A/N: Thankyou to the three (:L) reviewers. They really helped me to get this up so soon :)
Please tell me if I'm taking this too fast. Also, extra special thanks to Wildchild17 for beatering for me and pointing out that I spelt the title wrong (*heasd desk/facepalm*) I tried to put this on the last chapter but she took it down...? Anyway, check out her ace stories :) GJ
Arthur grinned thankfully at Leon, but quickly arranged his face back into a Kingly expression. It struck him that it was unfair that Leon could enthuse the Army in this way when he couldn't, but consoled himself with the thought that he hadn't really been trying, and that when it mattered he could lead the men, before quickly realising that it mattered now and he had failed. Miserably.
A loud bang shook Arthur to his senses.
She had arrived.
For a fraction of a second Merlin tried to believe that he didn't have to do this. He didn't have to go out there and face her. His one true rival. His one true enemy. His one true foe. The only one with power that even came close to what he had running through his veins. He picked up the deep hooded cloak he had come across on one of his many trips around the castle and fastened it tightly about his neck. He glanced round the chamber, and thought of Gaius, down in the infirmary. The old man had been brisk and unhelpful towards Merlin in the past few hours, giving him no advice. He didn't like the way Gaius was being, but put it down to the stress of preparing for hundreds of casualties. He sighed and flipped up the hood of the dark blue cloak, casting shadows across his face, obscuring in completely from view. He pulled himself up to his full height and strode towards the door.
As it banged shut, a sour faced Gaius emerged from the darkness of a corner, and glared at the spot his nephew had just vacated. He too straightened up, and strode towards the door.
"BACK, BACK, BACK!" Arthur was bellowing orders at his Knights who, gladly accepted, and sprinted to the relative safety of the main castle and courtyard, the only area of the city not yet to have been breached by Morgana and her Army. The portcullis juddered into place and the doors banged shut, closing in the faces of the enemy as they were swung shut just in time. Morgana's power had grown. Not just a little, she was… impossible. The amount of power she wielded was enough to shatter walls (as she had demonstrated earlier) and more importantly, decimate men. Arthur began to yell at what was left of his Army, trying to get them back into formation, before the already groaning doors gave way. Row upon row of blood-stained men valiantly staggered back into lines, swords raised, listening in fear to the baying of the oncoming hoard. Suddenly there was silence. Silence was more terrifying than the battle cries. Silence meant uncertainty of what was coming. Arthur steadied himself, waiting for the charge of thousands of soldiers, sorcerers and men alike.
What came was worse.
Slowly the door creaked open. A single figure stepped through the mighty oak doors, echoing grace and power. She strode with elegance towards the King and stopped, gazing at him like a child might admire a caged animal in a zoo, before smiling, a cold and sinister smile. Morgana Pendragon walked with ease up to the great warrior and stroked a single finger down one side of his face, never once breaking eye contact. Arthur's only response was to tense slightly and return her gaze.
Morgana raised her arms out to either side of her and shut her eyes. When she opened them again they were glowing a deep, pure gold. The knights began to shout. They staggered backwards onto one another, each row slowly crumbling and melting into the walls, falling over each other, pressing against each other, the first row helplessly crushing those behind them back so they couldn't move, until Arthur was alone stood in a ring of fiery red cloaks, leaving gaps only by the entrance to the courtyard and to the main castle. There was utter silence. Arthur did not break eye contact with his sister as she did this. It was only another second before Morgana acted again. She flicked a hand behind her in some sort of signal, and two men dressed in simple black cloaks darted across the courtyard and into the castle. Arthur turned to attempt to stop them, and found he couldn't he couldn't move from where he stood, his feet pinned to the ground. He frantically tried to move his feet, attempting to wrench them off the ground, but found he couldn't. Morgana's smile grew wider as she watched Arthur's futile attempts to get to her, to the castle, to anyone. She could see how weak he felt on his own. He had become too reliant on others, she thought, and it was his downfall. He was too trusting, and too kind-hearted. Too easy to hurt.
Arthur attempted to look over his shoulder, twisting his body round as the two black cloaked men returned. What he saw stopped his heart.
Guinevere was being dragged along by the two men, struggling against them for all she was worth. Her usually neat hair was spread wildly over her shoulders, falling into her eyes as she was thrown into the dust at Morgana's feet. Immediately she struggled to her feet and stepped quickly back into Arthur's arms. He kissed her forehead and pushed her back behind him, separating her from Morgana.
