Chapter 8

(Arthur's POV)

It had been three days since Arthur had been captured and he had already been tortured brutally with Ailya's magic she was trying to force him to betray Merlin and bring him to her but he kept refusing her. Each time he told her he would not betray his brother she would torture him with her magic till he would scream and then she would give him a five minute brake.

Arthur was on his on one of his breaks from her and he already had a swollen eye and a few broken ribs. He was sitting there in the dark cave that she held him in when he heard Merlin's voice in his head saying "Hang on Arthur I am coming for you I am almost there just hang on a little longer." For the first time in the last four hours Arthur finally had hope he thought hoping Merlin could hear him "I will hold on as long I need to Merlin I won't give you over to her." Arthur had not expected a reply but he heard Merlin again saying "I'll be there in a few hours I promise I will get you out just hang on and don't give her what she wants I will be there. So don't give up hope." "I won't give up hope and I will not give her anything." Arthur knew Merlin heard him even though he did not get a response.

Just as Merlin stopped his communication Ailya came back and said "Are you ready to give me your brother?" Arthur looked at her with his one good eye saying "I will never give you my brother and he will come for me and you will regret the day that you tried to take him and every day since." Ailya smiled and said "Your brother will never defeat me he does not have the power he is powerful yes but not as powerful as me. If he comes here he will die for defying me and you will get to see it then you will die. but until then I might as well have some fun." then she started in on her next round of torture which lasted for three hours. When she finished Arthur hoped that Merlin would be here soon he did not know how much more of this he could take.

(Merlin's POV)

Merlin knew where to go now he was where he needed to be Arthur was just inside the cave now all Merlin had to do was sneak inside and his in the same room Arthur was in until Ailya showed herself and he was very good at sneaking around he had done it many times in Ealdor and he had to keep sneaking around Ailya's traps of mercenaries and other things she had set but he had managed to get around all of them without even any problems.

Merlin snuck through the caverns until he was in the same room as Arthur and there were many pillars that he could hid behind. Merlin went to the one that was closest to Arthur where he knew Arthur would hear him for he still had not seen him. Once he was hidden Merlin whispered "Arthur can you hear me?" Arthur looked over at Merlin and what Merlin saw made his jaw clench in anger, Arthur's left eye was swollen shut because of the wounds around it, his other eye was bruised, Merlin could tell by the way he was sitting was a few of his ribs were broken and that in the last three days Ailya had tortured his brother with her magic and made sure it left marks. Merlin was called from his thoughts by Arthur's voice "Merlin, your finally here. I thought I was losing my mind, I thought maybe I imagined you telling me you were coming or that Ailya was using it as a way to break me. She is going to kill you Merlin you have to leave me here I can't see you die." "Arthur don't worry she has no idea what I am capable of she only knows what I want her too. Now she will underestimate me like I want her too. I am not leaving you here and we will get home I promise. Now when she comes I want you to pretend that I am not here I will not let her hurt you anymore trust me, I will reveal myself right before she does anything, I will fight her and win then I will get you out of here. I promise you we will get home." "I trust you Merlin." Arthur said Merlin gave his brother a small reassuring smile but then he heard someone coming he turned back to Arthur and whispered "She's coming are you ready I promise you she will not hurt you." Arthur nodded and looked away as Merlin shrunk into the shadows.

Ailya stood in front of Arthur and said "I guess you were wrong your brother is not coming I guess he doesn't care about you. Will you give him to me now?" Arthur looked up at her and smiled but said nothing Ailya scowled "Well I have no more use for you now it seems your brother has abandoned you and you still won't give him up so now it is time for you to die." now Merlin stepped out saying "You will not touch him again Ailya." Merlin stood between her and Arthur hand raised a small smile forming on his lips. "So you did come only to die you are no match for me Merlin I have watched you use magic and it is weak no match for me." "That is only what I wanted you to think you know the stories of Emrys and the once and future king every magical being does I already know them. I am Emrys and Arthur is the once and future king you will not live here today Ailya and you will never hurt another living soul again." Ailya looked angry now "Atrice!" a killing spell went sailing at Merlin and Arthur but Merlin's eyes flashed gold without an incantation and a shield appeared while the shield was in was in place Merlin said "You will not win now it is my turn." Merlin caused stones from the ceiling to come crashing down on Ailya but she blocked those but that was not what Merlin was aiming for after the opening in the roof was there he called upon the power of raw lighting and a storm appeared in the sky Ailya looked up and said "That's impossible no one can do that!" Ailya looked back as Merlin who said "No one but Emrys I told you who I am Ailya I told you that you would not walk away and I told you last night that if you crossed me not one not even the gods themselves would hide you from me and that I did not break my promises. Well now you see that is true. Goodbye Ailya." Merlin brought his hand down in a swift motion causing a lightning bolt to come from the sky and land right on Ailya who cried out in pain. screaming for a few seconds before she was nothing more than a pile of ash.

