Chapter Nine

The Escape

They couldn't leave by the power that Morgana had used to get them to the City Below. Not in the castle, at any rate, Gwaine explained as they waited for night to fall. The Elders were powerful; that was the reason they were the Elders. It was why they were the final word among sorcerers. Quite simply put, they held the power, both magical and political. What Morgana had said before about aiming for the castle yet being forced to land elsewhere was an entirely normal practice for the Elders. Currently, they were blocking magical passage to and from the castle, apparently anticipating that they may try and leave that way.

But they didn't need magic. Not yet, anyway. All they needed was darkness and to slip out using an entrance to the castle that, Gwaine had told Myrddin once he'd returned from seeing to the Elders, had once been used by servants in the old days. And while Gwaine had to serve the Elders still, while they thought he was seeing to it that Myrddin, Arthur and Morgana were staying put and causing no trouble, here he was, doing quite the opposite. There wasn't a single moment where Myrddin worried that Gwaine might not really be on their side. Gwaine's loyalty was to goodness and his friends. And somehow, in barely a day, he had adopted both Myrddin and Arthur into his life as such. Arthur wasn't thrilled with that, of course, but that didn't matter much, and Myrddin was thrilled enough for them both.

And as far as speaking with Arthur went, there hadn't been time to be alone, mainly because Arthur kept giving him looks as though he'd been personally wounded and was keeping a wide berth. But it was alright. Myrddin just didn't want to bring up his own stupidity around the others.

And yet that didn't stop Myrddin from looking at him from the corner of his eye, didn't stop him from thinking about the kiss, even if it had been a sham. A means to an end.

He was subtle about it, he thought, and luckily, or unluckily, really, considering, the others were too preoccupied with the Council's betrayal to notice. Even Arthur was. He understood the severity of the situation, and offered his sister his support as much as he was able, promised that they would find Mordred. That they would save him and stop whoever was behind this.

Arthur didn't notice Myrddin's eyes on him for he made a point of not looking in his direction. Of pretending that Myrddin wasn't there. It wouldn't have been so bad had Arthur apologised, but that, too, seemed beyond him.

As the night drew in and they waited in a tense silence only punctuated by brief, cheering visits from Gwaine, Morgana went through the plan that they would have to undertake in order to leave.

As far as guards went, they were apparently a real threat here. Although, foolishly, the Elders had chosen Gwaine as their primary guard. They had even asked that he report back to them on their behaviour, he had said, though of course, everything he told the Elders was false. Morgana was not the only one who had been betrayed by the Elders' inaction. Gwaine had been, too.

He had worked for them since he was young. His father had died for some reason that Myrddin didn't need to know, Morgana had said, and rather than leave Gwaine to fend for himself, Gorlois and Vivienne had helped Gwaine's mother, had offered her all that they could and, when she had passed and Gwaine was barely thirteen, they offered him work and board in the castle. They had been kind to him. That they were now capable of turning their backs on their own was unbelievable to Gwaine, yet believe it, he must.

After all, if Elder Gorlois and Elder Vivienne did not care about their own son, then it would hardly matter to them what Morgana and Gwaine thought of them. They were far more concerned with keeping a villain happy.

So, foolishly, Gwaine was the Elders' primary line of defence in keeping Morgana, Myrddin and Arthur in the castle. He would tell them, he said, that they had each retired for the night, but that they had not gone quietly. He would tell them that Morgana had demanded she speak with Gorlois come morning, as would be expected of her.

When Gwaine returned from passing that message on to the Elders, he was smiling grimly.

"Gorlois wanted me to tell you that he'll not see you in the morning, Morgana, but that you're welcome to dine with him in the evening if you've calmed down," he said, and it was supposed to be a joke, yet no one did so much as smile. Even his own expression was a stony one.

Morgana shook her head mutely and returned to counting down the moments until they could leave.

Night fell and hours passed until Arthur's watch informed them that it was ten o'clock at night.

It was time to go.

Morgana shouldered her backpack, pulling it tight enough that it wouldn't make a sound as they walked, making sure that it wouldn't catch on anything.
Arthur had been made to change. Not by the Elders, but by Gwaine. Much as Arthur seemed to dislike him, the animosity was not something that Gwaine felt in turn. He was far more interested in their getting out of the place safely. Arthur could not hope to get out of the castle unnoticed when his clothes stank of troll and he stuck out like a stubbed toe in bright red nail polish, Gwaine had said. Morgana had agreed, and even Myrddin had shrugged, pretending it didn't matter to him.

So, Arthur had briefly returned to his room and showered. He'd bundled his clothes up and left them there, dressing instead in the same strong, black material as Myrddin now wore.

As the four of them crept through the darkness of the stone hallways now, they went almost entirely unseen.

Morgana had been right when she had said that the darkness of the clothes let them hide, that it let them blend with the shadows when they needed to.

Hoods drawn up, they could have been anyone. Certainly, Arthur and Myrddin could be, for no one really knew them even if the Elders had seen them.

Somehow, they made it out into the castle courtyard without incident. Myrddin had expected there to be guards, had expected someone to stop them. He glanced over at Gwaine with newfound appreciation as they made their slow, careful way to the narrow bridge that would lead them out to the streets. The Elders truly trusted him with keeping the three of them in check as though he had the same value as countless guards. He was important and they relied on him. But now, here Gwaine was, cutting ties with the people who had helped him when he had needed them, and betrayed every sorcerer in the City Below when solidarity should have been the most important weapon they had. He was not blindly loyal. He had chosen his side now based upon what was right. And the amount of respect that Myrddin had for that was immense. Gwaine was not loyal to them, but to their cause. To finding the people who needed them.
They had reached the path that ran by the river when they first encountered a guard.

