A hidden threat

Chapter 5

Hello, you gorgeous people! Two in a week, I'm proud of myself! Ok gloating over. This new chapter is when it all kicks off (DUN DUN DUN!) and it's another long one sorry! But why say it in two words when you can say it in ten? Can't wait to see what you guys think. And please review! I'm not getting as many as I did at the start and could really use the constructive criticism to tell me if the story's moving in the right direction. I really appreciate that people have stuck with it, and I guarantee from this point on there will be no more slow moments (I've drawn up a watertight contract to prove it!). By the way, did anyone see the NTAs on Wednesday? How did Merlin not get a single award? How? Anyway no more procrastination, this it. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin…

The knights, Merlin and Carmen were assembled in the now empty banqueting hall. There was something haunting about the room, the abandoned food and wine. The discarded gymnast equipment, smoke rising from where the fires had only just been extinguished. It just felt wrong. Arthur's voice threw itself around the space in echoes, bouncing off the stone surfaces adding to the macabre atmosphere. Arthur had been trying to raise morale for the last thirty minutes, and was failing miserably. How could he reassure them when he didn't know himself who they were fighting? Although he would deny it later, Arthur felt the cold grip of fear wrap itself round his mind. He could feel it gnawing at the periphery of every thought and contemplation. It was irrational, Arthur knew it, there was no reason to be scared. As Carmen had pointed out earlier, he had been in far worse situations and he was still alive and well. But there was still a nagging doubt clawing its way out of his subconscious, a doubt that was telling him something wasn't right. Normally Arthur would have trusted his instincts, this is what he had been taught as a knight, but this time, for probably the first time in his life, Arthur ignored those instincts, instead carrying on with his attempt to boost the knight's spirit.

Little did he know every other person in the room felt the same way. Unjustified terror ripping underneath their skin and pulsing through their hearts.

But it wasn't unjustified, far from it. The horror rushing through their minds was not unplanned and it wasn't a reaction to the approaching army. This emotion had been placed in their brains strategically, twisting their conviction to another man's will. Another sorcerer's will.

"We will survive this." Arthur stated, not quite sure he believed it himself. "Because we have something that they don't have. Something that I know will see us through. We have the love of Camelot!" He ended dramatically, although he knew it was all talk. He could feel defeat closing in around him, engulfing everything he saw.

Arthur was pulled out of his hidden melancholy by the warning bell. It rang loud and true, reverberating off the walls, making the room shake. This was it. The signal that the enemy forces had breached the final line of defences, they were inside the castle.

"Positions!" Arthur bellowed and they fell into rank. It was perfectly coordinated like a dance. They drew their swords and stood square, staring at the door. All of them attempting to dispel the now all consuming dread, all of them failing.

Merlin could feel his magic ripping his mind to shreds, he had never felt so out of control. Like some unseen presence was stirring it up. It hurt magnificently. This wasn't fear. Merlin knew fear, he had experienced it while facing sorcerers, monsters, aberrations that defied natural meaning. This was not fear. He could smell the all too familiar scent of dark magic as the hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention. He felt a shift in the atmosphere, there was someone behind him. Someone evil and malignant, he knew that much. And he knew that they were unbelievably powerful. Merlin also knew that he did not want to turn round, not for all the money in the world.

The unmistakeable sound of an approaching battalion could be heard from the other side of the door. The last time they had faced the soldiers no one could have guessed the outcome. This time Arthur knew and so did everyone else. A collective shiver ran down their spines, they would claim it was the cold.

The heavy clump of boots approached.
Closer and
closer and
closer and…

A hammering at the oak doors, hundreds of soldiers desperate for carnage. Screams and battle cries were barely audible over the sound of Arthur's heartbeat. His hands were shaking and he could feel a bead of sweat run down his forehead.

"Arthur," Merlin began, "If I die," he couldn't hide the shake in his voice, "I just want you to know…" it was there the fear in his tone was deafening, "You're an idiot."
Arthur feigned a laugh.
The two men didn't look at each other, they couldn't, for fear of breaking down.

The hammering grew louder, the sound of animals baying for blood. The whole room was encompassed in terror. The doors wouldn't hold for much longer.

Merlin felt his magic bubbling under his skin, it took his last reserves of energy just to keep himself upright and conscious. His head split in pain, his thoughts blurring and his senses going into overdrive. At the moment the threat posed by the army was the least of his worries. In fact being run through by an enemy sword would have been a welcome break from this torture.

The wood splintered, the final defences falling in chunks at Arthur's feet. The bolt across the door finally gave way, sending wooden missiles ricocheting across the hall. The doors were thrown open with an almighty blow. The unbearable screams erupting into an orchestra of sound. Arthur felt his emotions leave him as the warrior took over, adrenaline the only thing keeping him going. And then…

Nothing. The room fell silent. There were no soldiers, no weapons, no sound. Were they should have been, there was simply an empty corridor. Not a single noise could be heard, apart from the steadying heartbeats of Arthur's followers.

This unearthly stillness didn't last for long, from somewhere behind Arthur, the sound of clapping arose. A slow, sinister round of applause.

At that moment Arthur would have preferred the soldiers, the bloodshed, the death. The next three seconds were the longest of his life as he raised his head, inhaled and turned round.

