Gold

Chapter Seven

Next morning, nearing midday, the five men rode on horseback out of the forest and out on to a large clearing with ruins where once a great building had stood.

Merlin had been allowed to sleep by the Queen again, but she was still there, and this time, unlike his other dreams of her, he had seen images this time of a rock face with a tree struggling to grow out of a crack where a seed had long ago been dropped by a bird, and he heard the words of the Old |Religion flowing so gently through his mind.

They were standing in the sunlight, but the ruins were in the shade of a vast cliff forming the side of a mountain which would have offered protection on two sides of the ruins, so enormous were the mountains.

The ruins themselves were of a yellowish stone, standing in vast contract against the grey of the mountains. What stood was covered in mosses and creeping plants with little purple flowers on that filled all of the crevices and niches. If the ruins were anything to go by, then the building that had stood here would have been about the same size as the city of Camelot with one grand entrance, and it's passages and rooms inside were both maze-like and numerous. The ruins weren't entirely at ground level- there were pillars and archways, walls and roads and towers. Anything that might have been a roof was mostly missing, but generally speaking, it was large enough to get lost in with many dark corners.

And no doubt dungeons, Arthur thought to himself, thinking of all the such places in which his knights could get lost in. Although if he had to be honest with himself, he could trust his knights to look after himself. It was Merlin he was more worried about.

"Is this the place?" Elyan asked.

"I... think so," Arthur said, looking around hesitantly.

"Well let's have a look, shall we?" Gwaine said, nudging his horse ahead to go closer and examine the surroundings. Leon went to the left, and Elyan took the right.

"Don't wander too far," Arthur cautioned them, "we don't know who else might be here."

Naturally, Merlin stayed at Arthur's side as went forwards, through the ruined archway of what might have been the main entrance at one point. Arthur dismounted from Sigral with Merlin following suit. Merlin took Sigral and Peronell and tied them to a nearby tree which was growing through the base of a tumbledown wall and then jogged back to his master.

Arthur was brushing his hand against the stone, marvelling at the artistry hidden underneath nature's reclamation. He looked up at the pillar he was next to and pointed to it, knowing that Merlin was looking. "Look at the carving on this stone," he said quietly. Merlin looked, and despite the weathering from being exposed to the elements, it was still a beautiful spiral woven from base to the top, several metres above their heads. The more they went inside the ruins, the more they realised that every single piece of stone had been loved by the master stonemason who had done the work here- everything was unique in it's design, and everything had a design. No piece of stone, no matter how inconsequential, had been left out. And that was the same throughout the entire city, as Arthur thought of it now. Even what he would have considered the living area for the peasants and the servants was constructed in adoration for the aesthetic.

Arthur suddenly whirled, his hand instantly going for his sword which was still in it's sheath. He relaxed when he saw that it was Elyan, also having dismounted, and was now walking through a corridor somewhere to Arthur's right. He lost sight of him as Elyan continued walking through the dim corridor and past a wall that hid him from Arthur's sight.

Remembering that they were here because of grave-robbers, Arthur unsheathed Excalibur anyway and cautiously walked through the ruins, going deeper and deeper into the gloom with Merlin in tow. The city really was enormous, and though they went through corridors and rooms galore, Arthur was sure that they had barely touched the surface of this place.

The two of them came to a courtyard that had clearly once been a private garden, but before they entered into it, they heard voices, and these weren't the gentle tones of Leon, the respectful tone of Elyan, or the brash but joking voice of Gwaine. These were definitely strangers, and course-sounding men at that.

Arthur ducked behind the archway that led into the courtyard, shoving Merlin less than gently into the wall behind him.

He knew his knights were close by as he'd seen them from time-to-time in the few hours that they'd been roaming the city ruins. He saw Leon ahead of him on a doorway mirroring his on the other side of the courtyard. He gestured subtly to get his attention, and it worked. Leon acknowledged his King. Arthur made a series of gestures which Leon clearly understood but even after all these years was still gobbledegook to Merlin. Leon turned to someone that Arthur couldn't see and repeated the gestures, so Arthur knew at least one other knight was there too.

