AU: Hi again this is the 19th chapter of The Forgetting Curse. Hope you like it.
I'm sorry that I didn't post yesterday. I couldn't find time to write at all. But that's why the today's one is a bit longer.
In this one I used some mythological creatures, hope you don't mind.^^
Let me know in a review what do you think of the story!J
Love from me! ^^
Early in the next morning Merlin opened his eyes. He stood up. Looking through the window he saw it was about half on hour before sunrise. He stood up and dressed. He put on him blue neckerchief, then he opened the door vary careful. Looking in the front room, he saw only Gaius, who was sleeping. He walked forward and started to prepare his things. Seeing his bag he blinked his eyes and tried to make it come to him. It didn't moved. After trying again he got the thought that he isn't magical anymore. Since he lost that ability of his, he was doing fine, nobody could deny that. But in moments like these when he wanted to do something the easy way, he was feeling like a part of him was gone, which is not s very wrong thing when you think if it. He went to the corner where it was and took it from there, when normal way, the hard one. Finally after twenty minutes he was ready.
His plan was going nicely. He brought up the thought the he would be there when Arthur went away, but right after that, he was going to go to the healers, take his bag and then he and unfortunately Lady Morgana were going after them. But there was something bothering him. Something about what will happen in the Lower Lands. Merlin didn't know what it was, but it gave him the creeps.
The time to go came rapidly. The Prince was going to leave by sunrise. Merlin got an idea. He went in his room and put his hand under the pillow. It was there. The talisman. Before he departed for Camelot him Mother had gave this to him. It was against evil eyes and for luck. Since then the black haired boy kept it with him. He decided that he want to give it to Arthur mostly because of the feeling he had.
Merlin chose not to wake Gaius, so he quietly made his way through the room. Closing the door on the outside it make a giant squeak. He compressed his eyes, thinking it had woke the healer. Fortunately it hadn't. He realized his breath and a second later he heard a voice behind him that made him jump:
'Good morning Merlin!' - Morgana said.
'Lady Morgana, what are you doing here so early?' - Merlin asked thinking what was it for her to scare the crap out if him.
'I wanted to ask you something?' – She said.
'Are you still insisting on coming with me, My Lady?' – He asked and raised his eyebrows.
'Yes.' – She snapped. – 'When are ye going to head off?'
'After about ten minutes after Arthur is gone.' – The raven haired boy said. After a moment he got the idea that the Prince is going now. – 'I must go. He will soon he on his way and I want to tell goodbye to him.' – He said.
'I will come with you. I want him to see that I will be staying here too.' – Morgana said. They walked in silence about five minutes. When they got to the doors that were exit of the palace lands there he saw Arthur and four other knights on their horses ready to go. When the Prince saw Merlin coming he got of his horse and walked to him.
'Good morning, Sire.' – Merlin said and come really close to him. He didn't want the others to hear what he was going to say. He took his hand.
'Good morning, love.' – Not very cheerfully, but yet kind said he. – 'What is that?' – He added when he saw the amulet in the boy's hands.
'This is something I want to give to you.' – He said and handed it to him. Looking at the small blue stone covered with little black lines. The Prince s – 'My mother gave it to me, before I came here. She said it brings luck, and it is true.' – He fell silent.
'How do you know?' – Arthur frowned at bit.
'I met you which makes me the luckiest man alive.' – He said and smiled. He rose on his tiptoes and kissed the Prince. The kiss was warm, gentle and not very passionate, because thinking of how many people were looking at them, Merlin got a bit embarrassed, so he pulled away quickly. – 'I wish you luck…..'
'Thank you.' – He said and smiled to him.
'Arthur… I love you.' – Merlin said and finally let his hand go. Watching how the Royal Prince leaves made him feel a bit sad, but knowing that he is going to follow him, gave more confidence to the boy.
In the back, Morgana was frowning. Not at the view of seeing that they kissed. She had a dream last night, she knew that Merlin and Arthur were in it, but couldn't tell what they were doing until now. The moment they kissed, she got the strange feeling she had seen it before. The king's ward thought of her dream immediately. Now she had a strange feeling inside her. Something was going to happen in the Lower Lands. She knew that. Something really bad was going to happen. But Morgana decided that she won't be telling Merlin. She didn't want to worry him, he was worried enough without that in his head.
Not realizing how much time she had spent staring blankly at the place where the both of them were she jumped when the raven haired boy touched her shoulder, handing to her the bridle rain of the horse she was going to ride.
'Oh.' – She said.
'I am sorry to startle you, My Lady.' – Merlin apologized.
'Please, there is no need to address me like that. For now on I will be Morgana, because I won't be able to handle the following days hearing only my title.' – She said and got on her horse.