Gwaine knew him, though evidently did not trust him, for he approached, leaving the other three in shadows. He shared a joke with the man, something indistinct that had the other's guard drop for just a moment as he laughed. Then Gwaine struck. Sort of. He did not place his hands on the guard, but rather, he struck out at the air which, to Myrddin's eyes, rippled in shock waves that sent the other man flying off his feet and into a crumpled heap. Gwaine jerked a hand in their direction, and for long moments, Myrddin didn't respond. He was too busy looking at the guard, wondering what it was that had just happened. It took Morgana pulling at his arm to finally jolt him into movement, and he followed as quickly as he was able.

"Won't the guard wake up?" he asked in an undertone as the hurried along, following the river as they had the first time. They had to get a good distance away from the castle before they could get back Above without being detected or stopped, Morgana had said.

"Not for a while," Gwaine said, and he sounded certain enough of that fact that Myrddin simply took it as read.

"What did you do?" he wanted to know, however, intrigued. Arthur might have satisfied himself that Myrddin was but a mortal, but for some reason, he felt a pull towards magic whenever he saw it. He felt like it wasn't something strange, as though it weren't dangerous, but rather, a living being filled with warmth and beauty and he wanted nothing more than to learn all there was to know about it. Even if he did not have magic, even if he was not a sorcerer like Gwaine and Morgana, he hoped that he could learn something from them.

"I displaced the air between us," Gwaine said, looking over at Myrddin as they walked.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how everyone else does it, but I find it's easiest to think of the air between me and whatever I want to move as a solid object," he said, "I find the surface of it," he lifted a hand, palm out which he pressed against the air, stopping in the fast tracks they had been making because even if they were running, they apparently had enough time for this. Myrddin wondered if Gwaine was showing off. Or if he perhaps hadn't really thought this through. Or even if it were both. Probably both. Still, Myrddin stopped walking, as did Morgana and Arthur. Morgana rolled her eyes at her friend while Arthur looked briefly confused, then annoyed, and he was quite right, really, given that they were supposed to be getting to safety.

"Once I find the surface, once I feel it pressing against my hand," he said, catching Myrddin's eye with a grin, then nodding over to one of the tall lamp posts that illuminated the darkness around them.

"You can't knock that over," Morgana said, and for a moment, she sounded disbelieving, as though she couldn't fathom that Gwaine might have power enough to do something like that.

And that was how Gwaine took it to mean, too.

"And once I can feel it," he said to Myrddin, and he gave Morgana a grin because here he was, about to do something truly impressive at a time when they ought to have been concentrating on getting away. As though it were appropriate. If he had a downfall, it was that he was a little bit of a clown. It seemed as though he could not help himself. He just wanted to show off and make people smile when all they were meant to do was be serious. It was a shortcoming, yes, but a charming one. "I push," he said, doing just that.

Myrddin was certain that he saw the air ripple and move. He watched as Gwaine's eyes flashed with gold, and the moment that the wall of air crashed into the lamp post was one that took his breath away.

As it turned out, Morgana had actually thought that she couldn't believe that Gwaine could be so stupid.

The lamp post shook, uprooted by the force of the magical blow that had been dealt to it. As it slowly but surely topped backwards, the golden light that had been shining from behind the glass of the lamp went out.

It wasn't the only one.

As they watched, the lights went out, one by one, plunging the City Below into impenetrable darkness that rippled out from the one that had fallen until there was naught to see by but a few flickering lights in the distance. The homes of those that lived here. Myrddin didn't have time to wonder how their homes stayed lit when the rest of the City had gone out before one of their number gathered their wits enough to speak.

"You absolute idiot," Morgana hissed in the dark.

Shouts of panic could be heard in the distance. When the lights had begun to go out, Myrddin had heard a scream of fear that made his breath catch. These people had a right to be scared, though. They had very real things to fear that the Elders were purposefully keeping from them. A few lights going out was nothing compared to what was really going on here.

"Well, at least they won't be able to see us?" Gwaine asked, a bit of a hopeful joke, but he only was doing his best to make light of the situation without any to speak of.

"You had to show off, didn't you?" came Arthur's scathing remark. He had been quiet, for the most part, almost reserved. "Morgana, we can't wait until we're a mile from the castle, we'll have to leave now."

Had it been any other time, Myrddin would have inquired as to how Morgana had managed to summon fire into her bare hands, how it didn't burn her. But after Gwaine's little demonstration, it was probably best not to. She held the flame she had created away from her body, touched her fingertips to it, feeding it until it grew and she could see the others.

"Gwaine, take Myrddin. I'll take Arthur. We'll go to Gaius," she said.

"You know Gaius?" Myrddin asked in surprise, but Arthur wasn't done with his outrage either.

"Gaius knows?"

"Of course he does. He and Alice come from pretty big families here," Gwaine said, stepping over to Myrddin and casually wrapping an arm about him.

"They've still not really forgiven them for wanting to live around mortals, but Gaius just wants everyone to coexist happily."

"Is no one human?" was the last thing Myrddin heard Arthur ask. His blue eyes, looking a bit desperately at Myrddin was the last image in his mind as the tendrils of white smoke wrapped about him again, as he felt himself being torn to pieces and whisked away on a breeze that did not exist in the City Below.