Day 4

Arthur and his knights followed the Dragon throughout the night. As the sun began to rise, and Kilgarrah no longer had to send out streams of fire to be sure Arthur could still follow him, the Dragon stopped, landing once more. Arthur ran up to talk to the beast, trying to quench the fears of what it stopping could mean. Would the connection break if Merlin was dead? Arthur shook the thought from his head, and approached the Dragon, asking, "Why have you stopped? Is Merlin near?"

"Yes, the Young Warlock is just beyond those hills." Kilgarrah said, pointing over a nearby ridge with his snout. "I think it would be best if I remain here for the time being, if I get any closer the witch will notice my presence and her guard will go up. I don't know what she will do if she realizes she is no longer alone, so please be careful. You have the element of surprise; use that to your advantage."

Arthur nodded, and turned back to his men who were all waiting for him, a few paces behind where he had stood when he spoke with the Dragon.

"We are close now," Arthur said, "Merlin and Morgana are just beyond those hills. We need to use her ignorance of our presence to our advantage, stay quiet, and encircle her camp. We will charge her together, on my signal. Merlin is our priority, we find him and get him out alive at all costs, even if that means letting Morgana get away, understand?"

The men nodded, and dismounted, following their king up over the hills, in the direction the Dragon had indicated. When they reached the top of the ridge, Arthur heard small noises, and smelled smoke, indicating that the Dragon had been correct, and there was a camp not far ahead of them. Motivated by his proximity to his love, Arthur moved faster, using hand motions to signal to his men, telling them to spread out and stay silent as they moved forward.

It wasn't long before Arthur noticed a break in the trees not too far ahead of him. While he couldn't see anyone in that clearing, he heard Morgana's voice, making his blood run cold as she said, "You should see yourself, Merlin. You look terrible. I wonder what Arthur would say? He would probably be disgusted by you, can't see how anyone wouldn't be."

Arthur felt a wave of anger sweep through him, as he crept closer. Nothing she could have done to Merlin would make him feel that way! He could see Morgana, but he couldn't see Merlin yet. Arthur decided it would be best if he waited a bit longer, to make sure the camp was surrounded before he made his move, so he stayed in a crouched position, slowly edging forward and listened to his half-sister.

"I never did understand what he saw in you. Guinevere was lovely; it seemed natural that he would fall for her, with her heaving bosoms and supple curves, but you? You're all skin and bones, you're awkward and clumsy, and your ears! Ears that would look large on a rabbit! Maybe Arthur likes those, hmm? Likes to tug on them while you lie together, in my castle! Maybe we should see what you look like with only one?"

Arthur froze for a second as the full meaning of Morgana's words swept over him. Was she going to cut one of Merlin's ears off? No. She wouldn't. But then he saw a glint of silver as Morgana pulled out a knife, and began to move towards the part of the clearing that was currently blocked from Arthur's view, and all plans and strategies slipped from Arthur's mind. All that matter was stopping Morgana from hurting Merlin, stopping her from using that blade to do unspeakable things to his love. Arthur was springing forward before he even realized it, drawing his sword and lunging into the clearing. Morgana barely had time to turn towards him before his sword was lodged in her stomach, blood trickling down from the wound. But Arthur wasn't worried about her now, all that mattered was Merlin, so he pulled his blade out of her, and pushed the limp body aside. One of the other knights could deal with her, he had more important things to worry about.

It wasn't until Morgana fell that he saw Merlin. He was chained to a tree, and it looked like the only thing preventing him from falling to the ground were the chains that held him. Arthur felt his knees give as he took in the broken form of his love. Merlin was missing the bottom half of his left leg and right arm. His face was covered in blood that seemed to have come from underneath a bandage that had been wrapped around his left eye. The clothes he had had made for him were covered in blood, dirt, and burns in the case of the right sleeve. Arthur looked into Merlin's uncovered right eye, and he saw so much pain. There were tears leaking from it, washing tracks of blood off his face. It took Arthur a second to regain control over his limbs and crawl forward to where Merlin was. He quickly removed the gag, before turning to work on the chains that held him to the tree.

