Greetings! I have return from the land of limited Wi-Fi connection. I plan on making this slightly more AU now. Still don't know what pairings I'm gonna do- might be a Mergana fic though! Let me know what pairings you think I should do.
On to the Chapter!
She stared into the water, a sneer playing upon her face. Soon Camelot will be brought to her knees. Soon, she would have her revenge. She dropped the egg into her scrying font, watching as it made its swift journey to Camelot. With blood-lust smile, the high priestess watched her dark creation poison the poisoned city.
Soon Uther; soon you will have no kingdom to rule. Then Magic and her Lord and Lady shall rule again. You cannot stop what is to come.
Merlin skidded down the stairs. Arthur had given the knights an extra hard training today, claiming 'the practice was good for them'. Yeah right. He rounded the corner, walking down the hallway that his room was in. He felt something pull at the back of his mind, causing him to stop mid stride.
"Emrys... We must speak. Come to the Stone Clearing alone. We mean you no harm."
Merlin being Merlin, decided it was a good idea to persure the mysterious voice. So he found himself in a clearing with a large stone in the center; hence the name Stone Clearing. Three men melted out of the shadows, hooded in the style of druids.
"Right, well I'm here. What is it that you find so urgent to talk about at this unearthly hour?" the knight asked.
The middle man spoke. He had sandy-grey hair and tan skin. "Peace Emrys. We mearly came to offer help. I am Iseldir; this is Aglane and Quintus," he said while gesturing to the men on his left and right respectively. Well, man might have been a bit of an overstatement for Quintus. The guy looked only a few years older than Merlin with red hair and electric green eyes.
"Why did you can me Emrys?"
Aglane piped up, "For that is your name. Your name to beings of Magic at least."
"Riiiight. Okay then... What are you offering to help me?"
"There is a powerful sorrceress the wishes to destroy Camelot. You will have to speak to your Dragon for the specifics, but there is another way we can help. Quintus is a skilled healer; he has offered his services to help Camelot and you however he can," Iseldir said.
"Hmmm, yes that could work. We could pass him off as my uncle, Gaius', new apprentence. That would work well; thank you for you help."
All three druids bowed. "The peasure is all our. Good luck Emrys, Quintus," Iseldir stated berfore the older two men swept out of the clearing and melted back into the shadows.
"Right. Well come on Quintus; I'll introduce you to my uncle. Oh, and you call me Merlin around the people of Camelot. I would like to keep us both alive long enough to stop this evil woman."
Quintus gave him a tentave smile. "Works for me, Merlin. I will help in what ever way I can." Quintus grinned slightly brighter at the prospect of helping the Emrys. Oh yeah, this was definately the adventure the young druid was looking for.
Getting Gaius to harbor the druid was easier than anyone thought. Quintus was given Merlin's old room to stay in; it was nicer than his tent, that was for sure. He crashed the second he hit the bed, only to be awaken five hours later by the old physician.
"Come on Quintus. There is an illness in the lower town that needs seeing to. You can give me a hand."
"Yes sir. I told Emr-Merlin that I would do what ever I can to help, and I meant it!"
"Yes, that was very noble of you. Well come on boy; we don't have all day!"
"Er-right. Okay, just let me, you know, get dressed."
Gaius smiled kindly at the eighteen-year-old man. "Your breakfast is on the table; we leave in ten minutes."
Merlin woke up to find George patienly waiting by his table. It was heaped high with food as usual.
"George!" Merlin whined in an exasperated tone.
"Good morning to you too, sir."
Merlin groaned in response. "All right then. What's on my lengthy list of duties today?" He sat up and shuffled over to the table. While cramming food in his mouth, Merlin listened to his servant ramble on about all his appointments for the day.
"Well you have an hour before training, and then specialized sword work with Prince Arthur. After that, a noble from your lands will meet with you about your holdings-" George was abrutly cut-off when Merlim started banging his head on the wooden table.
"Uhg! I never get anytime to myself!"
George just sighed. "Come on sir, we best get you into your armor." This prompted the teen to start hitting his head again.
Quintus stood in the street with Gaius. It was dirty with the stench of death and dark magic. The sensation made the under-cover druid's skin crawl. Directly in front of them was a man lying face-down in the dirt.
"Alright, let's see what this is all about," the old man mummbled. Quintus kneed down and rolled the corpse over. It was whiter than snow with milky eyes and black veins.
"Gaius, what is this?" Quintus asked. Gods above, I hope I'm wrong about this...
After examining the dead guy, Gaius stated that it would be best if the public didn't see this. So they covered up the body and started wheeling it back to the physician's chambers.