…

"Arthur," he exclaimed excitedly as if addressing an old friend, "Arthur Pendragon!" but his eyes betrayed a dark alter ego.

"So nice to meet you at last," his piercing green eyes glittering with poison, "I knew your father." Suddenly his voiced was laced with malice.

Arthur was shaking, his heart threatening to break through his ribs and his mind whirling. The prince tried to compose himself but an unbearable fire raced through his head, purging it of any reason. He couldn't look at the man standing before him, there was something about him. His eyes, they were… hypnotic. He felt a tremor rush through his body whenever he looked at them. The knights still had their swords drawn and trained on the stranger, not that the weapons would have been any use. The stranger was clearly a sorcerer, what would a sword do?

"You're…" Arthur stammered "You're a…" He couldn't say it, he couldn't admit to it.

So the stranger answered the prince's question for him.
"A sorcerer? Yes." He stated deadpan.

"The army?" This was all Arthur could manage. His energy abandoning him, his usually strong will failing him.

"Oh them?" He replied matter-of-factly. "No they're gone now. So you don't need to worry about them." He stated coolly.

Before Arthur could mention that he was worried, as well as confused, about it the sorcerer began again.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here?"

"I could take a guess." Arthur spun round on hearing Gwaine, staring daggers and sending a silent message telling him to shut up. The sorcerer was clearly just as shocked as Arthur.
"It's the usual story isn't it, you're a vengeful sorcerer with a past grievance with Arthur or the king and you're here to seek recompense. Really, you people have no originality." Merlin marvelled at the fact that despite that this man could have struck Gwaine down without a second thought he still had the bravado to crack a joke.

The sorcerer could have killed the knight in an instant, but why bother, although annoying he was right about one thing, his grievance was with Arthur not anyone else. Besides he'd spent a lot on his clothes and blood was a nightmare to get out of silk. So he decided to humour him. "Ok, I am here to kill Arthur." The knights stepped forward in unison, raising their swords another inch. The sorcerer didn't seem fazed by the most feared men in the kingdom all threatening to run him through. And why should he? He possessed unimaginable power, he was capable of ripping them to shreds with a single glance.
"But don't worry, I'm not a tyrant." He continued, a sort of perverse pleasure weaved into his words. "I'm going to give you a choice, either you give yourself up now in which case you face a quick and noble death, or you challenge me and in doing so enter a world of pain. So which is it? The easy way?" he paused, a psychopathic smile playing across his mouth. "Or the fun way?"

"I think you've underestimated me," Arthur said, stalking towards the sorcerer, refusing to be intimidated. "And you've underestimated Camelot." The prince was now nose to nose with the sorcerer, the knights were on high alert. He stared into the sorcerer's eyes, it was the first time he had held eye contact with the stranger and it hurt. But it was the only time Arthur had felt in control since the villain had arrived, he was going to make this moment last as long as possible. His voice was now nothing more than a low growl. "And that's a very dangerous thing to do."

There was a long moments silence as both men tried to stare the other down.

"You don't know who I am do you?" the sorcerer asked, less than intimidated.
He took the prince's blank expression as a no.
"Well, that's awfully rude of me not to introduce myself. You have met me before, but you clearly don't remember." He was almost cheery as he said this, but with his next statement he turned, becoming the cruel magician again, "So how about I give you a little reminder."
The sorcerer raised his hand, Arthur drew back for a second, thinking he was going to hit him. But he didn't, instead he simply clicked his fingers, the sharp sound rebounded round the room, sending a shudder down everyone's spine. Arthur felt his breathing labour and his vision blur, the sorcerer was draining his last reserves of energy, the prince felt the dark magic bore into his skull, it felt like a rope round his neck. He let out a scream of pain and clutched his head, he heard one of the knights shout his name and run towards him. Looking up at the sorcerer he saw that his once bright green eyes were now glowing an ethereal gold shade. Arthur backed away, terror taking him over, making his head spin. He could feel the weight of the darkness bearing down on him and now he had no choice, he couldn't last any longer. He gave in, and it went black.

Arthur remembered. He remembered the nightmare he'd had the previous evening. Fear paralysed him.
He saw himself lying in the council chambers, gasping for breath, pain rushing through every sinew in his body, with a stranger standing over him, killing him, ripping the life force from his body. It may have been a dream, but it felt real. So real that for the first time in years Arthur felt fear, pure unadulterated terror, he felt his head spin and his stomach turn as adrenaline coursed through his body in an attempt to counteract the emotion. And all the while one image plagued Arthur's thoughts. The sorcerer, his killer, standing over him, his piercing green eyes boring into the prince's very soul. Ripping him apart. As he stared into the sorcerer's eyes, he felt his grip on life loosening, his eyes closing and his mind drifting away. In his last moments he was sure he had heard a woman shout his name, but he couldn't be sure, he lost focus as death tightened his grasp on the young prince and he succumbed to the darkness.
It must have only been a few seconds but it seemed to last an age. Suddenly Arthur was dragged back to reality. He woke to see Merlin and Carmen next to him, looking over him worried. They were talking to him but he couldn't concentrate on what they were saying. He looked up and Gwaine and Leon had the sorcerer at sword point. Arthur would have said something but he had no energy left, he tried to raise his head but he just felt the darkness encompass him again.