Past and Present Danger

A/N: Thank you once again for the reviews! Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it, and please review!

Chapter 26

Merlin felt his legs buckle somewhat as he jumped down from Kilgharrah and had to steady himself. He hated flying. Yes, it was probably the quickest way to move about and it certainly gave him a new perspective which he enjoyed, but it wasn't comfortable. He took a few experimental steps, trying to stave of the stiffness that had entered his joints and saw Arthur and the Prince doing the same. To his relief, they had not challenged him again about coming with him to face Morgana. They must have seen the wisdom in staying away and not giving Merlin two more people to worry about on top of himself and his counterpart.

They had landed some distance from the gorge entrance in order to ensure that Morgana would not see or hear them. It was unlikely that she would, given that the majority of the gorge overhangs blocked the sky from view, but Merlin didn't want to risk it. Kilgharrah had set about shielding their magical presence, just in case Morgana picked up on it and tried to make a run for it. Surprise was their best ally at the moment and they could do with all the help they could get. Merlin wasn't looking forward to facing her if her powers had completely returned. As Arthur said, he didn't remember much about Morgana from before the past few days, but what she had done in the clearing and how powerful she had been then was not lost on him. He was just hoping he could counter her for long enough to rescue Merlin.

He had, at first, been worried that his rapidly diminishing memories would hinder him when it came to remembering spells to use against her, but Kilgharrah had reminded him that the majority of his magic was instinctual. That put Merlin at ease somewhat, but the dragon had gone one step further and imprinted some spells onto his mind through their telepathic connection. He would probably have enough to carry their plan through to completion.

He gave one final stretch of his arms and then looked back at the others.

'Are you going to make the connection?' Arthur asked.

'It would be better if we were a little closer to the gorge. The less time he has to wait to be rescued the less likely he'll be to give us away.'

'So we can come with you then?' the Prince asked.

'Only to the edge of the gorge. I'm going in on my own.'

Their scepticism showed on their faces, but neither argued.

Quickly, the three of them made their way to gorge. Kilgharrah came part way with them, but the forests in the area made it tricky for him to navigate on the ground and so he was forced to stop about half a mile from where they were heading. It made Merlin nervous to leave him so far behind them, but they couldn't risk him taking to the air to complete the journey and alerting Morgana of their presence.

At last, the forest tumbled down hill and petered out as the gorge opened up, disappearing into the earth and rocks. In the dull dawn light it was hard to make out anything, but next to the river there was a clear outcrop of rock which had not been eroded away over the years and formed a path –if an uneven one- into the darkness. The three of them peered into it for some time and then backed up a little way.

'You ready?' Arthur asked him. He nodded and quickly sat down on the floor, figuring that it would be easier for his young self if he didn't have to stay on his feet. He leant against part of the rock face and moved into a more comfortable position.

'You're only going to have a minute or so,' Merlin told them.

'We know,' Arthur nodded.

'You need to tell him the plan.'

'We know.'

'And give him-'

'Yes, Merlin,' Arthur said in a frustrated whisper, 'we know. Just hurry up.'

'Wait. I don't think he should see me,' the Prince suddenly blurted out.

'Why not?' Merlin asked.

'He's really angry with me at the moment. It might make it harder to tell him the plan.'

Merlin was relatively sure that his young self wouldn't waste time being angry, but maybe the Prince had a point.

'Fine, just hide then.' The boy nodded and darted off behind a nearby tree. 'One minute,' Merlin said, looking firmly at Arthur.

'It'll be fine,' Arthur assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

'Alright then.'

Merlin closed his eyes and uttered the spell to form the connection. He felt the unusual and slightly unpleasant sensation of being wrenched into a loud version of nothingness. For several seconds he tried to hold his breath, but then remembered what was happening to his consciousness and realised that he couldn't possibly be doing that. It was the only thing he could relate it to, however, and so he continued to mentally hold his breath until he felt himself come to a sudden and somewhat dizzying stop.

It was dark in the cave where he found himself and the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in the same place that he had been last time he swapped into his counterpart's body. He looked round quickly, determined to find some clues as to where he was in relation to the gorge entrance where his body was currently sitting, but before he could turn his head more than a few degrees he froze.

