Merlyn's Last Dream

The Crystal Cave P1

They were running. Merlyn could hear her heart thumping loudly in her chest, watching Arthur sprint just in front of her, bandits stampeding behind them. She heard them yelling, but ignored it, concentrating on not falling over, following her Prince as he jumped behind a large boulder, concealing them from view. They could no longer hear the bandits, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Perhaps they had chosen to use their brains to sneak up on the pair, however unlikely that seemed.

"Are they still after us?" Merlyn questioned, taking deep, shuddering breaths as Arthur peered over the rock, grinning widely in exaggerated cheer.

He looked down to where she was sitting, annoyingly barely out of breath. "I told you we'd outrun them."

Merlyn looked over the stone herself, not quite believing her Prince's word. "Are you sure?"

"Why is it that you never trust me, Merlyn?" Arthur sighed in mock despondency, just before yelling erupted from behind them. Exchanging an exasperated look, the pair sprinted out of their redundant hiding place, hoping to disappear between the boulders.

They stopped at a fork in the path, Arthur looking between the two routes with a troubled expression. "Come on, this way." he gestured, taking the lefthand path.

"Where are we going?" Merlyn inquired, utterly lost. They'd never ventured this way, never had the need to, but the Prince didn't appear any more knowledgeable than she was.

"Trust me!" he shouted back to her, his tone far too panicked for the servant to obey his words.

They were running across a ridge when Merlyn felt something, a pull on her magic. "Arthur!" she exclaimed, coming to a dead stop, trying to ignore how every one of her senses was telling her to get away from whatever valley lay ahead of them.

"What are you doing? Come on." Arthur grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the strange magic. She managed to stop briefly between two pillars, looking up at the men carved into the rock, their faces obscured by ivy running up their bodies, weaving through the mossy stone. However, Merlyn didn't have much time to investigate as the Prince had already run ahead, leaving her quite far behind.

"What is this place?" she breathed as soon as she'd caught up, stumbling over the loose stones at their feet.

"The Valley of the Fallen Kings." Arthur answered, evidently capable of ignoring the strange runes and carvings littering the pathway. Even the name seemed a little eerie; some dark feeling traveled up her spine.

"Is it cursed?" she shivered, alarmed by the peculiar magic floating through the air.

The Prince shrugged. "No. Not unless you're superstitious."

"It is." Merlyn definitely disagreed with the idiot who had lead them here, wishing desperately that they could find a way out of this place.

"It's a myth. They'll never follow us in here. They won't dare." Arthur paused for a moment, looking back to his pale servant. "Trust me."

"If you say that one more time..." Merlyn trailed off, listening to the footsteps behind her. Glaring at the Prince's back, she began her sprint, wishing that she had been to knight's training recently. Gaius had needed her for herb runs, but there wasn't much running involved in peppermint picking. Maybe if she made it out of this alive, then she could consider reorganising her schedule.

Suddenly, just as they were rounding a corner, she heard a whistling as something flew straight past her ear. Wincing, she realised what it was just as Arthur fell to the ground, the arrow poking out of his armour.

"What was that?" he groaned, scrambling as he tried to get to his feet. Merlyn grabbed his arm, heaving it over her shoulders so that she could help him stand, glancing back to the bandits, who had disappeared from sight.