Camelot Enterprise

by GR Griffin

  But why?

  Merlin halted ahead, clearly hearing Arthur’s words in his head. By the time Merlin replied, Arthur was close enough to talk to him. But now they had started this exchange through the mind, it may as well be finished through the mind. Merlin had told him it was very dangerous to leave a conversation in the mind unfinished, because in the few seconds where nobody replied and conversation dwindled, someone who knew how to could easily access your mind and steal your secrets, thoughts, memories. He had called these people Swígan, and to Arthur’s relief he had also said the Swígan were rare and normally resided in the Southern Mountains. Despite this, it was a truism that some hovered in solitude in the forests of Albion, seeking out people and using their secrets against them in cruel bargains.

  To stop people going in.

  Confused, Arthur narrowed his eyes. To stop people going…in? But if the Wildren lived there then surely it would make more sense to build it to stop them going out? He didn’t realise his thought had matured into one Merlin could hear until he go a response from the druid.

  The Wildren don’t leave the caves, they have no need to. Everything they require is in the caves. Some druids are stupid enough to venture into the caves and cause mischief.

  Some druids like Will, and well…Merlin too. He’d had his fair share of Wildren adventures in his youth with Will. The pair of them were unstoppable, total troublemakers back when freckles dusted both of their faces, back when they had teeth missing and they were both still shorter than Hunith. As they finally reached the end of the branch coils, Arthur noticed the small smile on Merlin’s face. It seemed almost nostalgic. He thought better than to ask Merlin what it signified, they weren’t the best of friends after all. Then he cast his eyes to the sight before them. Embedded in the large rocks was the mouth of a cave. It looked far less appealing and beautiful than the Crystal Cave, mainly because it was just an ordinary cave. Instead of crystals and a magical shimmer, the cave was dark and eerie.

  Merlin was the first to venture inside, gesturing for Arthur to follow him. They were both met by darkness; it kissed each of their cheeks welcomingly before totally consuming them. And for a moment Arthur became completely terrified at the notion of losing Merlin’s whereabouts and getting lost in this cave forever. Swiftly, the druid – assumingly beside him – uttered some words. They resonated through the cave, and a delicate blue orb of light hovered. Arthur established that Merlin was much further than he had anticipated, walking towards him briskly, hoping his anxiety wasn’t too exposed. Merlin raised an eyebrow at him coyly, implying he had noticed it. However, there was ambiguity in his expression, causing Arthur great discomfort and annoyance. With a frown, Arthur studied the cave system ahead. It was divided into two tunnels, both leading into darkness. Arthur was certain the likelihood of getting lost in one of these tunnels was alarmingly high.

  “Well which way do we go?” he asked Merlin, unaware that his mutterings were unnerving the druid beside him.

  “I…I don’t know.” Merlin eventually admitted with a labored sigh.

  Logically, Arthur gazed between himself and Merlin, stating the obvious solution without really thinking about the consequences.

  “Why don’t you go one way, I go the other?”

  At this, Merlin bit his lip to avoid laughter spewing from his mouth. He shot the blonde an imbecilic look. Had he not learnt anything in his lessons with Merlin? Surely by now he had understood that segregation in circumstances like this was the worst possible thing you could suggest?! Decrypting the code in Merlin’s eyes, slightly enamored by the blue glow his skin held due to the orb, Arthur smiled sheepishly. Yes, that was a rather stupid thought. But at least he was thinking of a solution. Although, to be perfectly honest, Arthur couldn’t think of anything better than leaving William stranded in a Wildren Cave forever. He wasn’t exactly a pleasant man, and he’d never liked Arthur anyway. A new look of hostility danced in Merlin’s irises, revealing Arthur had been too open with his thoughts and Merlin had effortlessly climbed in and heard the comment. Shrugging, because Arthur couldn’t exactly apologise when he’s blatantly far from sorry, the blonde feigned innocence.

