Hello, my Merlin fans, I am back! I know it has been forever. Again, the next chapter will take some time because of life, directing a play, work and my next update is my "Red Rose Nightmare" story. Please be patient with me.

Again, I want to thank my friend OtherCharacterNut for proofreading this chapter. Seriously, I do not know what I would do without your help. If you have not read their stories, I recommend you read them. They are truly amazing!

Also, please check out my YouTube channel. Anyways, do not forget to favorite, follow, review, and enjoy this chapter.

Also, I do not own anything except my OC Sam.

3RD POV

Hold on, Sam! I'm coming!

Merlin could only hope that Sam was able to hear his message. He instantly dropped the helmet he was polishing for Arthur when he heard Sam call out to him. Her voice was so scared and her words still echoed in his mind. "Merlin, help me! Sophia and her father are going to-"

Then there was only silence. He could not even feel Sam's presence. So, Merlin could only think one thing: Sam was in dire trouble. Merlin looked everywhere, but no matter where he went, he could not find her. He started to panic. What if something happened horrible to her? Where was she?

Arthur! Merlin thought. Arthur might know! He immediately ran to Arthur's chambers and opened the door. Arthur nearly jumped with a start when he heard his door opened with a bang. He rolled his eyes at the sight of his manservant, who was out of breath and sweating like a swine.

"Merlin, you better have a good explanation why you're here and not polishing my armour," said the prince.

Merlin looked up as he started to speak very slowly. "I… polish… Sam… trouble…"

Arthur's eyes narrowed when he heard Merlin's last word.

"What did you say Merlin?"

Merlin stood up straight and took a deep breath. "I think Sam is in trouble."

"I am interrupting gentlemen?"

Merlin gasped and turned around to see Sophia and her father standing in the doorway. Merlin glared at the duo as he marched right up to them.

"What have you done with my sister!" he sneered at them.

Aulfric glared at Merlin before replying, "We are not talking to you, boy."

"You have done something to Sam! Where is she?"

Arthur grabbed Merlin's arm before he could attack the royal guests. "Merlin, that is enough." Arthur slowly released his manservant's arm before turning to the father and daughter "I apologize for him. Merlin sometimes doesn't use his head and, at the moment, Merlin thinks his sister is in trouble."

Merlin narrowed his eyes at the prince. He doesn't think his sister is in trouble, he knows. And his heart dropped when Sophia smirked and said, "Oh, but she is."

Arthur looked concerned before asking, "What are you saying?"

She held out her hand and revealed something laying in her palm. Arthur's face turned white when he saw a blue stone necklace in Sophia's hand. Merlin recognized that necklace instantly. It was Sam's and she would never take it off. In a flash, Arthur unleashed his sword and pointed it at the girl.

"Where is Samantha?" he seethed.

Sophia's smirk grew as her eyes held no fear. "You really care for her, don't you? A Prince caring for a meek servant girl."

"She not just a servant. She is my… my manservant's sister." Merlin looked at Arthur curiously when he heard the hesitation. What was Arthur really going to say? Clearing his throat, Arthur narrowed his eyes and repeated, "Again, where is Samantha? If you hurt her-"

"You will do nothing, but follow our instructions," Aulfric interrupted Arthur.

He lifted his staff to bring it down on the floor with a magical e stone glowed and a ball of light burst out. Arthur was shocked to see that Aulfric was performing magic right in front of him. Both Arthur and Merlin gasped when the light formed an image. Laying on the ground near the river was Samantha. Her dress was torn, and her braided hair was undone. Her head looked like it was hit almost fatally so with the amount of blood that dried on her forehead. She looked like she was in a deep sleep, but you couldn't tell if she was dead or alive.

Merlin started to tremble in fear when he saw his little sister in that state. Arthur felt his breath taken away and fear swept his body. He tried to reach for her but as soon as he touched her, the image disappeared.

"Sam," cried out Merlin as the image was gone.

"You're a sorcerer! Both of you are," Arthur exclaimed. "Let her go!"

