Gavin was on his feet and back to helping the knights on the training field after a few days, much to Merlin’s relief. It was still a bit nerve wracking to see the normally cheerful boy so weak, even though he had been treated right away. When he returned to his duties they chatted companionably while sharpening swords on the sidelines of the practice field, and Merlin learned that Arthur had made arrangements for Gavin to continue on at Camelot.
“Ewan was my cousin,” Gavin said sadly, “on my mother’s side. I didn’t think there would be another knight who would take me on, but Sir Pellean has offered. Pellean’s related to Ewan by marriage I think... His mother’s sister’s husband’s brother is married to Ewan’s father’s brother’s wife’s sister.”
Merlin looked at Gavin in confusion. “How do you keep all that straight?”
Gavin shrugged. “That’s what family trees are for. Don’t you know all your family?”
Merlin snorted at that. “I think you’ll find most peasants don’t keep detailed accounts of family lineages. I don’t even know who my father was.”
“Really?” Gavin asked, genuinely surprised.
“Mum never wanted to talk about him and I never asked.”
“I can’t imagine what that’s like.”
“It’s not like anything, Gavin. It just is. I’m not bothered by it.”
“Perhaps your father was someone important who had a whirlwind romance with your mother,” Gavin said wistfully.
“I really don’t want to think about my mother having romances of any kind, but thanks for putting the thought in my mind.”
The young squire grinned wickedly. “Glad I could help.”
“So will Pellean be beating you up with a stick later then?”
“I’m not that bad at sword fighting. Ewan taught me a lot.”
“I didn’t say he hadn’t. I just don’t see how someone coming at you with a weapon with no instruction is particularly helpful.”
“Did Arthur do that to you?”
Merlin nodded.
“He should really teach you how to handle a blade, even if it’s just a dagger or throwing knives.”
“Not much point, is there? The prince can handle whatever is thrown his way.”
“If you’re his manservant, you might be around him when there are attacks as well. Better to be an asset than a liability.”
A shadow fell across them and a voice said, “I couldn’t agree more.”
Merlin looked up to see Arthur looming over them, red faced and sweaty from exertion. Merlin handed him a water skin, which Arthur took with a nod and gulped down several mouthfuls. Since the tournament, the prince had been making some effort to be, if not polite, then less prattish. Recorking the skin, Arthur tossed it back to Merlin and sat down on a stool beside Gavin with a sigh.
“Feeling back to normal, Gavin?”
“Yes sire. I was a bit tired when I got done my duties last night, but I’m feeling fine again today.”
“Good,” said Arthur with a nod. “Pellean and I will give you a lesson once everyone is done here today. You can spar with Merlin.”
Hearing this, Merlin groaned, but Arthur just laughed. “Don’t be such a girl, Merlin. I’m sure Gavin won’t be too hard on you.”
“I really don’t remember this being on my new list of duties.”
“I think this falls under the heading ‘other duties as assigned’ Merlin.”
“I hate you,” he said without heat.
Arthur grinned. “You love me. Everyone does. Don’t they Gavin?”
“Um...” said the young squire, sounding unsure as to whether the prince was joking or not and if he was if it would be alright for him to join in.
Arthur sighed a little and pushed his sweaty fringe out of his eyes. “I really never noticed just how unique your teasing disrespect was, Merlin. It seems no one else quite has the knack of it.”
Merlin snorted. “Thanks, I think.”
Arthur let out a burst of full, ringing laughter at that and Merlin couldn’t help smiling.
Arthur broke through the surface of the water and shook his wet hair like a dog, spraying droplets all over him. He waded into the water to join Arthur, watching the way the light glistened on the wet skin of Arthur’s chest. Reaching out a hand, he pulled Arthur close and lowered his mouth...
Merlin jerked in surprise, very startled by the nature of the latest image that overlaid itself on reality. Neither Arthur nor Gavin seemed to have noticed his distraction, however. Arthur was still chuckling and Gavin was watching him with a smile that still held a small nervous edge to it, as if the boy wasn’t quite comfortable with the idea of his prince laughing and joking around. Sir Pellean noticed their good humour and came over to discuss training and Merlin managed to pull himself together before anyone noticed his distraction. Talk turned to weapons and sparring, which made Merlin slightly nervous at the prospect of once again being on the receiving end of a beating disguised as training. The thought of bruises and ringing ears was enough to take his mind off of the strange, unsettling images of Arthur, for the time being.
