Alaia Skyhawk: And here it is, an ep I'm sure a lot of you have been waiting for. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun doing this one :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Music: N/A
"Whom History Won't Remember" Episode: N/A
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Chapter 73: Le Morte D'Arthur ~Part 1~
The moment of terror upon seeing it, the immediate desire to run. A sense of magic, cold and without emotion, embodied within a creature resembling a massive spotted wildcat with the scaled head and neck of a snake. The hunting party had turned and fled from it, he'd fallen only to be hauled back to his feet by Sir Bedevere and Arthur. But then, once they'd escaped from it, they realised that Bedevere was missing just before agonised scream of death had reached their ears.
Merlin remained uneasy, stood as he was behind Arthur in the council chambers at Camelot. The hunting party had returned with their grim news, and the description of the creature had caused Gaius to become deeply concerned as he addressed the king.
"The creature Arthur describes carries all the characteristics of the Questing Beast."
In the flickering glow of the torchlight, Arthur frowned at him.
"Surely that's a myth."
Gaius remained unmoving, completely serious in his statement.
"The old books state that the appearance of the Questing Beast, is supposed to foreshadow a time of great upheaval."
The king looked at him, a hint of warning in his tone.
"Gaius... That is an old wives' tale."
The physician went quiet, Arthur filling the following silence.
"Look, whatever it is, it's spreading panic. The people fear it will enter the city."
"Then we must kill it." Uther turned to his son, ignoring his physician. "Arthur, gather your men. You ride at dawn."
The prince nodded, Merlin directing a worried glance at his mentor before following the prince out. Only Gaius remained in the room with the king and a pair of silent guards, the old man waiting until all else had left before he addressed Uther.
"I beg you, Sire, do not dismiss this. The beast is an omen; I have seen it come before... The night your wife, Ygraine, passed away."
The king went rigid, his tone icy.
"I told you never to speak of that night again. I have conquered the Old Religion, its warnings mean nothing to me now. Arthur will destroy the beast, and we will no longer suffer at its hand."
In a swirl of his cloak he strode out of the room, Gaius bowing his head and departing also. By the time he'd returned to his chambers, Merlin was already there and checking the condition of Arthur's sword and gear ready for the morning.
The old man sighed when he saw him, knowing that whatever concerns Merlin may already have about the beast, he knew not the full threat of it. Something that had to be corrected.
"This is no ordinary beast, Merlin. Uther may not respect the Old Religion, but it is very real. To face a beast such as this, you must understand where it came from."
Merlin paused in his oiling of the sword, frowning.
"What do you mean?"
Gaius' expression was now concerned, concerned and warning.
"At the heart of the Old Religion lies the power of life and death itself. The Questing Beast carries that power... One bite, you die, and there is no cure."
The two of them stared at one another, and all of a sudden Merlin wasn't feeling as confident in his or Arthur's skills anymore. Remembering the cold and uncaring magic he'd sensed from the beast when he'd seen it.
"I'll be careful, and I'll keep Arthur safe."
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That promise remained in his mind the following morning, when he was making the final preparations to ride out with Arthur and a group of the Knights. The horses were ready, the men assembled before their prince, and Arthur walked along their line solemn and commanding.
"You've seen the foe we face. It's a creature of nightmare, but you are the best knights in the realm. We can, and we will, kill it before it harms another citizen of our kingdom." He drew his sword in salute. "For the love of Camelot!"
"For the love of Camelot!"
The knight's echoed his cry to battle, but their call was joined by another filled with terror. Morgana racing out of the castle and heading for the prince, wild and frantic with fear for him.
"Arthur!"
He turned and faced her, confused.
"Morgana, what are you doing?"
She reached him, clinging to the front of his armour as if afraid to let go.
"You cannot face this! Please, don't go!"
He took hold of her by her wrists, unaware of the suddenly deeply worried expression on his manservant's face.
"Morgana, return to your rooms."
Merlin came to his side, taking hold of her gently and pulling her away from him.
"She's probably had another bad dream, Sire. She should be taken to see Gaius."
Morgana looked back and forth between the two of the, starting to struggle as a pair of guards came down the steps at Arthur's gestured command.
"No, no! You can't go! Arthur!"
