Phoenix Tears, Part Two
The knights, and sorcerers, find the Temple of the Sun - and with it Morgause. She's determined to claim the power of the phoenix for herself but once again, Merlin stands in her way. When Morgause casts a terrible spell, the egg hatches and the moment of truth arrives. Who will it choose to side with: Camelot or her enemies? In a struggle for life and power, one sorcerer won't walk away alive.
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www . armenianweekly (dotcom slash) wp-content / uploads / 2011 / 08 / phoenix . jpg - a phoenix picture, minus the spaces.
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The fire incident was the biggest adventure their traveling group had on the way to Caerleon. After they crossed the country border, Tor and Lionel led them in the direction they'd heard the Temple of the Sun was in for several hours. They didn't pass anyone, but they were all wearing nondescript clothes just in case. A band of Camelot knights, two sorcerers, and their king would cause political problems if seen. And the longer they rode, the more Merlin felt a familiar tingle: magic.
"Can you feel that?" he asked Luke. They were riding at the back of the group together.
Luke looked at Merlin and then checked his wrapped arm. "No. I think it's healed pretty well already."
Merlin almost shook his head and said "No. Not that. The magic." but he thought better of it and just nodded at the younger sorcerer. "That's good," he said.
Just then, the party came to a stop. Tor and Lionel looked at each other and at the area around them. Tor nodded to a large and oddly shaped rock and then gave a meaningful look to his companion. Lionel was the one to turn around and address them. "I'm afraid we don't know where to go from here. No one knows where the Temple is beyond this point."
"Well, now what?" Gwaine asked, looking around. There was a sprawling forest in every direction and it all looked the same.
Merlin frowned. Morgause was a powerful witch. If Merlin could feel it here, it was probably only a matter of time before Morgause would have felt it too. He tugged his reins left and kicked Glydia lightly. She trotted easily up the still line. Merlin pulled back, slowing her, as he came even with Arthur.
"I think I can lead us from here," he said.
Arthur regarded him skeptically. "You sure?"
Merlin held up his hand and watched it for a moment. He was shaking ever so slightly. He lowered it to the saddle and nodded. "Yeah. Yes. I can."
For a moment, the king regarded him silently. He was remembering how Merlin had reacted when they had neared Tintagel, when the magic had reached out to Merlin in a way no one else could understand. Would a magic temple do the same? Would the phoenix egg release enough magic to lead Merlin there? Could he lead them through whatever spell kept the temple hidden?
Arthur shook his head. "At least it's something. Go ahead, then," he agreed with a flourish of his arm to the front of the crowd.
With a nod, Merlin took Glydia in front of Tor and Lionel. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
"Is he serious?" Tor said behind him when Merlin didn't do anything for several seconds. Lionel kicked him in the leg. "What?"
"You have a big mouth," Lionel said and then proceeded to ignore him.
Merlin took another breath and opened his eyes. "It's this way. I'm sure of it." He kicked Glydia and started off going a little left of their current path.
"That's not even a trail. He's leading us into the middle of nowhere," Tor complained.
"You really think they'd leave a trail to one of the most powerful creatures on the planet?" Tristan asked as he rode his horse past Tor and Lionel to catch up with Merlin.
Gwaine smacked him on the way by. Tor yelped. "Hey! I'm a knight!"
"Then act like it," Arthur told him sharply. "Merlin is a powerful sorcerer and our ally and friend. You would do best to remember that." He kicked his own steed and moved on with the group. "Hurry up, now. We need to find that temple and we need to find it fast."
About twenty minutes later - twenty minutes of weaving around trees and over little hills - Luke gasped. "Oh! This is what you meant!" he called up to the front, to Merlin. "I feel it too!"
Merlin didn't react. There was a cliff coming up. He stopped Glydia at the edge of the cliff and stood up in the saddle to look down into the ravine.
"What do we do now, Merlin?" Lancelot asked. "Where do we go?"
Merlin, for one, didn't understand. The magic felt like electricity right underneath his skin. He was so close he could taste it on his tongue, and yet he'd come to a dead end. The temple was not in the ravine and it wasn't on the other side of it. But he felt like he could reach out and touch it.
Reach out and touch it.
Merlin dismounted and trailed his hand up Glydia's neck as he walked to the edge of the cliff. He glanced down and had to quickly lean away from the edge. It was a long way down. He took several deep breaths to calm his jumpy heart. Then, slowly, he reached out over the edge of the cliff. He didn't see anything, but it felt like he'd touched a wall and then passed through it. He smiled. Taking a deep breath, Merlin lifted his foot and stepped off the cliff-
-and kept walking. He heard the gasps behind him.