Though it had been a miserable day and night, getting sacked by Arthur during the spring tournament had actually turned out to be a good thing overall. Instead of the situation being one they were both forced into, Arthur had chosen to take Merlin back as his manservant, and he in turn had accepted that serving Arthur was something he wanted to do. At least as long as it didn’t involve mucking out the stables. Although his duties were still considerably more numerous and time consuming than he’d like, they weren’t nearly as onerous or distasteful as they had been those first two weeks.
Things weren’t exactly what one might call easy between them, but there was an underlying respect that kept the criticisms and the insults on both sides from being particularly hurtful. Arthur still got exasperated at having to explain things he couldn’t imagine someone not knowing and Merlin still mocked the prince for being a prat, but for the most part it was good natured. Arthur also stopped threatening to send Merlin to the stocks every time they had a disagreement. Well, he stopped threatening with any seriousness anyway. It was still something that rolled off of Arthur’s tongue far too easily, but they both knew it was mentioned mostly out of habit and it became something of a joke between them.
The agreement the prince had worked out with Gaius allowed for Merlin to have more time to study with the physician, and study magic from the book on his own, though Arthur certainly wasn’t aware of that aspect of his education. The fear he had experienced when his magic failed to respond while trying to bring the statue of the dog to life seemed to be unfounded and his magic was advancing in leaps and bounds. The nearly uncontrollable surges he had initially felt when in the presence of the prince had become far more manageable. Merlin still felt it when Arthur walked into the room, but now his magic did more of the equivalent to a happy sigh than a barely contained explosion, for which he was extremely grateful. It was still somewhat disturbing to think that his magic was happy to be near Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther the executioner of magic users without mercy or evidence, but even the phantom sensation of an axe against his neck every time he saw the king didn’t seem to dampen his magic’s enthusiasm for Arthur to any measurable degree.
More troubling were the strange, and all too frequent, flashes of sensation that happened when Merlin was around Arthur. There was no discernable pattern to them, and though some of them were obviously related to each other the details changed in each. But the experience of them was the same. One moment he’d be with Arthur in the here and now and the next everything would be overlaid with strange images, sounds, sensations, even thoughts and emotions, and as suddenly as it started it would end. Most seemed to last only seconds, but they usually left him shaken for a long while afterwards.
His life in Camelot was far busier than it had ever been in Ealdor. When Arthur informed him that they would be away from the castle for several days hunting for the May Day celebrations, Merlin was startled to realise he had left his mother nearly two months ago and had scarcely had time to miss her. When he had left home, he couldn’t really imagine life without his mother’s presence and he had thought she would be on his mind constantly. In reality, Merlin was so caught up with his life in Camelot that he scarcely gave a thought to his mum and Will.
Arthur wanted to travel further from the city than his regular hunts took him and assembled a small group of knights to travel with him. They rode north for a day in the hopes of finding more game in the denser forest there. During the trip, Merlin listened to the knights and the prince rattle on about tracking boar and the best places to look for deer. Once they made camp, Merlin was put to work tending the fire, fetching water, cooking and generally being everyone's servant. None of the others had even brought their squires, though Arthur was selfish enough to keep them from ordering him about too much. He was kept surprisingly busy tending to the prince's things.
They spent several days setting snares for small game and tracking larger animals. Merlin felt rather useless during most of the actual hunting; though Arthur had given him a spear and informed him it was his job to flush out game. They walked as quietly as they could in search of tracks, with Arthur regularly hissing at Merlin not to makes so much noise. The first sign of boar came on the third day when Sir Leon spotted tracks in the wet mud by a stream. Arthur led the group along a narrow trail that seemed to be well used by animals that were all much shorter than Merlin if the branches that constantly swatted him in the face were any indication. Arthur halted them several times, examining the signs left on the trail and trying to determine how close they might be. When they approached a small clearing, even Merlin could hear the grunting close by. Arthur froze, then proceeded to make all kinds of bizarre hand gestures which Merlin really had no clue how to interpret. From the rather pointed look Arthur threw him followed by an exaggerated circling motion when he didn’t move, Merlin gathered he was supposed to go around and try to chase the boar into the clearing. With a quiet sigh, Merlin brushed away a fly that was buzzing around his head and set off to get on the other side of their quarry.
In the end, their quest for wild boar was successful, though Sir Owain had come very close to being gored by a tusk. He had managed to escape with only a shallow scrape and a rather painfully twisted ankle, but the knight didn't seem to mind. Owain was helped back to camp by Sir Bedivere while Arthur and Leon took it upon themselves to tend to their prize. In the process of scrambling through the dense underbrush from where he had first scared the boar to where it actually fell, Merlin managed to get completely caught up in a tangle of vine and called out for assistance.
