Chapter 11: Return to Devastation
The walls of Camelot were in ruin, the inhabitants petrified, and the last remnants of the guard encircled around Uther. Swords drawn, shields born, engulfed in woody vines and leaves in the center of the throne room. The whir of the TARDIS echoed in the unnerving quiet of the room. Uther stood in solemn repose his eyes the only part of him able to move. His knights long since dead the vines could only barely reach him, their poison coursing through the few parts invaded.
Arthur stepped out, sword in hand, leading the way for the others who stepped out after. The Doctor after an assessment at a glance ran to Uther and the knights.
"Father?"
"Is he alive?
"By the looks of it he is, his eyes are still able to move, but just barely." The Doctor pulled out a normal flashlight and shined them in the king's eyes. "We don't have much time, we need to get him out of this bramble. Start hacking at the roots near the door. It'll take them a while to respond and regenerate." Arthur went to the two great doors where the vines seemed to grow through the wood its self and spread and began to cut through them.
"Merlin," said the Doctor, "you're going to have to do something disturbing, I need you to remove the knights. Which means removing the vines from their bodies. They're no longer the visages you knew them as, they only stand now because of the liquid eating them from the inside out."
"I…" Merlin nodded and began to pull vines from the knights. As each vine fell and the cuts at the door were finished, the green vines fell to the floor brown and with the last vine out, the knights fell in sequence into a liquid goo and armor. Uther fell to the floor without the support, his face pale and marred by black protruding vanes.
"Quickly get him on the TARDIS we can't stay here much longer. Camelot has fallen, as history had it." The Doctor pointed to the TARDIS. Arthur dragged his father's dying body into the blue box and with an effort onto the console seat. Merlin and the Doctor entered as vines crashed through the door.
"Isn't there anything we can do to save Camelot?" Merlin asked, as he came up to Arthur and Uther.
"This was destined to happen. Legend has it the fall of Camelot came when Arthur fights Mordrid in one final battle. Camelot will never be again what it once was." The Doctor flipped a few switches and the familiar whirring came again. He swirled the console screen to him and with a few more switches flipped, buttons pressed, and a hammering here and there, a blip came up one of a vortex manipulator just outside of Cardiff.
"Can…can't you…" Uther's word came stunted and slow, "isn't there anything you can do?" Arthur finished for his father.
"What happened to defeating a giant, finding the grail? Is that all for naught?" Arthur looked at his father and back to the Doctor. "I want to fight, I need to fight."
"Legend does have it you created a table of knights…I don't suppose that's happened yet?" The Doctor looked quizzical…"Maybe…maybe history isn't as it seems. Hang on!" With a few more flips and bashing, a pull of a plunger, and a twist of a twirly bit, the TARDIS shifted violently and in that moment landed.
"We're right before we left for the first time. Arthur, Merlin, you must gather what help you can and defend Camelot."
"What about history?" Merlin looked confused. Arthur's mouth was agape, and Uther sputtered.
"History isn't right, I can see it now. This time is different, this place, it's like it warps the fabric of time its self. I'll go to where Mordrid, Morgana, and Mortimus are and stop them. Alright, go…"
"What about my father, we can't leave him…" Arthur was cut off by the Doctor, "You must, can you imagine the confusion of having two Uthers?"
"But how can we prove to…well…the Uther of this time that we need to do what we are about to do. He is hardly going to listen to Arthur if he tells them to evacuate and get everyone out. And if I use magic, he'll have me imprisoned."
Uther sat up and looked at his son and then to Merlin. "Give…gi…" he took from his belt a small pouch which contained a letter. "I…received…today before…no one..just me…no one knows…"
Arthur took the letter from his father's hand as he fell unconscious.
"Go…go on," The Doctor pointed to the door, "And Merlin, take this…" he handed him a sonic screwdriver. "It was said you had a magic wand of great power…" Merlin smiled as he took it and exited the TARDIS.
Merlin and Arthur rushed off to Camelot after watching the TARDIS fade into nothingness. The long walk ended abruptly as Morgana raced by on horseback towards Camelot. Arthur started at her only to be stopped by Merlin.
