Next Chapter! Yay! As in the comments I was asked why this sorceress would want to kill Merlin if she knows about his destiny. So in answer she is bitter and darkened by the way magic has been treated by Camelot and only wants revenge. It doesn't matter if Merlin can supposedly unite the two she only wants revenge and by killing the king she can achieve that and believes that magic will be able to be free once more without the rule of the Pendragons.

(I'll try to answer questions asked in comments so hope this was helpful and a bit clearer.)

Okay hope you enjoy this chapter. This is whats been happening whilst we've been following Gwaine. Please review!

Chapter 6- Consequence

Reluctantly, Merlin had stopped resisting the powers of this enchantment and let it wash over him, leaving him completely blank. It was nice to feel nothing instead of the pain that had engulfed him when he had been fighting against the spell. He had tried not to let the others see how much it hurt but they could definitely tell from his reactions.

He watched as though through someone else's eyes the events carrying out before him. He saw himself swing the sword and it strike Arthur's. The clash of the swords echoed out a few seconds after as though delayed from registering to his ears. It had taken him a while to break through and cause himself to stop last time but hopefully it would be easier on the second try.

Arthur was holding up rather well. Now that he was no longer confused as to why Merlin was attacking him, he had replaced his hurt with anger and control to keep Merlin back and not cause him harm. None of them had noticed Gwaine's disappearance. Merlin let the attack continue when he accepted that Arthur was doing fine. He needed the rest. Resisting that spell had taken more from him than he cared to let on. He still had a slight ache in his temple and behind his eyes but it had lessened slightly now he had stopped. He was much more at ease watching himself attacking Arthur now that they understood what was happening.

Nearly striking Gauis had been the last straw and given him the strength he needed to finally break through. He never would have been able to forgive himself if he had caused any harm to his mentor. Despite what he had been told, he wasn't using this time of relief to recover, he was using it to try and figure out what had happened to him and, more importantly, how he was going to break free. Allowing himself to forget about his current self, he let himself fall back into his memories, as damaged as they were.

It had only been last night that all of this had happened.

The sun had just begun to sink beneath the horizon when he had finally left camp to check out the disturbance he had felt somewhere nearby. He had never felt anything like this: such powerful magic that was easily felt in the air. It had been like a beacon signalling him to follow to something amazing. If only he had know what awaited him.

The sky had darkened impossibly quick as he made his way steadily through the forest. He stumbled on the roots of trees that emerged suddenly as if to hold him back and prevent him from continuing on his search. The presence on the magic was growing stronger, willing him to hurry to find him. He did not know how long he had been walking for but the stars were clear through the veil of the trees. Returning to camp was seeming more convincing as he tripped on another tree root. His eyes were growing heavy and he had travelled so far from camp that he doubted whatever presence he could sense would not threaten the camp.

He was about to turn back when there was a deep pain in his head that made him cry out loud. As soon as he turned back around the way he had been heading the pain stopped. So something was forcing him to find this thing, whatever it was. From experience, succumbing to the wishes of unknown magic was a very bad idea. He had been victim to many dark forces before and did not want any repeats or unnecessary dangers.

He turned around again and tried to head back to camp but now his entire being hurt. His head was numb with the pain and his legs refused to support him. Slowly, he fell to the ground, clutching his head in his hands. What was this? He had never felt anything this strongly before. He only felt more determined to fight against it. Whatever was waiting for him, wherever he was supposed to be heading, was not good and he did not want to face it.

Merlin resorted to crawl forwards to get away as his legs had no strength to stand up properly. The further away he managed to get, the more intense this pain was until he could no longer stand it. His world grew dark and he passed into the pleasant world of unconsciousness.

When he awoke, darkness still surrounded him. He was no longer in the forest. He could feel hard stone ground beneath him and any natural sound of the outdoors was non-existent here. Not even the wind touched this place- wherever here was. Merlin became unaware to whether his eyes were indeed open, so deep was the darkness. It wasn't just the fair dullness of night, and even through closed eyes, the smallest amounts of light will find its way through but this. This was like the darkness was a being itself that had engulfed him the thick blackness of fear and foreboding.

Again, he was unsure of how long he had been there for. He had made many attempts to move but was paralyzed by the darkness. After a while a harsh murmuring carried its way towards him and his senses began to recover. Merlin panicked even more now he was aware of another person, in fact there were two people. And he still couldn't move, couldn't get a look at who was with him. It was then that the realisation dawned on him. The murmuring was a spell. There was only one voice speaking and, so strong was the presence that it had to be here, it had to be whoever was casting this spell. As for the other person, they must have also been a captive like himself. He had no idea how he knew these things but as soon as he had drawn these conclusions, he knew them to be true.

The murmuring person appeared before him, her face was blurred and she laid a cool hand on his forehead. His world grew dark once more.

The next thing he knew he was back at camp. Arthur was before him. Relief was evident in his eyes. Then Merlin had attacked. He couldn't control his actions so he watched as he continued to strike at Arthur and the confusion and the hurt and the betrayal grew more and more on his friends face.

Merlin pulled himself from his memories to concentrate again on what was happening before him. Regretfully, he was no closer to figuring this out than he was when he started. He hated being clueless. Usually he was the one who knew everything that was going on behind the scenes, knew the real causes and plans and, most importantly, knew how to stop them and save the day. This feeling of helplessness and confusion was frustrating. Now he knew how Arthur must feel.

Arthur. He watched Arthur carefully, making sure that he was not tiring yet. Merlin did not want to stop his thoughts just yet but he would freeze himself without hesitation should his friend require it. He wished he could take more control and have some movement as well.