It seemed an eternity before they'd taken her far enough away that she could no longer be heard, more than a few of the observing knights seeming uneasy at what they had witnessed. But that quickly faded as Arthur made the order to ride out, leaving only Merlin with a sense of ice inside him... Morgana's dreams were prophetic, and she had seemed convinced that Arthur was going to get hurt.
He remained eerily quiet during the ride to where the Questing Beast had last been seen, following Arthur without a word while carrying his burden of unlit torches. That was his official reason for being here, to carry all that might be needed which was not a weapon wielded by one of the knights. He just wished right now he could have brought his own sword with him, but protocol would never allow it. If he found himself in a situation where he couldn't use magic without exposing he was a sorcerer, then he was quite literally defenceless.
Merlin felt his worries deepen when they found the first of the beast's tracks, only for them to be emphasised further by the audible growling and thudding through the trees up ahead. The knights advanced at Arthur's command, the trail of paw-prints and broken trees leading them to the entrance of a cave, once from which the growling could still be heard.
"Merlin, the torches."
Hearing Arthur's command, Merlin quickly unslung his bundle and planted the end of the first torch into the ground. A quick strike of flint and steel, and the oil-soaked cloth that wrapped the end of it caught light, Merlin using it to light the remainder of them and passing them out to the knights. That first torch up and followed Arthur closely, even here as a non-combatant, the only one not wearing armour and the one most likely to be killed if attack, he followed. Whether or not Arthur appreciated the implied confidence in his ability to protect him, or was even aware of it, the warlock honestly didn't know.
Inside the entrance the cave forked in several directions, a gesture from the prince sending a pair of men down each possible passage while he and his servant progressed down the last one alone. Following it, Merlin could feel the hairs on his neck standing on end, could feel the chill of that emotionless magic coming closer.
"Arthur, I think we should wait for some of the other to check their areas and catch up with us."
The prince silenced him with a sharp gesture.
"Quiet."
Merlin did go quiet, in time for them both to hear the crunch as their boots reached something other than stones on the floor, the pair of them looking down to see the cavern they'd just entered was littered with a carpet of human bones. They had barely the time to register their presence, before a hiss to their left heralded the Questing Beast emerging from the shadows.
Arthur shoved Merlin towards the exit, lashing out with his sword to drive the creature back, the warlock scrambling away in the assumption the prince would be following him. But then he heard a yell, turned to see Arthur struck and sent flying across the cavern, and the Questing Beast advancing on him.
"No! Hey! Hey, you! Over here!" His shouting, and his madly waving torch, caused the beast to turn just as it had crouched over the prince, its hiss almost deafening as it then charged towards him. Merlin wasted no time, spotting Arthur's dropped sword and lifting it into the air with his mind. "Fleoge! Bregdan anwiele gefeluc!"
The sword blazed with a blue aura, the same as had been used to slay the griffin, and the sword flung itself into the side of the beasts neck sending it shrieking and tumbling to the floor.
The creature dead, Merlin rushed past it to Arthur's side, kneeling beside him and shaking him frantically in denial. "Arthur! It didn't bite you, it didn't!." He pulled his hand away from the prince's left shoulder, seeing it coated with blood before he yelled out in desperation. "Somebody help me! Knights of Camelot! Anybody!"
Torchlight was already flickering from the passage to the exit, the knights having heard the beast's screams, and they entered the cavern to find a beast lying dead and a servant knelt over the body of an injured prince.
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The arrival back in Camelot was frantic, Merlin leading the knights who carried Arthur to Gaius' chambers and bursting through the door. He unceremoniously pushed everything from one of the tables, clearing space for the stretcher to be put down even as Gaius rushed to his side.
"What happened?" He saw the bandaged wound, and interpreted Merlin's expression. "He's been bitten."
Merlin looked guilt stricken and desperate.
"I tried to save him."
Gaius looked to the two knights present, sending them out.
"You must tell the king."
Seeing them go, Merlin leaned over the price.
"There must be something we can do."
"I wish there was."
Merlin, refusing to accept the defeat in his mentor's voice, headed for his room.
"I'll find a cure. Trust me."
He came back out with his spellbook, openly setting down on a nearby table while Gaius stared at him.
"Are you insane, the king could be here at any moment."
Merlin was in no mood to argue.
