Finals are over! (victory dance)

Sorry this chapter took so long to submit. Hope you enjoy it.

Come back to us

Everyone's eyes were wide as they stared at Dima. The mere sight of it made it hard to look away. Kadee and Excalibur had been beautiful apart, but together they were mesmerizing.

Dima floated in the middle of the room, but it was too high off the ground for even the tallest person in the room to reach. How were they supposed to get to it?

"Now the trial begins." Morgana smirked as she took a step towards the sword. "Which one of us will be able to claim it?" She pondered aloud. "You'd need magic to be able to reach it." Merlin's eye's widened as he realized the answer to the problem, but this would be a challenge Arthur would have to face on his own. After all he now knew Merlin had magic.

Morgana's black dress dragged across the floor behind her as she walked slowly towards Dima. Her eyes were filled with triumph even though she hadn't even grasped the hilt yet. She stopped right under the sword, spoke a few words and her eyes flashed gold. Slowly Dima began to descend towards Morgana's outstretched hand. Her long, delicate fingers wrapped around the hilt.

Part of Merlin expected her to scream or start crying like he had when he had held Kadee. But the sound that met their ears was very different as Morgana began to laugh in triumph. "I have won!" She yelled. "Finally I will take my rightful place on the throne of Camelot. Sorry brother, but it seems you have finally lost."

No, this wasn't supposed to happen. Was this what Clemence meant when she said it would not end the way he thought?

Morgana took a few steps towards the previous king of Camelot. The smile on her face was frightening. "What are you going to do now Morgana, kill me?" Arthur stood tall, not preparing to back down.

"Oh, there is no need to worry. I do not plan to kill you. I want you to watch." She mocked.

"Watch what?"

"My first act as Queen." She said it as if it were obvious. "If I wish to become Queen I must remove the thorns." Merlin took a step back, realizing what she meant a few moments too late. Morgana lunged her right arm toward Merlin, pointing the tip of Dima at his chest. He took a step back. Arthur, seeing what his sister planned to do, tried to step in front of his manservant but Merlin pushed him away. He had come too far to let the prat throw his life away now.

The sound of thunder came from the sword as a bolt of red lightning shot out from the end. The bolt flew across the room towards its target. Small bits of it seemed to become detached as it shot threw the air. Smaller pieces of lightning bounced around the room. The other occupants of the hall ran to try and avoid being hit by the stray bolts, so there were only a few people who saw the original lightning meet its mark.

Merlin's chest burned in the place where it hit him. He thought about how ironic it was that it had hit in the same spot where Nimueh had with her ball of fire. He had killed her with lightning, so now he too must die by it.

His head cracked against the stone floor as he fell back. His blood pounded in his ears, making it hard to hear the screams of the people around him. No one else had been hit. Their eyes now fell to the still form that lay on the floor. They all knew Merlin in a way, some not as much. He was a part of Camelot. Now part of Camelot was dying.

Merlin felt himself being lifted slightly from the cold floor. Its coldness did not do much to put out the fire that burned through his body. His eyes met with those of an old friend. They were soft and filled with tears. Her curly dark hair fell over her shoulders, a few strands slightly tickling his face as she cradled him in her arms.

"Gwen." He breathed.

"Shhh. Merlin, don't talk." She stroked his hair gently.

She had been his first friend in Camelot so it was only fitting that she was there to see him go. Arthur too came into view. His lips were moving but no sound escaped them. The world was going dark around him, but through it he could still hear Morgana's fiendish laugh.

He was about to close his eyes when a warm sensation seemed to run through him, but this one did not burn. With one of his quivering hands he reached into his pocket and felt the smooth surface of the two marbles. With as much strength as he could spare, Merlin whispered the two names he had been given. "Benedict." He took a deep breath. "Clemence." After all this did seem to be his time of need.

"Finally the rose is rid of her thorn." Morgana cackled. But her cackling was cut off as a cool wind swept through the room. With any other wind Morgana would have kept laughing but this one felt different. It chilled her. It felt inhuman.

The wind picked up the dust on the floor in the hall, making it fly through the air. Two small twisters formed from the wind. They circled Merlin and his friends. Eventually they came to a stop. One was beside Merlin and the other had placed itself between the witch and the warlock.

The twisters died and the dust dropped to the ground. The air became dense and visible where the twisters had stood. Undefined forms seemed to appear out of thin air. There were hands, heads, and maybe some feet. One of the forms whispered a few inaudible words and the rest of the details came out.

The one standing next to Merlin had taken on the shape of a young boy and the other was a girl, a few years older then him.

The boy immediately dropped to Merlin's side. Arthur had to scramble out of the way so he would not pass through him. The girl gave Morgana a look of detest then turned on her heal to tend to her fallen friend. Arthur stood up and backed away to give them room, but Gwen would not relinquish her hold of Merlin.

"You waited too long." Clemence whispered in Merlin's ear. "For a moment I wasn't sure you would call. Hurry Ben; place your hands over his wound. We must keep him anchored here."

Everyone else looked on the two strangers in confusion. "Who are you?" Gwen asked.

"I'm Benedict, and this is my sister Clemence." He answered without looking up or taking his hands from Merlin's injury.

"Yes, but what are you?" Arthur was next to voice his inquiry. "And what are you doing?"