"Don'…. look… a'… me…."

Arthur froze. He had been busy breaking the chains with the sword he had pulled from the stone so long ago, that he had almost missed Merlin's quiet voice. Arthur turned from his current task, his sword abandoned by the side of the tree, as he moved back to cradle Merlin's bloody face in his hands.

"Merlin, it's ok. I'm going to get you out of here. Everything is going to be just fine."

Merlin wasn't looking at him, even as Arthur held his head up from his chest. After a moment of silence, Merlin's mouth moved again, slowly, as if he was remembering how to speak, and he said, "I'm… dis..gus..ting."

Arthur felt his hatred towards Morgana stir again, and he wished he hadn't already killed her, so he could make her suffer for what she had done to his love.

"No, Merlin. No you are not. You are beautiful. And I love you. Nothing could every change that. You are beautiful because you have such a big heart that you chose to risk your own life instead of risking the lives of your friends. You are beautiful because you care so much for our people that you spend all your free time working to make more of them smile. And you are beautiful because you loved me even after I hunted people like you, even though I could never be worthy of your beautiful smile, of your love, of your big, beautiful heart. So you are not disgusting. Don't listen to a word anyone says against that, Merlin. You will always be beautiful to me."

Merlin nodded slowly, but the tears didn't stop. The other knights had apparently rushed into the clearing after Arthur had charged, even if he hadn't "given the signal" or whatever it was he had said he would do. As Arthur looked behind him he saw a few men checking to make sure Morgana was dead, while another group inspected the broken figure of Morgause in the cart. Percival had picked up his sword and had continued his work on the chains holding Merlin, while Lancelot and Gwaine had joined Arthur crouching next to Merlin.

"I'm so sorry." Gwaine said, tears in his eyes, "I was supposed to protect you."

"S'not… your… fault." Merlin mumbled, his eye trying to focus on Gwaine while his head rested in Arthur's hands.

"Morgana and Morgause are dead!" a voice from behind Arthur called out, but he didn't care. All that mattered was Merlin. As Percival finished cutting the chains, Lancelot and Gwaine moved to his sides to keep the warlock from falling over without their support. As Merlin shifted slightly, Arthur noticed that there was a metal loop locked around his neck, that seemed to have burned the skin underneath. Arthur figured it must have had some properties that kept Merlin's powers restrained, because otherwise Morgana would have never been able to hold him. Arthur had seen the full extent of Merlin's powers, and there was no way Morgana could have done all this to him without some way to keep his powers in check. Arthur touched it lightly, but even that made Merlin flinch in pain. It didn't seem to have any lock, so Arthur removed one hand from Merlin's face, and said, "Percival, hand me my sword."

Percival obeyed without question, passing the beautiful sword to Arthur who raised it to Merlin's chin. He was about to cut the collar, using one hand to hold the sword the other to keep Merlin's chin raised so he wouldn't accidently hurt him more, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What the devil do you think you're doing?" Gwaine shouted.

"I have to remove the collar, Gwaine! Can't you see it's hurting him?" Arthur replied. He wanted to get away from this camp. Get Merlin as far from here as possible. But he also wanted to make sure Merlin was as safe as possible before they moved him, and right now Gwaine wasn't helping him accomplish that. Gwaine released his arm when he saw the loop of metal around Merlin's neck, moving back to his position at Merlin's side. Arthur raised his blade again, and ever so carefully cut through the metal, and only the metal. He then tilted Merlin's head forward, and made a similar cut at the back of Merlin's neck, causing the collar to break into two half-circles and fall to the ground. As it broke apart, Merlin let out a long sigh, releasing a long stream of golden, shining lights along with it. A smile spread across the warlock's face, as the lights danced and shimmered and his eyes glowed gold as his powers were finally released. Arthur returned to his position in front of Merlin just in time to see the gold fade from his eyes. The smile remained though, as Merlin whispered, "Than'… you."

Arthur smiled back, glad to see that he was at least able to bring a small amount of relief to his love before he thought about what they would need to do next.