"What's going on?" Gwaine's voice in Arthur's ear behind him nearly made him jump a mile. It certainly made him whirl silently and grab the front of Gwaine's armour before he realised who it was. Arthur gave him a look that would have killed, if looks could, before he let Gwaine go and filled him in quickly and silently. Gwaine nodded his understanding and moved to another doorway to Arthur's right to try and outflank the men in the courtyard.

Arthur risked a quick look out and saw that there were six or seven men, all about his size, although there was one that could certainly have given Percival a run for his money. As Arthur listened to their talk, he was sure though, that this giant, unlike Percival, had no brains as well as brawn. Just brawn, as Arthur looked him up and down, trying to size him up. He was closest to where Gwaine now was hidden. He hoped that the knight with the sometimes underhand tactics could take down a man of that size.

The knights were waiting for Arthur's go-ahead before they moved, and Arthur took that moment to listen to what the men were saying. He wanted to make absolute sure that they were about to attack grave-robbers, as opposed to some normal people minding their own business but setting up a camp for the night perhaps.

"So where is this 'ere grave then?" One of them said, which pretty much cleared it up for Arthur.

"Dunno," another said, "but this 'ere garden is right in the middle of the place, and this is a well." he gestured to a fountain with a well around it in the middle of the garden that they were standing next to. It still flowed water which meant that either the reservoir was vast indeed and was topped up with water from the mountains naturally, or it was a natural spring underground.

"So?" the first man said again, clearly not quite as up-to-speed as the man he spoke to.

"So, water doesn't just appear- it 'as to come from somewhere. And this ain't no river. It's a well in the middle of a dry garden. T'ain't no other way to feed it than from underground, and it's gotta come from down there," he pointed to the floor. "Ya gotta be able to keep an eye on a city's water supply, so there oughtta be a way to get down there and check on it."

The first man's shoulders slouched. "Oh come on Ulric- we've been lookin' for a week now and we ain't found no door nowhere. 'Ow are we gonna get down there?" he complained.

Ulric, who seemed to be the leader of the band, smacked the complaining man around the head, but not gently. "We ain't gonna find it, and it won't matter if we did- it's got magic on it and all, so we can't get in there. We are just gonna have ta bust our way in. That's why Rulf's with us," he looked at the giant of a man who was busy examining something he'd just picked from his nose. "I didn't bring 'im along for 'is witty conversation. Give 'im a sledgehammer and 'e can bash 'is way through anything- including a fountain," he said. "Where is it?" he asked the other man whose name hadn't yet been revealed.

"Where's what?" the man asked.

"The sledgehammer!" Ulric demanded, hitting the man around the head again, causing bruising this time.

"Sorry boss," the man said, cringing away from Ulric. "It's over there-" he gestured towards Arthur's corner of the garden where Arthur now realised were several sacks of equipment and provisions for several men on a journey. Arthur braced as the man jogged over to the sacks and picked up the sledgehammer. He really didn't want that giant to have anymore weapons than he already had with his fists.

He crouched down low, ready to spring, and just as the man got to the sacks, Arthur jumped out with a yell, grabbing him from behind. Leon and Elyan from the other side of the courtyard went for Ulric and the other men, leaving Gwaine with Rulf the giant.

The man that Arthur had a hold of flopped in his arms, leaving Arthur briefly perplexed, but as the man didn't seem to be trying to attack other by some underhand method, Arthur didn't run him through. "Merlin!" he ordered, not bothering to look around. Sure enough, Merlin was there in barely a second.

"Sire?"

"Bind this man- there are ropes there," Arthur said, gesturing to the sacks they were next to, and then he left Merlin to deal with it, running off to help the others.

Merlin could hear the clashes of swords and the shouts of combined war cries and pain of blows. He could also hear Rulf bellowing in a deep rumbling voice.

"What's your name?" Merlin asked the man holding his hands high until his hands were tied behind him.

The man looked a little confused at the question, but he answered readily enough. "Phipp," he said, falling silent and looking behind Merlin at the battle. Merlin himself was distracted by it as well, keeping an eye on Arthur as he bound the Phipp's feet.

