Merlin: The Light of Eriador

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

They were kneeling front of each other, a small blaze between them.  Merlin felt exhausted and sick.  His right hand was badly burnt and he could feel it stinging in the cold night air.  The old physician looked tired as well and he had difficulty catching his breath.  Odran was circling around the trees, watching for fear that their escape had been discovered.  It was only a matter of minutes.  They had left such a trail of bodies that the alarm would be given instantly.

“Emmerich, can you do anything for him?   He’s getting worst every time he uses his magic.  He can’t go on like this much longer,” said the prince worriedly.

But Merlin’s main concern was not the curse that was impairing his magic.  It was the identity of the man kneeling in front of him.  He had a tired expression, black hair with strand of white around his face, large shoulders but otherwise slender features.  He wasn’t the type of warrior that Arthur was, but a man who had been forced to take extreme measures often in his life.

My life, thought Merlin.  How did I end up like this?  How did I end up here?

“Who are you?” he asked plainly.  He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it out loud.

The physician flashed his eyes in anger.  “You are an idiot.   You weren’t supposed to use your magic.  It should have been easy.  Most of the time, you don’t use it anyway to keep it secret.”

“You know each other?” inquired Odran who was following the conversation only remotely.

“It’s more than that,” murmured Merlin.

Emmerich’s rage went on.  “You are a fool and your foolishness will bring about the end of Camelot and of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.”

“King Arthur,” gasped Merlin.

“Of course, King Arthur!  What did you think was going to happen?”

So it was true.  It was against all logic, against the laws of nature, but still it was true.  Was he really looking at his future self?  How did he become so bitter, so full of anger? 

“What happens?”  He wanted to add ‘in the future’, but he wasn’t ready to voice out that terrible truth yet.

Emmerich jumped to his feet, pacing around.  He looked like a man who had just remembered a very bad dream and was trying to escape it.

“It’s all so confused now,” he confessed.  “It was the most ridiculous idea.  Then again, we’re very good at having stupid ideas, you and I.  Court sorcerer.  Why not?  Arthur was King.  He would understand.  He wouldn’t burn me at the stake.  On that day of days, I was so full of hope, so confidant.  I thought that the world had changed in a single moment.  And so I told him without ceremony, without fear, that I was the sorcerer that had been eluding him and the whole of Camelot for all those years.”

Merlin allowed himself a wide smile.  “It doesn’t sound so bad.”

“It was stupid and selfish,” growled Emmerich.  “How was Arthur supposed to react?  I basically told him that I had been lying to him for years.  His best friend lied to him for years.  Do you know what that can do to a man in Arthur’s position?  You should have seen the look on his face.”

“I suppose that I will see it,” offered Merlin.

Emmerich was standing away from the blaze now and his face was half hidden in the shadows.  “I won’t let you do it,” he let out in a hoarse whisper.