This part turned out longer than I had anticipated... But I hope that's what you'd be hoping for! So, this is also the last part of episode 4. Me thinks Tyde will be a reoccurring character throughout the episodes. :) I'm trying to make him frightening, evil, but likable all at the same time. It's been kind of rough. Let me know what you think! Alright, so I hope to do the characters justice and please enjoy!
Episode 4: Mask of Chaos (Part Five)
After the meeting, it was noon, and Merlin quickly scurried away to Gaius, who was fixing potions in his home. Merlin quickly explained to Gaius what had happened.
"… And you're sure about this?" Gaius asked, leaning closer to Merlin from across their dining table.
Merlin nodded and then pressed his forehead against the table in distress.
"Have you told Arthur?"
Merlin picked his head up and replied, "No! How can I? This man is a knight, and of Lord Galway's court."
Gaius frowned. "You fear Arthur would not believe you?"
"Worse. I think he would. But what kind of position would that put him in? Lord Galway is an ally and one of the few allies Camelot has. What if that sets off a war between the two kingdoms?" Merlin could feel his chest tighten at the very thought.
Gaius tightened his lips to form a straight line, expressing deep thought behind his withered face. Merlin knew that this was a bad situation. What could he do?
"I have to take care of this myself," Merlin said after a pause, determined.
"That man is dangerous, my boy. You have said it yourself," Gaius replied, reaching out and holding one of Merlin's hand. "And you said he's only after sorcerers. Arthur is in no danger. Only you are."
Merlin shook his head. "If it were just me, maybe I would be able to ignore it. But you're a sorcerer, Gaius, and I cannot allow him to hurt you."
Gaius chuckled softly and patted Merlin's hand. "I hardly think this man believes me to be a threat, especially with you here."
"I don't know what his motives are, but I'm going to find out."
Gaius raised an eyebrow. "And how will you do that?"
"I'll do what I do best," Merlin said with a hint of a smile. "I'll sneak around."
XXX
Merlin made sure that Tyde was standing near Lord Galway before making his way to the guest quarters. Lord Galway and Arthur were deep in conversation about territories and whatnot in the courtroom with knights and servants around, showing Merlin that they weren't doing anything secretive. Well, Merlin was about to and all the distractions were beneficial to the sorcerer. Merlin took a right turn from the courtroom and found himself at the guest quarters immediately, only slightly worried that the two places were near each other.
Merlin became painfully aware that he had no idea which room Tyde was sleeping in. He wasn't even sure which spell to pull out of his abilities in order to find it. He could enhance his sense of smell and follow the man's scent, but something about that gave Merlin chills.
Wait. The mask. That yellow mask that just oozed magical power. For someone who hated sorcerers to wear that mask, Merlin assumed Tyde was quite a hypocritical man.
Merlin shut his eyes and concentrated, searching with magic to find a powerful artifact that he was sure was hidden in Tyde's room. The knight would surely go nowhere without it.
Merlin followed the trail and came upon a nondescript door. His eyes flashed gold when he muttered a quick spell to unlock the door. When he heard it unlatch, he looked back and forth before going inside. He shut the door as quietly and slowly as he could before taking in his surroundings of Tyde's room.
Immediately, Merlin noticed the lack of items Tyde had. There was the furniture that Camelot provided, but other than that, there was a simple pack underneath the bed. Merlin almost smiled; the obvious place to hide something is where Tyde chose to hide the mask, humanizing him. Merlin was certain the mask was in the bag, because it waved and flickered in Merlin's vision, dripping with magical power.
Merlin pulled the bag out from underneath the bed and placed it gingerly on a regal chair. Merlin swallowed deeply, his Adam's apple bobbing, and opened the pack. He saw something wrapped in a brown cloth and pulled it out. It was size and shape that Merlin recognized. He looked around him again, and listened for any footsteps, but after hearing none, he unwrapped the cloth quickly. Unsurprisingly, the yellow mask was staring back at Merlin with its unmistakable smile, despite the eye-holes looking sad.
Merlin, without thinking, grabbed the mask with his hand and immediately his body lit up in white, blinding pain.
Behind the pain, Merlin could hear his voice; strangled and trying to yell but keep it in at the same time. But even further behind his voice, he heard another voice. It was the mutterings of the mask, whispering into his head the ancient dialect Merlin knew little of, despite using it to cast magic. It was as if the mask were trying to communicate with him using a language Merlin only assumed was used to use spells. It was hard to concentrate with the pain, but emotions came pouring from the mask, sending Merlin's mind in a frenzy and made his world shake and shatter.
Only one word made it through to Merlin: Wilofral.
And that was when Merlin was able to drop the mask, releasing his body of the shock and pain. His knees buckled beneath him and his body dropped like a dead weight. He could not move any limbs to brace his fall, so his head collided dangerously on the ground with a thud and his vision went dark in some areas.