"It's a spell," he explained, turning around to face everyone else. "This isn't actually a cliff. It's an illusion."
Arthur nodded and dismounted as well. That was all the evidence he needed, just Merlin's word and he believed. He tied his horse to the nearest tree and walked to the edge of the cliff. Shutting his eyes, Arthur stepped out into the air. Merlin touched his arm when he'd reached him and Arthur opened his eyes again. Arthur took a moment to smile at Merlin and then turned around to wave the knights and Luke onward.
"Let's go. We don't have all day."
One by one each person dismounted and tied their horses. Luke was the first to rush out to meet them. Lancelot took the time to tie off Merlin's horse as well and was the last one off the edge. Merlin nodded once they were all standing on apparently nothing.
"Ok. Follow me," he said. Only about twenty-five feet later, Merlin hit a very solid wall. He felt around and found that it was a door. Turning the handle, he opened the door and created a hole in the sky. He grinned at Arthur before stepping inside, everyone else coming quickly behind him.
Gwaine gasped at the hall they'd entered into. "I'm impressed," he admitted.
It was at least thirty feet high, with gargoyles in the shape of great birds on the top of each of its twenty-six decorative columns. It was lit by floating fire every few feet, six feet above their heads. There were no windows, except for one at the end of the hall. The glass there was colored and arranged to look like a bright, fiery sun in a cloudless blue sky. It almost seemed alive. There were four large doors leading off of the hall, two on either side; one at the front of the hall and one near the end. Statues of knights were arranged along the walls, their swords held poised to fight, to defend.
Lancelot shut the door behind them and the resulting 'thud' echoed loudly down the cavernous hall. Everyone glanced back at him and he shrugged in response.
"Now where do we go?" Tristan asked. "Splitting up seems logical, but unwise, given the circumstances."
"There is no need to split up," a female voice said. "You will not even make it out of this room."
Morgause stepped from behind the farthest right pillar. She looked just as she always did. On her face she wore a contemptuous smile.
"Morgause!" Arthur called, drawing his sword. His knights followed suit. Luke came to stand by Merlin.
"Oh, look. Merlin, so good of you to bring your new pet," Morgause greeted. "Does he like your brand of magic?"
"He's not like you, Morgause. He's a good person," Merlin said darkly. Luke nodded.
"Where's the egg, Morgause?" Arthur asked.
Morgause flicked her gaze to Arthur. "Untouched, for now." They all sighed in relief. She didn't have it. "I was just about to grab it when you came in."
"You can't have it," Tristan stated. "We will not allow you to use a creature of good for your evil purposes."
Morgause laughed. "A phoenix is only as good as the person it chooses to bond with, and it only chooses from those with magic. The phoenix will chose me because I am the most powerful sorcerer here."
"Merlin is the most powerful sorcerer here," Luke stated brazenly. "You are dust on his shoes."
Morgause frowned. "Is that so?" she asked. "Would you like to test that?" Her eyes flashed golden. "Ætlætnes!"
"Nerung!" Merlin shouted back. Morgause's spell hit an invisible wall and the hall shuddered around them.
Morgause frowned. "Ceorfan!"
Merlin didn't even speak that time. He simply held up his hands, his eyes turned gold, and the spell once again only shook the room. Dust fell from the ceiling down onto their heads, catching in their hair. Morgause almost growled in aggravation.
"Ceosel ýst," Merlin cast. There was a breeze in the room and the dust from the floor flew into a frenzy. Suddenly there was a small tornado rushing across the room at Morgause.
Morgause lifted her hands. " Cól wind!" she shouted.
It took a second or two, but the wind dissipated, the dust dropping back to the floor. Morgause was coated in a light layer of the dust herself, her hair windblown, and did not look happy. With a thrust of her hands, a magic force rushed across the room at them. Merlin held up his hands to block it but it still knocked Lionel and Lancelot back into the wall and toppled Gwaine and Luke to the floor.
Merlin threw his hands out as if mirroring her attack, but nothing happened. When he pulled his hands back in, that's when a forced ripped Morgause's feet from beneath her. She landed on the stone with a loud thud and it took a few moments for her to regain her feet, wincing as she did so. Tristan whistled in appreciation.
"Fine," Morgause conceded. "Try this." Her eyes roamed the walls and the roof. "Líffæc, carr ond gagátes."
Nothing happened. The knights glanced around, waiting. Merlin never let his eyes stray from Morgause. Then, suddenly, the gargoyles on top of the pillars and the stone knights around the room cracked and began moving. The birds ruffled their stone feathers and then turned on the Camelot knights.
