A hidden threat

Chapter 9

So the ninth chapter is here! It's come round fast hasn't it? This is where the pressure really gets turned up. Now it may not be perfect, there is a lot of dialogue so it's not very descriptive (which is annoying because description is me forte, even if I do say so myself!), but I promise you what I lack in this chapter will certainly be made up for in the next couple of chapters! There are some really good twists! Probably shouldn't have said that, oh well. Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed, alerted and read, I love you all! And remember to review (even if it just a smiley!) it means the world to me! Wow this AN is really long, sorry! So here it is…

Being dragged back to consciousness was not a feeling that Gwaine was used to or one that he enjoyed. As his eyes flicked open the first thing he registered was pain, a massive amount of pain. It took him a while but eventually he made it to his feet and when he did he saw the extent of the carnage that had been bought about in Gaius's chambers. He surveyed the room, he was the first one to regain consciousness, but Elyan and Carmen were beginning to stir. Then Gwaine remembered what had happened, he rushed towards the door on the opposite side of the room, the movement made him want to vomit.

…

It had been a matter of seconds since the sorcerer had left, Merlin made for the door in an attempt to follow him. Suddenly he saw the handle move he braced himself, picking up a nearby candlestick he prepared himself for another onslaught. He was visibly relieved when it was Gwaine on the other side of the door Gwaine not so much; a candlestick to the head was not exactly what he needed at that point. Merlin noticed a nasty looking gash across Gwaine's forehead, it was bleeding badly and seemed to be affecting his balance.

Gwaine looked around the room and noticed, "Where's Arthur?" he asked trying to banish the slur from his voice.

There was an uncomfortable silence, Merlin looked to Gwaine soundlessly begging him not to ask for an explanation.

…

Arthur was thrown roughly to the stone floor, he landed on his knees painfully. The sorcerer stalked in front of him, Arthur felt a lump grow in his throat, there was something familiar about this scene. No. he refused to accept it, pushing it to the back of his mind. It was just a dream, it didn't mean anything. Although he tried to convince himself it was just tricks, he just couldn't shake the feeling that this was predetermined. Despite these feelings the prince was determined to regain control, he had had enough of these power games and he was going to put an end to them now. But it seemed the sorcerer had other ideas.

"I'm really very disappointed," the sorcerer mocked "I thought the great Pendragon would put up a bit more of a fight."

Arthur didn't answer

…

"We've got to go!" Gwaine proclaimed heading for the door picking up his discarded sword on the way. He narrowly avoided walking into a bench

"Do you have to be so loud?" Carmen moaned, she had finally regained consciousness and was standing, clearly the gravity of the situation hadn't quite hit her yet.

Gwaine was getting increasingly agitated, people were not moving as fast as he had hoped. He ignored Carmen's previous statement.

"We need to go, now." Gwaine demanded, at this point patience was not top of his priorities.

"Are you all right?" Carmen asked Merlin, she was worried about him, he looked pale and drawn.

"Fine, I'm fine." He lied, "What about you?"

"I feel like I've drunk a whole army under the table." She joked, but judging from his face Merlin was not in the mood for jokes.

Gwaine was getting impatient, something Merlin picked up on instantly.

"Gwaine you can't go anywhere, not in that state." Merlin pointed out. Annoyingly, Gwaine thought, he was right his head was pounding and his balance was non-existent, not that he was going to admit it.

"Merlin I'm fine." Gwaine protested as he tripped over a stool, he spun round, yeah, he'd seen. Merlin raised one eyebrow. "Merlin I'm fine, really." He really wasn't, but Merlin seemed convinced for now.

"Besides aren't we missing the point? Arthur's in trouble we need to get down there!" Gwaine pointed out, suddenly all the men fell into rank picking up their swords and dusting themselves down. Carmen picked up her sword and went to join them but was stopped by Sir Leon.

"No," he began abruptly, "not you."

This statement was met with a look of bewilderment and mild annoyance form Carmen.

"I'm sorry but you can't come." Leon declared.

