they meet the lady of the lake and merlin is healed

Nicely told.

Very good story. Thank you. Hope you'll finish it.

HOW COULD YYYYOOOOOOU!? MY HEART!

Moving!

i love the way this chapter started. it's exactly like two brothers - the younger teasing the older, even knowing he wasn't going to get away with it, and the older giving chase, enjoying the fact that he's challenged rather than just always surrendered to. it's a demonstration of equal and returned affection. :)

ps, i don't hate you for the ending. it was /good/. it was enough to think, they got back to camelot and gaius helped merlin. it would have been far worse to leave arthur a statue and have merlin join him somehow or guard him forever somehow - or to have merlin dead and arthur free. and there's tons of h/c stories that can fill in the return-to-camelot blanks for us. :)

Awww, oh my gosh! Cruel place to stop indeed, but beautiful writing! Absolutely gorgeous and creative. Great job!

This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. This feels very real!

Great story :) One of the only open ending stories I don't actually mind :D

Keep up the amazing work :)

Beautiful and moving as always. You always amaze me with your ability to write stories that are so clearly and wonderful like the show and characters we all know and love while being different than what I've read before. I like the simplicity; really I think that's one of the strongest aspects, that the sorcerer didn't have a huge spiel or some past grievance to air or anything, Merlin in the manacles is something that I've seen but you wrote it wonderfully and made it your own. Arthur in the stone had to be my favourite part. It was so good and moving that he could see and hear Merlin, see his loyalty and love and suffering. It was almost comical, all his comments and stuff. Not, of course, because of the gravity of the situation, but yeah. I like the open-ended ending but I'll be here as soon as I can if you ever continue it!

Actually, I like the way this ends. Nothing wrong with leaving the rest to our imagination - though, if you do decide to continue it at any time, I would certainly hope on board for the ride!

As always, beautifully written, and full of emotion, from the humorous beginning all the way to the moving ending. In spite of his dire situation, I rather enjoyed Arthur's 'stony' point of view - very original!

Great job, Farmgirl. Proving, once again, why you are one of the best and my favourite fanfic writer.

Brilliant storyline. I actually think that was a good place to stop it (though obviously I hope Merlin lives!). Great writing!

It was great just as it is written! Although I wouldn't argue with a continuation, it really is perfect the way it is. Great story from you as usual! I hope you continue to write Merlin fix because you do such a fantastic job with it.

It's a great story, of course I'd like to see a conclusion, but that's your prerogative. Great writing style, keep up the good work.

Brilliant reveal and a wonderful piece of angst writing. I will add my own ending here as it is too sad to leave as is. In my mind Merlin survives and recovers - of course.
Thank you farmgirl. A truly beautiful story.