Next Chapter! Again thanks so much for reviewing please, please continue. It gets me through the week. Okay, this chapter marks the half way part and I'm afraid cliffhangers become popular.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4- Hunting

Gwaine picked his way carefully through the forest, no idea where he should start looking for this sorcerer. He had been walking for about half an hour so far and the world had appeared to have righted itself the further he got away from camp. The birds called to each other noisily high up in the green canopy and the air was pleasantly cool beneath the trees. He had tried looking for signs of where Merlin had been but his tracks seemed to have completely disappeared overnight. He was deep in the forest now where the ground became less green and shadows began to creep out from the hidden corners.

He paused for a while trying to pick out any details he had missed. The grass was flattened from where he had walked through it but over there. The grass was disturbed over the ridge. He hurried over to it and examined the area. It was only a small person who had been here, not a knight, this could be the trail of Merlin- he was a rather scrawny young boy and may have left these marks. He raised his gaze and noticed the trunk of the tree for the first time. There were long scratch marks along the bark, high up at about above Gwaine's waist height and there were five of them- human scratch marks not an animal's. Whoever had made these had obviously put up quite a struggle and Gwaine half hoped it was Merlin. That was how hard this had become: he was actually hopeful of Merlin being forced against his will. Anything to lead him to whoever had done this.

Gwaine scanned the area again and noticed the same marking on another tree further along. He now had a trail to follow. He followed this for another half an hour and was nearly about to give up and decide he was wrong and this was not his trail to follow when he heard a noise up ahead. Light streamed into the dark forest signalling a clearing coming up. Gwaine slowed his pace and went into a slight crouch to keep out of sight of whoever might be in this clearing. He crept closer until he was only a few metres away and was only hidden by a few trees and greenery.

His breath caught in his chest as he saw Morgana pacing in front of him. She seemed agitated and distracted and was muttering incomprehensibly under her breath. She was muttering the spell. The spell that was controlling Merlin. She had to be. He took a cautious step backwards, his hand moving for his sword.

Crack!

Gwaine silently cursed himself. The twig had broken easily underneath his boot as the land was dry from many days of baking heat and lack of rainfall. Morgana instantly stopped muttering and looked up alertly. He tried to duck behind the trees but her eyes fixed on him sharply.

"Gwaine," She whispered weakly, "Gwaine." Her eyes looked strangely misty but hard as though there was a battle going on within them. It was a look that he recognized from somewhere. He tried to back away but she only advanced on him, her eyes not focused on him properly .He gripped the hilt of his sword firmly, ready for the first sign of danger. Her mouth seemed to form words but no sound was being made. She seemed to have stopped her muttering which meant that the spell on Merlin must have been broken. Was that it? Had he done it?

Something told him that it was far from over.

"Gwaine," she repeated again slowly then she said something that he never though he would hear and unnerved him greatly, "Help me..."

Gwaine stopped any attempts of getting away and stared stunned at the sorceress in front of him. The most powerful, evil sorceress and she was asking- no begging- him for help. She did not move and stared at a spot somewhere above Gwaine's shoulder, the same look in her eyes. He cursed himself again and edged forwards. This was not going to end well.

"Morgana," He said softly. Her eyes found him and the wordless muttering became more and more desperate.

"Morgana, what's going on?" He asked her, fearing the answer.

"I can't control it," She whispered quickly as if afraid she would be cut of at any moment, "I can't remember. What am I doing? Where am I?" she looked around panicked but continued her ramblings, "Too strong. Too powerful. I can't get it out. It keeps getting me. I don't know what to do, how to stop it. I try. I try so hard but so weak. I'm too weak. It's in here," She pointed a long finger to her temple, "Can't get it out." She leaped forwards grasping at the front of his armour, her eyes wild, "She's planning. She's been planning for so long. She will not fail. Her magic is too strong. There is no way to stop her. She will have her revenge and everyone will suffer. The whole of Camelot and all the kingdoms will suffer at her hand. She is rising." With that she pulled herself away and began pacing again, muttering inaudibly under her breath.

Gwaine was stunned. He knew Morgana was mad but this mad? He recognized some of this and hated to admit. Morgana was not herself. She was being controlled like Merlin and this made his task all the more harder.

"Morgana?" he tried again, "Who is she? Who is doing all this?"

Morgana did not acknowledge his words and Gwaine thought that she mustn't have been able to hear him. There was nothing he could get out of her now. At least he knew someone was behind all this and could get a bit closer to helping Merlin even if he didn't know where that sorceress was. Maybe Gauis would know. He would have to return to the clearing and report his findings so far. He hated to return empty handed but he would have to. He had taken too long and needed to know what was happening back there. Besides he had no more leads to follow. He would only be wasting more time.

