Disclaimer: As much as I would like to, I don't own Merlin!

I feel I should apologise for the cruel cliffhanger in the last chapter... but then where would the fun be? ;) Expect many more evil cliffhangers from me, because I love the suspense! I'm actually really enjoying this story, more so than I thought I would. So, we left Merlin in the woods...

Merlin surged back to consciousness with a sharp jerk. He scrambled to his feet, swayed, and grabbed at the tree behind him for balance. He couldn't have been unconscious for more than a few seconds: the stranger had only just begun to walk closer to him, a smirk playing about his thin lips.

"You know magic?" Merlin asked, his voice shaking slightly with the shock of what had just happened. "How? Who are you?"

"I was like you! I was once brave and pure and noble!" He spat the last word, as if it were a curse. "What is it like, Emrys, to have people worship you like a god?"

"No one worships me!" Merlin cried. "I'm barely even trusted-"

The man laughed, a short, humourless sound. "For a great wizard your Sight is sorely neglected," he snarled. Without warning, he thrust out one hand again. This time, Merlin moved quicker. As the glowing orb lit up once more, Merlin slashed his hand down through the air and then out towards his enemy.

"Sectiserum!" he roared, acting on impulse.

Fire burst from his palm and surged straight into the other man, knocking him backwards off his feet. With a rushed incantation the man waved it away, breathing hard, burns lingering on his left hand. Merlin jerked his hand upwards.

"Aervoxna!"

A sharp tongue of air whipped upwards, sending the man flying backwards through the air with an almightly blow. Merlin strode forwards as the man hit a tree and crumpled to the ground, gasping.

"I don't want to fight you," Merlin told him. "We can take this slowly, talk through whatever it is I've done that's upset you so much. This will get us nowhere."

The man looked up, his teeth bared in a savage snarl. He punched out a hand, but the light that appeared there wavered and vanished in seconds. The man swore under his breath, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Damn this body! Feeble human..."

Merlin's eyebrows leapt upwards. Exactly who - or what - was he fighting? He crouched down so as to be on the same level as the man, who was beginning to shake.

"Are you alright?"

He caught a short glimpse of golden, burning eyes before something unbelievably hard and hot slammed into him. He felt himself cast upwards into the air, felt branches snapping as he flew backwards. He hit the ground hard and rolled backwards, skidding to a halt in the dirt on his back. A startled neigh sounded from beside him - he looked up to see a merchent restraining his terrified horse with an expression of disbelief plastered over his face.

"S-Sorccerer..."

Merlin painfully rose to his feet, wincing at the sharp pain in his shoulder. He shot a panicked glance at the forest only to see his attacker stepping out of the trees, his hands balled into fists at his sides. Merlin's stomach jerked.

"Get into Camelot, quickly," he hissed to the merchent, waving him back. "Run to Arthur and tell him I have encountered some trouble."

The merchent blinked. Merlin's eyes narrowed. "Go!" he snapped.

As the merchent turned and hurried way, tugging his horse behind him, the rival warlock sent a ball of red fire spinning towards them. Merlin flung out an arm, desperation making him babble the spell in panic.

"Aguaixen!"

A small wave of sparkling water rose up, meeting the fire halfway. Both elements vanished, replaced by a billowing cloud of black smoke. The man smirked.

"Very clever, Emrys," he said. "Lets see you call up enough to deal with this!"

He spat out the fire spell, and a terrible wall of flames darted up behind Merlin. As Merlin stumbled backwards, the fire raced out on both sides, encircling the stone walls of Camelot in seconds. Merlin gazed up at the destruction in horror as screams errupted behind the flames. He put out a hand, but the flames only surged higher at his touch, refusing to die. He span around.

"Call them off!" he yelled. "Please!"

The man grinned, his head cocking to one side. Then, abruptly his smile vanished and he grabbed his head with both hands, moaning in pain. Merlin hesitated, thouroughly confused, but before he could decide what to do the man straightened up with an effort and called, "Enjoy the fireworks. My time is up." His eyes glowed and he vanished, melting into the air like the smoke billowing from the flames. Merlin turned back to the fire.

