How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
[…] her body drew me into that tight and final darkness, no air, no light, no breath, no whisper of waking spirit. A grave inside a grave. Fear burned down into my brain like a white hot blade laid across the eyes. I opened them and could see nothing but the spinning light and the shadow of a tree laid across me whose thorns were like spikes. Some shape of terror clawed at my face. (IV.8.39)
So Merlin finds himself hooking up with the girl of his dreams in a meadow near his cave. Everything's going great—until Merlin gets one of his stupid premonitions. And this one's a doozy. As you can see, the mostly invulnerable young man feels that his girl is drawing him into death.
Now, we're pretty sure there's a lot of Freudian stuff going on here, but let's just take it at face value. In other Arthurian legends, we learn that Merlin is vanquished by a woman he can't resist. We're pretty certain this is a foreshadowing of bad relationships to come.