Gwen was having a great day; her dad's forge was doing much better after Merlin getting his armor fixed there, she had fresh wild flowers, and the maid had run into Merlin and Arthur on the bridge. Arthur was still a bully, but a slightly cute one. She had even had the pleasure of meeting Gaius' new appentice, Quintus, while on her way to Morgana's chambers.
"You look happy this morning, Gwen. Could a certain raven-haired knight we are both so fond of be the cause?"
Gwen blushed. "I picked these for you; I hoped they would cheer you up. I know you haven't been sleeping well the past few nights," she stated in order to doge Morgana's question.
"That's so sweet of you. Thanks, Gwen!"
"I'll put them in water for you."
Gaius stared at the young man sitting across from him. He hadn't looked suprised when he rolled over the corpse that now occupied one of his tables. He wondered why that was...
"I've never seen anything like this before. I take it that you haven't either, have you Quintus?"
"No, I can't say that I have. However, I have read about it, and you're not gonna like it if I'm right." Quintus was saved from further explanation by a knock at the door. He went over and opened it to find the prince and Emrys staring back at him.
"You must be Gaius' new apprentice. Tell him that my father wishes to speak with him immediately," the pompus blonde demanded.
Quintus bowed his head, more to Emrys than the jerky prince. "Of couse. Thank you sire, my Lord." Having recived to proper formalities, the two nobles left for the court room. The two healers filed in shortly after.
Thet entered the throne room to find another victim dead on the floor. He glanced over to see the King talking to the old man about the illness. The red-head was more interested in watching Emrys and his prince having a glaring contest over nothing. Honestly, if these two could get along, then Quintus was a high priestess!
"The most likely cause is Sorcery!" Yup. Quintus already figured that out, and the who. He just didn't know how. How had that woman pulled it off?!
The king pulled Arthur to the side after every one had started to leave. "You must find those responsible. You and your knights will increase your presence in the lower town. I want you to double the guard as well."
"Yes, Father."
"This is the kind of magic that underminds our authority. We must stamp it out quickly; before it kills us all!"
After walking past the tenth victim of this mysterious plague, Merlin decided it was time to do something. He couldn't just stand by and watch innocent people die; it went against the Code of Camelot, and it went against his Old Knight oath. The time of waiting is over. The time of action is now!
He ambled off tworads his uncle's chambers. Merlin walked in to find both men leaned over a flask of what he assumed was stomach fluids. Gross. Quintus looked upon from his work.
"Merlin! What can we do for you this evening?"
"Well, I was wondering if we could use an alternate method to heal people. If we start healing everyone, we could spin it like you found a temporary cure until we find out what's really was causing the illness." Merlin was proud of his engeneous plan.
"Why yes, I believe that would work. However you and Quintus would only ba able to help heal those who came to me, understand?"
"Yes sir!" both teens replied at the same time.
"Good. Then I shall go inform the King I have found a 'temporary cure'. That should buy us time to find the real culprit."
"Thank you Gaius. If you hadn't said yes, I still would've healed people," stated Merlin.
"I know my boy. At least this way, no one will be accused of witchcraft."
"Well, I gotta go; Arthur has been ordered to search for the sorceror in every room. Some how, he roped me into helping. I'll see you later. Bye Quintus, good job on not dying on your first day!" Merlin strode out of the room, leaving a shocked Gaius and a smiling Quintus to study their stomach juices.
Nimueh looked into her scrying font. The bodies were lining up; soon Uther would be on his knees, beggining her to end this. In the end only the Pendragons would die. Then she would free magical people from Camelot's tyrany. Only a little longer...
Quintus and Merlin were sitting in their make-shift infirmary treating the sick with the magical pultice they had created earlier that evening. Already they had saved well over forty people from death, and were on their way to fifty. However their hearts weren't in it; they were silently fuming about Uther. Quintus couldn't stand it any more!
"Who is he to try and quarden off the Lower Town?! And after we found a cure for him! The Slayer is going to be the death of me!"
Merlin quietly addressed him, "Quintus, he will be the death of you if you don't hush up. What you just said is treason."
"Sorry Emrys, but it is the truth!"
"I know, okay?! I know. We live in fear of him every day. But right now we can't worry about that; we have a crazy lady to stop. I'm going to visit the Dragon tonight, maybe he'll have some much-needed answers."
Gwen burst into the room. Shit! Hope she didn't hear that... "Merlin! My father has the illness! H-he's too far gone; please, I can't lose him!"
"Hey Gwen, calm down. We have a temporary cure until we can rid the area of the illness," he soothed, "Tom will be fine."
Gwen sniffled and dabbed her eyes. "Thank you Merlin. I can't lose him. He's all I have."
"You won't."
Damn! She was so close to fufilling her dreams. She wished it would hurry up and happen already. There were only so many people in Camelot to kill...