He bounded over to the battle where Ulric had been mortally wounded by Leon and Gwaine and Arthur combined were wrestling with Rulf. Gwaine had lost his sword to the strong backhand of the giant, and so he'd jumped on to Rulf's back when he'd been distracted by Arthur and proceeded to bite his ear, grimacing at the vile taste in his mouth as he did so. Rulf's great hands went wild, trying to slap Gwaine off his back and pounding at the knight with bone-crunching blows. He couldn't quite reach well enough to really damage Gwaine, but Merlin could see that there would be need for arnica later on to combat the bruising. Arthur was too busy with Rulf to notice the thief coming at him brandishing an axe from behind.

"ARTHUR!" Merlin yelled out at him, and then muttered a quick spell beneath him breath to make the thief trip over a flagstone. Arthur heard the trip and turned away from Rulf as a thief came at him from behind. Elyan, seeing the danger that Arthur was in from Rulf, now behind the King, lunged forwards and shallowly stabbed Rulf in his side. The giant of a man screamed in pain and flung wide his arms, catching Elyan directly in the chest, flinging him against a solid stone wall, his body sliding to rest at the bottom of the wall, and his eyes sliding shut.

Having dealt with the thief, Arthur turned back to Rulf in time to see Elyan being thrown as if he were a rag doll and he also saw that Rulf's chest was wide open from the move. Gwaine took that moment to poke his fingers into the giant's eyes, so Arthur took the opportunity to deal a fatal blow by stabbing Rulf straight through the heart. Gwaine jumped and rolled off the giant as he fell on to his back, stone dead.

Merlin had by this point run over to Elyan.

"Elyan- Elyan, can you hear me?!"

He skidded to a stop next to him and knelt down, his hands immediately out to probe the back of the man's head. Merlin was relieved to hear Elyan groan in pain.

There was a small amount of blood. Merlin stole a quick look back at the battle to check on Arthur, and seeing that it was dying down now that Ulric and Rulf had been dealt with, he turned back to Elyan and cleaned his head wound which wasn't too bad. Merlin retrieved some bandages from inside his bag which he kept with him and bound the wound. He prised open Elyan's eyelids to check on him.

"How is he?" Arthur said from behind, coming up to him.

Merlin looked around. Leon and Gwaine were tying up the last of the thieves who were still alive. "He has a concussion, but I think he'll be fine." Merlin looked at his work- Elyan's eyes were already fluttering open. "He should see Gauis when we get back," he said.

Arthur clapped him on the shoulder making Merlin's lips crease into an appreciative smile. Arthur might tease him mercilessly, but when it mattered- really mattered- Arthur was there, being the King Merlin had always known he would be. And friend, Merlin added to himself.

Arthur went to speak to Leon, their voices low, and Gwaine jogged over to Merlin to help him with Elyan.

"How's he doing, Merlin mate"?

"He'll be fine," Merlin told him. "Could you help me stand him up please?"

Gwaine leaned forwards towards Elyan, who had woken up and was blinking furiously. Gwaine put his hand on Elyan's shoulder to provide support. "You alright there?" he asked him.

"Fine," Elyan whispered, his forehead creasing as he felt the pounding of a nasty headache coming upon him. "Help me up," he told them.

They each grabbed him under an arm and pulled him to his feet, steadying him as he stood. He was a little dizzy, but, with a little help from his friends, he was able to walk over to where Arthur and Leon were speaking. They caught the tail-end of the conversation.

"Sire!" Leon protested in a whisper, not wanting the thieves to hear. "We can't leave you here by yourselves!"

Arthur's lips twitched in amusement. "I won't be alone- Merlin will be here with me."

Leon looked at Merlin, his eyes kindly, but doubtful.

"Don't worry Leon," Arthur said, pushing him gently towards his Hafaleil. "You have all the bandits, and you definitely need the three of you to keep them in line. Take them back to Camelot for the dungeons. They will stand trial for the grief, thefts, and vandalism they have caused."

Leon had to concede to that. The giant might be gone, but there were still enough men for three pairs of eyes- and three swords- to be needed. "And once you're back, make sure Elyan gets to see Gauis straightaway."

"Yes Sire," Leon said, obeying his King.

"We'll catch you up once we've checked through the ruins," Arthur reassured his chief knight.