"And why is that?" Carmen demanded trying to fight back the rage in her voice.

"Well, we hardly know you." He reasoned he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else, "Don't you just think it's all a bit convenient? You turned up at exactly the same time as the sorcerer!"

"Hold on what are you saying?" She had stopped trying to fight it now, the wrath in her tone finally revealing itself. She resented such an accusation.

"I just don't understand why you're so willing to help Arthur. You're not even from Camelot." Leon was clearly not angry, just confused.

"Me and the Pendragons, we have a… history." She bowed her head, the words were barely audible as if she was ashamed.

"Well what's that supposed to mean?" He demanded. He grew angry now, Leon didn't like being like being left in the dark. He received no answer to his question. He gave up they had wasted too much time already. With a sigh he turned to leave. Carmen bowed her head in embarrassment, that could have gone better. Merlin turned to her.

"I'm sorry." He said, putting his hand on her arm with a sympathetic glance

"It's understandable. Why should he trust me? It is all a bit convenient."

"I trust you." Merlin confessed and he meant it, there was something about her, he may have only met Carmen a few hours before but he would have felt safe to put his life in her hands and had a feeling that soon he would have to. "Completely."

"Look after them." She said to him.

There was a call from the corridor, Merlin gave Carmen one last look of reassurance and turned to leave.

"Oh and Gaius," he enquired as an afterthought, "Could you find out a bit more about the sorcerer? At least then we'll know who we're fighting."

Gaius nodded in reply.

"Merlin," Gaius responded with a worried expression, "Be careful."

"You know me I'm always careful." Merlin replied, turned and left.

…

"Get out." He demanded, but his demand was not met so he repeated it a considerable volume. The brotherhood left the council chambers leaving the sorcerer and Arthur alone together.

The sorcerer threw Arthur's sword to the ground in front of him. He glared at the prince.

"Get up." He spat, drawing his own sword.

Arthur stood, his gaze fixed upon the enemy. He had no idea what was going on, he was at the sorcerer's mercy yet he chose to fight him.

"Why are you doing this?" Arthur spat.

"I want to give you a chance." He replied.

They circled each other, trying to get the measure of their opponent.

"There are a few questions you've yet to answer." Arthur stated coolly, he didn't really care about the answers, he was just stalling.

"The army?" he asked.

The sorcerer raised his sword and Arthur looked away, preparing for the fatal blow. Which didn't come.

The sorcerer lunged at Arthur, his sword barely missing the prince's throat.

"Oh no they were a figment of everyone's imagination. It emptied the castle, made it a lot easier to find you and scared everyone. I looked into Uther's heart and found his greatest fear. Well his second greatest fear." The sorcerer explained

He launched attack after attack but Arthur was too quick, blocking every single blow that was dealt him.

"Well what was the first?" Arthur asked, hoping it would buy him some time.

Arthur could feel himself flagging, he had been fighting all night and couldn't find any more energy. The sorcerer could see this. With a crushing blow he brought his sword down on Arthur's shoulder, felling him. Arthur lay on his back his sword meters from him, there was no way he could get hold of it now, the sorcerer had his sword to the prince's throat.

"Take a wild guess" he hissed, pressing the sword further into Arthur's neck. "That's another Pendragon prince I can add to the list." He smiled cruelly at Arthur.

…

Gaius and Carmen had been searching through the books for a while now searching for something that might have shed some light on the sorcerer. So far it had been fruitless.

Until Gaius was flicking through probably the sixteenth book on sorcery when,

"That's it!" he exclaimed, "There's only one sorcerer who matches his description."

Carmen rushed over to him, desperate to see who the sorcerer was.

"Well, who is he then?" she asked.

"His name is Lucan, he was a courtier of Camelot a hundred years ago, he swore vengeance on the Pendragons after he was banished. It doesn't have any other information though." Gaius stated drawing a blank.

Carmen's face dropped, her blood boiled as every single emotion went into overdrive. It had been years since she'd allowed herself to feel such feelings. Her vision blurred and her hands began to shake.

