Merlin Story: Trapped out of time

Chapter 6

*** Bree P.O.V ***                                                                   

I vaguely heard Arthur yell about moving Merlin as the movement beneath me finally stopped. The horses had thundered through the forest towards Camelot, each jerking movement preventing me from drifting into a slumber. Dawn was beginning to creep into the sky over Camelot, though everyone would probably still be sleeping. Clumsily I practically fell from the horse, collapsing to my knees as soon as my feet touched the ground. Strong arms supported me as I found myself lifted up and carried against a chest. Vision blurring all I could make out was a mess of blonde curls. “You’re going to be fine.” A voice belonging to the curls soothed as everything else became a blur.

*** Arthur P.O.V ***

Racing into the courtyard I leapt from my horse, the knights already dismounting theirs. “Percival! Get Merlin to Gaius now!” Elyian rushed out of the castle and into the courtyard, bowing slightly before standing beside me as I watched Gwaine help move Merlin into Percival’s arms. “Sire, Gaius is expecting us. He has prepared the necessary poultices.” I watched as Bree practically fell from the horse and sank to her knees. Leon rushed forward and scooped her up into his arms as I followed Percival, with a limp Merlin in his arms, towards Gaius’ chambers. “Leon, put the girl in her chambers.” My mind was clogged with only one thought and anything else was now irrelevant. “But Sire-“ Leon began to protest, and on any other day I would’ve listened to him. But it was not any other day. “NOW!” With a slight nod Leon entered the room directly next to Gaius’ as we approached Gaius’ chambers. Bursting through the door Gaius was already waiting, having cleared the table and placed a blanket over it. “Lay him down here.” Contrary to his massive size Percival could be gentle, as demonstrated when laying Merlin down carefully on the table. Gaius immediately set to work, removing the improvised bandages and rubbing a pale paste into Merlin’s wounds. I watched anxiously as Gaius began rummaging through his variety of jars, settling on a jar filled with a strange green gel. Each passing moment the fear encasing my heart grew, Merlin was strong willed but even he may not survive this.