Merlin glanced at the roof for only a moment and yet, when he glanced back down, Morgause was gone. "Arthur!"
Arthur looked too and cursed. "Go after her." Merlin turned wide eyes on his king. "Go! We'll handle these statues. Morgause is the real danger. You have to stop her from getting the egg." Merlin hesitated. "I said go!"
With a final look at Arthur, and a glance at Luke, Merlin took off running down the hall. He dodged around one knight as it swung its sword at him and blasted one of the birds to pieces when it blocked the door he thought Morgause had gone through. The statue blocking the door was all it took to convince him he was right.
Almost as soon as he was through the door, Merlin could hear the knights and Luke fighting the statues behind him. He wanted to go back and help, but he knew the real problem lay ahead. If he could stop Morgause, then the others would be safe.
He tried to follow the call of the magic. There was magic all around but if he concentrated then he could feel something different, something more ancient, calling out to him. A phoenix was pure magic and so was Merlin. If anyone could find it, he could. There were several hallways and doors that he passed without a moment's glance. Some of the doors were larger than others, likely to accommodate whatever beast used to live within. A few of the doors were broken into as well. Merlin knew most of them were empty. It was true that some probably held ancient treasures, but they were not what Morgause was after.
Merlin's magic led him beyond all of that to a simple door near the end of a hall. The door was already open.
Stepping into the room, Merlin saw Morgause standing with her hands extended just over the egg. "Morgause!" he shouted, a warning in his tone.
Morgause withdrew her hands and turned to face him. She smiled. "Did you abandon your friends to come after me? That's not very like you, Merlin."
"I didn't abandon anyone. I don't abandon anyone," Merlin stated, stepping further into the room.
"Then what do you call what you're doing now?"
"What I'm meant to be doing: stopping you from taking that egg," Merlin said."No matter what."
Morgause laughed at him. "Merlin, you may have magic, but you cannot defeat me. Only one sorcerer is a match for me, and it isn't you. Now, watch me change fate. You may learn something."
She turned back around and reached for the egg again. Merlin looked at the egg and saw that it was beautiful. It was a deep red, flickering like fire, with ripples of gold seemingly dripped onto the surface of the shell. The flickering red seemed to pulse like a heartbeat, faster and faster the closer Morgause's hand came to the surface. The thought that Morgause would taint that beauty made Merlin burn inside.
Morgause stumbled away from the pedestal when she was hit from behind with a spell. It didn't really hurt her, just knocked her sideways. She leveled a stare at Merlin, not quite a glare.
"I warned you. I will not let you take it." Merlin's eyes turned golden. "Try to touch it again and I will not hesitate to kill you."
Morgause sneered at him. "Ábítan."
Merlin swiped his hand in front of him and the spell bounced off, flinging back at Morgause. She dodged to the side and a tapestry hanging from the far wall was torn to shreds. Morgause threw the same spell again, but with more force, more intent, behind it. Merlin had to jump out of the way this time. The door was splinters in seconds.
"Pyrtan," Morgause rattled off.
Merlin held out his hand. "ábǽdan." It was like two swords meeting in the air, a slight boom of noise sounding when the spells met that made the floor shake. While the spells cancelled each other out, Merlin turned his attention to Morgause. He threw his arm sideways and Morgause was flung to his right. She skittered across the floor for several feet.
"Stormum ábéatne!" she shouted even as she was pushing herself to her feet.
A rough breeze began to swirl around them. It grew faster and faster until Merlin winced at a cut on his hand. The egg wobbled on the pedestal. "Cól wind!" Merlin shouted almost desperately. He didn't know if a phoenix egg could break, but he wouldn't take the chance. The wind died almost immediately.
Morgause did not look happy. "How do you so easily negate my spells? That should not be possible."
Merlin shook his head at her with pity. "There are many things you do not understand, Morgause...and you never will."
Recognition hit Morgause like a stone wall and her eyes widened. "You. It's you." She took a half step back before she remembered herself and stood her ground. "You are Emrys."
"That is what the druids call me," Merlin affirmed. "Do you remember what Tethella told you about me?" Morgause flinched and he knew she remembered, what he had seen in his dream. "She said I would stop you."
Morgause frowned and it looked like a grimace. "And I told her I would change my fate, and so I have. I have a phoenix egg." She pointed at it. "As long as I have it, you cannot kill me. That means I will win this fight, Emrys. You are just a man, mortal. I am not."