"Arthur? I'm... um... I seem to be stuck."
"Quit fooling around, Merlin, and give us a hand with this."
"I would, but I can't get over there. I'm all tangled up in this vine thing. I'm stuck."
Arthur heaved a highly put upon sigh and left Leon to finish trussing up the boar. The prince's expression was one of amused exasperation more than genuine irritation, but Merlin still felt embarrassed. Arthur was very good at making him feel foolish, even when he wasn't trying.
"You really are something, Merlin."
"It's not my fault the stupid boar decided to run through the thickest bit of forest it could find. Anyway, I think it's your extra quiver that's gotten tangled up the worst."
Arthur started tugging at the vine, searching for someplace where the plant might give way. He reached up behind Merlin's head and tried to unwrap the mess of vines from where it was hooked on the quiver at Merlin's shoulder. Effectively pinned in place, both by the plant and the prince, Merlin’s face was trapped rather close to Arthur's when another vision overtook him.
Arthur looked at him with a burning intensity. As he leaned in closer, his grin turned wicked. "It seems I've caught you."
He was panting heavily, both from exertion and from the heat pounding though his veins. "What are you going to do with me?" he asked breathily.
"I'm sure I'll think of something," Arthur said, then closed the space between them.
Warm, slightly chapped lips pressed against his own and his thundering heart raced faster still. A hand reached up to grasp the back of his neck and held him close, but he had no intention of pulling away. The tip of a warm, wet tongue startled him into parting his lips, and then his mouth was being overtaken by a questing tongue sliding against his own.
Arthur gave a sharp yank and the last bit of vine trapping Merlin in place came free. The prince looked at him closely for a moment, then asked in concern, “You alright?”
Merlin could feel his face flush with embarrassment and nodded. “Yeah. Just a bit winded... from chasing the boar.”
Arthur shook his head, sighing heavily, and went to help carry the boar. “Hurry up, Merlin. Your skills as a healer may be dubious at best, but I’m sure Gaius sent you with some vile tonic that might be of some benefit to Owain.”
“I have a couple things that might do,” said Merlin. His legs were as shaky as a newborn foal as he followed Arthur and Leon back to camp, carefully keeping some distance between them as he tried to regain his equilibrium.
Merlin was grateful that both the large kill and Owain’s injury meant the end of their hunting expedition. He was very careful not to touch Arthur again, even a small brush of the hand, and thankfully no more flashes came. The sensory memory attached to the last was enough to keep his head spinning without adding any more.
Upon arriving back to the castle the following evening, Merlin hurried to complete the list of tasks Arthur had given him and waited impatiently for the quiet of night. Gaius had gone so far as to compliment Merlin on his care and wrapping of Owain’s foot, but his anxiety was great enough he didn’t really hear it. Although he was exhausted from days tramping around in the forest and a long ride home, he forced himself to stay awake and wait for Gaius to fall asleep.
In the stillness of the night, Merlin snuck out of his room and travelled the disused corridors and stairways that lead to the dragon’s cavern. He still couldn’t bring himself to talk with Gaius about the visions he was experiencing. The old man was already concerned enough about the wildness of Merlin’s magic and he felt like even mentioning the idea of visions of any sort would cause more worry. His flashes concerned him, but he wanted to understand them more than he wanted to get rid of them. The dragon seemed like the only other option he had, and for some reason talking about them with him seemed right.
The guards on watch at the top of the stairs were already dull with fatigue and Merlin used one of his newly learned spells to send them to sleep where they sat leaning on the table. He quietly tiptoed down the stairs with a torch and stepped through the passage out onto the ledge.
“Hello?” he called into the shadows.
There was no response for a long time, and though he couldn’t think of anyone else to talk to Merlin was starting to have second thoughts about discussing the strange flashes of sensation with the dragon. Perhaps he should talk to Gaius about them. More quietly, he called, “Are you there?”
For such a large creature, the dragon could be very quiet. Merlin could hear water dripping and air moving through the unseen recesses of the cavern, but oddly enough he couldn’t hear the faintest sound that might have been made by the dragon.
“Kilgarrah?” Merlin said tentatively and started. Where had that come from? He thought it must be the dragon’s name, but like so many other things that sprang to his mind lately, he had no idea how he knew that.
A low rumbling chuckle filled the cave and the sound of a heavy metal chain clinked in the darkness. Merlin heard leathery wings beating in the air above him and the dragon descended into the main chamber. Glowing eyes stared intently at him and an expression that might be considered a grin, if such a thing were even possible, wrote itself across the dragon’s face.