Morgana was there, in the cavern, only a few metres from him and she was talking, saying things that he was sure were directed at him. She was pacing slowly as she spoke and she only gave him occasional glances. In the dull light he doubted that she could see him properly, but if she got any closer, the chances were she would notice that her formally sickly and all-but-dead hostage was looking very much healthier.

He had factored in the possibility that Morgana could be close at hand when he made the switch and scrambled through his mind to try and remember what he had decided was the best course of action if that was the case. Primarily it was to do with hiding his face. The state of his body would be masked by the torn and filthy state of the clothing he currently wore and could smell, but if she saw his face, with colour in his cheeks, bright eyes and just a general glow of healthiness, she would know instantly that something was happening. Whether she would guess the truth, he didn't know -although he doubted it- but either way, it would spook her into moving and the success of their plan depended on his young self being in the same spot when Merlin came to rescue him a few minutes from now.

'…you're lasting longer than I thought. I'm growing impatient,' Morgana was murmuring in a silky and threatening voice. She turned to look at him, but he didn't reply. Surely by now, his counterpart had realised that rising to Morgana's comments only encouraged her on. He remained silent, pressing his lips together and trying to surreptitiously look around the room.

Judging by the height of the cavern and the small glow of light that he could see far above, he guessed that they were quite deep into the gorge. In the distance, he could just hear the whispering of the river, which suggested that they weren't along the main root of the gorge, but much further into the channels that had been cut into the rock by tributaries to the Esen River. Had it been a few hours ago, he might have remembered where those channels were, but as his memory had long since failed him, he doubted he'd be able to find his way here without some sort of magic trace to guide him. And that was going to be tricky with a witch who had her powers back only a few feet away.

His silence had evidently irritated Morgana, because suddenly she was moving forward. Merlin tucked his knees up to his chest and put his head down against them. With his free arm, the one that wasn't encased in a rope which had been fused to the rock face, he shielded the rest of his face from her and hoped that would be enough. He felt her crouch down beside him, could feel her breath on the back of his neck, making his skin crawl.

'What is it, Merlin?' she asked gently. The sincerity in her voice sent a shudder through him. A shudder which turned into a sudden jerk when he felt her hand press against his head. What was she doing? He tried to move away from her, but if he wanted his face to remain hidden then he had no choice but to stay put. He heard her whispering some words and felt the sudden flow of magic in the room. She was trying to break through the wards, he realised. He couldn't remember what all the words meant, but he got the gist of her spell all too clearly. Without alerting her to what he was doing, he used magic to examine the state of the shields. What he discovered increased his sense of urgency. She was nearly through them. He doubted she realised how close she was to obliterating them, but the confidence in the way she spoke and the precision of her spells suggested that she had some inclination.

He wanted to use his magic to reinforce them again, but he wasn't convinced he could stop her from sensing the use of magic if he was coating himself in it. On top of that, he was severely limited by what his six year old body could do when it came to magic. His young self hadn't had years of practice to build up his power. Any wards that he did put on his body at the moment wouldn't provide much more protection than a very thin layer of wood.

She was speaking again, repeating her previous question and evidently expecting an answer. Making his voice sound as croaky and hoarse as he could Merlin uttered a small and what he hoped was a terrified reply.

'I don't want to die.'

'Nobody does,' she mused, but he could hear the vicious smile in her voice. 'But you don't have a choice.' She got up and moved back a few paces. Inwardly, Merlin breathed a sigh of relief and lifted his head slightly. 'It will all be over soon,' she told him, but she wasn't looking his way anymore. Instead she headed away from him and towards the rocky path that seemed to lead out of their current cavern formation.

Merlin put his head back against the rock and took a few seconds to calm himself down and get rid of her words from his head. He needed to get back to Arthur and soon. He'd already been here several minutes longer than he'd anticipated and he was sure the King and Prince would be getting worried. He listened intently, checking that Morgana's footsteps were echoing away from him and then began the task of laying down a magical trace. With his limited magical abilities, the trace would be very weak and Merlin would have to get at least part way to this cavern before he would be able to sense it again, but the weakness of it meant that it was easy to hide from Morgana. He had to use a magical camouflage of sorts to try and get the trace to match the magical atmosphere that was around it, but with the cavern so steeped in Morgana's magic, that wouldn't be too tricky. It wouldn't be hard to hide one small trace in amongst her terrible darkness.