*** Bree P.O.V ***

“Leon, put the girl in her chambers.” Part of my mind registered that Arthur was treating me as I wasn’t worth his time, but with the rest of my mind blurry and clouded with pain that thought was quickly buried. “But Sire-“ “NOW!” Arthur roared, shocking part of me back into reality. As Leon carried me into the main part of my chambers I groaned, weakly poking Leon’s shoulder. “Put me down.”  “You should rest-“ “Leon! Please.” I whispered, a brief flare of pain radiating in my arm. “As you wish.” Gently placing me on my feet Leon still held me as I swayed slightly, the whole room spinning vigorously before righting itself again. “My satchel, where is it?” Collapsing into a chair I watched as Leon disappeared from the room, quickly reappearing with my satchel in hand. “What are you looking for?” Leon asked, concern clear in his voice as I rummaged quickly through the satchel in a wild desperation. “Something to counter the effects of the poison.” Bewilderment was evident on his features as I pulled out a small cluster of green herbs. “What poison?!” “I think, I think the creature was poisonous. This is herb is called Lokin.” It was just a guess, I had never been poisoned before and had only ever seen it on CSI, but judging by the blurred vision, pain and affected balance, it was a pretty good guess. Grinding the herbs into a dust like substance I then asked Leon to pour a glass of water. Seeing the questioning look on his face as he handed me the glass I smiled, despite the worrying numbing sensation that was slowly creeping through my arm. “I need to ingest the herb for it to work. It won’t erase the poison from my system but it should give me enough time to find a cure.” Adding the crushed herbs to the water I took a deep breath, the water was now a murky green and it didn’t look appetising. Forcing myself not to chicken out I gulped down the green liquid and drained the glass, grimacing at the less than pleasant taste. Leon took the glass from my hand and placed it on the table, watching as I carefully stood up. Grabbing my satchel I pulled out the sketch book. “How do you feel?” Leon asked, causing me to laugh shakily as I moved towards the door. “The same. I don’t think it works immediately.” The door was open and voices drifted out into the hallway as I walked into Gaius’ chambers, briefly glancing towards the table where Merlin was resting. His wounds had been bandaged and his breathing had become a little bid steadier. Gaius was carefully searching through his bookshelf, Arthur and the knights watching in anticipation. “Can you tell what creature attacked him by his wounds, Gaius?” “Perhaps, Sire. But I cannot guarantee it. However, if Bree could perhaps recall what the creature looked like, it would be a great help.” Arthur scoffed, not realising that Leon and I had entered the room. “I doubt it Gaius. She was probably scared and it was dark.” “It was not dark when we were attacked, Sire.” I sighed, folding my arms across my chest as Gaius, Arthur and the knights swivelled around in surprise. “And I have a sketch for you.” Opening the sketch book I handed it to Gaius, watching as recognition dawned across his face. “Do you recognize it?” Arthur demanded, he was obviously still worried about Merlin. “Yes Sire. It is a Tobakian. A creature which can only be summoned by extremely powerful magic. They are powerful and strong, but very rare. Not many know of their existence. They are usually summoned for the sole purpose of killing a selected target and then disappear.” A deafening silence descended on the room as we processed the information. “So Merlin was the target?” Surprisingly Gaius shook his head, instead turning to look at me with a sadness swirling in his eyes. “No. If Merlin was indeed the target then it would have bitten him, as Tobakian are poisonous creatures and this would’ve ensured and sealed his death.” Without a word Gaius stepped closer, lifting up my arm and inspecting the bite wounds. “It seems Merlin was purely collateral damage and Bree was the target. She has been severely poisoned.”  While the others stared on in shock I simply nodded, having already suspected that I had been poisoned. “So then, how long do I have?” I chuckled; somehow during all the chaos of the situation I still had the humour to find it amusing that I hadn’t been able to feel it when Gaius had lifted up my arm. “By my estimates, you have a day. To create an antidote I shall need some venom extracted from the creature.” “Has Merlin been poisoned?” Arthur asked, seemingly not caring that I was now living on a time limit. “I am afraid so Sire, though not as severely. The Tobakian’s claws are only mildly poisonous. Merlin shall last a week without the antidote.” Arthur nodded, took one last look at Merlin, and then swept out of the room without so much as a second glance at me. The knights soon followed, Leon giving me a reassuring smile before also leaving, pulling the door closed behind him. “Why do I get the feeling that Arthur doesn’t care that I’ve been poisoned?” Gaius shook his head, putting away the various jars of poultices as I sat on the edge of the cot. Merlin was fast asleep on the table, he looked peaceful. “He may appear uncaring but Arthur is just extremely worried right now.” “Yeah, about Merlin.” I scoffed, standing up and pacing around the room, which was an extremely bad idea as a wave of nausea washed over me. “If I was the target then why did it attack Merlin first?” “It must have sensed his magic and knew that Merlin would try and stop it.” I nodded, quickly glancing at Merlin. It was my fault that he had been injured. I had to do something about it. “I’m going to see if Arthur will let me tag along.” Gaius stopped me, gently grabbing my good arm. “Bree. There is something that I did not tell Arthur. There are only two ways to kill the Tobakian.” I didn’t like where this was going and swallowed nervously, gently pulling my arm away. “Can Arthur kill it?” “Yes, but only if it has completed that task for which it has been summoned.” Everything came crashing down and it took all my strength to remaining standing. “I have to die, for Arthur to kill it?” Gaius nodded, watching as I resumed my pacing. “Wait, you said there are two ways. What’s the other way?” “If you remain alive, then it can only be killed by you. If anyone else takes the killing blow it will not die and it will continue to hunt you.” “So, either I have to be killed, or kill it myself?” Gaius nodded, rubbing something into my wound before wrapping a bandage tightly around my arm. Slowly the numbness disappeared and feeling crept back into my arm. “I guess I’m going to need a weapon then. I wonder if I can find a bow from somewhere…” I trailed off as Gaius had moved to rummage through an old wooden chest. “Bree, it is vital that Arthur does not strike the killing blow.” Removing a rather large cloth wrapped bundle from the chest Gaius handed it to me, watching as I unwrapped the cloth. “Gaius. It’s beautiful.” It was a stunning black bow, smooth and cool to the touch. The arrows, which were stocked in a black quiver, were a silver that seemed to shimmer constantly and glow with an inner light. I had taken archery lessons as a kid and kept it up as a hobby even today. “And it is now yours. Bree, please be careful.” Shouldering the quiver and the bow I smiled, pushing the niggling fear down deep into the back of my mind. “Don’t worry, I will.” With a nod I sped out of the room, making my way towards the courtyard.

