A/N: I know, I know...I still took too long for this one! Sorry! But hey at least it wasn't over a month this time! Anyways, hope you all like this chapter. Also, for some of you who reviewed talking about the slitting wrist, and why Merlin didn't just slit his throat or something similar, you'll see why in this chapter! The reason is pretty lame but I needed it there! LOL
So without further ado, here's the next chapter!
Spoilers in Story: Up to Season 3 episode 13
Pairings for Story: ArthurXGwen; slight GwenXLancelot;
Disclaimer: I do not own "Merlin".
Chapter 8 - Saviour
He watched the blood dribble down his wrist and had the maniacal urge to laugh. The cut was too deep. When he'd slashed his wrist he had most probably cut open a blood vessel which had resulted in the splatter of blood across his clothes and the stone floor.
It hurt. He should have just slit his throat, then he'd be dead in seconds and wouldn't have to watch the morbid scene of the blood dribbling down his wrist. It probably wouldn't have hurt as much either. However, Merlin wanted to say something to Arthur...his last words...
He looked up to see the horrified look on his friends' faces. He tried to smile but he was sure it came across as a grimace because he saw Gwen pale. He was at least glad to see that the spell was already failing. He turned to see Morgana fall to the floor clutching her chest.
Her heart was stopping. She gave Merlin a hateful glare before she succumbed to unconsciousness. One more reason that made his sacrifice worth it. He heard the thunderous roar of the dragon and then winced slightly when the dragon's guttural voice entered his mind.
"Warlock! What have you done?"
Merlin gave a simple response back, "It was the only way..."
He severed the connection with the dragon and ignored the enraged roar that shook the very earth itself. He turned to look at Arthur and relayed his parting words, "Arthur..." His breathing hitched.
The cut was too deep and he was losing concentration, 'NO...he had to stay awake just a little longer..."
He tried again, "Arthur..." It wasn't working, he slapped his other hand over his bleeding wrist and pressed hard. It stung something fierce but it jolted Merlin's mind.
"Arthur, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to hide this but you must understand...I didn't have a choice...my mother...oh god my mother...you must apologize please..." His breath hitched again and he mentally cursed his failing body.
Then, as if his magic heard his silent plea, it came to his aid. It washed over his body giving him energy. He used that false strength to continue speaking. However, he paused as he saw Arthur's face. The Prince held a look of fear on his face.
Then Merlin heard, "Don't do this. Fix it! Heal the wound, you idiot!"
The warlock blinked then smiled slightly and said, "It's too deep. Besides, it's possible the spell will start again...I just wanted to tell you to apologize to my mother...tell her I love her...oh and Gaius..." He turned to look at his adopted father and asked softly.
"Is he alright? Is he breathing?"
He saw Lancelot move a hand slowly to check on Gaius and then say, "He's fine...but Merlin there must be another way. I don't think the spell is working anymore."
Merlin smiled saying, "Yes but Morgana goes with me..."
Gwaine frantically said, "Remove the bond then! Get rid of it!"
Merlin shook his head, "I may be powerful but I actually don't know how to do that..."
He noticed his friends hadn't moved much from their spots that meant the spell was still slightly in effect.
He heard Arthur scoff and say, "Typical! You're useless even with magic."
Merlin huffed slightly in laughter. Although it was a teasing remark the underlying tone of worry had not gone unnoticed by the warlock.
"Don't worry about me. I need to say more to you though. There is a sword in the forest I can't tell you exactly where because I don't have enough time. Just know that it belongs to you. It was made for you...well actually it was forged by Gwen's father and the dragon then burnished the blade..."
He heard Gwen gasp and saw Arthur's surprised look and continued, "It is a powerful weapon...very powerful...only you can get it out of the stone...made sure of that...also Mordred the druid boy...he is your enemy...he is destined to one day kill you...please stay away from him..."
He paused there and looked around the room at everyone else and said as a whole, "I would love to thank everyone of you but I don't think I can hold on much longer...don't worry about the dragon...he'll leave soon...he's only harming the enemy no citizen of Camelot will be hurt...again I've been lucky to be able to meet you all."