"The phoenix is not loyal to you yet. You have not claimed the egg. And if I have anything to say about it, you will never have it," Merlin declared, stepping further into the room.
Morgause threw a spell at him with no words, but Merlin killed it easily. It was a weak spell of panic. There was no force behind it. Her fear of death was getting the better of her.
"Merlin?!"
Merlin tilted his head to the side a bit at Arthur's call but never looked away from Morgause. She stared him down. Neither of them paid much mind to the sound of metal footfalls coming down the hall. Then all of a sudden Morgause's expression eased. She held out her hands to Merlin as if giving an offering.
"Why are we fighting, Emrys? We are both creatures of magic," she said sweetly. "We should be on the same side. Those people in Camelot will never truly appreciate the gifts you have. Being their Court Sorcerer, it's like being their pet. You were meant for so much more than that. Don't you want to live forever?"
Merlin glared. He took a definitive step closer to Morgause. "I am so tired of people trying to convince me that Arthur doesn't care about me." Another step. "I am so tired of being told that everyone thinks I'm worthless or an idiot." And another. Morgause looked decidedly less confident now. "Arthur knows me, and I know him. You cannot convince me to leave him; not with magic and not with words." He shook his head as he took one more step closer to Morgause. They were only a few feet apart now. "I don't want to live forever, if I can use what time I already have at Arthur's side; if I can use what time I have left ensuring that you never lay a hand on that egg."
"Inevitably, you will face each other in combat. You will face him in a struggle for life and power…and you will fall."
The sound of metal was very close now. Morgause examined Merlin's face and saw only hard determination and loyalty there. It was the same loyalty she'd seen months ago when her attempt to erase his memories had failed to win her his assistance.
"He is a man whose loyalty will never be questioned. You have right to fear him, Morgause, for you shall not know him until you behold him in all his power."
His eyes were still a brilliant gold, power coursing just under his skin. He was ready to fight to the death to protect the phoenix egg. Morgause couldn't breathe.
"Emrys is a peculiar sort of sorcerer. Unassuming on the outside...but so very beautiful on the inside."
Suddenly, Arthur ran in through the broken door, his knights at his back. They looked a bit worse for wear, but every one of them was alive and well, even Luke. Arthur saw Morgause and lifted his sword, ready to fight.
"Morgause! You're beaten," he said mightily. "Give up now or we will kill you."
Morgause looked at Arthur and then back at Merlin. For a moment, Merlin actually thought she would give up, that they would win that easily. Then the witch's eyes hardened and Merlin's stomach plummeted.
"If I am to die," Morgause said quietly, but with feeling, "then at least I will take you down with me."
Before Merlin could respond, she turned and lifted a hand toward the phoenix egg on the pedestal to her right. Merlin's eyes widened.
"Ámyrðrian ǽlces þinges."
Time slowed down around Merlin at the same moment she finished casting the spell. He saw the red bolt leave Morgause's outstretched hand, heading straight for the pedestal. He pushed off at a dead run for the egg. His fingers grazed its red and gold shell. It was warm - not hot like fire but warmer than a feverish man, and in that moment Merlin knew this was the right thing to do. This egg, so perfect, deserved to be protected.
He wrapped his arms securely and protectively around the egg just as his spell wore off and time sped up again. Morgause's spell caught him right in the back. The pain was excruciating, but he couldn't even open his mouth to scream. The world went dark.
"No!" Luke gasped loudly.
Everyone watched as Merlin jolted and then fell to the ground. His arms stayed wrapped around the egg, limp but still cradling its pulsing surface, but he did not move at all.
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, his fright seeping into his voice. He didn't know magic. He didn't know what that spell did.
Still Merlin didn't move. His body didn't shift with even the slightest of breaths. The room was deathly silent. Deathly. Merlin...
"No!" Arthur yelled, as if his denial would set things right.
The king's chest constricted. He couldn't breathe. Breathe. Merlin's chest wasn't moving. His legs loose, his face relaxed, all the tension gone from his body, Arthur could have believed he was merely sleeping. But Merlin wasn't...He wasn't...
Arthur's chest burned with the need for air even as he heaved in breaths. This couldn't be true. It wasn't happening.
Merlin couldn't be dead. Not now. Not so soon! Merlin had been with him for years, through trial after trial. They saved each other. They were always there for each other. He couldn't be gone. It couldn't be that sudden, that final. Except it was. In one fateful moment, Arthur had lost the brightest light in his life. Already it felt like half of him was missing. What was Arthur meant to do, to be, without Merlin?