  It was at this moment that both were drawn to a very human sound. Words, a conversation resonated through the left tunnel, rumbling gently into their ears. One voice was inevitably Will, Merlin rolled his eyes, less fearful and more agitated than before. Of course Will was going to speak obnoxiously loud and lure attention towards himself. That’s what he did. He wanted the Wildren’s to find him...them. The second voice didn’t surprise either of them. Gwaine. Merlin and Arthur exchanged fond and exasperated glances, both despairing for their friends who had never quite grown out of the phase of mischief. Promptly they strode down the tunnel, the darkness slowly morphed into an ember glow the deeper they went. The light of Merlin’s orb dimmed dramatically. He couldn’t believe this! Will was prancing around the Wildren tunnels with flame torches.

  He spared a look at Arthur, reminded of how there once was a time many months ago where Arthur had demonstrated the same behaviour. He had been walking around the forest like a baby oblivious to the dangers, displaying himself in neon to all the predators. Only that time, Arthur’s actions weren’t deliberate. Will and Gwaine were just being idiots, intentionally too. Arthur seemed to almost understand the thought process running through Merlin’s mind and smiled back at him. His smile faded when they realised they were much closer to the flames than anticipated, and as they walked round the curve of the tunnel they were graced by Gwaine and Will’s presence. Will groaned in annoyance, Gwaine grinned and strode towards the pair.

  “Merlin!” he exclaimed, hauling the druid into his arms.

  Arthur winced a little at the disregard for his presence by both Will and Gwaine. It were as if he was invisible to both of them. But then again, that’s what happened when Merlin was around. For reasons Arthur didn’t understand, the people revered Merlin, and naturally anyone else around him faded into the background helplessly. Not that Arthur would ever tell Merlin this, he was sure it would deeply upset him to discover his mere presence made certain individuals nothing more than lingering ghosts.

  “Will was showing me where the so-called Wildren lived, he’s not such a boring ass after all!” Will shot Gwaine a scowl, Merlin gazed openly at Will, not failing to allow the bitterness to distort his sweet complexion.

  Arthur was glad he wasn’t at the receiving end of this look.

  Merlin held his gaze sternly. He wasn’t stupid. He knew what Will’s real intentions were. He was jealous, overwhelmingly jealous that Merlin was now spending every hour or his life with Arthur Pendragon. Sure, at first that hadn’t been out of choice, but somehow now it was. Naturally, instead of talking about it like a normal person, Will had decided that getting a new best friend was the better option. He was trying to use Gwaine against Merlin and Arthur. Why? Well it was obvious. He was hoping Merlin would be jealous that Gwaine had taken his place, overriding memories of their past. And he hoped that Arthur would be jealous that Gwaine had earnt the trust of the one person Arthur simply couldn’t. This would no doubt lead to guilt on Arthur’s part, because surely if he did have Will’s trust, the friendship he had with Merlin wouldn’t be completely sabotaged.

  Merlin wasn’t going to let Will’s plan escalate that far. Will had forgotten one thing – he knew him better than anyone.

  “It’s not safe you have to go back.” Merlin said challengingly.

  Both Gwaine and Arthur turned their attention to the scene unfolding between Will and Merlin.

  “You used to be the instigator, now you’re all boring!” Will replied, pointing the flame towards him in an accusatory manner. The druid grimaced. “Have some fun.”

  “This is not fun,” Merlin snapped. “This is stupid. You can’t just lead people out into the tunnels.”

  “You’re not the leader of the clan yet Merlin.” The stubborn man retorted grumpily, making haste to walk further into the tunnels.
“I don’t have to listen to you.”

  “What’s this about Will?” Merlin asked darkly, causing Will to stop walking. The blue orb hovering around him faded into oblivion – he’d focused all his attention onto his childhood friend. “Really. I know you-”

  “-It’s about him.” Arthur flinched. So he wasn’t entirely invisible. It was more like conveniently ignored. “I don’t trust him.”

  If Arthur had noted all the times he’d heard Will say something along the lines of that…well he’d sure he’d have filled up a whole notebook by now. Gwaine shuffled uncomfortably besides Arthur. It wasn’t one of these situation where they could just walk off and pretend they had things to do. They were in the middle of a deep cave, full of Wildren. Arthur assumed that they should probably continue this discussion outside, away from danger. He was about to speak up when he heard Merlin valiantly defend him.

  “I trust him.” Blinking in surprise, Arthur studied Merlin curiously. An unfamiliar warmth spread through his chest, and he slowly closed his gaping mouth.

