The guards before the King's chambers did not question her. She simply walked through the doors without sparing them a glance. Once she was safely inside she quickly discarded the cloak. Once she did that long brown curls cascaded down a lithe body that was now clad in a simple black dress. It clung to her small form creating an air of elegance and sophistication around her. The girl was beautiful with endless black depths she used for eyes and skin that was as pale and as pure as winter snow. She walked gracefully towards the wardrobe from which she fished out a black hat and put it on her head, successfully hiding the only thing that would ruin her plan completely.

Uther was sitting on his table. He did not react at all when she entered. He did not acknowledge the fact that this woman had just exposed her only imperfection. A thousand scrunched up pieces (some of which were documents, others were of maps, thirds were of complaints) cluttered the enormous piece of furniture. There was not a place on the table that was not in disarray. Uther had made sure of that. Once he was certain that he had not missed anything the frown on his face disappeared and a warm smile grew to replace it once his eyes fell on the woman's familiar form. He went towards her and was just about to embrace her when she withdrew with a polite smile.

'I think it is high time I left, Sire. People might start thinking ill of you, if you are to be seen with me during the day and the night,' she explained.

Uther sighed deeply as his smile vanished. His shoulders tensed once more as he made a few carefully calculated steps towards the girl. He tentatively raised his arms, slowly at first, as though he were dealing with a frightened cub, then his movements became more precise and less timid as he smiled, when the girl allowed him to embrace her. He rested his chin on her head, ignoring the hat completely.

'Listen to me, Lotus. Nothing and no one can make you feel unwanted or unwelcome. If such a thing occurs, come to me immediately and I will see to it that the cause for such unpleasant experiences on your behalf will be removed,' Uther replied as he tried to console the girl. He could not help but sigh once more and reminisce. He rarely received such an open acceptance from her but when he did only one thing registered in his mind – the wait was worth it.

The girl smirked at his choice of words. She memorised what Uther had said before her wicked expression turned into a somber one again. She withdrew from Uther and nodded. She then proceeded to retrieve her belongings. Uther made no move to stop her. After all, she needed time to adjust to her new life. Of course, she would not feel at ease when she spent every night with him. The girl needed her space and Uther was willing to give it to her so long as she came back in the morning and they could talk and perhaps even discuss their future plans for their battle against magic. That was the reason why all he did was smile sadly when the girl looked back at him with an equally dismal expression before she turned her back to him and exited the King's chambers, leaving them hollow and empty once more.

Uther sighed and allowed his expression to become grave again. He had hidden it well when she had come because he did not wish to disturb her with speculations. That was the reason why he had not told her about his suspicions that there was a traitor in their midst and that that person had had the audacity to escape and warn the druids. Uther had sent someone to scout the area around the camp and was furious when he had been told that it was deserted. Given the situation that was the logical conclusion. With a heavy heart Uther went to bed and decided not to look too deep into such matters so late at night. Plus, he needed Lotus' assistance and guidance when it came to such issues. After all, most of her ideas were quite helpful. She even managed to impress him with her strategically developed mind. It seemed that he had a reason to be proud to call her his daughter.

The sun shone brightly as the colours of the sky shifted from blazing red to warm orange, from fading purple to vivid shades of yellow until it settled on the one choice every human loves – bright blue. Speaking of true blue, there was a pair of eyes with an equally mesmerising shade that were now staring at an old man who was explaining something to him. From the boy's expression only one thing could be deciphered – boredom, which was only halfway concealed and it seemed that Merlin was not planning on hiding it completely. He even intended on showing his frustration further when the doors to their chambers creaked open and in came Gwen whose expression was anything but fine.

Her eyes were wide. Her lips were parted as they took much needed gulps of air. Her chest heaved up and down as it tried to catch up with her erratic heart rate. Her dress was slightly torn at the bottom and it showed a small expanse of skin that was covered in blood. There was no doubt that the wound was much deeper than the cut on the dress showed. Her hair was more uncontrollable than usual. It stuck out from its usual bun in strange angles. Her whole appearance suggested two things – 1) she had been running and 2) something unpleasant had happened to cause her such worry.

'Morgana, she-she….,' Gwen managed to whisper before her need for air kicked in again and outfought her desire to alert Merlin and Gaius of what had happened.

