Past and Present Danger

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Hope you like this chapter and please let me know what you think.

Chapter 14

It took Arthur several seconds to work out how to speak again after his younger self crashed into him. The shock of seeing the boy there and in such a state had taken him so much by surprise that for a moment all he could do was try and remember whether he'd taken the boy along with him in the first place. When he regained his senses enough to realise how absurd the idea was, his powers of speech seemed to reassert themselves.

'What the hell are you doing here?' he all but shouted, resisting the urge to shake the answer out of the boy. It wasn't the most eloquent way of getting his point across and it didn't seem to help the young Prince who jumped at the sound and then attempted to back away, before changing his mind and instead twisting against Arthur's grip in a panic, trying to see what was behind him. Or check he wasn't being followed, Arthur reasoned.

He looked at Merlin who seemed equally perplexed by the boy's presence, but who had also seen his glance back down the passage. Gently, Arthur pushed the Prince towards Merlin.

'Stay with Merlin,' he ordered in a quiet voice. The boy looked terrified at the prospect, but was so overwhelmed by whatever was going on that he allowed himself to be steered towards the sorcerer.

Quietly, Arthur unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of him, before pressing himself against the wall of the tunnel and making his way to the turn that was a few metres away. Cautiously he peered around the edge, but the passage, which ran in all but a straight line for a long distance, was devoid of any living creature, human or otherwise. He scoured the walls on each side to see if there were any alcoves or outcrops which could conceal an attacker, but there were none.

He glanced back at Prince Arthur. Aside from the fact that he was no longer breathing quite so heavily, there was no change in his countenance; the same fear and agitation still resonated from his small frame. What most concerned Arthur, however, were the tears that were running down the boy's face. Arthur could count the times he had cried as a child on one hand. In fact he had cried more in the last six or seven years than he had done in the whole of his life before that; something which he attributed entirely to Merlin's sensitive influence on him. But even before then, any tears had been to do with injuries, the fact that it just hurt. Looking at the boy, though, he didn't seem to be suffering from any physical pain.

Arthur strode back over to him.

'Are you hurt?' he asked. The boy shook his head and gratefully moved away from Merlin, but to Arthur's surprise he then backed away from both of them. Slowly, like someone approaching a wild animal, Arthur crept forward while Merlin moved away; his presence had always set the boy on edge – an interesting turnaround really; normally children loved Merlin but kept a healthy distance from Arthur.

Eventually he came to a stand still in front of Prince Arthur and then knelt down so that they were at eye level.

'How did you get here?'

'I followed you,' he whispered; all the bravado that had marked his tone over the last few days was gone. He sounded more like the child that Arthur knew he had been: unsure, wanting to please, happy to be protected when he needed it.

'How?'

'I stole a horse last night and then followed your tracks.'

Arthur tried not to let on how he impressed he was by the boy's stealth and determination.

'And why are you frightened?' Arthur expected him to deny that he was frightened and start spouting his usual rubbish that he was a prince and therefore didn't get frightened by anything, but he didn't.

'Because I saw Morgana,' he replied, his voice catching as fresh tears rolled down his face. Arthur felt his heart sink at the news.

'Did she see you?' Merlin asked gently. The Prince refused to look at Merlin as he answered.

'Yes, but then I ran and got away.'

Merlin suddenly moved closer, crouching down beside Arthur. The Prince closed his eyes at the sudden move, almost like he was expecting a blow. Arthur frowned; Merlin had done nothing to hurt the boy, other than his pride, over the past few days and the Prince had never shown such expectation of attack as he did now. He normally treated Merlin with a cautious disdain, but he had never seemed this frightened of him. Merlin seemed to realise the effect he was having and shuffled back a little bit.

'Was Merlin with you?' he asked once he was a few paces back from the boy; his tone anxious now. The Prince closed his eyes more tightly.

'No,' he breathed out after a few seconds, before more tears trickled down his cheeks. 'He didn't see me go,' he added. The traumas of the day seemed to catch up with him at that moment and he staggered on his feet, sliding down the wall and remaining quite still. It was only then that Arthur realised how pale the boy looked. He didn't look like he'd slept or eaten since he left. Quickly Arthur found some food and water in his pack and offered them to the Prince. He snatched them up so quickly that Arthur was convinced his earlier guess had been correct.