It took a few minutes to lay it out, partly because he had to try and remember some of the words that would be required for the spell and partly because the spell itself was quite complicated for his young body, but eventually he managed it. With that done, he took one last look around the cavern and then muttered the spell that would reverse the connection. A few seconds later, he was sitting staring into Arthur's worried face.

'Merlin?' Arthur shook his shoulder and Merlin tried to bring the world back into focus.

'Yes, it's me,' he muttered when he was shaken again. 'I'm back.'

'What took you so long? You said we had a minute.'

'Sorry. Morgana was there.'

'Did she realise what was happening?' Arthur asked urgently. Merlin shook his head and noticed the Prince emerging from where he had been hidden.

'No, I don't think so. How was Merlin?'

'Scared, but determined,' Arthur nodded. 'He's getting desperate though. You need to find him quickly. Do you know where he is?'

'Not exactly, but,' he continued hastily at the look of alarm that shot across the faces of both his companions, 'I've laid out a magical trace. I can follow that and it will lead me straight to him. Don't worry. Did you give him some food and water?'

'Yes, he had plenty. I think he'll be strong enough.'

Merlin nodded, feeling pleased by the news. This would be a lot easier if his young self could walk of his own accord. He got to his feet and glanced back at the gorge. It was time to go.

'You might as well go back and wait with Kilgharrah,' Merlin told both Arthurs.

'No,' the Prince told him firmly.

'We're waiting here Merlin,' Arthur added. 'You don't know what state either of you will be in by the time you get back. You might need our help.'

'Arthur-'

'Merlin,' Arthur told him more firmly. 'I don't know if you remember this, but I hate sitting around doing nothing. It is bad enough that your logic for going alone makes sense, do not ask me to go back and sit with the dragon while you're risking your life.' His voice had become more and more cutting with every word and Merlin got the impression that he'd been on the receiving end of that tone on more than one occasion in the past. Arthur was staring at him, his eyes wide and challenging. The Prince had come to stand beside him and had his arms folded across his chest; he was watching Merlin with an almost identical expression.

'Alright,' Merlin agreed at last.

'Good.' He nodded at Merlin and stepped back. Merlin returned the gesture and then turned towards the gorge. He had wasted enough time already. He headed towards it and then turned back.

'I'll see you both soon.' He just caught the King's nod and the Prince's whispered goodbye before he headed into the gorge.

It quickly became very dark in the gorge, but he didn't want to give away his presence to Morgana by creating a light should she, for any reason, come this way. After all, he had watched her leave the cavern she was holding his young self in; she could be anywhere. The darkness made navigating quickly quite difficult. Merlin kept his hand against the wall; it was cold and damp under his fingers, but it gave him the steadying presence that he needed in order to make his way safely through the darkness. Underfoot, the rock was quite slippery and he had to take cautious steps as he moved forwards.

As he moved deeper into the formation, he became aware of the channels that had been cut into the rock, creating tunnel-like structures off the main path of the river. Merlin kept on feeling the wall disappear, only to reappear a few moments later. This had happened several times, and Merlin was just considering creating a light source when he felt the wall disappear again. Cautiously he stepped forward, only to find there was no rock on which to put his feet. He felt himself falling forward and at the last moment pushed off the ledge with his other foot which had not yet stepped into the empty air.

It was a risky move. He had no idea how wide the gap on the walkway was. For all he knew, he was just propelling himself into nothingness, but a moment later he felt a searing pain shoot through his chest as he crashed into the other edge. The breath was knocked out of him and his eyes watered with the pain, but he managed to keep his elbows on the ledge and pull himself up. He lay on the floor for several seconds, gasping for breath, but each time he did, pain shot through his chest, making him wince. He didn't know what he had done, but it felt bad.

Realising that no light was now riskier than some illumination, he whispered the spell that would provide a small flame. Once it was lit, he looked back at the gap and realised that in that place, the tributary river had cut much deeper into the rock, creating a drop of what looked to be many metres. The fall would have killed him.

After creating a light, his progress should have been quicker, but whatever he had done to his chest was agonising. He tried to use a few spells, but they only dulled the pain, there was no healing in them. Still it gave him the clarity he needed to carry on. It was only when he had to jump over several more drops that the pain seared again temporarily.