"Aguaixen!" he cried desperately, but the tiny waves of fire did next to nothing to slow the flames. Merlin tore at his hair, panicking.

"Merlin!"

He froze. A voice from the other side of the flames... he looked up. Arthur had appeared at the battlements, leaning right over to shout to him.

"Merlin, do something!"

Merlin shook his head, but the words 'I can't' died on his lips. He couldn't let them down. He had to try. Shutting his eyes tightly, he dug down deep and then lifted both hands, his fingers outstretched.

"Desconsisto! Madrix tan desconsisto!"

The fire died a little, the larger flames still snatching greedily at Camelot like the hands of the devil. Merlin could feel his legs shaking wildly, but he couldn't stop now. Come on! He punched a hand forwards.

"Madrix tan DESCONSISTO!"

The fire roared like a wounded beast, and then abruptly vanished leaving nothing but a wide, burned ring on the ground. Merlin sank to his knees, his whole body shaking, struggling to draw in breaths. The last time he had executed magic that hard was when he had killed the Griffin months ago, and it had had the same effect on him then. He placed both hands on the ground, blinking away the black dots that were rushing in on his vision. He had to stay awake. He wasn't going to faint last time, he couldn't embarrass himself like that again... It seemed like only a few seconds had passed to him, but it must have in truth been much longer when Arthur's hands suddenly came down on his shoulders. He forced his eyes open, sucking in a rattling breath. Had he closed his eyes? He was supposed to be trying to stay awake...

"Merlin! Merlin, answer me!" Arthur was shaking him.

"Stopit," Merlin mumbled. "Mm fine..."

"What happened?"

Merlin took a few more deep breaths. He felt like he was going to be sick. "The man... from... your room..."

"You saw him?"

"He's... a sorccerer..."

"Did he bring the flames?"

Merlin nodded. Arthur stayed silent for a few moments, and then tightened his grip on Merlin's shoulders.

"C'mon, lets get you to Gaius. Think you can walk?"

Merlin didn't think he could walk, but he nodded anyway. Arthur stood up, gently pulling Merlin up to his feet beside him. Merlin's knees gave way at once and he sank towards the ground again, Arthur's arm quickly wrapping around his waist to keep him upright.

"Whoa, apparently not," Arthur muttered. "Come on, fair maiden, lets go before you swoon again."

Merlin managed a small smile at Arthur's feeble joke. However, the smile quickly faded as he took in the growing crowd that had gathered around them. A crowd that had just heard every word Arthur had just said.

"Shut up," he growled.

Arthur sniggered and began to move towards the gates, pulling Merlin's arm around his shoulders to support him better. Merlin knew that it would have been easier for Arthur to simply pick him up and put him over his shoulder like a child, and was grateful that Arthur wasn't insensitive enough to do so in front of the population of Camelot. They made their way through the village, moving slowly. People stared at them shamelessly, whispering to each other, some still holding buckets of water from fruitless attempts to put out the fire. Merlin would have cared more if he hadn't felt like he was about to pass out or be sick or possibly both at the same time.

"My father's furious," Arthur murmured to him. "He thought it was you who caused the fire."

Merlin groaned. "S'all I need..."

"Don't worry... told... stop it... honestly..."

Merlin blinked hard. Arthur's voice was drifting in and out; he had missed half of the last sentence. He felt Arthur's hand tighten around his wrist.

"Merlin... hear me... Hey!"

The Prince stopped moving and tapped him lightly on the cheek. Merlin flinched, the fog in his brain rapidlly thickening despite the grip Arthur had on him.

"S'ry... m'trying," he slurred out. "Arthur, I... I can't..."

"Merlin? Come on, stay awake," Arthur urged. "We're nearly there now."

