Dark Merlin: The Man Called Emrys

XV

WINCING, MERLIN DOUBLED OVER. Blood thumped loudly in his ears and his head pounded. In his bent position, he clasped his hands tightly around his ears and gritted his teeth. He couldn't keep Emrys's memories from flooding his mind as the wall between their worlds came crashing down, and the sudden pour brought him to his knees on several occasions.

An image flashed by of Emrys standing over top of Gaius's bed staring down at the sleeping old man. Emrys didn't speak, but his thought process peaked Merlin's memory. "Soon, Gaius." Emrys had thought. "Not today, but some day soon." The memory cleared and the pain subsided.

Merlin panted, placing his hands on his knees. He couldn't keep the anger that burned within him doused as each new memory came to light. Emrys had killed several people throughout all his years, but in this memory, he had threatened the life of someone very close to Merlin, and he wouldn't let Emrys get away with it.

Clenching his jaw, he trudged forward, getting ever so close to Camelot's walls. "Enjoy your last day on earth, Emrys, because your time is coming." Merlin narrowed his eyes. He knew his inner half could hear him. Emrys had spoken to him several times over the past couple days. "Gaius and I are going to find a way to finally be rid of you."

"Is that so?" Emrys taunted back. Merlin was caught off guard not really expecting a reply. "Tell me, do you really think Gaius is going to find all the ingredients you need in mere seconds? It'll take hours, if not days, to collect everything for a spell that powerful." His voice paused until it came back maliciously. "You really think you can hold on a couple more days?" Merlin swallowed a lump in his throat, and Emrys's laugh echoed off the walls of his brain. "War's coming, Merlin, and you can't stop it. Whether I'm there with Morgana or not, she won't halt her attack for me. Not when we've come so far."

"You're wrong!" Merlin fired back. "Neither you nor Morgana will win. I'll tell Arthur if I have to. He'll stop you."

"Cute," Emrys chuckled. "But I've fought the Prince before and won. And that was without my magic. Imagine what I can do with it. He's no match for my power, for our power. You hold back and use your magic to protect Arthur when you could have others fearing your name and bowing at your feet. Imagine Prince Arthur bowing down to you."

"I don't want that," Merlin spat aloud. "My duty is to serve Arthur not to make him serve me. I will do everything it takes to insure his safety. Even if that means killing you."

"My my. Such a strong word for a pathetic man," Emrys accused.

Merlin stopped in his tracks as his head suddenly felt like someone was stabbing his brain. He grabbed at his hair and shouted as his knees made contact with the dirt.

"You're brain can't handle all these memories. Not since I've used magic to keep them hidden for so long." Emrys's voice pierced through his pain. "The further along you get, the more intense they're going to become and let me tell you ... You won't like some of my memories."

Merlin gritted his teeth so hard he felt as if he might chip them. He wanted to shout back, "I don't like any of your memories!" but talking through the pain was impossible.

Another flashback sprang to mind, but this one played out like a scene. Like a dam had just burst and everything flooded through at once.

Emrys stood before a cave, hatred present in his eyes.Taking confident steps, he marched into the cave and with one simple spell—one Merlin knew quite well—a ball of fire filled the palm of his hand. He stomped through the narrow passage ways until he came to a good size chamber that looked like it had been dug out to become a home.