Darkness

Imprisoned

It was cold and dark. Those were the first things Merlin registered when he started to wake. His head felt fuzzy, like his senses were muffled. He caught a glimpse of something orange as he blinked his eyes, trying to focus. There was a fire nearby, but the place he was in, it was a throne room, that much he could guess, it was nearly pitch black. Morgana was beside him, also having started to stir. There were men on each side of them daggers on their necks. Merlin's magic was out of reach. A rather large man sat on a stone throne, watching them. He had very little hair on his head, and wore some strange sort of armor that was a mix of leather and metal. It looked similar to something Cenred had worn, Merlin noticed. That was not reassuring. If they were still in Essitir, then Merlin was in more trouble than he thought. He was a citizen of Essitir technically, and if Merlin was right, this was the new ruler of the kingdom. The man just stared at the two magical people kneeling in front of him, while cleaning out his nails with a rather dangerous looking knife.

"I'm told that you took out a considerable number of my men." Merlin bit his tongue to try to force himself to keep his mouth shut.

"Your men should have left well enough alone." Morgana growled. Her voice was rough and her eyes were unfocused.

"Perhaps. But knowing the threat that the last High Priestess has over this world, you had to know there would be those opposed to you. You pose a threat, my lady. What I had not expected was to find you in the company of another powerful sorcerer in his own right. Tell me, boy, what was your plan?" The man had kept his face blank the entire time.

"It doesn't matter what I was doing. You had no right to trap a dragon. He had done you no harm." Merlin was gritting his teeth.

"So, you came to the aid of the young dragon. Where is it now? My men said they heard you shouting something at it and it fled." Merlin stayed quiet. "You seem to think I don't know much about you. You are mistaken. As you may know, as a citizen of Essitir, since that is what you are, magic is not outlawed, but those with magic owe a service to their kingdom. To serve in the army. Imagine what we could achieve if only Cenred knew he had a dragonlord indebted to him." Merlin flinched as Morgana's eyes widened in shock.

"I am the last dragonlord. It is my duty to protect the dragons." Merlin told the man. The steely gaze that looked back at him, told him he'd said the exact wrong thing.

"Hmm. The last High Priestess and the last Dragonlord. Let's see how well the world does without either of you interfering with things that should be left alone." The man says and nods to his men who roughly lift Merlin and Morgana to their feet. The pair are dragged, as they were still fairly drugged, through dark, dirty corridors until they reached a stone door. The door was opened by at least two men due to its weight. Merlin felt his fear rise up suddenly. The room was completely dark, and he did not want to be in there. As he struggled the men only hardened their grip on his arms. His brain may have been sluggish, but he knew enough that if he went into this room, he wouldn't be coming out. Morgana must have sensed the same thing as she started struggling in earnest as well. Merlin wasn't a warrior, and though Morgana was a formidable opponent, without her magic these men were able to use their strength and size against her. She did manage to give one a broken nose and a black eye and the other was limping as if she'd broken some of his toes when she stomped on his foot.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Merlin shouted as they'd reached the edge of the darkened room.

"I'm the Sarum. And I'm doing this, as you say, to get you both to learn your place. You may wield power, but the rulers of these lands do not need you. Either of you. You'll stay here until you've learned that lesson. Forgotten. As the ways of the Old Religion should be."

"No!" Merlin and Morgana both yelled, their power coming out, only slightly, to push them back from the dark hold. The man on Merlin's right let go of his arm and closed it around his neck, cutting off his air. Merlin gasped, struggling to get breath in. Black spots danced in his vision. The same thing was happening to Morgana. When they were about to pass out, the men released their hold and pulled them both into the darkness. Chains clinked and pressed cold against Merlin's wrists. There was only a sliver of light coming in from the door. They'd already started closing it, shutting Merlin and Morgana off from the world. Merlin pulled at the chains that held him in place. He had just enough slack that he could get to his feet and step an arms length from the wall. But the door lodged into place with a loud groan.

Darkness. That's all that existed. He kept hoping his eyes would adjust, but it was like he had been blinded. Someone bumped into him. He grabbed out knowing it was only Morgana. He couldn't see what she was doing, but he felt a powerful slap across his face causing him to stagger back.

"Ow." He said rubbing his face. There wasn't even an echo. It was as if the darkness absorbed his words. A small hand wrapped around his arm. He was only slightly worried she'd slap him again. Or something worse.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Can you see anything?" She asked. Normally she could mask any emotion, but here in the pitch black, Merlin could feel her fear as overwhelming as his own.

"No. Nothing." Merlin whispered back.

"Can you reach your magic?" She asked tentatively.

"No. It's like it's just out of reach. It feels...like being smothered."

"I feel it too. I was hoping it wasn't the same for you." He heard her shuffle away, her own chains rattling as she moved. He was suddenly scared, not having her nearby.

"Morgana?"

"Calm down, Merlin. It's not like I can go anywhere. I'm just sitting down. Since it looks like we're going to be here a while, you might as well make yourself at home." She told him, sounding annoyed.

"I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything you've suffered because of me." He shifted and carefully, hands out in front of him, followed his chains back to the wall so he could be sure of something solid.

He leaned his head against the cold stone. He was spiraling and his panic was taking hold. His breathing became ragged as his heart was beating out an erratic rhythm. Stupid. He had been so stupid and now Arthur, Gwaine, hell Camelot, were out of reach. He screamed and hit at the wall, feeling his knuckles scrape and he was sure a finger or two broke as he slid to the ground. Tears had started falling down his face, though he didn't know when they had started. Sobs racked his body as he pulled his knees to his chest, putting his face in his hands. Morgana had stayed silent through all of it, and he was grateful. He was sure she had experienced this kind of low and despair and knew he needed time to work it out without her input. He drifted off to sleep at some point. Not a restful sleep, though he had avoided any nightmares. This went on for a time. Merlin would wake long enough to realize he was still trapped in this dark prison, magic still unreachable, despair would take over and he'd either stare into the darkness or try to sleep. They hadn't been given food or water, and Merlin felt his body getting weaker and weaker.