Chapter 5- Merlin's Deadly Wound
"Merlin? Merlin talk to me! Merlin, you lazy clotpole, say something!" Arthur kept on shaking Merlin's shoulders as the two knights of Camelot looked on in grief.
"Merlin- this will hurt. But I'm only doing this to save you." Arthur said in a shaky voice. Reluctantly and slowly, Arthur pulled out the arrow in his back. He gasped as he saw poison on the arrow. Merlin was still breathing- but barely. And it was because of the poison. Arthur looked on the arrow for markings and only found a foreign language written on the back.
"Sire, give him to me." Gwaine said as he hoisted Merlin onto his horse. Tying a rope around the horse to keep it moving, Gwaine said, "We need to ride back to Camelot. We will find Gaius who will help him as best as he can. Then, we wait." Everyone nodded in a daze as they nudged their horses along. Gwaine was the only one who was alert. Gwaine knew, in his heart, that Merlin had to survive- the world would be lost without him! The universe couldn't be this cruel- it couldn't destroy the only living thing willing to protect Arthur with his life and more. Because of this Gwaine was not worried. He needed to stay strong. He needed to stay alert. As long as he was around, no one else would get hurt. Buried in his thoughts, Gwaine saw Camelot before his eyes in a matter of what seemed like seconds. He stepped through the grand walls of Camelot and went into the citadel almost running to get to the Physician's chambers.
Finally, they had reached Gaius's room. They didn't bother knocking, even if it was the middle of the night. They saw the old man sleeping in his bed on the lower floor of the wood home. They quickly woke him up and after Gaius rubbed his eyes his face took on an alarmed look. He looked at Merlin and immediately got to work. He treated the infected wound, and after injecting medicine, asked what happened.
"He got shot by this poisoned arrow while we were riding back to Camelot. We don't know who it was, but there are some markings on the arrow." Sir Leon said as he handed Gaius the strangely marked arrow.
Gaius looked at the markings and looked back at a book with the same kind of letters. He gaped at the arrow and gasped. "Sire- these are markings of the Old Religion! Someone has used magic poisoning to try to kill someone- more specifically, Merlin!"
Arthur couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why would anyone want to kill Merlin He was the kindest, most selfless, and most generous creature he knew! "Can you cure him?"
Gaius sighed sadly. After an eternity, Gaius finally answered, "I don't know."