I'm back! Sorry this chapter took so long. I went on a mission trip and thought I would get time to write, but that didn't happen. Then had a reenactment and went to my grandparents...it's been a busy week haha Then ontop of all that, this chapter kept giving me a hard time. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen, but making it happen was the hard part! Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading it. I certainly enjoyed writing it. I love digging into character's feelings, even the characters I don't like so much. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 10: The Final Straw

Watch the end through dying eyes; now the dark is taking over
Show me where forever dies...I will not bow! I will
not break I will shut the world away! I will
not fall, I will not fade! I will
take your breath away
-I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin

"Are we there yet?" Gwaine asked loudly, tossing his head to the side to shake his hair out of his eyes.

"For the last time," Merlin said in fake frustration, "Not yet!"

The four had left the cave that morning shortly after the dragons had left. Gwaine and Percvial had exchanged their armor and cloaks for simpler peasents clothes, though the chainmail was kept in their saddlebags and the fine Camelot swords remained at their sides. Having only three horses, Hunith rode double with Merlin and fidgited every so often in her discomfort.

"Well how much longer?" Gwaine asked, a grin threatning to break out.

"Aithusa said five miles," Percival answered with a shake of his head. "We have gone about three."

"Well less talking and more riding!" Gwaine couldn't keep the mischievious grin back. He had been playing this game since they had left the cave. "I'm ready to get off this horse!"

"I thought you were use to riding?" Hunith said, forming it into a question.

"I am," Gwaine replied, turning his grin toward her, "But I..."

Before Gwaine could finish his sentance, a loud shout rang across the area. The four riders all turned around, trying to find where the shout had come from. About fifty yards back on either side of the trail, they could see the forms of horsemen bursting through the trees and onto the trail. A flash of red gave their identies away as knights and guards of Camelot.

"Ride!"Gwaine shouted, spurring his horse on. The others quickly followed suit, causing Hunith to hold tightly to Merlin for fear of falling off.

"It's the traitors!" One of the pursuers yelled from behind them. "After them!"

The sound of horses hooves grew louder as the men spurred their horses into a gallop and took off after the three wanted men and the woman. It was evidant that the knights had been riding hard as the four new outlaws quicky began to outdistance them. Percival, riding just behind Gwaine, looked back past Merlin and Hunith and saw that the several of the horsemen had slowed from a gallop and were raising loaded crossbows.

"They've got crossbows!" Percival yelled, bending low on his horse, though he knew it would make no difference when they let loose the bolts.

The other three turned and looked back, before turning forward and bending low as well. No orders were yelled, but the four could hear the sharp "twing" of the crossbow's releasing.

"Bordrand!" Merlin shouted, not turning to look at the crossbow bolts in flight.

His eyes glowed gold and an almost invisible shield appeared behind the four riders. The bolts hit the shield and, with a loud "crack", shattered and and fell to the ground in pieces. An angry shout came from the knights and the sound of galloping horses echoed once more.

Merlin turned in the saddle, careful not to unbalance his mother, and watched as more bolts flew through the air and hit the shield that followed behind them. The knights holding the crossbows were shooting at a gallop now, only slowing to reload. Satisfied that his shield was holding, he turned back around and spurred his horse faster.

Gwaine, his horse carrying the lightest load, was in the lead with Percival and Merlin and Hunith not far behind. Merlin noticed that Gwaine and Percival both were riding with one hand on the hilts of their swords and the other on the reigns. Hunith's grip on his waist was tight as she bounced behind him, and he knew she was scared to death both of their pursuers and of falling off.

With a start, Merlin realized that they were still heading in the general direction of Iseldir's camp. Percival had said they had only gone three miles. That meant that in two miles-more like one and a half at the rate they were going-he would be leading knights of Camelot directly into the area they planned to hide in. He would be endangering not only his life and that of Gwaine, Percival, and Hunith but of Iseldir and the rest of his druids as well.

A sudden scream of pain knocked Merlin out of his thoughts. He felt Hunith's grip slipping from his waist and he spun as much as possible in the saddle and, to his horror, saw his mother falling from the horse. In an instant, he knew what had happened. His concetration had slipped, causing the shield to weaken and allow a bolt to slip through and hit Hunith.

"No!" he shouted and reached out to catch her, but she fell to fast and hit the ground before he could stop her.

He yanked hard on the reigns, drawing his horse into as fast a stop as he could. Fear shooting through him, Merlin pratically jumped from his horse and dropped the reigns. Not paying attention the knights that were steadily growing closer, he dropped to his knees beside his still mother. He lifted her limp body and felt the wetness of blood and the shaft of a crossbow bolt portruding from her back.