"Arthur, there's something wrong. Didn't she used to have a scar on her left check from the time she was scratched by that baby griffin?"
" Yeah…"
"Even magic couldn't remove it remember? Gaius tried to use that potion and I told you how I had enchanted it but nothing worked."
"Yes Merlin, what are you getting at?"
" She doesn't have it."
Just then as Merlin finished speaking, a younger Arthur and Merlin could be heard coming up from behind them.
"Must she ride so fast?" the younger Merlin complained.
"A little galloping to hard on you Merlin? Don't tell me you're still sore about falling on your backside crossing that river."
"No, I'm almost dry now. She didn't have to spook my horse like that."
"Come on Merlin, it was a joke." The younger versions of themselves trotted past their elder's hiding place.
"Now what? He brought us back too far."
"I can see that Merlin."
"We need to see the Dragon."
"The what?"
"The Dragon, the one still under the Camelot where your father had it chained up. He'll know what to do."
"It better, I don't want to be charbroiled before this is all said and done. Wait, how do you know he'll still be there?"
"This two weeks before I set him free."
"You did that?" Arthur was bereaved. "How could you?"
"I made a promise and kept it. You don't know how many times I've saved you with his help. You're supposed to be the king to bring magic back to the light. That is your destiny."
The Doctor twisted and twirled, pulled and flicked, hammered and tapped the console all the while Uther sat, sickly, pale, and stunned into silence by what he was seeing. Finally in an effort to regain his composure, the once great king sat up and questioned, "What is this place?"
"It's a TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension in Space…"
"It's magic…you've corrupted my land…huhkmph…kmph…"
"No, the TARDIS isn't magic and I really had nothing to do with what has happened to Camelot. But you, you are very much to blame Uther Pendragon."
"I, I saved my people, by outlawing magic I prevented its use against the people of Camelot and my kingdom."
"So you say, but would any of this be happening, would Morgana be trying to kill her father to gain the throne? Would the magic users be so oppressed by your rule that they'd want you dead? No." The Doctor came to eye level with the king, his eyes seemed to pierce into him, "I am older than you could know, older than you'd care to want to live. Only a handful of people know this sensation. I have seen the fall of Troy, the destruction and resurrection of the Daleks, even faced the Devil himself. Each had their consequences, each had their purpose. You didn't seen the consequences Uther Pendragon, and now you will die from your misguided path. There is nothing I can do for you. The sanguine blood of those vines now courses within your body. Let us hope that your son and Merlin can prevent this future from happening."
"Arthur sure, but Merlin is just a servant boy. How can he help?"
"Merlin…Merlin?" The Doctor's ego emerged, "Merlin has saved your kingdom so many times I've lost count. He has saved your son an even greater number of times. He is perhaps one of the greatest wizards of his time."
"The boy, a wizard?..." Uther slumped down in disbelief. Moments later the TARDIS reformed on the deck of the space ship where Mortimus now waited. The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS.
"You're too late Doctor" said Mortimus, "they have already gone to the other side of the rift."
"What did you do Mortimus?"
"I sent them to the place where their magic was born."
"Do you know where that Rift leads, it leads into the very heart of the Medusa Cascade."
"Yes Doctor, and they will soon have the power to reshape the very future of this world."
"Not quite Mortimus, this future, this future is on its way to the dustbin. I left Arthur and Merlin to tend to things."
Uther stepped out of the TARDIS with the last of his strength, his sword a cane and the door a crutch.
"You destroyed my kingdom all because of some twisted plot to take revenge on the Doctor? Who is this man?"
"He is another Timelord, Mortimus, also known as the Trickster."
"Lord of Time or not, it is you that I will take with my last breath." Uther lunged at Mortimus with his sword. The Timelord stepped back in surprise and, in misstep, fell into the rift. The Doctor jumped forward grabbing Uther from falling into the rift as well.
"He will surely die in that abyss. I can die with honor at least."
"Not yet Uther. There is one last thing you need to do. I can't close this rift here and I need someone to feed information to the TARDIS."