He'd heard of broken hearts before, had even thought he'd experienced one, but it didn't compare to this. No battle wound had ever hurt this deeply.
His eyes burned but he couldn't blink, couldn't look away from that motionless body. If he just kept watching, he would catch Merlin faking. If he didn't move his eyes, he would see Merlin breathing. If he just didn't lose sight of Merlin, he wouldn't go away, wouldn't disappear. Merlin wouldn't-
Morgause turned to the knights. "It would seem the phoenix egg was my savior after all," she said easily, as if the world had not just ended. "I may not be immortal, but it did let me kill my greatest enemy."
Luke shook where he stood by Lancelot. "Ámyrðrian!" he shouted angrily, holding up his hand, shocking Arthur from his stupor.
The red bolt left his hand just as it had Morgause's, but she negated it easily. "Forget it, child. You may have some magical talent in you, but you are not Merlin. You are no match for me. Now that the legendary Emrys is dead, Camelot will fall easily into my hands."
Gwaine suddenly shot forward from the group toward Morgause, his sword raised high in the air. At his cue, all of the knights, including Arthur, rushed forward to attack at once. Even Tor looked crazed with rage.
"Please," Morgause sighed, as if bored, flinging her hand out.
Everyone was flung backwards into the wall or the ground. They pushed themselves back up again, but it was obvious they were in pain. Arthur knew they couldn't take another hit like that. They needed help. He looked from Morgause to Merlin and his glare slid from his face, his rapid heartbeat slowing once more.
They needed Merlin, but Merlin...
He still couldn't fully grasp it. The truth felt like vapor, just out of reach. It was as if the world was fractured around the vision of Merlin, his body cooling on the hard stones at Morgause's feet. How could Merlin be dead? So sudden, so quick, so permanent. How?
He suddenly remembered the conversation he'd had with Merlin the night before. Morgana had been distraught the day they left and had gone to straight to Merlin. Merlin had said he knew how the fight would end. It hadn't been one of his wise man speeches hidden in those words, but the admission of Merlin's final stand. He'd known this would happen, didn't he?
Still, Arthur couldn't accept it. He shook his head, eyes once again locked on his servant as he put all his will into one wish.
Merlin couldn't be dead. He was Arthur's counsel; his sorcerer; his friend; his destiny; the person Arthur cared about most in this world. Merlin was too powerful to die; too good. How could someone like Merlin die? Why did Merlin have to die?!
Arthur blinked out of his dark thoughts when he became aware of a change in the air. The room was growing hotter by the second. Morgause had noticed, as had everyone else in the room. The egg Merlin still cradled was pulsating like the heart of a man running for his life.
A soft cracking noise echoed in the room and the egg split down the side. With that split the room grew exponentially hotter. Lionel made a comment about it, but Arthur wasn't paying attention. He was too busy watching the egg.
Spreading from the crack was a bright golden light. It was the same shade as Merlin's eyes when he cast a spell. Magic. Soon the whole egg was golden and glowing. A sound like the most beautiful song emanated from the egg as it shifted, morphing from the shape of an egg to the shape of a bird. Merlin's arms fell slack to the ground with their precious cargo gone. The glowing golden bird flapped its wings, rising into the air. Its song grew louder and Arthur began to feel all of his aches and pains evaporate.
As it lifted, the bird grew larger and larger until it was about the size of an eagle. Then the gold flecked away, bursting into flame as it left the bird's body, revealing the beast underneath. The phoenix was marvelous to look at. Its feathers were the color of the sun: different shades of yellow and gold with flecks of orange throughout. Its innermost feathers were a deep, vibrant red. It seemed to have more than one tail, the bushy, brilliant feathers throughout making it appear larger than any tail on any bird Arthur had ever seen. Red and white feathers were rimmed in brilliant gold in the tail. The phoenix as a whole was sleek and glimmering. The word beautiful did not do it justice.
It landed on the pedestal its egg had rested on and looked around the room curiously. Even Morgause had fallen still and silent in its presence. Its long neck curved elegantly as it looked down at Merlin's body beneath its perch. Its song fell silent and the room felt empty without it.
The ensuing silence was broken by Morgause. "B-brilliant phoenix," she began. The phoenix did not look at her, but she continued. "I, Morgause de Orcades, High Priestess of the Old Religion, beseech thee. Grant me thy power."
The softest of sounds reached their ears in the responding silence. Arthur was amazed to realize that the phoenix was crying; those gentle sounds were its sobs. He remembered what Luke had said - a phoenix's tears could heal any wound. Except these tears were too late. There was no wound on Merlin to heal. Arthur's heart felt like glass shards in his chest.