"Mother!" He choked, pulling her limp body closer to him.

Hunith made no movement, just stayed limp in his arms, her head falling back and Merlin knew she was gone, probably dead before she hit the ground. Tears spilled from Merlin's eyes as he held tightly onto his mother's body. He heard the pounding of the horses hooves, a shout of triumph and a frightened cry of "Merlin!" coming from Gwaine and he looked up to see the pursuing knights only ten feet away from him.

"Acwele!" Merlin roared, his eyes flashing a dark gold.

The knight's barely had time to register what was happening before the spell hit them. Their eye's widened and one managed to let loose a scream of agony before all the knights and their horses suddenly vanished in an explosion of light.

Merlin was breathing hard as his eyes faded back to blue. He looked back down at his mother's dead body and bent forward, placing his face gently against hers. Sobs racked his body as his tears flowed freely. Behind him, still mounted, Gwaine and Percival could only watch. Both were in awe at Merlin's power and, though neither would admit it, quite scared of how Merlin-supposedly innocent, harmless, caring Merlin-had just ended the lives of several men and their animals.

None were sure how long they stood their like that, Gwaine and Percival watching as Merlin cried for his lost mother. It must have been several minutes however, before Merlin finally looked up and released his death grip on Hunith's body. His breathing shakey, he took several deep breaths to get it back under control and wiped furiously at his eyes. He turned around to face Gwaine and Percival, his eyes red and filled with pain and slight horror at what he had done.

Gwaine dismounted slowly and walked over. He bent down and placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder. He, for once, said nothing, but his meaning was clear in the gentle squeeze he gave his friend's shoulder: I'm here for you. Merlin looked at him through red eyes and gave the rogue a small, pained smile before letting his face fall into a look of determination.

"We need to get going," he announced, his voice croaking slightly. "There may be more out there."

Gwaine nodded and helped Merlin pick Hunith's body up. They carried her over to the horses, where Gwaine waited till Merlin had mounted to hand the body up to him. Once Gwaine was remounted as well, the three men started off down the trail.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Arthur stood on the balcony looking into the courtyard where men were cleaning the debris from the latest burning. He suddenly understood why his father had preffered beheadings over burning. It took to long to clean the burned pyre up and the smell of burning flesh lingered for weeks. Beheading was quick, simple, and left no smell or mess. Just the way his father had liked it.

But, Arthur mused, he was not his father. Times were different now, worse then they had been in his father's time. It had barely been a day since Gaius's execution, and already the guards had brought in two men and a woman suspected of sorcerery. Their trials had been quick and they had been burned that very day.

Arthur's thoughts turned to the reactions the people had had to the executions. Some of the younger ones had looked on in approval, but the majority of the people had looked on in sadness and, in some cases, dissaproval. In the faces of several, though not many, he had seen anger. He remembered their faces well and made a mental note to have the guards watch those few. It would not do to have those few start a rebellion.

"My lord?" Leon's voice broke into Arthur's thoughts and he turned to see the knight standing just inside the balcony's door.

"Yes, Sir Leon?" Arthur said as he turned on his heel and walked into the room that lead to the balcony. "Have you heard from the knights sent to Ealdor?"

"I have, Sire." Leon bowed respectfully and followed his king out of the room and into the corridor. "It seems that Mer..." Leon cut off quickly and corrected himself, remembering at the last moment the order Arthur had given about speaking Merlin's name. "It seems that the traitor got their ahead of us. He and the other two traitors took Hunith into hiding."

"Blast it!" Arthur exclaimed, hitting his fist into his palm. Thenm just realizing what Leon had said, he turned and asked."Wait, did you say two traitors?"

"Yes sire," Leon answered hesitantly. "It seems that Percival ran off to join them just before Gaius was executed."

"And you're just now telling me this, why?" Arthur barked, turning furiously on his most loyal knight.

"I thought it was possible that he had just run off, Sire." Leon responded, taking a step away from the angry king. "But the only surviving knight reported that he saw Percival with Gwaine and the traitor."

"The only survivor?" Leon could hear the fury in Arthur's voice and figured he had better explain quick or risk losing his head.

"The knights were able to track the traitors down and killed Hunith, but before they could kill the rest Mer...the traitor killed them all save the one who had remained hidden in the forest."

"What was he doing hiding in the forest?" Arthur snapped.

"Sir Premel*was ordered by Sir Helire to remain behind and watch in case the sorcerer managed to get the upper hand." Leon explained. "Sir Premel did as he was ordered and came back to give a full report, including where the traitors are going."