He turned back to Arthur and was surprised to note that the Prince was getting to his feet. However, it was proving to be hard, but he wasn't giving up it seemed.
"Arthur...you will one day make a great King...the greatest King Camelot has ever seen...just don't...be...pr..at.."
He felt the last vestiges of energy leave him and he slumped forward. Well at least he'd gotten to say goodbye.
Arthur, felt a startling amount of energy return to him as soon as Merlin fell to the ground. He panicked knowing that the effects of the spell were gone, which meant that Merlin was dead.
'No...'
He jumped to his feet and rushed towards his fallen servant. He heard the others gather around him as well. He put an ear to Merlin's chest and waited to hear something...anything.
There was a small heart beat...it was small but it was there. Maybe, they could save him!
Guinevere choked out, "Arthur...is he...?"
Arthur shook his head, "No...not yet...but I don't know how much longer he can hold out. Try to see if we can wake Gaius."
He heard Gwaine reply, "Way ahead of you. But he's not waking. I think the spell was a little too much for him."
That was when his father's voice shot across the room, "You will not help him!"
Arthur turned to his father in shocked surprise, "What? Why? He just saved the whole of Camelot! He saved you too!"
Uther's brows furrowed as he said, "That may be so, but he has also betrayed his kingdom and it's King by committing treason!"
Arthur angrily stated, "Are you mad? That's what you're worrying about? I don't care if he betrayed the Kingdom! I'm going to save him none-the-less!"
Uther's angry ramble was cut off as another roar shook the castle, this one much closer than before. All the windows in the chamber shattered and one section of the wall that faced the lower town fell away. Arthur feared that the dragon would finish them all and he braced himself.
The gigantic creature entered the space, its long neck bent to better access the situation. The Prince had an unintentional comic thought about how the creature could fit into the room, but it was pushed aside as the dragon spoke.
It was an old voice: rumbling, gravely, and oddly wise. Another shock, he never knew the beast could speak let alone be wise!
"He is breathing, that means we can still save him."
Arthur was about to ask the dragon how but a scream of outrage around the entrance to the room caught his attention. He was surprised to see the druid boy he had once saved a long time ago. The boy was staring at Morgana's fallen body in horror.
"No! What have you done? I will kill you! I will kill you all!"
Until this moment Arthur hadn't been ready to believe Merlin's words of the boy being destined to kill him. But he could see now that it was possible. Mordred's face was twisted in rage and hatred. Arthur saw the boy was ready to cast magic but the dragon stopped him.
"Watch what you do boy!"
Mordred stopped abruptly, mid-spell, and turned his angry eyes on the dragon, "They killed Morgana! And now with that foolish warlock gone I plan to kill them all!"
The dragon rumbled, "My loyalties lie with Merlin and his lie with the young Pendragon, which means I'm also indirectly loyal to the Prince. Leave this place! I will not repeat myself..."
Mordred spat out, "Why would you protect such murderers?"
Arthur blinked and felt an uncomfortable feeling of guilt pass through his body. He wondered what Merlin thought of the killings of sorcerers.
The dragon spoke again, "You already know the answer to that..."
Mordred scoffed and said, "Destiny! Ha! Right you do that! Morgana will live! I'm going to save her!"
The dragon growled out, "She will not live! Don't bother going to the Isle, the current priestess is loyal to the warlock and the once and future King of Albion!"
There were tendrils of smoke rising out of the dragon's mouth and Arthur once again feared that the creature would bring the castle down around them. It had also caught Mordred's attention because the boy stepped back slightly in fear.
At that moment Alvarr rushed towards Mordred and took one look at the scene around him then said, "Let's go Mordred. We've lost this battle...mark my words though we will be back!"
Alvarr carried Morgana out of the room and Mordred gave one last withering glare to everyone in the room then followed Alvarr. Arthur released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and then turned back to Merlin.
He was still breathing. That was good. He turned to the dragon and was startled to see the creature's face close to his.
"What are you going to do, Prince Arthur?"
He blinked and shifted slightly to move away from the dragon then said, "I'm going to save him..."
The dragon raised his neck up and away from the people in the room. Arthur had a feeling that the creature was looking down its nose at him.
