The Truth about Merlin

Reality

Birds whistled in the trees and a gentle breeze blew Arthur's blonde hair over his face. Slowly he opened his eyes and sighed at the sign of daylight. He was hoping to have some more hours of sleep but it looked as though it were time for them to start moving. His back ached and he barely had much sleep that night because he was worried, worried about...MERLIN! Arthur's eyes widened and he sat upright, searching the clearing for Merlin. He was desperate to see his friend again but he could only see his Knights and there was no sign of Merlin or the dragon. Did they leave? Arthur thought. Then he noticed Merlin's belongings strewn out over the forest floor. That's when he heard a small laugh and when he turned around he saw Merlin! His friend was gazing up at the sky with a huge grin on his face and he was spinning around slowly.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, relief flooding through his body and causing him to smile too. He marched over to his friend and said "glad to see you're not dead! Servants are hard to find" he joked but Merlin didn't look up at him. In fact, it looked as though Merlin hadn't heard. "I said I'm glad to see you're not dead" he repeated in a louder voice. By this point the Knights were beginning to wake and they all shared the same feeling of relief when they saw Merlin.

"What's he doing" Elyan laughed as they watched Merlin continue to twirl.

"Who knows" Gwaine laughed, "probably happy at the thought of being alive! I know I would be."

"Merlin are you listening to me" Arthur said, feeling very concerned. The knights stared at Merlin and confusion spread across their faces.

"Wait Sire" Leon said and Arthur stopped. That's when Merlin's head jolted to face the trees to the right.

"Is he alright?" Percival asked. Then Merlin smiled and waved at the trees which made the others follow his gaze but they couldn't see anything. Merlin tilted his head slightly and was still smiling at an empty space in the forest.

"I don't think he is" Arthur answered. "Merlin" he said as he grabbed one of his friend's shoulders, forcing him to turn around. When their eyes met Merlin looked slightly surprised for a second and Arthur noticed that Merlin's eyes weren't fixed on his; they kept moving slightly as if he were daydreaming. "Merlin are you ok? Answer me. Can you speak?"

"He shouldn't really be up should he? His wounds still need time to heal" Percival spoke up. Arthur turned to face the Knights and so did Merlin.

"I gather magic can do all sorts of miracles but he still needs rest, don't you Merlin?" Gwaine said but he got no reply. Instead Merlin simply smiled and turned to face the trees again but his expression dramatically changed to one of sorrow and confusion. He shrugged Arthur off his arm and marched straight towards the trees.

"Where's he going now?" Elyan asked and all of them stood up and began to follow. They no longer found Merlin's unusual state of mind to be humorous but instead, extremely worrying.

"Make him snap out of it" Percival shouted.

"How?" Arthur shouted back, already reaching out to his friend. He grabbed Merlin's shoulders and spun him around so he could look his friend in the eye as he desperately tried to help him. "Merlin you have to listen to me, focus on my words. You need to snap out of this, go back to sleep and rest." Merlin still looked as though he wasn't concentrating. "As your king I command you to rest" Arthur resorted to saying. At that moment Merlin blinked a few times and his gaze landed on Arthur's. Arthur smiled slightly until Merlin squinted in pain and his hands tightened into fists. He looked away from Arthur and then all of a sudden, Merlin's head jerked up and his hands immediately covered his ears, his teeth gritted. "Merlin? Merlin!" Arthur shouted. He heard his servant let out a small shriek of pain before dropping weakly to his knees. The knights stood staring for a few seconds, confused by what was happening but then they rushed over to Merlin's aid. Arthur grabbed Merlin and his friend fell unconscious.

"Is he ok?" Gwaine said. His heart pounded in his chest as the worry for his friend grew. Arthur lay Merlin's body on the ground carefully and examined him.

"He's still breathing" Arthur said.

"That's a good sign then" Elyan said.

"Any idea as to why he did that?" Percival asked but Arthur shook his head.

"Reaction to magic? I don't know. We could've asked the dragon but he seems to have disappeared" Arthur said. Gwaine glanced around the clearing, unaware of the dragon's absence. Arthur gently scooped Merlin into his arms and he carried him across the clearing to the horses. He lay his body near the remains of the campfire and tried to relight it. How does Merlin do this, Arthur thought as he struggled but eventually a spark ignited the pile of wood.

"We need to leave as soon as we can" Arthur announced. Once they had eaten, they gathered their horses and Gwaine checked on Merlin.

"I think we may need to wrap him in blankets Sire, for the ride. His temperature is still dropping" Gwaine said and then he tried to move him closer to the fire.

"Why is this happening" Arthur muttered to himself, sweeping one hand through his blonde hair. First Merlin is a sorcerer, second he knows a dragon, third we didn't defeat Morgana or Mordred and now Merlin's ill, he thought.

"You ok Sire" Percival asked.

"Yeah I'm just...worried for Merlin. Come on time to go." The knights nodded and Gwaine carried Merlin to his horse and strapped him on.

"You're going to be ok buddy" Gwaine whispered to his friend.

(Author: Hi guys hope you enjoyed this chapter! This one is slightly longer than the previous one and hopefully it makes a little more sense:D It will all become clear when you read on! Thanks for reading so far)