Thank you so much for the reviews! Please keep reviewing. It really makes my day reading them so please continue. Thanks!

Okay there are loads of answers in this chapter so it should make up for the wait which I'm sorry for. I meant to update mid-week but time got away from me and before I knew it the weekend was back around.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3- Resistance

The sword stopped. Mid swing. An inch from Gaius's shoulder.

Gauis released the breath he had held. It seemed it would not be his last. His wide eyes turned to curiosity as he stared at his young ward. Merlin's face was frozen in the same rage filled expression it had been in when he swung the sword and his eyes were still blank but he had stopped. Just stopped. His whole body was still in the same pose as it had been but was still as though someone and halted time over the young servant and Gauis was eternally grateful it had.

Gauis looked deeper into Merlin's eyes trying to see any reaction or sign of life hidden within. His Merlin had come back. It must have been the reason he stopped. It must have. Then Merlin blinked.

Gauis jumped slightly at the sudden movement. Arthur, before prevented by shock and horror, came back to his senses and grabbed Gauis's shoulder and pulled him back.

"Merlin?" Gauis asked quietly, trying to pull his shoulder from Arthur's grasp. This made Arthur pause.

Merlin blinked again. He was still for a few more moments which seemed to stretch themselves into an eternity, then suddenly he stepped backwards with a jolt like he had been hit with some invisible force.

Arthur had now released his hold on Gauis and was staring at Merlin with amazement and hope.

Merlin blinked more rapidly, his eyes now wide with shock. His eyes seemed to retain some of the life that had before been absent. The knights edged towards him absentmindedly, trying to get a clear view of the change coming over their friend. Merlin shook his head and raised his head, his grip tightening on the sword and rigid-ness returning to his body, at which the knights stopped their approach.

Gauis's stomach seemed to plummet along with his hopes. They had been so close to getting Merlin back.

Merlin shook his head madly again like a dog trying to get the water out of its fur. He staggered backwards as if fighting against a sudden strong gust of wind. The sword slipped from his grasp with a thud and his hands held his head in agony as he doubled over in pain. There he froze again, breathing heavily.

"Merlin?" Gauis attempted warily, eyeing his young ward with concern.

"Gauis," came a strangled cry from the boy who was still in that same pained position. Despite the apparent pain that Merlin was in, Gauis cried out in happiness at finally hearing the voice of his dear friend after what seemed like so long (though it had probably only been no more that an hour) with this impostor.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted in relief, slipping his sword back into it's sheathe.

"Arthur," came a reply, then after a brief pause, "I'm sorry."

"I don't understand Merlin," Arthur exclaimed, he already knew the answer but he wanted to hear it for himself to reassure him, "Why?"

"Don't be thick Arthur" Gwaine broke in, "It wasn't him. He was being controlled. Merlin would never do this." Arthur was about to snap back when Merlin spoke again, struggling to get his words out.

"Gauis," Merlin ignored the others, "I...I...I can't..can't fight it! It's too powerful! I've tried...I'm trying...I don't know how long I can hold it for!" He was silent a moment, hesitating over whether he should continue. He must have given in for he continued reluctantly. "It hurts. Gauis, it hurts. My head. It's all burning. Behind my eyes. There's something there that I can't get out. It's burning it's way into my brain."

Any hope or relief that the group had extinguished immediately at the sound of his voice, shaking and short.

"Gauis how can we stop this?" Arthur asked desperately, turning to face the old man, unable to look at the form of his closest friend still doubled over in pain. Merlin had not moved from the position, his hands were still grasped firmly around his head and curled in on himself. Gauis tore his eyes away and pulled the king further away.

"This is powerful magic, I'm afraid, Sire," Gauis told him gravely, "I don't know a way to counteract the spell but apparently forcing him to harm someone he doesn't want to helps him fight stronger. Without knowing the caster or the spell, there is not much we can do."

"Why did he not snap out of it when he was fighting me?" Arthur frowned. Gauis couldn't help the weak smile that appeared in his face. Arthur probably hadn't even noticed. His face was full of concern for his friend but also tinged with hurt for not having any influence on Merlin. He cared so much despite how much he tried to hide it.

"You were the one that Merlin was possessed to kill," Gauis said softly, "The spell would have been stronger then so he could not fight against it as he could with me. The spell weakened as he wasn't directly forced to kill me so could find a way around it."

Arthur visibly relaxed at this, his eyes filling with determination rather than hurt.

"What are we going to do?"

Gwaine hurried over to them and joined the conversation. His gaze never left Merlin.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked them.

"We have to find the sorceress that cast this spell over Merlin," Gauis informed them quietly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Merlin hadn't moved and the other knights were watching over him. Leon, Percival and Elyon were in a ring around Merlin, swords drawn warily.

"That's Morgana," Gwaine said simply and Arthur frowned in agreement with Gwaine.

Gauis looked between the two of them. They were really so alike it was amusing seeing them disagree so often. Both defied orders and would do anything to help a friend. They were noble and loyal and honourable knights. They both didn't fully appreciate Merlin.

"Well, I am not too certain about that," Gauis explained slowly, " Did you notice that Morgana seemed a bit too keen to warn us of what was to come than to actually attack us or you, Arthur. She would, of course, have stayed around to witness her victory and yet she is nowhere in sight. And that rhyme she gave to everyone which was a bit odd. It may have been gloating but it was more helpful. Shouldn't she have relished the surprise of the attack? It would have made it easier."

