Warning: This fiction contains spoilers for Season 5.
Tag: 5x08 - The Hollow Queen
An: And another one. Are you as impressed as me with how fast I'm churning theses out? Mind you, I can't say how good they are. Thanks for all of your encouraging comments. I'll try and respond to your reviews at some point, I just need to get this Welsh assignment out of the way. Anyway, all the usual stuff; no beta and no editing. Please enjoy and please review. I care about what you think.
The water was like a slap to the face. Most of it missed his mouth completely and trickled down his cheeks soothingly, although that could well have been the point.
Slowly, Merlin opened his eyes and caught sight of Daegal. His stomach clenched but he could do nothing to show his disgust, not when he could barely move. He struggled to control his mouth for a moment, then said, "You. You came back. Why?"
Another wave of pain hit, radiating throughout his whole body, so painful that he almost missed the boy's reply.
"I couldn't leave you to die."
"Too late."
Merlin swallowed down the bile in his throat. He knew of the poison Morgana had used, had heard Gaius speak of it. It acted fast and was immensely painful. Its victims could never save themselves because it was so painful and effective at immobilising them.
"No." Daegal shook his head. "I can help. You're a physician, you tell me what to do."
"There is nothing you can do," Merlin hissed, straining his neck.
"There must be a cure. Tell me the herbs and I'll find them."
Guilt was written over the boy's face. Merlin knew what that felt like; he would never forget poisoning Morgana, and even though Daegal hadn't actually given him the poison, he'd led him here. Daegal was as much to blame as anyone else.
Merlin concentrated on breathing and ignored him.
"Come on, what do we need?" Daegal insisted. His eyes were shining with extra moisture. His voice was beginning to crack.
Merlin wondered if it was worth this. Why was he refusing to help himself? What was the worse that could happen - death? That was inevitable anyway.
"Rue," he said hoarsely. "It's got yellow flowers-"
"And feathery leaves." Daegal nodded in recognition.
"Millfoil*. Ground into a tincture."
Daegal hurried of as fast as he could to find the herbs Merlin had mentioned and the latter rested his head on the rock where he had landed, exhausted. He had underestimated just how much energy talking would use.
"Hurry," he whispered to no one. The poison wouldn't take much longer to complete its task.
He closed his eyes. Right now, there was nothing he could do but wait.
.
It could have been an age later when Daegal returned for all Merlin knew. It was getting harder and harder to breathe and he concentrated simply on the one task.
In. Out. In Out.
Then Daegal was holding his head in one hard and raising a cup made out of leaves to his lips with the other. Merlin drank what little he could, forcing it away when his stomach started to rebel and he started to cough. Daegal hurriedly offered his water skin but Merlin pushed that away too. If there was any chance for him to survive, then he couldn't let anything interfere with the antidote.
It would be painful, he knew. Gaius had explained this part in detail, telling him how most victims of the poison were given the antidote but couldn't survive it.
Merlin hesitated, then grabbed Daegal's hand and held it to his chest. No matter who his company was, he didn't want to go through this alone. And if he was to die⦠well, he didn't want to do that alone either. It was just a shame it wasn't Arthur by his side.
Without warning, his body started to convulse. He was shaking all over the place but at the same time, he couldn't control it. His legs jerked, his jaw clenched. He was powerless.
The pain followed shortly after and if Merlin could have screamed, he would. His hips lifted off the ground completely in a movement completely against his own will, and oh god, why couldn't he speak, why couldn't he move, why wasn't anyone helping?
Briefly, he saw Daegal looking down at him, eyes wide and looking terrified. His hand was still on Merlin's chest.
You're not alone, he told himself. Come on, Merlin, you're not alone.
The pain spiked, worse than ever as if someone had placed a branding iron on his skin. It was the worst pain he had ever felt and it wasn't stopping. Honest to god, Earth shattering pain, and, oh god, he was going to die because there was no way any human could survive this.
He passed out.
.
The first thing Merlin noticed when he woke was that it was dark. He raised his head slightly and peered around, noting in wonder how his body was responsive to his will and how it barely even hurt.
"You're alive," Daegal said in amazement, the relief evident in his tone.
Merlin raised a hand to his forehead in disbelief. Because the boy was right and for a moment, he didn't care about the betrayal or Gwen's alliance with Morgana or how at that very moment the witch was probably thinking up a new plan to kill Arthur.
Merlin was alive, and for a single moment, that was all that mattered.
*I couldn't quite hear what herb Merlin said, so I wrote it down as closely as I could.
