Merlin's POV:
Whisked by invisible hands through the door, past a passageway, and down a flight of stairs. Somehow, the biggest of my concerns was not Morgana at the moment. See, with every couple of steps i took, my feet, which had turned invisible, stubbed into some corner or random bump in the ground, and it was painful. Whoever said that a person stubbing their toe and crying out in pain overreacted, did not know the pain of stubbing their toe. Multiple times. On stone.
There was no way that the areas underneath my toenails were not bleeding right now. That was annoying too. It felt weird for weeks, and it looked gross. Usually, I had his magic to take care of bloody toenails or things of the likewise, but as today was different, I was rather annoyed.
Then I remembered that he was being carried into a dungeon in a castle full of mind controlled warriors by an insane and evil sorceress who was out for both my blood, and the blood of the person I loved most. Yeah. It seemed like my day was only getting worse and worse. At least I wouldn't have to worry about bloody toenails when there were more important matters at hand.
It didn't take long for me to realize that Morgana wasn't taking me to my own cell. In, fact, it seemed to be a completely different sections of the giant dungeons. Really, why did she need so many cells? Was she planning to keep all of Camelot behind bars? Funny thought..... Or not.
But where she was taking me now, I didn't like the feel of it. The place seemed oddly familiar, but it felt bad. It felt so bad. As if there was some dark magic brooding down here over centuries of collection and waiting. I was going to be it's feast. Whatever Morgana planned to do to me here, it wasn't going to be good.
My mind went through so many scenarios. Torture, for one. She wanted the information, that much was obvious, and she didn't buy the little idiot game I had been playing. How long would I be able to hold out if she tortured me? I probably wouldn't have my magic to help me down here. I didn't trust the dark magic, it almost felt suffocating. What if my magic was harmed? No, if I survived torture it had to be of my natural abilities. I wondered how much pain I would be able to take if it came to that. I had survived a serket's sting, poison, and so much more. Would Morgana expect me to withstand that much? I would find out when the moment came, wouldn't I?
What if she did something else? What if she simply killed me? It would be easy enough. For all uses and purposes, this place was empty. Nobody would hear, nobody would know that I had died in this godforsaken place. It would be horrible. I would never have an opportunity to say goodbye to Arthur.
But then again, there was the chance that wouldn't happen.
In fact, Morgana led me to a hallway full of trapdoors on the ground, each only a couple feet apart from the other. In the back of my mind, I wondered what they were used for. Maybe they were passageways to a different dimension. Maybe they would take me somewhere peaceful, somewhere happy. As if.
Morgana, suddenly no longer invisible, bent down to unlock one of the doors, and opened it. Peering in, all I could see was a deep, dark hole. Somewhere i did not want to be.
"Get in." The women commanded, standing up again. "Now." I jumped up, taking a step back.
"Morgana...."
"I said get in!" The dark magic that had felt suffocating earlier now felt ten times more so. It felt as if a snake was wrapped around my body, and it was going to squeeze me until the pressure collapsed my organs. This was my punishment for not listening.
Air suddenly coming in raged breathes, I sat on the floor, legs hanging into the dark hole but still touching no platform or floor to say I wouldn't fall and keep falling once I let go.
But I had no choice, did I?
Within a moment, the floor had disappeared beneath me.
As I thought I would, I fell and fell. It felt like hours, although I was certain it was only a couple moments before I touched the ground again. I tried to catch myself on the wall, but all I managed to do was scrape my palms, elbows, and knees on the wall.
I think I must have hit my head at some point as well. There was a warm liquid trickling down my cheek.
And suddenly, I recognized the scene from a dream I had once had.
There wasn't much light, but the still open trap door above me gave me enough to see by. It was moist here, touching the walls, small beads of water came off onto my hands. Looking around, I saw only stone. It was on every side. I had no more than half a foot to move in any direction. I was stuck. Trapped where Arthur could never find me. The only way I could think to get out was digging through the ground. It was the only place where I saw dirt, but there was no way to bend down to dig. I couldn't even squat. I was desperately fighting full blown terror, now, begging my heart to slow down, but it only sped up. I could hear it beating. Glancing down to my hands and white clothes, I saw blood from the scrapes on the fall. I felt no pain, my mind seemed to have blotted it out so that I could focus on actually surviving. I looked wildly about, trying to find an exit. My gaze stopped at the ceiling. That was probably my only chance, but it must have been ten feet above me. I would have tried to climb, but the walls were so smooth, it would be impossible. Morgana was standing above the hatch on the ceiling, but I ignored her as I continued searching for a way out. Finally, I held my hand towards the ground and tried to cast a spell.
"áfære carléasnesse" Nothing happened. These cold stone walls were suffocating me. Suffocating my magic. I hated being without magic. It felt so gullible, so open. Anybody could harm me easily. I tried the spell again, this time to only Morgana's shrill laughter.
"A sorcerer, Merlin?" Morgana cried gleefully from above, "I would have never guessed it! Surely not a powerful one, though, so you are no concern of mine," Morgana laughed again, the sound echoing through the small stone tunnel.
"It would have been fun to experiment a little bit, but we have more pressing matters at hand. I'm sure that this will still be an interesting experience for you. Goodbye, Merlin," Morgana didn't leave, though. She looked down at me, as if thinking.
"unc béon ándaga sixtigwintrere cier ceakka be Arthur" She said, after some time. The words were followed by giggles. I would have understood what she had said, but my mind was working so busily and still managing to accomplish nothing. If I had to put my emotions in a single word, I was terrified. The latch above me closed, and the world was plunged into darkness.
The only thing left was the sound of my own breathing, that echoed off the walls in this wretched place. It would have been a lie to say I wasn't terrified. A complete and udder waste of breath.
Breath.
Was there anything worse than breath at that moment?
All that was left in the world for me was a wall, a round wall that trapped me, and the echoing sound of breath.
Author's Note:
What fun that chapter was. Who remembered the dream? Oh, and in case anybody is going to say dreams never come to pass, they do. I've had dreams that come true later on, I actually keep a little dream diary when I remember to, and it's happened to me a couple times. And besides, Merlin had a vision, not a dream. But you all know that, don't you? So I'm probably just ranting to myself.... Sorry about that, I tend to be just a tad bit annoying when it comes to these things.
So, uhh, updates should start coming more quickly. I had this typed up on the same day I updated chapter 20, and, since there's no school tomorrow, I will most likely write the next chapter then. For now, enjoy a 2 am update. I hope you all enjoy!
Please vote and review and make me a happy person. Also, should I put this story up on fanfiction as well? I really dunno, maybe more people would find it if I were to put it there....
Oh, and just in case anybody was wondering what kind of place Merlin is stuck in right now, it's an oubliette. They were a type of dungeon during medieval times. The vitims put into an oubliette were often left there to be forgotten about. Usually, they weren't saved. The oubliette wouldn't even be opened again until the bones were being cleaned out. Along with the entire death thing, they really hurt their vitims mentally. Since it was such a tight, dark, and silent place that somebody would be left in for hours to days, it was quite scarring. There's a picture with this chapter in case anybody wanted to see what it looks like.