"This is beyond me. Would you mock a dying man Doctor?"
"Look all I need you to do is hold down a button, a big red wonderful button." The Doctor's face was sad.
"Show me…" Uther stood erect with a huff and the Doctor took him to the console. Ran his sonic screwdriver over it and had Uther place his hand on a panel with a large red button. "Just hold it there as long as you can."
The Doctor ran into the TARDIS and closed the doors behind him. Running around the console and swinging the screen with him he ran through so many controls it looked almost a blur. With one hand on a whirly doodad, a foot holding down a switch, his right hand twisting a dial he slowly began to close the rift remotely through the control of the rift manipulator.
With a percussive round the rift closed and the Doctor ran back out into the room of the ship. Uther Pendragon was slumped, his hand pressed heavily on the button in death. The Doctor pulled him from the console and laid him out on the center seat. In a respectful death pose the Doctor gave him last rights, a gift for the misguided king. A coin over both eyes, his hands holding his sword.
"A tomb fit for a king. Only one last detail for my past self to find." The Doctor quickly scrawled a note saying the last wishes of the great king, the great king Arthur. "Morgana will only suspect when she returns Uther is, or was, his son. That will buy me some time."
Arthur and Merlin waltzed past the guards and found their way down to the archives dungeons of castle. Here Merlin took point and with some effort found the way to the grotto where the Dragon was kept. For the first time Arthur was face to face with the Dragon on terms of friendship.
Merlin roared in Draconic which brought the Dragon to him almost at once. A quizzical astonished look took to the Dragon's face as he saw Merlin and Arthur before him.
"Young warlock, you have discovered something few have ever had since the reign of Uther. A Dragonlord you have become? What is the purpose of this visit, to bring the Prince here and expose your magic?"
"We are out of time. Dragon, quite literally, we are out of our time. We are not the Merlin and Arthur from now, and we seek your help."
The Dragon turned a nose to him and sniffed a long breath. "I see, the smell of time is around you, you have travelled through time recently. So then, Arthur, are you the great king we have been waiting for?"
Arthur looked at the Dragon with disdain, "I don't know, I am not king yet and the life of my father…I just don't know."
"Well then, what do you want me to do?"
"Is there magic you know of that allows one to travel through time?"
"Such magic is beyond you young Warlock, far beyond you. It even took four of our kind to weave such a spell."
"Then we have no other choice, we have to wait it out."
"Wait it out, Merlin?" Arthur looked astonished at the conclusion, "we're years behind where we should be."
"All the better then. We can use the time to prepare and become better than we are now. Knowing what is on the way. I can learn more magic, you can learn more techniques."
"So that's the plan…that's the plan for us to continue on for the next five years. Hiding?"
"No, Arthur, no….wait…do you hear…hide." Merlin rushed to the rock ledge and climbed down to the ledge below followed by Arthur. Just in time for Merlin to come down into the cave.
"Dragon! What am I to do?"
The Dragon began his discussion with the young Merlin as Arthur and Merlin lay in hiding.
"Swear to me, if I do this for you, you will free me."
" I swear it."
Merlin and Arthur clambered up the ledges after the young Merlin left. "You did that to save me? You promised to set the Dragon free to help me?"
"Yes, but that is in the past now. Dragon," Merlin turned to address the Dragon, "You must attack Camelot as you planned, we cannot change history beyond recognition. We will meet you on the outskirts of the forest. There we will go with you to find the magic users who can help us become better than we are."
"I shall do as you ask, Dragonlord."
Chapter 12: Five Years the Same
Five years later.
Merlin and Arthur are sparing with each other. Arthur with a sword magically formed, an upgrade from the Excalibur Merlin once forged for him with the Dragon's help. Merlin weaved magic so fast that each spell seemed to dance and dazzle through the air. Each spun and crashed against Arthur. The Dragon was laying off from them watching their match.
Around them was the highest peaks of the Himalayan mountains, covered in snow and thick clouds. The ancient ruins in which they to residence was once a great center of magic.