But even as he spoke, darkness was rushing in on Merlin, unstoppable, thick blackness. Merlin blinked again, trying to concentrate on something, anything... Arthur's voice echoed slightly, ghostly and weird.

"Merlin? Merlin!

Merlin!"


Gwen had been fetching water from the well in the courtyard when the flames had leapt up beyond the castle walls. By the time she had reached the main road leading to the gates however, it had abruptly vanished. People were still shouting and gasping from the sudden shock, and she heard 'the Sorccerer' mentioned many times. She made her way forwards, her heart in her mouth, but even as she did so the crowd began to part and Arthur appeared, supporting a pale, trembling Merlin. He was heading for the castle, forced to move slowly due to Merlin's obvious weakness. As Gwen pushed forwards to get to them, Arthur stopped and tapped Merlin as the other boy slumped against him. Gwen saw a feirce concern leap into his face as the Prince raised his voice.

"Merlin!"

Gwen broke free of the crowd that was hanging back to watch in awe and confusion and reached the Prince and his manservant, taking Merlin's other arm and pulling it over her shoulder. She was slightly disgusted that none of the people watching had offered to help so far.

"What happened?" she asked in a whisper, looking into Merlin's face. He was deathly pale and sweat was beading on his forehead, his eyes flickering between half-open and lightly closed.

"Its like before," Arthur replied in a low voice. "I'm bringing him to Gaius."

She nodded. "Come on, then," she said steadily, her mouth set.

Arthur shot her a grateful smile for not pressing the matter further. Together they began to move towards the castle again, able to walk quicker with Gwen's help. A young woman pointed at them, whispering behind her hand to her friend, and Gwen shot her a glare.

"I wish they would stop," she muttered to Arthur. "Its horrible."

"They're confused. They don't know whether to trust him or not. And, remember, Merlin's the most interesting thing to happen to Camelot since my father was crowned."

"Gotta st-stop... stop f-fire," Merlin mumbled, the whispered words tumbling from his lips. "Fire... Ar-Arthur, there's f-fire..."

"Its okay, Merlin, you did it," Gwen assured him smoothly. "You've stopped the fire."

"We're going to see Gaius, remember?" Arthur reminded him.

"He.... called me... Emrys..."

"Who did?"

"T-the... the man..."

Gwen frowned and looked at Arthur questioningly. He gave a small shake of his head.

"Not here."

She sighed, but didn't speak again. Merlin fell silent too, leaning heavily on Gwen's shoulder. She doubted he had any idea where he was anymore. They reached the castle at last and within a few minutes were knocking awkwardly on Gaius's door. He opened it and stopped, his eyes widening.

"What-"

"I'll explain in a second," Arthur said, glancing down the corridor where a guard was watching them curiously. "Can we just get him inside?"

Gaius stood back, gesturing to the bed near the fireplace. Arthur and Gwen made their way over to it and Gwen stepped backwards, allowing Arthur to lower Merlin carefully onto the pillows. He started to step backwards but Merlin clutched at his sleeve, his eyes still closed.

"Nuh... protect Camelot..."

Gwen hastily touched his hand and Merlin released Arthur, allowing her fingers to slip into his instead.

"Now, tell me," Gaius said, moving closer. "What's going on? I heard people shouting about a fire; they were about to evacuate the castle."

"There was a fire," Arthur said, sitting down in the chair in the corner of the room and running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what happened but when I got to the battlements Merlin was trying to put it out. I think he drained himself again - like he did with the Griffin?"

"What did he say? What spell?"

Arthur frowned, trying to remember. "Something like... mad desconsisto or... I don't know. It was something desconsisto."

Gaius nodded and moved away to study a book at his desk. As he flicked through the pages, he asked, "How did the fire come about? It wasn't Merlin?"

"No!" Gwen said at once, and then looked quickly at Arthur. "Was it? It can't have been, he wouldn't-"

"No, I don't think it was," Arthur said. "There was someone else. Merlin said he looked like the man I thought I saw in my room last night."