"Are you sure?" she questioned trying to cap her anger, "Are you one hundred per cent sure that's who he is?"

"Yes. Yes I am." Gaius answered.

Carmen picked up her sword from the table and ran towards the door, shouting over her shoulder as she went.

"Then we don't need any more information!"

Gaius was left alone in his chambers, not entirely sure of what was going on.

…

Carmen skidded round the corner and was met with the sight of the knights preparing to enter the council chambers. Carmen spotted Merlin and walked straight up to him, she pulled him to one side.

"Merlin." she whispered, cautious that none of the others heard their conversation.

"You're not supposed to be here." Merlin warned her.

"No I'm not." She replied absently, unconcerned with that the fact at that point in time, she continued franticly, "Merlin does he know?"

"Does who know what?" He replied confused.

"Lucan, the sorcerer, does he know about your magic?" She whispered impatiently.

Merlin's face fell, he grabbed her arm and pulled her further away from the crowd.

"How do you know?" He demanded, defensive and angry.

"It's obvious," She answered simply, "But that's not the point, does he know?" She repeated for the third time, now panicked.

"No," He lied, "I don't think so."

Carmen exhaled visibly relieved Merlin was not so relaxed.

"Would it make a difference if he did?"

Carmen stared into his eyes, her tone as cold as ice and her face like stone.

"He'd tear you apart."

A shiver ran down Merlin's spine.

"I thought I told you not to come down here." Leon's voice sounded round the corner. Carmen turned round to see Leon standing in the corridor looking thoroughly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I had to come." She reasoned.

"Leon please, just trust her." Merlin begged.

Leon looked to Merlin, he might not admit it but he trusted the servant's judgement, he had never been wrong before. He appreciated the young man's interjection, he was incredibly good at preventing a man from acting like a prat.

"Fine." He gave in and turned away.

"Thank you." She told him as they made their way back to the group.

Carmen looked over to Gwaine, he looked pale and weak. He had been through so much that night and it was getting the better of him. He put his hand to his head as a bolt of pain shot through him. Carmen was concerned and Merlin saw.

"He's getting worse." Merlin said anxiously "He's not listening, just keeps insisting he'll be alright."

"I'm sure he will be." Carmen said she only hoped she was right.

Suddenly a blood curdling scream erupted from the other side of the doors. Everyone looked to the doors as if they would provide some sort of information. Merlin didn't need information.

"That was Arthur." Merlin stated his voice steely.

…

"Ábréatan hine, hand mec andfangol sáwol, hand mec sé sáwol sylfum sé æðeling Arthur Pendragon. Hé diht áfindan mín ádle!"

With every word the pain grew worse, an unbearable agony tore through Arthur's body as the sorcerer killed him. The prince stared up at the sorcerer, his eyes were aglow boring into Arthur's soul. The torture was indescribable, it was relentless. He was unable to focus on anything, he couldn't even hear himself screaming.

And then it stopped.

He couldn't feel anything anymore, everything went black. He could feel his grip on life loosening. Arthur suddenly felt so cold fear wrapped itself round him. He was sure he heard a woman say his name. Was it Gwen? Gwen. Something about that name made him pull back. Who was she? And then Arthur remembered he let the memory of her fill him up. Her smile, her eyes, her voice. And he found the strength to fight.

…

They hammered at the doors, they all knew it was in vain. Those doors could withstand an army, they were designed to. Every second they wasted Arthur could have been dying. Carmen pulled Merlin to one side.

"You could get it open?" She whispered

"But they'll see." He pointed out.

"Merlin, come on! If there was a time to take a risk this is definitely it!" She encouraged.

She ran back towards the group, trying to help. Merlin stayed where he was, allowing his magic to fill him up and take control of him he uttered the words "Onlúcan sé dor." His eyes glowed gold as he felt the magic leave him. He heard the lock on the doors click. He gave Carmen a wink as Elyan shoved the doors open, they ran into the council chambers swords drawn.