Friends to Be Feared

Chapter 2: Sorcerer

I couldn't think. My friend, my best friend, a sorcerer. The day started out fine, normal.

We were packing up camp, about to ride off to a new hunting ground, when suddenly all the recently untied horses reared and bolted. There was a shout from one of my knights and I turned only to see an arrow, stopped right in front of my nose. For a moment all was quiet, there was no shouting or whistling of arrows, everyone just stood, frozen. Not even the sounds of the wild could be heard, as if the very leaves themselves were holding their breaths in this moment. I stood in shock. I didn't want to look, didn't want to see. But I couldn't unsee it. My best friend, with those cursed golden eyes. The arrow dropped but the woods stayed silent, waiting. I'll never forget the look on his face. The look on his face in that moment, relief, shock... and fear. For a moment I just stood there, staring at him, his mouth opening then snapping shut. Finally he snapped out of whatever stupor he had been in and drew his sword.

"Arthur, please, let me explain!" He looked so fearful, pleading. He had no right.

"Sorcerer!" I yelled at him, screamed. I don't remember what I said exactly, it's all a blur from that point. But as I spoke I got closer to him and he kept backing up. Eventually he tripped, falling back and continued to scramble away from me until he hit a log, my sword at his throat. By that point I was panting, worn out by my tirade but my sword was steady. I could hear the other knights behind me, silent, stunned by my reaction.  But I didn't pay attention to any of that, all I could see was Merlin, Merlin the traitor, the liar, the sorcerer. He was staring at me with wide eyes, shock and fear written on every line on his body. His mouth was slightly parted, his breaths coming out in tiny gasps. Afraid, afraid of me. My best friend was scared of me, was terrified. I was deliberating what to do at that point when all of the sudden the sword was yanked from my hand I was pushed back, landing on the ground. A shout reverberated in the clearing,

"Run Emrys! Run!!!" He ran. I only had a moment to think about the odd name before we were chasing him through the woods, like the animals that Merlin always advocated for. We finally cornered him at a river, the rain having started as we were chasing him. On my signal Leon and Elyan started moving to the sides of Mer...the sorcerer. He didn't seem to notice, just staring at me. I couldn't help but wonder how he was never discovered, how he lied all this time. His emotions were plainly written on his face, a mix of exhaustion, fear, anger, pain, and something else that I didn't want to acknowledge. Leon, having reached the sorcerers side the fastest, quickly knocked him out with the butt of hiis sword.

Betrayal. Merlin looked betrayed.

I stared at him now. Propped up on the cave wall where we made camp. The rain having only gotten stronger, the wind faster. Without the horses and so far from Camelot we had no choice but to find shelter and make camp. Not to mention the added struggle of transporting a prisoner.

Merlin, a prisoner, those two words didn't seem to go together.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard a soft groan and a small shuffle. Merl... the sorcerer was waking up. The knights all went silent. I looked around at them, all the knights of the round table, all of them except Gwaine, I was momentarily thankful I left him in charge of the knights for an impromptu lesson in responsibility. Another shuffle from the cave wall brought my attention back to problem at hand. He was waking up unnaturally slow, his eyes open but unfocused. the head wound shouldn't be causing this many problems. I decided to try and speed up the process.

"Wake up sorcerer." There was a little more venom in that last word than I intended but it did the trick.

He stiffened and his eyes seemed to focus, at least focus more. He looked at me for a moment before his eyes slid past me. I couldn't tell if he was looking at his surrounding or if his eyes were just wandering so I decided to try and bring his attention back to me.

"Hey, sorcerer." I snapped my fingers in his face but his eyes continued to wander. I sighed. Typical.

"Merlin. Merlin, Are you even listening to me?" There! A reaction. I ignored the pang the went through my chest when I used his name. Sorcerer, he was a sorcerer. Just a sorcerer.

The sorcerer squinted at me and took a moment to respond, it looked like he was processing my words before sharply nodding. Though that small movement seemed to send pain through his skull as he then winced. I frowned, this couldn't only be because of the head wound.

"A storm has hit and we are currently residing in a cave. We are waiting out the storm until we can make it back to Camelot where you will be put on trial for the crimes of sorcery." Merlin winced. Distance. I needed to distance myself from Mer... the sorcerer. It didn't matter if he was in pain, he was going to die soon anyway. That thought sent a pang through me, despite his lies, his betrayal, I didn't want him to die. But... magic was evil. He chose this, now he has to face the consequences. Maybe it was that thought, or maybe it was just the buildup of emotions welling Inside me, or maybe it was the look on Merlin's face, his eyes unfocused yet full of some dark emotion he couldn't quite place.

Whatever the reason, it drove him to say with no small amount of bitterness,

"Oh, and don't bother using any magic. Those chains prevent that." It seemed to take a moment for my words to sink in. When they did he slowly looked down, incomprehension quickly turning to panic. He seemed to be trying to lift his arms but it didn't seem to be working, suddenly he went completely still, his eyes unfocused yet frantically searching for something. I was about to reach for him but then he started screaming, gut-wrenching, pain-filled, screams.

"What's happening? What did you do?" Percival. I only had a moment to process his out of character response before Merlin's screams suddenly changed to whimpers before quickly silencing. He slumped over and I caught him, slowly laying him down on the cave floor.

What the hell just happened?