The knights were preparing their horses as I approached, Leon spotting me first. “Bree?” The others then turned, Arthur fixing me with a disapproving glare. “I wish to come with you.” “No. Return to your chambers.” I sighed, Arthur was a stubborn one and I couldn’t tell him the real reason for me tagging along. “I can help. The creature is hunting me for whatever reason. It is more likely to come out if I’m there.” Arthur continued to glare but I steeled my gaze, glaring right back. “Fine. You better know how to use that bow.” I grinned; I had outstared the future king of Camelot. Point one to me. Leon introduced me to the other knights before moving away to find me a horse. Percival grinned at me, eyeing the bow attached to my back. “I hope we get to see that weapon in action.” I laughed, jumping in surprise as sudden neigh sounded behind me. Swivelling around I found myself gazing into a pair of blue eyes. A beautiful horse stood in front of me, its coat a stunning chestnut brown, while its mane and tail were a pure white. Leon passed the reigns to me, moving towards his own horse. “This is now your horse. She rarely lets anyone ride her and is hostile towards most but I have a feeling that you two will get along fine.” “What’s her name?” I asked as I glanced warily at the supposedly hostile horse, just what was Leon thinking?  “She doesn’t have one. Now mount.” Arthur ordered, seemingly disappointed when I managed to mount the horse without making a fool of myself. As we set off, the knights forming a ring around Arthur, I began thinking of what I could name the horse I was currently sat upon. Many names came to mind, though none seemed to fit. It was as I began thinking about all the horse names I knew that one came to mind, a small smile tugging at my features. Leon pulled up alongside me, his horse glancing warily at mine. “You two seem to be getting along. Have you considered naming her?” “I have, she’s called Epona.” I laughed; obviously Leon wouldn’t get the reference but it made me feel slightly better, having a reminder of my modern life, Lucy and I were obsessed with the Legend of Zelda games. “What’s your horse called?” Leon smiled, patting his horse on the neck. “Link.” It took everything not to fall of my horse then and there, that was just a plain freaky coincidence. Leon didn’t seem to notice my reaction and we rode on deeper into the forest, an uneasy silence descending on the group. It was clear that all of the knights were worried about Merlin, just as I was, though none seemed to be overly worried about me, not that it mattered as they’d only known me for a short while. Suddenly the group stopped, Arthur and the knights swiftly dismounting their horses. As I dismounted Epona I realised we were back at the make-shift campsite from the attack. Leon stayed next to me, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “Spread out, stay in pairs. Be careful.” Arthur ordered, moving away with Elyan to investigate the surrounding area. Gwaine and Percival moved off in a different direction while Leon and I stayed near the campsite, the ashes of the fire still visible on the ground. Suddenly shouting could be heard in the distance, Leon glancing at me quickly before racing off. “Stay here.” As Leon disappeared into the forest I carefully removed the bow from my back, nocking an arrow. My heart was pounding against my chest, the only noise in the deafening silence. A roar rang out through the darkness, sending a chill down my spine. Sounds of battle drifted on the wind, yet I could see nothing. Suddenly Leon’s voice rang out in the darkness, my hand clenching around my bow. “BREE! IT’S COMING YOUR WAY!”