A/N: I 'm sorry to keep you waiting, but uni and exams suck major monkey trumpets! But! Exam time is now over (WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) and I will have more time to update! Yay!

A *big* thank you to all who voted- it is very much appreciated ^_^

The verdict: Option A: He destroys the stone, eliminating the possible evil it holds

I do apologise if this isn't what you voted for, but majority rules here folks. Sorry.

I hope you all enjoy it anyway!


Merlin took one last look at the stone and frowned.

This thing is evil, he thought. I cannot possibly learn from this stone... it will only turn me against those I care about.

Merlin stretched his hand out in front of him; the stone nestled in the centre of his palm. He closed his eyes and muttered the spell he'd began to say earlier. His eyes snapped open.

In a flash of gold, the stone flew into the air and shattered with an almighty CRACK. Blood red shards and twisted pieces of metal shot everywhere. Merlin flung his arms in front of his face, barking more magical commands to protect him from injury.

When he lowered his arms, he saw no debris. He frowned and began to search for any shattered remains of the stone. Merlin was on his hands and knees, looking underneath his bed, and his eye had been drawn to something glinting in the firelight, when the door to his bedroom burst open.

"Merlin!"

The young warlock scurried out from underneath his bed to look at Gaius, with what he hoped was an innocent expression on his face. "... What?"

"Don't look at me like that. What have you been doing?"

Merlin shook his head. "Nothing."

"You are a terrible liar, Merlin," Gaius sighed. He fixed Merlin with an icy glare. "What was that noise?"

"What noise?"

The look that was being bored into Merlins eyes intensified. "I may be old, but I am not stupid," Gaius said testily, "and I am certainly not deaf! What happened?"

Merlin sighed. He didn't want to worry Gaius by telling him about the stone. "I... hit my head."

Gaius narrowed his eyes. "On what?"

Merlin glanced around. "The cupboard." He moved over to it and opened the door. He patted the underside of the open door. "I hit my head on this when I bent down to take my boots off."

Gaius looked at him and sighed. "I suppose your empty head magnified the noise?"

"Yes... wait, what?"

Gaius just smiled. "Keep the noise down Merlin. Goodnight."

"Night," Merlin said with a sheepish grin, as Gaius closed the door and made his way down stairs.

Merlin sighed. He knew Gaius realised that he'd caused the racket with magic, but was thankful that he didn't enquire about it.

He got back onto his hands and knees and looked under his bed. The object that had caught his attention earlier was the claw that had been wrapped around the middle of the stone. He hesitated before reaching out and picking it up.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he examined the twisted piece of metal in his hand. The inscription had been badly damaged; deep gouges ran though the incantation that had caused Merlin to witness the visions of death.

At least no-one else will be able to read it now and suffer from terrible apparitions, he thought, turning it over in his hands.

He threw it into a bucket in the corner of his room, thinking that he'd throw it away when he woke in the morning; it would look too suspicious if he left to dispose of it now.

He got ready for bed and slipped under the covers. Looking up at the ceiling, he thought of the images he'd been shown by the stone.

I did the right thing, he thought sleepily, turning over and closing his eyes. That stone was nothing but trouble.


Merlin found himself walking through an unfamiliar forest. He had no recollection of how he came to be here. He felt uneasy, but he didn't know why.

His footfalls made no sound as he walked through the trees, aimlessly wandering.

Something behind him made him freeze on the spot. A twig had snapped. It couldn't have been him; his feet were making no noise. Merlin strained to hear more. But there were no sounds. No birds chirping. No wind rustling the leaves over head.

Nothing.

So he continued walking. But as soon as he'd lifted his foot off the ground, he stopped again. This time, he had felt rather than heard; he was being followed.

He whipped around to confront his stalker, but saw no-one. Merlin frowned.

I know you're here... Come and face me.

"I know you're here!" He called. There was no answer, except that of his echo; his own voice ringing in his ears. "Show yourself!" Again, there was no answer. Merlin waited.

Suddenly, he felt someone grab him from behind and wrap themselves around his arms and body. He struggled, trying to throw off his attacker. Looking down, he saw that he was being bound by a metal claw.

"No!" He cried, thrashing against the metal. "Let me go!"

The claw began squeezing, reducing the space in which Merlin was able to move. He was struggling to breathe. His mind was going numb and his vision was growing dark, but he couldn't give up.

He thrashed and bucked, twisted and turned; did all he could to break free.

Merlin gasped and sat up. He was in his bed, not the forest, and his arms were not bound by a large, metal claw. He lay back down and tried to slow down his breathing. Then something moved near the door.

Merlin stared and tried to stay as still as possible as he watched. A figure materialised out of the shadow; it was dark and looked to be human in shape, but there was no way to be sure.

The figure pointed what seemed to be a hand at Merlin, and muttered something incoherent, before disappearing in a whirlwind of magic.

Merlin sat up slowly and tried to figure out what had just happened. Had they come for the stone? Or had they just come for him? Merlin was used to the fact that there were many different creatures, human and non-human alike, that wanted him, or Arthur, dead. But to have one appear in his bedroom out of no-where, was unnerving to say the least.

He rested his head back on the pillow, closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep. Not an easy thing to do with images of death and shadowy figures racing across your mind like stampeding horses.


"I will be back as soon as I have secured the outlying regions father."

"I wish you a safe journey, my son."

Arthur was taking a group of Camelots finest Knights to assess a disturbance in one of the outlying villages; word had been brought to Camelot of bandits taking innocent women for their own warped pleasures.

Merlin watched as the Prince rode through the courtyard and out of sight.

"Don't think that you'll be getting ant time off."

Merlin looked round and saw Gaius. "I wouldn't think that you'd ease up on me for a moment," he said to the old physician with a grin.

"Good," Gaius said, grinning back, "because I would like you to pick some mushrooms and vegetables for me."

Merlin frowned. "What kind of remedy needs vegetables?"

"It's not for any remedy, Merlin. It's for our lunch."

"Oh, right."

Ten minutes later, Merlin was on the outskirts of the forest that surrounds Camelot, searching for edible fungi and root vegetables.

The basket he was carrying was about half full, when an all too familiar feeling of foreboding came over him; the same one he had had in his dream.

He had remembered his dream when he woke up that morning, not to mention the figure that had appeared to him, but he chose not to dwell. He had promptly grabbed the claw from the bucket and stuffed it into his pocket. Once he had reached the privacy of the forest, he had dug a shallow trench and buried the claw. Any feelings of unease had disappeared as he covered the piece of metal with dirt.

But now the hairs on the back of his neck were on edge and his heart was beating wildly in his chest. He felt as though he was being watched. Placing the basket slowly onto the ground, he casually turned his head to survey the area.

He had expected to see nothing, his feeling of unease merely an after effect of such a vivid dream. But he saw a cloaked figure through the trees, which looked as though it had been walking away from the gates of Camelot.

The figure from last night!

Merlin found himself, no longer anxious, but seething with fury. They had violated his privacy and he wanted to know why. He started to move after them, intent on gaining the answers that he sought, but stopped himself.

If I go barging over to them, he thought quickly, I could get hurt. Who knows how strong they are? To be able to either scale the smooth castle walls to get into my bedroom, or sneak through the castle undetected, they must have power. Be-it magical or physical... Maybe I should follow them. But I don't know where they're going- it could take them hours to reach their destination and Gaius will worry if I'm away too long.


YOU DECIDE!

What should Merlin do next?

Option A: He follows the figure, to find out what they're up to.

Option B: He confronts them about why they were in his bedroom.

Please vote for what you want to happen next! =)