At the mention of Morgana's name Merlin immediately got up from his chair and rushed towards Gwen, ignoring Gaius' protests completely. He was just about to start interrogating the girl when Gaius spoke up, successfully intervening.

'I believe you have gone through something horrid Gwen. Perhaps you would like to sit down and drink some water and maybe then you would feel at ease to tell us about what happened.' Gaius said.

Gwen seemed hesitant at first, but soon her knees buckled and she would have hit the ground, had Merlin not caught her in time. He helped her walk towards the table and sit down, while Gaius went to fetch a glass of water. Soon Gwen was given what she needed the most. She gulped down the glass' contents. Merlin and Gaius were both surprised at the urgency and speed the glass was emptied. Despite their shock, soon they recovered. It seemed that Gwen was feeling slightly better and judging by the lack of rapid intakes of breath, she was ready to speak.

'We went for our usual morning walk, when we were attacked.' Gwen began. Just those words were enough to shock both Merlin and Gaius. The former resisted the urge to gasp, while the latter beckoned Gwen to continue, which she did, 'There were three masked men. They were all wearing these strange symbols on their arms and faces. It seemed that they had either tattooed their whole bodies or I don't know…. The point is they were anything but normal. I think they were…. They were….'

'Sorcerers?' Merlin said uncertainly as he implored Gwen to go on with her story.

Gwen nodded astonished at the accuracy of Merlin's guess. Despite her shock and fear, the girl continued.

'We were just about to run. I turned around but found myself trapped by two other men. They….they surrounded me. I looked at Morgana's direction and found her trapped as well. They started whispering words I could not understand and the symbols on their arms and faces lit up. From red they turned into icy blue. Their eyes glowed with that deadly colour as well. I heard Morgana scream before she collapsed. A circle appeared around her. The strange part was that it consisted of rose petals. I was just about to ask what they were going to do with us and what they could possibly accomplish when a similar circle appeared around me. I felt sharp pain and soon darkness blackened my vision. Suddenly everything started spinning. I fell to the ground. I don't even remember if I screamed or not when this peculiar thing happened. One of them screamed and the other was sent flying towards a tree. When he collided with it, it broke…'

'It broke?' Merlin asked, seeming to not believe what Gwen was retelling.

She shot Merlin an intense gaze that dared him to defy her. Once she was certain that all doubt and disbelief was destroyed Gwen continued her story.

'Yes, it broke. The same thing happened to the three around Morgana. Two of them collapsed, while the other was sent flying towards a tree. It, too, broke from the impact and fell to the ground. I don't ever want to hear such dreadful screams of agony. I looked up when my vision cleared and all I can remember seeing is an old woman dressed in nothing but black. Everything from her head to her feet was covered. The only thing I could see was her eyes – they were as black as a starless night.' Gwen explained as she stopped to catch her breath. She then added, 'She got rid of the rose petals and told me to come here and get you two. She promised me that Morgana would be fine. I did not believe her at first, but then she showed me her necklace. It bore the crest of Camelot.'

Merlin's eyes widened as his brain refused to digest all this information. He could not believe what had happened. He and Morgana had just come back from a journey that had gone completely wrong. They had thought they had been safe in Camelot, but it seemed they had been wrong. Merlin could not help but feel slightly guilty that he had allowed himself to feel secure. He should have known better than anybody else that the enemy never slept let alone allowed them to take a rest. But the one thing Merlin did not understand was why now and why here. The place and time were out of the ordinary. Before the ritual or whatever those people were going to perform on him and Morgana should have occurred during the night, during a full moon, to be exact. Plus, they had been in the forest, near a river, surrounded by flames, ashes and smoke. It had been completely different from now so then why?

I don't know what's going on or why those people decided to attack Morgana, but one thing is for certain – there is something suspicious about everything that happened this morning. Sorcerers would not attack royalty, Uther's ward and her maid at that, so close to Camelot and especially not during the day. Though what Gwen told us to have happened is almost the same as what occurred in the forest. The only difference is that there was only a small patch of skin that was tattooed on the druids or whatever they were, while judging from Gwen's words the ones that attacked her and Morgana had tattoos all over their bodies. And just who is this sorceress that would appear out of the blue, save those who were close to the man that abhorred the very essence that she is and would be wearing something that bears the crest of Camelot? Something's definitely wrong with this picture, but I just can't put my finger on it.