The dragon’s voice rumbled with amusement. “So you have regained some of your memories. I was beginning to wonder.”
“Memories? What do you mean?”
“I admit to being surprised that you had not yet remembered anything when you first came to visit me, but I see that it was merely a delay, not an absence of memory entirely.”
“Do you know what’s happening to me?”
“In what way?”
“Since I first came here, I’ve been having these... flashes, moments where I can see, hear, smell, even feel things that aren’t there. It’s not just that, either. There are words, spells and things, that just pop into my mind and I don’t know how I know them. I feel like I’m going mad.”
“Have no fear for your sanity, warlock, you are simply beginning to remember things that you have forgotten.”
“Forgotten? But I’ve never studied magic before. I never learned any spells. What is there for me to remember?”
“This is not your first time at anything, warlock, and I have known of you, and your destiny, since I was young.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You will remember when the time is right. You always do.”
“What about the other Arthurs? Are they memories too?”
“You and Arthur are two sides of the same coin. There cannot be one without the other,” the dragon said simply, then with a great heave of muscle and wing launched himself into the upper reaches of the cavern.
Once again, Merlin was left staring at the space where the dragon had just been, feeling wrong footed. The strange moments of thought and sensation were memories? How could that even be possible? He was just Merlin. Hunith’s strange little by-blow. Always-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time Merlin.
“I can’t be one side of a coin or one half of a whole or whatever it is you think I am, Kilgarrah. I’ve always been very alone... but I suppose it was a mistake to think you might help me,” Merlin said softly to the darkness and turned on his heel and left. For a moment, he thought he could hear the faint sound of the dragon chuckling, and he pounded up the stairs as fast as he could.
May Day came and went in a flurry of song, dance and feasting that went on late into the night. Merlin felt unsettled and nearly jumped out of his skin every time he got close enough to the prince that they might accidentally brush against one another. Even if the dragon refused to give him a full explanation, he knew that contact with Arthur triggered the flashes or memories, if that’s what they really were, more often. Arthur looked at him oddly whenever they happened to touch and Merlin pulled away as if burnt, but did not comment on it. There were plenty of other things to occupy his royal attention.
Three days after May Day, the first body was found in the street, drained of colour with spidery marks spread across his skin. Merlin had been with Gaius that morning as it was a council day and Arthur’s agreement with the physician released him to his studies during the three days a week the prince was obliged to spend in council with the king. They had found the victim in the alley beside the apothecary, and though they had gone to some effort to keep the death from upsetting people in the town, soon there were a dozen more bodies and both the city and the castle were in a state of panic.
In Gaius’ workroom there was plenty of panic to go around.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?”
“As the court physician, this is my job, and as my apprentice it is yours too,” Gaius told Merlin yet again. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this. The progression from onset to death isn’t more than a day. Nearly all illnesses progress slower and those that do affect the body this quickly don’t match the symptoms. I can’t help but think that this is not a natural sickness.”
“Not natural? What do you mean?”
“The only explanation I can think of is that sorcery is involved somehow. There is nothing in my medical texts that resembles this sickness.”
“You mean, someone is making people sick by magic?”
“Or using magic to spread something that is making people sick. I still can’t determine the source of the illness. People are becoming ill, seemingly at random. Most are from the lower town, but even though the king has quarantined the city, there are already three nobles infected.”
“And there’s no way to cure any of them?”
“I’m afraid not. Our best solution is to stop the spread.”
“But if the sickness is spread by magic, perhaps there’s something in my book that can cure it.”
“Are you mad? I’m certain Uther already suspects sorcery and the moment I tell him my conclusions there is bound to be a full scale search of the entire city. We can’t go using magical shortcuts, Merlin. We must rely on science to find the answers.”
“But Gaius, people are dying! I’m doing really well with the healing magic. It’s almost as easy for me as the stuff I do without spells.”
“And it’s very dangerous for you to be using.”
Merlin felt himself shaking, and turned away from Gaius. Right now, he couldn’t trust himself to be polite, and Gaius really didn’t deserve his anger. Heading for the door, Merlin said, “I need to get some air.”
“While you’re out you can stop by the herb garden. Some fresh mint and ginger would be useful. And Merlin... don’t do anything foolish.”
Merlin all but ran from the room. He hated feeling helpless and watching Gaius fiddle with his experiments while not making any obvious progress made him feel the need to escape. Instead of heading for the herb garden, however, he made his way up onto the castle battlements that overlooked the town. There was usually a breeze up there that made the air fresh, and when he felt trapped looking out at the fields surrounding the city made him feel less confined.
When he arrived, Merlin found Arthur standing rigidly overlooking the city.