Leaving the boy to it, he grabbed Merlin's arm and pulled him to one side. They conversed in low voices.

'What does this mean now? Does it matter if she knows about them?' Arthur asked urgently.

'I think she'll try and get them,' he replied. His hand was rubbing the back of his head and Arthur recognised the gesture in Merlin easily. It was one that he had seen hundreds of times when things looked bad. He really did wear his heart on his sleeve and sometimes Arthur wished he would be a bit more stoic; when Arthur saw Merlin panicking, it tended to make him panic. 'We need to keep them safe. They need guards on them at all times and I'm going to reinforce their wards even more.'

'What about getting them back to the past though? Will the pendant still work?'

'As soon as I've worked out what she did I'll be able to send them back, I just don't know how long it'll take and if Morgana regains her powers she'll just attack Camelot to try and get them.'

Arthur glanced around as he tried to work out the best way of fortifying Camelot against Morgana's rage. In the past, Merlin had always played a big hand, but they couldn't afford to let him get distracted. They couldn't afford to let either of the boys get captured either, he reasoned.

'What happens if she does get them?'

Merlin just shook his head. 'We can't let her.'

'But what happens?'

He looked at Arthur for several seconds.

'If she gets them, then we don't survive. I don't even know if Camelot will survive. If she kills Prince Arthur then there won't be anyone to take over the throne. The land will be at war.'

'And if she kills Merlin?'

'I saved your life a lot of times Arthur,' he said slowly. 'If I die…'

'Then so do I,' Arthur finished for him.

'Perhaps. Maybe history will just take me out and rewrite the rest of it so you're still here, but I don't know.' He looked at Arthur and gave a sad smile. 'Two sides of one coin,' he pointed out. Arthur felt the poignancy of the words like a strike to his heart. Merlin had first told Arthur about the dragon's metaphor fully expecting the King to laugh at it with derision, but in fact, the words had resonated so deeply inside him that he had been shocked that he had never come up with the analogy himself. For whatever reason, he and Merlin were bound together; Arthur knew it completely and utterly. He had a feeling that if either of their young selves died, neither he nor Merlin would live to realise it.

'We have to get Prince Arthur back to Camelot,' Merlin told him. 'And I need to start working on this pendant. She'll realise it's gone before too long and she'll attack as soon as she can.'

They turned back to the Prince to find that he had fallen asleep. Arthur hurriedly picked him up and then he and Merlin made their way back to the entrance of the Pass, running down the passageways like their lives depended on it.

'Do you like keeping us in suspense?' were the first words that Arthur heard as he, Merlin and the Prince arrived at the entrance of the Pass of the Old Kingdom. He was glad to see that the knights had all made it to the Pass entrance unharmed. Evidently Morgana had not seen them. He could understand Gwaine's words though as he suddenly noticed how dark the sky was. He'd told everybody to be back here by dusk and in the end he'd been the one to turn up late. He gave Gwaine a reassuring smile, but the knight's face had twisted into a frown at the sight of the Prince. Sir Leon stepped forward looking equally confused.

'Sire, how…?' he began, but Arthur just shook his head.

'I don't know. He says he followed us. And he ran into Morgana in the Pass.'

'Morgana knows about them?' Elyan asked.

'Well, she knows about Arthur,' Arthur replied.

'She'll have worked out that there's a young version of me in Camelot as well,' Merlin told him. 'Or she'll assume anyway.'

'We need to get Prince Arthur back to Camelot as fast as possible and then protect him and Merlin,' Arthur added. Arthur shifted the dead weight of his young self in his arms, trying to find a more comfortable position, but a moment later Percival detached himself from the group and strode over to Arthur, his hands outstretched towards the Prince.

'I'll take him.'

'Thank you Percival,' Arthur nodded, revelling in the way his arms seemed to rise of their own accord at the sudden loss of pressure.

