A/N: Thank you to my reviewers, EasTerEggTimE, oma13, and Harpfire. You guys rock!
I hope you like this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. I really appreciate the time you take out of your day to send me a few words and I love the feedback. It lets me know what I am doing wrong and what I am doing right.
Warning: More angst, as usual. I promise it will get better, but not now. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin... No matter how much I beg and cry and dream.
Chapter 3
Several hours later, there was a loud knocking on Gaius's chamber door. The physician looked up from where he was mixing herbs. The door swung open and Gwen came inside, her brown hair pulled back with a golden band.
"How is he?" Gwen asked, making her way over to Merlin's still form. She placed a hand on Merlin's forehead, her worry growing when she felt the man's feverish skin.
"He is very ill, but I think he will pull through," Gaius said, watching as the queen began to bathe Merlin's face with a wet cloth. The warlock began to stir, his eyes flickering open.
"Hey," Gwen said, smiling weakly. "How do you feel?"
Merlin took a moment to respond, his eyes closing again as he gathered his scattered thoughts. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice so small, Gwen had to lean down next to him so she could hear.
"No, Merlin," the queen said. "I don't blame you for what happened. It wasn't your fault!"
Merlin shook his head once. "I could have saved him... I..."
Gwen pulled Merlin into a hug, squeezing the servant tightly as a tear dripped down her face. After a moment, she let go, holding Merlin out at an arms distance and looking at him straight in the eyes.
"Merlin, I know that you have magic," Gwen said suddenly and Merlin's blue eyes widened in shock.
"W... what?" he asked.
"I know it was you who defeated the saxons during the battle. I know how much you have done for Arthur and I over the years. Thank you," Gwen said, smiling as she saw a bit of light return to his normally sparkling eyes.
Merlin felt a little more alive when she said this, a small flame of hope flickering inside of him.
"Thank you for understanding, Gwen... I just hope that Gwaine, Leon, and Percival will react similarly," Merlin said. Gwen paled a little at this.
"Merlin..." she said, her heart falling. Gaius glanced over at her, his gaze warning her to be careful.
"Listen... I know that a lot has been happening lately... and I want you to know that I am always here for you... But I need to tell you something. Gwaine is dead..." Gwen said, watching as the light of hope snuffed out again. Merlin seemed to shrivel up, his entire body crumpling forward. She caught him, gingerly lowering him back to the pillows.
"Merlin, it will get better," Gwen told him sadly. The warlock looked up at her, wanting with all his heart to believe that to be true.
"Get better soon," Gwen said, standing up. "Camelot is lonely without you roaming the halls."
She gave one last, knowing look to Gaius before leaving the room.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A loud noise erupted around him, sending shivers of fear up his spine. He glanced around in the light, eyes searching his surroundings and managing to make out a large, machine speeding by him.
Where was he?
He tried to scream, tried to cry out for someone to help him, but his mouth wouldn't work. His eyes could make out a lake... the lake...
But it wasn't the lake as he knew it. Even the air felt different around him, less magical, more... old. He realized that he was in the future, thousands of years away from the life he knew. He shuddered, his body involuntarily turning to face the opposite direction of the lake.
An old man was making his way slowly towards him, a small bag slung over his shoulder. Merlin stumbled back as he recognised that the old man was himself.
"No!" he cried, trying to run from the truth that was facing him. It was his destiny to be alone, waiting for something that would never come. Not for at least two thousand years.
The scene changed in swirling colors, and now he was standing next to the lake, Arthur standing in front of him, his cold, dead eyes glaring at him with hatred.
"Why did you do this, Merlin? Why didn't you save me?" the man asked, his pale lips moving slowly.
"I'm sorry! I tried, Arthur," Merlin said.
"You could have saved me and you didn't," Arthur snapped, his body beginning to fade.
"No!"
"Merlin! Wake up!" a voice boomed in the sky.
Arthur's body disappeared completely.
"Please... No! Arthur!" Merlin cried one last time.
He was gradually aware of someone shaking him roughly, pulling him from the dream. He gasped for breath, sitting up quickly and looking around, his eyes wild with fear.
"It's okay. It was just a dream," Gaius said, rubbing slow circles on his ward's hunched back.
Merlin nodded, his stomach clenching slightly as he felt a small tug. He looked wildly around for a moment as the odd sensation filled his body. "Gaius!" he said as his mind filled with an image of a clearing outside Camelot. He recognized the clearing as the one where he usually met Kilgharrah.
He came back to himself, his eyes making out Gaius standing worriedly in front of him.
"What is it, Merlin?" Gaius asked, slowly.
"I need..." he gasped, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I need to go... someone is calling me..."
Gaius held his apprentice to the bed. "You can't get out of bed. You are too weak," he commented.
"But Gaius... I have to go," he said, the image of the clearing crashing through his mind again. He felt as if he were actually in the clearing for a moment, as if he could reach out and feel the grass under his feet, hear the wind rustling the tree leaves high above his head.
"What is it, Merlin? Is it Kilgharrah?" Gaius asked.
"No... but... I don't know. I have to go," Merlin said. Gaius nodded in understanding, gesturing at the warlock to hold on as he went to fetch someone.
The physician came back a few minutes later with Leon in tow. "Merlin needs you to take him somewhere. He is too weak to walk, but it is a very urgent errand," Gaius said.
Leon looked at the older man incredulously. "Are you sure that leaving Camelot in his condition is wise?"
Gaius paused, and then nodded. "It is very important."
"Ok..." Leon said, nodding. "Come on, Merlin." The knight picked Merlin up, carrying him to the courtyard where two horses were being prepared for them.
He gently placed Merlin on top of the horse and the servant slumped over weakly, his face pale. Leon was immediately reminded of the dorocha attack, when Merlin had been injured and close to death.
He shuddered, mounting his own horse and looking back at Merlin. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"Just follow me," Merlin muttered weakly, hands fumbling at the reins and guiding the horse forward. It didn't take them long to come upon the clearing.
"Stop," Merlin ordered the knight besides him, and Leon looked around in confusion.
Merlin swung his legs over his horse's back, sliding to the ground. Leon dismounted quickly, rushing to Merlin and helping him stay upright.
"Why are we stopping here?" Leon asked.
It was at this moment that they both heard it. It was an unmistakable sound, the sound of leathery scales rubbing against one another, the sound of wings pushing the air downwards, flapping against gravity to hold a creature suspended in the air.
Above them, the sunlight was blocked out, a white shape coming slowly into view. Aithusa landed, her eyes resting upon the warlock knowingly.
Leon's hand flew to his sword, the blade glinting as he drew it from his scabbard. "Stay back, Merlin!" he yelled as he charged forwards, his sword pointed at the dragon, about to run her through.
TBC