"What the hell?" Arthur asked softly, looking away from the perverse sight before him. Merlin shook his head, his fists clenched. His face was surprisingly devoid of emotion, just a tired sadness, as if he'd held a body without any life in his arms too many times before.

"Magic?" Arthur said. Merlin nodded stiffly.

"I thought you said that there is no more magic?" Arthur didn't care about the insensitivity of the question: a man was lying dead in front of him, blackness pooled like ink around his head, and Merlin looked like he was watching paint dry. He wanted answers.

Merlin didn't look at him, refusing to move his eyes from the dead man's face.

"Merlin!"

Merlin's gaze finally met his own, his eyes containing an untamed ocean, a storm of pain and helpless rage.

"No more sorcerers. No more warlocks. The creatures of the night are the only ones left. The magical beings have diminished, but are not yet extinct. The occasional shape-shifter, or beast. Saying that, a few river spirits are left, good for the odd helping hand, and the nyx, a noble breed. The odd druid... but the only thing that they have in common with the druids you knew are their beliefs. No more magic, Arthur. There isn't much good left in this world. The magic that I thought was woven into the fabric of this earth is fading, the good as well as the bad."

"What about you?"

The warlock swallowed. "Who knows?"

Arthur had no idea what to say. "That's why we can't let this sort of magic rule Arthur," the warlock gestured sadly towards the body sprawled across his lap. "It will destroy all that is pure about magic, twist it until all that remains is darkness."

"Not very used to fighting for sorcerers rights." Arthur commented dryly.

"Time you learnt then." Merlin pressed the three middle fingers of his left hand to the mans forehead, the centre finger between his brows, the other two resting lightly on his eyelids. "Vale." He murmured. There was a brusque efficiency to his actions- crashed his tame monster, found a body, and sent him into the next life with a brisk farewell Arthur vaguely recognized as latin. It just wasn't... Merlin.

Swallowing his discomfort, Arthur tentatively enquired after their next course of action, with vague dislike. Normally he was in control, and it felt weird to have to defer to Merlin.

Merlin lowered the man to the ground with infinite tenderness, and bowed his head slightly. Sighing, he looked at his palms, as if he expected to see blood on them. His slender hands clenched into fists, and as his fingers curled, the metallic monster soared up from the embankment, random bags following, flying through the air, and joinng it as the 'car' settled on the road. Arthur could only watch, astonished, as the wisps of smoke that were previously emanating from the front, were sucked into the very material of the vehicle, melding into the white-blue paint. Wheels reattached with a shudder, and the sideways door on the back slammed shut as the remaining items crammed into the little space left.

Even the paint-work shone.

Merlin paid no attention to his handy work: his gaze had returned to the man lying prone across the ground. Placing a hand just above the man's forehead, he spoke a few words beneath his breath, and the blackness pooled around his head was sucked straight into Merlin's fingertips, vanishing like mist in the dawn.

"C'mon." He said, getting to his feet. "Lets get out of here."

"But- what- why-"

"I'll call the police once we get out of here. We can't be seen, Arthur. It's too dangerous." Arthur held his hands up in surrender, and went to get back into the monster. But as he did, he froze. Merlin, who had already gotten into the car, called softly out the open window.

"Arthur, I'm sorry, but we really need to go. It's a miracle nobody around anyway."

Arthur struggled to find his voice. "Merlin..."

"Yes?" Immediately attentive, he came to stand beside him. "What's wrong?" The overwhelming concern in his friends voice made Arthur unable to answer, and he pointed towards the body.

"...Merlin...he's alive."

Merlin's face was a mask of complete shock. "He has no pulse, no heartbeat. He can't be."

"Then why did he blink?"

His mouth slightly agape, Merlin slowly made his way over to the man. Hesitantly, he placed two fingers on his jugular. Shaking his head slightly out of relief, he stood up.

"He's definitely dead." Turning his back to the corpse, he barely had time to take a step before a sudden movement had him whirling around. The man, who's heart did not beat, and whose lungs did not move, twitched.

Just a little- just a small spasm in his arm. Arthur, his eyes wide, backed away from the should-be corpse, while Merlin- Merlin walked towards it.

A horrified fascination in his face, he crouched a distance away, tilting his head to look at the man.

"Last reflex?" Arthur suggested, with no real conviction. They both knew what this was.

Merlin shook his head none the less. "Stone cold."

"Is he... alive?" Arthur asked slowly: hesitantly.

"He's dead, but... not dead."

"Well that clears things up." Arthur didn't mean to let the sarcasm escape, but he was wound as tight as a guitar string, and no longer cared. Merlin pursed his lips, then, casting one disapproving look at his companion, hauled the man onto his shoulders.

"Woah what the-"

"Are you going to help me or not?" He ground out between his teeth. Although he had the physique of a twenty year old man, mentally, he believed he had a body, battered mistreated by the relentless passing of the years. He wasn't used to being young.

Arthur pulled the man from Merlin's shoulder to his own, then stumped quickly to the car, and lay the man in the back seat. Merlin watched him do, then forced a lazy sprawl across the bonnet as a Vauxhall sped past. It slowed slightly as it neared the stationary vehicle, clearly curious, but then sped up again, not caring enough to stop.

"Where to now?" Arthur asked.

Merlin sighed a little, rubbing a hand across his chin, and sorely missing his beautiful beard. "We need to know what's going on."

"So?"

"So there's somebody I want you to meet."

~~~~~~

Its really crappy, but im too tired to change it.