AN: This is my version of the story about Nimueh trapping Merlin in the tree in some legends. Takes place after season 1. Enjoy!

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The guards were extra vigilant. They had just won their five day battle against a horrible evil, the sorceress Nimueh. She came in disguise and began a dark battle against Camelot. She wanted to take it for her own, so she could stop the ban on magic. Eventually the knights got her cornered and she retreated, but she still remained out there somewhere. Although they took her retreat as victory everyone remained on their toes in case of another attack. Sir Leon and the other guard were cautious when they saw the figure approaching.

The figure was hunched over clutching itself. Its movements were ragged and clumsy. They thought it may be a trick, but then they saw the blood. The crimson drops fell off the person and splashed in the snow ruining its perfection. The guards stepped closer with their staffs out just in case it was Nimueh, but when they got closer to the figure they recognized it immediately.

"Merlin?" Leon looked horrified at the scene in front of him.

The servants head was down, but he looked up with his eyes. The guards ran up to Merlin, and looked him over. He did not look good, and that was confirmed when he fell into the arms of Leon. The knight, still holding Merlin, looked at his companion.

"Get Gaius and inform the Prince immediately!"

The other guard nodded and ran towards the castle. Merlin had been missing for almost three days. He was suspected of being dead after the knights found his torn scarf on the day of his disappearance. They never found the body, however, but with the ongoing battle they did not receive a chance to look.

Leon carried Merlin to his chambers where Gaius was waiting for him. When he got to the cluttered room he sat Merlin down on the bed. Gaius was rushing around gathering supplies and trying not to think about where Merlin had been for the past few days. Leon stepped back and watched as Gaius began to look over the boy. He could already feel the guilt of everyone close to Merlin, they thought he was dead, but if they had looked harder they could have prevented this from happening.

"Did he say anything before passing out?" Gaius was looking under Merlin's eyelids.

"No, nothing. Is he going to be okay?" Leon wished Merlin had said something to him.

"There is extensive damage, he's lost a lot of blood, but the wounds don't look infected." He continued to look the boy over. "The cut on his side is worse."

Merlin was covered in small cuts and dirt, but there was a large gash on his ribs that looked deep. Gaius suspected that Merlin tried to heal himself, which prevented infection, but the boy had not quite grasped healing magic yet. The man gave a disconcerted look when he cut Merlin's shirt away. There was a very nasty bruise covering his right shoulder and the bone looked misaligned.

"His shoulder is dislocated; we need to pop in back in place."

"Let me help." Arthur was standing wide eyed and slightly pale at the door. As soon as the guard told him about Merlin he rushed to Gaius'.

Gaius looked up from Merlin. "Sire, you don't need to do that."

Arthur stepped forward. "Yes I do."

The old man knew that there was no way to convince Arthur otherwise. The Prince had suffered from many dislocated shoulders in the past. Whether they were on himself or his other knights, they had never affected him much. Arthur wished he could say this time was like all the others, but there was something about seeing Merlin there unconscious that hurt him deep inside.

Gaius lifted Merlin upright and looked at the Prince. "You remember, quick and clean."

Arthur nodded and grabbed Merlin's wrist and upper arm, while Gaius held the boy's shoulders tight. Arthur took a deep breath and yanked Merlin's arm towards him. Leon internally flinched at the pop, he too had seen many dislocated shoulders, but seeing Merlin like this hurt more. Gaius messaged the shoulder and leaned him back onto the bed. He got up to get a sling to put Merlin's arm in. Arthur was staring at his friend.

"Where has he been all this time?" His mind flashed back to that day in the woods when Merlin disappeared.

"We aren't sure sire," Leon said. "He just came up to the front gates on his own, no one was following him. He passed out before he could say anything."

Arthur got up from the bed to let Gaius finish helping Merlin. "Gaius? Is there any way to tell what happened, was he just lost out there all this time?"

Gaius wrapped Merlin's arm. "I'm not sure sire, there are many scratches on him, more than just getting lost in the woods. It looks as if he was in a struggle of some sort. It takes a lot of power to dislocate a shoulder and the gash on his ribs does not look like an accident."

"I'll leave you to your work. Inform me when he wakes."

"Of course sire."

Arthur left the room and Leon followed. Gaius continued to work on Merlin's wounds. He took care of the worst of them, but there were many tiny cuts all over his ward's body. He knew the boy must have been exhausted and needed rest, but he wished he would wake up and tell him what had happened to him. The last few days for Gaius had been Hell. When Arthur and the other knights returned with nothing but Merlin's scarf he thought the worst as they all did. He hoped that Merlin was just preoccupied battling Nimueh somewhere, but when the sorceress appeared in Camelot again, Gaius thought for sure that Merlin was out there, either severely hurt or already dead. The battle had distracted Gaius a little, but Merlin remained in his mind the entire time.

Gaius had fallen asleep at his work table. He did not want to go to bed, in case Merlin awoke, but he could not keep his eyes open any longer. He was surprised in the middle of the night to hear a whimper from the other side of the room, Gaius perked up and rushed over to Merlin's side. He was still asleep but seemed to have slipped into a dream.

"Merlin." The man touched Merlin's good shoulder.

Merlin's eyes shot open glowing gold and a bottle of something on the table burst.

"Merlin! It's alright you're safe now."

The boy looked up at Gaius then around the room confused. "G-Gaius? How?"

"It's alright, here." Gaius grabbed a cup of water and helped Merlin take small sips. "You walked up to the gates today, do you remember?"

Merlin thought back to the last thing he remembered. "A little, Leon was there."

Gaius nodded. "That's right." He hoped Merlin would begin to tell Gaius where he had been.

Merlin looked like he was in shock. His eyes were wide and his hands were shaky. "The battle, is Arthur okay?"

"Yes, he's fine, they corned Nimueh and she retreated." He paused for a moment. "Did she do this to you Merlin?"

A haunted look crossed Merlin's eyes. "I thought I had her, but...this isn't over, she's still out there Gaius, and she won't stop until she's won."

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AN: Thanks so much for reading! I hope everyone likes this story, if there is anything particular you would like to see out of this story let me know!