Back to the Start

by Mischel

This fanfic was written for the After Camlann Big Bang, on Live Journal. Art was made by matchboximpala. SUMMARY: There's a new witchfinder in Camelot. He's more dangerous and hell-bent on hunting down Emrys. Merlin flees and leaves Arthur only with a letter. Arthur follows and finds out more about Merlin than he ever wanted to. Adventure, Merthur, epic magic. Full summary inside.

10. The Spell

CHAPTER 10

The Spell

...

"Kaunos!" Merlin said in surprise. They didn't expect him to find them so soon, what the hell was he doing here? How could he find them here of all places? In the castle of Cornelius Sigan?

Gaius was right, Kaunos was better at his job than Aredian.

Before Merlin could react in any way, Arthur unsheathed his sword and took a few steps forward to Kaunos.

"Really?" Kaunos laughed. "You're protecting him? The sorcerer? I guess the prophecy is correct then."

"Oh, I know all about the prophecy, Kaunos," Arthur replied as he walked towards him. Kaunos didn't seem to be armed. His arms were behind his back and he kept smiling. "And you won't be here once we fulfil it and bring magic back to this kingdom."

Despite the situation, Merlin couldn't help but smile at that. Arthur accepting magic was far from what he thought just a year ago - that all sorcerers were liars and magic was evil.

It made Merlin proud, but also more worried when he saw that Arthur was now walking faster towards Kaunos, who still kept smiling for some wicked reason.

"Your father thinks you're enchanted," he told them as Arthur was still getting closer and closer. "Now, I know that's not true. I promised I'd bring you back, but now that I think about it, I think that you're better off as a necessary sacrifice for peace and ridding the world of magic."

"If you think that's the future, you're mistaken!" Arthur rotated the sword in his hands and prepared for his enemy.

In that moment, Kaunos reached out his hand from behind his back and revealed a dagger.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled.

Arthur reacted fast. He grabbed Kaunos' arm with the dagger, but it was too late. It pierced Arthur's skin. Merlin watched as Arthur stopped Kaunos' hand from moving farther, and slowly pulled the dagger out by sheer force. He then squeezed Kaunos' wrist so hard that he was forced to drop it. Kaunos gritted his teeth in pain, but his smirk stayed there. Was he planning all this?

Arthur then prepared his sword to pierce-

"Arthur, stop!" Merlin called.

Arthur's arm stopped moving, but he quickly pressed the blade of his sword to Kaunos' neck so he wouldn't move. "What is it?" He called at Merlin without looking at him.

Merlin ran towards them. "Don't kill him-"

"Why?" Arthur yelled. "After what he's done to you, to us?"

Merlin frowned at that. "I can try the spell on him. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough, I need to practise."

Arthur was silent for a moment, just looking into Kaunos' eyes and at his everlasting grin with hatred. "Fine," he finally replied.

Kaunos smiled. "My lor-"

Arthur stepped away, raised his sword and hit Kaunos with the hilt. The witchfinder gasped and his eyes closed as he fell down into the grass.

"But I don't want to look at his annoying smile anymore," Arthur explained and stepped away from his body on the ground, finally looking down at his new wound.

"That's fair," Merlin mumbled, but let Kaunos lie there and instead stepped closer to Arthur. "You're hurt again."

Arthur shook his head as he touched his chainmail where it was covered with blood. There wasn't much of it. "It's merely a scratch."

"Doesn't matter, I'll cure it," Merlin reached out his hands, but Arthur stopped him and nodded towards the witchfinder, still unconscious on the ground.

"First do your magic," Arthur told him as he looked into Merlin's eyes. "This can wait."

Merlin pursed his lips in disapproval, but nodded in the end. "Fine," he mumbled.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Before he wakes up," he gave Merlin a reason for Kaunos being more important than Arthur's stab wound.

"Are you suggesting you didn't hit him hard enough?" Merlin grinned at him, glad to see Arthur roll his eyes again fondly.

"Shut up," the prince mumbled. Then his frown returned as he stared down at their enemy.

Merlin sighed and finally turned away from Arthur, facing Kaunos. He was angry with him, but he really needed to at least try the spell once before he would use it on Camelot. They had to be sure it worked. He opened his backpack, finding and retrieving the spell book he needed. He opened it on the page that he had bookmarked with a piece of another paper that they'd found on the table and read the incantation.

"Gedeowie dæt mod disse . . . uhm . . . mannes! Abricaþ ond forgietan heora ingemynd, min gúdæda innan dægrím!"

Merlin's eyes flashed bright gold as he watched Kaunos. He didn't move, he was still unconscious.

"Did it work?"

"I don't know," Merlin shook his head. "But I guess we won't know until he wakes up."

"We can't stay here for that long." Arthur reminded him. And he was right, going back to Camelot was the most important thing right now.

"We'll leave him here then," Merlin suggested as he closed the book and looked at Arthur.

Arthur nodded. "I don't want to see his face again in my life," he uttered.

Merlin had to agree. He did forget his staff in his room, but Kaunos was the one who ruined their lives. He only hoped all of that could be fixed now. He knelt down next to him and took away his dagger that he used to hurt Arthur, and tucked it into his own belt. Merlin then put the book back into his backpack and put the backpack on his back. He worriedly glanced at Arthur and the blood on his abdomen, but Arthur was already turning away from him.

"Let's go," he said as he walked away, "We need to reach Camelot today."

Arthur waited for him near the edge of the forest and Merlin ran up to him, taking his hand again. It was nice to hold Arthur's hand like this. To be so close and be able to do everything that he's ever imagined. Bur before he could start smiling because of how close they now were, he had to heal Arthur again.

"Wait," he stopped him gently and saw Arthur roll his eyes when he realized what Merlin was doing. Merlin pursed his lips. "Like it or not, I need to heal this."

"You just want to undress me again," Arthur smirked at him, making Merlin blush. Damn him.

"That's only partly true," Merlin smirked slightly as he stood in front of Arthur and looked into his eyes.

Arthur leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. "I know," he smiled at him. He kept looking at Merlin as he removed his belt, the plates on his shoulders and the one around his neck. Merlin then took the chainmail and slowly pulled it over Arthur's head, still staring into his eyes. Together they removed Arthur's padded jacket and rolled up the tunic up to his neck, revealing the wound. It was different to undress Arthur now because all the light touches of his fingers on Arthur's bare skin were intentional. Not that they were unintentional before, but Merlin tried to make them seem accidental. Now he didn't have to and Arthur knew it, and didn't mind. He welcomed itif the growing smirk on his face was anything to go by.

Merlin tried to concentrate on Arthur's bleeding stomach instead of the way that it was covered in goosebumps because of the cold air. He inspected the wound, and found out that Arthur was right. It was only a scratch and whatever Kaunos had wanted to achieve, he didn't. Thankfully.

"It's not serious," Merlin commented on the wound as he kept staring at Arthur's skin. It moved as Arthur laughed softly and answered.

"I told you."

Merlin just silently reached out his hand and covered the wound carefully. "Purhhaele licsar thin," he whispered. The skin immediately started to repair, leaving behind no damage in a matter of seconds. "Done," Merlin stated as he brushed his hand across Arthur's stomach, leaving behind a shudder as Arthur gasped and then cleared his throat immediately after.

Merlin couldn't help but smirk at that. He was really looking forward to Arthur's bed in Camelot.

"Thanks," Arthur said as Merlin looked up at him. This time it was Merlin who kissed him.

"Now let's get you dressed again," he mumbled into Arthur's lips with his eyes open and staring into Arthur's.

He helped Arthur with the padded jacket and the chainmail and the armour on top of that, and then finally grabbed his hand again.

They walked in silence for a long time.

Without a horse it was a very long way back to Camelot. But they were together now, like together together, and Merlin felt like they could achieve anything that they set their minds on.

They walked for hours and made a few stops to rest. Merlin told Arthur about Sophia and the staff, about how he was enchanted. He also told him about Lancelot and admitted to have forged the documents for him to become a knight. Arthur wasn't too happy about that, but eventually he agreed with Merlin that Lancelot deserved it and should be a knight again shall he ever return to Camelot.

They laughed together, they kissed and held hands, took turns in carrying the heavy backpack, but they were still hungry.

Eventually, they had to stop to get some rest again, for at least the fifth time in the last few hours. It was Arthur who asked for the various rests they had taken which was a bit unusual as, on all the other trips they had invariably taken together, Arthur was the one to continue pushing forward while the other knights wished for rest. Merlin simply assumed that the fight with Kaunos must have tired him out and that they hadn't been able to eat much due to the fact of them not having much food left.

They picked a place near a little meadow and close to another stream of water. They had had to leave the water stream that led to the Vale of Denaria long ago.

Arthur took off the heavy backpack and left it near a tree, sighing with relief loudly. Then he went to splash his face with fresh water from the stream, keeping his eyes closed for a long time. Merlin washed his face as well, refilling their water skin after he did so.

"We have to eat," he mumbled. "We don't have much left, but we need to eat something," he touched his stomach. It was hurting from how empty it was.

Arthur nodded, still with his eyes closed. He looked tired. "We've only got the meat now."

"Then we finish it," Merlin told him. "Or we can hunt something."