Sophia crossed her arms over her chest and said, "My, you are clever. It took that wretch only a day to figure it out."

Merlin closed his eyes as Arthur realized something. Sam knew all along and he felt that she tried to warn him. He gripped his sword tighter and started to shake in anger.

"Now, here is our proposition: If you do exactly as we say, the girl will go free," said Aulfric.

Arthur lowered his sword slowly and replied, "What do you want from me?"

SAM'S POV

Darkness, that was all I could see. I felt cold and utterly alone. My memory was in such a haze, I couldn't find my way out. Suddenly, I felt something warm coil around my body. There was a glow coming towards me. And I was finally able to move. I rubbed my eyes and focused on it until I was looking into the forest, near a river. I glanced over and realized that it was the Lake of Avalon, but what caught my attention was a body lying in the sand. I nearly screamed when I really the person was… me! How was this possible? I was lying on the ground and yet standing at the edge of the forest? I tried running over to my body but suddenly hit an invisible barrier. No, I thought as I pressed my hands against the veil. I was a spirit, I was having an out-of-body experience. Which meant I was... I was probably dying not ten feet away!

I stared at my unconscious form to force the memories of what happened to me to reach across the veil. After studying my torn dress, bruised limbs, and my bleeding head, I realized Aulfric attacked me so he and Sophia could kidnap me. He said I was bait for Arthur. Oh, that witch is so dead when I see her! I felt my body grow colder as my heart slowed. Arthur won't come for me. He's the prince and I'm just a girl who watches the tv show 'Merlin.' Besides, Gwen is supposed to be Arthur's love. Why would I be bait for him? I'm nobody. Just his manservant's sister. I fell to the ground and pulled my knees to my chest. I felt my eyes started to water up. Arthur wouldn't come, but Merlin would. He had to.

My head snapped up as I heard horses galloping closer. Two horses stopped near the river. No… it can't be… I nearly gasped as I stumbled to my feet when the first person jumped from his saddle. He turned around to frantically look for something. Arthur! Why was he here? To help Merlin? Then a terrifying thought came to me. Did Sophia succeed in placing her love spell on him? It had to be one of those two reasons. Nothing else made sense. To my surprise, Arthur rushed over to my body. He knelt down and gently cradled my face with such concern.

"Sam!" He was panicked, fearing I was dead. He let a sigh of relief when he saw my chest moving with shallow breaths. I placed my hand on my mouth as his hand caressed my bruised check. "Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here. I'll make them regret hurting you."

I looked over to Sophia and her father as I heard their conversation clear as a bell.

Aulfric grabbed his daughter's hand and said to her, "Go. They are waiting for you."

"I don't understand. You're coming too," Sophia said confused.

Aulfric shook his head and replied, "Only one of us can pass through. This was never meant for me."

Sophia shook her head with despair. "I only wanted this so we could both return to Avalon. I don't want to leave you."

"You must. Once the ceremony begins you have to go through with it." Even though I hated her, I felt a small ping of pity for Sophia. Seeing her cry, knowing she will never see her father again. I was familiar with that feeling of loss. "The elders expect a soul. If they don't get his they will take yours," Aulfric explained to his daughter.

As they were saying their tearful goodbye, Arthur stood up and glared at them and I realized he was not carrying his sword. "All right, I came here just like you asked. Now release Sam!"

Aulfric let Sophia out of their hug and stared back at the prince. "We are not finished with you yet, I'm afraid."

I looked at Arthur to see something behind him. "Arthur look out!" I screamed. Of course, he could not hear me. Arthur gasped as rope magically wrapped around his arms and feet. What I didn't notice was that at the end of the rope, it broke off the bracelet I gave Arthur. It fell to the ground like it was nothing. I slapped my forehead. "Arthur, you idiot! And you didn't bring your sword! What kind of deal is that?"

"What is the meaning of this? We had a deal," Arthur shouted as he struggled.

Sophia smirked as she walked up to Arthur. "Our deal, your highness, was for you to come with us without weapons and no harm will come to the servant girl. We never said we would let her go."

