Freed

Found

Edith and Morgouse had left shortly after the spell was cast. They hid the warlock amongst some bushes, completely hidden from the road. No one would be able to find him unless they knew what to look for. Morgouse's strength was returning by the minute. Her face was still heavily scared and her magic was damaged, but after a few minutes she was able to hobble on her own. Soon after that she could walk.

"This stone is truly remarkable," she admired it.
"I haven't been able to heal myself for the past year."

"Well with Emrys' great power, much can be accomplished. Fortunately for us, though, he does have his limits."

"I have to say I'm not all too certain about this plan of yours. Just leaving Emrys out in the open? It seems like we're just waiting for him to be found," Morgouse commented.

"Indeed it does. Because of their connection Morgana will know that he's in danger. However, by the time she gets to him, Camelot will already be well under siege. Besides, even if they break the enchantment he will not be himself for quite some time. Do not fret."

"I just hope you're right about this."

"I am," Edith replied confidently.
"Camelot will fall and Emrys will be reduced to nothing. He can not be destroyed, but he can be driven mad beyond belief."

***

Morgana and Lancelot has been riding for a few hours and both of them had hardly said a word. Due to the urgency of the situation they had traveled as fast as they could following Morgana's instinct. Suddenly she came to a stop.

"What is it, my lady?" He asked seeing her confused face.

"I don't know... it's harder to feel. It's as if the connection is fading out."

"What would that mean?"

"I don't want to know," she urged her horse forward, holding on to that wavering connection to Merlin.

Only a few minutes later she spotted the clearing. At this point she got off her horse to start searching. She had a general direction to go off of, but not much else. Then, something broke.

"It's gone!" She cried.

"What is?"

"I can't feel him. I have no idea where he is," she panicked.

"We'll find him. You said that he's near here, right? They couldn't have carried him far with Morgouse being injured."

Lancelot tried to hide the worry in his tone, but even he couldn't help but be fearful. After some searching, Morgana yelled out.

"Here!" Lancelot rushed over.
"I recognize these trees, it was here that I had the vision. He was lying right here at the time."

"So that must mean..." Lancelot inspected the ground.

To his relief, he found faint drag marks covering the ground. Whoever took him must not have been trying too hard. Lancelot tried not to be worried by the thought. Following the track, he was led over to a bundle of bushes. They were dense and dark, so neither of them could see inside. However, when he stopped he could hear something. It sounded like the quivering breath of someone who's wounded.

"Morgana! Can you shine a light in there?"

She muttered a spell and a ball of light appeared in her hand. At her direction it floated into the midst of the bushes. Inside they saw the dark form of a person, covered in mud. His chest was moving rapidly up and down and he was shaking. Morgana and Lancelot looked toward each other and decided to bring him out. As soon as they got him into the light both of them shouted.

"Merlin!"

Morgana made quick work of trying to wipe the mud off his face as Lancelot assessed him for injuries.

"Merlin!" She shook him lightly. "Merlin please wake up! We need you. I need you."

Merlin's only response was to grimace and shake from whatever nightmare he was living. It soon became apparent to Morgana that he was not in his right mind.

"Somethings wrong..." she muttered to herself.

Lancelot heard and scooted over to examine his head. He noticed the glowing stone around his neck and took it off. As soon as the stone left him it stopped glowing, but Merlin's condition did not improve.

"I don't get it," he started. "Shouldn't the stone be the source of the magic?"

"Maybe..."

Morgana looked upon his face. He was covered in a thin coat over sweat and his face was filled with anguish. Every once in a while his head would twitch as if he was just hit with something. She had to find out what state his mind was in.

Using the whole of her concentration and her magic, she put her hand on both of Merlin's temples. She muttered a few ancient words that allowed her to see into his mind. What she saw horrified her.

They were both back in Edith's captivity. Merlin and Morgana were chained, kneeling in the throne room. Edith was on the throne smirking at her victory. Each other the knights looked on them in hatred. Even Morgana seemed to be displaying her hatred for Merlin. The knights each came up and took their turns. A couple just yelled at him or left him in disappointment. Others punched and kicked. Merlin could do nothing but sit through every beating and every awful thing they would say. There were tears in his eyes, but he refused to say a word. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

Morgana released herself from his mind with a cry. She crawled back a few paces as she tried to get back in touch with reality. She wasn't aware for a few seconds, but Lancelot grabbed onto her shoulders and was shaking her. Finally she was pulled back to reality, with tears in her eyes.

"Morgana calm down!" He must have been yelling for a while.
"It wasn't real! You're back, you're safe!"

"How long was I in there?" She whispered.

"Only a few seconds," Lancelot grew more concerned.

"It felt like hours. It was torture. He was tortured. We have to get him out of there."

Lancelot looked down at Merlin limp form. Every once in a while he would twitch, but that was all. Lancelot couldn't even assess any physical damage done Merlin was so covered in mud.

"We need to assess him physically. There may be injuries that we don't know about. Here, help me carry him over to the stream."

Together they carried him over and set him in the stream. They were just starting to get some of the mud off him when they felt and strange breeze around them. Then about six feet in front of them and spot in the water started to glow. They looked up to see the glowing form of a young woman in a red tattered dress. She smiled at them sympathetically.

"Hello, my name is Freya. I'm here to help him."