How To Train Your Dragonlord

Where's Merlin now?

Morgana bound Merlin's magic by placing the crystal around his neck. Once she was sure that the magic was in effect, she cast a spell for gathering darkness over his eyes and levitated him using her magic. Merlin was therefore unaware for the duration of their journey back to Morgana's most recent lair. The journey took four days but, because Merlin wasn't walking, and couldn't see, Morgana rarely stopped walking until they reached her lair, so that Merlin wouldn't be able to tell how long it had taken.
Once they reached the lair, and Merlin was in his new cell, Morgana lowered Merlin back onto the ground, less than gently. Still she left the darkness spell and the crystal, to ensure that Merlin was unable to assess his surroundings, or escape. She left him in the cell for a while, unable to see enough to stand himself up, or properly assess his new cell.

The new cell was colder, somehow, than the last. Merlin guessed that the first cell had felt warmer as there were always bandits coming and going, to ensure that the charm imbued on the stones was still in effect. Sometimes the bandits had shouted and jeered at him, trying to get him to "do magic tricks", despite knowing that he couldn't.
He had formed a sort of connection with the leader of the bandits, as he had always been upfront about his magic, as opposed to Morgana, who neglected to mention it. Merlin, having too much time to be alone with his thoughts, guessed that he and the bandit leader had since developed a proper business relationship. Occasionally, if the leader heard his bandits jeering, he'd remind them of their "bandit agenda", or whatever it was that bandits did when they weren't attacking people.
But his previous cell had also been warmer as it had been - marginally - further south than the base in which he has currently being held. But Merlin had no way to work this out, other than the simple fact of the cell being colder than previously. This was, in fact, his only tell that they had indeed moved. That and the lack of sound of bustling bandits going about their daily business.

After leaving Merlin for two hours without sight, Morgana returned to his cell and dismissed the darkness swarming his sight. Reluctantly.
As his eyes slowly adjusted to light, Morgana entered Merlin's cell and took a couple of strands of his hair from his scalp.
Merlin jumped, surprised for the sudden, sharp pain, and automatically lashed out with his fist, after weeks of training with the Knights, mainly on hand-to-hand combat. Merlin's fist connected with Morgana's jaw and, while it was a weak throw - because they hadn't been feeding him - it was strong enough to off-balance her and give Merlin time to exit the cell.
That was about as far as he got, however, as his legs were refusing to work, after being used so little for days. He'd rounded a corner leading away from the cells, then his legs had turned to jelly under his weight and he'd collapsed in the middle of the corridor. He had been trying to drag himself further when Morgana caught up with him.
She levitated him using her magic, then returned him to his cell, locking the door as she put him back down, even less gently than before. "Oh dear, Merlin," she tutted to him. "It really isn't your week is it?"
"Why do you need my hair, Morgana?" he asked, mostly unperturbed by Morgana's taunts.
She laughed. "It doesn't hurt to tell you I'm trying out some different magical techniques." She paused, staring through Merlin. "You'll have to wait and see for any more information." Then she turned on her heels and left around the corner Merlin had tried to escape using.
Merlin was rather unsettled by the knowledge that Morgana was using different magical techniques and wondered what she was doing. He was reassured, however, that he had been right to try that corner for escape, because Morgana had used it to leave him. He wondered how long it had been since the bandits had ambushed him, and if Arthur even knew that he was missing.
Sat on the floor of his unfurnished cell, Merlin took the crystal from around his neck, and found that he still couldn't coax his magic into action. He hoped that Arthur was looking for him. He hoped that he'd find a way to escape from Morgana. He hoped that he'd learn what Morgana was trying to do, and be able to thwart her plans.
Merlin leaned back in his cell and ended up leaning against the intersection of two walls if his cell. He watched the corner, in case Morgana returned, and lost himself in thoughts of his two homes, his mother, and his friends.