Chapter 3- The Treasure
The next morning, all four companions woke up and jumped on their horses, ready for another long day of travel. They laughed and told jokes, enjoying the quest. Merlin and Gwaine acted as if though nothing had happened the night before. While the others were goofing off, Merlin was alert. He was trying to look for the object that the Great Dragon had mentioned. Halfway through the trip, Arthur questioned Merlin's disturbed looks.
"Merlin, what's wrong?" Arthur asked.
"Nothing, sire. Just looking for the ever-mighty object that's supposed to prove you as a prince." Merlin joked.
Arthur sighed. No matter what, Merlin always took things as a joke. What more could Arthur expect of him anyways? He was just a manservant. "Merlin, I don't even know why I take you on these quests. I should've chosen a knight of Camelot instead of a rusty old manservant." Arthur snapped. Merlin stopped speaking and rode ahead of the pack, not looking back. Suddenly, Merlin screamed. He put his hand to his face, red rushing to his cheeks. His head throbbed, his magic growing more and more uncontrollable. It was all Merlin could do to stop his magic from bursting out. Merlin jumped off his horse and beckoned to the others.
Arthur wiped his forehead and stomped his feet in frustration. "This better be good Merlin!" He said irritably.
Merlin kept walking until he reached a cave. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. Everyone gasped and rushed over to the center of the cave. Arthur ran ahead to see what all the chaos was about. Quickly, Arthur was speechless. Surrounding them were not jeweles or coins or gems. Surrounding them were artifacts of all different kingdoms, treasures that seemed to be glowing, as if they were the power source of something. On the ceiling was a huge stone that reflected light onto all of the artifacts. There was a color of wheels- red crowns, gold capes, silver crests. Merlin knew then that this was the place of the treasure. All they had to do was figure out which one was theirs. Soon, they found the jewel of Camelot- and it wasn't glowing. Merlin ran over and suddenly a pang of pain rushed to his chest. Gwaine, Arthur, and Sir Leon stumbled backwards as if they had taken a blow to the head. Merlin picked up the Camelot gem and stashed it in Arthur's backpack.
"Let's go." Merlin shouted, unable to bear the pain much longer. Without hesitation, everyone started fleeing out of the cave, glad to know that the quest was over. Just as Merlin was about to start running, the ceiling gem started shining as bright as the sun. It started rotating and coming down into Merlin's hands. Awe-struck, Merlin spoke a spell of the Old Religion and shrunk the gem down and hid it in his pack and ran out of the cave. By the time Merlin had gotten out, all the horses had their saddles on. Merlin jumped onto his horse and they all started riding back to Camelot.
"Good job guys. Thanks again." Arthur announced.
Just as the four friends were crossing over Cendred's border, Merlin made a noise. Everyone looked back and saw an unbelievable sight- Merlin fell off his horse. With an arrow in his back.