"Please," Morgause continued, motioning to herself. "No one has done more for the sake of magic than I. With your gifts combined with mine, magic would become what it was always meant to be."
It seemed the magical bird paid her no heed. It shook its head slowly from side to side, still staring at Merlin's body. The phoenix then fluttered down to sit on the ground by Merlin, and wrapped him in its feathers as it wept.
And then all of a sudden it was on fire. Arthur jumped.
"Merlin!" he shouted, unable to stop from calling out. Lancelot and Gwaine had to grab him to stop him from rushing to save his friend's body from the flames.
A wind picked up in the room. It was soft a first, a barely noticeable breeze. But then it grew stronger. The fire of the phoenix spiraled above the body now encased within. Blue glimmers appeared in the wind, like little bolts of lightning. They were the same color as the light Merlin had made to light the camp. The wind, and the blue lights, joined the flames in swirling around Merlin's body. And all the while, the sound of the phoenix's sobs could be heard.
The flames and the wind lowered to the ground and seemed to be sinking away, except that they were sinking into a shape and not into the floor. They took the shape of a body and then began to dissolve until it was simply Merlin and the phoenix lying on the floor once more, no flames and no wind. The fire, it seemed, had become Merlin's very skin.
The phoenix pulled away, its tears spent, and gracefully moved away from the body. Then it reached its head forward and gently nudged Merlin's face. Arthur held his breath and it seemed the whole room, the whole world, did the same. Even Morgause was silent.
Merlin's eyes slid open slowly, and he took a deep breath of air. Arthur let out a gasp himself, feeling his heart start beating again along with Merlin's. Relief gave Arthur such a head rush that it was only through sheer force of will that he didn't faint.
He was alive. Merlin was alive.
"He's alive," Luke breathed out in relief. "The phoenix chose Merlin."
"No!" Morgause shouted. "I found it first. The phoenix belongs to me," she said dangerously.
With that, she rushed forward and grabbed the phoenix. Arthur expected her to burst into flames, but she didn't even flinch. She pulled the phoenix away from Merlin. It let out a cry like a sad song that broke Arthur's heart all over again. Morgause gasped and looked at her shoulder where a hand rested. Merlin stood behind her and yet no one had seen him move.
"I told you not to touch it," he said, his voice deep and resonating.
"I killed you once and I can kill you again," Morgause answered back. "Ámyrðrian ǽlces þinges!"
The bolt did not come from Morgause's hands, since she was holding the phoenix tightly in both of them. Instead it seemed to travel through Merlin's hand where he held her tight. His entire body lit up with red electricity, but he barely flinched. His eyes were alight with fire.
"Áberan ǽhtgeweald ond andgiet galdorcræft," Merlin said in response, his voice calm and powerful.
Morgause let out a strangled noise and dropped the phoenix. It flew up and in a circle above Merlin and Morgause before landing in the far corner of the room, away from the fighting. Morgause fell to her knees on the stone floor and gasped for breath. She lifted her hands and opened her mouth to cast a spell but then stopped. A confused expression crossed her face, then her eyes widened in panic.
"You can't hurt us anymore," Merlin said, his voice still deeper than Arthur had ever heard it. "Leave. Live out the rest of your life in quiet and be content." He sounded like a king, more regal than any Arthur had ever had the privilege of knowing.
Morgause held her chest and leaned forward, shaking and apparently in shock. Her hair shielded her face from view, but it was obvious that whatever Merlin had done had been traumatic for her. Her body stopped shaking for a split second and then she was flipping around to face Merlin once more, a dagger clutched tight in her hands.
"I will not die this way!"
Merlin grabbed her by the right hand, pulling the knife out of the way, and stuck his right hand to her stomach, just beneath her breasts. Everything stopped.
"Why?" Merlin asked, his voice full of remorse. "I didn't want it to end this way..."
He released Morgause's hand and took a step back from her. Where his fingers left her stomach were the last visible remnants of a spell.
Morgause stared up at Merlin, her expression hard. "I am not sorry," she said, every word heavy on her tongue. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell, hard, to the floor.
For several seconds, nobody moved. Then the phoenix flapped its wings and came to stand by Merlin's side. Its head was just high enough for Merlin to caress the feathers there, calming both the bird and himself. He kept his eyes on Morgause the whole time.
Arthur finally pushed himself to his feet. His every ache and pain was gone, thanks to the phoenix's song. He walked over to Merlin slowly, unsure. Merlin was alive but acting strange. The phoenix turned its gaze on Arthur, but it did not flee from him as he drew near.