"What are you getting at Gauis?" Arthur asked.

"I don't think that rhyme indicated what is happening now, or at least not just in this clearing and I don't believe it was Morgana who was behind this."

"How can it not be Morgana? I don't understand." Gwaine interrupted.

"Morgana isn't the only powerful sorceress. There are many more and a large majority of those will probably want revenge on the Pendragons." Gauis continued, "Now, that rhyme could have meant this or not..." Gauis tried to remember the lines exactly; it was starting to make a bit of sense to him,

"Continue with your childish games- that could be all of us, not the knights who attacked Morgana. We're playing along into this sorcerer's hand. She had control of us and we're acting predictably, just like pieces in a game.

"While your little world goes up in flames-may mean that there is a bigger plot that this is distracting us from.

"For while you're playing count the cost,

Your dearest friend has been lost- I thought before that this meant Merlin but if he's part of the "game" he's part of the distraction so probably isn't the one to be lost. It may mean you Arthur. Maybe this plan means to succeed or there is another plot going on behind all this.

"Those last two lines about Merlin being fine may have been just to reassure us and hint that this isn't about him but a bigger picture," Gauis finished. Of course, Merlin was the most important man in this world but the two before him could never know. The weight of his destiny hung heavy on Merlin's shoulders but if Arthur or Gwaine were to know, it would make the weight crush him even more. Arthur and Gwaine were silent for a while.

"If this is true," Arthur said, "We have to figure out what we're going to-"

"Arthur!"

They spun round to see Merlin standing straight, sword once again clutched in his hand and eyes blank. He took an unsteady step towards the group and raised his sword, ready to throw himself into a new attack on the King. The group was still too stunned by what Gauis had said and the other knights were reluctant to approach in case they had to cause Merlin any harm.

Suddenly Merlin froze again, a pained yell escaped his lips but this time he managed not to double over but stayed standing looking at the group.

"I'm trying...I'm trying," moaned Merlin. Gauis looked down at Merlin's sword arm. His hand was turning white from the grip he had and his other hand had a few drops of blood dripping through his closed fist from where his fingers had cut into his palm. After a few more moments the boy was shaking with the effort of containing the power that threatened to engulf him and turn him into everything that he was not. It took all his strength to not rush over to tend to him.

"We need to find this sorcerer and make them pay," Gwaine said furiously, "Gauis, you're the expert here. Any ideas?"

Gauis thought for a while. It had been long since he had dabbled in sorcery himself and he only briefly touched upon the subject when helping Merlin so he didn't have an answer straight away.

"If only I had my books," He muttered to himself then to the two men, "the best thing would be to find the sorcerer and either stop her casting this spell or find a way to stop its effects. Neither will be easy and, as I doubt that we could persuade this sorcerer, the latter option would be best but that would be difficult with little experience on spellcraft."

"That won't be "we"," Arthur corrected, "Only one of us can go. It will create suspicion if we all disappear and that will make this task much harder."

"I'll go,"Gwaine said.

The others looked at him strangely. Gauis had expected him to volunteer without hesitation- which he had- but there were chances that he would not know what to do when he found the sorcerer other than to kill them or Merlin's secret could be at risk.

"Well its obvious isn't it?" He replied to the looks he was recieving, "If Arthur disappears that may get a bit of attention considering that you are the sole cause of this problem," Arthur made like he was going to protest but Gwaine ploughed over him, "And Gauis will need to be here if someone gets injured."

His argument was undeniable and they agreed reluctantly that he should be the one to go. Gauis would have preferred to have gone with him as he would have more knowledge of how to counteract the spell but he could not leave Merlin's side while he was like that. They huddled together to discuss what was going to happen next. They figured the secrecy was necessary because whoever was controlling Merlin may be able to hear them.

"Merlin," Came a soft voice behind them and they all turned to see what the cause was, "You're bleeding."

Sure enough, blood was dripping down his chin from his nose, and mingling with the Earth where it fell.

"S'fine," Merlin managed through gritted teeth to prevent himself from yelling out again from the pain. Without a second thought Gwaine approached his friend. "No Gwaine don't..." But Gwaine had already walked straight up to him; not even glancing at the sword still poised in his hand, and produced a cloth to clean away the blood. He stepped back as if admiring his work and pocketed the bloodied rag. Merlin didn't reply.

"Merlin," Gauis started tentavely, "You can't stay like this. It's doing more damage than it did when you were being controlled...You're going to have to let go. Just for a short time to relieve this pressure."

Merlin shook his head forcefully. "No Gauis. I don't want to hurt anyone please."

"You won't hurt anyone," Arthur said drawing his sword and twirling it in his hand, "Give me a little more credit." Still Merlin shook his head.

"Couldn't we just knock him out or something," Percival asked, "Then no one is being harmed." It was a fair idea, though knocking Merlin out wouldn't be pleasant.

"No!" Merlin exclaimed shattering everyone's thoughts, "If I'm unconscious I won't be able to fight against it and the power will completely overwhelm me."

"Then," Gauis sighed, "You will have to let go for a moment to recover. Don't worry; Arthur should hold you off until you can stop it again." Arthur nodded and signalled for the rest of the knights to back off and gave a pointed look at Gwaine who understood.

Merlin did not look so sure but the pain must have been too much for even him to handle for a second later their Merlin was gone to be replaced by the empty version. There was a clash of swords that echoed hauntingly through the forest as the fight resumed.

Unseen to the mesmerized spectators, Gwaine slipped away into the forest.