Chapter 9

There was still a sense of wonder around the crowd of people who surrounded Merlin, as he lay wriggling on the floor. It had been something so amazing that only if they'd have seen it with their own eyes, would any of them had believed it. But each of them had seen it, so there could be no doubting it. Merlin himself was still moving about on the ground muttering darkly in a language none of them understood.

As Arthur watched him carefully he still struggled to reconcile himself with the notion that the man he had once called a clumsy and useless servant, could actually do things such as this. Yet again Arthur realized his friend was pretty damn amazing.

Even now he could sense the awe he had felt as his friend had launched the fireball. Only minutes before Arthur had been fretting as Merlin had been lying unconscious, but then everything had happened so quickly. They had all watched in complete shock as Merlin's eyes had briefly opened and he had muttered much like he was doing now, then his eyes had briefly opened turning orange.

The amazing thing was if the incident had not occurred Arthur would have thought he'd imagined it all. But this was something that defied belief, in a movement that was so gentle, Merlin had unleashed a fireball of such ferocity that the ground they were standing on had shook to it's foundations. They had stood watching the fireball as it flew through the air, at a remarkable speed. It had briefly filled the area with bright light for a few seconds as it landed. But on what or rather who had it landed on?

Arthur and the Knights had scoured the area, but they could find nothing. As Arthur considered it had maybe gone further then they realized he still expected to have seen some clues around, but there was none. Arthur looked again at his friend as he moved about and muttered endlessly, he was not at rest that much was for sure. He looked up at Gwen for guidance, but she could only shrug sympathetically at him. It seemed as if even his wife was at a loss for words this time. Arthur jumped Isolde's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Someone needs to look for Freya." Isolde suggested, looking around.

"God yes, of course. Gwaine, Percival, and Tristan go and look for her." Arthur prompted. "Take care we still don't know whether the witch still lives."

"I will go too." Isolde said, moving quickly before anyone could object.

"Take care Isolde, make sure you bring her back." Gwen said, looking suddenly concerned.

Isolde smiled nodding as she caught up with the other Knights.

"If we had Gaius with us he'd know what to do." Arthur said, leaning over Merlin wishing his friend would find some peace.

"I still can't quite believe what I saw, the way he launched that fireball. I've never seen anything like it in my life." Leon breathed.

"One of you go and wet this cloth in the stream." Gwen said kneeling down by Merlin. She felt his forehead. Leon took the cloth and went over to the stream, leaving Arthur and Gwen to watch over Merlin.

"How is he?" Arthur asked.

"He is not even hot, the way he is tossing about I would have expected him to be." Gwen said, taking the cloth from Leon, she put it over Merlin's forehead gently rubbing it. As she did so the warlock began muttering again, then suddenly something came to her.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, his heart beating even faster.

"That time when Merlin was poisoned I was looking after him with Gaius. I remember then he was talking just like now. I asked Gaius about it he just said the fever had got a hold of him, but I knew he was lying but didn't know what else to think. Maybe it's the same thing now." Gwen breathed.

"The problem is we still don't know, if Gaius was here he could explain." Arthur interrupted.

"Arthur this has to be about his magic. It happened just before he launched the fireball." Gwen argued.

Arthur thought about it for a second. It certainly made sense, and not for one minute was he surprised that Gwen had remembered such a thing. But it still didn't clear the mystery up as to why his friend was still fretting away now. But Gwen had not finished working it out.

"Arthur it has to be Freya maybe he is thinking or worrying about her and that is why he is still so restless. It is like he is in a trance, rather than unconscious." She said.

"Now that does make sense." Leon smiled.

"Yes I can see that." Arthur admitted. "How do we help him though?"

"I imagine the most important thing is to get Freya back. Let's hope they find her." Leon grimaced.

Freya stumbled through the trees suddenly feeling extremely tired. She swore she had already been down this particular path before, but she was now getting so exhausted she knew if she'd stop she would just collapse on the ground. So she kept going. Her mind though was still on the incident she had witnessed. So many times she had replayed it in her mind and still nothing made any sense. She could barely believe that she'd escaped with her life. She had faced the stare of death, yet somehow she had survived.

