For the Ones We Love (Merlin Fan Fiction)

Chapter Thirteen

Once again, a pang hit my heart.

“I don’t want to leave either,” I whispered. I squeezed his hand. “Ask me to stay,” I pleaded, looking deep into his watery blue eyes.

Merlin shook his head. “I can’t do that. Camelot’s not safe for you right now.”

“What about you?”

A smile spread across his face. It was part grin and part grimace. “I need to stay. Arthur wouldn’t be able to survive without me.”

I did not laugh at his joke.

Slowly, his smile faded away. “You should get going,” he told me. He stood and helped me up. “Have you decided I where it is you’re going?”

I nodded briskly. “Caerleon,” I answered. “I haven’t seen my mother in some time.”

Merlin nodded in understanding, but then his brow furrowed. “Where is Stella?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve tried calling her, but she won’t come.”

“Do you need my horse?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No. Keep it. I’m in no hurry.”

Merlin kissed me gently on the forehead. “Okay,” he murmured. More tears welled up in his eyes as he whispered, “Goodbye, Cleo.”

I nodded, tears flowing down my cheeks. “Goodbye,” I whispered back. I sobbed as he pulled me into a hug.

After a long moment, Merlin kissed the top of my head and let me go.

I reluctantly picked up my bag. “Goodbye,” I told him again.

When I was at the edge of the clearing, Merlin called my name. I turned to face him.

“Come back sometime,” he said.

I nodded before finally walking away.

As I walked, I occasionally called out for Stella. Now that I had said goodbye to everyone, Stella’s disappearance started to bother me. Where had she gone? Why wasn’t she answering?

I found myself calling out for her even as I fell asleep that night.

It wasn’t until the next morning that she finally answered. I had been walking for no more than ten minutes when she did.

Stop. It’s a trap.

What, I asked, but it was too late.

Talon appeared from nowhere and wrapped his long fingers around my neck. “Leaving are you?” he asked, tightening his grip.

I couldn’t answer, so I lifted my knee and drove it into his stomach.

He groaned and fell backward.

“Yes, I am,” I retorted. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Talon grabbed my leg and pulled me down after him. I fell on top of a rock and it dug into the small of my back. I held back moans of pain as Talon crawled over to where I was and pressed his knee against my throat.

“I do, actually,” he replied. “I gave you a job to do and you haven’t done it yet.”

“You… gave me three… weeks,” I wheezed, struggling against the pressure on my throat. “You never said… I couldn’t… leave Camelot.”

“Well, I saying it now. Go back or your little pet dies.” He held out his hand and a small cage appeared. Inside was a pure white mouse.

“Stella!” I gasped. I tried to push the man away from me, but he stood firm. Growling, I did my best to turn my head so I was looking directly into Talon’s eyes. “Kill me. Not her.”

No! Stella cried.

Talon laughed. “You may be able to fool your little warlock friend, but I know exactly how little your own life matters to you.” He pressed his knee harder against my neck. “Besides, I need you,” he paused , smiling with contempt, “For now.” He paused again and a light seemed to go one inside his head. “Your little warlock friend,” he muttered to himself. He looked up and gazed into the distance. “Of course this is perfect!” He laughed.

I gasped and tried again to push him away.

He smiled down at me. “Oh, you guessed it!” He couldn’t stop himself from laughing again. “You can have you little pet back.” He opened the cage and pulled Stella out. Casually and without really thinking about it, he flung the creature away from him. “If you don’t return to Camelot, I’ll kill the warlock.” He grinned evilly.

“No!” I screamed.

“Oh, yes. And I’ll make it painful.”

I screamed again, mindlessly forcing the man away from me with a blast of magic. Unfortunately, he didn’t hit anything but fell on a soft bed of fallen leaves. “Leave him alone!” I yelled. I shot a series of fireballs out of my hand. Instead of hitting Talon, though, they hit the leaves around him. The leaves would have caught fire if they had not been wet with dew. I threw another series of spells at him, just yelling any and every spell that came to mind. Most of them missed and the few that did hit him were weak and had little impact, but they did what I wanted them to. They hurt him.

I kept going until I was too weak to stand. I fell to my knees and yelled one more incantation. This one happened to conjure up a dagger. I gripped the knife in my hand before throwing it in Talon’s direction.

He cried out in pain.

I forced my eyes to focus long enough to get a good look at my old mentor. His eyes were wide in pain, blood was flowing from an obviously broken nose, and the dagger was sticking out of his thigh.

I smiled to myself as I fell face-first into the leaves.

When I opened my eyes again, I was dreaming. I was standing on the same hill I had stood once before. It was again surrounded by a multitude of other hills, only this time, the sky was covered with crackling storm clouds and no cabin appeared.

I sat for a long time, just waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. Not for a while, anyway. After what seemed like years, a boy appeared. The boy appeared. The same one who I had dreamt of before.

I stood quickly. “Who are you?” I asked.

“Who are you?” he retorted. “Where am I?”

“You don’t know where we are?” I asked. “But you’ve been here before. I’ve seen you here before.”

The young boy’s brow creased. “What are you talking about? I’ve never been here and I have definitely never met you before.”

“You were in my dream about Gwaine!” I exclaimed. “You told me that my fate had been sealed.”

The boy seemed taken aback. “Who’s Gwaine?” he asked. “What do you mean dream?”

“I was dreaming then and I’m dreaming now!” I told him. “This is my dream and you’re in it!”

“So I can enter people’s dreams now?”

“I don’t know.”

The boy’s face settled into a scowl.

I crossed my arms and pressed my lips into a tight line.

Finally, when neither of us had said anything for a long time, I asked, “What’s your name?”

He stood tall before answering, “My name is Mordred. What’s yours?”