Thank you Miss Enthusiasimal for inspiring me to write another chapter.

Blessed

Merlin fled the castle of shades in a hurry. Looking back he swore he could see several pale faces staring out at him through the broken windows. A shiver went through him as he remembered the sensation of one of them passing through him.

Merlin's horse was waiting for him just outside the gates to the city. He would have brought it in further but the horse had become skittish and had refused to cross the threshold. The look in the horse's eyes had been enough for Merlin to decide not to push it. If Merlin had not needed to go inside in order to find out the whereabouts of Excalibur's twin he too would have stayed outside. The place looked dead, with moss growing over the walls. There was not one window that wasn't broken in the entire place.

A dark shadow had been cast over this place, the shadow of a tragedy that happened too long ago for anyone alive to remember. The walls seemed to scream at Merlin to go away. Whatever was inside was not for the living, but Merlin ignored the screams and proceeded to enter.

Merlin was glad to be riding away from the castle of Shades, but he was not too excited at the thought of traveling to the forest of Souls. If it was anything like the castle had been… it did not bare thinking of.

The forest was a day's ride from the castle and the sight of it almost made Merlin want to turn back and ride for Camelot right there and then. But it was the thought of Camelot that pushed Merlin forward. Camelot needed his help and the help of Kadee. Morgana was trying once again to take over Camelot. But they had managed to strike a deal with her this time.

Arthur already had Excalibur but Gaius had told them of its twin Kadee. Excalibur had once been apart of Kadee. So they agreed that whomever the swords chose would be the rightful King or Queen of Camelot. If it chose Morgana, Arthur would agree to step down from the throne and let Morgana rule in his place. But if Arthur were chosen then Morgana would have to stop her attempts at taking Camelot and leave, never to return.

The ever-confident Morgana had agreed to these terms. So Merlin had been sent, alone, to retrieve the sword from its resting place.

Merlin did not trust Morgana to keep her word but he grabbed at the slight possibility that she would. With this in mind Merlin forced his feet to carry him through the forest of Souls. His horse, once again, had refused to accompany him. So he was forced to find the tree marked with the hourglass alone.

There had to be hundreds of trees in this forest. How was he supposed to find the one tree that protected Kadee while it slept? Taking his first step into the woods, a cold wind rushed over him, chilling him to the bone. He rapped his jacket further around himself.

The light that came through the branches of the, almost leafless, trees was dreary and foreboding. There didn't seem to be any signs of life other then himself. Merlin didn't want to think about why it was called the forest of Souls. The likelihood was that it was like the castle. What kind of souls would wander through these trees?

Merlin tried to get these wonderings out of his head by thinking of Camelot, but he was cut off when he heard a twig snap close by. He turned around just in time to see a ghostly foot disappear behind one of the trees. Merlin's curiosity got the better of him, and the fact that he didn't know where he was going in the first place. He decided to investigate, but when he peeked around the tree the ghost had disappeared behind he found nothing. Confused, Merlin did a scan of the woods but saw nothing.

He was just about to give up and return to his wanderings when the sound of another twig snapping sounded behind him. This time the snapping of the twig was accompanied by the giggle of a child. A child's laughter was supposed to lift the heart, but this one did nothing but bring a gulp to Merlin's throat. Yet he still decided that following it was a better plan then getting lost in the woods.

When he reached the spot where the giggling had come from the laughter started up again. It was leading Merlin deeper and deeper into the woods. He followed it until it suddenly stopped and did not start again. The part of the forest he was in looked exactly the same as the part where the twig had first snapped.

Merlin felt silly for following the child, and what did he get for his trouble, being even more lost. Looking around he tried to remember exactly which way he had come to get there, but everything looked the same and he hadn't paid close enough attention to where he was being lead. He decided to pick a random direction and just start walking. But he turned around too quickly. Running straight into a branch he could have sworn was not there before and, having his luck, he managed to knock himself out.

When he finally came to his head was throbbing and he felt disoriented. Using a nearby tree for support, Merlin pulled himself up. He lent against the tree for a moment and waited for the dizziness to go away.

When it was finally gone, Merlin pushed himself from the tree and tried to get his bearings. He was about to try his random direction method again when something on the tree he had been leaning on caught his eye. He crouched down in front of the tree to see that near the bottom someone had engraved a small hourglass. The carving was so small that he would have missed it had he continued on just wandering through the forest.

Clemence had told him that the tree that held Kadee bore the sign of the hourglass. Getting to his feet, Merlin inspected the tree for any signs of an opening, and found none. So he went back to the hourglass to see if it had any clues. When he touched the symbol a small shock ran up his right arm. He shook it off and, using one of his fingers, traced the small carving. It had surprising detail. When he came to the crisscross section in the middle something moved under his finger. Pulling away, Merlin inspected what had happened. He found that in the middle of the hourglass a piece of it had shifted inwards under the force of his finger. It was the only clue he had so he pushed on it again and slowly the piece moved and fell inwards to reveal a hidden keyhole.