It took Merlin two moments to realize he could hardly move, hardly breathe. He struggled for air, coughing and sputtering for his lungs to give him what he needed to live. He combed through his head to try and find a spell, but could find none. In his panic, Merlin came up with another plan; send a message to Gaius through his head.
Merlin immediately tried, his eyes flashing gold, but he felt no message reach Gaius' mind. He was too far away and while panicking, Merlin couldn't concentrate enough to send a message that far.
The sorcerer then realized that Arthur was nearby, in the courtroom. He was too distracted to listen to his conscious telling him that involving Arthur would be a bad idea. He had made a vow to keep Arthur hidden from Tyde and figure it out himself. But Merlin couldn't breathe right and he felt his mind slipping away. He did not have a choice.
XXX
Arthur nodded and crossed his arms. "It seems we have an agreement, Lord Galway. We'll be equalizing our kingdom's price of wheat, as long as you hold up your end of the deal and allow my knights passage through your territory at all times."
Lord Galway smiled and replied, "That's excellent. My people would only buy wheat coming from your kingdom, so the value of our coin suffered. I thank you for your generosity, King Arthur." Lord Galway dipped his head forward and as he did so, the knight beside him bowed his entire body.
Arthur knew that being allowed full entry to Galway's territory would do wonders for the defense of Camelot, as well as offense, so he considered it a fair deal.
Arth… Arthur…
Arthur pulled his head up quickly with wide eyes. Did he just imagine that? Was someone calling his name?
"Is there something wrong?" Lord Galway asked. "More wine?" The lord gestured for one of Camelot's servants to bring wine, without waiting for Arthur to reply.
Arthur!
Arthur was able to keep his expression in check the second time around and kept a straight face as he took a bite out of the meat in front of him to show a false sense of calm to the Lord. Arthur thought he recognized the voice in his head.
Merlin? Arthur tried to answer in his thoughts, believing that it would not work.
H…elp… guest rooms…
Arthur cleared his throat and stood up slowly, removing the napkin tucked into the front of his tunic. "If you'll excuse me, Lord Galway."
The Lord smiled and waved at Arthur, "Of course! Be back soon, I have ideas about what kind of entertainment you'd enjoy after tonight's feast."
Arthur nodded and calmly made his way out of the courtroom, unaware of the two green eyes boring into his back. The very second after he turned the corner, he picked up his pace to a fast walk, allowing his heart to beat wildly at the strain in his manservant's voice. Luckily, the guest quarters were close to the courtroom, but he wasn't sure where Merlin was. In the hallway? In a room?
Merlin, where are you?
Arthur did not receive an answer. He looked around frantically, seeing a few servants walking normally up and down the wide hallway. If no one had seen him, Merlin was most likely in one of the rooms. They were all empty except for the visiting king and his knights, which were only a few rooms. He knew which one the Lord would be in, because it was the largest and most regal. So there were only a few options.
"Is there something the matter, sire?"
Arthur turned to see servant girl ask him. He replied quickly, "Do you have the keys to the guest rooms?"
She nodded.
"Let me have them."
The girl sensed the intensity in Arthur's voice and quickly unlatched them from her dress and handed them to Arthur. She thanked him and walked away quickly. Arthur immediately went to the Lord's door, unlocked it, and opened it. He ran inside and found no one. He checked in the closet and underneath the bed, but decided against rifling through the man's things.
Arthur left and locked the door from the outside. He then proceeded to the room right beside the King's room and unlocked the door, opening it. He realized instantly that Merlin was in this room, because he was met with the sound of gasping and struggling. He ran to the opposite side of the room, on the other end of the bed, and was met with Merlin who was lying on the floor; his arms were reaching for something, as if he were searching for something, and his legs were bending and unbending. The most fearful thing was Merlin's face and the noises that came from his mouth. His eyes were tightly shut and he sounded as if he were choking.
"Merlin," Arthur said absentmindedly and knelt beside his fallen manservant. His hands immediately went to each of Merlin's arms, steadying them and giving him something to hold.
Arthur wasn't sure of what to do. He could bring him to Gaius, but that was so far away and Merlin looked as if he could not take a breath in. The king recalled what his father's knights taught him when he was young; a method to get someone to breathe was to inflate their lungs and hit them in the chest, or something like that.
Arthur let go of Merlin's arms and laced his fingers together to create one, large fist. He raised it in the air and viciously brought it down upon Merlin's chest, not once, but three times. Arthur was certain it would leave a nasty bruise.
Arthur than inhaled deeply, holding the extra air in his mouth, pinched Merlin's nose, closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Merlin's. He realized immediately that Merlin's lips were frigid and panic gripped him, but he tried his best to ignore it and released the air he was holding into Merlin's mouth, inflating his lungs. He took in another gulp of air and filled Merlin's lungs with it, then proceeded to hit his chest three times.