Clemence looked up from Merlin's pale face. "We have a few names." She stood so she could look Arthur in the eye as she spoke to him. "Phantoms, apparitions, ghosts, or one of my personal favorites. A shadow of the past." She took a few steps towards him. Her feet made no noise on the ground she walked on. "At the moment we are preventing your friend from leaving your world and entering ours. Keeping him in one place is easy, it's the bringing back part that is hard."

"What reason do you have to help him?"

"Repaying a dept. He took the oath. We are here to make sure he keeps it." Clemence looked back to Merlin's still face. "He promised."

"You can't do that." They had almost forgotten about Morgana and her army of sorcerers on the other side of the room. They turned to see her face full of furry. "I am finally rid of him and here you go trying to bring him back. I am Queen and I command that you cease your efforts at once."

Clemence's answer to her demands were simple, she began to laugh. Morgana took a step back. Her laugh was colder and more menacing then Morgana's ever could be.

"You? Queen?" Clemence continued to laugh.

"That was our agreement." Morgana tried to sound strong and defiant but the look the apparition was giving her, deep down, made her want to go and hide in a corner.

"Yes, it was." Clemence articulated. "An agreement you have not upheld."

"What, what are you talking about? Dima chose me."

"You are not the rightful ruler of Camelot, let alone all of Albion. It is not your destiny."

"How dare you speak to your Queen in such a manner?"

Red sparks danced across Clemence's eyes. Merlin knew the look well. In less then a second she was standing with her face only a few inches from Morgana's.

"How dare I? You are not my Queen!" She spat. "I knew as soon as you stepped through the gates to the castle of Shades that you were nothing."

"Wait, you said you had never heard of the castle of Shades." Arthur stepped forward. "That's why you sent Merlin. Unless you had already been there and were unsuccessful in finding Kadee." She tried to avoid his prying eyes. "You lied."

"As if I haven't before. And you know what Arthur, I think I've reconsidered my decision not to kill you." She lifted Dima and prepared to strike at her brother but was stopped by a cold hand wrapped tightly around her wrist. She looked up to see Clemence staring her down.

"But how?" She shrieked.

"Just because I am dead doesn't mean I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve. Even a ghost can use a little magic." Her grip tightened as she forced Morgana to her knees. "We have worked too hard and given up too much for you to destroy it now. Merlin promised that they would work to someday purify our lands once more. I don't want him to break his promise, do you?" Her grip tightened even more, causing Morgana to yelp. Then she released her grip and turned away and walked back towards Merlin.

Morgana rose to her feet. She clutched Dima in her hand and swiped at Clemence. But the Blade went right through her. Clemence stopped walking.

"Dima did not choose you did it?" She asked without turning around. Silence.

"Did it Morgana?" Benedict asked again.

"Morgana are you crying?" Arthur asked. Morgana touched her face. When she pulled her hand away it was wet. Confusion crossed her eyes. Then steam began to rise from her right hand, the one that still held Dima. She yelped in pain and finally dropped the sword.

"What is this magic?" She looked accusingly at Clemence, who's back was still to her.

"Kadee's reunion with Excalibur was enough to return it to its previous purity, but only for a moment. Kadee has seen horrors." Benedict explained. "It can still hear the screaming. You held on too long. As I told Merlin, even a touch can drive a person mad."

Morgana fell to her knees. Without hesitation Arthur swiftly moved forward and retrieved Dima from where Morgana had dropped it. A golden aura formed around the blade, recognizing Arthur as its true wielder. He then pointed its tip at his sister.

"That won't be necessary." Clemence came to stand beside him. Her cold hand rested on his, making him lower the sword. "She has what she deserves." Arthur looked at his sister again and saw what the young ghost meant.

Morgana stared into nothingness. Her mind had been completely overpowered by Dima's visions. She would never move or speak again. She would no longer be a threat to Albion.

Seeing that their leader had been overpowered, her army of sorcerers quickly dispersed. Leaving their mistress still kneeling on the wooden floor, completely helpless.

The threat to their destinies had been vanquished; they could now turn their attention to the slowly fading life that lay in Gwen's arms. They hurried back to his side.

"I'm sorry Gwen but I'm going to have to ask you to let go." Clemence spoke soothingly to the weeping Queen. She reluctantly placed her friend back down on the floor and backed away.

Clemence knelt where Gwen had been. With one of her hands she took Benedicts free hand and with the other she took Merlin's limp one. They closed their eyes and in unison the phantoms began to chant. Their eyes fluttered as they spoke the incantation, showing only glimpses of their eyes glowing different colours. But the colours were not gold. Benedicts eyes flashed an electric blue and his sister's flashed orange, like fire. They began to rock back and forth as they chanted.

Gaius did not recognize the words they were using. They weren't from any spell he had heard. They sounded old and dark, older even then the old religion. No one alive could perform such magic. But these children were not alive, not anymore.

There was however one sentence they spoke that Gaius did recognize. Tears came to his eyes as he remembered the translation. Komdu aftur til okkar. Come back to us.

I've killed Merlin! *screams* Haven't I?

The sentence is Icelandic. Had to update this chapter because I translated it wrong. Hope that its right this time.

Thank you for reading and please REVIEW!

I love my OCs so I might secretly slip them into some of my other stories. See if you can find them.

How do you think its going to end? Please send me your thoughts to give me ideas.