Gaius and Gwen looked up sharply. "Are you sure?" Gaius asked.

Arthur nodded. "I didn't see him, but Merlin did. He said that it was the same man who caused the fire. I'm just thankful Merlin could stop it before it could do any real damage."

Gaius bit his lip and then looked down at the book again. "Here," he said. "Was it 'madrix tan desconsisto?"

"Yeah, that was it," Arthur said slowly, nodding.

Gaius looked relieved. "Well, at least this one wasn't a fatal one. He just needs some rest."

Gwen let out a sigh of relief, rubbing Merlin's limp hand. "Thank goodness. I was worried that... well." She smiled. "He's going to be fine."

"What does Uther think about it?" Gaius asked quietly. "The fire? He must have blamed Merlin."

"I'll sort it out, but no, he wasn't happy," Arthur said, grimacing. "I doubt this will help much in the Uther-magic relationship."

"Hopefully the villagers will be willing to accept it wasn't him," Gwen said. "The last thing we need is a mob."

"So typical..." They all flinched at Merlin's voice and looked down at him as he opened his eyes, looking up at them with a weak smile. "All I wanted... to do... was go for... a walk."

"Trouble does seem to follow you around these days," Gaius said, smiling. "How long have you been home? A day?"

Merlin grinned, closing his eyes again. "Not my fault... what's wrong... why'm I so..."

His voice trailed off as he frowned, as if trying to identify the problem alone. Gaius reached down to touch his shoulder supportively.

"You just overextended yourself a little. I suggest you go back to sleep for a few hours."

Merlin shook his head a little. "But... there was the man... in the forest... he had orbs of light..."

Gwen looked quickly at Arthur, but the Prince shook his head at them silently and leant forwards on his chair.

"We'll talk about that later," he said. "I'll send out some guards to look for him."

Merlin seemed a little comforted at this news. Gaius gestured to Arthur for help.

"We'll move you into your room, Merlin," he said. "It'll be quieter in there."

Merlin just nodded slightly. Gwen squeezed his hand one last time and then stepped aside to let Arthur and Gaius lift Merlin gently to his feet and half-drag, half-carry him into his bedroom. They emerged a few moments later, Gaius shutting the door softly behind him.

"What did he mean by 'orbs of light?'" Gwen asked.

Gaius shook his head. "I haven't the slightest idea."

"Find out what you can," Arthur said, adopting his usual 'I-am-Prince-of-Camelot-so-what-I-say-goes' tone. "And you, Gwen, shouldn't you be with Morgana?"

Gwen looked pleadingly at Gaius, who shook his head.

"Don't worry, Gwen, I'll keep an eye on Merlin," he said. "I'll tell him to find you when he's feeling more lifelike."

She sighed and nodded reluctantly. Arthur bit his lip.

"I suppose I'd better talk to my father." He scowled and glanced at Gaius. "If anything happens... well, just tell me, alright?"

Gaius nodded. "Yes, sire."

Arthur nodded and then, with a huge effort, tore himself away and made for the door. He had duties to attend to.


I sat on a large rock, listening to the faltering beats of the boy's heart. I had almost failed in the forest with Emrys; this stupid body had almost given in under the strain from the magic. But at least the so-called 'Sorccerer' would have to explain to the king why Camelot was burning. I smiled. Those foolish mortals would not trust Emrys now, not if they believed he was evil. After all his companions all his 'friends' turned against him, then I would strike. Then I would bring him down, when he was completely alone... and he would be alone, I would make sure of that. With no one to hold his hand, Emrys would crumble like sand beteen my fingers. I felt the body I was using shake, and then let out a harsh cough. I ignored it. I would only need it for a few more weeks, and I didn't much care what happened to this boy anyway. He was just a tool. I pushed his jet black hair back, cocking my head as I watched the sky.

At nightfall, I would return.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Its much longer than usual - with a little luck you didn't all get bored and drift off halfway through! Please REVIEW! I only update if I get reviews!

SUPRNTRAL LVR.