There were bodies and blood at his feet, in the river, staining the trees around him. Crimson dripped off a branch into a growing puddle on the forest floor, and Merlin's head spun around him as he tried to comprehend everything that had just occurred.
How had this happened? How had he let this happen? Breathing through his mouth, the warlock's eyes fell to his hands, and he felt bile climbing up his throat. Dark blood stained his palms, the lines of his hands slick with it all, and his vision swam.
He did this. All this carnage, all this blood, it was all his fault. His, and Ralcade's.
Eight Hours Earlier
Merlin's day had gone about as normal as ever, with him wandering the stalls of the market in the late afternoon. Gaius hadn't had time to pick up his usual purchases, and the warlock had jumped on the chance to get out of the stuffy old citadel.
Not that the humid weather outdoors was much better, but at least he was out from under his guardian's watchful eye. Their relationship hadn't been strained so to speak, but more just tense after Merlin's disobedience had resulted in a certain dragon's egg being recovered after having been hidden away for four hundred years.
Things had worked out okay, but when Merlin started to get too cocky about it, Gaius was there to remind him that things had almost gone very wrong because of him. Not that he needed that reminder, of course. Things had ended up working out in the end, and Aithusa was now under Kilgharrah's care, so that counted for something, didn't it?
Placing two coppers on the counter to finish paying for his order, Merlin scooped up the bag of spare cloth for bindings and tucked it in his satchel around the fruit, cheese, and herbs he'd already picked up. As he turned around, the young warlock spotted Guinevere across the path, her smile bright as she spoke with a tall stranger.
The man looked pleasant enough, with an easy grin and two rabbits hanging at his sides, but something about him set wrong with the boy. The man had a long, deep scar running through one cheek, and he had turned himself in such a manner that his body was towering over Guinevere near a back road.
The stranger suddenly laughed, leaning closer, and the smile Gwen wore turned strained, her eyes darting across the road until they landed on Merlin. He wasn't sure pleading was really the look she was giving him, but he wandered over anyway, putting on his best grin.
"Hi, Gwen! Who is your friend?" He asked, sliding in between the two and facing the stranger whose eyes were so dark they were practically black.
The man's smile dropped immediately, the scar rippling across his cheek as he sneered at the warlock. "Name's Brail. If you'll excuse us, Miss Guinevere was about to show me to the blacksmith."
"I can take you," Merlin gestured behind them, off towards the crowded market streets. "It's faster to go that way, despite what it seems. And I'm headed that way anyway."
Gwen looked up at him with a grateful smile before she stepped back, her hands swinging against her dress. "That would be great, Merlin, thank you. I really should be getting back to work anyway." She spoke, giving a slight tilt of her head to the man before sliding past them.
As she did, Brail's hand shot out and grabbed hold of her arm, and Gwen let out a soft cry in surprise. "If you don't mind, Merlin, I think I'd rather Miss Guinevere come with me."
"I do mind, in fact. And I think you should let her go; you're obviously frightening her." Merlin's expression sobered, and his hard gaze locked with the stranger's as his fingers finally pulled away, dragging across the sleeve of the woman's dress as he did.
"Bye." Gwen said softly, shooting Merlin a 'be careful' look before she hurried up the road and towards the citadel.
"Blacksmith?" Merlin gestured; his voice guarded as he watched Brail's eyes trail after Gwen.
Once she'd disappeared from sight, the man turned back to the boy and leaned forward, a low growl following his words. "Watch your back, boy."
"So, no blacksmith then?" Merlin asked as the stranger shouldered him aside and strode down a less populated street. "Alright, bye then!" Merlin called after him before huffing out a breath and continuing through the market.
Around the time evening fell he'd nearly forgotten about the strange encounter, too busy worrying about his errands for Gaius and duties for Arthur. By the time he did remember, Merlin was walking back home after a delivery in the Lower Town.
He was close to Guinevere's house with a detour, so he veered down a different street and made his way towards her home. The windows were dark when he stopped by, but he knocked all the same, his teeth worrying at his lower lip while he waited for a response.
Even if she was sleeping, she should have heard him, so he knocked again, louder this time. When there was still no answer, Merlin put his hand out to open the door when he heard rustling behind him.
Turning, the boy barely had time to blink when a wall of shadow slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Before Merlin could lift his head to see what had hit him, a brick slammed down against his temple, and darkness washed over him.
When the young warlock woke, his body was being jostled from the horse beneath him. His head was splitting, and something sticky and half dried was crusted along his right eyebrow.
"He's awake." A voice from the front of the horse spoke in a gravelly tone, and Merlin struggled to turn his aching head towards the dark figure holding the reins.
"We're nearly there, keep him quiet." A hard voice replied, somewhere in the darkness ahead, and Merlin bit back the wave of nausea that coursed through him as the horse cantered along.