“Sorry,” he mumbled and turned to leave.
“Merlin? What are you doing up here?” Arthur asked. “I thought you were helping Gaius.”
“I was, but... I had to get out of there for a bit.”
“The physician thing isn’t all it’s made out to be?”
“It’s not that. I just feel so helpless. People are dying and we don’t even know how the sickness is spreading. All of Gaius’ experiments take so long. It’s really frustrating.”
Merlin had half expected ridicule for his complaint, but instead he saw Arthur nodding.
“I know the feeling. Look at the lower town.”
Merlin scanned the normally bustling streets and found them nearly empty. There was no one at the stalls in the market and the only people about seemed to be the occasional person scurrying towards the well, and then hurrying back to their homes. Even from so far above them, he could sense their fear.
“It’s so quiet.”
“Everyone’s scared. I’m supposed to help protect the people, but father won’t even let me do patrols in the lower town in case I contract the sickness. He’s cut them off and left them to die. What for? There are already people in the castle who are sick too.”
“We’re going to figure this out. I know Gaius will find a way to stop the sickness.”
“I just hope there are still people left when he does.”
“Me too,” Merlin agreed.
For a long while they stood side by side in silence. It was soothing somehow, to know that Arthur was feeling as frustrated as he was.
Feeling calmer after the quiet moment spent in Arthur’s company, Merlin said, “I should get down to the herb garden. There are a few things that Gaius is short of.”
“Hop to it, then,” Arthur commanded, but his tone was friendly.
When Merlin reached the door, Arthur turned and called out to him, “Don’t go thinking that getting sick will get you out of your duties. I expect you back to work the moment Gaius is done with you.”
Merlin smiled. “You be careful too.”
When Merlin returned to Gaius’ chambers, he found the physician slumped on a chair by his workbench, staring at the body they had laid out for examination. Merlin still found the presence of the body disturbing, but the expression of bewilderment Gaius wore was even more troubling.
“Did you find anything?” Merlin asked as he set down the basket of herbs, already knowing the answer.
Gaius shook his head. “My experiments have yet to indicate a method of infection. What would a noblewoman and a boy from the lower town have in common?”
“Well, they probably wouldn’t talk to each other.”
Gaius gave him a withering look, but nodded. “No, they wouldn’t, which means the sickness is not spread through the air. I had already ruled that out, however. If it were airborne, I doubt there would be anyone left in the city or castle left unaffected by now.”
“They don’t wash their clothes in the same place or eat the same food.”
“True.”
“And the water for the castle comes from the well in the courtyard and the lower town gets theirs from the pump by the wall.”
“Wait a moment. That could be it.”
“But those are differences.”
“Not really, Merlin. The supply for both of those comes from the main cistern. Gather some jars. We’re going to take some samples.”
Gaius sent him to fetch water samples from the courtyard and the lower town, as well as from the large supply kept on hand in the castle kitchens, the stream flowing south of the horse paddocks beyond the walls and from barrels of rainwater collected from rooftops around the entire city. When Merlin returned, the physician lined up the dozen different samples and placed a delicate flower in each. In very short order, two of the jars had shrivelled blossoms, while the rest remained unaffected.
“Brilliant, Merlin. I believe we’ve found the method of transmission,” said Gaius.
“But the sample from the kitchens is fine. How can that be?”
“The kitchens store a great deal of water to have on hand for all that they need. It doesn’t need to be refilled more that once a week. The castle’s biggest saving grace has been that store, or surely everyone would have taken ill. The water from the stream also appears to be untainted, though that is not a very practical alternative for supply as it has dried up considerably since the spring runoff, but the rainwater is safe as well.”
“That’s not too bad, though. At least we know what’s making people sick.”
“With the emergency supplies the city may not be able to go for long, but you are right, we should be able to keep more from getting sick, for a while. Bring the samples from the main supply. We need to show the king immediately.”
As anticipated, Uther did not react well when informed that the illness was most likely magical in origin and resulting from some form of contamination to the main water supply for the entire city. The king ordered immediate rationing of the emergency water supply and a full scale search of both the castle and the town for the sorcerer responsible for the illness. Privately, Merlin thought it rather ridiculous to expect whoever might have tainted the water supply to have stayed in Camelot, but he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. Uther was never known to be rational in the face of magic and, since the incident with Knight Valiant, Merlin did his best to avoid the king’s notice. Uther was an exceptionally proud man and resented anyone he believed to have caused him to lose face.