Arthur tried to tear the ropes off of him, but to no avail. "I will kill you and your father for this."

Sophia giggled before she did something that made me boiling mad. She grabbed Arthur's face and kissed him. Arthur's eyes widen and tried to move his face away in disgust. Oh, she is dead meat. I ran after her, but again the veil blocked my path. Oh come on! Let me out of here and get me back into my body!

Sophia looked into Arthur's eyes and said, "Inka napa calkaus."

I gasped in shock as Arthur lowered his head and his eyes darkened, like there was no life in them. Sophia whispered another spell and Arthur levitated to the middle of the river. Sophia smiled as she followed Arthur into the river. How could I let this happen? I desperately looked to the ground to see the bracelet and tried to reach out with my magic. Nothing! Which meant Sophia would be able kill him! No! I started punching the veil, trying to break it. Arthur, wake up!

"Let me out! Please, let me go," I screamed as I continued to punch the veil. "I need to save him! Get me out of here!"

Aulfric raised his staff as he cried out, "Ia bend dǽdon níwe. Cúðon gare íewe deahl sǽ áre. Sé áre. Ig bæþ deahl sǽ néah. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him."

I took a step back before I ran at the veil. I slammed into it and fell. I did not even make a dent. I rubbed my arm as I thought 'Merlin, where the hell are you?' I looked up as Aulfric continued to call out, "An 'wén. Flíete á. Dómdæg. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him. An 'wén. Flíete á. Dómdæg. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him. An 'wén. Flíete á. Dómdæg. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him, Arthur Pendragon."

My eyes widened as Sophia leaned up and kissed Arthur again. Arthur fell backwards into the water. I screamed as I started to punch and kick the stupid veil. No, he cannot die! Arthur, hold on!

The thought of Arthur actually dying early in season one scared me. He's been underwater for a while. I felt scared, but the anger inside me was rising up even more. It felt like my whole body was on fire. I took a deep breath screamed. My eyes and my hands were hot, hot enough to mold glass. To my surprise, the veil shattered and mystical shard flew everywhere. I closed my eyes with exhaustion and felt my soul falling until the world went dark again.

My eyes snapped open as I gasped for breath. I looked around, realizing I was back in my body. I slowly sat up as I heard someone call out, "Ia bend dǽdon níwe. Cúðon gare íewe deahl sǽ néah. Sé áre. Ig bæþ deahl sǽ néah. An 'wén. Flíete á. Dómdæg. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him."

I turned my head to see Sophia standing in the water and her father was standing by the shore. Neither had noticed me and, more importantly, Arthur was still drowning. I glared at the girl.

I didn't even notice Merlin finally arrived until I heard him whisper, "Onbregdan."

I glanced and saw he was magically reaching for her staff, so I forced my weak body to its feet and charged for Sophia.

"Get away from him, you piece of-"

Sophia gasped as I ran into the water and tackled her. She barely had time to react before I took a deep breath and plunged us both into the water. I gripped my hands around her wrists to break her hold over Arthur, but her spell was too strong.

Above us, I heard Merlin call out, "Aulfric, this is for my sister! Swilte, gold beorþ."

I could faintly see the lightning bolts shooting out of the staff and knew that Aulfric was killed. Good! Sophia, on the other hand, didn't agree and hearing her father explode gave her enough strength to escape me and burst to the surface.

I didn't follow her, instead I telepathically called out to Merlin, "Kill her!"

"Óga ceoles," he called out.

A bolt of light came out of the staff. It flew right at Sophia and she barely had time to scream before she too exploded. Ding Dong the witch was finally dead.

I swam deeper into the lake to find the drowning prince, but the water was so dark and murky it was hard to see my hand in front of my face. The pressure in my lungs intensified as they begged for oxygen and my eyes were beginning to sting. But I couldn't just leave him down here! If I was running out of air, he could be close to death!

"Arthur, where are you?" I cried out in my mind.