Arthur smiled at that, finally opening his eyes at him. "I thought you hated hunting trips."

Merlin just shrugged. "Today it's either some poor squirrel or us, so we don't really have a choice."

Arthur nodded again, taking a deep breath. "You're right. We'll eat the meat and wait for a bit to see if there's anything to hunt, there might be a bird-"

"You don't have your crossbow," Merlin reminded him.

Arthur closed his eyes in regret. "True," he sighed. "Then we'll have to wait and pray that there's some blind and deaf squirrel on its way towards us, or we'll have to find at least some berries or something."

"Berries it is," Merlin sighed.

What else could they possibly do?

Oh, right.

"Or I can use magic," he suggested.

Arthur looked at him as if he had forgotten Merlin had magic altogether. "Do you just randomly forget that you have magic?"

Merlin shrugged. "Do you randomly forget that I have magic?"

Arthur rolled his eyes and then closed them again, frowning. Merlin raised his eyebrows at that, but sighed and stood up again. He would try to hunt something later, now they needed to rest and eat whatever they had left.

They sat together by a tree and leaned against it. Merlin opened the backpack and pulled out the remaining two pieces of dried meat that Arthur had brought with him as he was looking for Merlin and which Merlin had later stolen.

Merlin never wished so much to have stolen more from Arthur.

He took one piece and handed the other to Arthur, who took it and started biting slowly. At least they had something, right? And they also had each other.

After some more time of just sitting next to each other, leaning against the same tree with their sides touching, Merlin took one of the spell books from Sigan and opened it. Arthur looked at him curiously, and Merlin just smiled.

"As I was searching through the book, I found this one spell . . . It seemed interesting."

"Alright," Arthur nodded and cleared his throat loudly. "Are you going to try it?"

"Yeah," Merlin smiled at him, but that smile disappeared when Arthur coughed. He kept his eyes closed and only now Merlin realized that Arthur seemed way more tired than he should be. He stared at him for a moment, Arthur not seeing him because he'd closed his eyes. Then when he opened them after he noticed the silence, he seemed a little confused. "Are you alright?"

Arthur frowned slightly and then nodded. "Of course I'm alr-" and he coughed again.

Merlin didn't like that. He didn't like that at all.

Something was wrong.

"Arthur-"

"I think I'm . . . ," Arthur cleared his throat again as he looked at Merlin, "I'm just a little tired," he closed his eyes again and let his head hit the tree behind him. "My head hurts."

Merlin didn't hesitate and touched Arthur's forehead with his palm. It was burning. "You've got a fever," he realized.

"What." Arthur asked monotonously as he kept his eyes closed. "Maybe I caught a cold."

Merlin shook his head. No, that couldn't be it. "This is different," he frowned as he removed Arthur's belt and rolled up his chainmail, padded jacket and stuck his head underneath his tunic.

"Warm," Arthur smiled weakly.

Merlin just closed his eyes and concentrated. No, the wound was healed and Arthur didn't lose nearly enough blood to be in this state. This had to be something else.

"Ugh, we need to keep moving," Arthur reminded him, but Merlin shushed him with his finger on Arthur's lips.

"You're not going anywhere like this."

"I'm your prince, Mer-"

"And I'm your boyfriend," Merlin pointed out. Then he paused.

Did he just say what he thought he said? He looked up at Arthur, who was staring at him with a light smile playing at his lips.

"I like the sound of that," he told him.

"Me too," Merlin replied with a smile. Then it disappeared again and his brows creased in worry. "And as your boyfriend, I'm telling you that there's something wrong," Merlin informed him. "Although the wound is healed."

"Maybe . . . Maybe the castle really was cursed," Arthur suggested.

Merlin shook his head. "No, I'd be affected too, but I'm alright. Just hungry."

"Maybe you're not affected because your magic protects you," Arthur shrugged weakly.

But Merlin wasn't sure that that was the right explanation. Sure, it could have been, but if that was the case, wouldn't the curse instead target someone with strong magic like Merlin had? Because of how much Sigan hated him, Emrys? Or maybe it would affect them both, both normal people and sorcerers. Bur Merlin was alright.

"No, it's got to be from the wound."

"You healed it," Arthur pointed out.

"I did," Merlin frowned as he thought about it. Kaunos hurt Arthur and even though the wound wasn't fatal, he kept smiling at them triumphantly. What happened? What did he really do? Did he have some kind of a secret plan that worked?

Merlin gasped as he realized what Kaunos might have done to Arthur. He reached for the dagger he had taken from Kaunos and tucked into his belt and looked at it. It seemed like a normal blade, with bits of blood on it (Merlin had wiped most of it off on grass).

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

Merlin just took the dagger and smelled it carefully.

A strong odor that he didn't notice before hit his nostrils and Merlin quickly put it away, exhaling through his nose.

"It's poison," he finally realized. Then he looked at Arthur with his eyes wide in horror. "Kaunos poisoned you!"

Arthur just looked tired as he sighed. "Wouldn't be the first time I was poisoned."

This wasn't time for jokes. Merlin hurriedly threw the dagger away and put both his hands over Arthur's stomach. He still didn't understand why his spell didn't neutralise the poison together with healing the wound, but there was no time to think about it now, he had to do the spell again.

He closed his eyes and whispered with firm voice, "Purhhaele licsar thin." His eyes flashed gold and he put his hands away, quickly reaching for Arthur's forehead.

It was still hot.

But that was okay, he didn't expect the fever to disappear right away.

"Did you heal me?"

"I hope so," Merlin told him as he stood up and went to the stream of water, wetting his palms. Then he went back to Arthur and placed his cold hands on Arthur's forehead again, hoping to lower the temperature a little bit.

"Merlin-"

"Shh, you should rest now," Merlin smiled at him. "You still need to show me your bed, remember?" He tried to cheer Arthur up, but he didn't smile.

"Merlin," Arthur moaned in discomfort silently, "no offence, but I feel worse rather than better."

"That makes no sense," Merlin frowned at him. "I'll try it again," he prepared Arthur as he placed his cold hands on his warm stomach. Arthur winced slightly at the sensation. "Purhhaele licsar thin!"

He felt his magic leave his fingertips and pour into Arthur, but yet again, Arthur didn't show any signs of getting better. And fear found its way into Merlin's heart once again.

What kind of poison did Kaunos use?

Arthur coughed again and Merlin held him so that he wouldn't roll down onto the forest ground. The prince's eyes were closed tightly, but now he opened them and looked at Merlin.

Merlin saw confusion in them, and then slight fear.

"It's not working, is it?"

Merlin didn't want to answer that. There had to be something that worked. "I'll try a stronger spell," he bit his lower lip as he turned away from Arthur. He looked at the spell book that was still opened and lying next to him, and he quickly used magic to search through the pages, not even saying anything this time.

There.

He turned to Arthur and kept his hand on his stomach. "Wel cene hole!"

But nothing happened. He turned back to the book and searched through it again, finding another, stronger healing spell. "Bot ond tile!"

No effect.

Again.

"Efencume... ætgædre, eala gastas cræft ige: gestrice þis lic forod!" Merlin yelled, no longer caring if anyone heard them in the forest, though it seemed empty around them. He took a deep breath.

And again.

"Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare!"

Nothing.

That was it. All the healing spells he knew and all the ones from both Sigan's books. For a man who thought about cheating death constantly, he didn't seem to know enough healing spells.

Merlin felt panic overwhelm him.

It couldn't end like this, Arthur was supposed to become the king and they were supposed to beat Kaunos. They thought they had.

"Merlin . . . " Arthur whispered and Merlin's eyes found his. "If there's no cure-"

"Of course there's cure, shut up." Merlin silenced him with tears in his eyes.

Despite everything that was happening, Arthur had a smile on his face. "I'm the one who says shut up, remember?"

"Not anymore, I'm your boyfriend now, remember?" Merlin tried to smile at him, but it wasn't genuine. His mind was full of chaos, swirling thoughts of their futures and unfulfilled destinies, his failure.

"Merlin, this-" Arthur coughed and covered his mouth with his hand. "If you can't heal me . . ."

Merlin could see the blood in his palm.

"You're coughing blood," he informed him silently. Yet again, he placed his hand on Arthur's stomach and repeated, "Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare!"

But nothing happened.

It was like his magic was useless for some reason. Like he wasn't strong enough.

"Merlin-"

"No," Merlin stood up, suddenly determined. "You're not saying goodbye, and this isn't the end."

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked him, his voice weak, but still alive.

"To get help." Merlin answered him. "Just stay here and don't move. And don't worry."

He left Arthur at the tree and walked to the edge of the forest, which was just a few feet away from them. He reached a meadow, large enough for what he was planning to do.

He looked up at the sky and hoped that Kilgharrah wouldn't take long. This was his last chance, he had to save Arthur.

"O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!"

The words echoed all around him throughout the meadow and the forests around. He didn't care. All he cared about was saving Arthur because without him alive, this trip, this entire search for the castle and their way back to Camelot was useless.

Without Arthur, he had no reason to even be here, to be alive.

"You're calling the dragon again?" He heard Arthur yell behind him, which was followed by a cough.

