Title: Dark Magic

Authors: Cassy27
Words: 1507
Characters: Merlin, Arthur, Morgana, oc's
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Merlin, sadly enough!
Spoilers: No spoilers in this post

Beta: Fantasyy-Freak, thanks again for helping me out with this!

This story takes place somewhere in season 1

AN: thanks to those who took the time to review the previous chapter, that really means a lot!

I hope you enjoy this chapter as well and afterwards, let me know what you think about it...

Chapter 3

The longer Merlin was waiting in Arthur's chambers for his return, the more tired he felt. Gaius had warned him that a side-effect from the painkiller he had taken could be tiredness, but Merlin hadn't expected it to be this strong. And then he remembered his dreams from last night. He hadn't slept very well and he had even woken up with a sense that something was going to be different today. So maybe that was another reason why he felt so tired right now.

Shutting his eyes, Merlin felt how he drifted off into a sleep when he didn't even want to sleep. He needed to stay awake for when Arthur would return, he had chores to do and he couldn't afford to lose time. But he simply felt too tired and there was nothing he could do about it when falling asleep.

Darkness surrounded him and Merlin was aware if his surrounding even though he couldn't see any of it as the darkness was now completely black. A voice called out his name and even though it sounded distant, Merlin could feel the presence of the one calling out to him.

"Merlin."

"I'm here," Merlin said, surprised at how weak hi voice was. This wasn't a dream, this was a nightmare.

"Merlin!"

"I'm stuck," Merlin now yelled, but again, his voice wasn't anything more than a whisper.

"Wake up, Merlin!"

His body shook, a hand pulling his shoulder and suddenly light overflowed his mind and he forced his eyes open.

"Finally," Arthur said, rolling his eyes as he couldn't believe that Merlin had fallen asleep. He walked over to his bed and sat down.

"You were dreaming," Arthur said as he now laid his sword next to him, "you were mumbling things."

Merlin didn't answer and simply watched Arthur as he wondered what he had heard him say exactly.

"What?" Arthur asked, noticing how Merlin was looking at him.

"Did you find that man?" Merlin asked.

"No," Arthur answered before sighing, "don't worry, we'll catch him eventually. It's not like I'm not used to having people that want me dead."

"That's not funny," Merlin said, not believing how light Arthur was handling this.

"Merlin," Arthur said, a grin covering his face, "are you actually worried that something might happen to me?"

"What? No, of course not," Merlin said, jumping up from the chair now, "but you are the future king so all I'm saying is that it would be for the best if you watched your a back a little."

"Are you okay?" Arthur suddenly asked, concern now filling his voice and a light frown covering his face, "you seem...off and you even look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Merlin said, smiling faintly before leaving the room. He still felt tired and longed for his bed, but he couldn't believe that Arthur was worrying over him when he should be worrying for himself. A sorcerer was after him for crying out loud and yet, Arthur seemed at ease as if nothing could ever happen to him.

When arriving at his and Gaius' chambers, he noticed that Gaius wasn't there and Merlin decided to take advantage of that. Walking into his room, he let himself fall onto his bed and closed his eyes again. It surprised him how easy it was to fall asleep again. But soon he was surrounded by that darkness again, he felt lost once more, but this time, there was nobody to wake him up.

Still having worries on his mind, Arthur sat on his bed and watched the chair where only moments ago Merlin had been sitting in. He had seemed off, that much Arthur had noticed. But then again, Merlin wasn't used to much so maybe he was a little shocked by the fact that he had been shot. Arthur chuckled softly as he imagined Merlin's shocked face when he had pushed him down in that forest. He was such a wuss.

But that sorcerer seemed to have real hate inside of him, hate that was focused on him because of his father Uther. How was that fair anyway? Uther executes his daughter and he has to pay for it? But then again, losing a child can make you go insane; Arthur had seen it happen enough before.

"Arthur?"

Arthur jumped up from his bed as he hadn't heard Morgana enter his room. His heart had skipped a beat, but he wasn't going to let Morgana notice this. He took in a deep breath and smiled.

"Did I startle you?" Morgana asked, walking in further into the room.

"No," Arthur quickly answered, "of course not."

A smile crossed Morgana's face as well.

"I heard what happened," Morgana said, walking over to the window and gazing out onto the square where people where busy attending to their daily chores, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Morgana," Arthur said, rolling his eyes as he couldn't believe that even she was worried. First Merlin, now her. Who would be next?

"But I should have stopped him," Arthur now sighed, knowing that he had missed that perfect opportunity. "Who knows what he'll do now."

"I'm sure he'll be caught soon," Morgana said, but there was sadness in her voice.

"He deserves to be caught," Arthur said, having noticed the sorrow in her voice.

"Why?" Morgana asked, turning to face Arthur again, "He is just grieving because he lost his daughter. That is why he is on a quest for revenge, isn't it?"

"Yes," Arthur answered, remembering the pain that had been on the sorcerer's face and that could be heard in his words, "but that is no reason for him to try and kill me. He could have killed Merlin."

"Merlin?" Morgana asked, not understanding what Merlin suddenly had to do with this. "Merlin got hurt?"

"Not bad," Arthur said, shrugging his shoulders, "it is just a scratch on his arm, nothing he won't survive."

Morgana sighed deeply and turned to the window again.

"Morgana," Arthur said, "he is a sorcerer, he is a bad man and he needs to be stopped."

"Not all sorcerers are bad men." Morgana said, walking towards Arthur now.

"I know," Arthur sighed, "but he must be stopped."

Morgana only nodded, but her expression betrayed her as Arthur could read from her face that she still felt sorry for this man and to be honest, Arthur felt sorry as well.

"Good luck then," Morgana said.

"Thank you."

As Morgana left the room, Arthur stood up from the bed and walked over to the window as well. He too liked watching the people down there as he wondered what it was like to not be a prince. How easy must it be sometimes, but then again, he knew those people faced rough times and he hoped that one day, he could do something to help them.

"You are failing."

Arthur immediately turned around to see the old man standing in the doorway. His face seemed darker as anger covered his eyes. Arthur drew out his knife while he wanted to call out for the guards, but there was something that stopped him. For some reason, he wanted to hear what the man had to say and why he was here again.

"Your servant is injured," the man spoke, his voice low.

"It's just a scratch," Arthur said, still clutching the knife in between his hand.

"The arrow was poisoned, but it was not meant for him. Merlin needs saving, but fortunately, it is not yet too late."

"What do you mean?" Arthur was confused as he didn't understand what was going on. "How can you know that the arrow was poisoned?"

"It is your task to save Merlin," the old man said, ignoring Arthur's questions, "or else it will have terrible consequences for you, for everybody you know and for the future."

"How can you know Merlin needs saving? Gaius cleaned out the wound, Merlin should be fine and if he isn't, Gaius can attend to it, he can make a medicine and everything will be alright."

The old man suddenly laughed softly.

"If that were true, why would I be here then?" the old man said, "Gaius cannot heal him from this."

Arthur shifted his gaze from the old man to the chair where Merlin had been sleeping in. Had that something to do with him being poisoned? Merlin sleeping in the middle of the day did seem odd and Arthur couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of that earlier.

"How do I save Merlin then?" Arthur asked, turning back to face the old man again, but all he saw was that he was alone in the room again.