Chapter 13

Alyssa felt ridiculous. She was currently wearing the outfit she had brought with her when she travelled back from 2012, which she had hidden beneath her bed when she had been given dresses. Her t-shirt and black jeans felt way better than the heavy dresses she'd had to wear recently. Her leather boots felt amazingly comfortable on her sore feet. The shoes of this time offered absolutely no protection.

But the clothes weren't the reason she felt ridiculous. The reason she felt ridiculous was because she was currently trudging through the woods after Merlin and Mordred. She had decided to follow the large group of knights on their quest very soon after they had left. She didn't want anything to happen to either of them and she was going to make sure that nothing did.

Alyssa could see their camp from where she was sitting in the forest. Her back was up against a tree and she was sitting high up in the branches thanks to the strength of her wings. She was cold and she was uncomfortable, but being up in this tree was reminding her of the last time she had seen her mother and brother.

Currently, Mordred was acting as guard for the camp. He'd been sitting up for as long as they'd been camped there, and Alyssa didn't think he was going to wake anyone else up to take his place any time soon. He was fighting to keep his eyes open, but he had always been stubborn like that. He would never admit to the other knights that he was tired, especially considering that this was his first quest with them. He had to prove himself.

Alyssa was tired too. Her eyes weren't staying open. She was so tired.

When Alyssa woke up the next morning, she cursed at herself. The camp had long ago been cleaned up, and the knights were already gone. Alyssa started to fly up and did circles around the campsite, slowly moving outward until she finally saw Arthur, Merlin and Mordred walking together through the woods. She sighed with relief.

Alyssa landed in a tree above them. It was thick with leaves and the three men wouldn't be able to see her from where they were. That's where she was when Osgar came slowly through the trees and handed the large gold coin to Arthur. When she spotted it, her blood chilled. She knew exactly what that thing was, and if the Disir wanted Arthur, then something big was going to go down.

Alyssa muffled the cries that emitted from her mouth when Osgar died. Though he had killed a knight, it still hurt to see another user of magic die. She watched as they buried him in an unmarked grave, and when they all left the site, her anger controlled her and she flew to a tree closer to the spot. If they wouldn't mark his grave, then she would. Before she could fly down though, Merlin came back and started piling stones on the site. Mordred soon followed.

"What would the king say if he knew what you were doing Merlin?"

Merlin looked up at Mordred with a barely suppressed grin on his face.

"Don't worry Merlin. I would have done the same thing."

This was the moment when things went wrong. The branch holding Alyssa up creaked and before she could realize what was going on, it snapped. She fell all the way down the tall tree, hitting multiple branches along the way. She tried to put her arms out to catch herself, but couldn't avoid the branch that hit her head, hard. The last thing she knew before darkness overwhelmed her was the fact that Merlin and Mordred were staring at her black wings like she was a monster.

Merlin was in shock. He'd watched the black mass roughly make its way down the tree. Branches and leaves had rained down as it hit the ground hard. But he hadn't expected the thing to be a person. He saw the black things on its back and somehow registered that they were wings. However the most surprising part of this whole thing was the fact that the person in front of him was Alyssa.

She looked much the way she'd looked when he'd first found her in the woods. Her curly, black hair was knotted and tangled with leaves and branch pieces. Her porcelain face was covered in dirt and scrapes from her fall and on her forehead was a cut with a bruise forming around it. That must have been what had knocked her unconscious. She was wearing what she had been wearing the day he had found her, pants and a strange shirt.

Merlin looked at Mordred. His face wasn't as surprised as Merlin would figure it should be. In fact, he looked as if he was getting a very bad headache. His hands were clutching his head as he stared at Alyssa with wide eyes. In them, Merlin could see confusion, sadness and anger. And for a moment, Merlin thought he saw a recognition there, but it quickly disappeared, leading Merlin to believe he'd imagined it.

"Mordred. We need to help her," He spoke slowly and quietly. The fact that the knights hadn't come looking for them yet just meant that their time was running short. He started to speak again, but then Alyssa started to roll over. It was slow but at least it meant that she was okay.

"Alyssa?"

"Merlin," she looked around at him then to Mordred. "Mordred?"

Her face grew worried when she looked at Mordred and Merlin looked at him again. He looked like he was under extreme duress. He was clutching his head tightly and looked like he was trying not to scream. He opened his eyes for a moment and looked straight at Alyssa. His eyes showed pain, but he spoke quickly through his clenched teeth.

"Alyssa. You can't fight her spell. It's too strong."

"No. I wont give up on you Mordred. I'm not letting you go that easily."

Mordred smiled and closed his eyes tightly. Then, his whole body went rigid against some invisible pain. Then, he relaxed. Mordred collapsed to the ground and Alyssa just barely stopped him from hitting hard. She laid him down gently.

The three of them stayed like that a few moments. Mordred breathing slowly, Alyssa staring at him and Merlin staring at them both. Then, Merlin's mind caught up with what had happened.

"What was that?"

"Merlin. I can't talk about it right now okay? I have to get back to Camelot. No one knows I'm here. He won't remember anything when he wakes. Just make sure he gets back okay. Please?"

Merlin nodded and Alyssa extended her wings. Merlin realized she was preparing to take off and he stopped her.

"Wait," he grabbed her arm and waited till she turned to look him in the eyes. When she did, he spoke again. "We will talk about all of this when I get back."

He poured all his anger into his words and she looked away and nodded at him. He stepped back and watched in awe as she went straight up into the sky and disappeared behind the clouds above.

So, there may be hope for Mordred yet! But what will all of this do to Merlin and Alyssa?

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