"Come on, Merlin," Arthur muttered to himself between grunts. Arthur leaned over again, pressing his lips against Merlin's, and pushed air into him.
Merlin's breath suddenly hitched and Arthur pulled away to allow Merlin room for his coughing fit. Arthur watched in relief as his manservant rolled onto his stomach, propping his torso up with his elbows, and coughed and retched, getting air to enter his lungs without Arthur's help.
Arthur leaned back on his heels and ran a gloved hand through his blonde hair, trying to relax as Merlin regained his composure.
"Ar… Arthur…" Merlin stuttered as he sat upright and wiping his mouth.
"I don't know what the hell happened, you moron, but we need to get you to Gaius."
"N-No, I'm fine now."
Arthur almost laughed and threw his hands up in the air. "What are you saying? You were turning blue! You couldn't breathe!" Arthur paused and then added. "And didn't you ask for my help? You talked into my head."
Merlin looked away and stared at the floor, looking something akin to embarrassment. Arthur could not understand Merlin for the life of him. Arthur was almost getting angry at the sorcerer, because he knew something was wrong.
"What are you hiding from me?" Arthur asked, clearly sounding irritated. "Why are you in here?"
Merlin looked as if he were about to answer, but someone else's voice entered the conversation.
"I was about to ask the same thing, sire."
Arthur jumped to his feet to see the knight that was always by Lord Galway's side standing at the doorway. He had a hand cross over his chest to cover his heart and he bowed forward in respect.
"I'm sorry for the intrusion, but my Lord has dismissed me for the day and I am very tired. Might I ask what your servant was doing in my chambers?" the knight asked in an unreadable tone.
Arthur looked back at Merlin, who dared to remain on the floor, looking frightened. Why in the hell did he look frightened? Just what was he hiding? Even though Arthur was curious, he nudged Merlin with the back of his boot.
"Merlin," Arthur prodded, trying to get an answer out of him.
Merlin scrambled to his feet then, and finally revealed what he was thinking, "I was just straightening your room, sir knight."
Arthur almost rolled his eyes. "And there you have it. Made your bed and then proceeded to collapse."
The knight cocked his head to the side and feigned worry. "Collapse?"
"Just something he tends to do. No need to have concern for him," Arthur said, grabbing Merlin's shoulder and shoving him forward to walk. "Merlin will be cleaning out the stables now, so please have your rest."
The knight nodded and Arthur followed Merlin out the door and down the hallway.
Once they became the only two people in the corridor towards the clinic, Arthur spoke up.
"I haven't the faintest idea what happened back there, but," the king said, using a less harsh tone than before. He added in a quiet whisper, "… Does it have to do with magic?"
"No!" Was Merlin's very quick reply. "No, it was just as you said, sire. I just collapsed for some odd reason."
Arthur raised an eyebrow and said after a beat, "Be sure to let Gaius know."
They both arrived outside of the clinic and as Arthur continued down the stairs, he turned back and smiled at Merlin. "I wasn't joking about the stables."
To Arthur's relief, Merlin laughed a little in reply.
XXX
Merlin shut the door slowly once Arthur disappeared from his sights. Gaius looked up from his equipment and Merlin frowned before telling the old sorcerer what had happened.
"That is grave news, indeed," Gaius said, dabbing Merlin's forward with a cold, wet cloth. Merlin welcomed the chill, as his body felt incredibly hot.
"Which part of it?"
"Wilofral… I know of that name. And unfortunately, it is not a pleasant story."
Merlin took the cloth from Gaius' hand and placed it on the table in front of them. "What is it?"
Gaius shook his head slowly. "Not 'what', but 'who'."
Merlin didn't reply and just stared at Gaius, waiting for a more detailed explanation.
Gaius leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together, resting them on his stomach. "Wilofral was an ancient sorcerer, who lived hundreds of years ago, before magic became a taboo. It is said that he loathed sorcerers after his family was killed by one."
Merlin swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "How could he hate all sorcerers? He was one…" Merlin recalled how he used to feel about himself, being a sorcerer. He believed himself to be a monster.
Gaius nodded. "Yes, it is said that he grew to hate himself for being one. In his own way, he solved that by wearing a mask over his face and hiding from himself."
"But, this can't be true. You said he lived so long ago."
"I don't know, my boy. I don't know. But the stories seem to match."
Merlin looked away from Gaius and gazed at the faint sunlight that remained as twilight came upon them. Merlin wasn't sure what to do. Lord Galway would remain in the castle for at least another few days.
Merlin would just have to stay alive until then.
And that's the end of this episode! Just introducing the main storyline's baddie. :) So, I'll be starting a new episode next time. PM me if you have any ideas that you'd like to see make it on paper. It will take a tad bit longer to send out, because I haven't got any ideas yet! But I'm re-watching Merlin, so I'll probably get an idea soon. Have a nice day!