Title: More Than It Seems
Author: Minch
Summary: Merlin, Arthur, and the knights are captured. However, their abductor is not interested in the King of Camelot or even Emrys. He only wants the stranger imprisoned with them. What is that stranger's secret, and what does their abductor so desperately want from him?
Rating: T, because I am not going to be nice to these guys in this fic.
Spoilers: Occurs in between Series Four and Series Five.
Disclaimer: I hold absolutely no claim to ownership of Merlin. It belongs to BBC and Shine, Ltd. I'm just someone with a boundless imagination who happens to love the show.
Author's note: I'm borrowing jargon from Tamora Pierce's books. (Don't judge; they're good books.) I'll put a list of the spells I used at the beginning of the last chapter.
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Chapter Ten: Escape
That night, Merlin once again dreamed of the lights. They were brighter, lighting up the room. The light nearest to his eyes had become as blue as the sky, lanced with golden rays. The lamp that was across from his bunk blossomed into a crimson flame with sparkles of gold throughout. The other red light was just as fiery scarlet, but had no gold highlights. The brown had become a warm, cheerful glow. The deep purple light seemed to give off a quiet strength. The orange, though wild and crazy, burned with a constant, loyal flame.
But two of the lights remained dim–the grey and green ones. The blackness between them had grown, and looking on it made Merlin feel violently sick. Weariness pressed down on him and the rest of the room fell into shadow. He knew he was dying.
He looked away and the light returned to his eyes. He could see those two figures standing on either side of the window. One, on the left, was little more than an emaciated skeleton. Eyes that blazed with wrath were framed by the figure's uncut black hair. Merlin recognised this man: it was the man from the mirror, the man he was becoming more like with every passing day. But on the right, he thought he saw Alder standing, ready to face the challenges of the day, ready to believe the best in everyone around him. But it could not be the boy. He was too tall, his hair too dark, his eyes too blue. It was not him. It was…
He snapped awake, breathing hard and shaking. Daylight streamed in through the window. No one stood next to it. It was just a dream, he told himself as he fought to regain control. Just a dream.
Then he remembered: the bars in the window were no longer secure in the stone. The night before, the knights toiled until they could not only twist all of the bars, but move them a few inches back and forth. Soon, the bars would be free of the stone that held them in place. They stopped work long after the sun had set and were now grabbing a few precious hours of sleep.
Across from him, Arthur watched the door. The knights soon awoke, but no one dared to speak. Every man in the room held his breath, waiting for Renault to arrive. When he did, they would have to deceive him. They could not afford to show how highly strung they were, lest he suspect that something was up.
Merlin took one last scrutinising look at the bars before the door opened. Renault entered to do his usual chores. He hesitated, and Merlin's heart leapt into his throat. But he continued without a glance at his prisoners.
Before he left, Renault peered at the still-unconscious Alder. Overnight, his skin turned ashen and his breathing shallow. "Tonight is the night," the monster announced gleefully. "At dawn tomorrow, I will call him forth!" He looked at the other six men. "You all may be happy to learn that your troubles will be over by nightfall tomorrow. Pity that you have to die, but I need your gifts. And, frankly, you wouldn't fare well in the new order I'm destined to create." With that, he shut the door, leaving them to their own devices once again.
No one dared move until it was quite obvious that he was gone. "We have to leave tonight," Arthur announced quietly. "As soon as the sun sets." Elyan and Leon crept over to the window to continue their work.
Merlin went to Alder and gently shook his arm, but the boy did not wake. "He's freezing," he said to no one in particular.
"Here." Arthur passed him some of their thin blankets. Together they wrapped Alder up. Merlin noted in dismay that it was only Alder's left arm that was cold. The arm he had lost feeling in yesterday.
Merlin pulled him off to the side. "Arthur, he's getting worse." There was something else, something he did not want to voice but knew that he had to. Once more, he thought of the image he had seen in the dark mirror, the man to the left of the window. "If we mean to leave tonight, and he's not better–"
"We can't leave him here." There was a note of finality in Arthur's voice. "I won't leave anyone in the hands of Renault."
