Merlin: The Light of Eriador

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Merlin got up from his bed with some difficulty.  A pale sunlight was coming through the window and it was raining.  Merlin dressed up slowly, wincing when he pulled the shirt over his head.  He looked down at his chest and at the white bandage.  He could feel a sting on his left side, which he imagined was the explanation for the bandage.  A part of his mind seemed to remember an unbearable pain, but the circumstances were a little blurry in his brain.  He couldn’t tell how long he had been unconscious or asleep, but it certainly hadn’t been his usual night.  A sort of tiredness remained, in addition to his aching body.

Suddenly, and with some uneasiness, he remembered the voice that had dragged him outside of the castle, the hooded figure, the traveling boots, and the magic that had radiated from that mysterious person.

So there had been an enchantment cast upon him.  What else could account for the injury to his chest or the broken ribs?  But what could he do?  He didn’t know many spells.  Was there magic that could reveal enchantments?  And why on Earth did he not know more healing spells?

He wasn’t too sure about getting up but he tried anyway.  As expected, his vision began to blur and he had to sit down again, suppressing a groan.

This is not good, he thought distressingly.

His next impulse was to try a bit of magic.  He raised his hand close to a candle and he conjured an image of a burning flame in his mind.  A drop of orange fire appeared dancing in front of his eyes.  However, just when he was starting to feel the relief of seeing his magic work properly, a wave of pain took birth in his torso, increased when it hit his chest, and finally reached a peak as it climbed to his head.  The agony made him grab his forehead instinctively in an effort to suppress the pain.  He knew what it meant, of course.  His magic was impaired.  Someone had done this to him.  But who?  And why?

The urge to find an answer gave him the strength he needed to pull himself up from his bed.  He was glad that he didn’t sway or felt sick because it meant that he wouldn’t have to let Gaius know too much about what was affecting him.  After all, there was no need to worry his old mentor until he knew more.

“Finally!  I was beginning to think that I would have to pull you out of bed myself,” said Gaius as soon as he had stepped through the threshold.

Merlin was slightly taken aback.

“Shouldn’t you be telling me to stay in bed?”

The words had not finished coming out of his mouth that he felt himself sway on the spot and he had to lean heavily on a nearby table to remain standing.

Gaius was by his side in a blink of an eye.

“Even if the last two days haven’t been easy for you, it doesn’t mean that you have to stop eating and walking,” said the physician.

“I don’t remember being stabbed,” said Merlin weakly as Gaius was helping him sit down.  “Is that normal?”

“Normal doesn’t apply to you, unfortunately,” replied the old man with a grin that Merlin thought was slightly mysterious.

He then proceeded to lift Merlin’s shirt to check the bandage and the bruise.  His face twisted in concentration as he appraised Merlin’s condition.

“You are going to tell me about the stabbing, right?”

“Not stabbing, but a very precise, not to mention life-saving incision done by King Ulrik’s physician, Emmerich,” explained Gaius as he was busy with replacing the bandage and probing the sides of Merlin’s chest.