"Merlin?" Arthur asked, stopping next to his friend. Merlin didn't respond, though he did stop petting the phoenix. "Merlin?" Arthur repeated, touching Merlin's shoulder. As usual, his touch seemed to spark something in the sorcerer.
Merlin lifted his gaze from Morgause to Arthur. His eyes were still ablaze with an inner fire, like on their visit to Tintagel but more wild. As he seemed to realize who was standing with him, the fire began to die down to his normal blue.
"Arthur," he let out in that deeper voice. Then, like with Morgause, his eyes rolled back and he fell. Unlike Morgause, he did not hit the floor.
The phoenix jumped out of the way as Arthur rushed to catch Merlin before he fell too far. He slowly lowered Merlin down, cradled close in his arms, and then checked his pulse.
"Is he-?" Gwaine asked, but stopped.
Arthur shook his head. "He's alive," he breathed out, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Merlin's temple, feeling exhausted.
There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone present, even Tor.
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"I can't believe you let the phoenix go," Luke complained lightly. He was seated backwards on one of Gaius' chairs, his arms crossed on the back.
Merlin pulled a vial of green powder from the shelves before turning his smile on Luke. "It's a free creature, Luke. I couldn't keep it."
The phoenix had actually traveled with them for part of the way back to Camelot. It wouldn't let the knights touch it, but they had nearly run their horses into trees several times due to staring at it too much. Just as they crossed the border back into Camelot and stopped to camp for the knight, Merlin had given it a soft caress and it had nuzzled into his hand. He nodded to it, silently letting it know it could leave if it wanted to. The phoenix called out a goodbye song to the knights, lifting their hearts and easing any riding aches they had, then flew away into the night sky like a beautiful beacon of hope.
"But it chose you!" Luke countered, petulant. "It was your phoenix! You had every right to keep it!"
Merlin shook his head, his smile fading a bit. "I don't think you can understand," he started. "When I woke up, I could feel the phoenix, its heartbeat, its life, as if it were my own." He motioned to his chest with his free hand. "Even now, with the phoenix gone, I can still feel it. And I know that if I ever have need of it, the phoenix will be there for me. I didn't need to keep it always at my side. Besides, you said it yourself, a phoenix is not a creature of magic. It is magic. You can't contain something like that. You can't own it."
Luke was staring at Merlin with awe sparkling in his eyes. "You know...sometimes...You really say the most amazing things."
A laugh. "You'd be surprised."
There was barely a knock at the door before Arthur's voice called out, sounding both bored and annoyed. "Alright, let's get this over with. Get a move on, Luke." The king stepped into the room and paused when his eyes alighted on Merlin at the table.
Luke frowned and looked between Merlin and Arthur. "What?"
Merlin smiled at Luke. "Oh right. In all the commotion I forgot to tell you. Starting today, you are to be King Arthur's new manservant," he said like it was a great honor.
The look on Luke's face said he thought it was anything but. Merlin didn't doubt that he and Arthur had worn similar expressions the day Uther paired them up. "This is the great surprise you had for me? You must be joking."
"Hardly," Arthur drawled, dragging his eyes away from Merlin with what seemed to be a huge effort. "You should feel honored. It's a grand position in the royal household. Your master held it for five years."
"Yeah," Luke scoffed, "and you've both told me how terrible he was at it."
"Exactly. You have big shoes to fill. Now move. We have a lot to do today," Arthur ordered before turning and walking out of sight.
Luke looked at Merlin, baffled. "How does that even-That doesn't make any-" He shook his head. "I don't understand him."
Merlin laughed softly. "He is quite the character. First lesson, though: Don't make him wait when he comes calling. He doesn't like that."
As if on cue, Arthur shouted up the stairs, "LUKE!"
Luke jumped up and raced for the door. At the door, he paused and looked back at Merlin. "This is part of my training?"
"Not for magic," Merlin admitted, "but it'll still do you some good. Now go," he said, pointing out the door. "We can talk more when you get home tonight."
Luke shook his head and hurried out of sight, shutting the door behind him. Merlin grinned, remembering his first days as Arthur's manservant. If Arthur ran Luke as hard as he'd run Merlin, Luke may not have the strength to complain for a few days.
Merlin walked over to the main work table with the green powder, where he had gathered a myriad of ingredients. His magic book was lying open on the table as well. The potion on the page was one to transform a person into an animal for an hour. Merlin was thinking, if he got the original potion to work then he could make it work for two or four hours later. And if he needed to sneak up on someone, gather information, he could always do it as a bird or a squirrel and not have to worry about being caught.