"Merlin," Arthur said hesitantly, "I'm going to have to move you. Kilgarrah is waiting for us, not too far, but I will have to carry you to him. It's going to hurt to move, but we need to get you back to Camelot."

Merlin nodded and clenched his jaw, as Arthur moved his arms underneath his love, relieving Gwaine and Lancelot from their duties of supporting him and gently pulling him up from the ground. Merlin let out a small grunt of pain as his injured limbs were jostled by the motion, but Arthur was happy to see the tears had stopped. As the group slowly and carefully moved back through the forest to the Dragon, Arthur thought about how Merlin would probably never be able to walk again. He wondered if he would have to find someone else to fulfill the position of court sorcerer, now that Merlin was so incapacitated. The thoughts felt so wrong, but he couldn't stop them from pouring into his mind. Merlin would need help to do so much now. Arthur wondered what he would do if he lost a leg and an arm. He wouldn't be able to fight, to protect his people. He felt so terrible for what his love must be going through, and hoped that Merlin knew that he would never leave his side, no matter what. When they reached the Dragon, the great beast moved to Merlin's side, and placed his head next to Merlin's, a look of great sadness in his eyes. "I am so sorry, Young Warlock. You have suffered so much." He then puffed out a stream of gold that enveloped Merlin, and concentrated on the areas in which he had been injured. Merlin's whole body glowed for a second, before the lights faded, and Merlin's eye closed slowly.

"What did you do?" Arthur asked, holding Merlin's still form.

"Do not fear, Young King, I just used my powers to ease his pain, and let him rest. He is merely asleep. Sadly, that is all I can do. There may be some who can do more, if we move quickly." Kilgarrah said, moving so Arthur could climb onto his back.

Arthur nodded, and moved to position the sleeping Merlin on the Dragon's back before turning back to his knights and saying, "I will go with the Dragon to help Merlin. I want you to all ride back to Camelot, and tell the people there what happened here. We shall be back soon."

The knights nodded, watching silently as Arthur climbed onto the Dragon's back behind Merlin, and the beast took off.

Arthur was starting to wish Kilgarrah hadn't put Merlin to sleep. Even if it eased his pain, it made it much more terrifying to fly with him. Arthur made sure he didn't shift, and the Dragon flew slower and more gently than he usually did. Luckily, it wasn't long before they landed, and Arthur was able to pull Merlin from Kilgarrah's back. Apparently the spell had faded enough that Merlin was beginning to regain consciousness, and he looked groggily up at Arthur as Arthur asked the Dragon, "Where are we?"

"The Lake of Avalon." Kilgarrah replied. "This is a sacred place, Arthur, and the powers that dwell here might be able to restore Merlin's missing pieces."

Arthur nodded, awestruck by the serene beauty of the lake. Distant mountains reflected in its calm waters, the only noise coming from a small breeze blowing though the surrounding trees. "What do I need to do?"

The Dragon looked out over the waters before returning his gaze to Arthur and saying, "Take off his clothes and bandages, and take him into the waters. If they are able, the spirits that live here will help him."

Arthur followed Kilgarrah's instructions, removing the clothing that had been slightly destroyed by Morgana. Merlin remained silent, focusing on the lake itself, until Arthur moved his hands up to the bandage around his face. Merlin hissed in pain as Arthur slowly pealed the bandage off, revealing the bloody hole where there should have been an eye.

"How could she do this?" Arthur whispered, more to himself than to Merlin. Merlin didn't answer still focused on the lake. Arthur removed his own jacket, shirt, and boots, before picking up the now-naked Merlin and carrying him into the waters. As soon as Merlin's toes hit the surface, the water began to shimmer and glow, moving around Merlin's body. Arthur watched in amazement and continued to carry Merlin further into the waters. When he was up to his waist and Merlin was almost completely submerged, a woman rose out of the waters. She was young, but probably not too much younger than Merlin or himself, and she was pretty. Her face was soft, kind, but she also looked nervous, and slightly frightened of him. A sad smile spread across her face as Merlin whispered a word that sounded like "Freya" and reached his good hand out towards her. The woman grasped his hand, tears sliding down her checks. Arthur glared at her, pulled Merlin back to his chest and asked, "Who are you?"