In an effort to find the nature of the contamination, Gaius was given the keys to the cistern. Merlin gathered several more jars for samples and followed the physician into the dark and damp of the city’s main water supply. The space was larger than Merlin had expected, with several reservoirs connected by channels with narrow foot paths between each.
“Be careful not to touch the water when you collect the samples. The contaminant is likely to be more potent near the source. Fill a jar from each of the pools and do be sure check the label first.”
“Why are we checking each pool? They’re all connected.”
“Potency, Merlin,” Gaius said in exasperation. “If my suspicions are correct, the pools that are closest to the pipe that draws water for the lower town will be more affected than those where the well for the castle is. All will be contaminated, but if we know which of the pools is most affected, we are more likely to find the source. When we find the source, we might have some hope of discovering a way to purify the water.”
“Right. Just asking. One sample from each.”
“Sorry my boy,” Gaius apologised, “I didn’t mean to be short with you. The questions you’re asking aren’t foolish and I am glad you want to know why we follow the procedures we do.”
Merlin looked over his shoulder and smiled at Gaius. “It’s alright. I don’t think anyone is at their best just now.”
“Let’s hope we can find a way to remedy that.”
Merlin carefully dipped a jar into each section of the reservoir and was careful to stopper each properly and wipe the outside with a rag to avoid getting contaminated by the water himself. When all the jars were filled, he carefully made his way back along the narrow path and followed Gaius as he turned to leave.
Behind them, there was a large splash and a threatening growl. Merlin spun around to see something large and menacing rise from one of the pools and move towards them. While he stood for a moment, staring at the creature in shock, Gaius put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him towards the entrance.
When the door was shut and locked securely behind them, Merlin looked at Gaius in bewilderment. “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know.”
“But... what... how do we...”
“That is what books are for, Merlin. I’m certain there will be something in one of my references that will explain what it is.”
Merlin nodded dumbly and followed Gaius back up to the castle.
The number of books Gaius possessed was truly staggering. Merlin could appreciate all the knowledge contained in them, but even with daily practice, his reading was still slow and laboured. Unlike his book of magic, however, most of the tomes Gaius asked him to read were written in precise, tidy script and well organized. Running his fingers along the spines of the many books in his shelves, Gaius found the ones he was looking for and passed one to Merlin.
“This one is an index of creatures born of magic. Check the section on those found in water first,” Gaius said beginning to flip through another heavy book he had just pulled from the shelf.
Merlin nodded and began to slowly search for the creature they had seen in the water supply. Fortunately there were many illustrations to aid his search, but krakens and selkies did not resemble whatever it was they had found. His finger tracked the words slowly as he read, stumbling over the many strange, unfamiliar words.
The room was quiet for some time, save Merlin’s soft mumbled reading. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Gaius made a sound of triumph and thumped a book on the table in front of him.
“Look here. I believe the creature we saw was an afanc.”
“An afanc? What’s that?”
“It’s a beast born of clay which can only be conjured by the most powerful of sorcerers.”
“Oh. How do we get rid of one of those?”
“I’m certain one of my references will have the answer,” Gaius said with confidence.
Merlin glanced up at the books that filled shelf after shelf and sat in teetering piles beside Gaius’ writing desk. He looked at the physician in horror. “That could take forever! Didn’t the king say the city would be out of emergency water in less than two days?”
“He did. I suggest you start looking.”
Merlin groaned, but accepted the book Gaius handed him without complaint.
Hours later, the words blurred before his eyes and his head ached. Actually, when he stopped to rub his eyes and shift in his seat, Merlin discovered that his back and shoulders and a whole bunch of other body parts ached as well. The search for a solution remained fruitless and he sighed in frustration.
“How does someone conjure an afanc anyway?”
“Hmmm? Why do you ask?” inquired Gaius without looking up from the book he was searching.
Merlin shrugged. “I don’t know... couldn’t I just unconjure it or something?”
“Unconjure isn’t even a word, Merlin.”
“Whatever. You said it’s made of clay, right?”
Gaius nodded, putting his book down. “Clay and water.”
“Do you suppose it might be like a frog?”
“It may have been a long time since I was last in Ealdor, but I’m certain the frogs you find there bear little resemblance to the afanc we saw.”
“No, I didn’t mean that it likes to hop around and eat insects. I was only thinking how frogs prefer to stay where it’s wet and cool. They don’t like to be where it’s hot and dry. Do you think an afanc might be like that?”
“It certainly seems to have thrived in the damp and dark of the cistern. I wouldn’t suggest chasing it out of there to roam the countryside, however.”
“Of course not. I was just thinking if maybe we could dry it out or something...”
“Actually, you may be onto something. An afanc is made of two of the base elements, earth and water. Perhaps air and fire might destroy it.”