"We will be ready. Tomorrow we return to Camelot." Merlin nodded at Arthur's statement as he pulled up from his attack.
"We were lucky to find this place, even if it was so close to our time to return. The spells I've found here and that old sword we made for your will go far."
"You're getting a little cocky aren't you?" Arthur poked fun at Merlin, who now sported a short brown red beard.
"Yeah well, if we could be better prepared I'd like to know how."
"Then, Dragonlord, I will await your call. Two days will be the time for your return." The Dragon stood up on all four claws and stretched much like a cat, jumped into the air, and flapped off to hunt.
"Two days." Arthur nodded and climbed into their camp, which was planted in a Dravidian archway. A dark purple fire crackled over a small stone.
"Can you believe the place's we've seen?"
"Merlin, what we've seen should never have happened. When we return it will have to be as though we never left."
"I know, it will be hard to keep this time a secret."
"We'll have to go back to being Prince and Servant."
"Oh well you can do your own laundry, you know how to now."
"Oh right like I'm going to do my own laundry when I get back there, don't you think that will be a little suspicious?"
"A little suspicious we'll be dropping in on the fight with a Dragon."
"Right…" Arthur leaned back and laughed. "To think the look on Father's face when he sees us swoop down on that tree with a Dragon."
"He'll die from a heart attack or worse."
Two days pass, training and preparation to leave were set. Merlin sat at the peak of the tallest mountain the Dragon could find. "I'll leave this here as a reminder of our time out of time." The purple flame crackled some more as Merlin set the stone onto the snow covered cap.
The rush of wind pressed against them as the Dragon flew higher and swooped to gain speed. The land below them dropped away and soon the mountains too disappeared. Green fields and the blue ribbons of rivers and small black pock marks of lakes passed them by until the rivers were left behind, the hills, and were replaced by sea. Cool dark blue marred by white crests and the occasional fishing boat.
The long tedious trip ended with them landing just outside of Camelot in the dead of night.
"We'll have already left by now with the Doctor," said Merlin, and as if on cue the alarm bells wrung in the distance. Merlin and Arthur raced to Camelot, hooded and cloaked. Upon reaching the Princes' chambers they quickly changed clothing and with a bit of magic shaved.
"Okay, I'll go and speak to Father. I'll tell him a report about a great monster has made its way to us and that it would be the best thing if we evacuated the town to the north."
"I'll talk to Gaius, there could be something of use for us here."
The two nodded and split up.
Arthur pushed open the doors to the main chamber his father was seated precariously reading a letter only just delivered to him.
"Father, grave news, a terrible…"
"Not now Arthur, I'm busy."
"This can't wait father. A monstrous creature has been reported heading towards Camelot. We must offer up a defense and defeat it."
"What are you talking about. What monster?"
"God I can't believe how thick headed you are…"
"How dare you…I am your king, you will speak to me with respect."
Arthur stood even more erect, "Father, an unknown monster is attacking the countryside. We should evacuate the people of Camelot to the north hills and make a stand here in Camelot."
"What has gotten into you?"
"I haven't waited five years, Father, for you to be a pigheaded idiot."
"Call me one more name and I will throw you in the dungeon."
"Father," Arthur pulled from his pocket the letter given to him by his former father.
"You only just received this letter from Josephine of the Allisan clans."
"How…how…"
Arthur read the letter aloud, the folded crumpled parchment nearly falling apart and yellowed.
"You gave this to me father, you gave it to me before you died by the hand of the monster that is coming. All of Camelot was lost. You need to do as I say."
Uther sat in silence, staring at his son. "How have you come to know of this?"
"How I know isn't important, what is, is the safety of Camelot."
Uther nodded to this and waved his approval. His face turned ashen as he stared off into the distance. Arthur ran out of the room and rallied the knights.
"Evacuate everyone to the north hills, to the caves where we used to store our emergency rations. And do it as quickly as you can."
Merlin found Gaius reading in his study. "Gaius, it's been so long."
"What are you getting at Merlin, I'm busy and don't have time for your games."
"Right", said Merlin, "I need you to do something, I need you to leave the castle and go to the north hills. It's the only way you'll be safe."