'I'm not one to be cautious,' Gwaine murmured, his attention directed at the mountain ledge which had been their path here, 'but I don't think trying to get back down the mountain when it's this dark is a good idea. We might as well just throw ourselves down the slope. It'll save the waiting.'

Arthur felt like rolling his eyes at the flippancy in Gwaine's voice, but the man had a point. The sky was darkening from a dull grey to a black and they risked plunging to their deaths if they tried to make their way back along the ledge; it had been difficult enough in daylight.

'Perhaps we could set up camp here,' Leon suggested.

'Leave at first light,' Elyan added.

'No,' Arthur told them. 'We can't stay so close to Morgana. She will be after Arthur and we can't risk her taking him.'

'Sire, the ledge will be impossible to traverse in the dark.'

Arthur knew that was true. But he also knew that they could create their own source of light.

'Merlin,' he asked, turning to where his friend stood just behind him. He frowned to see the man swaying slightly on his feet. Arthur walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. 'Are you alright?'

'I just…' He closed his eyes tightly and then shook his head.

'Merlin?'

'No, I'm fine. I just…I felt strange…tired somehow. I don't know.'

Arthur fixed him with a questioning stare. It was usual for Merlin to get more tired than the knights, he just didn't have the same stamina as them, despite Arthur dragging him around Albion for the last few years, but it was unusual for him to be so ineloquent with it. Merlin could come up with a witty remark or a sarcastic insult when he was at death's door, let alone when he was a little tired.

'Merlin?'

'I'm fine,' he replied, more firmly this time. He seemed to have come out of whatever momentary lapse had seized him. He looked at Arthur and nodded. 'What do you want me to do?'

'We need light,' Arthur told him. That was all it took. Merlin grinned and muttered a few words. Instantly the area around them glowed as if it was day time. There was no distinguishable source of light, instead it seemed to emerge from the air around them, but it would make travelling on the ledge as easy as was possible on that sort of terrain. He nodded his thanks to Merlin and then looked to his knights. They were ready as soon as he gave the order. He did so quickly and within minutes they were making their way back to Camelot.

When Arthur woke up, he was somewhat confused at what was happening. It felt like he was being carried, but he was never carried. Arthur couldn't remember the last time he had been picked up by anyone, not like this. Not being carried like he was a stupid baby. The other thing that confused him was the light filtering through his eyelids. It seemed to be bright daylight and yet he didn't feel like he'd been asleep the whole night.

Cautiously he opened his eyes and looked around, only to let out a yell as he noticed a plummeting abyss below him. He struggled to get away from the grip of whoever was carrying him, but it was like trying to escape from a vice.

'Hey, kid, calm down.'

Arthur looked around to see one of the knights –the one with long brown hair- looking at him with a pointed expression.

'Where am I?' he asked, but as he looked around and saw the knights, King Arthur and Merlin, he realised where he was. They were all staring at him and it made him feel very uncomfortable.

'You're in the Caleron mountains,' the King said. He was standing next to the first knight that had spoken and Merlin was in front of him, leading the party.

Merlin. Memories of what had happened in the pass suddenly filled Arthur and he remembered seeing Merlin's face as he was held by Morgana; the pleading in his eyes, the desperation. The expectation of help that was written across his features; help that Arthur had never given. A terrible, overwhelming sense of guilt filled him as he saw the concern with which the older Merlin now looked at him. If they knew what he'd done… If the knew that he'd lied, that he'd let Morgana take Merlin.

Panic gripped him. They would find out. They would know what he had done. What would happen then? He struggled again, trying to get pout of the big knight's arm. Carefully the man set him down.

'Do you remember what happened?' the King was asking him.

'Of course I do,' he snapped, pressing himself against the wall of the mountain and settling his feet more securely on the ledge. A silence descended on the group at his words and he wished he'd said it more gently, but it was too late now.

'Are you alright to walk?' the King asked.

'Yes.'

'Be careful then. Merlin's provided some light for us, but it's still treacherous.'