The three thieves that were left- Phipp included- had their hands tied behind them and their feet left free so they could walk, and they were then tied to each other by a short length of rope. Leon pulled them from the front, and Gwaine and Elyan stayed behind the train to keep an eye on any stunt the men might pull. They took the sacks the thieves had with them, and all too soon, the sound of the voices and footsteps disappeared.

Arthur turned to look at the devastation left by the battle and with a frown, he turned away from it. "What are we doing?" Merlin asked him.

"We are going to make sure this sort of thing never happens again," Arthur told him, looking around.

"What does that mean?" Merlin looked at him quizzically and not a little suspiciously.

"It means, Merlin, that we are going to find this tomb. Those thieves had far too much knowledge and were far too sure of themselves for it to be merely a coincidence."

Merlin thought back to his last dream with the images of the rockface and looked around, trying to think of a way to direct Arthur towards a rockface without raising the King's suspicions.

Arthur was busy looking around the fountain in the middle of the courtyard garden that the thieves had been so interested in earlier. The depths of the well gave nothing away, but he did dip his cupped hand into the water to take a sip. It was beautifully clear and cool and it refreshed Arthur wonderfully in the warm day.

"Didn't everyone say that the tomb would be located in a rockface or something like that?" He said, still looking around.

Arthur rolled his eyes, not even trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice. "Yes, Merlin, but they also said 'ruins'." He threw his arms out to the side and turned in a slow circle to prove his point to Merlin, his eyes glaring at his manservant. Merlin merely gave him an unimpressed look back.

"Obviously, we're in ruins Arthur," he said, not in any way sounding respectful towards his King. "But there are vast ruins, but only a few actual rockfaces. Maybe we should start at those so we can rule them out at least."

Arthur's hands clapped down to his sides and he huffed, not wanting to admit that maybe- just maybe- Merlin had a point.

Merlin was of course helped by the Queen, who was getting stronger and stronger in his mind to the extent that he was sure he could now see her in broad daylight. As he looked at Arthur, he could see a ghostly figure of a woman standing in an archway beckoning him towards her.

"Let's go this way!" Merlin said happily, starting to walk in that direction and leaving Arthur with very little choice but to follow him.

Arthur caught up to Merlin and yanked him around by the shoulder. "I think you'll find," he said, annunciating each word with biting accuracy, "that it's the servant who follows the king, not the other way around Merlin."

Merlin grinned at him. "Whatever you say Arthur,"

Arthur huffed again, but went in the direction that Merlin had started off in anyway. He kept Excalibur unsheathed, but it was a fairly loose hold, seeing as they had dealt with the thieves and Phipp had said that there weren't any others around. Of course, he still had his sword out because there was only so far you could take the word of a thief who had been caught.

It took them another long while to get through the rest of the ruins to the mountainside rockface and the sun was starting to get low in the sky, the pink and orange hue making a stunning glow all around.

They hunted around for a while along the rocks, Merlin running his hand along, knowing that the stone doorway would be unnaturally smooth.

As it was starting to get dark, Arthur was about to turn to Merlin to tell him to set up camp for the night when he heard a shout from his manservant.

Holding his sword firmly again, he ran to Merlin who was now standing in front of a large black doorway into the mountainside, partially covered by a struggling tree growing out of the crevices on the rocks.

Arthur stood stock still, looking gobsmacked for a second until he gathered his senses and walked over to Merlin looking at him incredulously. "How did you do that?" he demanded of the warlock.

"Do what?" Merlin said, eyes wide. "I didn't do anything. The magic must have just degraded over the years- does magic even degrade over time?" Merlin asked, gabbling away.

"Merlin," Arthur said with a certain tone that made Merlin immediately shut up. "Shut up," he said anyway, making sure that Merlin understood.

Once again, Merlin was glad that he could distract his friend from magic just by letting his mouth run away with him. Naturally, he'd used the words that the Queen had said to him in his dreams.

"I was just talking to myself and it opened up." Merlin said finally.

Arthur laughed. "I'll bet you were talking to yourself- you talk incessantly!"

Hefting his sword in his hand, he took a few careful steps forwards through the opening in the rock. "Stay behind me, and keep your eyes open," he told Merlin, gesturing with his spare hand where Merlin should stay.

Merlin stayed quiet, but wide-mouthed as he followed Arthur into the darkness.