Merlin sighed as he flopped down next to the stream. He may be an insubstantial being, but he still needed rest. The others were filling up their water skins, and making the most of the ten minute rest that Arthur had allowed them. Obviously tired, they seemed almost sluggish, but then, Merlin realised, they had been awake for the better part of the last couple of days, which was something they had not had to do for a while. The ten minutes elapsed far too quickly for his liking, but none-the-less, he got to his feet and followed the horses, knowing hat, thankfully, they would reach the druids within the next hour or so.

Merlin grinned as Aglain walked out to meet them. His face fell at the surprise and worry on the Old druid leader's face, and he became total confused at the fearful and hateful expression he directed at Arthur. At a glance, Merlin realised that Arthur had seen it too, and Merlin shrugged at his questioning look.
Ten minutes later, and they had explained about the curse. Aglain was sat, considering, and a ring of druid children had surrounded them, al pointing and whispering at Merlin. Suddenly, one ran up to him and whispered in his ear. Grinning, Merlin pointed his hand at the nearby fire and spoke a few words. The sparks and embers from the fire rose up and made the shape of a dragon, which then, with a flick of Merlin's wrist, opened its jaws and breathed fire. The children all laughed and gasped, before scampering away. The child who had spoken to Merlin started to speak again, but was sent on his way as Aglain motioned for him to leave. The old druid turned to them and started to speak.
"Merlin. I have read of such a curse, but there are very few who could perform it. From what you have said, I can only gather that one of the few people capable must be working for this group… The Brotherhood of the High Priestess… We have not heard of them…"
The druid looked troubled and slightly ashamed at this. Merlin remembered that they prided themselves on knowing as much as they could about anything and everything. Aglain continued.
"However, we do know of a way to remove this curse. It involves some rare herbs, which is likely why Gaius would not have been able to find it. We, on the other hand, have the things needed here, and need only someone to be a vessel for the power…" Arthur looked confused.
"A vessel…?"
Merlin noticed the slight flinch that the old man gave when Arthur spoke, and a glance at Arthur showed that, he too, had not missed it. Aglain continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his swift cover up had been noticed.

"Yes… to remove such a curse, the power must be given through another body. The amount of energy needed would kill the person with the curse, but the force, though not the power, would be diluted greatly by its transference through the other person." Leon spoke up.
"What about the… the vessel. Would that person be harmed by the spell?"
Aglain shook his head.
"No. They may feel tired for a time, but that would pass within a matter of hours."
"Well," that was Bedivere, "I'm the only one here who isn't a king and who isn't feeling drowsy as it is, so I volunteer." Merlin interrupted him.
"Hang on… Aglain, What would the effect be on the person casting the counter-curse?"
"Nothing inherently dangerous or lethal Emrys, you need not worry."
"And the person who was to be the vessel… they would not be harmed in any way?"
"In no way what-so-ever, aside from fatigue for several hours after the spell…"
Arthur spoke up.
"Well then, it's agreed." Ignoring Merlin's frustrated face, he turned to Bedivere.
"You sure about this?"
"Yes sire." Was the reply, and Arthur nodded, before turning to the druid.
"Would it be possible to get rid of this curse now? Considering Merlin is… well. A shade?"
Aglain shrugged.
"I see no reason why not. A shade is linked so closely to the true body that there should be no hindrance with the task. Though I'm afraid the necessary preparation may take almost an hour to complete…"
Arthur nodded.
"We can wait… " he turned to his men and seemed to notice, for the first time, how tired they were.
"You need to rest." He made it into an order, and they were all too tired to argue. Again, Merlin marvelled at how they had come to trust magic so swiftly. Bedivere chose to stay awake, and got into a conversation with a young druid woman, who seemed fascinated by the idea of being someone who's main job was to fight, whereas Bedivere was interested by their peaceful lifestyle. Watching them talking, Merlin hid a grin, but was distracted from making a face at Bedivere by Aglain's hand on is shoulder.
"Emrys? You must come. We have something you should see…"
Merlin looked over at Arthur, who shrugged, before following the old druid further into the cave. He was seated in front of a small pool, and the druid instructed him to peer into it.
"There has been a vision, Emrys…" Aglain explained, "A vision that has come to haunt the dreams of our seers, just as the dreams of Morgana's rise and fall plagued us in the weeks prior to her conquest of Camelot…" He gestured to the pool. "You shall see what we have seen… and then you may understand our avoidance of King Arthur… " he paused before adding, "And I am truly sorry Emrys…"
Merlin was about to reply, when he found he couldn't tear his attention away from the pool. It seemed to pull him in, and he felt himself falling.

Merlin's POV

The last thing I see is the sadness on the old druids face, and hear the words "I am truly sorry Emrys…" Then everything is dark… then a light appears and a scene is forming… I am in the courtyard of Camelot… watching Arthurs knight trying to restrain him but failing… then I catch a glimpse of his eyes and they are red… burning… and he is watching a version of me, who is bleeding and knelt on the floor, with a burning anger and hate… It's cold to see it… What could have happened to… Arthur breaks free… I hear one of the knights… Gwaine maybe...? Shout a warning and the other version of me is running…up the steps… into the castle. I follow as Arthur pursues the other me through the castle… for some reason I am heading for the dungeons… why would I…? No time to think about that… Arthur is gaining and his sword is drawn… I am running down the stairs to the dungeons and I see myself stumble… and get back up… but it is too slow. Arthur grabs the other version of me, and I see the fury in his eyes… the eye on the other version of me turn gold, and I see the expression on my other face fall… though I don't know why… before I know what is happening, I see the other version of me collapse to the floor, blood pooling around him, and see Excalibur in Arthur's hand, covered in blood… My blood… The future version of me, for I realise that that is what it is, draws a shuddering breath and lies still… I feel a cold spread through me both at the sight of my death and at expression on Arthurs face… anger, but triumph… then hi eyes turn back to their normal colour, and I feel even colder at the cry of pain and anguish that comes from him… before I can do or say or thin anything the scene fades… all is dark before I feel warmth fill me, and with I the knowledge that my face I wet… I realise almost immediately that I must have fallen into the pool, and look up to see Aglain, a look of sorrow on his face… looking down at my reflection, I see that my face is pale, yet blank… I watch as my expression turns to one of shock as I take in what I have just seen…

