Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

Chapter Four:

As the first light of dawn appeared in the sky, Lancelot turned to the other Knights. He'd been unable to sleep at all since Merlin had left, the forest was dangerous and Merlin was alone… But Merlin was the most powerful of them all, there were few things in this world that could truly hurt him, not that it eased Lancelot's worry any.

Lancelot drew his knife from his belt and approached the Knights. He knelt before Percival first and quickly cut the ropes binding his wrists and ankles, leaving Percival to remove the gag on his own. Next he moved to Elyan and then Gwaine. Finally he came to Leon and he paused for a moment. Sir Leon was the one he feared the reaction of the most. Reaching forward Lancelot cut the ropes binding Leon and sat back on his heels and waited for their reactions.

Would they kill him on the spot? Or take him back to Camelot?

"Well?" Gwaine said, jumping to his feet. "What are you waiting for? We need to find Merlin!"

"No," Leon answered.

"We can't just let him go like that!" Gwaine exclaimed. "He thinks we hate him! That we'd have him executed! He's my best friend and he thinks I hate him!"

"Gwaine!" Leon said sharply as he got to his feet. "You forget your place. You are a Knight of Camelot. You swore an oath to the crown, to the King. You are duty and honour bound to up hold the law."

"Leon's right, Gwaine," Elyan said joining the conversation. "If we ever see Merlin again, it'll be our duty to arrest him and take him back to Camelot… Where he'll be sentenced to death."

"Merlin has gone and be thankful he has," Leon said. "He escaped before we could arrest him. That is all the court needs to know. If they question why we did not follow the sorcerer, the answer is simple. We are here to aid the outlying villages and that is what we shall do. That is the order I have given. We continue on our way and we help those who we came here to help. By the time we return to Camelot, Merlin will be long gone and no patrols sent after him will be able to catch up with him before he crosses the border."

"What about Lancelot?" Percival interrupts, now standing beside his oldest friend.

Leon turned to look at Lancelot.

"He was under an enchantment," Leon finally said. "He did not help the sorcerer of his own free will."

"That isn't true and you know it," Gwaine exclaimed.

"But it is what we will tell the court," Leon answered. "To say any different would result in Lancelot being branded a traitor and sentenced to death."

"And we all know if that happens, Merlin will risk his life by returning to Camelot to try and save him," Elyan pointed out.

"I cannot lie to the King," Lancelot stepped forward.

"Then don't answer," Leon replied. "The enchantment cast over you, forbids you from spilling the sorcerer's secrets."

)o(

The hallway was dark, almost impossibly so. Merlin looked round, but the way behind him seemed to have fallen away into the darkness. Ahead of him light spilled out from an open doorway and Merlin slowly made his way towards it. He kept one hand on the wall closest to him as he walked, it was so dark he couldn't even see his own feet.

As Merlin stepped into the light coming from the open doorway, he stood with his back to the wall next to the doorway, before peering round it into the room. The room was like none he had ever seen before, it was full of magical artefacts, spell book and countless crystals. Merlin jaw dropped. He'd never seen so magical related objects in one place before.

Slowly Merlin stepped into the room, looking round in wonder as he did so. Herbs, brightly coloured gem stones and charms hung from the ceiling. Posters covered in runes and magical related diagrams covered the parts of the walls not covered by bookshelves… And the bookshelves! Merlin had never before seen so many spell books! He trailed his fingers along their spins as he walked around the edge of the room.

Jar and bottles covered the tables and a cauldron bubbled over the fire across the room from where Merlin walked. Merlin smiled and walked over to one of the tables, stepping to study the pages of an open book. He frowned as the picture it showed. It looked like a giant spotted cat, which breathed out an odd coloured smoke. Nudu was it's given the name and the smoke which it breathed out was deadly and anyone who came in contact with it died from an awful disease.