'As you wish.' – He said and did the same.
'Before how much time did Arthur leave?'
'About fifteen minutes, we will be fine.' – He answered and ran a hand through his hair. Looking back to see if anyone was watching them, he spurred on his horse and Camelot left behind their backs. The rode in silence for more than an hour. In about every ten minutes Merlin went into gallop to see if they were in the right direction. For the best knights that Camelot had, they were pretty deaf to what was going on behind them. Thought being as silent as possible, the raven haired boy still made some noise and yet none of them turned back. He was able to see that Arthur was at the front, he was talking with the knight next to him. Probably about what was that creature and how they were going to kill it? But even if Merlin knew that the Prince was loyal to him, in his mind he was thinking if he didn't wanted him to come for a reason, so he could catch a break from his presence. The boy made sure those thought, remained safe in the bottom of his mind, because he was getting jealous of Arthur.
…
Looking at all this in her cave Nimway smiled. Everything was going according to plan. They would be both there. In three days they were going to be in her hands. They were going to be dead. Even if her Nameless Beast failed, Merlin didn't have his powers so he was more than useless in battle. Nimway smiled again.
…
Up in the front Arthur was looking around. He hadn't seen anything bothering, but they were less than one hundred miles away from the palace. He has been silent for the last few minutes. In his mind occurred the events from yesterday, the talk with the King. He wanted him out of Camelot. What was he going to do? Where was he going to go? Nothing came in his mind. Will Merlin want to come with him? Could he live without the raven haired boy? Questions like these were passing through his mind. He had no answer to them. What was he going to do? He didn't want to think about it.
And there was something that got his attention. Looking at the trees around him, he saw something really strange.
'What is that?' – He asked and got of his horse. Taking a closer look he realized it was something like snakes skin, but much more solid and thick.
'I don't know, sire?' – Said one of the knights. The thing was about three meters wide and seven meters long.
'Do you think it belongs to the creature we are after?' – Another one asked.
'I don't know, but I want you to take a sample. When we arrive I am going to show it to the local people to see if they can recognize it.' – He said. About five minutes later the knights reported that they were ready to go. Back on his horse he was wondering what this thing was. He was sure it was to non ordinary animal and wanted to know what it was.
….
In the back Merlin was wondering what was going on, and what was that thing the Prince was looking at. He was him frowning; it was something big and thick from what he was able to see. When they took off Merlin jumped from his horse and holding the rains in one hand, he came near the thing.
Running his hand through the material he realized that he hasn't seen anything like it. It was rough and really dark green.
'What should this be?' - Morgana asked frowning.
'It looks like some kind of snake's skin.' - Merlin said. He was on his knees and took out a small knife from his belt.
'Do you know the kind of snake?'
'I haven't seen anything like it before...' - He fell silent. The boy was thinking what is this creature?
'Come on!' - She said and touched his shoulder. - 'We are going to lose the knights.'
'Alright!' - He said and got on his horse. They continued riding in silence. And what were they supposes to talk about. They both were worried and had a strange feeling, but didn't want to get the other one troubled. Both of them were thinking the same thing. Something was going to happen in the Lower Lands, but they both didn't know what.
Soon it the light started the disappear. Dusk was lowering down above the forest. Looking forward Merlin could see the Prince and the knights were setting down. They started a fire and sat around it. He saw Arthur taking out a map. The raven haired boy wasn't aware of that. They looked at it. He saw him frowning. What was it? Merlin asked himself. Not very long after that they went to sleep.
Merlin got an idea. He wanted to know what this creature was. Looking at Morgana he smirked.
'What are you up to?' - She asked.
'Do you want to know what that creature is?' - He just asked.
'Yes, of course.'
'Then give me a minute and get ready to go.' - The raven haired boy said and turned around, bolting it to the place where the group was sleeping. He moved below his breath. They were about fifty yards away, so it took them a bit more than a few minutes. Slowly he moved to the place where the map was. Unusual for him, the Prince didn't let anyone to guard them. But as Merlin thought the map was placed near his head.