"What do you want from her?"
Arthur's voice was steady and calm. To all watching, the Royal blood inside the man in front of them was clear. He spoke like a King.
"And so the Warrior speak," came Morgana's hissing reply
The Knights were not the only observers of the exchange between the two Pendragons. Merlin clicked the window shut and stepped back from it. He had to act. He had to act now. He had to go, before it was too late. He began to run through the castle, muttering a last-minute spell to change his voice, taking the biggest corridors, the most crowded paths, and so many people saw the cloaked man and wondered at who he was, and yet none thought to try and stop him.
While Merlin ran, Morgana talked
"What do I want with her Arthur? Come on, it's not that hard to guess, is it?" Morgana tipped her head on one side and pouted at the King. "I want her because she's Queen. I want her because she's yours. I want her here, now, because she's still alive and because you still love her!" Morgana spat out the last four words with as much venom and contempt as she could muster.
Arthur wasn't beaten yet. He had one last hope. It was nothing more than a hope, but it was something. His last stand, his last chance…
"What about – what about Emrys?"
A shadow cast across Morgana's eyes at the mention of her rival, but it was gone to quickly for anyone to see. She threw back her head and laughed, but even Arthur could hear the fear concealed in it.
"Emrys, dear brother?" she whispered, suddenly the fear gone. "I could destroy Emrys if he came for me, just as I am about to destroy you are your pathetic band of knights. But…" she bent even closer in to his face, whispering even more softly: "I don't see him! He can't save you now! He hasn't come, Pendragon, Emrys isn't here to save you! You're going to die, dear brother, here, now, cold, afraid, and alone…"
The Palace doors swung outwards on their hinges and bounced of the walls with an almighty clang, echoing into the silent courtyard, alerting the world to the presence of the hooded figure framed in the doorway.
Merlin breathed deeply and quickly, keeping his eyes up but his head down. He could feel the magic pouring through him, weaving through his veins, occupying every cell in his body in a way that it had never done before. The warmth of this magic spread through him, violent and yet calming, and suddenly, he knew what he had to do. It was mapped out in his head, the way forward, the next step, and the path to coming out of this fight victorious. He proceeded down the steps, trying to look powerful and imposing, but sure he was failing.
Arthur looked at the man framed in the doors. He was tall, thin, and seemed to radiate authority. Suddenly, he straightened, and became… Mighty. He had the walk of a King, long confident strides, powerful, imposing, and as he reached Morgana and seemed to tower over her, Arthur felt scared.
The man glared down at Morgana (or Arthur assumed he was glaring at her – he couldn't see the mans face under his hood) and began to speak in a clear, carrying voice.
"What was that you were saying, my lady?"
Arthur was in awe of the bravery of the man before him, but even he could guess who he was. Emrys. His protector hadn't failed yet. Arthur barely had time to spare a thought for who was under that hood before the conversation continued.
"Who are you?" Morgana spat. "What power do you think you have to match mine?" she laughed, with no fear of the man before her, which made Arthur wonder if this really was Emrys… surely Morgana would know him if he was…
"I am your Destiny and your Doom."
Morgana flinched. Apparently that meant something to her, but then she scoffed. "You? Emrys? Emrys is an old man! You are not him!" she smiled, a cold sinister smile. "So who, I wonder, is it under that hood? A faithful citizen with a few petty magic tricks up his sleeve?" She laughed again. But this time Emrys reacted, raising a hand and jerked it forwards towards Morgana. She was lifted into the air and thrown against a wall held, arms spread, in place by the immense flow of energy coming from the man before her. Emrys stood tall, looking as though what he was doing took no effort, as easy as blowing dust from the cover of a book, but at the same time so, so angry.
"Has it ever occurred to you," he boomed, "that the face you know me by isn't my only face? Has it ever crossed your tiny, petty little mind that maybe you have no idea just what I am capable of?" He thrust her higher up the wall. "Morgana Pendragon, my name is Emrys. I am the Lord of the Druids and the Last of the Dragon Lords. I have done battle with the High Priestess Nimueh of the Old Religion and come out victorious. I have overcome the Soul of Cornelius Sigan; I have taken council with the Fisher King; and I, Morgana Pendragon, am the sole most powerful creature ever to walk the surface of the planet. Do you still want to cross me?"
