Merlin stood on the deck of the Sredgon, silently watching the rolling black waves of the sea and the equally stormy night sky, He was alone at the railing as Arthur and the knights were dining with the Captain, his daughter and the first mate. He himself had lost his appetite after Arthur had forced him to clean his armor, which had been recently dropped in horse droppings. A very unpleasant experience to say the least.

Spending time on a ship was actually a pleasant experience. The salty scent of the sea was different from the herbs of the physician's quarters, the mud from Arthur's armor and the general mix of smells from the every day palace life. It was quite simple here and surprisingly, he felt more free and closer to magic.

A harsh clap of thunder broke Merlin from his thoughts and he frowned, turning his view from the sea to the sky. It had been close, the sound following the lightening less that a minute later. It was too dark for him to be able to see how dangerous the storm was.

"A storm is coming." A voice said behind him and Merlin whirled to find Lucifer standing there.

"Is it going to be dangerous?" Merlin asked worriedly.

"I think it will be." Lucifer said. "I haven't seen a storm like this in years. It'll be a rough one tonight. You'd better go and warn your King and knights. Tell them to prepare themselves. It will hit us before half an hour."

Merlin nodded and moved away from the railing, his imagination soaring with images of the ship being thrown over the waves, people and items going everywhere. Suddenly the sea didn't seem so appealing.

HMOEBRBLIITN

Lucifer's words rang true as the full force of the raging storm was on them in fifteen minutes. The wind howled like an angry wolf, but it was itself barely heard above the fierce crashing of the waves and the harsh creaking of the ship. The Sredgon was busy with action as all those who were able to, kept the ship afloat and prepared. Even Arthur, who had never had much contact with ships before or had commanded one himself, was doing what he could. Using his strength to pull ropes, fasten loose objects and help with whatever.

Merlin had been ordered to stay inside the knight's cabin by Arthur, the knights joking that one step outside in this storm and he would be blown overboard. They were worried about him and he didn't want them to so he obeyed their orders, at least until they were busy and he could sneak out and work his magic. Quite literally.

He hadn't been outside for more than a minute before he was drenched and soaking wet. He did find however, that there was one advantage to this rain and noise. No one would possibly be able to hear him speak in the language of the Old Religion and the rain would help cover his glowing gold eyes.

Merlin found though that despite this advantage it was incredibly hard to look after everyone onboard the ship. His magic had to be subtle and discreet otherwise someone would recognize that another force was at play. There were going to be quite a few cuts, bruises and maybe a few broken bones after the storm was finished.

Waves crashed against the side of the ship with the force of four battling rams, causing it to tilt in the direction of the other side dangerously. Merlin unfortunately lost his balance and slid with the ship, scrabbling to get a good hold but it was extremely difficult with the wet floor. He smashed into someone's legs that thankfully didn't fall with him but when Merlin was helped up, he wished he'd kept sliding.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled to be heard over the storm. "What do you think you're doing? I thought I told you to stay inside!"

Merlin was forced to pause before answering as another wave splashed against the ship, hitting them both.

"I came out to help. I couldn't just sit there and wait." Merlin spluttered.

"No, I can't have my manservant thrown overboard because he disobeyed my orders. You might die and I need a half-decent servant." Arthur shouted, gripping a beam as the ship tilted again.

Merlin was about to answer before he noticed something that made his eyes widen in fear. Arthur frowned and followed his gaze to see a giant wave speeding towards them. If this one hit the boat then it was going go deep into the water, and not come back up.

"Merlin! Hold on!" Arthur yelled at the top of his voice.

Merlin half-ran, half-slid over to a beam and wrapped his arms around it. He looked back at Arthur and saw that he was screaming at others to get a hold, pointing to the wave that was about to hit them.

If they were going to survive this, any of them, they would need help. Instantly. Merlin wracked his memory for a powerful protection spell. Finally he grasped one, half-remembered and choked it out. Almost instantly a blue shield appeared around the ship but there were holes in it and it was relatively weak. Merlin was soaked, half-drowned and freezing cold and that affected his magic. There was nothing else he could do but wait for impact.

The gigantic wave hit the shield and the sheer force of it threw Merlin and he lost his grip on the beam only to be caught by Gwaine who was behind him. Water leaked through the holes but it did its job … for a few minutes.

Merlin's magic was pushed to its might, trying to keep most of the crushing wave at bay, before suddenly his magic gave, the shield disappeared and the remainder of the wave broke over the ship.

There was nothing else Merlin could do as a large wave hit him and he was thrown against something. Hard. He could feel his head cracked and reluctantly slipped into a deep, watery unconsciousness.