Archive of Our Own ^beta

Into the Dark

It is not the first time he has been down this path. He knows that it will not be his last, but he lives with a futile hope that it will be.

He counts the steps leading him down, deeper and deeper into the Underworld. The light from the entry is fading and he feels along with wall with tentative hands as he takes another cautious step down.

Mordred had told him it would be different; that each descent was tailored to the one making the journey, and more importantly, the reason behind the journey.

The wind howls around him, threatening to send him tumbling head over feet into the dark. Closing his eyes, he takes another step and another. It had been less of a trial the first time he’d made this journey, but no less important. The wind buffets him again, this time he stumbles and his knees impact with the hard stone beneath him.

Pulling himself up, Merlin glares into the dark. “I’m coming, Arthur,” he mutters, taking another step. “I’m coming, Arthur!”