This caused Merlin to glare at him briefly before returning his attention to the girl in front of them.

"My name is Freya." The girl said, "And I am here to help you, Arthur Pendragon. Merlin was kind to me when no one else was, and I will do everything I can to repay that favor. This lake is a gateway to Avalon, so the magic here is strong and spirits that usually would not be able can cross into your world at this point. The Vilia are helping him now, using their powers to give back what was taken. I can do little to help but I am glad I have the chance to see him once more."

"It is good to see you, Freya." Merlin said, his voice sounding much stronger than it had since they had taken him from the camp. Arthur looked down at the man in his arms, amazed to see how much of a change had already occurred. The glowing water seemed to be doing him wonders, as his arm and leg grew back, and he was now watching Freya with not one eye but two. As Merlin moved his arm so he was cupping Freya's check, Arthur made a mental not to learn more about this girl and what she meant to Merlin once they got back to Camelot.

"I cannot stay much longer, Merlin." Freya said, before turning back to Arthur, "Take care of him. He saved me, he made me feel loved when even I could not love myself. There is no other like him. Make sure he is always loved and cared for."

Arthur nodded at Freya, and said, "I will" as she faded, joining the mists that hung over the still waters. As she faded, the glow surrounding Merlin faded as well, and Arthur looked down to see Merlin was whole once again, although tears had begun to fall down his face again as he stared out across the lake.

"I think it's time we get back to Camelot, don't you?" Arthur said, as he turned back to the shore.

Merlin nodded and turned his gaze back up to Arthur, saying "Thank you so much, Arthur. I was sure I was going to die back there, but you saved me, and you made me feel whole again even when I thought I never would be. I love you so much, my king, and I promise nothing will ever be able to stop that, not even death."

"You don't need to thank me, Merlin." Arthur said, "I don't think I would be able to live without you. I am never letting you out of my sight again, do you understand me? I'm considering getting you a leash, in case you ever try to leave my side again, I don't care who needs your help."

Merlin just laughed softly and smiled up at Arthur as they made their way back to the shore, where Arthur helped Merlin back into his torn and dirtied clothes. As he pulled the coat back on he noticed there was something missing from Merlin's fingers. Merlin noticed the look of concern on his face and looked up at him, a sad expression on his face as he said, "Morgana took my ring, I tried to get it back, but, well, you saw how it was. I didn't get too far. I'm sorry. I should have taken better care of it."

"Merlin, don't worry about the ring. It's not a big deal. We will get another one, and we can go back to that lake in celebration of you returning to full health, how does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful, thank you Arthur."

"Like I said, you don't need to thank me Merlin. I'm happy just knowing you're alright." Arthur said, laying the fully-clothed Merlin down so he could put his own boots and shirt back on. When he was done, and he went back to pick up Merlin, Merlin shakily pushed himself up to meet him, and pressed their lips together. Arthur quickly moved his hand around Merlin's back to take some of his weight off his new arm, but didn't break the kiss. They stayed like that for quite some time, both of them just so happy that they were able to kiss once more, before the Dragon let out a snort and Arthur pulled back quickly.

"I can't believe I had to go almost three days without kissing you." Arthur said, smiling down at Merlin.

"I can't believe you hadn't kissed me earlier, I was beginning to worry." Merlin replied, a cheeky grin on his face.

"You were injured! I was a bit distracted, which I think is understandable."

Would you two stop arguing!" Kilgarrah shouted. "Contrary to your beliefs, I do have much better things to do than listen to you two yammer all day."

Merlin laughed, "I guess we should wait till we're back in Camelot to continue this. Don't want an angry dragon on our hands."

"No you do not." Kilgarrah agreed. "I will take you as close to Camelot as I can, but then I expect you to leave me alone for quite some time. It would be nice if you could make it a year or so without getting into mortal danger."

"We'll try our best." Arthur replied sarcastically before pulling Merlin up and helping him climb on the Dragon. Although his limbs had miraculously returned to him, they still seemed to be quite weak, and Merlin still looked quite a bit paler than he usually did, so Arthur kept a hold of him while they flew back to their home.