As he chopped the ingredients, his thoughts drifted. Ever since the phoenix chose Merlin, Arthur had been acting different. He had insisted Merlin ride on his horse the entire way back, even once Merlin had regained consciousness and insisted he was alright. When not on horseback, he made sure to touch Merlin's shoulder or head or back whenever he passed by, but only with the lightest contact, as if he were afraid any more pressure would cause Merlin to break.
The only reason Merlin could come up with for the change was the fact that he had died. It was only for a minute or two, but Merlin knew he'd died. He had forced himself not to think about how Arthur would react to his death because it had been too painful, but perhaps he should have been considering how Arthur would respond to him surviving instead. The extra contact wasn't unwanted, the exact opposite in fact, but Merlin didn't know what to do from here.
Was Arthur going to pull away again once he realized Merlin wasn't going anywhere? Merlin didn't want him to. He wanted to reciprocate and touch Arthur whenever he was in arm's reach. Just simple pats or taps or a hand on the shoulder. And he still hadn't worked a hug out of the king yet. Even dying hadn't been enough to-
"Ah," he let out in pain and looked at his hands. He'd cut past the ingredients and into his own hand. Blood was already beginning to drip onto the table. "Ow."
Except, it already didn't hurt. Lifting his arm, Merlin watched the blood flowing from his index finger, now dripping down his arm instead of onto the table, and worried about the lack of pain. Then the wound stopped bleeding altogether. Merlin gasped as the skin sealed itself once more. As suddenly as it had been there, the wound was gone: healed in a matter of moments. There wasn't a single mark to say it had ever been there.
Merlin looked around the room, like someone was going to be standing there muttering healing spells. He was alone. Merlin looked back at his hand. The blood was still staining his hand and arm, but there was no cut. Merlin took the knife in his hand and laid it on the skin of his palm. Closing the fingers of his left hand around the blade, Merlin took a deep breath and pulled it back swiftly, before he could reconsider.
"Ahhh...," he hissed out. It hurt! Why had he done that? Obviously it was a bad idea! He dropped the knife to hold his wrist as the wound throbbed and bled.
And then the pain was gone. Merlin watched, eyes wide, as once more his skin sealed and the wound was fully healed in moments.
"Why...?" he asked quietly. His mind ran a marathon around what had changed in the last few days: any spells performed, any strange people coming to court. Nothing had happened. "Except," he breathed out.
The phoenix.
It must have done something to him when it brought him back to life. Merlin had known, as soon as he opened his eyes that day in the temple, that his magic was stronger than ever. The phoenix had magnified his powers exponentially. Merlin had thought that was all it was, but now he wasn't sure. He could also heal. What did that mean? Could he be killed or was he immortal, like the phoenix?
"How is it you came to be here?" the Barghest had asked. Its words came back to Merlin as if the beast itself were standing before him. "You who will live for a thousand ages….the young immortal before the fall…."
There was a knock at the door and Merlin jumped. "Merlin!" Gwaine's voice called through the wood, "There's a matter fer the Court Sorcerer to handle. It sounds important!" Though his tone suggested it was anything but.
Merlin closed his hand, as if he still had a wound and was trying to hide it, and looked at the door. "I'll be there in a minute!"
He heard Gwaine sway away and looked down at his hand. He grabbed a cloth and dunked it in the water he'd been planning on using for his potion and then began to furiously scrub the blood off his arm and hand. No one needed to know. Merlin didn't quite understand what was going on yet himself, so no one else needed to know.
No one was going to know.
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Next Time: An Age of Darkness
While Merlin struggles to understand the changes in his life, a darkness is growing in the north. Morgause is gone but enemies of Camelot still remain and an old friend turned foe marches for Camelot, a small army of magic users at his back. Now Morgana must make a difficult choice and Merlin must attempt to once again change a fate the Great Dragon has foretold. And reunited with Mordred, will Morgana's loyalty to Arthur hold true?
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Translations:
Nerung = guard
Ætlætnes = destroy
Ceorfan = slay
Ceosel ýst = sand storm
Cól wind = calm wind
Líffæc, carr ond gagátes = Endow with life, rock and precious stone
Ábítan = tear to pieces
Pyrtan = strike
ábǽdan = repel
Stormum ábéatne = beaten by storms
Ámyrðrian ǽlces þinges = Kill entirely/in every respect/utterly
Ámyrðrian = kill
Áberan ǽhtgeweald ond andgiet galdorcræft = Take away power and knowledge of magic arts
Lots of magic this time around. Whew.
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Hope you liked it!