The Rise of Arthur Pendragon

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Gwen! Gwen, can you hear me? Merlin do something!!!" Arthur was stroking his wife's long, dark hair whilst frantically calling her name. Merlin meanwhile was desperately trying to think of a spell that could help his unconscious friend. "I, I don't understand! How could Gwen be a vessel?" "That doesn't now matter Merlin! Help her! Do something! You're the one with the magic here, now use it!!!" Arthur gently scooped the Queen into his arms and bellowed, his face pale and his blond hair plastered to his face by the sweat; "Now Merlin!!!" "Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ!", cried Merlin as his eyes turned gold, using the most powerful healing spell he could think of. Gwen awoke with a start. "Arthur? What... what happened? I was just coming out of the council chambers and I saw a strange light floating in mid-air and...", she trailed off looking confused. Both Arthur and Merlin breathed a sigh of relief after which Merlin announced; "This may not be over yet. I've pushed the beasts power back, trapping it inside Gwen, but it's still there... We need to speak to Gaius." Quickly, wasting no time, the trio made their way to the physicians quarters.

"Gaius?", Merlin called out as he entered, "Gaius are you there?" "Merlin? Merlin what's wrong?" The old man stepped off the little ladder he had been standing on to try and reach a book and hurried over to where they stood, his brown robes swishing with every step. "Gaius it's Gwen. Arthur and I managed to destroy the beast and follow the rest of it's energy to try and find the vessel. And I think we found it..." He turned to look at Gwen, who stood in the doorframe, leaning on Arthur, with a bewildered look on her beautiful face. "Ah." Gaius too faced the Queen and beckoned her over to take a seat on his patients table. "Is it even possible for a human to be a vessel?", asked Arthur with a worried look on his face, "I thought you said it had to be an object!" "Well no it doesn't have to be an object I'm afraid Sire, but using a person takes enormous amounts of power and is hardly ever done.", Gaius told Arthur, as he searched through the stacks and stacks of books that lay scattered around the room. "But you can heal her right? You can make the creature's power leave her?" Gaius faced the King with a frown and reminded him of what he had told him before. "Arthur when I first told you about the vessel I said that, only when the vessel is destroyed, will the beast die. On the rare occasions that a human is chosen to be a vessel it is at a cost. The human body is not strong enough the withhold such power and if the hellhound itself is killed and the power returns to the vessel... The vessel will die. " Arthur's young face went white as a sheet and, clutching Guinevere tight to his chest, he stammered; "No. No! Gaius there must be a way to stop this! I am not letting her die. Never!"

Arthur rounded on Merlin, who had been sitting on a chair with his head in his hands, and yelled, his whole body rigid with anger; "This is all your fault! If you're such a powerful sorcerer then save her!!!" Merlin lifted his head, looked at his desperate friend and spoke softly; "Arthur listen to me. I will not let her die. I will find a way to save her I promise." He stared into Arthur's blue eyes and spoke again; "Have I ever broken a promise?"

The young King took a deep, calming breath, let it out again and then nodded slowly. "Do you trust me Arthur?", the Kings best friend asked, his voice almost a whisper. Without a moments hesitation he replied; "With my life."