"Don't worry, he'll help us," Merlin called back, trying to assure both Arthur and himself. Because what if Kilgharrah couldn't help either? There had to be a reason why his spells, even Sigan's spells didn't work. They worked on his leg before, so there was no reason they shouldn't work. Yet they didn't.

What had Kaunos done to Arthur?

It didn't even take ten minutes for Kilgharrah to find him and land down on the meadow. Merlin kept glancing at Arthur, but once he was sure he was safe there, he turned to Kilgharrah. The dragon bowed his head slowly and then looked at Merlin, frowning.

He could see that Merlin was distressed. "Why do you call me this time, young warlock?"

Merlin swallowed. "Arthur's poisoned! And my magic doesn't work, I've tried different spells from Sigan's grimoires, but they have no effect! Arthur's not getting better."

"I see," Kilgharrah narrowed his eyes, searching for Arthur in the forest. "So you did find the castle."

"Yes," Merlin nodded. "But then the witchfinder found us and hurt Arthur with a poisoned blade. I managed to heal the wound, but-"

"But the poison remains unaffected." Kilgharrah finished for him.

Merlin just nodded, the tears in his eyes finally spilling. He quickly wiped them away, but the dragon saw them.

"Do not worry, young warlock. This is not the end for you nor it is for Arthur."

Yeah, that was easily said, but Merlin didn't feel that way at all. Arthur was dying behind him in the forest and Kilgharrah was his only hope.

"Can you help him?" Merlin asked, surprised to find his voice so shaky.

Kilgharrah bowed his head again in confirmation and looked behind Merlin at Arthur. "Bring Arthur here and I promise to do my best."

Merlin wasn't sure he trusted another one of Kilgarrah's promises, but he knew he wouldn't hurt Arthur. He was the one who told him of their shared destiny and he himself believed it and hoped for a better future and the kingdom of Albion.

Merlin turned around and ran back to Arthur. He was still sitting there in silence, but he must have heard their conversation.

"Can he help me?" Arthur asked him once he saw Merlin.

Merlin swallowed. "He's much more knowledgeable than I am."

Arthur nodded and Merlin bent down closer to him, taking his arm and putting it around his shoulders. When Arthur realized he would need to stand up, he supported his other hand on the trunk of the tree he was leaning against and tried to get up with Merlin's help. Once he was on his legs, he almost fell down again. Merlin was surprised at how quickly Arthur was getting worse. He was walking just fine a few moments ago, but the poison must have been strong.

"We're coming!" Merlin called at Kilgharrah as he half walked, half carried Arthur out of the forest to the edge of the meadow. There he helped him sit down on the ground and lean against one of the nearest trees to the meadow with Kilgharrah.

"We meet again," Arthur looked up at the dragon and Kilgharrah bowed just as he did to Merlin. For a second Merlin was worried Arthur would start yelling at Kilgharrah again, but now he was too weak to do that.

At least Kilgharrah could help them faster without arguing with Arthur.

Merlin looked up at Kilgharrah and nodded. The dragon then opened his mouth and looked at Arthur, his eyes more gold than usual. "Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ!"

His voice was deep and sounded so ancient. Merlin could easily tell that this was a very strong spell, he felt its power as it surrounded them and targeted Arthur.

The prince moaned in pain and closed his eyes tightly.

"Arthur?" Merlin yelled as he ran towards him and touched his forehead again. Still burning, too hot. Arthur's eyes were still closed and he didn't seem to be any better. "Arthur!" Merlin yelled at him, but Arthur didn't answer. His breaths were coming out quick, too quick for Merlin's liking. "Kilgharrah?" Merlin turned to look at the dragon with panic in his eyes. He seemed just as surprised as Merlin.

Arthur then took a sharp breath and stilled in Merlin's arms. "Arthur!" Merlin shook with his shoulders, but he didn't move.

No.

This couldn't be it.

This couldn't be the end for them.

Just as Kilgharrah said, there was so much for them in the future. So much!

"The young Pendragon isn't dead, Merlin," he heard Kilgharrah say. Merlin let out a sob and gasped in relief when he touched Arthur's neck and felt his pulse it was weak. He was still breathing though. He wasn't dead, Kilgharrah was right.

"What's wrong with him?" Merlin looked up at the dragon, his cheeks wet from tears. "Why isn't he responding?"

The dragon seemed to look sad. "There is something blocking the magic used on him."

"What?"

Merlin didn't understand. He did heal his injury from Kaunos' dagger! How could anything be blocking the power of magic?

"The poison is something that I've never witnessed before," Kilgharrah continued with his vague explanation. "It is not made of magic, but it is immune to it. No magic can stop this poison from spreading through Arthur's body."

Merlin felt even worse now.

Helpless.

"Is there no way to save him?" Merlin let out another sob as he turned back to his prince and gently cupped his cheek. "He can't die, I can't lose him . . . "

"Arthur's life does not end here, Merlin." The dragon assured him. "He is not destined to die by a poison but rather by the druid Mordred's hand. You know it."

Merlin didn't want to think about that now.

"Then how do we save him?" Merlin pleaded as he looked at the dragon once more.

"We cannot use magic. His poison will need to be neutralised naturally."

Great. They didn't have enough time to go to Camelot and get Gaius to help them, not to mention the fact that the second Merlin set foot in Camelot he would be arrested and executed. If they couldn't use magic and didn't have Gaius' help either, they had to deal with this on their own.

Merlin nodded and swallowed, closing his eyes and wiping his tears. He had to calm down and concentrate on what he needed to do.

Save Arthur.

He took a deep breath and turned to Kilgharrah. "What do we have to do?"

The dragon nodded. "You will need to know what poison was used."

Right. That was the first thing he needed to know when he wanted to make an antidote. He's learned that from Gaius.

Merlin nodded and stood up, running back into the forest where they'd left their things by the water stream. He took Sigan's book and put it back into his backpack, and put it on his back. Then he searched for Kaunos' dagger that he had thrown away once he'd realized it was poisoned.

He found it near the water. Thankfully, it wasn't actually in the water and hadn't floated away. He picked it up and ran back to Kilgharrah, holding it up for him.

The dagger started floating in his hand and he let it go when he realized that Kilgharrah was doing it. It floated closer to the dragon's nostrils and then his eyes and then back to Merlin. Merlin accepted the dagger and put it in his belt again.

"Well?"

"I recognise this poison," Kilgharrah nodded. "I've seen it a few times in my life."

Thank god, at least Kilgharrah knew what they were dealing with.

"What do we need to neutralise it?" he asked.

"You will need Yarrow, Rosemary, Comfrey, Meadowsweet for the pain and Hogwort." Kilgharrah told him and Merlin was trying to remember it all along with what all those herbs looked like. He knew Yarrow and Rosemary, Meadowsweet shouldn't be hard to find somewhere around here on the meadow and Comfrey too. But what about Hogwort?

"Hogwort?" he asked hesitantly. He hoped it wasn't some herb that only grew on the other side of the world, then he would have failed and their destiny would never have the chance to be fulfilled. It made Merlin feel anxious.

"Hogwort is indeed hard to come by," Kilgharrah confirmed Merlin's worries. "It only grows in open sandy areas, where it doesn't often rain."

That definitely wasn't in Camelot.

"Do you know of such a place?" he asked the dragon, hoping that Arthur's life wasn't lost yet.

"I do," Kilgharrah nodded slowly. "One such place is located in the South of Kent."

"But that's like eight days journey!" Merlin cried in frustration.

There was no way they had so much time. He turned back to Arthur - he was breathing heavily and he could see a bit of blood on his lips - by the time they'd come back, Arthur would be dead. Besides, Arthur couldn't even properly walk anymore and they didn't even have a horse to move faster.

Merlin then turned back to Kilgharrah and looked at him. His eyes were curious to see how Merlin would solve this situation. Perhaps he already knew the answer but was waiting for Merlin to discover it on his own.

He looked at the dragon, at his huge wings-

Wings! That was it! Dragons were way faster than horses!

"Kilgharrah, I have a favour to ask," Merlin looked into his eyes, pleading. "I need you to fly to Kent and fetch this herb and return as fast as you can. I'll try to find the rest of the herbs around here."

Kilgharrah nodded. "As you wish, young warlock."

He spread his wings and jumped into the air, staying there and flying away. Merlin immediately rushed back to Arthur to wipe the blood off his lips and give him some water. He took the waterskin from his backpack and placed it near Arthur's lips, trying to make him drink it. After a while Arthur managed to take a few sips, although he still seemed to remain unconscious, even through his coughing.

Merlin blinked and let his tears fall on Arthur's cheeks, wiping them away and closing his eyes.

This wasn't good. First Merlin almost died, now Arthur was almost dying and who knew if Kaunos didn't somehow remember what happened and came after them again? Right now, there was no telling what more the witchfinder could do.

Merlin took a deep breath and kissed Arthur's cheeks.

It was his job now to find the rest of the flowers. Yarrow, Rosemary, Comfrey and Meadowsweet. He'd seen Gaius use each of them at least once, so he hoped it wouldn't be any problem finding them. First he had to take a look at the meadow. The grass wasn't too high, but it was higher closer to the edges of the forests around. He could see many flowers growing there, as well as different kinds of grass.

First he needed to find Yarrow then. He looked down at Arthur one last time, and then he stood up, looking around. Where was it most likely to grow?