She thought again of the mighty fireball that had arrived out of nowhere and had blown the man apart. She herself was not that far from where it landed, yet she was completely unhurt. It was this that was troubling her the most. By all rights she should have been dead, yet here she was still in the land of the living without even a scratch. She had not touched the stone for it had been out of her reach, so where had the fireball come from? She would never forget those eerie few moments as she'd watched the after effects of its landing.

The man she guessed had died instantly even though she had no feelings for him, she was relieved that he had not suffered unnecessarily. But it was after the eerie few moments had passed that had most startled her. As she stood there realizing that she was still alive, it was as if a feeling of sudden calm had taken hold of her. She could feel a surge of gentleness surrounding her. It was as if someone had smothered her protectively. She thought of the comfort blanket that Merlin would always put around her if she was cold or ill. It was that sort of feeling, but there had been nothing or no one around.

As she continued walking she suddenly remembered the last time she had seen Merlin, he had been lying unconscious over Gwaine's shoulder. She could feel tears in her eyes as she the thought occurred to her that her lover may even be dead. She may never see his lovely and compassionate face again. The thought was too awful to contemplate, and she tried to banish it from her mind, but as she staggered on knowing in her heart she was hopelessly lost, she gave in to tears. She slumped down resting her head on a tree, giving in to her emotions.

Gwaine, Percival, Tristan and Isolde had been walking for some time, and so far they had not located Freya. The trees were getting bigger and the foliage thicker as they used their swords to push the branches back. Some of the bushes had violent looking thorns and all of them had cuts on their arms and hands. By now the sun was lower in the sky and they all knew they were running out of time.

"Are you sure it was around here that you left her?" Tristan asked Gwaine, throwing back another branch angrily.

"I'm pretty sure." Gwaine said, uncertainly. He decided to sound a bit more confident as he heard his companions sigh in annoyance. "I am sure I recognise this clearing."

"Freya could have been through this hours ago." Isolde fretted, looking around her.

"We'd have seen her if that was the case." Percival said, "I just hope she hasn't got lost taken a wrong turning. It will be getting darker soon."

"We'll find her." Gwaine assured them.

"Well it would help if you could remember where you'd left her!" Tristan sighed.

"Tristan just keep looking." Isolde said, suddenly feeling fed up and worried for her friend.

"Look over here." Percival pointed.

The others joined him and soon saw the horse tracks on the ground. All of a sudden everyone brightened and they split up to see how far back they could follow the tracks. It led them down a path, and suddenly Gwaine remembered.

"It was definitely here, this path directly leads to where that castle was." He said.

"Well we don't want to go too near there again, we don't know if Demonia is still alive." Percival pointed out. "Also I don't think Freya would have stayed around here too long."

Gwaine ambled a little further down the path and suddenly gave out a laugh. "I think I've just found out where Merlin's fireball landed."

As the others joined him there was a speechless awe as they surveyed the devastation that the fireball had left. There was a deep crater in the ground which still looked charred and angry looking. As Isolde stared at it a horrible thought occurred to her.

"You don't suppose Freya got caught up in this?" she asked, shivering.

"No I think she'd have been long gone." Percival said, hoping he was sounding reassuring.

"Anyone caught up in this would be instantly killed anyway." Gwaine pointed out.

"This is all well and good but it doesn't take us any nearer to finding Freya." Tristan pointed out.

There was a collective murmur between them and they briefly rested having a drink of water while they decided what to do. The sun was getting ever lower in the sky and everyone suddenly felt under huge pressure to find Freya and find her fast. As a plan of action was decided upon they all got up with determination and turned back to a path that Percival had discovered before. They had only been gone minutes when a voice stopped them in their tracks.

"It is so nice of you to make my job that much easier." Demonia drawled, coming out of some bushes.

Before they knew it they were being forced into a tight circle, and out of nowhere being tied up by some magical ropes.

"Now you will tell me where your friends are." Demonia said, a manic look on her face.

Something had awoken Freya from her brief nap. As she came too she instantly slapped away at something which was touching her nose. She opened her eyes properly and had a good look around she couldn't see anything. Oh not again she sighed to herself as she became aware of an eerie feeling. She slowly got up and once again felt something by her face. As she shook her hair all of a sudden she saw a beautiful butterfly. It was a dazzling blue colour a shade she'd never seen before. She put her hands together in delight as she studied it, such a gorgeous creature and any kind of company was better than nothing at the moment.