'Merlin. Merlin!' Gaius screamed as he put his hand on the boy's body and gently shook it. The man sighed exasperatedly as Merlin yelped and his eyes widened.

'We need to hurry. There is no time to lose.' Gaius added as he exited the door.

Gwen was about to get up when her ankle protested and made her wince. The jolt of pain was enough to let her know that she would be confined to the chair. Merlin examined her wound for a few seconds. He noted that it was not severe and was surprised to find it clean. It seemed Gaius had done that while they had been listening to Gwen or rather, Gaius had been listening, Merlin had been too busy pondering on the situation's peculiarity. With a deep sigh Merlin told Gwen to rest and that they would be right back. After he had warned Gwen not to move too much, Merlin exited Gaius' chambers and raced after the physician who was halfway through the castle right about now.

Finding Morgana was not difficult at all. It seemed she had been left lying on the ground all alone and the sorceress was nowhere to be found. Merlin frowned as he looked at the girl who was lying lifelessly on the ground. He hated seeing his friends hurt. He could not shake off the feeling that he was partially responsible for this. He knew he should have kept an eye on her after what had happened. He berated himself for letting his guard down. Merlin thought he should have been more careful. He could not help but think about the chance of not seeing Morgana ever again. A sharp pain twisted his heart at the ludicrous possibility of never seeing her radiant smile or talking to her or even hearing or seeing her. There was just something about the thought of living in a world without Morgana in it that made Merlin feel uneasy. He soon became aggravated when Gaius took to long during his examination. Merlin was just about to interfere and check on Morgana himself, although he was certain that the physician would do a far better job at it when Gaius spoke.

'She is not hurt. However, I am afraid I have some bad news as well.' Gaius explained.

'What kind of bad news?' Merlin enquired, concern and fear lacing his uncharacteristically gelid voice.

Gaius sighed. He looked at Merlin with great sadness before his answer came. As Gaius spoke those three words everything around Merlin seemed to grow silent. Every sound turned into silence. The silence grew deafening, however, as time passed. The trees grew smaller. The wind that whistled through the leaves disappeared. The bird's chirping faded. The colours of the sky became grayer by the second. Merlin's gaze lost its normal brightness. His expression hardened. His eyes grew distant. His legs felt heavy. His body froze. Then it grew numb. Suddenly Merlin's knees surrendered to the pressure of the mind that refused to accept the truth and the heart that denied reality.

'What do you mean she is dying?' Merlin whispered.

Gaius' expression turned solemn. He sympathised with Merlin. The situation did not appeal to him as well. He did not wish for it to be true, however, unlike Merlin, he knew how to accept the truth. Perhaps it was the fact that they were different in many ways. Maybe Gaius' experience was far greater than Merlin's and it allowed him to cope with such losses more easily than someone who was still barely a child, although Merlin was not an ordinary boy. Despite all that, Gaius, too, felt the tug of pain at his heart strings. He did not ignore it. He welcomed it. His mind accepted the truth, but his body suddenly felt far heavier than it usually did. He felt dead inside. He just could not help but shake off the feeling that every aspect of this situation, no matter how real, was unfair by all means.

'I meant every word I said Merlin. I do not know how it happened. I do not know who is to blame. I just know that she has a high fever, that her heart rate is almost the same as someone who is about to pass on and that her body is abnormally cold.' Gaius explained with typical doctor's neutrality.

Merlin suddenly looked up at Gaius. Fury welled up inside of him. It bit the insides of his heart, twisted and played with the strings until it broke them. Something inside Merlin collapsed when his mind finally registered the absurdity of the whole situation. A lump formed in Merlin's throat as his voice died.

His fists shook. His body refused to remain immobile. It wanted to run. It wanted to jump. It wanted to escape. Merlin's mind wanted to scream. His heart wanted to cry. His eyes wanted to be shielded from the pain and hopelessness of it all. But the veil would not appear. The body would not be protected. The heart would be shattered. The mind would be destroyed. The shell would be destroyed. The spirit would be broken.

'There is a cure,' someone suddenly spoke.

Merlin and Gaius immediately turned to the source of the voice. They were surprised to see an old woman dressed in nothing but black. On her neck a piece of silver was shining. No doubt it was the necklace Gwen had told them about.