"Where are they going?" Arthur asked, sudden excitement filling his voice.

Leon didn't answer for a moment, suddenly unsure of himself. He knew that Merlin, Gwaine, and Percival were traitors and deserved what was coming to them. He may not like it-he had counted them as friends, and that wasn't something he took lightly-but if it was what his King ordered, he would do as he was told, including ordering men after them.

But to kill Merlin's mother. He had told Sir Helire to spare her and let her live in peace in Ealdor, but the man obviously hadn't listened and had killed her simply for who her son was. Leon shook his head. Sir Premel had told him how Merlin had held her body and killed all the knights with a single word and, quite frankly, he couldn't blame the man. If it had been his mother killed before his very eyes he would have wanted to do the same thing.

Arthur was looking at him impatiantly, wanting the name of the area Merlin and the two ex-knights were running to. Leon was suddenly reminded of a story his father had told him of when Uther had mercilessly chased down the last dragonlord Balinor, even though Uther and Balinor had been friends.

Looking into Arthur's eyes, Leon suddenly realized that he wasn't looking at Arthur. He wasn't even looking at Uther. Even Uther had stopped when he realized Balinor would take to much time and energy to chase down. But Arthur, Arthur wouldn't give up. He would keep chasing Merlin until the man was caught and killed.

For the first time in his life, Leon felt unsure of his place in life. All his teenage and adult life had been spent serving his king, serving Camelot and doing what was best for the people. Now, though, he was having second thoughts about what he was doing as a knight. Leon took a deep breath and breathed out slowly.

"They are heading toward a forrest on the borders of Camelot, in Cendred's old kingdom."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Life in the druid camp paused as the three riders rode in, one carrying the dead body of a woman. Several people's eyes widened in surprise and fear as they recognized two of the men as knights of Camelot, though without their cloaks and armor. Fewer recognized the kings manservant, but those that did let out a gasp of fear and ran to tell the elders.

Merlin rode first, with Gwaine and Percival flanking him on either side. His eyes scanned the shocked druids looking for the one he was hoping would be there. His shoulder's drooped when he didn't see Iseldir anywhere.

"We meet again, Emrys." Iseldir's voice rose from a tent off to their left and Merlin turned that way.

"Iseldir." Merlin greeted with a nod. There was no trace of humor or a smile on his face. "Have you heard what has been happening in Camelot?"

"The last we heard of Camelot was that the King's son had died." Iseldir replied, hands folded in front of him and a blank expression on his face. "Has something else happened that we should be aware of?"

"Destiny has shattered." Merlin said, repeating Aithusa's words. "Arthur believes that I killed Gwydre and is set to kill me. He has killed Gaius and...my mother," His voice choked off for a moment, and tears swelled in his eyes, but he calmed himself quickly. "Arthur has declared another Great Purge."

The blank expression fell from the druid chief's face. In his eyes, Merlin could see sorrow as well as fear and surprise. Iseldir recovered quickly, however, and the blank expression was soon back in place.

"I am sorry to hear that," he said, "More then I can say. But why have you come to me?"

"We need a place to hide," Merlin answered. "I was hoping you would be willing to let us remain with you."

"If you came alone, Emrys," Iseldir said slowly, "You would be more then welcome. But you have brought two knights of Camelot with you. How can we be sure that what you say is true?"

"Gwaine and Percival left Arthur to come with me," Merlin replied, "They are not here to spy for him. I give you my word on that."

Iseldir studied Merlin's face for a moment, before turning to several other elders beside him. Not a word was spoken, but Merlin knew they were having a full blown conversation with their minds. After several minutes, Iseldir turned back to Merlin and bowed.

"You are all welcome to stay with us." He announced.

"Thank you." Merlin replied, feeling as if a load had been taken from his shoulders.

"There is something you must know, Emrys." Iseldir added, looking solely at Merlin and ignoring Gwaine and Percival. "There is someone here you have met before."

"Who?" Merlin asked, feeling as if a stone had been dropped onto him. He knew few people outside of Camelot, and most of those were enemies.

A movement off to the side caught his eye and he turned to see a small cloaked figure pushing it's way to the front of the crowd. Merlin grew tense as a familiar voice echoed through his mind.

"Hello Emrys."

*One reason I like writing Merlin stories: You can make up names out of random objects and it will sound like a name because of the strange times. (I was look at pretzles and m&ms for Premel haha)

Spell Translations

Bordrand!-Shield!

Acwele!- Destroy!