When he was just about to leave Arthur and search for the herbs, something caught his attention and stopped him. He could hear something. After a few more seconds, he could recognise the sound.

Horses.

He quickly sat back next to Arthur, reached out his hand and mumbled the incantation to create the same shield around them that he'd made when he left Arthur in their small camp and the knights had found him for the first time.

And he finished just in time.

As soon as he let his arm fall down and hugged Arthur, he could see the first horses emerge from the other side of the meadow, to their left.

They were Camelot knights. They had large bright red cloaks around them as they galloped through the meadow, closer to Merlin and Arthur.

Merlin just hoped the spell worked and that they couldn't see them.

When they got closer and Merlin could recognise their faces, they suddenly slowed down. Merlin could see that their leader was Sir Leon again.

"Did we lose his tracks?" One of them asked.

"Did the witchfinder not go through here?"

"I told you I heard something, it must have been a large beast!"

"Quiet!" Leon commanded as they slowly moved closer to Merlin and Arthur. "It might still be here."

Merlin looked around. Were they talking about Kilgharrah? Did they see him? Or hear him?

After a while, one of the knights spoke again, "I don't see anything."

"You should spend less time in the tavern!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Merlin couldn't stop watching them. He wondered if they could feel someone watching them. Should he stop? He couldn't tear his eyes off of them and his heart was racing in his chest. It was so loud he could hear it.

The knights were so close to their position. He knew now that they couldn't see them, but he prayed that they'd leave soon and continue searching for them somewhere else.

Suddenly, Arthur coughed again and Merlin immediately covered his mouth with his hand.

Shit

This was the worst timing in the history of Camelot.

"I heard something!" One of the knights exclaimed. His horse neighed and Leon raised his fist into the air to silence all of them.

They were looking in his direction, but couldn't see him. Could they notice the shield that he made? Why wasn't it soundproof like before? Did he say the incantation incorrectly? Probably. But he couldn't think about that now. He had to distract them.

With a flash of gold in his eyes, a bush on the opposite side of the meadow moved loudly.

"There!" On of the knights pointed and Leon turned his head to look. "I heard something move, I'm telling you!"

Leon slowly turned his horse away from Merlin and so did the other knights. They started moving again, riding away from Merlin and closer to where Merlin made the bush move. He used his magic again and another bush moved, farther away from them.

"I see it too!"

"I heard it move!

"It's the beast!"

He heard them speculate, now silently, as they all rode away. One more bush moved on the end of the meadow, far away from Merlin and as the knights left and entered the forest, Merlin finally let out a sigh of relief.

Arthur coughed again and Merlin quickly removed his hand from his mouth, seeing blood on it.

"No," he whispered as he wiped it into the grass and then stood up again, determined.

He needed to find those herbs.

He reached out his hands and concentrated, closing his eyes. They flashed gold and he successfully expanded the invisible shield to almost half of the meadow. That way he could reach the opposite edge of the meadow and find the Yarrow and the rest without being seen.

Merlin quickly got to work. He left Arthur lying there against the tree and ran away from him, quickly looking at the flowers all around him and searching for anything tall and white. He didn't find it at first, but he did find Meadowsweet. It was a different tall and white flower that grew closer to the edge of the forest. Then he found Yarrow.

All he needed now was Rosemary and Comfrey and hopefully Kilgharrah would return with the Hogwort soon.

He couldn't find them anywhere on the meadow. After some time he returned to Arthur, thankful to see that he was still breathing. He wasn't getting better though. He left the Yarrow and Meadowsweet next to him and made the invisible shield smaller again so that no one could enter it unintentionally and see Arthur. Then he continued his search behind them in the forest, close to the water stream.

After a few minutes he found a rock that they hadn't noticed on their way there. It was a huge rock though, several feet tall, and around it, Merlin was glad to see more flowers.

Among them, there was the Rosemary.

Merlin has never been so happy to find such flower and feel its needle-like leaves against his skin. He quickly took it and searched around for the Comfrey. It was the last one he needed besides the Hogwort.

After a few minutes of pointless searching, he heard a big thud behind him from Arthur's location. He prayed for it to be Kilgharrah, but he needed to check.

Just as he was about to turn around and run back, he spotted it - the Comfrey. He quickly grabbed it and ran back to where he'd left Arthur by the tree.

Once he arrived back to the meadow and saw Kilgharrah already standing there, he let out another sigh of relief. Thank god it wasn't the knights.

"Kilgharrah!" he called as he emerged from the invisible shield and expanded it so that Kilgharrah was inside it as well and could see them. The dragon bowed to greet him. "Do you have the Hogwort?"

"I do, young warlock."

And with just those few words, Merlin's hope was restored again.

"I've found the rest of the flowers. What do I do now?" He asked as he noticed a pile of sandy dry soil and flowers on the ground. Kilgharrah must have carried it in his paw. Thank god he didn't drop it anywhere.

"Now we must prepare the antidote."

Merlin nodded and took the Hogwort, together with the four other herbs. According to Kilgharrah's instructions and from what he'd seen Gaius do so many times, he took the essential parts of each flower and mixed them on a flat rock that he'd found and carried closer to Arthur. He smashed the flowers until they became a green mixture and added water from the water stream. Then he used his magic to ignite it and heat it up so that it mixed well together.

Once it was done, Kilgharrah nodded at him, letting him know that it was ready to be given to the prince.

"Thank you, Kilgharrah," he smiled at the dragon and didn't wait for a reply as he rushed back to Arthur with the warm mixture in his hand. He didn't have any plates, or spoons or goblets with him, unfortunately, so his palm had to make do.

He knelt beside Arthur and checked his breathing again. It was faint, but he was still alive. Then he opened his mouth and grabbed the back of his neck, helping him to swallow the antidote that he slowly poured into his mouth.

Arthur coughed, but swallowed some of it, and then more as Merlin gave him the rest of it in his palm.

That was it.

He couldn't do anything else to save Arthur's life. He just had to hope that this worked. He kept watching Arthur, waiting for any sign of consciousness, of him being awake and alright, but nothing came. Kilgharrah kept watching both of them, waiting as well.

Merlin felt tears return to his eyes as he grew more desperate with each passing second.

And then Arthur coughed.

"Argh," he groaned as he coughed again, his eyes opening slightly. Merlin let out a sob of happiness as he gently brushed Arthur's hair away from his forehead. He wasn't burning anymore, the fever was gone. "Ew, Merlin, what the hell did you cook?"

Merlin had to laugh. He turned to Kilgharrah to see that the dragon seemed to be also happy and he nodded at him with gratitude.

Kilgharrah nodded as well. "This is not the end of your journey, Merlin. You and the young Pendragon have much more to accomplish in your lives. Peace and prosperity in the lands of Albion will come."

Merlin smiled at him again. "Thank you."

Then the dragon spread his wings and flew away once more, this time staying far away and not returning unless Merlin called.

Merlin took a deep breath and looked back at Arthur, who just seemed confused.

"What on earth happened?" he asked when he saw Merlin was smiling down at him. "Merlin? Egh," he cringed and wiped his mouth that was still dirty from blood and the antidote.

"You were poisoned by Kaunos' dagger." Merlin told him. "Do you remember?"

Arthur was silent for a moment, looking at his surroundings. "Right." He mumbled. "Yes, I remember. Magic didn't work."

"No," Merlin shook his head. "But we treated you naturally and it seemed to have worked."

"I do feel better," Arthur noted with his eyebrows raised.

Merlin frowned at him, still smiling. "Did you not expect that?"

Arthur pursed his lips and then looked up at Merlin hesitantly. "Well, when your magic didn't work . . . and let's be honest, you're not the best physician-"

"A simple thank you would have been enough," Merlin rolled his eyes, cutting Arthur off. But he couldn't stop smiling.

Arthur was alive. Saved.

"Thanks," he mumbled and searched for Merlin's clean hand next to his. He entwined their fingers and just held his hand, breathing together with Merlin.

They stayed like that for several minutes, Merlin eventually making the invisible shield smaller again so that it contained only them. He was leaning against the same tree and just holding Arthur in his arms, hoping that this moment would never end, but knowing well that it had to.

They still had so much left to do.

For now though, they needed to rest.

"What about . . . " Arthur swallowed and moved slightly to try and look at Merlin's face. "What about the spell in the book that you wanted to do? Right before-"

"You want me to try it?" Merlin asked incredulously. To be honest, the spell was the last thing on his mind right now. He was still recovering from the feeling of almost losing Arthur again.

Arthur shrugged against the tree. "I want to see what it is."

Merlin was quiet for a moment, just holding Arthur in his arms and squeezing his hand. Then he nodded. "Alright."

He let go of Arthur, carefully so that he was still comfortably sat against the tree, and reached for his backpack. Inside it, he found one of Sigan's spell books and he put it on the grass in front of them. "It's not really a spell, it's just . . . knowledge of what I can do." He told him. When he glanced at Arthur, he still seemed curious and he nodded for Merlin to continue.

"I don't know if we have time for this, but I can try it." He smiled. Then he grabbed a stick and stood up, "Wait a second," he uttered as he ran to the stream of water. There he washed his hands and used the stick to dig a little hole into the ground and grabbed a handful of clay. It was a little wet from being so close to the water, but it wasn't mud yet. It was perfect for what Merlin wanted to do.