Merlin practically sprinted down the stairs leading to were Kilgharrah was imprisoned. The dragon was patiently waiting for him at the bottom.
"What is it, young warlock? I do feel your emotions through our bond after all. Why are you so angry and upset?"
"There is a sickness ravaging the town. The druids told that this is the work of a high priestess, but how am I suposed to stop it and her when I don't know what it even is?!"
"Have no fear Merlin, for I know what plagues this land. Trust the elements at your command, and you can kill the avanc. One thing that will cme in handy when you face this beast is Shadow Jumping. It is like teleporting through shadows, and so much more. Historically, only the Dragons and Immortals could utilize it. However, due to the close bond between Dragons and Old Knights, said knights could also Shadow Jump."
"Can you teach me?" The raven asked eagerly.
The golden beast laughed. "Of course young warlock! It would be my pleasure. The idea is very simple: basically, you imagine any shadow as a door to another one. Then, you jump through. That is, in theory anyway. It will be slightly harder in reality, but I'm sure you will catch on quickly."
Merlin tentavely stepped towards a shadow, and stuck his hand in it. The dark area felt thick and syrupy. Following the Dragon's instuctions, the knight jumped into the shadow, only to find himself another one a few feet away. Finding this new experience cool, Merlin repeated it. Soon, he was teleporting all around the cave, his laugh echoing throughout the cavern.
"Thank you my friend. This means a lot to me. Just one more question: What is an afanc?" The dragon rolled his amber eyes before launching into a very long winded and confusing explanation of the magical beast.
Merlin was running down the hall early next morning. This castle isn't that big, where could that damn prince be hiding?! Arthur needed to help him kill the bloody monster. He rounded the bend into another corridor when he spotted Morgana.
"Merlin! I didn't exspect to see you here. Merlin, what is it?" she asked him after seeing the stress etched into his face.
Merlin sighed before telling her everything. "I figured out what is plaguing the town, but I need Arthur to help me kill it. Only problem is, I don't know where he is!"
"I think I know where Arty is. I'll go get him and then we'll meet you outside the aquaducts."
"Wait a minute, We?!"
"Yes Merlin, we. I'm helping too!"
"Fine. I know can't stop you, but PLEASE be careful."
"Always am!" Merlin rolled his eyes at her before dashing off to his room to grab his sword. Not that he would need it. The afanc must be vanquished by wind and fire, not metal.
Ten minutes later found the three nobles standing just inside the tunnel.
"You better be right about this, Merlin," Arthur huffed.
"I am, trust me for once! I think it would be best if we split up; we can cover more ground that way. Just scream like a little girl if you find anything, Arthur," Merlin said, gaining a smirk and a scowl in reply.
They did, however, split up after that. As soon as the others had left him, Merlin Shadow Jumped around trying to cover as much ground as he could. Morgana screamed, drawing the warlock to the main well. He melted out of the shadows just as Arthur went after the afanc. The over-grown mud pie knocked knocked Arthur's sword out of reach.
"Arthur!" Merlin yelled as he chucked one of the torches. He took the other one from a histerical Morgana before facing the beast with the prince. The raven muttered an incantation under his breath and both knights swung their sticks. Merlin's wind spell caused the fire to flow from its home and land on the monster. It let out a savage roar before desintigrating into a pile of ash.
Arthur laughed from the adrenelin high. "Well that was easy!"
Little did the heroes know, some one had seen what they had done. Nimueh scowled at her font.
"Merlin! GAH!" She smacked the basin angerly before storming off. Her had a murder to plan for certain thorne in her side!
Merlin sat out on the training yard, just drinking in the sights. Until Morgana and Gwen showed up.
"And what can I do for my favorite ladies?"
Both women blushed slightly. Morgana spoke up first, "We just wanted to thank you for your help. Not just with the afanc, but with everything these past two months."
"Yeah, you saved my father and furthered his business. I'm forever greatful for that!" Gwen added.
Merlin scratched his head and looked rather bashful. "Er yeah well, I was just doing my duty and fulfilling my oath as a knight." Well, that wasn't a complete lie...
"Still, thank you Merlin. You are what a knight should be. I hope you show the other men how to act. Like a certain blonde we know..." Morgana said. Her joke caused all three people to burst out laughing, and they didn't stop until Arthur came to drag Merlin to extra training.
Two days. Quintus had been in Camelot for two days and had already had an adventure. Anything can happen when you're hiding in Camelot. Especially with Emrys around! The druid couldn't wait for the next big adventure..
Nimueh held up the plant and sneered. This is just what the doctor called for!
"Merlin, you will pay for this!"
Alternate title: Attack of the Mutant Mud Pie!
Thanks for reading. Hope you like my OC! Until next week, stay fluent my Faithful Readers!