"The caves," Came a voice behind him. He spun around and saw Morgana still pacing, still muttering. It had to be her who had spoken and now he had somewhere to go. He would not return to Arthur yet, he would follow this first. Glancing back at this frail, disturbed Morgana, he hurried away into the deep forest.

Gwaine approached the giant wall of rock cautiously. The line of trees stopped abruptly a few metres away from the cliffs as if afraid of being too close to them. He still stood within the forest, taking in the comfort of the enclosed green land around him as he stared upwards at the jagged cliff face that stretched upwards for what seemed forever. He had spotted the cave quite easily. It hung about fifty metres up like a gaping black hole in the side of the land that sucked in all light, matter and life. The air was silent here. No birds called to each other in the trees and the wind itself seemed too scared to cause the leaves to rustle in the trees. This whole area unnerved him.

Hesitating for a moment on the boundary, Gwaine approached the side of the cliff and searched the rocks. It didn't appear too difficult to climb; the rock was uneven providing many hand and footholds. He tested the rock carefully, testing his weight on the lower holds before trusting to climb higher. Steadily he made his way up the cliff face, testing each hold before putting his full weight on. He could feel the sun beating down on the back of his neck and his hands were slippery with sweat. He wished for a breath of wind but it would not some. Not in this place. It seemed to take forever to reach the gaping black cave and Gwaine was worried about how long it would have taken him. The longer it took him, the longer Merlin was stuck under this enchantment. He could not forget the look on his friends face: the pain, the fear, the anger. That was not him. Merlin did not deserve this. Gwaine was going to make sure that this sorceress regretted ever threatening his friend.

He pulled himself over the ledge and was immediately engulfed by the darkness. He looked back over his shoulder and saw the cave entrance had disappeared, completely consumed by the blackness that surrounded him. He felt the ground, warily, before him and slowly edged forwards, moving deeper into the cave and further into the unknown danger. Time seemed to have no meaning in this place as if the darkness had swallowed up even that. It made him uneasy.

He did not know how long he had been walking for. His senses were muddled and he had trouble thinking properly. In fact he seemed to be moving slower now. This cave was affecting him. He tried to shake himself out of it and became a little bit more alert and he quickened his pace. Almost as soon as he had done this a dull light glowed around him.

The cave had opened out into an enormous cavern filled with flickering orange light that danced shadows off the floor. The ceiling was lost high above him and the walls were hidden from view. The source of this light was from a small fire in the centre that was far too small to have cast all this light. A hunched figure sat by the fire with its back to him. The figure was wrapped in tattered rags and didn't move at Gwaine's arrival which was strange. To him, his breath sounded echoing in this open area.

There was no point hiding his presence: it was obvious he was here. He made his way around the edge of the dome of light, keeping his eyes fixed on the figure. He halted when he was at the opposite end of the fire. It was only then that the figure stirred.

Gwaine watched the figure raise its head and found himself looking into the eyes of deepest black it was easy to imagine that they must have spawned from these caves. The hood that had covered the head fell back to reveal a woman's face. She was tanned and wrinkled, her hair the colour of ash, tangled wildly. Her expression was hard as she surveyed the knight before her.

"What brings you hear little knight?" She asked, cocking her head to one side. Her voice was dry and harsh.

"You have put an enchantment over my friend," Gwaine replied, keeping his voice steady, "I have come to make you stop it."

"To make me?" The sorceress laughed brittley, "And what, little knight, makes you think that you have any power that could make me lift this spell?"

"So you admit you're the one who is controlling Merlin?" Gwaine shot at her.

"I do not deny it," She said.

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"The Pendragon family paid me a misfortune. I am only returning the favour."

Gwaine frowned. This woman was hard to get clear answers from and he had no idea how he was going to make her lift this spell on Merlin. She did appear weak but his experience had taught him that appearances could be deceiving. Arthur would never have allowed him to do this but he had little choice.

"What would it take for you to stop all this?" He asked slowly.

"The death of the Pendragon and the kingdoms"

Alright so she definitely wasn't going to make this easy. He stared at the fire which was crackling steadily. Gauis had said to try to make the sorceress stop the spell and talking to her didn't seem to be working. He considered drawing his sword but he knew that she would merely use her magic to disarm him or kill him. If he could figure out how she was doing this, he could find a way to counteract the spell...but he knew nothing of sorcery. How would he find the signs to show the spell? Maybe if he could buy a bit more time.

"Why did you choose Merlin? It could have been any of us. And Morgana? What part did she have to play? She would have assisted you willingly. Why them? Why only them?"

This seemed to get her attention and Gwaine watched her for any signs he may have been missing.

"I chose them because they are both powerful. They were drawn to me because they could sense my power. Oh yes, they are both powerful," She told him with a slight smirk, "They would assist me greatly in this feat. They were drawn to me and I to them because of their strength. Their strength and their magic."