Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
Chapter six: Entering the Realm of Queen Mab.
)o(
Arthur pulls the final strap tight on his saddle pack, before turning to the rest of the group.
"I've decided to journey to the Dark Tower," Arthur informs them. "It is my belief that Guinevere has been imprisoned there. I don't know what horrors will be waiting for us, so that is why Merlin and I will go alone."
"No," Elyan disagrees.
"I'm sorry," Arthur shakes his head. "But I've made my decision."
"You can't stop me Arthur," Elyan disagrees. "She's my sister."
"Nor me either," Percival adds. "She's our Queen."
"And our friend," Leon agrees.
"She's a maiden in a tower," Gwaine grins with a flick of his hair. "A damsel in distress. I was born for this moment."
Merlin could help but grin from where he was sitting watching the proceedings, Arthur just rolls his eyes skyward before turning his attention towards Tristan and Isolde.
"You can turn back," Arthur tells them.
"We're going with you," Isolde answers, taking one of Tristan's hands in her own as he nodes in agreement.
"Where Merlin goes, I go," Mordred cuts in before Arthur has a chance to ask him.
Arthur smiles slightly at their show of loyalty, "Let's go."
After a few hours riding the group come to a cliff overlooking a vast forest and beyond the forest the Dark Tower was visible.
"The Dark Tower," Arthur mutters, a hint of weariness in his voice.
"How do we get to it?" Tristan asks.
"Through the Impenetrable Forest," Arthur points towards the vast forest below them.
"But it's..." Merlin begins, his eyes widening slightly and Mordred turns slightly pale at the name.
"Impenetrable," Gwaine grins.
"We can't possibly get through there," Merlin shakes his head. "There has to be another way."
"We must," Arthur replies.
"You don't understand," Merlin argues. "That is Queen Mab's realm."
)o(
Gwen wakes to the feeling of liquid dripping over her face. She sits up startled and looks round in slight horror. All around her were hundreds of Mandrake roots hanging from the ceiling of the room. She had seen what a single root had done to Uthur in a matter of day… She couldn't stay in this room, she had to get out.
But before she had a chance to move, screams and shrieks fill the air and Gwen is forced to cover her ears. She looks round the room in fright as the light begins to fade and she is sent into darkness once more. A noise from behind her causes her to spin round in alarm and back away from it slowly.
She screams and spins on her heels as she bumps into something, only to come face to face with a ghostly illusion of her brother. He smirks at her before he begins to laugh and suddenly he's gone, but his laughter echoes around the room from every direction.
Gwen backs up once more trying to see through the darkness, finally her back hits a wall and she slides down it. Drawing her knees to her chest, Gwen wraps her arms around her knees and tries to keep her rising panic under control.
"Guinevere," Arthur's voice suddenly whispers from somewhere in the darkness of the room.
"Arthur..?" Gwen whispers, shaking her head slightly.
It couldn't be real.
She would have seen the door open.
He couldn't be here.
Suddenly she catches sight of a ghostly image of Arthur, kneeling beside a pillar, sword in hand and motioning her to come to him.
"Arthur?" Gwen questions hesitantly.
Maybe she had been wrong.
Maybe the door had opened and she had been too distracted to notice.
She glances round the darkness of the room once more before crawling towards him, only for him to disappear. Gwen quickly scrambles back over to the wall she had been against moments before and hides her head in her knees and cover her head with her arms.
Suddenly Arthur appears beside her and yells something she couldn't make out in her ear. Gwen scrambles away from him in fright, falling to the ground as her feet get caught in her dress. Tears begin to run down her face.
"It isn't real," Gwen mutter to herself. "It isn't real. None of this is real."
Suddenly the door opens and Gwen recognises the silhouette of Morgana standing in the open doorway. Morgana enters the room, carrying a torch to light her way. She stops a few feet away from Gwen and stares at her for a moment.
"Come," Morgana holds out her hand. "Let us have something to eat."
Gwen moves forward and takes Morgana hand and lets Morgana lead her from the room.
)o(
Tristan fell into step beside Merlin as the group made their way through the Impenetrable Forest.
"Who's Queen Mab?" He asks.
Merlin glances at him, "She's the Queen of the Fae."
"The Fae?" Isolde asks from behind them.
"Fairies, elves," Merlin answers. "Pixies and Goblins."
"So this forest…" Tristan glances round.
"Is her realm," Merlin answers. "And it isn't a place I would ever set foot in willingly, but I cannot leave Arthur unprotected."
Suddenly a frustrated yell from Gwaine catches their attention.
They turn in time to watch him yank his cloak free of a branch covered in thorns, which he had caught his cloak in, ripping the fabric and leaving some material caught in the branches.
Gwaine looks round to see everyone staring at him, "Keep going."
The group carries all going, when a roar from somewhere deeper in the forest suddenly fills the air. Tristan glances at Merlin and notices he had turned pale.
"What was that?" Tristan asks, tightening his grip on his sword instinctively.
"A Questing Beast," Merlin answers.
Mordred shivers, "Then death is coming."
"What do you mean?" Isolde questions.
"A Questing Beast is a death omen," Mordred explains. "Wherever one is seen death always follows."
"At the heart of the old religion lies the power of Life and Death," Merlin explains. "The Questing Beast represents Death. A single bite is fatal, there is no cure."
The sound of a sword snapping in half reaches their ears and they turn to see Percival holding up half a sword.
"It was blunt anyway," Percival shrugs, throwing away the half in his hands.
"Here," Merlin calls across to him, before throwing him a spare sword.
Percival nodes catching the sword, "Thanks, Merlin."
"Don't stop," Arthur calls ahead to Leon who had been leading the way.
"We've lost the path, Sire," Leon replies, with a shake of his head.
"We'll keep heading north," Arthur informs the group.
"How do we know which way is north, Princess?" Gwaine asks.
"The Ivy," Arthur answers. "Pale leaves face south, dull leaves face north."
After an hour of trekking through the dense forest, they reach a clearing and the Dark Tower is visible in the distance.
"We are on the right course," Leon sighs, sounding relieved.
"We should reach the tower by sundown," Arthur nodes to himself. "Let's pick up the pace."
)o(
Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've just realised I didn't mention Tristan or Isolde in the last chapter, whoops. Until next time,
Blessed be,
TreeOfLife1997.