Dark Merlin: The Man Called Emrys

VI

LOWERING A BAG ON a string, Merlin held his jacket over his nose as smoke poured out from the loosened top. He waited on the staircase, watching as the bag neared the two guards from behind. He stopped just inches behind their heads, and seconds later, both guards collapsed. Merlin then dropped the string allowing the bag to roll on the ground creating a thin layer of smoke in the atmosphere. He quickly dashed down the remaining stairs, his jacket still covering his nose so he wouldn't breathe in the toxic fumes, as he made his way into the dungeon.

Merlin squinted into ever cell he passed. He found a man and a woman in one cell—the two sorcerers who were greeted by the rider—but they weren't who he was looking for. A couple cells down, he found him. The rider. The man who had been given the stone, but that wasn't why he was down here.

The rider, who sat at the back of the cell with his back leaned against the stone, slowly rolled his head upward. He gave a grin upon seeing Merlin. "A visitor," the man said, cheerfully. "I didn't expect to be getting any. Especially at this hour."

Merlin leaned forward and whispered, "Why were you looking at me like that?"

The rider raised a brow and chuckled. "I'm sorry. You're going to have to be a little more speci—"

"Yesterday," Merlin hastily interrupted. "When you were being escorted out. You shot me a smile. Why? You don't know me."

The rider shrugged. "A dying man isn't allowed to smile? It may be the last thing I ever do."

His unusual cheery voice sent chills up Merlin's spine. He shook his head. "No, no, no, you were looking at me when we arrested you, too."

The rider raised a brow. "Was I? I didn't think you could see a cloaked face."

Merlin looked down at his boots for a split second before returning his gaze. "I could tell."

The rider gazed intensively at him. "Tell?" He leaned forward and whispered, "Or feel?" Merlin's blood ran cold, and the rider smiled again revealing crooked teeth. "You think I can't feel the presence of your powers?"

Merlin heard the thumping of his blood in his ears. "I don't know—"

"Cut the crap," the rider interjected. "I may be powerful, but you..." Still smiling, he shook his head as he stood. "You have more magic then me and my companions combined."

Merlin gulped. Coming down here was a mistake. He turned around to take off when the rider called to him.

"Wait!" Merlin stopped. "Don't you want to know the interpretation of your visions from the crystal?"

Merlin narrowed his eyes as he slowly turned his head back towards the prisoner. "How did you know I looked?"

The rider shrugged. "It's too enticing. Not even a great warlock like yourself could resist." He took a couple steps forward as he continued, "You want to know why you saw Morgana. Why you acted like a completely different person." He stepped up to the edge of the cell, his face now inches from Merlin's and he whispered lowly and enticingly. "And why you kill Arthur Pendragon."

"Stop!" Merlin shouted, gripping the cell bars. "You don't know what I saw or the interpretation of it." He dropped his hands.

"Fine." The rider held up his hands. His expression hardened. "But I'm only trying to save us all from Emrys."

Merlin furrowed his brow. "That is what the druids call me. I and he are the same person. What do you mean save us from him?"

The rider's sly grin returned as he slowly stalked forward. "There is so much you don't know. Like why Morgana asked me to bring her that crystal."