He walked back to Arthur and looked at him with slight excitement in his eyes, but Arthur was just frowning in confusion now. Merlin then started squeezing the clay in his hands.

Then his eyes started shining gold and Merlin let go of the clay. It floated in the air in between his hands. Arthur watched him in wonder as Merlin started to move his hands around the ball of clay. Slowly, it started to change shape.

"What . . . " Arthur breathed out. He was speechless. And to be honest, Merlin had no idea such a thing was possible, so he couldn't quite believe it either.

He tried to shape the clay in the air with his magic until it looked like something. An animal. There was a head, a long body, four legs and a tail. Once it was done, Merlin whispered, "Hathian, forbaerne!" The little creature slowly turned red and then yellow as it was burning. When Merlin assumed it was enough, he stood up again and moved the clay in front of him as he walked towards the water stream. There he dropped it into the water, his eyes turning blue again. After a moment he knelt down next to the water stream and searched for the miniature statue. He took it out of the water and smiled at how nice it looked. It wasn't hot anymore.

When he walked back to Arthur to the edge of the forest, he was holding the little clay statue in his hands, almost like made from ceramics.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur asked when Merlin returned to him.

Merlin just sat down next to Arthur again. He put it in Arthur's hand to show it to him.

Arthur was frowning at it. "What on Earth is that?" He asked.

"It's a horse," he smiled at him.

Arthur didn't stop frowning. "It looks more like a pig . . . "

"Shut up," Merlin frowned.

Arthur smirked at him. "I'm the one who says shut up." Merlin was glad that Arthur seemed to be feeling much better. The antidote was working wonders, and he didn't seem to have been poisoned just an hour ago anymore. He seemed happy.

"Not anymore," Merlin replied, now smirking himself. He remembered the same conversation from just before Merlin had to call Kilgharrah for help. Now, the situation wasn't so serious anymore and they could joke like they always did. It was back. Their banter was definitely back and their relationship was fixed.

"And why's that?" Arthur smirked at him, waiting for the same answer Merlin gave him before. That he was his boyfriend. He understood him, he like to hear it too.

"Because . . . Because we're dating now," there, Merlin said it again and it felt so good, "Do you have any idea what it's like to date you?" he added just for laughs.

Arthur gave him such a beautiful smile before that smirk returned. "Do you even know what it's like to date you, Merlin?"

Merlin pursed his lips. "I know, it's the best thing in the world."

Arthur laughed at that. Then he closed his eyes tightly as he tried to sit up. When Merlin saw that, he immediately helped him and took the clay statue out of his hands, putting it next to his backpack. He held Arthur's back as he sat, not leaning against the tree anymore. That was the moment Arthur reached towards Merlin's waist and touched him in just the right way-

"Ahh!" Merlin laughed as he quickly pushed away from Arthur. He was ticklish! He stood up and made a few steps away from him, just laughing. But Arthur was trying to stand up as well, clearly wanting to chase him.

"Arthur, you should rest," Merlin reminded him of the poison that was still inside his body, but Arthur clearly didn't care.

"I'll catch you, Merlin," Arthur laughed as held the tree for support and managed to stand up. "Just let me hold you, I want to hold you," he added with a plea in his eyes. And yes, Merlin took pity on him. He smiled and went back, taking Arthur's arm and putting it around his shoulders, but in that moment Arthur turned around and wrapped both his arms around Merlin tightly.

This was . . . a hug. It was a hug.

Arthur was hugging Merlin.

Wow, that didn't happen often, practically never.

Another benefit to dating Arthur.

Arthur just breathed into Merlin's neck as he walked slowly away from the forest and into the meadow. Merlin held him tight, glad that he'd already helped Arthur wash his face from the antidote earlier.

After a moment, Merlin realized that they were dancing. The way they slowly moved together, chest to chest, arms around each other and their legs moving in sync.

It was a pleasant feeling.

Merlin had never danced before now and he was so glad that he could do that with Arthur. He practically melted against him, breathing in Arthur's scent while still supporting half his weight and completely forgetting about their problems and everything that they still needed to do.

He moved with Arthur through the grass and squeezed him tight as they slowly turned around, facing the forest now.

Arthur then slowly leaned away from Merlin and their eyes locked. Merlin could see affection in Arthur's and he was sure Arthur saw the same in his. Their lips naturally gravitated towards each other and they closed their eyes as they kissed.

Merlin kissed Arthur with all the love he held in his heart for the prince and he felt all the love that Arthur was giving him in return. It was like the kiss that had been so rudely interrupted by the falling wall.

He smiled into the kiss as they finally stopped walking and allowed Arthur to grab him tighter and slowly but surely try to bend him down, despite the fact that he was not strong enough to do that. The idea, probably, was to lie down into the grass and then continue from there, but they had no such luck.

Arthur stopped the kiss and pulled away slightly, looking at Merlin with worry in his eyes. When Merlin opened his eyes and saw his expression, he frowned. But soon he heard what caused the concern.

Hooves.

They heard many, many loud horses somewhere close.

"How big is the chance that those are just wild horses?" Arthur asked, still being held by Merlin and looking up into his eyes.

"Not big."

"Yeah, I figured," Arthur frowned.

Merlin turned Arthur in his arms and put one of his arms around his shoulders. It was time to get back to safety, to the invisible shield. He just hoped they could make it in time. As they started moving, now faster than before, Merlin realized that they didn't have a chance.

Arthur was still too weak from the poison and although he was able to walk now, he could definitely not run.

It was too late, the riders on the horses already saw them and sped up. Just in front of the forest and the invisible shield, Merlin and Arthur turned around to see them - they wore red cloaks.

"Knights of Camelot," Arthur mumbled. "They found us."

"Again," Merlin added, making a mental note to explain that to Arthur later.

Merlin grabbed Arthur more tightly. As they entered the invisible shield, Merlin grabbed the little sculpture, his backpack and Arthur took the book. Together they moved as fast as they could into the forest - the knights couldn't follow them on horses into the dense forest.

Together they slowly crossed the stream and started walking away, farther away from the meadow and from Camelot.

They heard the horses stop and the knights dismount. They would follow them on foot if they had to, they had orders to bring Arthur back and Merlin for the execution. They must have heard Kilgharrah the second time too and decided to return to check the meadow again, that's why they were here.

Merlin regretted the dance now.

"Prince Arthur!" They heard someone yell. Merlin was pretty sure it was Sir Leon. He's always been nice to him, but Merlin knew his orders and knew that neither he or his knights came in peace.

After mere minutes, they realized they weren't fast enough to run anywhere. Not with Arthur still weak from the poison, and not having enough food and energy was slowing them down. Merlin was already out of breath, as well as Arthur and they weren't even running.

Too late Merlin realized that they were heading towards the big rock and they wouldn't be fast enough to walk around it. They'd have to stop. But they didn't even have the chance to think about it because slowly, but surely, some of the knights had outrun them and stopped in front of them.

Merlin and Arthur halted, still holding each other, while the knights unsheathed their swords.

"Careful, the prince is enchanted!" One of the knights yelled at the others.

What the hell? Kaunos was right then. Did Uther always think Arthur was enchanted when he disobeyed him?

"I'm not enchanted!" Arthur frowned at them, still out of breath. Merlin felt Arthur's weight against him as he squeezed him tightly. Merlin squeezed back. But Arthur's words meant nothing to the knights, especially when he was holding a sorcerer and holding a book of magic in his hand.

"You're both coming back to Camelot with us," Leon said as he reached them. His and Merlin's eyes met and then he looked at Arthur. He didn't seem that convinced that Arthur was enchanted. "It's the king's orders."

Merlin shook his head. He could not allow this to happen.

One of the knights reached out his sword towards him, but before he could do that, Merlin opened his mouth and yelled, "Astrice!"

His eyes flashed gold and all the knights suddenly fell backwards, falling on the ground, unconscious. Arthur still held onto Merlin as Merlin breathed in and out deeply.

He's just knocked out about twelve Camelot knights . . .

"So this is what you did with the bandits," Arthur just shook his head. Merlin nodded. "We need to go before they wake up."

"Wait," Merlin said as he looked at all of them just lying there, and added, "if they wake up, they'll remember everything. I need to make them forget."

Arthur understood. "Then do it, but quickly."

Merlin slowly walked Arthur towards the nearest tree and left him there, putting the book and the statue into his backpack and the backpack on his back. Then he reached out his hands around him and tried to concentrate. "Gedeowie dæt mod disse ricea! Abricaþ ond forgietan heora ingemynd, min gúdæda innan dægrím!"

The knights all stirred, but Merlin didn't know if that was a sign of the spell working or them waking up. He quickly turned to Arthur and said, "Now let's go."

Emrys!

Merlin stopped and frowned, looking around. He felt like he just heard something, someone. But the knights were all still lying on the ground. Merlin dismissed it and returned to Arthur.

They held each other again as they walked back towards the water stream. They crossed it and continued to the edge of the forest. When they arrived there, they found twelve horses standing next to each other, some of them tied to a tree, some of them not. A few of them seemed be cut in half and only standing on their front legs.

"What the hell is that?" Arthur asked.