Normally Merlin would not trust someone so easily. If the situation were different, if it were somebody else lying there or perhaps someone he did not care so deeply for, he would think twice before accepting the assistance of a complete stranger wholeheartedly, however, the situation had not changed. It was still the same and as much as Merlin wanted to deny it, he could not ignore the only ounce of hope he had left. That was the reason why with a heavy weight on his heart he gathered his last strength and found the energy to rise from the ground. The boy's gaze was lifeless when he spoke to the woman. His voice was emotionless. His body was void of any life whatsoever. His hands were limp. His legs were chained to the ground. His heart was bleeding. His mind was torn, but despite all that, only one thought was running through his mind – Save her! – and as ludicrous as it sounded, Merlin listened only to it and followed the voice of insanity because right now it seemed the most logical thing to do.

'What is it?' Merlin asked.

'My, my, aren't you a fast one? What happened to the pleasantries? There were times when it would be considered quite impolite not to bow to someone of high stature,' the woman replied.

'Do not play games with me. You told me that you knew how to save her or were you just toying with me, telling what I wanted to hear?' Merlin enquired as an edge appeared to his voice. It seemed his patience was wearing thin.

The woman cackled. Gaius' eyes widened, while Merlin merely blinked. It seemed he had not been affected by the atrocious sound at all. His mind was still focused entirely on that one thought. Save her! It screamed over and over again as it resonated throughout the labyrinth that was Merlin's mind and echoed through the empty caves that were Merlin's heart.

'It seems you are intent on finding out and your patience is running thin,' the woman began. Her smirk grew as she continued, 'Very well, then. I shall tell you what you desire so deadly. If you want to save the useless witch I suggest you go to the Caves of Nymphia, ask the sirens what they know about a poison known as Forest Bite and do whatever it takes to find out the answer. Do not fall for their tricks. Be as sly as a fox, cunning as a wolf, perceptive as an eagle and sharp as a hawk. Be as wise as an owl and as flexible as a snake. Only then can you hope to achieve what you wish so greatly and that is the answer to the question plaguing your mind. Of course, the cure will be just a bonus. You have seven days until the body is dead, ten until her soul is lost and fifteen until nothing can be salvaged. I trust you will use your time efficiently, young warlock. Until we meet again.'

Suddenly there was a roar of thunder and the woman appeared. Merlin and Gaius were left alone with a lifeless Morgana still lying on the cold ground.

Getting Morgana back to her room seemed far easier than either Merlin or Gaius had anticipated. At first they had thought that Uther would go ballistic once he saw her. It turned out that the King was not interested at all in seeing his ward. It appeared that he did not even care enough to question the condition of her wellbeing. His lack of involvement in the issue shocked both Merlin and Gaius greatly. Gwen was fine, but would need a few days until her ankle recovered enough to let her move around freely. Of course, she would need to take it easy after that as well. Arthur had thrown a fit and had even gone as far to threaten some poor souls(mainly Merlin). The Prince had even gone as far as to question the verity of Gaius' words that Morgana had been feeling ill since last night and it seemed that she had got a fever this morning. After some convincing from Merlin, Gaius and Gwen, Arthur had told them that he believed everything, although Merlin doubted that the clotpole was being honest. Nonetheless, Arthur went about his daily routine as usual so that meant that there would be fewer things to worry about.

Merlin seemed to recover slightly from his stupor during the morning. Gaius was feeling better as well, but he was now worried about something else entirely – Merlin's refusal to listen to him. Merlin did not take heed of Gaius' constant warnings that the Caves of Nymphia was not a place one should venture on their own. In the end Gaius managed to convince Merlin to at least go and speak with the Great Dragon before he did anything they would both regret.

That was the reason why Merlin was now on his way to the magnificent creature's prison. He lit a torch, went down the stairs surprisingly fast and entered the cave where the Dragon was now resting. He seemed slightly surprised to see Merlin, but asked the reason for Merlin's being there, nonetheless.

'I need to find out everything there is to know about the Caves of Nymphia.' Merlin said.

At the mention of that gruesome place's name the Great Dragon immediately tensed. He rose from his sitting position. With always watchful eyes he observed Merlin's stance. His shoulders were tensed. His nostrils were flaring. There was fire blazing in his eyes. There was no doubt about it. Merlin was furious.

'May I ask the reason for your sudden interest in such a forbidden topic?' The Great Dragon enquired.

