The Emerald Thief - Merlin BBC [1]

Chapter 9: The Hell Stone

An arm sweeps under my own, lifting me from the ground. Shrieking in shock, I catch Iseldir's features as he hurls me over his shoulder. He rushes through the camp as more men charge down into the opening.

"Please!" the woman screams in agony, fear pulsing through her.

The agony hits me like a boulder, forcing the memory into my head, sweeping into the darkest points of my mind. The scene before me begins to feel familiar, the screams, the men. The terrifying day of my life that will haunt me forever. The first time I ever saw the truth of the world, the day my childhood died, and I was forced to grow up.

I never knew if Iseldir had heard that woman's pleas. He may have been too busy saving me, or he had chosen to ignore them and keep us safe. I'll never know, and I would never dare ask him, knowing that day had left him with as many scars as my own, if not more.

I often wonder if I could have said something, or perhaps I could have saved that young boy instead of staring at her. I never knew what happened to him, his little pink stained cheeks and watery green eyes beading after me in pure terror as I fled to safety.

It was my greatest regret, the thing that haunted me for so long. I still crush under the weight of wondering what I could have done. I try to tell myself I was only 10. What could I have done? But that only makes the regret worse.

Regret...

With that thought, the world around me begins to change again, morphing in darkness.

I remember where I was, helping the Knights of Camelot, saving King Arthur, fighting King Olaf, destroying the mind-controlling stone and stealing back the hell stone. I gasp as I recall running across the room, adrenaline pumping through me as I pushed Arthur out the way, snatching the stone from his hand.

Once again, I find myself standing in that field, holding the bucket, staring into the distance as the first scream echoes through the forest.

The stone traps souls and makes them relive their biggest regret in a never-ending loop...

The woman's pleas fill my ears, my gaze being forced down on the young woman on the ground, a child clinging to her weak frame.

I'm trapped in the hell stone!

***

Third Person POV

The knights stare in horror as Edythe becomes still in the salt circle, bluestone pulsing in hand. Arthur stumbles to the ground a few feet from the circle, letting out a groan of pain as he connects with the floor. Ivo's body is now still, limb in the circle's centre, hunched over at Edythe's feet. The hall falls silent, a distant ringing sound disappearing into space.

"Edythe!" Gwaine calls, leaving Leon's side to rush over to the woman.

Leon protests as Gwaine reaches the circle, "Wait, Gwaine! The circle!"

Gwaine comes to an abrupt stop with those words, his toe only but an inch from entering the salt circle. His eyes fall to the symbols on the floor, which still pulse blue light on the walls like flowing water. Gwaine looks at the salt, understanding with Leon that they don't know what it would mean to be in that circle. Gwaine follows the circle round, looking at Edythe, who stands like a statue, arms outstretched with the bluestone in hand.

Leon rushes over to their King and who lets out a moan of discomfort. Leon reaches down to Arthur, sweeping an arm under his, pulling him to his feet. The two sway for a moment as Leon helps Arthur get his footing, seemingly drained after being under an illusion.

"What happened?" the King asks, rubbing a hand on his throbbing forehead.

Gwaine lets his eyes run over the lifeless woman before him, the bluestone sending bright jolts of blue flares through her hands and into her veins. The blue light spreads across her body, turning into a bright, intense ocean blue glow in Edythe's eyes. Her face is stone-cold, face pale whilst her expression is in horror. Heavy breaths escape her as if she were panicking.