Two Sides of The Same Coin (Merthur)(Discontinued)

To Summon A Soul

"You would do anything to save your friend, wouldn't you?" The druid asked critically.

"Yesof course, but-"

He interrupted as if I hadn’t spoken in the first place. Some kings would have people put to death for that.

"Your hatred for magic is not greater than your love for him, is it?"

"N-no! His friendship is worth more to me, but-"

"Friendship? Do not lie to us, Arthur Pendragon. We know exactly how you feel about the boy, and it is more than a simple friendship." Everybody knew. I miserably nodded in acknowledgement to what had been said. Eric knew, Rowan knew, and now even the druids knew. At this rate, the only one who wouldn’t end up knowing was Merlin, and he was the only person truly supposed to.  

"It's not about the morals of magic! You keep saying that you know who I am, well I'm not a wizard! I can't cast spells!" I was surprised to find myself near screaming. This was so exasperating! I had come all this way to cure Merlin and the Druids were giving me a spell! Why couldn't they get it into their thick skulls that I wasn't a sorcerer?

The deep-throated chuckling that came from the bald druid only made things worse. I wish I had brought my weapons, I would have been very willing to chop his head off at the moment.

"Perhaps I worded it wrong, child... I should not have called this a spell. It is more of... A summoning." Wait, weren't summonings supposed to be even more difficult?

"Why won't you do it?" In my distress, I was willing to ask, where elsewhere I never would have even thought about it. My pride, however, was not as important as Merlin’s life.

"Child..." The corners of his lips flicked up in a knowledgeable smile, "This is not my struggle," His kind tone made things worse, if anything. Did this really mean so little to him that he could continue smiling and rubbing his stupid peaceful Druid words in my face?

"But... I thought the Druids are supposed to help!" I shouted, rage spiking back up. It had been a while since i had been through dramatic mood swings like this… If this counted as a moodswing.

"And we have done what we can. For a successful summoning, this needs to be done by the one Merlin knows best" That couldn't be! If I failed, Merlin might be in deeper trouble, and that would all be on me. All his suffering, all his pain, it would all be my fault.

“Gaius can do it, right? He probably knows Merlin better than I do, and he used to practice magic so he knows what to do!" I tried to barter. I couldn't do this. If I accidentally killed Merlin, how could I ever forgive myself? Somebody who I could trust could do it was the first person that should.

"Child king, you know Merlin better than Gaius. Leave now, before the sun sets, and take this with you. Hurry though. Dark things lurk in your trail at night."

How many choices did I have here? Although it took me a couple seconds, I nodded.

"I take it my horse is still in the entrance of your camp?”I questioned, resolve settling in my bones. If I was the only one who could save Merlin, I had to at least try.

"Yes, she is. Our horse-whisperers are taking care of her. Whatever she asks of them, they will give her, with reminder she still has yet a way to run,"

I had to smile. Things were so different here. I was suddenly unsure that all magic could be bad.

"Horse-whisperers, yeah..." That sounded like a fairly peaceful occupation, actually. It was too bad that not all sorcerers were as placid as the Druids.

“How do I get out of this place?” Because of the general conversations I had spoken with the man so far, I almost thought that he would tell me to find the way out myself.

“Please follow me, the path is right in between those two trees,” I followed close behind the man as he walked me between two pine trees. Soon, the path apparated in front of us. About halfway through the walk, the Druid man stopped and turned back to me.

“I have my own business to attend to, young king. My wife and children would be eccentric if I am any later for dinner tonight.” I had almost forgotten that this man, such an obviously powerful and wise man, could have a separate life. He probably had more of a life than I did. I didn’t even know the man’s name, I realized.

“Wait, what’s your name?” The man seemed surprised for a moment before he smiled and nodded.

“I am Veda Gyan, my king,” I smiled, noticing the change of title. I liked this man, I wanted to see him again someday in the future.

“Thank you, Veda, for your help. Thank you for helping my friend,” The man Veda, nodded.

“Travel safely, my king,” It was almost as if all sense of place and person in society was lost. Veda was the type of person I would be honoured to call my friend, in this mindset, he was my equal. We were only two people in this great big world.

“Eat well with your family, Veda,”

“And I wish you good luck, Arthur Pendragon. I have no doubt that you will be able to reawaken Merlin.” I took a deep breath, nodding to show him my thanks. One could only wish, as he said.

As Veda turned away to continue on his own path, I walked down the one I had come on. This place was amazing, I had such a sense of clarity here.

When I made it back to the clearing I had arrived in, I found Lillypad being pampered.

While one woman was grooming her, one held her snacks, another was cleaning her equipment, and yet a third conversed with her, laughing occasionally at something that the horse had apparently said.

“Yeah, sounds like it!” The woman speaking to Lillypad’s voice rang above the clearing. It was beautiful, like twinkling bells. I would have loved to hear her sing.

“Aww, looks like Arthur’s here, Lilly. Yagotta back to Camelot, sweet girl”

Lillypad neighed, and the girl replied, “I know, I know, but he tries to. Just see if you can get him to let you come back some time, okay?” The mare tossed her head, snorting, “Good girl,”

The woman who had been working on Lillypad’s gear now walked up to me. I observed that her hands were now empty and Lillypad was ready for riding. It must have been magic. “She says whenever you’re ready,” The woman smiled before walking off.

I mounted myself on Lillypad’s back, all the women that had been caring for her smiling to me as a rode off. With a little reminder from my favorite horse, I picked up my weapons on the way out of the woods.

Just as darkness fell over the land, we broke out of the forest to arrive in Camelot.

The stablehands took Lillypad, although she looked annoyed after her fabulous treatment with the Druids, and I ran into the castle to Gaius’s chambers, where it appeared that Merlin was sleeping peacefully.

As I entered, Gaius looked up from the table, where he appeared to be making some sort of potion.

“Sire!” The older man stood, eyes full of hope. “Did the Druids give you a cure?”

“Yes, Gaius, they did.”

“What is it? If it’s a potion I can make it now, just give me the ingredients.”

I shook my head, glancing down to the scroll I held still firmly in my hand. I felt a strange sense of confidence humming within me, initial nervousness disapparating in its presence.

“Not a potion, Gaius. I need to summon a soul.”

Author’s Note: Hehe…. I’ve still got my favorite editor with me! Awesome MrsWho42! She’s got some really great work as well, if you have a chance I’d urge you to go read some of it! Hmm, I’m a bit scared that some of you will see this as just a filler chapter. It’s not very exciting, i know. Sorry about that…. I’m already working on the next chapter, though, so hopefully it’ll be coming soon! Maybe next week, week after.

You guys are all far too nice, you know. Thank you for sticking with my story this far. I really appreciate it.