Due to some criticism of the end of this chapter (which is understandable) I've decided to update again and change it. Please tell me what you think of the improvement :)

There is slight Merlin/Morgana in this chapter, but it can be easily looked over if you don't like it. The chapter names don't imply slash or anything; it's just because the chapters will be focused on in those particular characters. Similar chapters will probably follow.

Chapter 2 – Merlin and Morgana

The day worked slowly on to the afternoon. Merlin wondered down the corridor, heading back from the kitchen with a decanter of wine for Arthur, who was having lunch in his chambers. Merlin had a feeling the young Prince was creating twice as much mess as he usually did that day, maybe almost dropping a mace on his foot that morning had annoyed Arthur more than Merlin had first realised.

His thoughts were distracted however, when he heard the footfalls of someone wearing high heels. Merlin could who it was before he turned around. Morgana was striding down the corridor behind him, wearing her new turquoise dress that floated out behind her. She looked stunning, but Merlin tried not to think about that.

"Hello Merlin," she said pleasantly, her feelings of worry from earlier that day were still lingering and had taken the usual cheery tone out of her voice.

"Good afternoon," Merlin mumbled, turning away from Morgana and walking quickly down the corridor.

Merlin had been trying to avoid Morgana as much as it was possible. He couldn't help but think over and over again what The Great Dragon had been telling him about Morgana, no, not telling him, warning him. Warning him that Morgana was dangerous and would destroy Camelot and how she wanted to kill the King. At first Merlin couldn't see or understand how Morgana could be such a bad person, but as time moved on, he was beginning to see a change in her. It seemed that Morgana's innocence was tinted after all, and could end Arthur's future rule.

It was a horrible thought, knowing a friend was slowly turning into an enemy, and there was nothing you could do about it. Merlin knew he had to stop Morgana from the future crimes she was going to commit, but how?

Morgana seemed to have noticed Merlin's stiffness and unwillingness to talk, as she frowned in frustration and walked a little faster to catch up with him.

"What's the matter?" She asked, having very little idea of the knowledge Merlin held about her powers and dark wishes.

Merlin shrugged, "nothing," he tried to say as pleasantly as possible, but for some reason he was finding it difficult. Every single day it was becoming more difficult.

Morgana clearly wasn't convinced, but she tried to lighten the mood a little. "Is Arthur giving you a hard time again today?"

"He's always giving me a hard time," Merlin tried to joke, but he sounded too serious.

"Are you sure you're all right Merlin?" Morgana asked.

Merlin turned his head to see the worried expression on Morgana's face; he tried to smile again. "I'm fine," he told her.

"You just seem to be a bit quiet recently," Morgana commented.

'A bit quiet' was an understatement in her opinion, Morgana thought she and Merlin were friends, but he was keeping to himself more and more, he was even avoiding her. Morgana could tell by the way that Merlin continued to try and keep a distance between her and him at this very moment, as he walked down the corridor, but she was determined to keep up.

Merlin shrugged again, "have I?"

"Yes," Morgana was feeling annoyed now, "you're not talking to me, have I done something to upset you?"

Merlin said nothing; he kept his eyes down and kept on walking.

"Merlin why won't you talk to me?" Morgana demanded, almost running to catch up with him.

Suddenly, Merlin stopped.

For a few moments silence hung in the air. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence because Merlin wasn't sure what to say and it wasn't a tense silence because Morgana was feeling angry, it was a silence in which the air itself seemed to buzz with energy. The energy didn't come from Merlin or Morgana, it came from the atmosphere all around. The whole place was alive with an invisible energy.

"Can you feel that?" Asked Merlin.

Morgana scowled, "don't try to change the subject Merlin!" She snapped, but no sooner had she spoken she began to feel it too.

A strange rumbling was coming from the stone floor; the ground seemed to shudder. At first it was nothing more than a small tremble, but as seconds past it began to build.

Merlin and Morgana stared at each other in confusion and fear, as the rumbling got worse.

The ground beneath their feet was shaking, growing more and more violent; soon it was hard to keep balance. Cracks began to appear in the stone walls and floor as both Merlin and Morgana lent against the wall just to keep upright. Merlin dropped the decanter, and red wine spilt over the floor like blood.

The noise was terrible, from all around a great rumbling could be heard, and in nearby chambers they could hear chairs clattering to the floor, pottery smashing, windows breaking. A suit of armour near by suddenly tumbled off its feet and crashed to the floor.

"What have you done!" Merlin yelled at Morgana, as the shaking became so bad even his vision blurred.

"I haven't done anything!" Morgana shouted back at him, fear replacing her anger. And Merlin knew she was telling the truth, even before she spoke.

Merlin could see the fear in Morgana's eyes, and felt a pang in his heart, but that was quickly forgotten about when he heard a horrible crack, and looked up to see a huge crack in the stone ceiling.

Dust began to trickle from the ceiling; the castle couldn't take the trembling any more. There was a terrible crunch, and then the ceiling began to collapse.

At first it was just small grey stones dropping from the ceiling, but then they grew, along with a curtain of dust. Stones the size of boulders tumbled to the floor. Morgana screamed, Merlin wasn't sure if she was hurt or just scared.

But the trembling continued.

The earth was alive, and it sought to kill them.

Confusion and fear had originally frozen Merlin to the spot; he didn't even know any magic that could possibly stop this. But now complete terror was beginning to take over, and he wanted to run. He couldn't just stand here, he would be killed, he needed to find somewhere safe.

The whole Castle felt as if it was about to collapse, Merlin could almost feel it swaying dangerously from side to side, it was becoming even harder to keep his balance. He looked up and saw that Morgana was having the same problem, but he could only just see her through the dust that hung in the air.

"What do we do?" Morgana shrieked with fear.

"We have to get out of here!" Merlin yelled over the great rumbling of the earth, "it's not safe here, we have to get out of the Castle!" He was already backing slowly out of the corridor, knowing the further away he got from the collapsed ceiling, the better, but he kep his eyes focused on Morgana.

Morgana hesitated for a few moments, as if she was too afraid to move, but then she began she make her way slowly towards him, her speed interrupted by the stones that littered her path.

But then there was another horrible crack, and a huge piece of timber fell between them. Morgana screamed again as she narrowly escaped the timber. The timber blocked the way between her and Merlin, she could hardly see Merlin over the rubble. Once again Morgana froze to the spot, unsure of what to do next.

"Run!" Merlin yelled at her, "run Morgana run!"

Morgana had no idea where she was running to, but anywhere was better than this corridor, so she turned and fled. She didn't even have time to look behind her to see if Merlin had started running too.

Running down a corridor, then another, Morgana could see that everywhere seemed to crumbling to the ground. More rocks and dust were falling from the ceiling as the ground continued to shake violently.

Something caught her foot, it felt like a fallen piece of armour, but it took Morgana completely by surprise, and she fell to the ground with a cry.

Before Morgana could pull herself back onto her feet, another piece of timber fell from the ceiling and trapped her leg. She cried out, more from surprise than from pain, as she could feel nothing.

Morgana tried in vain to pull herself up from the ground, but the piece of timber was too heavy, and rocks were still falling down. She cried out, but there was no one around to save her.

Full of despair and fear, Morgana continued to try and pull herself up from the ground, but there was nothing she could do. She was trapped.