  Trust, or friendship or feelings was something admittedly the pair never talked about. Arthur was uncertain whether their…whatever it was, was just a façade Merlin put on in order to stay strong for the people. He felt his lips twinge. Merlin trusted him. Trust.

  “He’s Uther Pendragon’s son, he’s going to get us all killed.” Will yelled, voice echoing through the tunnel.

  Gwaine and Arthur exchanged troubled glances at these words, and then Arthur deicded that enough was enough. Yes. He was Uther’s son. His father had given him a mission that would most likely end in death and destruction, but it didn’t matter. The more time he spent in Ealdor, the less he thought about the stupid agenda. He wanted nothing more than to wipe Camelot Enterprise’s minds and send them back home. Apparently, memory spells were impossible though.

  “What have I ever done to you?” It became evident fairly quickly that this was totally the worst thing Arthur Pendragon could have possibly said in this moment.

  Will glowered at him, raising his hand as if he were about to use magic. Merlin literally growled in warning, creating a thick tension in the air. Lowering his hand, Will leant towards the blonde man menacingly.

  “It’s not about what you’ve done. It’s about what you’re going to do, you and those stupid people who work for you!”

  “Will that’s enough, we need to leave.” Merlin hissed, voice low and eyes searching the dark tunnel suspiciously.

  This attempt at appeasement to get everybody out alive fell flat on its face. In fact, it merely triggered further conflict. Glancing between Merlin and Arthur, Will erupted. His face was reddened, eyes furious.

  “I can’t believe you’re taking his side Merlin!” he shouted. “You should know better, you’re EMRYS you’re supposed to be an example to us all-”

  It took Arthur Pendragon a few seconds to process the powerful name that had been directed at Merlin. When he had he turned to Merlin in alarm, shock, horror. Eyes wide he studied the druid beside him, with new eyes. Merlin wasn’t just Merlin, future ruler of the Ealdor Clan. Merlin was-

  “-Emrys?!-” He cried out, hands outstretched in disbelief.

  Merlin was Emrys, fucking EMRYS. He was the druid of legend, the one so mighty and great that there had been scriptures written about him. He was revered, feared by many. Emrys was the wizard of myth. Hell, there was a colossal book devoted to him. To think that this grand deity was a big-eared, clumsy, stupid idiot called Merlin. To think said big-eared, clumsy, stupid idiot called Merlin had failed to mention this to Arthur, or Gwaine. Gwaine seemed as stunned as Arthur and far more impressed. He was grinning at Merlin, eyebrows raised. Merlin had taken no notice of their changed expressions in the few seconds that passed; he was in the middle of a verbal fight.

  “Arthur has been respectful enough to learn our ways, learn our traditions, and our way of life-”

  “-It’s all an act.” Will sighed dejectedly. “Can’t you see he’s got some sort of ulterior motive?”

  Ulterior motive, Arthur swallowed-hard, eyes focused on the ground. Well, Will had hit the nail on the head. Merlin – Emrys- was he supposed to call Merlin Emrys, or treat him differently? Confusion pelted Arthur in the face. Why would Merlin neglect to tell him something of this caliber? Did he really trust Arthur? How could he really trust Arthur?

  “Arthur Pendragon is different.” Merlin stated loyally.

  “Pathetic,” Will barked sarcastically. “You’ll believe anything he says. Yet you never say why.”

  “I do not need to explain myself, I know he is pure of heart.” Merlin said, using a powerful, decisive tone Arthur couldn’t help but associate with Emrys. His voice whispered ‘I dare you to disagree with me on this.’ Will obviously did disagree.

  Suddenly, Gwaine raised a hand.

  “Shhh!” he hissed, silencing the pair. “Listen.”

  The four of them focused their attention on the sounds of the cave. They had been too caught up in such human things to notice that there were some very inhuman things creeping into the corners of their ears too. For starters, there was rustling from all around the tunnel. It was difficult to say how far it was, or what direction it had come from. There was the sound of ragged breathing, and a growl. Reaching for his knife, Arthur took a step backwards. Instinctively, the four of them huddled closer together in pairs, back to back. Gwaine and Will looked down on end of the tunnel, Merlin and Arthur studied the other way.