It had been a woman who was in that cave, who had placed this enchantment over him. That knowledge didn't give him much help. He didn't know who she was, what she looked like and was no closer to breaking her spell. This was hopeless. He half wished that Arthur would just finish this. He never would but Merlin would rather he died than the king. The truth was he didn't know how long he would be able to continue fighting back and he was weakening so much already.

More to stop himself from thinking about these things, Merlin stopped himself mid-swing and felt himself settle back into his body properly again. He could feel properly again. The weight of the sword in his hand, the slight tickle of the grass against his ankles, the gentle breeze that greet him, the tiredness of his muscles, the pain... He forced himself not to dwell on that and looked at his friends around them

Their expressions did not lighten his mood. They were full of concern and worry. It was like he was that small child who had first set foot in Camelot all those years ago and not who he really was. Not the warlock who had defeated dragons and armies from the dead and saved all their lives many times- although they would never be able to know that.

Arthur was sitting on the ground sipping the water he had been offered. He seemed okay but he was nearly as good as Merlin was as keeping his true feelings hidden. Gauis had checked him over quickly and now was heading over to see if Merlin was okay. He stopped a few metres in front of him, searching him worriedly.

"Are you alright Merlin?" He asked gravely.

"Oh, marvellous," Merlin said, trying to act a bit more lightly but his pain prevented it coming off quite so well, "Really, I couldn't be better. It definitely beats polishing armour back at Camelot. You know, it's always nice to take a break from routine."

Gauis frowned at him disapprovingly but accepted it as an answer and went back over to check on Arthur.

Merlin nearly forgot to fight against the spell for a moment. It hadn't been much but Merlin had noticed: Gauis hadn't come too close to him. Gauis was afraid of him. Gauis. The most important person in his life. The person he entrusted all his secrets to. The one who knew about his magic. He was afraid of Merlin. He didn't trust him to be strong enough to stop this.

Merlin's whole world seemed to fall apart. Sure, he supposed that it was just a precaution. Merlin wasn't himself and had struggled at first but the fear, there was fear in Gauis's eyes. Gauis had never acted like this before. Even in the darkest of times he would be by Merlin's side and would be reassuring him that everything would turn out right. He would be there for him but now, now he didn't seem too keen to even get too close to Merlin. What was happening? This was all wrong. Everything about this was wrong.

Arthur jumped to his feet and readied his sword again. He gave a small nod at Merlin who almost missed it and the fight resumed. Merlin didn't want to think anymore. Every time he did, the whole situation appeared worse than ever. He watched himself fight with Arthur, trying to lose himself in the image and not let his mind wander.

He wasn't even doing anything to stop this. He was trying to kill his own friend and he hadn't even tried to stop it apart from occasional breaks. What type of warlock was he? How powerful could he be if his destiny was falling to pieces before his eyes? His destiny. That seemed like a bad joke now. The very man he was destined to protect was now going to fall by his hand. This was all hopeless. What was the point in all this? He was no sorcerer.

Merlin shook his head forcefully. These were not his thoughts. These words were not his own. That sorceress was trying to control him even more. Anger flared up inside him. He would not allow her to win. He would make sure she would fall and that her plan would never succeed.

He had to bottle his anger up when he realised that it was affecting the fight and Arthur was beginning to struggle. No, this sorceress would not win.

They continued like this for a while longer, Arthur keeping Merlin at bay whilst Merlin continued to fight unwillingly. The thoughts that had plagued him were now silenced. Only when Arthur was beginning to tire did they stop.

"Is that it Merlin?" Arthur called, "I could have continued for ages yet." Merlin managed a roll of his eyes.

"Not with the new holes I've had to put on that belt of yours," Merlin shot back, "Too many feasts I think."

Arthur laughed at his servant, relieved to have some of the normal teasing back in check. He went back to his seat on the grass and gratefully took gulps of his water. Gauis was by his side in an instant, fussing over him. Only once he was assured that he was indeed fine, did Gauis back off.

Merlin watched the interaction with a sad smile. He wanted to this to all be over and was more determined than ever. Whilst they were resting he tried even more to overcome the spell but it would seem to no avail. The spell seemed to be getting even stronger...

The spell was constricting him, forcing itself in on him. He shook uncontrollably and only hoped that his friends would not notice. They had enough to worry about. Besides, the pain would pass, it had been for a while. But it did not. The others were taking notice too. A wave of agony flared over him, burning his soul and he collapsed to the ground. He curled up, trying to protect himself from the pain but it began to build and build. His eyes closed tightly. Make it go away. Make it stop.

Someone was screaming. He was screaming. The sound blocked itself from his ears as his brain seemed to be closing down to fight against the pain. There was a slight pressure on his arm and Merlin managed to open his eyes a fraction to see Arthur and Gauis. Gauis was next to him, trying desperately to help. Gauis was here. He was with him again. His vision was going black at the edges. Everything blurred and his eyes closed again.

Was he still screaming? He couldn't tell anymore. Nothing registered except this pain. So much pain. It was like his body was trying to break apart from the inside, trying to get away from this unbearable agony. Never had he faced anything like this. The pain behind his eyes doubled as whatever was there burrowed itself deeper. It was that same presence. It was here. It was with him.

Make it end. Anything. Just make it end. That is all he wanted. He didn't want this anymore. He didn't want to fight. He didn't want this pain. His chest felt restrained and his breaths became more ragged. His heartbeat became more prominent as each thud exploded in his chest. His head couldn't process anymore. Everything was beginning to fade. Was that good or bad? He felt empty.

He felt himself fading. It was pleasant to feel nothing now. Floating in the emptiness of a void. This was good. Wasn't it? He couldn't think straight. What was happening? Did it matter? No. Of course not.

And so he sank deeper into the nothingness.