Tranquility (Merlin)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Warning/s: vomit mention lmao

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: yo

im here

back with another shitty story

because guess what i never stop

lmao i am so bad at this and ive had an awful day

anyway

gimme yo theories about whats happening

"We lost him," Merlin scowled, slumped in her chair. "If we had just gone out as soon as we saw him then we might have caught him."

"He could have killed you," Percival pointed out quietly. "You said yourself that he was incredibly powerful."

"Yeah, I know," Merlin grumbled. "I just...I feel like we just missed our opportunity."

The two of them were sitting at the Round Table, murmuring quietly among themselves. Everyone else was arguing loudly over what to do next, but Merlin was too tired to join in and Percival never got involved in loud discussions unless an innocent was at risk. And in this case, it was just Arthur and the other knights trying to decide what the best course of action would be.

"Is there any way you can find out if he's still here?" Percival asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah, I can," Merlin said thoughtfully. "I did it earlier, very quickly when I first saw...him." She turned towards Percival with a worried crease in her forehead. "There was something weird about him, Percival. His magic – it wasn't just tainted, it was bad."

Percival raised an eyebrow and Merlin hastened to explain. "When people have magic, they can go one of two ways. They can use their magic for good, or they can use it for bad. If they use it for bad, then it becomes tainted. I can always tell when it is or not, just like a sense. But his magic, it wasn't just tainted. It was pure evil, there wasn't a single spark of gold left in it. It was black and heavy and evil." She paused, not wanting to alarm her partner. "In fact, I don't think it was a person. Maybe it once was, but with that amount of black magic...there's not one shred of humanity left in that creature anymore."

Percival gripped her hand. "Whatever it is, we'll face it together, alright? And even if it does have black magic, I'm sure that your magic can still overwhelm it."

"I hope so," Merlin muttered, biting at her thumbnail. "It's always harder to defeat black magic."

The two of them sat in silence for a little while, mulling over their thoughts, when Arthur's announcement called them both to attention. "So we've all reached an agreement?" There was a general chorus of "yes" from the others, and immediately Merlin began listening again.

"What's happening?" Merlin piped up. Most other people would be sheepish at interrupting but Merlin was both too tired and too friendly with Arthur to care.

Fortunately for her, Arthur was used to her disrespect and answered immediately, "We're sending guards to check all of the secret routes in and out of Camelot as well as providing extra to the ones who are already on patrol on the outer perimeters." The other knights nodded and left, presumably to carry out the orders. Arthur turned to them once more. "Percival, I need you to check on all of the servants and make sure they're safe." Percival nodded and, squeezing Merlin's hand one last time, he left the Main Hall. "Merlin, is there anything you can do to track this man down?"

Merlin almost corrected him to "creature" but decided against it; it probably wasn't ideal to make Arthur any more worried than he was right now. Gwen would have enough on her plate when Arthur returned. "I can do heartbeat tracking throughout the castle. If you tell me how many guards there are in each area, I'll be able to sense any extra life forms moving through the castle or in its grounds."