He walked on for several more minutes and at last began to become afraid that he had missed the magical trace somewhere back in the gorge, but slowly he became aware of a familiar and warm piece of magic that was resonating somewhere nearby. He allowed himself a smile as he sensed the familiar feeling of the trace and moved forward with more confidence. It still took several minutes to reach his destination, in which time he was led off the main route of the gorge and into some of the side tunnels.

Soon, he realised that he was getting much closer. He slowed his pace and lent against the wall, listening intently for any sign of movement and reaching out with his magic to try and see if Morgana was close by. Although the area seemed thick with her magical presence, it felt to Merlin more like a left over aura. He resisted the urge to grin as he realised that she wasn't there. He would have a clear run at his young self.

Quickly he moved down the remaining tunnels and reached the cavern that he knew held his young self. He recognised the rock structure even before he entered the main area of the room. With a smile on his face, he sent the light ahead of him, enchanting it to glow brighter, and then entered.

He froze as he was met with an empty room. The few bits that had been scattered around were still there. A small table, some food supplies, but Merlin and Morgana were nowhere to be seen. Merlin felt his heart begin to hammer rapidly in his chest. He raced into the room and crouched down where his young self had been tied up. The rope was still in the wall. Had Merlin escaped? No, that was impossible. The boy was weak and frightened: no match for Morgana. But then why wasn't he here? Merlin spun around as if hoping that just looking harder would make his young self appear.

Where had they gone? Where could she have taken him? It had only been twenty minutes at most since Merlin had broken the connection. Morgana had been in no rush when he was here; she hadn't been packing up or acting strangely. She hadn't looked like she was going anywhere. And so why…?

Merlin felt a terrible iciness sweep over him. His throat constricted and his thoughts seemed to shimmer before him.

She had known.

The realisation encompassed Merlin with a terrible fear.

She had known. That was the only reason she would have moved. Somehow she had known what was going on. How, Merlin didn't know, but suddenly he felt certain that she wasn't here because she had known what their plan was. Perhaps she had spotted the difference when Merlin had switched. Perhaps his young self had inadvertently given something away, or been frightened into giving something away. Either way, Merlin was sure that all three of his companions were in danger. Surely Morgana would have guessed that Merlin would face her alone. Surely she knew it was too risky for Arthur, King of Camelot, to be around her when he had no wards on him. She had been waiting for them to split up, Merlin realised. Which meant that right now she was heading towards Arthur.

Merlin let the knowledge overwhelm him with panic for a couple of seconds and then squashed it down to help him focus on the task. Without any further delay he opened his mouth to utter the spell that would create the link to his young self, but he was stopped when an almighty blast of power suddenly ripped through the cavern he was in.

He felt himself being thrown back against the wall; hitting his head against it with such force that his eyesight spotted with colours. He felt a wave of nausea sweep through him instantly at the pain and he had to fight to push it down as the power dissipated and he was sent crashing to the floor; his ankle screamed in protest as it connected with the rock. He lay there, dazed, for several seconds, feeling incredibly dizzy, but the knowledge that Morgana was most likely heading towards Arthur and the Prince forced him to roll onto his front and push himself up into a kneeling position on very shaky legs and arms.

He was about to attempt getting to his feet when a magical burst, followed by several loud cracking sounds stole his attention. He glanced up and saw huge chunks of rock flying out of the rock face, towards the top of the gorge. He realised with horror that Morgana had infused the rocks with magic and now whatever enchantment she had cast was expelling the magic with such great force that it was causing the rocks to explode and cascade down towards him. There were points like that around the entirety of the room.

Merlin rolled onto his back again and instinctively threw his arms up in the air. No words came out of his mouth, his magic, instead, reacted to the threat he was under and the thoughts that were rushing through his head. He knew that the weight of the rocks was getting to be too much. Had he been at his full strength he might have been able to hold them back, but his head was spinning from the impact with the wall.

He lay there, powerless; helpless to get to Arthur; unable to switch with his younger self and find out where he was because he knew the boy would never be able to sustain the spell to stop the gorge collapsing on him.

Merlin felt the terrible truth settle on him. Morgana, knowing he would come, had set a trap for him.

And he had walked straight into it.

Please review