Merlin looked up, his wet hair falling across his face, and dripping water down onto his scarf.
"What was…? Was that the future…? Is that really going to…?" Merlin couldn't seem to ask the right questions. It didn't matter, Aglain understood.
"It is a future that has haunted the sleeping hours of many of our seers. Myself included. In this future, Arthur has been cursed and is taken over by a spirit… Though we know not who. It is a vision of your death at Arthur's hands Emrys… And we know not whether it is a future that can be changed… or altered…"
He stopped as Merlin got to his feet. His face was pale, but he refused to think about what he had just seen, instead focusing on the now.
"How long was I…"
"Nearly an hour…" was the reply and Merlin's eyes widened. So long? It had not seemed anywhere near that length of time… But he did not dwell on that either.
"Then we should re-join the others…" he said, and left the room, heading back to the main cavern.

Arthur was getting slightly nervous. Merlin had been gone for nearly an hour, and worry had started to settle in, which could not be quenched by the fact that Bedivere was still talking to the young druid woman, and they had appeared to gravitate closer without seeming to notice it. Looking towards the back of the cave again, he let out a relieved sigh at the sight of Merlin, but relief quickly changed to confusion and worry as he saw how pale Merlin was, and how he seemed to be unable to meet his eye. As Merlin and the old Druid reached him, he went to lay a hand on Merlin's shoulder, but he swiftly turned away, though Arthur could not tell whether that was on purpose or by accident.
"You okay?"
Merlin turned to him and smiled, but it fell flat.
"Sure…" the word was empty, and Arthur began to worry even more at Merlin's lack of vitality. He seemed almost empty…

Aglain motioned them over to the centre of the cave though he practically had to wrench Bedivere away from the woman he was talking to. She seemed just as reluctant to leave, but head into the cave s she was told by Aglain. Bedivere had a slightly dreamy, faraway look in his eyes when he reached them, but he quickly became defensive at the raised eyebrows and questioning looks.
"Her name is Dawn… And we were just talking about… about… Life… and stuff… and what?" This was to Merlin, who, to Arthurs relief, had a genuine grin on his face.
"Nothing. Nothing at all…"

They were interrupted by an old druid woman, who handed Aglain a bowl, before nodding her head at Merlin and leaving. Merlin was uncomfortable with the show of respect, especially as it was from an elder of the druids, but he hid it. Listening to Aglain, he heard him say that after the spell, He would be unlikely to be able to keep up the shade, meaning he would end up back in his own body, at Camelot. Hearing this, he turned to Arthur and told him that he would ride out from Camelot and meet the group on their route back to Camelot, mainly because of the threat that the Brotherhood of the High Priestess posed. Arthur agreed, though Merlin sensed that there was a hint of worry in his voice, though he had no idea why.

A few moments later, and they were all in position. Bedivere was seated, cross legged, after drinking the concoction made from the herbs, in the centre of a ring of druids, who were all facing him. Merlin was stood just inside the circle, directly in Bedivere's line of sight. With no visible prompt, the ring of hooded figures started chanting, and pale streams of light flew from them into Bedivere. After a few seconds, the knight's eyes flew open and glowed blue. His neck arched, and the light streamed into Merlin, who immediately felt himself becoming lighter. Within a matter of moments, the cave had turned dark and when he next opened his eyes, it was to see the ceiling of Gaius' rooms, and his mentors sleeping form at the nearby table.

The druids ended their chanting, and the light faded from Bedivere's eyes. The knight got to his feet, but stumbled, having to grab onto Arthurs outstretched arm to pull himself back up. He yawned, and slurred his words as he said,
"They were right… you do feel… tired…" he slumped down, and three druids supported him over to a bench where they lay him down. Within a matter of seconds, he was asleep.
Arthur noticed more fearful looks directed at him, and turned to Aglain to ask him what was wrong.
"The answer ad him following the druid to a small room, with a pool in the ground."
At a word from Aglain, he felt himself being pulled into the pool, and he found himself living out a scene from his future…

Nearly an hour later, Arthur felt himself connect with the present and jumped to his feet, gasping.
"Was that… Will that actually…?" He stopped.
"No wonder Merlin was acting strange…" he murmured, then, to the druid.
"That can't happen. It won't…"
He couldn't bear the look of sadness, regret and sympathy in the old man's eyes and stormed out to the main cave. Seeing Bedivere up, though tired, he called out to him, saying they would be leaving within a matter of minutes.

Half an hour later, and the druids cave was out of sight. Arthur rode briskly away from the nightmare that he had just witnessed, but couldn't help thinking about it… was that really what the future held for him? That he killed his best friend thanks to the use of magic? Was he right in allowing Magic in Camelot if that is what it led to?
He considered all of this as they rode for Camelot, and was determined to do what he could to prevent what he had seen. If that meant stopping the use of Magic in Camelot… Then so be it.

-(Last Chapter of this particur fanfic, but This whole adventure will continue in my next one, 'Revenge of A Pendragon' which will be started soon.
Hope you liked this fanfic, and feedback is appreciatd!
Thanks for reading!)-