The boy took the last few meters. He was already in the so called camp. Directing to the place where Arthur was. Looking at him Merlin again realized how much he loved the blond. Seeing him so calm, like a child, he again realized that he was more than handsome. The boy got on his knees, he was seeing the chart, but it was on the inner side, closer to the fire. He had to be very careful, as he was going to bend over the Prince in order to get it. Very slowly, careful not to wake him he placed first one then his second hand. The map was less than fifteen inches from his left hand, he moved again really tardy, but he pushed a bit Arthur's armour. It made really harsh noise. The Prince moved a bit and groaned. "Shit!" Merlin thought. He would totally be screwed if Arthur woke up. After less than a second the map was in his hands. Now he had to move back. Here was the hard part. He carried his body back. His heart was beating fast as hell. He felt like the blond sensed his presence. He moved again, this time the Prince frowned as he was asleep. He opened his eyes very slightly. Merlin was still on his knees next to him. He froze when he saw him move. What was he going to do? Arthur frowned again, thinking it is impossible for his lover to be here. And then Merlin got an idea. It came to him that a few weeks before he lost his memory, Arthur was suffering from bad dreams and the only way he got to sleep was when Merlin sang to him. Now he didn't want to wake the other knights so he just hummed to him. The song was easy and after less than a minute the blond closed his eyes and hanged his head in the 'pillow'. Merlin finally was able to let his breath down. He stepped a few meters back and took a closer look at the map. He was that the place they were was crossed and the one they had to go was circled. The marks weren't so apart from each other. The boy took out the piece of paper he carried and then fast redrew the map. He knew that the knights didn't have other one so if he took this one they might get lost and that is why he returned it to its place. Before he went back to Morgana, he placed a soft kiss on Arthur's forehead. The Prince just smiled in his dream.
With the copy of the map, they'd be in the village before the group was.
'What took you so long?' - Morgana asked. Even if she was looking all the time she was still polite.
'I was that close from waking the Prince.' - He said and petted his horse. - 'Are we ready to go?'
'As soon as you are.' - She said and in the next moment she saw how the boy was mounting his horse, seeing that Morgana followed his lead. – 'Where are we going?'
'The map shows that we have to travel to the south for the next most probably ten hours.' – he answered. Looking at the place where the knights were camping Merlin smiled. They continued traveling. The night was getting colder and the king's ward pulled her hood. When the raven haired boy gave it a thought, he didn't consider that fact the she might want to sleep or be tired. As though they had traveled all day she really might need some rest. – 'Lady Morgana, I forgot to ask if you are tired…'
'I am not.' – She answered shortly, thought she longed for sleep. Riding all day has never been one of her favorite things to do.
'Are you sure? I mean, even if I want to get the Lower Lands fast, I don't want you to get overworked.' – He said and pressed his lips.
'I will be fine, but when we get there I will certainly need some sleep.' – Morgana said and smiled.
'Alright. If you are sure.' – Going silent for a moment Merlin took a look at the map. They had to go through a forest and some mountains. He was hoping that they would not meet anything on their way. Without the Prince's group in front of them, they had to do the fighting and he was not sure enough if he would be capable of doing such thing. Even if he had 'trained' with Arthur, he was the one who got most of the hits and everything was easier for him before. He closed his eyes. The boy hated to think of before, when he got magic. Everything was easier for him then, but that didn't matter now, because the past was past and nothing could be changed, ever.
'What are you thinking of?' – Morgana asked after another half an hour silence.
'Nothing much…' – Merlin answered and kept silent. He was feeling perfectly fine with it, even if it was a bit awkward. Hours were passing. Nothing unusual was seen and then suddenly a loud noise was heard.
'What was that?' – She asked.
'I have no idea.' – Merlin said and looked around. He couldn't see anything in front of him. The noise was heard again. Now he looked up and saw a gigantic bird like creature. It was something between an eagle and… he couldn't tell what. He peered into the darkness above him, seeing the creature flying down to them. Now he could recognize what was its head. A human head, an ugly woman's head, from which the noise or more likely the screams have been heart. This creature was a harpy. Merlin had read for them. But this creature wasn't seen from centuries ago. How did it manage to survive? It was pursued and killed. There were many documents showing that such creature couldn't exist anymore.
'Merlin…' – The girl said with scared voice which told the boy that she had seen the head of this creature. – 'What are we going to do?'
'I will think of something.' – He said and gulped. – 'I want you to get away from here. Ride only in that direction until you get to a road fork. There we will meet' – He said and pointed to his left.
'There is no way I will leave you alone. Besides if I get lost or killed by other of these creatures what are you going to do?' – She asked, the fear in her voice was bigger than ever.
'I don't know, but there isn't anything that you can do here, except if you know how to kill a harpy.' – He said and turned his head towards her. He saw how frightened she was.
'Promise me, you will handle this creature.'
'I am not sure, but if I don't come to the road fork until sunrise, follow the road to the right.' – He said. – 'He will take you to the Lower Lands, where you can wait for Arthur to come.' – Saying his name Merlin's heart squeezed, what if he was never to see him again. What if he died here without being able to look into his eyes for the last time? Merlin rapidly removed these thoughts from his head. Now it wasn't the time for self-regret. He had to think how to kill a harpy. – 'Go!' – He said to Morgana. Right after that the monster attacked.
Hope you liked it! ^^