The strange thing was most butterflies flew away from people, but this one seemed to almost be wanting her to be with it. Every few yards it would come back towards Freya as if checking she was still there. This had gone on for quite a few minutes and Freya realized the butterfly actually seemed to be leading her somewhere.

She remembered Gaius's warnings about how some creature could be used to lure people to dark places. But looking at the beautiful creature she couldn't believe for one minute that this was the butterflies's intention. There was something about the soft way it returned to her that calmed her, something similar to how she'd felt after the fireball had landed. She knew either way she would trust it, she was so lost anyway that she didn't feel she had anything to lose.

Freya knew the sun would not be with them for much longer, so they needed to make haste and quickly. But something about how the butterfly moved so gracefully made her feel much more encouraged. On and on they walked until presently they came to a clearing that Freya felt she recognised. As she surveyed the scene a manic voice screamed out and a cold dread began to pour down Freya's face, Demonia.

She stood still thinking about how she could get away unseen, but then she heard another voice, Isolde. The witch had captured her friends, checking that the stone was still in her pocket, Freya decided to move closer and see if she could observe them.

She moved behind a bush and cautiously put her head out, and gasped softly as she saw Isolde, Tristan, Gwaine and Percival tied up in what looked like magical ropes. Making sure the stone stayed in her hand, she moved ever closer, until she was almost behind Demonia.

Merlin had slept briefly giving his watching companions some relief. Arthur could hear his friend's breathing returning to normal. He continued to guard over him, while remaining alert should anyone arrive unexpectedly on the scene. He was worried that the Knights had not returned with Freya, and hoped that they had not run into any trouble. He didn't want to worry Gwen he could tell just by looking at Leon that he too was worried.

"The darkness will soon be here." Leon murmured. "Do you want me to go and look for them sire?"

"No." Arthur replied, "There is no point in us losing you as well." Arthur said quietly, not wanting Gwen to hear. "We should stick together maybe we just need to give them a little longer."

Arthur and Leon jumped as Merlin suddenly burst into life. His body was rigid as if with fear, his arms swung wildly around. Once again they could hear him muttering in some unknown language. But as Arthur listened hard, he was sure he heard him say. "Be careful." Arthur looked up sharply at Leon who seemed to have heard the same thing.

"Did you hear that?" Arthur asked, going over to him while still watching Merlin.

"Yes I think Gwen could be right about this, it could be to do with his magic. It is like he was warning someone." Leon whispered back.

"Yes." Arthur agreed, "Who though?"

"Could it be Freya?" Leon asked, not knowing who else to suggest.

Arthur looked at Merlin again, he had briefly calmed, but there was tension in the air, he could sense it. He also noticed that Merlin's fingertips were moving restlessly. Every now and then his head moved from side to side, as if following some scene in his mind. Arthur was at a loss of what to do, so decided to sit back down again next to his friend, and watch him.

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Merlin could sense a feeling of total doom in his mind. He lay there helpless unable to help any of his trapped friends. He could hear her manic voice screaming out to them, threatening them. She seemed to be completely mad, not unlike he remembered Morgana at the end of her days. If only he could go over to them, and protect them. His felt so frustrated that he was unable to do, what he was there for and save his friends.

But even now he could feel the agony of his aching limbs. It had taken a huge amount out of him, more than he had to give. All he could do was lie there sighing and cursing over how inadequate he felt. He would close his eyes only for his determination to force them open again briefly and try and concentrate. But there didn't seem to be anything there.

He could feel his magic inside him but it was almost as if his magic too was tired and unable to function properly. If only he could gain some extra help he thought to himself angrily. He tried once more to force his eyes open, to concentrate so he could once again take command of the situation. He could hear his voice muttering as words fell out of his mouth, an ancient language which flowed naturally and easily out of him.

Then suddenly he felt it, a feeling of pure relief and delight. He could sense her once again, she had made it she was still alive. If that moment of elation was not enough he could also sense an extra power giving him strength once more. The stone! She must still have it he thought in wonder.

Suddenly the words became a torrent as they increased in their fervour so his head came off the ground. His eyes sprung open as the words became loud and flew around the air. He could feel his magic begin to move upwards, his head went back as he screamed the last words into the forest, silencing it in an instant.

To be continued.

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