"It must be the invisible shield that I used to protect you," Merlin realized. Some of the horses must have been half inside it and half out, making them look like their other half didn't exist. "It's what protected us when the knights found us the first time."

"Is that what you meant when you said that they found us again?" Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded. "You were unconscious," he added.

Merlin then reached out his hand and destroyed the shield, making the horses appear whole again. They neighed at him.

"I think we just found a gold mine," Arthur smiled as they neared the horses together.

He was right. Each of the horses had a saddle bag filled with food that they needed. Besides, all the horses knew Arthur and Merlin and weren't afraid of them, so they just opened one of the saddle bags and found apples for the knights and horses, more dried meat, waterskin and cheese.

Merlin looked at his already heavy backpack and shook his head. "We can just take the horse," he said.

"That would be useful, we could return to Camelot before the sun sets," Arthur shielded his eyes as he looked at the sun on the sky. They had a few more hours of daylight left. "Alright," he nodded as they untied one of the horses from the tree.

Then they tied the free horses to other trees so that they wouldn't run away before the knights woke up again - once they woke up they wouldn't remember anything after all.

Merlin then also used magic to get rid of the pile of soil on the meadow that Kilgharrah had brought there from Kent. He couldn't risk the knights remembering anything. Once the sand was gone together with the stone with some of the antidote left on it, he walked to the horse that they had untied, Arthur following.

First Merlin helped Arthur to mount the horse, which proved to be somewhat difficult, but he managed. Merlin then opened his backpack and pulled out the little horse made of clay. He handed it to Arthur. "I want you to have it." He smiled up at him.

"Why?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shrugged. "I don't know, I just want you to have it. It can remind you of me," he smiled.

Arthur took the horse and smiled. Then he smirked. "You're saying a statue of a pig can remind me of yo-"

Merlin punched his leg slightly. "It's a horse, you clotpole."

Arthur laughed at that insult. "Come on," he put the little horse into his pocket and offered his hand to Merlin. Merlin took it and put his foot into the stirrup, another hand on the back of the saddle and pulled himself up, throwing his leg over the horse. Now he was sitting behind Arthur, who controlled the horse. At first he had argued that it would be better for him to control the horse and Arthur would sit behind him and relax, but Arthur had told him that there was no way he was sitting outside the saddle and falling down from the horse. Merlin had rolled his eyes at that and eventually had agreed to sit behind Arthur then. The prince did seem to have some of his energy back.

Merlin then adjusted the backpack on his back and hugged Arthur tightly from behind.

"Ready?"

"Ready," Merlin nodded and they set off. They galloped away from the other horses and the knights, riding to where the knights had appeared from the first time.

In the direction of Camelot.

xoXÖXox

They travelled for another few hours and the sun was almost setting again before they arrived close to Camelot. They stopped two times and ate the apples, more dried meat and the cheese, and now they were full of energy and prepared for the spell.

Well, Merlin was. Arthur was prepared to watch him.

Arthur stopped the horse close to a cliff on the road to Camelot. It was the same spot that Merlin stood at when he watched the castle for what he thought would be the last time.

The view was perfect.

Merlin smiled as he jumped off the horse and helped Arthur dismount right after him. "This is where I'll do the spell, I can see the whole of Camelot from here."

Arthur nodded. "We should hurry up," he said as he went to tie the horse to one of the trees. After the ride and not having to walk for a while, he wasn't tired or weak anymore. At least now he was able to walk on his own without Merlin supporting him.

Merlin took a deep breath as Arthur removed the backpack from Merlin's back. He put it next to the tree that he'd tied the horse to and then he took Merlin's hands gently, pulling him closer. Merlin let himself fall into Arthur's arms as Arthur hugged him tightly and then pulled him away just slightly to kiss his lips.

Merlin felt blessed in Arthur's arms. Before they hugged on the meadow, he'd never been enveloped in a warm hug like that, to be honest he hadn't thought Arthur was capable of such a thing. But Arthur was the best at giving hugs. Merlin rubbed his hands over Arthur's back as he squeezed him, not needing to support his weight anymore.

After a moment they parted, both smiling and still so close. "What was that for?" Merlin asked.

"For good luck," he smiled.

Merlin smirked. "I think I'll need more of that," he whispered as he closed the distance between them once again and kissed Arthur. His Arthur, his prince. His future.

Suddenly they heard someone clapping, which ruined their moment completely.

They immediately let go of each other and turned around to see . . .

Kaunos.

"What the hell?" Arthur yelled. "How are you even here?"

"Obviously," Kaunos dismounted his horse, "I have a horse," he told them as he tied it to a nearby tree. Then he turned to them just as Arthur unsheathed his sword again.

Kaunos ignored him and looked at Merlin. "I know what you're wondering Emrys," he smirked. Then he made a confused face to imitate him. "Oh no, how come my spell didn't work?"

He was right, that was exactly what Merlin was wondering. But he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Instead he reached out his hands and yelled, "astrice!"

Kaunos laughed a bit, "Oh no," but he didn't move an inch.

Merlin let his hands fall as he frowned. "What? How?" He didn't understand. Why didn't his magic work on him? Did the spell even work on the knights? What if they still remembered everything and were already on their way here?

"Now, what I wonder, is how the hell did you manage to survive, Prince Arthur," he mockingly bowed to Arthur as he looked at him.

Merlin frowned. "How did you make the poison?" he asked. Because the only explanation he could think of was that Kaunos was a sorcerer and had magic, which sounded ridiculous given the fact that he was also a witchfinder.

Kaunos smiled. "I know a trick or two," he smirked at them. "It's how I found you near the ruined castle."

"What did you plan to achieve?" Arthur asked his own question, his sword still pointing at Kaunos. "How would you even explain that to my father? That you murdered the prince?!"

"Emrys is nothing without the Once and Future King. It's simple, really." He shrugged. "I told you, you were a necessary sacrifice, but I guess," he looked at Merlin again, "I must have underestimated you, Emrys."

Arthur didn't wait for him to say more, he prepared his sword and once again strode over to Kaunos - Merlin worried whether Arthur was strong enough to fight him after just recovering from being poisoned, but apparently he couldn't help him with his magic, it was useless. And this time, Kaunos had a sword of his own. He must have found the knights and their horses, it was obviously a sword from Camelot.

"Come on, Merlin, aren't you going to fight me? The big famous sorcerer? Or are you too weak?" He laughed as he blocked Arthur's hits, one after another.

Where the hell did he learn to fight like that?

Merlin gritted his teeth. Why wasn't his magic working on him? Was it useless?

"Emrys, I'm waiting!" He heard his mocking.

Merlin frowned at him as he neared them. Maybe he just needed to try to use stronger magic. Arthur and Kaunos were fighting close to each other, but Merlin could try to hit only Kaunos.

"Merlin, do it!" he heard Arthur. "You won't hit me, I trust you!"

That was something that Merlin needed to hear. Arthur trusted him, he did!

Anger and desperation clouded Merlin's mind as he reached out his hands once again. His eyes were shining gold as he yelled, "Astrice!"

But nothing happened.

"Is that all you've got?" Kaunos laughed.

"Argh!" Arthur growled at him as he hit him with his sword again and again. He kicked his leg and Kaunos fell to the ground, but he cleverly and quickly turned around just in time to block Arthur's next blow. Arthur wasn't strong enough to beat him, normally he'd be already done with Kaunos.

Merlin had to do something.

He closed his eyes and reached out his hands at Kaunos. It was now or never. "Gedeowie dæt mod disse mannes! Abricaþ ond forgietan heora ingemynd, min gúdæda innan dægrím!"

He yelled. He felt a wave of magic leave him, directed right at Kaunos, when suddenly he turned away and kicked Arthur right in the direction of the spell.

"No!" Merlin shouted, but it was no help. Arthur fell to the ground, unconscious. "No! Arthur!"

"I'm here to kill you myself, Emrys!" Kaunos smiled at him.

Merlin's eyes widened. He couldn't use his magic, he didn't have anything. What was he going to do?

He looked at Arthur and silently apologized. Then he noticed his sword was lying next to him. He knew that Kaunos saw him notice it.

Merlin quickly ran towards the sword and grabbed it just in time to block Kaunos' first attack. Their swords clashed together, Merlin barely managing to hold it tightly. Barely managing to keep himself alive.

"Don't worry about the handcuffs," Kaunos told him with malice in his eyes. "You've already destroyed them, just like you'll destroy the world!"

What the hell?

Merlin's hands were becoming weak as he quickly ducked away from under the sword and moved away from Kaunos. He followed him and used his sword again. Merlin blocked the attack and then another, but he couldn't hold on for much longer.

Kaunos kicked him in the shin and Merlin cried out in pain, but still held the sword as he fell down to his knees.

Kaunos was now above him, with advantage in strength.

"I can see it in your eyes," he smiled at him, venom in his voice. His smile was full of teeth, disgusting, evil. "You're wondering. Head full of questions. Why didn't my spell work?" He laughed when he saw Merlin's eyes were desperate now, wide. Did he fail? "It isn't you," he told him. "It's me. I'm better than you and everyone else with magic. You're corrupted, Emrys!"

"That's not true," Merlin breathed out weakly through his gritted teeth. He was going to die, wasn't he?