Merlin nodded. He was glad to leave that decision to the king. He could not trust himself to make the right choice.
Alder suddenly began talking. He was awake, staring at a nondescript corner in the wall. "Brother," he said in that other voice that sounded so old and pained. "You wished for your head to be buried here, in Caer-Lundein, that you may guard the land against invasion for all time." Arthur and Merlin looked at one another, each silently asking the other what the boy was talking about. "But I am lost without you, Bran. I am fragmented and incomplete. I–" He erupted into a storm of sobbing coughs that wracked his thin frame.
Merlin overcame his confusion and went to Alder. "Here, drink some water." He supported his head and helped him drink. The ash and shadow all but drowned out the emerald in the boy's eyes. "Alder, you're hurt. I can do what I can to help your bruises if they pain you."
He shook his head jerkily. "I am fine," he said, pronouncing every word carefully. "Just let it go, would yeh? Yeh should be seein' to yerself, bein' up in the middle of the night."
Merlin frowned. Why would he say that? "We were all up working last night." His hands were raw from his turns at loosening the bars.
"It's still night." Alder looked toward the window and the labouring knights. "How can they see to work?"
Now Merlin was worried. "Alder, it's morning. The sun rose a while ago."
"Don' be daft," he retorted. "It's dark out. I can' e'en see yer face." As he said this, what little blood was left in Alder's face drained away. A goldfinch's chirruping song drifted in from outside, the song of a bird that would never be heard at night. The disbelief fled from the boy as quickly as it had come. "Then yeh got no choice. Yeh have t–"
"We're taking you with us," Arthur interrupted.
"In case yeh haven' noticed, I'm sick. Now I'm blind." Alder looked in the general direction of Arthur's voice. "I will only slow you down, and then no one will escape." He sounded like an old man, world-weary and resigned to his fate.
"You won't slow us down," Percival knelt down beside Alder. "We'll carry you if need be."
"We're not leaving you behind," Gwaine added.
"Yeh may have no choice in the matter," the boy managed to answer before slipping back into unconsciousness.
There was nothing left to do but tug and twist the bars. Merlin kept watch over Alder. The boy slept fitfully, muttering about making saddles, shields, and shoes. Once or twice, the manservant could have sworn he heard him say –of all things– that he was going to hang a mouse for thievery. Merlin did not know what to make of his words, but as he sat beside Alder, he thought about the two figures he had dreamt about. The one he thought was Alder. It was not him, but someone like him. If only he could remember…
He did remember. How could he have forgotten? The second figure was Merlin himself, a much younger self. It was the boy who strolled into Camelot over seven years ago, full of innocence and hope. That hope was not entirely shattered, at least not all at once. Every day, a small piece of it broke away, but that only made what was left burn brighter.
That boy had grown up. He had changed, and not entirely for the better. But as much as Merlin was no longer that boy, he was not yet the utterly ruthless man either.
Slowly, the stone holding the bars in place gave way to dust and shards of rock. One by one, the knights pulled the bars free. As the sun sank below the distant western horizon, the last gave way.
Merlin's heart pounded. If they were caught, they would not get another chance again. They cautiously moved a bunk over to the window. Percival climbed up and went out first. All of them had lost some weight while being imprisoned, but it was still a tight squeeze. Every time his shackles rattled Merlin glanced at the door, half-expecting Renault to burst in. Percival motioned for the next person to get up. Gwaine went next, followed by Elyan.
"Now Alder," Gwaine whispered down to the remaining captives. Leon gently lifted the boy up to the top bunk of their improvised ladder. Alder stirred, his sightless eyes fluttering open.
Even if he could not see, he knew what they were doing. "Told yeh," he struggled to speak. "No chance. Leave–" Those few words left him gasping for breath.
"Fortunately, you're in no position to argue," Gwaine said as he reached through the window and hauled him out. Arthur, Merlin and Leon relayed the water bucket, the bread bag, and the blankets out the window. Leon clawed his way up the bunk. He almost got stuck in the casement of the window, but managed to squirm through.
