Merlin

Chapter 3

Merlin whimpered as he tossed and turned on his bedroll; a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead and he was scrunching his eyes up as if he was in pain. The Knights watched with wide eyes, before another pained whimper made them jump into action, realizing that they had to wake him up. 

Gwaine gently shook Merlin's shoulders, "Come on mate, wake up." 

Merlin recoiled from the touch and his breathing became more frantic, but he didn't wake up. Gwaine's eyes, as well as everyone else's, showed great concern. 

"It's just a dream, wake up." Said Elyan as he tried to rustle Merlin awake again, with slightly more force this time. 

Merlin shot up, eyes wide with fear and scrambled back away from the Knights. Once he looked around and realized that he was in no real danger, he visibly relaxed and closed his eyes, putting his hands against his temples. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Merlin said, his voice unusually deep from just waking up. 

"Didn't mean to wake us? Merlin, what the hell is going on with you?" Exclaimed Arthur. He looked angry, which made Merlin uneasy so soon after his nightmare, but it was just a mask for his worry and concern about Merlin's health. 

Merlin shook his head and slapped on a weak smile, "Nothing, I'm fine. Just go back to sleep, all of you, I'll take the next watch." 

Leon looked at him uneasily, "It's my turn to take watch Merlin, why don't you try to go back to sleep?" 

Merlin let out a sudden, sharp laugh that would have made the Knights laugh along if they weren't so scared. 

"What in the hell are you laughing about?" Asked Arthur angrily. It seemed the only emotion he was capable of right now was anger. He hated being kept in the dark, and not knowing what was bothering Merlin was driving him crazy. 

Merlin sobered up and looked sheepish. 

"Sorry. I can't go back to sleep now, so I might as well just stay up the rest of the night. Get some rest guys, don't worry about me I'm fine." 

"You only got like 3 hours of sleep, and you're going to stay up the rest of the night? I'm not Gaius, but I don't believe that's healthy." Said Lancelot strictly. 

To everyone's displeasure, Merlin laughed again. 

"No, I don't supposed it's healthy is it? But I haven't died yet." 

Merlin, as usual, was trying to make light of the situation, but this time his jokes were not going to work. 

"This has happened before?" Asked Percival. 

Merlin slapped on another shaky smile and was about to reply when suddenly battle cries echoed around them. Snapping back to reality, the Knights all scrambled for their swords and prepared for the oncoming bandits, while also trying to keep a close eye on Merlin. Merlin could feel his magic pulsing through his veins, just itching to break free. He could defeat these bandits with a flick of his wrist, but then he would be sentenced to death. The Knights all fought as hard as they could, with the help of Merlin and some falling branches and unusually high roots, but when a bandit held a sword up to Arthur's neck they knew the battle was lost. 

"Now, either you all come with me or I slit the neck of your precious King." The bandit growled.