Kaunos ignored him. "You'll die weak, without your magic."

Merlin feared he was right. That these were his last moments. After all, what was he without his magic?

"Just! Let! Go!" The witchfinder hissed at him, with each word letting more of his weight fall down on his sword, pushing Merlin into the ground.

With the last word, something caught Merlin's attention. Something glistened around Kaunos' neck. As he was pushing Merlin closer and closer to the ground, it fell out of his collar - a necklace. Merlin glanced at it and saw that it was full of symbols that held magical power.

This had to be it! The reason his magic didn't work!

Kaunos's smile turned into a grin as Merlin was losing his strength, drops of sweat forming on his forehead. But Merlin had one last hope. He risked letting go of the sword with one hand and moved away as Kaunos' sword pierced the ground right next to Merlin's head.

Merlin then reached his free hand and pulled at the necklace, yanking it and snapping it in half.

"No!" Kaunos yelled.

He pulled out his sword from the ground, but Merlin immediately reached out his hand and yelled, "Astrice!"

Kaunos touched his bare neck and managed to spot the necklace in Merlin's hand just before the spell lifted him off the ground and threw across the road. He landed on his back, not moving.

Merlin gasped for air as he fell to his knees.

He felt exhausted, utterly exhausted. But he wasn't done yet. He wasn't finished.

He took deep breaths and when his heart finally calmed down a bit, he looked at Arthur. He was still lying there, on the ground. Merlin slowly crawled over to him and looked at him.

His face was peaceful. But his mind was blank. There were no longer any memories of what had happened between them in the castle or what they had to live through together after Merlin had run away. There was none of that.

It was all gone.

Lost.

Merlin felt hot tears in his eyes as he realized what that meant. Arthur didn't know about his magic. He didn't know about him being a dragonlord, he didn't even know that Merlin loved him.

He hadn't even told him he loved him.

Merlin sobbed as he touched Arthur's emotionless face. A tear landed on Arthur's cheek and Merlin brushed it away with his thumb and then wiped the rest of his tears with his sleeve.

What has he done? What had Kaunos made him do?

Was their story over now?

After a moment of collecting himself, Merlin took a deep breath again and kissed Arthur. His lips were so . . . motionless. Then he stood up again and walked over to Kaunos with a frown.

Emrys.

He quickly turned around in confusion. It sounded like . . . No, he had to finish this. He turned back to Kaunos with a frown and knelt down next to him.

He placed his palm on his forehead and took a deep breath. This man deserved losing his memory. None of the people in Camelot did, but Kaunos, he deserved it. Merlin closed his eyes tightly and began with the spell. "Gedeowie dæt mod disse mannes! Abricaþ ond forgietan heora ingemynd, min gúdæda!"

When it was done, he put away his hand and brushed it off on his jacket. He frowned at Kaunos again and left him there, walking over to Arthur again and sitting down next to him, holding his hand in his.

He couldn't believe this happened. How long would they stay unconscious? Would there be at least something that Arthur would remember? A faint memory of them?

Emrys!

He heard someone call his name again. Merlin frowned and this time finally looked around, searching for anyone, anything. After a moment, he heard footsteps. He brushed away his tears again and stood up, prepared to face the knights.

But it was the druids that came from the woods.

"Emrys," one of them spoke.

Merlin frowned at them in confusion. There was about five of them, all grown men in brown clothes. He's never seen any of them, he'd remember their faces. But what were druids doing so close to Camelot?

"We're here for him," one of them pointed to Kaunos lying on the ground, as if answering Merlin's question.

"You're here to take him away?" Merlin asked, frowning despite his tears being still apparent on his cheeks.

Why would the druids do that? Why would they want Kaunos?

"Sophian has grown up among us, Emrys."

Wait, Sophian? Since when was Kaunos' name Sophian? "I think you've got the wrong name?"

The druids all shook their heads in unison. "Let us take him with us. We can teach him new ways. Better ways."

"But he hates magic, he'll expose you to the king," Merlin protested. They would all die if they let Kaunos- or Sophian, or whatever was his name, go with them.

One of the druids made a step towards him and looked into his teary eyes. "The magic you used was strong, Emrys. Yet it was not stronger than what you need to use now. You've erased all of Sophian's memories. He won't remember who he is or where he came from and therefore we can shape him into a better man. Let him go with us and then you can finish your spell."

What? "Kaunos . . . " Merlin looked at him. "He doesn't remember anything?"

The leader of the druids shook his head.

Merlin looked at Kaunos again. He was just lying there, all the malice gone from his eyes, his expression soft, without any evil in it. Did he deserve a second chance? Merlin already had a chance to let Arthur kill him one time, yet he didn't. But did he actually deserve it?

Merlin didn't know that. But it wasn't his decision to make.

He nodded at the druids and four of them stepped forward, gathering Kaunos in their arms.

"Thank you, Emrys," one of them said. Then they all turned away.

"Wait!" Merlin stopped them. When they looked at him, he found himself tearing up again. "And what about Arthur? Will he remember who he is?"

The druids simply nodded. "There is much more for you and the Once and Future King in the future Emrys, and though this may seem like the end, it is the beginning."

Then they turned away and disappeared into the forest, together with Kaunos.

Merlin took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly. This was ridiculous. All of this was ridiculous, it must have been a dream. Or a nightmare.

When he opened his eyes again, Arthur was still lying on the ground, unconscious. He was lying there because of him. He . . . He trusted him and this is what Merlin did to him?

A sob escaped him as he turned away from the prince and covered his face in his palms. He didn't have a choice but to be strong now though. He had to do the spell. They were still in danger.

Slowly he kissed Arthur's cheek and stood up. He made his way to the edge of the cliff, looking at the castle of Camelot. He couldn't see the citizens, he was too far away. And they couldn't see him. But they knew who he was.

They knew him.

They hated him.

They feared him.

They wanted him dead.

Everyone except Gwen and Gaius. They were probably worried for him.

Merlin silently apologized to them as he opened his arms and took a deep breath. This was it. The moment that would change his future and turn everything back to normal. Except - he glanced at Arthur's lifeless form behind him - there were things that he didn't want to go back to normal.

Maybe he would come up with a solution later. Now he had to act before Arthur woke up.

The sun was already setting behind the trees.

Merlin wondered what it would feel like to the citizens. Would they blink and suddenly forget everything about the last week, not even noticing? Would they walk into a room only to forget why they walked in there in the first place? Would they feel it?

They would probably all faint just like Arthur and Kaunos did.

Merlin hoped nobody would hurt themselves or wonder for too long why they were unconscious.

Once again he looked at the castle - the place he grew to love and call home - and he allowed his eyes to close.

"Gedeowie dæt mod disse ricea!" He yelled. His voice was strong and deep. "Abricaþ ond forgietan heora ingemynd, min gúdæda innan dægrím!"

His eyes flashed gold just like the setting sun next to him.

His arms fell close to his body and his eyes closed on their own.

Exhausted.

The last thing he remembered before his body hit the ground, was the feeling of falling, and then sweet, sweet nothingness.

xoXÖXox

Arthur dreamt. That didn't happen often.

He dreamt of hands and soft lips and gold eyes . . .

But the dream faded out of his mind even before he finally woke up.

He groaned. Everything . . . hurt. Why was he hurting all over? The ground was hard — he wasn't in his bed, he wasn't in Camelot, he was in the forest. Arthur's eyes snapped open as he was so often used to doing in case of danger.

But there was no danger, only darkness all around. He heard a horse somewhere behind him.

Arthur sat up and touched his head. "Ah," he moaned in pain. His head hurt like hell. Then he looked around.

What the hell was he doing in the woods? At night?

He saw something glistening a few feet away from him and noticed that it was a sword. Actually, two swords.

What. The. Hell?

Now he noticed there were actually two horses. One was obviously his, the other- "Merlin?" he quickly called his servant's name, but he couldn't hear him. He stood up and almost fell down again as his head was spinning, but he regained his balance and rubbed his eyes to let them adjust to the darkness around.

Then he saw him. "Merlin!"

His friend was lying on the ground close to a cliff, almost falling off it. What on Earth had happened here?

Arthur quickly secured Merlin with his arms so he wouldn't fall down and shook him. Merlin was not responding, but he was breathing.

Was he asleep?

Arthur stared at him for a moment, at his soft sleeping face. He didn't get to see this often, Merlin always saw his sleeping face in the morning together with his horrible bedhead, but he never saw Merlin.

After a sigh, Arthur shook Merlin's shoulders again.

This time Merlin stirred and slowly opened his eyes, staring at him in the dark. "Rise and shine," Arthur frowned at him. "What are you doing?"

"Arthur?" Merlin mumbled as he frowned at him in confusion. Then he grabbed his head and groaned. Arthur let go of him and stood up, folding his arms on his chest impatiently.

"What happened?" he asked.

Merlin sat up and blinked at him in the darkness. When he realized how close he was to the cliff, he moved away from there and tried to stand up, but almost fell. Arthur caught his arm, but let go again once Merlin was standing on his own.

"I'll repeat this only once, Merlin. What the hell happened?"