Arthur didn't reply, just nodded at what was said, avoiding looking at Merlin again. Instead he fixed his attention on the light around him, puzzled at what the King had meant, but it soon became clear. It was night; that much was clear to see. He could just make out the moon beyond the strange bubble of light that surrounded the group. How could he do that? How could he make light? He risked a glance at the man, but was shocked into terrible remembrance when he saw the sorcerer looking at him. Did he suspect? Had he used magic to read Arthur's mind. But far from condemning him and using magic to throw him from the cliff, the man instead smiled at him. Arthur hated him all the more for it. Why couldn't he just show his true colours? Why did he have to pretend to be so genuine and so kind and so caring? Because he wasn't; that much Arthur knew. Merlin wasn't a kind person; that was obvious.

How is it obvious? A voice in his head asked. He brushed it away. Merlin had to be evil; he just had to be.

Arthur shook all thoughts from his mind as the group carried on in silence. The ledge wasn't at its thinnest here, but it was narrow enough that Arthur had an excuse to keep his eyes fixed firmly on the ground rather than on Merlin or the strange light that was undoubtedly keeping them from slipping to their deaths. He could sense that the others kept on looking at him, but he ignored them. They didn't know what had happened; they couldn't say anything.

He needed to make sure that no-one found out, even when they got back. If they realised what had happened to Merlin then they would hate Arthur; they would lock him up, even though he was only trying to keep them all safe from Merlin's evil influence. Yes, that was it. He was protecting them all. He blocked out the images of Merlin that rose to his mind; the boy refusing to be left behind at the stables; keeping pace with Arthur throughout their journey; running back towards Morgana and knocking her flying to allow Arthur a chance to escape.

No, Arthur chided himself, throwing a blackness over the revelations. He couldn't think about them; he couldn't let them fully take root in his mind and he didn't want to think about the reason why.

They continued like that for an hour or so more, with nothing breaking the monotony of their surroundings or the eerie silence that they travelled in. Arthur could see that the knights were beginning to get tired, but he felt refreshed after his few hours sleep and was able to keep pace with them easily. The knight that had been carrying him –Percival, he had found out- often nodded at him to check that he was alright and Arthur found himself liking the huge man who seemed to say very little, but pay attention to everything.

It was after one such instance of Percival checking up on him that Arthur noticed the light around them beginning to dull slightly. At first he thought that it was dawn once again and Merlin had decided to stop the spell, but he quickly threw that idea aside; they had only been travelling for a few hours. The subtle difference in the light seemed to have caught the attention of the others as well because they all stopped on the ledge –which at this point was very narrow- and glanced up the line. Arthur followed their gaze and felt panic grip him at what he saw.

Up ahead, Merlin, who was several metres in front of the King, had stopped and was swaying dangerously on the cliff edge. His back was against the rock wall, but his knees seemed to be struggling to hold his weight and he kept on pitching forward slightly before righting himself. And all the while the light around them was fading.

'Merlin?' the King called questioningly, but there was an unmistakable trace of fear in the man's voice. He edged his way along the cliff much more quickly than was safe in an attempt to reach Merlin, but they were still several paces apart. Arthur felt Percival's hand on his shoulder, pressing him back against the wall even as Arthur tried desperately to keep the two leaders of the group in view. The curve of the mountain meant that it was just about possible, but far from reassuring Arthur, the scene he viewed only disturbed him further.

The light was very dim now, like the world just as the last vestiges of a sunset are about to disappear behind the horizon, but he could still see everything with a strange clarity: the King trying to get to Merlin; Merlin swaying once again, much more dangerously now.

'Merlin!' the King called again and at the desperate sound of his voice, Merlin managed to shift his gaze and look at his friend. Arthur felt a cold hand twist around his heart as he saw the expression on the man's face, because he had seen it on a much younger face only hours ago. Here was Merlin, twenty years later, looking at the King and asking for help; asking the King to save his life. Arthur had refused to do so for young Merlin, he had walked away; but his older counterpart did no such thing.

The last thing Arthur saw as the light completely faded was the King throwing himself forward, a hand outstretched to grab his friend, and Merlin finally loosing his balance on the ledge and falling down towards the abyss.

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