Hey guys! This is yet another Merlin Whump story, as you can probably guess, and it could be my last for a while. Anyways, hope you like it!
- Love, Livvy xxx

Merlin tugged at the shackles around his wrists desperately, crying out slightly in fear and anger. Never had he been imprisoned like this. It had only been about four hours since he'd been roughly separated from his master in an attack and brought to this godforsaken cell. Merlin's hands had been violently shoved into manacles. They were far too tight and he began to stop being able to feel his hands.

Merlin decided to try to get them off . "Abrecap benda!" he commanded, a little too loudly. Suddenly he heard footsteps and mentally kicked himself for being so foolish.

"Wozzat a spell?" the guard asked, already knowing the answer. Merlin shook his head. The man entered his cell and pulled Merlin up to his eye level by his collar, Merlin refused to look at his face and moved his head to the side. "Master's gonna be pleased," he spat and began to laugh, dragging Merlin out of the cell and up the stairs to where Merlin assumed he would discover the man behind his capture.

"Nomed," Merlin muttered when he saw the man, knowing his face. This man was a known enemy of Camelot, and a fearfully terrific sorceror.

"So you've decided to come and visit me-" Merlin snorted, acting nonchalant and giving a pall expression. Nomed decided to ignore this. "Why?"

"'E's been 'eard doin' magic, like," the guard piped up. Nomed looked at Merlin incredulously with his flat grey eyes, he was about to say the guard was mentally deranged but then he noticed Merlin twitch slightly and instead started to grin.

"Ah, I suspected he was a magic-user. At last. Perform magic, then, boy."

"No," Merlin replied, without a moment's hesitation. He watched Nomed's eyes flame with gold and a vase exploded behind him, venting some of the sorcerors's anger.

"Once, " he said, "when I was a boy, probably about your age, I was caught and tortured. The pain was unbearable but I would not tell my secrets of magic to the foul woman who had captured me, so she thought of the worst punishments she could for magic users like I and got her blacksmiths to make the appropriate instruments.

"She placed theses horrid instruments in one of the rooms in her castle. Luckily I didn't ever find myself on the receiving end of one of those weapons, because I escaped. Ironically, I use those instruments, but only in extreme circumstances, like with magic-users who wont behave and do as they're asked. Do you understand what I'm trying to say here?"

"Yes," Merlin replied through gritted teeth.

"Good. So, let's see what you can do."

"I take orders from a selected few, of which you are not one," Merlin spat out. Nomed grunted and a grin encased his features.

"If you will not use it for me, boy, I shall extract it from you slowly and painfully."

"I'd rather die than honour your commands," Merlin replied, voice full of venom.

The evil man before him chuckled and signaled for a man to come forward from behind him in the shadows that encased the room. When his hands were finally illuminated, Merlin gasped, he knew what the man was holding by the blue lightening which seamed to now be running all over it and the horrifying pictures he had seen. Magic eating manacles.

The young warlock then began to seriously consider if suicide was a formidable option because he knew the pain these instruments inflicted on magic users. They sucked the magic slowly from within the soul. Merlin's magic was intwined with his life-force, so he was fully expecting to die. In that black cell. Slowly. Painfully. Alone. But he would not betray his friends and master for the sake of his own protection.

"So be it."

I really hope you liked and are inclined to prove your enjoyment with a review but if not, that's cool too :D xxx

See you soon with the next installment!

-Livvy