Merlin sighed before his shoulders slumped. He closed his eyes as he inhaled and exhaled. He mentally prepared himself for reliving this morning's mishaps. After Merlin had explained everything to the magical creature, Kilgharrah seemed to be contemplating his answer for a while, but after some time he finally spoke.

'I am certain you have already figured out that there is something suspicious about the sorceress.' The Great Dragon enunciated.

Merlin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. That was the reason why he simply nodded and waited patiently for the magical creature to continue.

'Very well then. I shall not warn you of the dangers that come with trusting someone who could very well be the source behind all these strange occurrences lately.' Kilgharrah said, 'I trust you are acquainted with the creatures known as sirens?'

Merlin nodded once more. Kilgharrah seemed to have a thoughtful look before he said with a grave expression.

'The Caves of Nymphia can be both seen and unseen by watchful eyes. The creatures inside them are the reason why many people lose their lives. The creatures of magic that dare venture inside them rarely return. Be careful when you meddle with a siren because you might get burnt.' Kilgharrah retold a riddle he learnt long ago. He then added, 'I think it would be best to trust no one on your journey to the Caves of Nymphia.'

There was a ghost of a smile on his face when Merlin seemed to be fighting against his desire to scream at the absurdness of the choice of words. After that Kilgharrah flew away, leaving Merlin all alone to scream some sort of questions the Great Dragon knew would be answered by others elsewhere.

After that Merlin went back to his chambers, mumbling something about stupid dragons and their need for riddles. Gaius had ignored the angry boy and had simply enquired what had happened. Merlin retold him the riddle.

'How am I supposed to know where it is when the stupid dragon won't even give me a hint?!' Merlin exclaimed.

Gaius simply sighed before he answered, 'I do not know Merlin, but it think about it. There are sirens involved. That means that these caves would most likely be either near water or underwater. It must be hidden somewhere deep within Albion's uninhabited areas, otherwise they would not have survived Uther's rage.'

Merlin nodded but it seemed that he still did not know how to get there. He did not even know in which direction to head in. All he knew was that all of this seemed to be getting more difficult by the second.

Suddenly there was a loud thunder and a book fell from the shelves. It hit the ground with a loud thud and opened on a page that had a strange picture of an island with a volcano on it. Merlin looked at it closely and noticed what was written below it. The word Nymphia was engraved with golden letters. Beside the page, on the other one, there were a few sentences that explained to whoever was reading this how they could reach this godforsaken place. Merlin was not too keen on the idea of traveling by ship, but it seemed that it was the only way he would be able to reach the place. With a heavy heart Merlin gathered his belongings and sneaked out of the palace past noon, not forgetting to beseech Gaius not to tell Arthur that he would be at the tavern.

It was past late afternoon when Merlin reached the nearest harbour. He asked around and found out that the only captain brave enough to travel towards that place was feared by everyone and everything in the small town. Naturally, Merlin did not take heed of the people's warnings. He simply walked towards the ship and after some time encountered its captain.

'Excuse me,' he said, 'I am looking for this ship's captain. Do you happen to know where I could find him?'

The person in question turned around. With a small smile and eyes hidden by a large hat he walked towards the boy and stopped in front of him. He held out his hand for Merlin to shake as he spoke.

'That would have to be me. I am the captain of Magic. My name is Balinor.' The man said.

Merlin shook his hand as he replied, 'Pleased to meet your acquaintance. My name is Edgar.'

'May I ask the reason for your wish to travel to such a place?' Balinor enquired.

'I have some business to take care of there, but do not know where it is. From what I've heard you seem to be in a similar predicament. You, too, need to go to that place because you have matters to attend to there, but cannot risk going there alone. What do you say we make a deal – You help me find this place and in exchange I will help you with whatever there is you need to take care of?' Merlin said in hopes of gaining at least part of the man's trust.

Balinor seemed to be slightly suspicious at first and it made Merlin feel slightly uneasy. However, after some time passed the captain of 'Magic' smiled as she chuckled and shook the boy's hand once more.

'Deal.' Balinor said as Merlin laughed as well and shook his hand in return.

After that they both stepped onto the ship and thus began their journey towards a place from which many failed to return.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas that have nothing to do with the original series. No money is being made from this story. It is being written solely for entertainment purposes.

Thank you for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed it.

Reviews?