Suddenly I heard Merlin jump into the water. He must have heard my cry and felt my oncoming panic attack. What if Arthur's already dead? No! He can't be! I won't give up! Using up the last of the air inside my body, I reached the bottom of the lake and was overjoyed to see a glimpse of armour shining through the clouded water. Arthur! I grabbed his arms and kicked the ground. I swam up as hard as I could. It was difficult since, because of his armour, he weighed a ton.

I cleared my mind and thought out loud, "Merlin, I found him! Help me!"

To my relief, my brother swam up to us and helped me bring the prince to the shore. I started to cough and breathe sweet fresh air. We dragged Arthur up onto the grass and took off his breastplate, but he did not move. I checked his heartbeat… to find there was none.

No! No, please don't die. I placed my shaking hands to his chest and cried out, "Bedak loopis katias."

The tips of my fingertips shocked Arthur's chest. Nothing, so I started to perform CPR. Pumping his chest 10 times, before tipping his head and giving him 'the kiss of life.' I was trying not to think of Arthur's soft lips as I breathed into his mouth. Merlin's eyes widen when he saw what I was doing. After pushing his chest again and breathing into his mouth, I was about to give up when a miracle happened.

Arthur turned to his side and coughed out half the lake from his lungs. I smiled with joy before I laid down on the ground. I looked at my brother to see he was grinning widely at me. I knew exactly what he was thinking.

He opened his mouth to speak, but I pointed at him and I hissed out, "Not a word, Merlin!"

When we secretly brought back the unconscious Arthur back to Camelot, Gaius waited for us in Arthur's chambers. My uncle immediately helped Merlin place the prince into his bed. After turning away for them to remove the rest of the armour off of him, we waited for Arthur to wake. Gaius hugged me, overjoyed I was all right. Merlin told me what happened when they kidnapped me; Arthur making a deal with Sophia to save me, Aulfric knocking Merlin out when he tried to stop them, Gaius finding Merlin to wake him up, and Merlin running through the forest to find us. I must say that my heart nearly stopped when I they said Arthur made a deal to save me. I was about to ask more about it when Arthur began to groan.

Arthur slowly opened his eyes and murmured, "What happened? Where am I? Ow, my head."

I placed my hand on his shoulder and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Arthur instantly looked at me and said, "Sam! What are… I remember looking for you… It was Sophia, she and her father…" He paused before bolting up from his bed. "They kidnapped you! They were sorcerers! I rescued you!"

Merlin looked cautious and asked, "Arthur, what do you remember exactly?"

Arthur looked at my brother and said, "Sophia and her father took Sam! They had magic! They led me to a lake and Sam, Sam you were lying on the ground. They said letting you go wasn't part of the deal, just that you wouldn't be harmed. I was about to fight them when something...happened... I couldn't move and... I can't remember! How are we back here?"

I took a deep breath and replied, "Arthur, Sophia and her father tried to drown you as a sacrifice, but Merlin was able to get Aulfric's staff and destroy it. When he did that, it woke me and broke the spell on you. We tried to wake you on the shore, but honestly, you're lucky to be alive." I looked up at Merlin's shocked expression and finished, "Merlin saved us."

They all stared at me dumbfounded. I knew why Arthur was, how could Merlin possibly save him? But Gaius, Merlin and I agreed not to tell Arthur the whole truth, and I just told him way more than the story we concocted. And honestly, the story was stupid, not that I could tell them that.

Arthur placed his hand to his head. "I don't recall nearly drowning."

Gaius smiled as he said, "It was a good thing Merlin was able to save you both."

I smiled up at him for going with the flow I set up, but Merlin decided not to. "You kept on murmuring in your sleep saying 'Sophia kidnapped Sam. I must save her,'" said Merlin. My face was on fire when Arthur looked at me. Merlin, why did you say that? However, Merlin decided to ignore me and continued, "The best thing you said was 'Sam's lips are so-'"

I immediately covered Merlin's mouth. What the hell! I looked at Arthur and said swiftly, "Merlin's just kidding! You know him, always a dunce!"