“Do you think it needs to be magical fire or-” Merlin began, but a knock at the door interrupted him.
Arthur opened the door a moment later. “How did your search of the water supply go, Gaius? Did you find anything suspicious?”
“You could say that,” muttered Merlin.
Arthur looked at him expectantly. “What did you find?”
Merlin cast a nervous glance at Gaius, but answered, “There’s a creature called an afanc down there poisoning the water.”
“A creature?” Arthur asked with interest.
“Yes Sire,” said Gaius showing the prince the description. “It’s a creature not occurring naturally, but instead is conjured by a sorcerer.”
“And that’s what is down in the cisterns?”
Gaius nodded gravely.
Arthur took a long look at the book before striding towards the door with purpose. The physician called out after him, “Your Highness, where are you going?”
“To kill the afanc,” Arthur said, not slowing down.
“Uh oh,” Merlin groaned.
“You had better go with him. I fear a sword alone will not be capable of defeating an afanc.”
“How did he avoid getting killed when I wasn’t around?” Merlin asked.
It had been a rhetorical question, but Gaius answered him anyway. “Before you arrived in Camelot, Arthur was never the target of a magical attack, surprisingly enough. Uther was targeted many times, but never the prince. I hadn’t thought about it before, but it is most odd.”
“That prat leads a charmed life. I suppose I had better catch up with him before his luck runs out.”
Merlin caught up to Arthur at the heavy, locked door that normally kept people from causing mischief in the cisterns, but now was effectively keeping the afanc inside. He arrived just in time to see the prince pull at the door and curse softly. Merlin held back a chuckle and shook the keys he was carrying.
Arthur spun around. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought you might want these,” Merlin said with feigned innocence, jingling the keys again.
“Hand them over, and get out of here.”
“Not happening.”
“This isn’t a game, Merlin. Give me the keys.”
“You can have the keys, but I’m not leaving.”
“I wasn’t aware that slaying vicious creatures was something you were skilled at.”
“You also didn’t wait around to hear Gaius explain how to kill the thing.”
“Generally when you run a beast through with a sword or a spear it dies.”
“Unless it’s a magical creature. Ordinary weapons don’t usually work for killing things that are created by magic.”
“Really,” Arthur said sceptically, “and I suppose you are an expert in these things.”
Merlin glared at Arthur. “I don’t spend all my time with Gaius mopping floors and cleaning leech tanks. He is actually teaching me things.”
“Right, so how do I kill this afanc creature down there?”
“It’s made from earth and water, so we think that fire will be needed to destroy it.”
“You think. That fills me with confidence.”
“We haven’t exactly had time to sort out all the details. You could always wait until tomorrow when we’ve had a chance to finish our research, but if you’re determined to rush in there now, sword swinging, then I think the torch is going to be more useful to you.”
“Good to know. Now give me the keys and get back up to the castle.”
Merlin pushed past Arthur an unlocked the door himself. He ignored Arthur’s protests and held his torch in front of him. Merlin tried to look more confident than he felt about entering a dark space with lots of tunnels and hiding spots, one of which contained a vicious magical creature he wasn’t entirely certain he could kill. Arthur apparently gave up on trying to make him leave and closed the door behind them, then pushed forward into the gloom.
Their footsteps echoed in the darkness, making Merlin jump as the sounds played tricks on his ears. Merlin pointed the way towards the main chamber where the reservoirs were and they moved cautiously into the larger room. It was eerily quiet, and Merlin wondered if the ability to be incredibly silent was a trait all magical creatures possessed. He was reminded of the strange way sound travelled through the dragon’s cavern and shivered a bit. The afanc wasn’t likely to be interested in a conversation and it certainly wasn’t chained.
“Over there,” Merlin whispered. “That was the pool it was in earlier. It’s closest to the feed for the lower town.”
Arthur nodded in acknowledgement and lifted his torch higher to cast more light on the gloomy pool. The water was still, and though it looked a bit murky, there was nothing lurking beneath the water. Gesturing towards the closest tunnel that led away from the water, Arthur began searching for footprints or any sign of where the creature might have gone to. As they followed a trail of water into the tunnel, Merlin felt his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He jumped and twitched at every little sound and concluded that the anticipation of finding the creature had to be worse than actually fighting the thing. He was just about to suggest they backtrack to the main room of the cistern and try another tunnel, when an angry snarl reverberated through the confined space.