Merlin sighed then he turned around and kneeled in front of Arthur examining his wounds he used magic to heal the wounds that had been made around his left eye swollen shut I healed a few of his minor cuts and bruises. But Merlin knew that he had to get Arthur out of here there were other things down here that they had to worry about and Merlin had to make sure Arthur got out then he had to find a place that they both can rest for a few days while Arthur recovered and Merlin could help heal his wounds and talk with his brother and make sure he was ok. Merlin broke Arthur's binding with his magic and said "Arthur we have to get out of here I know you are still in pain but I can't any more than I already have, there are other things down here that were kept away by here magic but now that she is dead they will swarming this place soon I have a good idea where they are right now. I will help you get out of here and once we are somewhere safe we can rest and I will help heal the rest of your wounds. You ready?" Arthur nodded and said in a bit of a raspy voice "Yeah lets go. by the way I am glad you came." Merlin smiled and as he helped Arthur to his feet putting Arthur's arm around his shoulder while putting his own arm around his wrist and waist to hold him he said "You're my brother Arthur I'll always come for you no matter how much of a prat you can be. I would gladly give my life for yours. now let's go."

Merlin and Arthur slowly made their way out of the caverns Merlin had to guide Arthur on some detours because of some of the wavren's that were going to the chamber they were in and a few other creatures that were easy to avoid for Merlin thanks to his magic being able to detect them. Soon enough Merlin had Arthur out of the caverns and on the horse he had brought.

A few hours later they had found a good place to camp and Merlin helped Arthur off the horse and onto the fallen log that was at the center of their camp. Merlin used his magic to collect wood and to kill two rabbits by. Soon after the fire was started and the rabbits were cooking Merlin sat down next to Arthur and said "I can heal the rest of your wounds if you would like then we can talk I know that your ribs are broken I have seen it a few times so I know a person holds themselves when they have broken ribs, I can tell your wrist is broken, and I can tell that you sprained your ankle on the way out. I can heal all of that for you and then we can talk cause no matter how hard you try to hide it I know that you want to talk to someone and you can talk to me and trust you know that. Now hold still." Merlin used a few different healing spells to heal Arthur's wounds and to try and relive as much pain as he could for him.

As soon as Merlin had finished doing what he could for Arthur's wounds the rabbits were done so Merlin let Arthur eat and he ate a little bit himself but he gave most of it to Arthur because he had not eaten much for three days. But soon they were done eating and they were sitting in silence staring at the fire.

"Arthur I know you need to talk so talk." Merlin said suddenly Arthur sighed and said "It's just I was afraid you were not coming then I heard your voice in my head and then I responded and you talked back again I finally had hope again after that for a while. But for the last thirty minutes before you came I started to think I had lost my mind and that she was playing me to break me, I had started to give up hope again. Then you showed up and you killed you did it you came for me even when I thought you wouldn't you still came for me. She tried to get me to hand you over to her no matter what she tried I wouldn't do it, I couldn't. She tried even using you against me she conjured an image of you it said so many things that I knew you would never say then she used her magic to hurt me breaking bones making wounds, she even tried using my own mind against me. I don't know how much more I could have taken I can a lot when it comes to things like torture and pain but some of the things she did were the worst things I have ever been through. If you had not come when you did I don't think I could have held out for more than ten more minutes if she started torturing me again. I feel like I let you down I feel like I was weak and because of that you could have paid the price and I feel horrible about it. I am so sorry Merlin this whole mess is my fault." Arthur let it all come out and Merlin just listened but then knowing what was wrong he knew what he had to do "Arthur magic can be used for worse torture than anything you have experienced but none of this is your fault. Ailya wanted me since we were born and when I told her she would never have me she took you to spite me. She thought I would not be able to find you but what she did not expect was that I could track her magic to where she took you just by going to where she had taken you finding her magic's signature and latching my magic onto it which allowed me to track her to exactly where she had taken you and I also made her underestimate me. Arthur you are not weak anyone else would have broken during the first few hours only few people can actually last as long as you did and fewer still who don't have magic. You lasted nearly four days and you don't have magic the longest I have heard of someone without magic lasting against magical torture was four hours. You did not fail me you actually helped me did you know that. With your faith that I would come for you even though all you had was my voice in your head which was me by the way, you kept going when it would have been easier just to give in. You gave me time to get to you, you also distracted her from even noticing that I was there and that I had put a shield around you so that you would not be hurt. So Arthur you are one bravest, strongest, and most loyal people I know and nothing will ever change that. I could not be more proud to call you my brother, and just know that no matter what no matter how far away you are, or what happens, or even who took you, I will always come for you and I know you would do the same for me so you are not weak, you did not fail, and this is not your fault, you did everything right, and no one not even me could have done as well you did do understand me." Arthur smiled at Merlin and said "You are selfless, loyal, idiot and I would not choose another for my brother even if I could. Thank you Merlin." Merlin smiled his trademark lopsided grin saying "anytime prat. Now let's get some rest I'll take first watch you need more rest then I do and we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow." Arthur nodded and laid down on the extra bedroll Merlin had thought to bring. Merlin smiled at his brother.

Merlin was glad that he was able to help his brother not just to get him out and kill Ailya but to be able to help him feel like he did something right instead of failing him and everyone else. Merlin knew he would need all the rest he could get before they started out tomorrow so Merlin knew that him saying that he would take first watch was just him saying that he would take all night watch so that Arthur could get the rest he needed.

Merlin called to a Raven with his magic then sent a message to his uncle so that he and his father knew that they were safe and on their way home.