"Be safe, from what?" Gaius closed the tome he was reading.
"I will have to explain later, but you need to trust me."
Gaius looked bewildered but nodded. He had come to trust Merlin's judgment in such seriousness.
The vines came, the giant tree came, the disease came, but not one person was caught by its preliminary intrusion. The Knights were situated along the front walls of Camelot, headed by Merlin and Arthur. Uther sat among the ground guard barking orders.
In a direct defiance of his father's orders Arthur and Merlin took point at the highest point above the gates.
"Hold your ground, cut any vines that get over the or through the wall. Use fire and whatever you can. Do not let them touch you. Armor will not protect you from their sting." Arthur barked left and right. Merlin stood poised on the battlement. "On your mark," said Arthur. Merlin nodded and in a loud roar called the Dragon to his side.
Uther cringed in anger at the sound of the Dragonlord voice and, muttering under his breath, he readied himself amongst his troops. The Dragon swooped in landing in front of the main gate.
"Young Warlock I do hope you know what you're doing."
"All the preparations are completed, all that is needed is your fire."
A buzzing sound from the south came closer, a swarm of Vespaform warriors landed before the Dragon and Merlin, who by now was seated on the massive shoulders of the Dragon. Arthur was still on the battlements readying himself to jump onto the back of the Dragon.
The warriors flitted their wings as each of the knights backed up and away from them. "Our queen welcomes the Dragonlord and has sent us to inform you of her demise at the hand of the vines. We will fight beside you." The buzzing noise of their wings cut in and out as they spoke.
"We thank you. Please protect the front line," said Arthur as he climbed into place.
The Dragon jumped into the air and carried Merlin and Arthur forward leading the front line. The main enemy lay in the town below Camelot and the Dragon carried them to it in a blaze of speed. The front line knights moved forward to the very edge of the town where they were ordered to cut down any vines.
In a whirl of fire and magic Merlin and the Dragon began their first assault. Vines rocketed towards them from the giant tree and the combined force of Merlin's magic and the Dragon's breath burned them away. The battle raged on and Arthur, finally near enough the ground to jump from the Dragon's back did so.
In Camelot the main court yard became ensnared by vines sprouting from the ground. The knights fought gallantly but to no avail. Soon they met the same fate as they did before. Uther fought even harder, each swing cutting down vine after vine until from behind a vine struck him through the heart. His crowned helm fell from his head as his body fell and crashed onto the paved ground.
The Vespaform warriors began to sting the tree as Merlin, the Dragon, and Arthur struck out at it. Each strike damaging one part or another. Yet each strike seemed only to push it on further, rather than retard it's efforts and advancement. Finally in desperation Merlin yelled "Terra frigas forma" the ground grew cold and froze rock hard.
"We need a final blow," he yelled to the dragon who relayed the message to Arthur. Arthur lifted his arm for the Dragon to lift him and with a bone breaking effort the Dragon carried Arthur above the tree and dropped him. His sword was aimed with precision and with a final word from Merlin the sword shone with the light of the sun. When the light died Arthur was on the ground kneeling and a long charred gash was through the center of the tree. Purple and white flames licked out of the gash engulfing the tree.
Uther's funeral was that of a king, he was buried in the grotto where his fellow knights from the great war were buried. The following week was filled with mourning and the inauguration of Arthur as king. Merlin at his side, Arthur finally found his destiny.
However, Merlin still hid his true feelings and a year later he was fiddling with the sonic screwdriver the Doctor gave him. When he found himself inside the TARDIS once more.
"Doctor?"
The Doctor looked around the console, "Temporal transmat, it looks like the sonic screwdriver wanted to come home. Or maybe it was just you…"
"But I was…I mean Arthur was…"
"Yeah know, don't worry you'll be back in time for dinner. That is if you really don't want to come with?"
"No…no I want too, but where are we going?"
"Ah, the US, town called Eureka, been picking up some strange singles there. Temporal disturbances. Someone has gotten a hold of something capable of creating a quantum bridge. That could be very bad."
"A quantum bridge?"