"You next," Arthur said. Merlin was about to argue, then thought better of it. There was no time. He went up and crawled out the window. The others stood, or in Alder's case, sat a few yards inside the forest. The cover was so thick that Merlin could not see the wall of the castle in the advancing gloom.
Percival hoisted Alder's limp body over his shoulder while everyone else took up their stolen cargo. The chains would have to wait until they got far enough away. They travelled in a single file line, moving as quickly as possible. At the moment, the need for distance took precedence over the need for silence. Merlin's nerves jangled at every sound. The pain caused by the shackles was forgotten completely. All that mattered was getting away.
Even if the pain was forgotten, the shackles could not be ignored. More than once, someone's chain was caught on a rock or root, causing that someone to pitch head over heels to the ground. A short-gaited lope was the only way to run.
Arthur signalled a halt a while later. Percival propped Alder against a tree. He shivered and drew breath in shudders and gasps. Merlin knew it was useless to treat his injuries in the dark, but it tore at him to be so helpless.
They set about getting the chains off. Leon found a sturdy branch to use as a club. "Who's first?"
"Alder," Arthur said. "Percival, Merlin, help me with him." The tall knight sat astride a log, holding the boy upright in front of him. The king and the manservant held his legs so that the chain was taut across the log. "Now, Leon." Leon brought the club down squarely on the chain near Alder's right ankle; it popped cleanly off. While Arthur held the broken chain down tight, the knight struck the other side and the boy was free of the chain. The actual shackles would have to stay on until they could get more delicate equipment.
One by one, they broke their bonds off. "You're last, Merlin," Arthur said.
Merlin wondered vaguely if he could stall, but what choice did he have? They had to keep moving, and moving quickly. His only hope was that he could stop Renault's spell from severing Arthur's feet. Concern for his own safety was minor; Arthur was all that mattered.
Carefully, he straddled the log and held as still as he could. He ducked his head and mentally prepared himself, ready to break the invisible chain and –with any luck– be conscious in time to stop any more unpleasant spells. Leon swung the club and smashed one side of the physical chain.
Merlin let the inner candle that was his magic explode outwards in an inferno of power. He hung on to consciousness by sheer force of will. He was distantly aware of the fact that the bond on his magic was broken. Most of his concentration was on guarding the group, particularly Arthur, from attack.
He felt someone yank him to his feet. "What the hell are you waiting for?" Arthur hissed in his ear. "You're free. Let's go!"
Leon must have finished getting the chain off without him noticing. Discreetly, he looked to his feet with magic. The bond was gone. He could use magic once more.
Merlin found himself taking charge of the bread bag. Everyone carried something, even Arthur. The king took the water bucket, Percival and Leon supported Alder between the two of them, Elyan the blankets, Gwaine the broken chains. They could come in handy, and no one wanted to leave more evidence behind than could be avoided.
By the stars they could see through the tree cover, they knew that they headed more or less to the west. The darkness and silence set everyone on edge. All eyes were trained on the forest before them, and all ears were listening for any sound of pursuers. As time passed, the trees grew closer together until they could hardly distinguish the path. The path twisted and turned until they were not entirely sure that they were still going west, only that they were going away from Renault. Merlin felt short of breath. Amazing what being cooped up in a little room for a few days could do to one's endurance.
They came to the edge of a small clearing. The woods were unnervingly silent, so silent that a nearby stream rolled and roared like a much-larger river. "We'll rest here," Arthur called quietly.
They dropped their things, grateful for a respite. Merlin went to Alder, who had not moved since Leon and Percival laid him down near a tall tree. He could not see how the boy looked, but he sounded awful. Even the gentlest touch elicited a painful gasp from him. All Merlin could think to do was cover him with a blanket and sit beside him. Percival saw what he was up to and whispered, "I'll take watch in a bit."
"Da?" The voice was so quiet, Merlin could not be sure that he was not imagining things. "Da, what're yeh doin' here?" Alder asked plaintively. Merlin searched his face, hoping for some sign of wakefulness, but his eyes remained closed. Merlin knew he was dying.
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Could everyone take two seconds to write a review? Please? I really want to know what you think of my story.
Check back on 3 October for Chapter 11.