  Will’s torch began to paint a giant shadow over the walls, revealing that something was approaching.

  “We’ve got to get out of here.” Merlin whispered, slowly making his way forwards.

  The others followed quietly, and the shadow in the flames abruptly vanished. The lack of sound bought them to a stop. It was so quiet, eerie. Arthur could hear his own shallow breaths harmonise with Gwaine’s, collide brutally with Will’s sharp intakes of air, and intertwine with Merlin’s soft gasp. That was all he could hear, indicating that something was seriously wrong. Merlin stumbled forwards cautiously, hand outstretched meekly.

  “Where is it?” Gwaine muttered curiously, gazing up to the high ceiling of the cave’s tunnel.

  “Has it gone?” Arthur hissed hopefully, subconsciously clutching Merlin’s jacket tightly.

  “No.” Merlin replied, ensuring that Will hadn’t run off or done something stupid. “It’s here somewhere.”

  Will yelped loudly, pushing the three of them forwards as the flame in his hands fell the ground. It revealed parts of the creature’s face. The adrenaline rushing through Arthur’s brain made it difficult to fully piece together what he had seen in the first strike. Large teeth. Rat-like. Huge. Horrible. Simultaneously, the four of them turned the other way quickly, ready to run. The creature swiftly leapt in front of them, clawing at them viciously.

  “Run!” Arthur yelled.

  Immediately, the four of them darted forwards, or what they thought was forwards. Will was about to pick up the flame torch on the ground, but Merlin tugged him forwards urgently as he ran past. Instead, it was Arthur who conjured an unstable – yet efficient – light source. The ember ball hovered ahead of them, spraying light upon the ground so they could see. If it were any other time, he would have laughed in joy at finally creating a self-sustaining orb that didn’t collapse in on itself. But now was not the time. Instead, he pushed forwards. The Wildren was agile, but it wasn’t fast. If they continued running, they would probably make their way to the exit of the cave safely.

  Will lost his footing, falling to the ground.

  Merlin and Gwaine didn’t see, running forwards. But Arthur did, and he knew that if he didn’t react now the Wildren would definitely get the druid. Leaping back to the stubborn druid, Arthur hauled him up. In that moment Merlin heard Will’s voice protesting and turned his head back, eyes full of horror. The Wildren was right behind them! Spurts of violet light darted from his hand powerfully, hitting the Wildren in the face. Arthur took this gesture in h
is stride and pushed Will back onto his feet, dragging him back into the distance safe enough to be running. Merlin used one final spell before bounding after them; the Wildren seemed to lose interest the more they ran. It knew they were headed towards the outside.

  They didn’t stop running.

  Just because one Wildren had given up didn’t mean another would appear out of nowhere and block their only escape route. The moment they made it out of the cave, the four of them clung onto the coiled branches, panting for fresh air. Gwaine broke into a rugged laugh of relief, Arthur joined him. He could kind of see why Will thought this was fun. The Wildren’s definitely weren’t the deadliest things in Albion. Regaining his breathing, Will studied Arthur silently. Bewilderment was plastered over his face. Merlin just looked proud, eyes unable to leave Arthur’s face. He had indeed acted valiantly today.

  “You saved me.” Will said blankly. “Why?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Arthur asked simply, only deepening the perplexity inside Will.

  Averting his eyes, Will stumbled through the first coil of branches. Arthur scoffed, he’d half-expected a thank you but should have known better. Will would never thank him, for anything.

  “This doesn’t change anything. I still despise you and your kind.”

  Gwaine frowned, watching Arthur’s crestfallen expression. Merlin exhaled audibly, making his way through the coiled branches. He’d had enough of this behaviour. There was only so far a person could be pushed to his limits.

  “What is his problem?!?” the blonde called out angrily, following a subdued Merlin through the trees.

  ♦☼♦

  “It’s not your fault,” Merlin’s eyes were focused ahead, lingering on the figure in the distance sadly. Arthur cast his own eyes towards the druid determinedly marching through the forests in front of him. He failed to understand how this wasn’t his fault.

  “Your name doesn’t determine who you are, what’s in your heart does. You have a strong heart, Arthur.”