Hey guys! Thank you for the reviews (mersan123, www) and for the new follows and favorites!

An important note, okay? The next update will be SLOW. I'm on a vacation and am spending time with my family. They're sleeping now so I finished this chapter. It's almost morning here and I haven't slept a bit, you know? I would probably get an hour before me and my family go out partying tomorrow.

I'm damn tired! Next update on 1st Feb or 2nd Feb.

Words: 2786

6. Caves of Peril

It was wrong and he knew that because Arthur wasn't at fault. The problem entirely lied within him. Merlin woke up with a clear mind after having slept like a log only to be pleasantly woken up by bird songs and faint rays of a dewy morning Sun. Only when his eyes fell on an equally peaceful sleeping figure beside him did the events of the previous night come crashing down unto him. And the realization that he confessed to Arthur left him as red as a cherry fruit.

No, he wouldn't look at Arthur! No matter what, he wouldn't! Let Arthur stare at him like he was some unknown reptile; he wouldn't care, not after yesterday.

So, Merlin avoided Arthur like plague and tension rose and enveloped them like a thick blanket on a winter night. Even Guinevere and the Knights could feel that something happened between the Prince and his manservant.

"Merlin," Arthur called out for his servant in his usual drawl that he only used on Merlin's name, though reflexively.

"Gwen, could you check on Arthur and tell him that I'm busy folding sheets and cooking breakfast at the same time?" Merlin rushed his speech which resulted in him ending his sentence in a shrill squeak.

He cleared his voice.

"Are you all right? Did you fight with Arthur?" there was this glint in her eyes that spoke volumes, as if she knew what transpired between him and the Prince.

"I'm too busy to indulge in Arthur's tantrums right now," Merlin chuckled as he beat a blanket in the air to remove dust and dried leaves from it.

"Merlin!" Arthur screamed.

"Please, will you?" Merlin smiled and Gwen returned his gesture.

This time, he really had no purpose to call for his manservant. He just wanted Merlin to look at him in the eye and talk to him. Yesterday, it wasn't supposed to go down like that. He had known Merlin's feelings for him since ages; the boy was practically a human puppy who loitered around Arthur for no particular reason. Despite the knowledge of his feelings, Arthur really did try to overlook and ignore Merlin's not so subtle advances. He wouldn't call them advances per se because Merlin wasn't an attention seeker. Not even in his dreams would he think of harming his friendship with Gwen or with Arthur. He was probably trying to get his fill while he still could and Arthur wouldn't blame the man for it.

"Did something happen between you and Merlin?" Guinevere asked Arthur hurriedly.

"No, why would you think that?" his question only raised suspicion in Gwen.

"Why? Because Merlin's not looking at you and is obviously avoiding you, isn't he?" Gwen declared.

For that, Arthur had no answer, not to Gwen. Merlin was doing his chores, like usual – packing everyone's strewn out stuff, untying the horses, saddling them properly, bantering with Sir Leon occasionally… He had to do something or else the awkwardness between them would only keep growing and Arthur didn't want to lose the truest friend he'd ever had in his life, not because of a love he could neither appreciate nor give.

"Excuse me for a moment, Guinevere," he said and walked towards Merlin.

Merlin didn't observe the Prince walking towards him as he was trying to saddle one of the horses, quite clumsily. Arthur only stopped when he was merely a few inches from Merlin's body.

"Merlin," his voice was chastising.

"Arthur!" Merlin exclaimed in shock and dropped the saddle which was supposed to fall on the ground but fell on Merlin's foot instead.

"Ow!" he groaned and jumped in the air, clutching his hurt foot, causing him to fall back on Arthur.

"You clumsy idiot!" Arthur chided as he tried to steady his manservant by holding onto his upper arms. "Can't you do one thing right?!"

"Well, if you hadn't pulled a sneak attack on me, I would've been fine, you clotpole!" Merlin growled.

They were too close for comfort. Merlin's body was on fire, being so close to the man of his dreams. He'd give anything in the world to stay just like that, warm in Arthur's embrace. This was how Gwen felt when Arthur embosomed her, Merlin thought. If only a few moments, if only a few touches, Merlin would give up anything for that. He relaxed as the pain in his foot subsided.

"You can let me go now," Merlin squeaked.

Apparently, his squeak helped Arthur notice their closeness and he released him gently, not to seem suspicious.

"Breakfast?" Arthur asked just to diffuse the awkwardness that settled between them.

"It's ready Sire. I'll bring you your plate," Merlin squeezed past the Prince.

Their horses seemed tired. It would be expected because they'd been traveling in pairs on their poor horses and their destination seemed no closer than before. The Caves of Peril were indeed as mysterious as they heard. Midday Sun glared at them despite the chill of the forest winds.