He was slung over the creature's back end, with his hands bound at the wrists and feet bound near the ankles. The warlock tried to focus his jumbled thoughts enough to formulate some sort of plan, but after a few minutes the horses began to slow, and all he could focus on was just how badly his head hurt.
Once the horses came to a complete stop, rough hands grabbed at the back of the boy's tunic and yanked him down, throwing him into a heap on the ground. Merlin let out a groan, rolling in agony onto one side as light shot through his eyes with each beat of his heart.
"I told you to watch your back." A voice snarled, getting right up into the warlock's face.
Blinking to try and focus his vision, Merlin stared up at the scarred stranger before settling on the near black eyes glinting cruelly in the darkness.
"I offered to take you to that blacksmith you know. It's not my fault if you got lost after that." Merlin groaned, pain shooting through his head as Brail grabbed ahold of the back of his tunic and began to drag the boy behind him.
Struggling as much as he could while bound, Merlin watched while two other men dismounted from their horses and trailed behind them, their pace leisurely and calm as if they didn't expect a fight. Trying to free his wrists that were hanging in front of him, the warlock was about to utter a spell to break the binds when he was thrown down at the edge of a stream.
"What are you doing?" Merlin demanded, pushing himself up on one elbow only for Brail's boot to land square against his chest.
Falling back and coughing, the boy watched as the scarred man gestured for the other two men to come forward. "You ruined my plans. Set us back by another day. So now, you're going to make up for that."
"Did I mention.. trying to take you to the blacksmith..?" Merlin grimaced, sucking in a sharp breath as the two men grabbed either shoulder and turned the boy so he was facing the rushing stream.
His reflection rippled in the moonlight, and his thoughts raced by with random memories, such as the wolf attack he'd been through a few years prior in this very spot. Why was he thinking about that right now? Why couldn't he think of a spell, or focus on his magic, or anything that might be of use?
"I wanted the girl, you idiot! My one way ticket to King Arthur himself."
With no warning, the boy's shoulders were shoved forward, and his body was thrust halfway into the stream, his face held under the rushing water as he thrashed around in a blind panic. Merlin's lungs constricted as he fought the urge to suck in the water in his desperation for air.
When his vision began to darken and his chest screamed at him to breathe, he was finally pulled up and out of the water. Gasping for air the moment he broke the surface, Merlin coughed loudly and shuddered as water raced down his face.
"Funny.." Merlin gasped, his head dizzy from the lack of oxygen. "But we're done now, right?"
"No, we're not." Brail spoke, crouching down in front of the warlock.
Merlin swallowed past the lump in his throat and tasted dirt on his lips when Brail suddenly smiled. Fear shot through the boy as the stranger made a gesture with his hand. The warlock resisted as hard as he could as he was pushed back towards the water, but he barely had time to suck in a breath to hold before he was plunged into the stream again.
A hand with an iron grip held the back of his neck like one would the scruff of a cat, forcing his head to still as he thrashed about on the bank. The fingers around him shifted towards his throat, pressing harder and choking Merlin the more he fought to free himself. Red sparks of light floated through his vision as the warlock tried to think.
He was drowning, suffocating, dying. Before he could stop himself his mouth opened, water racing into his lungs as he tried to take a breath. His body recoiled immediately, his chest seizing as he tried to cough it back up.
He was ripped from the water moments later and thrown carelessly to the ground as he spasmed. Water poured out of him as he vomited, tears burning his eyes and running down his face as he drew in a shaking breath.
"You're going to get the girl for us." Brail was saying, though his voice sounded distant as Merlin's head pounded. "We have a job to get done, and I have a knife with King Arthur's name on it."
The man was kneeling in front of the warlock now, though Merlin had no idea when that had happened, and he showed off a large hunting knife with notches carved into the handle.
"You want to kill him?" Merlin asked, his voice a hoarse whisper as he tried to swallow past the acidic taste in his mouth.
Brail smiled, flipping the knife over in his hand while he did. "I suppose we could have some fun with him first. Maiming, torturing, gutting him like a fish." Gripping the knife tightly, the man lifted the blade to the warlock's throat, causing the boy to flinch. "What do you say, boy? Will you fetch us our key, or will you die with some foolish notion of loyalty?"
"Foolish notion?" Merlin asked, the edge of the blade biting into his skin while he spoke.
"That's what I would call it, yes." Brail sighed, pulling the knife away as Merlin scowled.
"If you intend to hurt Arthur, I'm going to have to stop you."
For a moment the two stared at one another, and then Brail's laughter rolled out of him loudly, echoing through the otherwise quiet forest.
"You're not exactly in a position to stop me, boy." The man spoke once his laughter had calmed, and Merlin struggled to sit upright as the men on either side of him held tight to his shoulders.
"You don't know who you're messing with."
"Is that so?" Brail arched a brow.
