A/N: OMG, considering I had this chapter half written already, I'm quite embarrassed it took me so long to complete it.

You guys are without a doubt the most wonderful reviewers in the world! Thank you again, and as always, for such wonderful reviews and comments! I'm glad that you liked my Arwen moment. This story's genre is Romance/Adventure so expect plenty of Freylin/Arwen in the future! Here is the long awaited fourth installment of The Dark Tower.

P.S. This is my first time writing action/romance together in this combination so I hope everyone will give me feed back to make sure my scenes are coherent.

Chapter 4

"Who. Are. You." An angry snarl escaped his manservant who was now pointing the extra sword Arthur always carried at the sorceress. Guinevere lunged forward to put herself between Merlin and the sorceress but Arthur held her back. He shot Merlin a questioning look, he was never like this. But Merlin was beyond infuriated. Arthur nor Gwaine or Elyan and Percival had ever seen such an expression on the manservant's face, he looked almost murderous. "Did Morgana send you?" He sneered.

"Merlin…"The sorceress whispered in a soft almost twinkling voice. Arthur immediately drew out a dagger from his boot. This was a trap after all. How else would a sorceress know Merlin's name? "Please Merlin…put the sword down."

"Answer my question," Merlin growled his voice low and deadly.

"It's me, Merlin. It's Freya…" She replied softly, her warm eyes never leaving the manservant. Arthur looked between the two of them baffled. Did they know each other? He looked at Gwaine, Merlin's closest friend besides Arthur, and then Gwen, they seemed just as baffled as he did. To their surprise, Merlin threw his head back, and a humorless cackle followed.

"Does Morgana still think I'm an idiot? You're not her."

"But I am!"

"I don't believe you." Merlin whispered, his voice suddenly becoming shaky. The sword in Merlin's hand began trembling. Arthur saw the tormented look on Merlin's pale weary face. It looked as though he was being crushed by some magnificent burden and all Arthur could do was watch. He placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder to let him know he was there for him. But Merlin's eyes remained on the sor-Freya. The woman's eyes suddenly turned steely and sharp.

The Knights poised in a position ready to attack, but all she did was step closer to Merlin's sword. "You must believe me, Merlin. Please." She pleaded. Her eyes looked so genuine and sorrowful. She was a good actress, Arthur thought to himself. Merlin shook his head almost reluctantly like he was still battling some inner debate. Freya sighed resignedly and slowly curled her fingers around the tip of the sword.

"What are you doing?" Merlin gasped. There was a sickening squish and a steady stream of red blood dripped down her wrist. Freya gasped from the pain but seemed to be fighting back tears.

"Freya, let go, you're bleeding!" Guinevere pleaded. Freya shook her head and watched Merlin carefully. What on earth was going on? Arthur watched the sorceress with dumbfound eyes. Why was she so determined to prove herself? How does Merlin know her?

"Freya…let go," Merlin mumbled his eyes spinning at the sight of her blood. Freya shook her head again, and more blood dripped down her arm. It was all Merlin could do to watch the beady red droplets fall to the dry dessert grounds, and absorbed into barren land.

"Say you believe me." Freya whispered back steadily. The sword began quivering in Merlin's grip again, a panicky expression dancing in his eyes. But he seemed resolved.

"I-I believe you, now please let go of the sword." Merlin shakily admitted. Arthur exchanged vary glances with Leon who had edged forward through the confrontation. He shook his head at his first knight, they were not to interfere. That Merlin and the sorceress knew each other was obvious; but the knights were defenseless, and the only weapon was in the hands of Merlin and the Sorceress, to fight her would be a fool hardy move.

Freya seemed to believe Merlin; her face lit up and a small smile formed on her lips. She released her grip on the sword. Merlin's actions were immediate, no sooner had the sword fell to the desert floor with a clatter, had Merlin began examine the sorceress's hand. "Why are you so reckless?" He gasped.

"If it meant you'd believe me, I'd do it again, Merlin," She whispered in tone that could only be described as endearing. It seemed misplaced on an evil sorceress of her caliber, Arthur thought. Her unnervingly serene gaze fell on himself and his Knights. Arthur stiffened; this was it, she was going to attack.

But to Arthur's surprise, the woman had gently pulled her hand out of Merlin's. "You can look at it later Merlin. We need to get out– "

BOOM! The earth shook like it had been torn apart at its core and the sand sucked them in with ease. Guinevere stumbled into Arthur's arms, they managed to stay up right, but Elyan, Leon, and Gwaine weren't so lucky. They stumbled forward at the impact.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur cried, helping Gwaine and Leon to their feet. For whatever reason, he looked to Merlin for an answer. His manservant however wasn't even looking at him, his eyes were wide with shock and his skin paled over as beads of sweat rolled from his brow. The sorceress had adorned a similar expression; neither of them was looking at Arthur though. Their eyes were glued to the direction of the trembling noises. Arthur braced himself, but the sight he saw was one he could never prepare for.

"T-That's impossible…" Gwen whispered, clinging to his arm for support. Arthur couldn't respond; how could he have predicted such an unconceivable phenomenon?

The Dark Tower, the tower of nightmares and misfortune, crumbled to dust like an old parchment touching sunlight after centuries. They watched the tower shatter and each floor after it clatter to the desert floor like broken pottery as billows of dark smoke rose to the skies. The sound of its rumbles filled the dead silence and within moments the rugged stone was sucked under the sand.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur cried, being the first to recover from the shock. He looked around to see equally bewildered eyes around him. His eyes landed suspiciously at the sorceress, his fingers itched to draw his sword as his gaze burned holes into Freya. But Freya didn't seem to notice at all, her eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion as she stared at the devastation.