"He can't die! It is my destiny to protect him. We haven't done all the things we're meant to do."
Gaius was solemn, understanding that sentiment.
"That is the lament of all men."
"Gaius, he's my friend..."
The old man regarded his ward, nodding once.
"Then save him."
Merlin closed his eyes, bending his will upon his book and urging it to show him a spell that might help, pointing at the prince and uttering it the moment the pages stopped.
"Gestathole!" Nothing happened, and he urged the book to another page. "Thurhhaele!" Both of them waited, for a sign they had worked, Merlin coming to Arthur's side. "Maybe the spells need time to take effect."
Grimly, Gaius sighed.
"The bite of the Questing Beast is a death sentence. No magic can overturn it."
"Where is he? Where is my son?" The king burst into the room, rushing to his son's side while Merlin discretely backed up to where his book was and closed it. He then looked to his physician. "Why aren't you doing anything?"
Gaius tried to calm him.
"I'm already trying, Sire."
"Gaius will cure him, I'm sure of it."
"I will do everything in my power."
The king looked between the two of them, before turning his attention back to his son and picking him up in his arms.
"I'll bear him to his chambers."
Merlin found himself staring, because Uther was actually crying. They were the tears of man desperate and in denial, a man blaming himself for sending his son into harm's way. He glanced at Gaius when the king began to leave the room with his son, the two of them following him in his descent to the ground floor and across the courtyard in the most direct route possible to the nobles' wing. But Uther was not as strong as he'd used to be, collapsing to his knee beneath the weight of his son, and armour, and grief.
Four knights rushed to his side, some of those who had been in the hunting party. They lifted the prince from his father's grasp, carrying him into the castle, while from a window above a wide-eyed Morgana stared down at the sight in horror.
Merlin watched as Gaius and Uther followed, the determination not to give up once again rising in him. If there was anyone who could help in this situation, it was the Great Dragon.
He turned, heading into the castle and taking advantage of the chaos of Arthur's condition was generating to enter the lower levels unnoticed. The dragon was already waiting for him, like he knew the warlock would soon arrive, and given the way he was sure his magic was jolting all manner of whatever special sensed the beast might have, Merlin wasn't surprised.
Instead he simply faced him by the light of the torch he carried, bleak.
"I've failed Arthur, failed in my destiny."
The dragon tilted his head, regarding him thoughtfully.
"And yet you would not be here if that were true."
"He was bitten by the Questing Beast! He's going to die."
"Does he still breathe?"
Merlin paused, hesitant.
"Only just."
"Then there is still time to heal him."
Merlin bit his lip, his failure written in his expression.
"I've tried. I cannot save him."
The dragon's next words brought him hope.
"And that is because you do not know how to save him."
Merlin fixed his gaze on him.
"But you can tell me how?"
The dragon nodded with a small smile.
"Perhaps, but it will not be easy."
"I would do anything."
At the warlock's earnest reply, the dragon raised his brows.
"Anything?"
"Please, just tell me what I have to do!"
Merlin's half-shouted words echoed, the dragon's reply arising to follow them.
"Very well... The Questing Beast is a creature conjured by the Old Religion. You must use the same ancient magic to save the prince."
Merlin frowned.
"But Uther destroyed the Old Religion."
The dragon snorted angrily in disdain.
"The Old Religion is the magic of the earth itself. It is the essence which binds all things together. It will last long beyond the time of men."
"But how can that help me save Arthur?"
The dragon leaned closer.
"You must find those who serve it. Those who hold dominion over Life and Death. You must go to the place men called the Isle of the Blessed, where the power of the ancients can still be felt. Beyond the White Mountains, and through the Valley of the Ancient King, there you will find a lake. It is there that you will discover Arthur's salvation."
Merlin nodded in understanding, starting to smile in relief and gratitude.
"Thank you."
He turned to leave, pausing when the dragon spoke again.
"And Merlin, the young Pendragon must live... no matter what the cost."
His smile fading a little in puzzlement, Merlin nodded one more time before disappearing into the passage back up to the castle... Unaware of just what it was the dragon had meant.
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Alaia Skyhawk: Whew, 15 minutes before I have to leave for work. Speedwriting rules! Hope you guys enjoyed this. (Shoots off to get ready for work)