Arthur looked confused at our little banter and then stared at Gaius as my uncle said, "You should be lucky that no one saw you in this state sire."

Arthur glared at us before pointing his finger and growling, "No one can know about this. Any of it. Is that understood? Not about the sorcery or my needing to be rescued by a... manservant."

I looked at his finger and replied, "You got it. No one will know you nearly sacrificed yourself to sorcerers to save me and was saved by Merlin and said ridiculously crazy things in your unconscious state back to Camelot."

Arthur stared right into me before saying, "I mean it Samantha! Not a single word, especially out of you!"

I saluted the prince and replied, "Sir, yes sir!"

Merlin and Gaius laughed at my childish behavior as Arthur groaned and fell back on his pillow.

An hour later, I left to go back to the gardens. Let's just say I was scolded by my boss for missing a full day of work. What could I say to her? Oh, I'm sorry. I was kidnapped and I almost died? At least I was let off with a warning and not fired.

I was carrying a water bucket when I heard a commotion. I walked to the stocks to see the village children throwing rotten food at Merlin. I laughed as a nine-year-old boy hit Merlin right in the forehead with a tomato. After there was no more rotten food to throw, the kids ran to the dump to get more. Merlin looked up to see I was staring at him.

"You know, after a while, I am getting use to this," he said as a potato peel fell out of his hair.

"So I take it Arthur made you take the blame again?"

Merlin cleared his throat and replied, "After Uther found out Arthur missed patrol because he went hunting to get his mind off of Sophia leaving Camelot, Arthur said I forgot to inform his father. Uther gifted me with as he said food storage."

I smiled as I said, "The things we do for that prat."

Merlin opened his mouth to speak but groaned when his adoring fans came back.

"Sometimes I wish we can kill him for this," he said as the rotten food hit him.

Later that night, after Merlin bathed twice to get the stench of rotten vegetables off of him, I made soup for both Merlin and Gaius. As I poured a bowl for myself, someone knocked on the physician's door. I looked up to see Morgana walked meekly in.

Morgana took a shaky breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "I've had some troubled nights."

Gaius smiled sadly to her and said, "I prepared another draught for you. Have the dreams stopped?"

Morgana shook her head before turning to Merlin. "Arthur told me what actually happened. He lost some of his pride when he said you saved both him and your sister."

I looked at Merlin and smiled. "He is definitely a hero." I turned to Morgana and asked, "How did you get him to tell you the truth?"

Morgana smirked before revealing, "Let's just say, blackmail is the best and only solution."

Merlin and I laughed as Gaius came back and handed her another sleeping medicine. "Here you are. Remember, every night just before you go to sleep," he said to her.

She smiled at my uncle. "Thank you, Gaius." Before she left, she turned to me and said, "Sam, would you like to accompany me and Gwen to the market tomorrow?"

"I'll have to finish the rose garden tomorrow, but after that, I would love to."

She smiled and left the room. Gaius looked at the door before saying to us. "She must never find out the truth."

Merlin looked concerned before asking, "Why not? She had a premonition that helped save Arthur's life."

Gaius shook his head. "And it could've cost her own life. If Uther ever found out, things would never be the same again. It must remain a secret."

Merlin looked at his bowl of soup before asking, "Is she like us? Can she use magic?"

Gaius smirked at my brother. "No one's like you, Merlin."

"But she has the gift? Maybe she can be a powerful seer," I suggested.

"For her sake, I hope not."

3RD POV

Unknown to anyone in the castle, not even Merlin or Sam, around midnight Morgana was violently woken up by another nightmare.

"Sam!" she screamed. As she took deep breaths to calm herself, the images became clearer and clearer in her mind until she saw the whole vision. "Sam… Who are you?"

And there you have it! 'The Gates of Avalon' episode is done! The next episode, we get to meet Mordred! This will be interesting for Sam.

Again, the next chapter will take some time so please have patience with me. The next update will be my "Red Rose Nightmare" story and then I will be back with "My Magical Wish."

Please do not forget to favorite, follow, review, and until then…

Grapejuice101