Merlin looked around in the darkness, still holding his head. "I don't . . . I don't know," he shrugged. Then he closed his eyes tightly, "we were . . . on a trip . . . "

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Are you telling me we were on a hunting trip and what, just fell asleep here on the ground?"

"Well, it's not that hard around here and there's actually some soft moss over there and-"

"Merlin!"

"I don't know!" Merlin shrugged at him. "Why would I know? Why would it be my fault?"

"Because, Merlin, whenever we find ourselves in such strange and troublesome situations, it usually is your fault!"

"And you're a prat!" was all that Merlin could come up with.

Arthur just threw his arms up in the air as he gave up and rolled his eyes, turning away from him. "We were on a hunting trip, obviously," he mumbled in a mocking voice as he picked up both swords and headed for his horse that was tied to a tree. There was a backpack lying near it. It was definitely Merlin's.

Arthur picked it up. "Oh my god, what the hell are you carrying in this thing?" He turned to Merlin as he threw the heavy backpack at him.

Merlin managed to catch it, frowning at it. Then he looked around at the two horses, the dark castle in the distance and back at the backpack. He gasped and grabbed his head again.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, now a little bit worried. Not that he'd even admit it.

Merlin swallowed as he looked around one more time. Then he shook his head and shrugged. "Nothing, my head hurts."

Arthur just rolled his eyes again and untied his horse from the tree. He frowned when he realized it wasn't his horse. The stable boy apparently gave him the wrong one again. Arthur just couldn't figure out why he didn't remember it.

"We need to return to the castle, come on," he called Merlin as he mounted his horse.

Merlin nodded, "Yes, sire," he mumbled and ran up to the other horse. He stopped mid-way and picked something up from the ground. Only then did he continue on to the other horse. Once he mounted as well, Arthur led the way and rode back to Camelot.

This was so strange . . .

Were they drinking? That was the only explanation that Arthur could think of to be honest, and yet it seemed unlikely.

After a while, he felt something in his pocket. He reached into it and pulled out a strange object. He couldn't identify it in the dark, but it looked like it was made of clay and it looked . . . sort of like pig with long head and legs.

Arthur frowned at it, as if it was supposed to mean something to him, but then he dismissed it and shoved it back into his pocket.

What a weird day.

xoXÖXox

Merlin let go of his head as he mounted the horse with the heavy backpack on his back. Then he kicked Kaunos' horse and set off after Arthur, Kaunos' magical necklace still in his hands - he'd noticed it on the ground and quickly picked up before Arthur could see it too.

It had taken him a while to remember what happened after he'd woken up, but once he saw and felt the backpack in his hands, everything had come back to him. The letter, his running away, the execution, Kilgharrah, the poison . . . The night they spent together in the castle.

And the final fight. He remembered how he hit Arthur with the spell, erasing his memory. He'd promised him that wouldn't happen.

Arthur had said he trusted him.

And Merlin failed him. Again and again, he failed him.

Merlin swallowed and brushed away the tears forming in his eyes. It was over. If Arthur had forgotten about the events of the past week, then the entire city of Camelot must have forgotten too. As well as the knights. They probably hadn't returned to Camelot yet, but they would. And they wouldn't remember why they were away from the castle.

No one would remember what's happened. The execution was now erased from everyone's minds.

Merlin almost wished it could be erased form his own mind as well.

He feared he'd get nightmares again. The only reason he didn't have a nightmare last night was because Arthur was holding him the entire time. That wouldn't happen again.

Not unless he figured out how to make Arthur remember.

They continued on their way to Camelot until they finally reached the Lower Town and the citadel. Merlin felt anxiety build up in him as they rode through the main gate into the courtyard, but no one bat an eye at him and the pyre had been long gone.

They could definitely recognize him in the darkness, but everything was how it used to be. No one was unconscious.

Calm evening inside the walls of Camelot.

People slowly going home, some knights still on patrol.

They dismounted and led their horses to the stables. A stable boy took them and led them inside, but while Arthur started to walk away, Merlin stayed. He needed to do something.

"Good night, Arthur!" he called at him just before Arthur was too far away from him. The prince turned to look at him, clearly confused, but then he nodded and disappeared inside the castle.

Good night, Merlin.

Merlin could still hear Arthur's response from the previous night. He sighed and went inside the stables. There he found Arthur's saddle from before the execution when the prince had gone to search for him. He opened the saddlebag and just like he had thought, he found his letter.

The only proof that this week ever happened.

Once it was inside his pocket, Merlin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. With a heartbroken expression he slowly walked up the stairs into the tower where his and Gaius' quarters were located.

The old man welcomed him with open arms. He didn't know what happened, but Merlin couldn't hold that grief and guilt in any longer.

As Gaius held him tight, Merlin wrapped his arms around him and held him tighter.

Just a few seconds later, he started openly sobbing into Gaius' chest.

And Gaius held him. He held his boy.

.

.

.

.

Fun fact. Hogwart was a medicinal herb used by Alice in the episode 3x09 Love in the Time of Dragons. According to wikipedia, it grows in dry, open areas, especially sandy and rocky soils. I found one such place in England, it's in Kent, it's called Dungeness and it's often called England's only desert. Then I used the Map of Albion on AO3 to try to guess the distance, and I think from where Merlin and Arthur are according to the official BBC Camelot map, it would take about 8 days on foot to get to the South of Kent. (Yeah, I spent a lot of time on this fanfic...)

Another fun fact, this time from wikipedia. J. K. Rowling didn't deliberately name Hogwarts after the hogwort, but after publishing the books, a friend reminded her of seeing the plant many years beforehand. J. K. Rowling said that the name might have remained in her subconscious ever since.

SPELLS

- "Gedeowie dæt mod disse ricea! Abricaþ ond forgietan heora ingemynd, min gúdæda innan dægrím!" - This is my own spell, and it should mean "Tame the mind of these people! Destroy and forget their memory, my deeds done in the past, in the number of days!" Yeah, it took a while to make. If you're interested, this is how I did it: "Gedeowie dæt mod disse..." is from 4x04 The Servant of Two Masters. It was used by Morgana when she used the Fomorroh against Merlin. It means "tame the spirit of this". Then I had to use the oldenglishtranslator DOT co DOT uk - In the original spell I used the word "ricea" which means "of people" (which is the second grammatical case from the word "ríce", which means "the people inhabiting a district a nation"). In this chapter though, Merlin was using the spell only on Kaunos and no other people, so I replaced "ricea" with the word "mannes", which is the second case from "singular man". The word "Abricaþ" means break/destroy and it was used by Merlin when he tried to break his chains in 3x01 The Tears of Uther Pendragon Part One. "Ond" means "and", "forgietan" means "to forget", "heora" means "their" and it was used by Morgause in 3x12 The Coming of Arthur Part Two (it was a part of a longer spell). Another word is "ingemynd" which according to the oldenglishtranslator means "recollection, memory, mind, remembrance". "Min" means "my", "gúdæda" means "deed done in the past" (used in the 4. case, plural - oldenglishtranslator). "Innan" means "in" and the last word "dægrím" means "a number of days" (again used in the 4. case, plural). I was trying to indicate that Merlin only wanted to erase the memories of the last week, not all memories. (Btw I use grammatical cases because they were a thing in the Old English and they're still a thing in my language - we've got 7 of them.)

- "Purhhaele licsar min" - It means "heal thoroughly my body wound" and it was used by Gilli in 3x11 The Sorcerer's Shadow - I replaced "min" with "thin" which means "your" instead of "my", so that Merlin can heal Arthur and not himself.

- "Wel cene hole!" - This spell was used in 3x05 The Crystal Cave by Taliesin to heal Arthur's arrow injury on his back. It means "do good to the perforation."

- "Bot ond tile!" - From 3x12 The Coming of Arthur Part One. The druids used this on dead Leon to resurrect him with the cup of life. I only used the last sentence of the spell. The original spell is "Butan þæt cwalu. Hrðe þon aidlian. Hrðe þon eðian. Bot ond tile." And it means "Out of a violent death. Quickly make it no longer useless. Quickly breathe now. Help him and cure him." I only used "help him and cure him" because Merlin didn't have a cup of life and Arthur wasn't dead yet.

- "Efencume... ætgædre, eala gastas cræft ige: gestrice þis lic forod!" - It was used by Merlin disguised as Dragoon in 4x03 The Wicked Day when he healed Uther but failed because of Morgana's necklace. It means "Oh, spirits, assemble together your skill: mend this broken body."

- "Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare!" - This was used by Merlin to heal Arthur and the knights in 4x04 Aithusa when they were poisoned by the soup. It means "I heal you thoroughly from your mortal wound!"

- "Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ!" - This is one of the most powerful spells ever cast. It was given to Merlin by Kilgharrah in 3x05 The Crystal Cave when Morgana was injured in the head and Merlin wanted to heal her. It means "I heal you thoroughly from your mortal wound with those special powers that are ancient! Oh!"

- "Hathian" - It means "become hot" and was used by Merlin against the enemy in 1x10 The Moment of Truth, when his swordr became too hot to hold in his hand and he was forced to drop it.

- "Forbaerne!" - It means "burn up" and was used by Nimueh in 1x13 Le Morte d'Arthur, against Merlin as she made a fireball.

- "Astrice!" - It was used in 2x12 The Fire of Idirsholas for example and it means "I strike"