"That's not possible…" Freya whispered softly under her breath, her hand unconsciously latched onto Merlin's. Arthur gritted his teeth and quickly questioned his knights to make sure they were okay. Freya and Merlin seemed to be the only ones who were truly affected by the tower's collapse.

"What is it?" Arthur finally asked Merlin impatiently. His manservant was wearing an expression like he was seeing the Dorocha for the first time.

"M-Morgana is not powerful enough to create this sort of destruction," Merlin practically breathed the answer. Arthur felt a cold shiver run up his spine as the implications of Merlin's words hit him. If Morgana didn't cause that tower to collapse, then who ever did, was way more powerful than his half-sister. But now wasn't the time for speculation.

"We have to get out here." Arthur decided, and then in a hushed tone he quickly delayed his order, "Leon, Elyan, retrieve the swords. Gwaine, you and Percival are to guard the sorceress till we get out of here. Do not lower your guard!" He practically hissed. His knights snapped to attention and followed as were instructed. Arthur then turned to his wife; she wasn't at his side but Freya's.

"Freya, what is it? You look like you've seen a ghost…" Guinevere asked her worriedly.

"M-Merlin's right you're highness…the only sorcerer alive capable of destroying such dark magic is Emrys…but if it wasn't Lady Morgana then—" Freya's speculation was cut off by the trembling earth below them and what sounded like the space where the tower had stood growled and was closed in by a tidal wave of desert sand. The rattling sound grew and the entire desert shifted and crumbled under their feet.

"What's happening?" Elyan asked panicked.

"Arthur!" Gwen cried, terrified. Arthur watched in horror as Gwen started to sink below the sand. Sinking…the earth wasn't shifting underneath them, it was sucking them in, like…quicksand. The color drained out of Arthur's face.

"We have to get out of here! The deserts turned to quicksand!" Arthur warned, and struggled to get his foot out of the sand.

"Sire, grab on!" Percival offered him an arm and pulled Arthur forward. He managed to get close enough to Guinevere and pull her out a little, but the sand was sucking them in far too fast. There was chaos as Gwaine and Leon shouted instructions back and forth and fought to get Arthur and Gwen out by tying their capes together to pull the King and Queen higher above the sand. But their efforts were futile as the knights themselves were being sucked under.

Amidst the panic, Arthur managed to catch a glimpse of Merlin…he was perfectly fine. He was standing atop the sand with the sorceress at his arms, trying to make his way towards Arthur. How, how is it possible that Freya and Merlin where the only ones who weren't sinking. Unless…

"You!" Arthur snarled, drawing out his sword with a sharp zing. "Cease this magic at once or forfeit your life!" Rage boiled under Arthur's skin. This must have been her plan all along. Why didn't Arthur see it? Freya only saved Guinevere because she knew it was the only she could get to Merlin. The bloody sorceress was after his manservant!

"Arthur stop! I don't believe Freya is the cause of this!" His wife tried to plead.

"Look at her Guinevere! She is the only one unaffected by this magic." He hissed and turned back to Freya. "Stop this at once. I swear I won't hesitate to kill you."

"King Arthur, I cannot stop what I did not create. My magic is simply holding us above the sand at the moment. " Freya explained cryptically, her eyes flickering to Merlin's expressionless face. "I believe this is Queen Mab's doing…she must have found out that Morgana's plan failed."

"Who is this Queen Mab?" Elyan asked difficultly, starting feel the weight of his armor drag him down. Freya frowned.

"I promise I'll answer your questions later, please, for now take my hand and allow me to bring us out of this quicksand." Freya stretched her hand out, waiting for Arthur to take it.

Could he trust her? Arthur's mind spun as voices from distant memories filtered through his thoughts. He heard his father's voice telling him over and over that magic was evil and that sorcerers were not to be trusted. He heard his own voice as an adolescent who'd just seen his first execution and began to question his father's beliefs. He thought about everything that had happened to him since Merlin entered his life.

Arthur had seen it all. He'd seen magic used for malicious intent, to kill, to destroy, and to raze entire kingdoms. He'd seen the ruthlessness of sorcerers who cared for nothing more than their petty revenge. He'd seen Camelot attacked by dragons, griffins, gargoyles and immortal armies. He'd been deceived by magic for as long as he could remember, his uncle, his sister, Morgause, even his own father had lied to him about magic.

And yet, he had seen it used for good. There was that unmistakable blue orb that guided him out of caves of Balor. The innocent unicorn he'd killed without knowing of the consequences. The druids used magic and Arthur knew from experience that they were good, peaceful people. This Freya person was a druid too, wasn't she?

Arthur sincerely hoped that this was all a dream and that he'd wake up in Camelot with his queen by his side, his servant with his breakfast, and his knights on the training grounds.

He couldn't believe he was doing this. He gave Freya a sharp scrutinizing glare. "You give me one reason not to trust you and I run you through where you stand," He threatened. Ignoring the proud look on Guinevere's face, he turned to his knights. "Let's head out."

He took the sorceress's hand with one hand, and Guinevere's with the other. And for the first time in his life, Arthur experienced the sensation of having the golden magic wash over him…it felt a gentle tidal wave. How deceptive, Arthur shook his head.

Wow, everyone, and I mean everyone guessed that it was Merlin who picked up the sword! Haha, I must be more predictable than I thought. I know things were a bit rushed in this chapter, and they might be like that in the next one as well, but all unanswered questions will be explained very soon!

Concept 4: This isn't really a concept but more like a comment, the idea of this entire story began with the scene of Freya hold the blade of a sword, bleeding badly, while asking Merlin to believe that she is the real thing. I was so happy to finally write that.

Review, review, review, and Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Kiki1770