"To me now, this quest seems quite useless and fruitless," Arthur casually remarked to Merlin.

In his mind, he directed that statement at Merlin but its recipients, apart from his manservant, were Gwen, who rode with Arthur, and Sir Leon, who rode with Merlin.

"We can turn back now, if you wish," Merlin suggested.

"You're such a coward, Merlin," Arthur said without spite.

"Prat," Merlin mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that!" Arthur glared at his manservant while the latter just smirked in response.

Their exchange abruptly ended, not because they didn't have anything to say but because of a black mist that flowed in wisps towards and around them.

"What's that?" Sir Leon questioned aloud as he drew out his sword.

Following his action, the other knights and army men, including Arthur, Merlin, and Gwen, unsheathed their swords.

"Be alert, everyone. We're dealing with sorcery and I must remind you once again to not enter the caves if wish for yourself to not turn into a pile of ash," Arthur announced his warning to his men.

"Yes, Sire!" everyone replied in unison and on they marched.

The black mist turned into dark greyish clouds as they moved forth. The earlier glare of the Sun wasn't penetrating these clouds, whatever they are, and Arthur supposed that they might be the result of some sorcery if they're so successfully defying the forces of Nature. The Camelot men were now enveloped in a pool of dark greyish clouds and black mist, making it harder for them to see the path.

"Should we stop and go back now, Arthur?" Merlin asked, not even trying to hide the terror in his voice.

"Be a man, Merlin," Arthur chided though deep down in his heart, he was more scared than he ever was. Only his duty as the Crown Prince of Camelot kept him from turning back and galloping away to the safety of his royal room.

"I think you should listen to Merlin for once, turn back and save your men's lives for once, Arthur," Gwen whispered so that only the Prince could ear. It would be wrong and a grave mistake to defy her would-be man amongst his loyal men.

"I cannot, Guinevere. This is my duty and I cannot forsake it," Arthur said through his clenched teeth.

A low eerie hum mantled them and involuntarily, all of them sat up, straightening their backs in anticipation of what, they didn't know, neither could they guess. Arthur was absolute in thinking that this was the work of the lately infamous sorcerers of the Caves of Peril. Who else would create palls of black clouds when the Sun was shining, even if wasn't bright or hot enough? He also noticed that the temperature of their surroundings dropped low and he could literally see his breath in small fumes when he exhaled.

"It's the sorcerers, right?" Sir Leon queried.

"I think so. We must be wary now that we are in their territory. We must not lose to this magic," Arthur said with conviction.

Merlin sat unusually quiet throughout their entire exchange. To say he was terrified would just be an understatement of what he's feeling while sitting behind the tough and brave Sir Knight Leon. If only he understood when Kilgharrah had told him about the dangers of the quest they so blindly partook in, he would've tried convincing Arthur to turn back. Witnessing the darkness now is terrifying him down to his last bones. And there was this other thing he's feeling, as if his magic was shifting to places unknown. It flowed through his veins and burned his insides, leaving him to whimper in pain at times, which Arthur and Sir Leon mistook for pusillanimity. One particular moment, he felt a crawl inside his head and he groaned aloud, unable to withstand the pain any longer, with his head held gingerly in his sword clad hands.

"Would you please shut up, Merlin?" Arthur snapped before tilting his head to look at a delirious looking Merlin.

"Merlin? Merlin?!" Arthur called but Merlin couldn't seem to hear the Prince anymore.

This worried Arthur a lot more than the others because his men didn't seem to know Merlin as well as his Knights did. Arthur only trained his Knights personally and not his army so only they knew the puppy that tagged along with him everywhere.

"He looks gravely ill, Sire," Sir Vidor spoke from the second group.

Traveling at the back of a pack came with cons as well as pros. He'd been observing the boy since the black mist impaled over their group and he didn't look good at all. Round and round he went like a rotating mace and Sir Vidor feared the boy's situation more than facing their enemies.

"Yes, he certainly does," Arthur directed it at Sir Vidor but his attention was on a nearly unconscious and fazed Merlin.

"Merlin, can you hear me?" Arthur stopped trotting his horse and the rest followed.

Merlin, on the other hand, could hear nothing except the low hum. It grew louder and louder in his ears and he tried shaking it off in vain to the point where it became unbearable.

"Please, make it stop," he cried and tears rolled down his cheeks in fat rivulets.

His sword fell to the forest floor in a dry thud, cutting a few grass blades as it fell. Merlin's hands moved to his ears as he tried to stop the devilish ringing that invaded his hearing canals. He started scratching at his ears, plucking them, trying futilely to make that queer sound stop.