Kilgarrah dropped them off in a clearing not too far from the city gates. Arthur insisted on carrying Merlin the rest of the way, even though Merlin argued that he was totally capable of walking by himself. When they entered the city, they were greeted enthusiastically by all the knights and people who had gathered around the city gates when they saw their King and Court Sorcerer returning. The knights who had seen Merlin in the camp were amazed to see that he now had all his limbs back, and that he seemed so much more lucid than he had earlier. Guinevere, escorted by a very protective Lancelot and Elyan, made her way through the crowds to hug them both, which proved slightly awkward with her large stomach and the way Arthur was carrying Merlin. Percival, Gwaine and Leon eventually calmed the people down enough to let them form a pathway for Arthur and Merlin to move through so they could reach the castle. Gaius was waiting for them at the castle steps, a look of relief on his face as he saw that Merlin was whole and smiling at him as they approached. Arthur led him, Lancelot, Guinevere, Elyan, Percival, Gwaine, and Leon up to his and Merlin chambers, stopping only to ask a maid to bring food and water to his chambers, depositing Merlin on their large, soft bed. Gaius then proceeded to check Merlin over, and announced that he needed a good amount of rest, food and water, but all of his other injuries seemed completely better. The group celebrated for a moment, and the maid returned with a jug of water and some bread, soup, fruit, meats and cheeses that she laid out on the table. After she left, they all settled around the bed to hear what had happened to Merlin. Merlin looked slightly nervous at first, before he described his capture by Morgana, and how she had planned on eating him, as she believed that by doing so she would gain his powers. Everyone in the room was disgusted as he spoke, shocked at the thought of anyone believing something so completely insane. It was silent for a moment, before Percival spoke up, saying, "Did she really believe that could work?"

"It certainly seemed so." Merlin replied. "Apparently she met a tribe in the north told her that it would work. That's why she didn't kill me right away. She believed she would have to consume all of me, and didn't want to have to eat rotten meat."

Guinevere and Gaius looked as if they would be sick, while the knights all looked like they were about ready to punch something.

"I swear" Gwaine growled, "if she wasn't already dead, I would make her life a very painful one."

"Don't." Merlin replied, his hand grasping a hold of Gwaine's, "She's gone. And even before she was it was easy to see she had lost her mind. Hating her now will do us no good. We need to move on, focus on making a better world, so no one ever becomes so twisted by hatred again."

Gwaine nodded, stunned by Merlin's words. There was another brief moment of silence, while all the people in the room stared at Merlin in amazement, before Gaius cleared his throat and said, "I think we should leave Merlin to rest, he has been through enough today."

The rest of the occupants of the room nodded, and slowly moved out of the room, glancing back at Merlin and Arthur with relieved smiles on their faces. When they were all gone, Arthur turned back to Merlin and asked, "Is there anything I can get you? Food, water, more blankets?"

"Some water would be nice." Merlin said, "And maybe a bit of that soup."

Arthur nodded, walking over to the table the servants had put the food he requested on before leaving silently while the group had been listening to Merlin. He came back to the bed, holding a goblet filled with water and the soup bowl back over to the bed. Arthur started with the water, helping Merlin to hold the cup, making sure it didn't spill while he drank. When Merlin was done with that, he insisted on hand feeding him the soup, even though Merlin rolled his eyes at him while he did. When Merlin had finished the soup, his eyes started to drift close, and Arthur pulled the blankets tight around his love, before changing into clean clothes and joining him under the sheets, holding Merlin to his chest to make sure he knew, even in his sleep, he was finally safe.

Told you I would get it up in a day! Well, that's all for this story. Hope it wasn't to disturbing...

Anyhoo, I will get a move on with the story I said I would write next, I swear. It's taking me a bit because I wrote a whole lot of stuff that I really like, and then realized that it's not going to work at all. So, I'm trying to figure out if there is a way I can salvage it at all, or if I'm going to have to start over. And I do have more of the edited Rise of Emrys, that will be going up soon. Not big changes, mostly small grammatical things though.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I will be back again soon!