In a movement so fast that Merlin could hardly track it, the tip of the hunting knife caught hold of his arm and sliced through his tunic and skin, cutting a large gash into his bicep. Crying out, Merlin jerked back as much as he could and looked at his arm. With no time to register the shock and pain, he was suddenly thrust towards the stream again.
"Guess I'll just have to kill you before you can cause any more trouble." Standing up, Brail began sauntering away as the water grew closer to the warlock's face.
If he went in one more time he knew it would be his last. He really would die. His arm burned, his lungs and throat were raw, and Merlin knew he was running out of time. He needed to act.
Mere inches from the water, something finally clicked. A power began to rise up within him, like a fire that had roared to life inside his chest and was now racing through his veins.
"Let go of me!" Merlin's words burst out in a ferocious roar.
The two men holding him abruptly let go, dropping him to the ground and allowing the warlock to roll onto his back. Wrenching his arms apart with strength that seemed impossible, the rope fell limply in pieces beside him.
Blood dripped down his arms from where the force of the action had cut him, but the pain was more fuel to the fire inside. Unfortunately, the two men had gotten over their shock as he'd broken free and were lunging for him again.
Thrusting out one hand, the fire raged inside him like an inferno, and Merlin channeled every bit of his power into the two words that left him. "Wáce ierlic!"
The first man blew backwards, his body slamming into the branches of a tree before falling to the ground in a heap. Anger and rage boiled inside Merlin, and a voice in his mind whispered to him as he stood there, unwrapping the ropes around his ankles with a silent command.
"Kill them. Burn them." The voice whispered, and Merlin turned to face the second man who had begun to inch away.
"Lyfte ic þe in balwen ac forhienan se wideor!"
The man began to smoke, before suddenly his tunic caught on fire and the man began to scream. Deep satisfaction coursed through Merlin as he turned, watching as Brail threw himself towards him, knife poised for attack.
Readying himself with a level of agility he had never known he was capable of, Merlin ducked out of the way and turned, watching as the man stumbled before hurrying to correct himself.
Off behind them, the fire had spread to the other man's trousers. He had thrown himself into the stream, but the water didn't seem to be working, and instead the fire continued to rage. His screams were loud and horrific, though Merlin barely heard them.
Brail was coming at him again, knife aimed for his chest, and this time the warlock let him come. Waiting until the last moment, Merlin grabbed the hilt of the knife and managed to stop it just inches from his heart.
The two struggled back and forth for the blade, until Merlin took control with another guttural roar. Twisting the knife around in Brail's hands, the boy plunged it straight through the other man's chest. Warmth pooled over Merlin's fingers, and he stumbled away, watching in abject horror as Brail's body slowly crumbled to the ground.
Lifting his hands, the boy's fingers were coated in a crimson stain, and there was a larger one growing beneath the man on the forest floor in front of him. The darkness of the forest was eerily quiet, and Merlin turned towards the water as he realized the screams from before had died out.
Lying facedown in the water were the charred remains of the man he'd set on fire. Exhaustion swept over Merlin in waves, and he stumbled towards the man he'd thrown into the trees. He was still lying in a heap on the ground, but only now was the warlock realizing that the man's head was turned at the wrong angle, and that his lifeless eyes were now staring out into the trees.
Merlin's breath fell out in shallow gasps, and as he fought back the nausea at the horror around him, the same voice from before crept into his mind.
"You did well, my apprentice."
Merlin's blood turned to ice as he processed what the voice had said, and his fingers trembled as he stared down at his blood covered hands. His body felt as though he'd been fighting for hours, his limbs rebelling against him as he forced himself to stumble towards the water.
How had he done those things? Those men, they'd wanted to hurt him, and to hurt Arthur. But he'd killed them instead. His magic had never been that strong before. The noises he'd made, the roar of a dragon freeing itself from his own throat. What had he done? What had he become?
Falling to his knees at the edge of the river, Merlin thrust his hands into the water and began to scrub them, watching the water around him turn red from the blood. He'd caused that damage, all that carnage.
Pulling his wet hands out of the water and wiping them on his trousers, Merlin leaned over and stared in at his reflection. Only it wasn't his own face looking back. It was Ralcade's.
"What have you done?" Merlin whispered, his voice hoarse and broken as the man's watery image smiled.
"The dragon in is you, my apprentice." His voice echoed inside Merlin's mind. "There's no escaping it now."
A/N
Spooks and scares for our boy and references to a way old chapter! Speaking of, now that notifications are fixed, make sure you all have caught up on my last two chapters!
In other news.. for those interested in author updates or why this chapter took so long.. I GOT FREAKING ENGAGED! Ahhhh, I'm so excited and happy! And it's crazy because since started this story I met and began dating this man, fell in love and started traveling the United States for work, and now we are engaged! I can't believe I've been writing this story for so long, or that we've come so far!
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys soon!