"Leon, the fool's hurting himself! Hold his arms!" Arthur ordered the Knight and bent down towards Guinevere. "Guinevere, would you mind if I exchanged places with Sir Leon here?" Arthur asked, gently rubbing her upper arms in a gesture of love and a plea of understanding.

Gwen hesitated for the briefest of moments. There were a few matters she wished to discuss with Arthur and his manservant but this was not the time. Whatever she heard the night before, wasn't of concern or import now. She could discuss it later if they made it out alive at the end of this suicide mission. Besides, Merlin, despite his love for Arthur and jealousy towards her for securing Arthur's love, had always helped her when she needed support. He could've just said no but he never did. He never let his reins of jealousy and want for Arthur pull him away from the friendship she and he shared. So, it's time she returned the favor and helped Merlin. She nodded brusquely with a tight smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I will walk, Sire. It would be no problem," Sir Leon offered, embarrassed to sit on a horse behind the possible future Queen of Camelot. and mistaking her curt nod for refusal to share the ride with him.

Sir Leon was trying his best to pull Merlin's hands away from his ears, which were now reddish purple, with all the rough scratching Merlin inflicted on the poor flesh. His angle wasn't helping as he sat in front of Merlin but he was still trying. Merlin was just too stubborn to cooperate.

"No, Sir Knight! It would be my pleasure so please," Gwen said, noticing that Sir Leon had taken in her flickers of hesitation which wasn't directed at the Knight but at Merlin and Arthur.

"Please, stop!" Merlin's chants didn't subside and he shook his hands away from Sir Leon's loose grip and kept on pulling his ears. A short while later, Arthur slid on the horse behind him and Sir Leon settled himself respectfully behind Guinevere, apologizing for the situation.

"Merlin, you are hurting yourself," Arthur caught Merlin's wrists and pinned them down onto the saddle, in front of Merlin.

With no leverage, Merlin began to shake his head vigorously, trying to shake off the annoying hum, hitting Arthur's chin in the process.

"Merlin! Listen to me! Whatever you are going through, it is a hallucination. You must listen to me. Focus on my voice alone. Can you hear me? Merlin?" Arthur tried talking his manservant out of the false visions he was probably seeing in his head.

What Arthur and the others, including the warlock himself, didn't know was the Dark Magic was interfering with Merlin's innate magical abilities. All through his life, Merlin never faced an opponent stronger than him in levels of Magic. Even Nimueh was a low-magic being compared to Merlin. She might've practiced magic for years but Merlin's magic proved to be stronger than the one she had, her corrupted magic. This magic was as old as the Old Religion itself and was in form even before Kilgharrah was born. This magic was darker than the darkest night and stronger than the largest and sturdiest mountain of rock.

It clashed with the new magic that Merlin carried unwittingly into its unblemished territory. Since it was way stronger, it won over Merlin's weaker magic, trying to expel it, dispose of it. Merlin was fighting the darkness instinctively and losing. He desperately needed to open his eyes and take control of his human part instead of trying to fight the darkness with his magic. Only when Merlin embraced the human in him and bowed down to the Dark Magic would he live. Until he could figure out a way to use his magic, he must remain a human.

"Arthur? Please," he whined Arthur's name as he heard the Prince call out for him in the fog that clouded his insides, blood starting to flow out of his ears.

"Blood," Leon whispered in terror. "Arthur, there's blood in his ears!" he pointed out to an oblivious Arthur, who was solely concentrating on holding Merlin's hands down.

"We have to wake him up before it's too late, Arthur," as soon as Gwen finished her sentence, blood started to flow out of Merlin's nostrils in thin streams.

"Merlin, wake up now, you idiot!" Arthur's voice quavered uneasily as he shifted his arms and held Merlin's two thin wrists with his left palm and used his wet right nervous palm to slap Merlin hard.

As if their circumstances weren't bad enough, the black mist that shrouded them started to clear slowly. It was strange, the way the clouds parted because they weren't going anywhere. The clouds moved rapidly, a few to the left and a few to the right. When the mist stopped moving, the low light was more than enough for the men of Camelot to see four identical stone arches.

"Is that what I think it is?" Leon asked.

"I think so, Sir Knight," Gwen's eyes were transfixed on the dark beauty that was unraveled in front of their eyes.

The Caves looked dark on the inside. Not even a speck of light filtered in or out. The black mist and dark grey clouds surrounded the caves like ornaments. If it wasn't for the knowledge that the Caves only brought jeopardy, Gwen would admit the scene looked quite picturesque.

"The Caves of Peril," Arthur stated and his voice rustled around to his men, who tightened their grip on their swords, spears, and bows.

Merlin screamed gutturally.

That's it for this week, folks! Happy weekend!

DO REVIEW, PLEASE? I would love to read your thoughts! It will keep my writer spirit up!

Bye!

~ Wheezy.