whistled through the crack in the doors, bringing a fresh, cool scent mixed with flowers with it.
"I think we're in the right place," the Doctor thought aloud, pushing open the doors. They both peered through, and to their relief, the Doctor hit his target with precision. The weather outside was similar, rather gloomy and cold, and the same departing sparrows chirped in the trees. Melin and the Doctor looked to each other, determination evident in both of them.
Merlin hoped very much to have Arthur back, no matter the means, and if this thing worked, he could bring anyone back from the dead. Anyone at all. The implications of that were enormous, and the very thought of it sent his heart pounding rapidly.
"All right, just to be clear, have you done this before?" the Doctor asked as he reviewed his equations.
"Er, I've tried," murmerered Merlin.
"What? With who?"
"A woman that meant a great deal to me," answered Merlin, a bit louder.
"What? Freya?" Merlin nodded. The Doctor sighed. "Let me guess, it didn't work." Merlin nodded once more. "That's all right. We know, more or less, how to do it now. If this works, you can bring her back for sure this time." Merlin remained mute. The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder, and read over his equations once more.
"So how are we going to do this?" Merlin asked, in an effort to break the tensions he unwittingly placed into the situation.
"All right, so I trust you have a spell in mind," the Doctor waited for Merlin's affirmation, "so, I'm going to hook up the TARDIS core to you," the Doctor winced as he took up a needle, "let me say, it's not going to be a walk in the park." Merlin eyed the thing, which was almost six inches long, and swallowed the knot that began to form in his throat.
"What're you talking about?" he laughed weakly, "this'll be fun." The Doctor looked at the needle, then back at Merlin.
"You should be fine," he decided. "Well, anyway, I'm going to hook up the TARDIS, then you just, you know, do your thing." The Doctor gestured toward his eyes. "The power will be relayed directly into your nervous system, so you should be able to draw upon it easily. It might supercharge your abilities for a short time, though."
"Like one of those power-ups in a Mario game?" Merlin asked, thinking about the endless games he was challenged to by his younger patients.
"Oh, brilliant games, those ones. I spent hours on this one level--"
"Doctor. If you would please concentrate," Merlin reprimanded.
"Of course, sorry, but yes. Exactly like that." Merlin nodded, eyes still glued to the needle.
"Sorry, but where exactly are you going to stick that?" Merlin asked nervously.
"Oh, just up your arm, nowhere dangerous." The Doctor tried for a reassuring tone, but Merlin's anxiety refused to abate. He was reminded of the countless times he was charged with administering flu shots to patients. Most people screamed their heads off, or winced in extreme pain, and that needle barely cleared two inches. The Doctor gestured toward a chair, in which Merlin sat, while he connected the needle to something in the nether regions of the TARDIS. After a few moments of metal clanging and steam hissing, the Doctor popped up from underneath, soot smeared across his nose.
"If you would please," the Doctor pressed, nodding at his arm. Merlin took in a breath, then stretched it forward. The needle was glowing slightly now, with the orangish energy that the TARDIS. The Doctor met Merlin's fearful gaze, nodded once, then pushed the needle into his arm. The pain from the needle was immediate, but worsened as it plunged deeper into his arm. When the base of the needle met the skin of his arm, the Doctor flipped a switch on the console, and energy began to whisper up the wires, and directly into Merlin. The energy burned, and Merlin squeezed his eye shut, clenching his teeth as the white-hot energy traveled throughout his body. His veins lit up with orange and white, and continued to course through him with every beat of his heart. Before Merlin could take no more, the pain reached a peak, and stayed. His body was now channeling the energy, transferring it from the needle, through his body, back through the needle, and into the TARDIS.
Merlin let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and stood. The energy smarted a bit, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He met the Doctor's concerned stare, and nodded reassurance. He made his way slowly out the door, and onto the banks of the lake. A cold breeze greeted him, soothing his burning body, and bringing back his focus. As he stared out at that spire he had gazed at for years on end, he reflected on what he was about to do. A bit of unease began in his stomach as he considered the implications, the amount of energy it would take to bring just one soul back from whatever was beyond this mortal existence, and he faltered. But what here did he have to lose, he wondered. What would possible miss him if this went awry?
This thought steeled his determination as he raised his hand out over the water and began his incantation.
"Hlystan me, unlifiende feorhhord, bera stellan me. ymbhwyrf hrædlic innan bêga sweltendlic môdgemynd. twihynde æfterlic wyrd yfel cweðan êower, weargbræde ôðer hlîet êow rif. steppan stælan tôhwon, ðêos sweltendlic folde, lôca in ræfnan swilce fæge fey," he intoned, and the entire lake began to steam, "eftsîð âîeðan sê sêað ongenæman hwanon êow fell, climban siððon inne dôð besengan. attraction with pron ðe ic healsian êow, dêadlic ferhð, underfôn ðætte ôðer wif, by reason of fullfremman unfyrn," his voice rose to a shout as a whirlpool formed out in the center of the lake, "bæclinga! bæc! hinderling ongeniman duguð ðêostorfulnes, ðanon unnan an ðone as cealdnes," he spread his arms wide as his body, his eyes, and the water burned as one, "stîgan ongenæman sê lêgelêoht! wuton of wîtan lungre æthebban ðêos morðor ðanc! stîgan settan duguð worulddêad attraction with pron ðe ic cirman êow!"
A mighty roar had started in the middle of the churning water, and that was all there was before a wave of things emerged. It was all a blur of darkness, but Merlin could pick out evil eyes, menacing fangs, foreboding claws. Unearthly shrieks rose as living shadows swirled out of the center, striking terror in its purest form into Merlin's very soul. He gazed up at the mass of evil, completely paralyzed, tears blurring the horrifying shapes as he realized he had condemned the people of this town to a death at the hands of forces belonging in the past. Creatures of such wicked dispositions, that they had been cast out of existence by the earth itself. Creatures that Merlin himself fought in his youth. Now returned.
"What have I done?" he whispered, and fell to his knees as darkness of hell consumed his vision, and his soul