Nightmares in Camelot Chapter 8: Shattered

MERLIN

It was like he had just closed his eyes, and then not even thirty seconds later, they were open again. He felt light headed, he always did when he woke up in his dream state, and it didn't take long for his fear to creep in. Fear crept into his mind, fuelling it, wanting him to immediately shut his eyes and hope that he will end up back in the real world. But that won't happen. There was no one to wake him up now.

Now, getting back to the task at hand; snapping his eyes open and shut a few times, he began to adjust to the background behind him. Then it hit him- the gentle slopes; surrounding the village; the forest a mile or two away and the mountains that seemed to peek out from the long stretch of forest. Yes, he knew where he was and he didn't like it one big- Ealdor.

He was alone, there was no life, not that he could hear anyway. But everything was how it was supposed to be. The small fire lamps were lit, lining the poorly indicated paths through the village. The farm animals were safely penned in their habitats, sleeping for the night. There was no sound of laughter from houses, no one was out on a late night walk, nothing. Then that was when a twig snapped. His head snapped up and darted round, looking for the thing that made that noise. His breathing slowed and it became quieter, not even Merlin himself could hear himself breath.

And another twig snapped, with a sharp curse, and Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. Arthur.

"Arthur." He whispered. He stood still, waiting for a reply. Then from behind a corner, appeared Arthur himself.

"It worked! Merlin you're not as thick as I thought you were!" Arthur smiled. Merlin gave out a breathy laugh. "How are your wounds?"

"I can't feel them. They seem to disappear for me." Merlin sighed.

"We better not hang about. We better find some shelter." Arthur said after several moments.

"No. He'll find us." Merlin said.

"And we're making it easier for him, standing out here in the open." Arthur replied. Merlin knew it was true, but it still didn't make a difference.

"It doesn't matter. Shelter or no shelter, it's like he's a bloodhound." Merlin said.

"And right you are, Merlin." Merlin paused, his eyes shooting wide with fear, and Arthur looked back at him, his eyes trying to show as little fear as possible. But Merlin knew him, and he knew Arthur was scared too. His breathing sped up a little and his eyes glanced to his right, and Arthur followed his gaze.

To their right stood him, the one they feared. The man with scars all over his body- obviously he had been burnt at one point. He smiled at the two friends, sending shivers down their spine.

"There's no one home, Merlin. They've all run away." Freddie chortled. Merlin fought back a gasp. He had to keep telling himself that this wasn't true. It was all a dream, just one scary dream and everyone, his mother, his friends; even Old-man Simmons was fine.

"They haven't. They are all fine." Merlin said, but the slight tremor was noted in his voice. "This is not my home anymore, anyway. Camelot is."

"But it's your home village, the place where you grow up…with your best friend." And then Kruger vanishes. Arthur and Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, it's over, he was gone, as they think. But they know, that was just the prologue, the beginning of the beginning.

"Is that you, Merlin?" A familiar voice sounded making Merlin's head snap up in surprise. That was a different voice, a familiar voice and a one he hadn't heard in years. Judging by the look on Arthur's face, he was just as confused as he was. Spinning around, Merlin came face to face with someone who shouldn't even be standing there.

"No, no, this can't be, you, what?" Merlin struggled to hold a sentence together. The tall figure walked forward. Merlin stepped backwards.

"You can't be. You died!" Merlin yelled, his voice cracking with emotion.

"But it's me, it's William."

ARTHUR

Arthur turned around to face whatever Merlin was going to face. But as he turned around, he stepped backwards in shock. Standing there, talking to Merlin was Will, Merlin's best friend who had been killed all those years ago in a battle to save Merlin's home village.

"But you died!" Arthur blurted out. He couldn't help it, it was so much. However, something in the back of his mind was telling him this was wrong. People from the dead just don't come back to life. Not like this.

"Of course I died, now, Prince Arthur Pendragon, I am here to talk to my friend Emrys so you can just go back to where you come from." William snapped.

"You're not Will." Merlin gasped. A cruel smile etched his way onto Williams's face, before he vanished into thin air, taking the breath of the earth with him. Everything stood still, not breathing, nothing… again.

After a few moments of silence, hearing the breath of the two young men as they tried to overcome their shock, Arthur turned to Merlin.

"Who is Emrys?" Arthur asked. Merlin's breathing hitched, but he didn't answer. He had no time to.

The scene around them had changed. Both men had been swept away by a powerful force, and they landed on stone, gasping for air. Looking at Merlin, Arthur had seen that he had gone paler. It was probably his injuries.

"Well, well… if it isn't Merlin." A sweet voice came from behind. Turning around, Arthur saw a pale woman standing in a ragged red dress.

"It's you!" Arthur gasped out. "You tried to kill me!"

"Nimueh." Merlin breathed out. Arthur turned to look at him. How did he know her name? Cold eyes snapped onto his.

"I was after something, and you got in my way. You shouldn't have gone after the flower." Nimueh's voice chilled everything around.

"If I didn't, Merlin would have died!"

"Yes, and if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be living either." And with that, she vanished. Arthur turned around to look at a very jumpy Merlin.