Merlin needed to find the key to fit the lock so he started to rummage around the fallen leaves that surrounded the tree. But his efforts bore no fruit. He sat down with his hands behind himself to prop him up. He lent his head back to look up at the sky. The sun was beginning to go down. Suddenly he noticed something up in the tree was reflecting the light. At closer inspection Merlin managed to pick out the shape of a small key. It was hanging on a string from one of the branches.

There was no way to climb the tree so how did it get up there? Merlin dismissed the question. Without a second thought his eyes flashed gold and the string that held the key snapped, causing the key to fall to the ground. Merlin took the key and placed it in the keyhole. He turned it and heard a self-satisfying click. The outline of a small door appeared in the wood.

Using the key as a handle, Merlin opened the door and there, in the dark, was a sword. It was a beautiful sword, an exact copy of Excalibur. But something about this sword seemed different. Merlin reached out to take the blade. A sudden shock ran through him, larger then the first, as he took the blade from the tree. He gasped as screams and yells sounded in his head. The sound of metal against metal, like in a sword fight. Something wet ran down Merlin's cheeks. He reached up and realized he was crying. Why was he crying?

This blade had seen horrors and it had wept for the ones who had fallen. Merlin found that he could not stop crying. The emotions of the blade seemed to be running through him. A small, cold hand rested on his shoulder and he dropped the tainted metal. But he could not take his eyes from it, until a small figure knelt in front of him.

Merlin's wet eyes were met by those of a boy, the owner of the eyes looked at him with concern. "You must be more careful." The boy in front of him spoke with two voices, just like Clemence. The more prominent one was that of a small boy. The other was older, gentle and soothing. "Whoever touches the blade gets a taste of its past. Many would go mad from a single touch."

The tears finally stopped running down Merlin's face and he took in the sight of the boy. He was very young, but you could see right through him. A ghost, Merlin realized. "You are not this swords rightful owner." The boy continued. "You are not strong enough to handle its emotions." He reached forward to try and help Merlin get to his feet but his small hands went right through him. For a moment he looked confused then remembered that he could not touch anymore. So Merlin got onto his feet by himself.

"Are you the one who led me here?" He asked. The boy smiled.

"Yes. I was expecting you." The boy sighed. "Have been for a hundred years."

"How do you know I was the one you were waiting for?" Merlin asked.

"You are the first person to step into these woods in a hundred years. You are Emrys, aren't you?" The apparition looked Merlin up and down, now wondering if he had made a mistake.

"I am Merlin, but the druids call me Emrys." There didn't seem to be any harm in telling this boy what he was. His response brought the boy's smile back, now confident that he had not made a mistake.

"Finally." He breathed. "One can get bored waiting for a hundred years." He looked relieved, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "She said you would come to bring this sword to its rightful owner."

"She, who is she?" Merlin asked.

"Clemence of course." The boy watched recognition cross Merlin's face. "Have you seen Clemence?" The ghost asked in hope.

"Yes, she is the one who sent me here. Do you know who this sword rightfully belongs to?"

"Not a clue." He shrugged. "How is Clemence, is she still here?"

"I saw her up at the castle. She seemed melancholy and angry."

"Really? She always used to be such a happy person." The boy's eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment as he remembered. He was only out for a moment before snapping back to reality. "Well I guess you need to get back don't you?" He said, clapping his hands together in finality.

"Yes, I guess I should." Merlin bent down to retrieve the sword but was stopped when the boy cried out.

"No don't touch it! Remember what happened last time." Merlin quickly stopped himself only a few inches from the metal's surface.

"Rap it in your coat." He suggested. Merlin reluctantly removed his coat, not wanting to give up his protection from the cold. Before rapping it around Kadee he took the marble Clemence had given him from one of the pockets and placed it in his pant pocket. The apparition's eyes seemed to zone in on its flowing colours.

"Did Clemence give that to you?" He asked.

"Yes, she said it was for my time of need."

"Here, then take this." The boy waved one of his snow-white hands and conjured another marble of the same size but different colours. "You will need more then one of us to help you where you are going. Have a safe journey back." He turned on his heals and began to walk away from Merlin.

"Wait won't I need to know your name?" Merlin reminded him.

"Oh right, of course." The boy seemed flustered for forgetting. "Its Benedict." Merlin almost didn't hear him as a large gust of wind came rushing through the trees. He closed his eyes to protect them from the dust that the wind had picked up. But when he opened his eyes again the boy was gone, his name still floating on the breeze, Benedict. It meant blessed.

Thank you for reading. Please Review!

If you have any suggestions for where you want this story to go don't hesitate to tell me.