A spell was listed below it… Telling someone how to summon the creature! Merlin's eyes widened as he continued to read. There was also a spell that could send the creature back from where it had been summoned from, but the creature could return at any time, as the summoning spell formed a link with whoever cast it, leaving the creature a route to return through… There was also a spell which could kill the creature, but only one sorcerer had ever cast that spell and succeeded…

It had been Cornelius Sigan.

Suddenly footsteps caught Merlin's attention and he looked up to see the sorcerer he had faced in the forest walk into the room. Merlin quickly backed away from the table, but there was no where he could hide… Not that it mattered the sorcerer didn't even seem to notice him as he walked over to the spell book Merlin had been looking at moments before.

"Emrys!"

Merlin woke with a start and sat bolt upright. He looked round the cave he was in wildly, as he tried to work out where he was. Iseldir stood in the entrance to the small cave, watching Merlin curiously. That was right, he was staying the night with the druids.

"I did not mean to startle you, Emrys," Iseldir apologised.

"It's fine," Merlin answered. "Just a strange dream that was all."

Iseldir raised an eyebrow at Merlin and for a second Merlin thought of Gaius and a feeling of guilt washed over him. He hadn't thought about how his actions would affect Gaius… Ever since Merlin had arrived in Camelot, Gaius had feared for the day Merlin's secret was found out and now it had been…

"Emrys?"

Merlin looked up and realised Iseldir had been talking.

"I'm sorry," Merlin said. "What did you say?"

"Would you like to join me for breakfast, Emrys?" Iseldir asked.

"Yes," Merlin nodded and forced himself to smile. "I'd love to, Iseldir."

)o(

"Halt!" Leon ordered as they came to the top of a ridge overlooking a village.

The other Knights came to halt behind him and they all stared down at the village.

"Where are the people?" Percival asked, breaking the silence which had fallen over the group.

"That's a good question," Leon said. "Let's find out."

He jumped off his horse and carefully led it down the ridge. The other Knights were quick to follow. They entered the village cautiously, looking round for any sign of life. The village was completely silent and nothing moved.

"What do you think happened here?" Elyan asked, looking around and trying not show the unease he felt.

"No idea," Percival answered from where he was kneeling on the ground looking for tracks. "There's no signs of a fight or struggle."

Gwaine nodded in agreement, "Nothing's been touched. This place hasn't been raided."

Lancelot looked round, it was almost like everyone had simply vanished. Personal items were still visible through opened doorways and work tools lay on the ground like they'd simply been dropped where the villagers worked.

"Hey!" A voice yelled.

The Knights turned to see a young woman walking towards them. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and her lower face was covered by a scarf.

"You can't be here!" She yelled at them from where she had stopped just outside the edge of the village.

"Excuse me, Miss," Leon approached her.

"You can't be here," The young woman repeated. "This village is cursed. All who pass through it, invite death to their door. You have to leave and pray death does not follow you."

With that the woman turned and run off into the nearby woods.

"Miss!" Leon called after her, but she vanished from sight.

"Umm, Leon," Elyan called.

Leon turned and saw Elyan had walked further into the village.

"What is it, Elyan?" Leon asked.

"I think you should take a look at this," Elyan called back.

Leon made his way over to Elyan, who was staring down at something on the ground. Leon followed his gaze, to find a spiral like symbol burned into the ground. Runes were burned into the ground along the edge of the spiral leading into a symbol, similar to what Leon had been tattooed on druids, in its centre.

"What is it?" Percival asked.

"Magic," Gwaine answered with a slight shrug. "Isn't in obvious? I bet Merlin would know what this is, but he isn't here with us, is he?"

"Gwaine," Leon sounded annoyed. "For the last time-"

"No," Gwaine snapped. "You're willing to lie to the King for Lancelot, so why not Merlin too? We could have gone after him and he could be here with us now and we'd know what the hell we're dealing with! But we don't, because you can't lie to protect Merlin, when he so clearly risks his life to protect ours!"

"That's enough, Gwaine," Leon ordered. "Let's keep moving."

)o(

Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.