"Save him now so that you can kill him later...?"
He felt Guinevere tense beside him and he replied through gritted teeth, "I would never do that! He just sacrificed his own life to save all of ours...I will not repay him by killing him!"
The dragon watched him intently for a couple of seconds and Arthur impatiently asked, "You said we could save him! How do we do that?"
Then surprisingly he heard Lancelot say, "The Isle of the Blessed! That's it isn't? You're going to take him there!"
Then Gwaine said, "That would be perfect! He is still breathing that means the Priestess should be able to save him!"
The dragon said, "Yes, however to save a life one must be given in sacrifice...the King knows that very well...don't you Uther?"
Arthur remembered what Merlin had said in the throne-room before the servant had rushed off to the Isle to stop Morgana:
"To save a life a life must be given in return."
Merlin had said that looking at his father...the dragon also said something similar saying his father knew about it.
"I know no such thing!"
Arthur heard a strange rumbling sound coming from the dragon that he recognized as a chuckle.
"Really Uther...I'd suspected that you'd stop lying to your son after all that happened with Morgana. But it seems you never learn..."
The Prince's stomach dropped and he turned shocked eyes to his father, but before he could say anything Elyan frantically said, "I'm sorry to interrupt but I really think we should worry about Merlin first!"
Arthur turned back to his servant and then said through gritted teeth, "I will accompany you to this Isle if you don't mind."
The dragon turned to Arthur at that and said, "I don't mind...it would probably be better that way. You can sit on my back with Merlin, it's best not to jar his body further. The only reason why he's still breathing is because of his magic. A normal person would have been dead by now."
Arthur ignored the last bit of the dragon's words, he didn't want to think about how powerful Merlin really was. He would deal with that later. When the warlock was alive and well. Then he could yell, scream, punch...maybe even put Merlin in the stocks for a week...whatever he wanted to do he'd do. Just not now...now he needed the servant back...he needed his friend back.
Arthur nodded his head at the dragon and moved to stand up. He was surprised to note Leon stand up to help him. That was good. Everyone except his father had accepted Merlin for who he was...Arthur was glad for that. Although he was angry at the warlock, he wasn't angry enough to kill Merlin or even banish him, so it was a good thing the people in this room accepted Merlin.
Then Merlin was taken out of his hands by Percival who lifted the boy gently belying the man's strength. Well that would easier, now he could climb onto the dragon's back while Percival handed Merlin to him.
As they were trying to manoeuvre the warlock carefully on to the dragon Uther spoke, "Arthur you will not go to the Isle!"
Arthur turned enraged eyes towards the King and said, "Father, I suggest you don't say a word. You have been keeping things from me for too long."
He saw Uther stand carefully and say, "It was for your own good!"
Arthur yelled back, "No it wasn't! It was for yours!"
Uther was struck dumb for a moment and that was all the time Arthur needed to swing onto the dragon's back. Merlin was carefully situated in front of him. He held on to the warlock tightly but gently enough so as not jar the wound.
He said, "I will return and then we'll have a long chat father. No more secrets this time!"
He then turned to the others and said, "I leave Camelot in your hands. Go around the lower town access the damage, help the wounded, and rally as many men as you can to calm the people. Also help out where you can in the castle too."
The Knights nodded and Gwaine said, "You take care of Merlin!"
Arthur nodded and turned to give Guinevere a weighted look to which she replied, "I hope to see both of you walk back unharmed soon..."
The Prince smiled and then said, "I think we should leave..."
The dragon stepped out of the hole in the wall carefully and flapped its wings to stay aloft. Arthur gave a final wave to everyone and then felt his stomach lurch as the dragon shot off towards the sky. This would be a bumpy ride, but Arthur ignored the ride and focused on the small movement of Merlin's chest. That was after all their only hope.
A/N: Whew! Lol got that out! Thank god! The next chapter will be a while...not that this one wasn't, but the next one might take longer for me to get out. I have my exams coming up so I need to prepare. I won't get enough time to write the next chapter. Please be patient the story is almost ending and I will get back to it as soon as I can! Please review! I hope you all liked this chapter!