Merlin whirled around, holding his torch out defensively in front of him. Arthur had backed up close to him and they turned in slow circle, back to back, eyes searching the shadows. A dark shape crossed the section of tunnel they had just come up. Arthur took the lead and moved towards it. Darting out of a recess, the afanc growled and snapped at the prince. Arthur drew his sword and took several ineffective swipes at the creature, hastily jumping back each time the afanc reared in fury from the blows.
Merlin figured it was likely habit that had Arthur attacking with his sword, rather than with the fire, and he shouted out, “Use the torch, Arthur! Not the sword!”
Arthur shifted his grip on the torch and jabbed at the creature’s eyes. It roared and howled, sending terrifying sounds echoing off the stone walls. The fire had the afanc backing up through the tunnel, towards the main room of the cistern, but the torch flame wasn’t enough to kill it. Merlin wondered for a moment how they might catch the creature if it escaped back into the pools where the water would protect it from fire. Fire needed air, after all, not water.
The thought was enough to spur Merlin into action. Arthur was thoroughly distracted by the snapping teeth of the angry monster, and Merlin’s magic responded to his will more easily than it ever had. A swirling gust of wind blew through the tunnels and made the flaming torch in Arthur’s hand blaze brightly. The fire grew and expanded to encompass the entire head of the afanc. The creature howled and clawed at its face in pain, but the flame grew larger still sizzling and crackling along its skin. Merlin encouraged the fire to burn brighter and hotter and with one last shriek of pain, the afanc fell to the floor and lay motionless as the flame swept over its entire body.
Certain the afanc was dead, Merlin pulled back his magic and stilled the air. The cave smelled of burnt dust he could almost taste on his tongue. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Merlin said, “That smells disgusting.”
Arthur glanced back at him a grin tugging at his lips. “Were you expecting it to smell of flowers?”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure you killed it. Let’s get out of here. Gaius will probably want to come down and examine the body.”
“Better get used to the smell then,” Arthur quipped.
Merlin pretended to scowl, which had Arthur laughing and shoving him towards the entrance passage. When they reached the door, they found it thrown wide open. Arthur looked at it, puzzled.
“I was certain I closed the door behind us.”
For a moment, Merlin’s breath caught in his throat and he wondered if Arthur was going to remark on the suspicious way his torch had flamed higher in the tunnel. Then the prince shrugged, closed the heavy wooden door firmly, and gestured for Merlin to lock it.
“I suppose I didn’t. It’s a lucky thing too. The gust of wind it let in must have been what made the torches flare up like that,” Arthur reasoned.
Merlin smiled weakly. “Yeah, must have.”
Gaius spent most of the next day conducting experiments on the main water supply, adding tinctures and testing the results several times before he was satisfied that the contamination was gone. Merlin drew sample after sample for him from all the pools both from the top and at the bottom of each reservoir. This meant he was thoroughly drenched and miserable by the time they did the final check on the last pool. Teeth chattering, he shed the blanket he had wrapped around his shoulders one more time and slipped into the cold water. His shivering was quite apart from the cold, however. The last pool had been the one the afanc had surfaced from. Even though he knew the creature was gone, there was still a thrill of fear at entering the water.
Merlin took a deep breath and ducked under the water, swimming to the bottom. He pulled the cork off the bottle, let it fill, then jammed the cork back on. Pushing off the bottom of the pool, Merlin’s foot brushed against something smooth and round. He burst through the surface of the water, gasping for breath.
“There’s something at the bottom,” he spluttered at Gaius.
“What?” Gaius asked in concern.
Merlin swam to the edge and handed the bottle to Gaius. “I don’t think it was something living. Here. I’m going to see if I can find it.”
It took Merlin two more dives to find the round thing again. It felt fragile and he pulled it carefully from the water and set it on the stone edge of the pool. By the time he pulled himself up out of the water and wrapped himself in the blanket again, Gaius had already picked it up and was examining something that looked like two halves of a large shell closely in the dim light.
“What is it?” Merlin asked.
Gaius looked up at him. “I think I know where our afanc problem came from.”
“Is that what that is? An afanc egg?”
“Not precisely. It is, however, how the afanc was placed in our water system. Do you see this sigil?” Gaius pointed at a marking on the shell of two red chevrons pointed in opposing directions with a dot in the centre of the diamond it made.
“What does that mean?”
“That is the mark of a very powerful sorceress, one who bears a great hatred towards Uther. Her name is Nimueh.”
“So she conjured the afanc and sent it here in that egg.”
Gaius nodded. “It would seem so. I had best report this to the king straight away. Good job Merlin. Get yourself dressed and go down to the kitchens for something warm. We’ll finish the last of the samples when I get back.”
Merlin shivered and nodded.
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