"What does she mean?" He asked. It was a while before Merlin answered.

"I saved your life…by trying to give my life for yours."

"WHAT?" Arthur yelled.

"The cup of life. But she stalled me, and tried to give my mother's life for you." Merlin paused. "I was going to go again, but Gaius went instead, so I followed and…and…I killed her."

"So is that how I survived the questing beast's bite?" Arthur asked softly. Merlin only nodded.

Then the scene changed again and they ended up inside some clearing in a forest. Looking around, Arthur saw there was a very big lake, hidden by trees. He'd never been here before, but looking to the East, he saw Camelot's big turrets. How could he have not of found this place when it was so close to his home? Turning to look at Merlin, he found him on the ground; his eyes squeezed shut and his hands blocking his ears.

"Merlin…" A sweet ghostly voice drifted from behind him. Merlin didn't respond, if anything he tried to move away, but gravity seemed to hold him in place.

"Merlin…" Merlin still didn't respond and it left Arthur confused. Turning around, Arthur saw a pretty girl standing in the shallows of the lake. Her dress looked like a royal red, and it suited her perfectly, but she didn't look like a royal. And the dress was strangely familiar…

"That was Morgana's dress!" Arthur shouted. "How did you get it?"

"Merlin gave it to me; we were supposed to run away together. But you killed me." The girl said.

"…Freya…please… he didn't know…" Merlin's voice was shaking and barely audible when he spoke.

"But he killed me. You should hate him for it. He took away your only love." Freya's gentle voice chilled everything around.

"You're not Freya." Merlin whispered. "Freya respects Arthur for what he will do, and you're not Freya."

"I still remember how you saved me, Emrys. How you blew off the cage doors. For that, I thank you." And then she was gone. This left Arthur even more confused than before.

"Merlin, what was Freya saying? How…tell me everything."

"No…please…" Merlin whispered-his expression pained.

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you too." Arthur growled.

"Please."

"Now, tell me now!" Arthur snapped.

"I managed to unlock the doors of the bounty hunters cage. She was in there and she was innocent, I couldn't leave her. I took her and hid her in Camelot…and…and…tried to help her. We were going to run away, so she could be happy. She was cursed, and one night, she ran away…without me…and she turned into the beast…she was stabbed…and she died." Merlin said as quickly as possible, not wanting to go into full detail of what happened- it was too painful.

"Merlin…how did you unlock the cage doors?" Arthur asked. Merlin didn't reply straight away. In fact, it took a very slow minute.

"I unlocked the cage doors…by magic." Merlin replied quietly.

"With magic?" Merlin only flinched at Arthur's harsh tone. There was no need for a reply.

Arthur was fuming. His best friend, his servant and most trusted ally had betrayed him in a single moment. He had lied to him. He had betrayed him. Most of all, magic was evil. Merlin was evil. But Merlin and evil just did not fit.

"When did you start learning magic?" He asked, his anger barely in control.

"I never did." And that's all they had to say, because once again they were spun off into another scene.

Arthur knew this place! This place was once the home of the now dead Dragonlord that was supposed to help him and his dedicated knights- the knights that had volunteered knowing they would die when he had to go and kill the 'great' dragon. Of course it was dead now. So why were they here? Was this another memory? Stealing a glance at the now named sorcerer and he could see him looking guilty…and heartbroken. Why? That angered even more. Why did he look like that? Why did he look so ashamed-?

MERLIN

"Merlin, Merlin my boy!" An old, enthusiastic voice sounded from the cave entrance, and Arthur turned to look. It was the Dragonlord! Merlin didn't reply.

"What's wrong, son?" He asked. "Afraid Arthur Pendragon will tell you off?"

"You're not my father! It's you, Freddie, messing with my memories and turning my best friend against me!" Merlin snapped.

"Merlin, don't snap at your father. After all, I wasn't the one who released the dragon in the first place." Balinor let a creepy smirk slide onto his face. "And even when you let him burn down half of Camelot, you still didn't even have the heart to kill him." A cruel laugh escaped from the older man's mouth, before the scene changed and they were back at Camelot, where they were first cornered by Freddie Kruger.

Merlin's body crumpled to the floor through both exhaustion and fear. He did not have the strength emotionally and physically to lift himself up, to carry on with his quest. He couldn't bare the pain surging through him. It was worse than if fifty blades were to pierce his body. His best friend now loathed him for the bastard who ruined this, ruined it all from one nightmare. Freddie had took his most painful memories; the death of his best friend, one of his first kills, his lover and his father. For the first time in his life…Merlin knew what people meant when they said that they were 'shattered'. And this hurt.

AN: About time, huh? Well, I had fun writing this one, probably because I haven't written in a while. Did you like my reveal? I don't think it's different from any other reveal…but it was different for me. Right, I'm off school for 3 months now, but in a few weeks I'm going on that pirate ship I was talking about. So yeah, I don't think you'll be getting another chapter until after then as I have lots to prepare for… but I doubt your liking this story very well because of the slow updates... but I'm putting my best effort into it no matter what, but for who? For you who read it! I love you all who read it because you support me! So yeah! Thanks and enjoy, I'll try write again before I leave :D