Chapter 11 Demon Scorned
(Note that some of this takes place before what's taking place with Merlin you'll know when the time frames are aligned together.)
She was angry, no angry wasn't a powerful enough word. Infuriated was a better choice. After everything she had done, the deeds she performed and the acts she had committed Merlin had let her go and give her another chance. Morgana knew that she should be grateful that he let her go, according to the images Aithusa had shared with her Merlin had even saved her life; and no matter what way she looked at it she was furious. At first she had been sad and depressed not believing that he had allowed her a second chance at a new life, but she couldn't understand why. Was it a way to get her to conform? Was it his way to reconcile with her the years they'd fought each other? Did he pity her? That last thought drove Morgana mad. How dare he pity me, she would think, a High Priestess of the Old Religion!
Morgana had decided to return to the Fortress of Ismere to house herself until she discovered what she'd do with her new freedom. She was pleased to see that the wolves she had enchanted were still in the area and still responded to her call. She then walked the fortress with Aithusa close at her side. Morgana looked at Aithusa and considered her presence both a blessing and a curse. On the one side Aithusa and she had gone through hell and back together, surviving Sarrum's torture and imprisonment together. Thinking back to her time in that pit always made Morgana lose character and return to the scared little girl all those years ago. The way Sarrum would torment her, gloat at her for her lack of being able to escape… the way that man had touched her during her imprisonment. Morgana shuddered at the memory but looked back to Aithusa, she had been there with her the whole time. She too was in pain from that pit, in a worse condition then Morgana was in her opinion. She remembered back years ago when she had found Aithusa again after she had healed her. She was so full of energy and had a sweet innocent voice when she spoke, it was one of the few times they had spoken to each other before their imprisonment.
Morgana had been searching for weeks for the little Dragon that had saved her from her fatal wounds, she had only been able to stare at the beautiful creature as it flew off after healing her. Morgana swore that she would find it and give her thanks to the creature. When she finally did find the Dragon she was surprised to find it playing in a stream, she noticed as she approached closer that it was trying unsuccessfully to catch a fish. The Dragon was barely taller than Morgana's knee but it was still small in Dragon standards she assumed. As she approached she stepped on a branch that cracked loudly as it broke under her weight, when the Dragon heard the sound it stopped playing instantly and turned towards the sound. When the Dragon saw Morgana she yelped and turned to run away, Morgana reached out to the Dragon calling out, "No please! I do not mean you any harm," The Dragon stopped and turned back to face Morgana curiously. Hesitantly, it slowly walked towards her, its wings bent at an odd angle preparing for flight had the need arise. When it was within arm's reach of Morgana she bent on one knee as she looked at the Dragon at eye level.
"I wanted to thank you for saving my life," Morgana said sincerely, a genuine smile on her face. The Dragon cocked its head as it looked at Morgana and purred approvingly.
"So… thank you, for saving me." Morgana said looking down at the ground as she said it.
"You're Welcome!" a female childish voice answered. Morgana shot her head up in shock at hearing the voice, she looked around but there was only the two of them in the area.
"Did you just speak?" Morgana asked hesitantly to the Dragon, worried she had lost her mind.
"Yes!" The Dragon responded, bounding from leg to leg in front of Morgana excitedly. "Come play with me!" she exclaimed as she hurried back to the stream. When she looked back to see if Morgana was following she frowned when she saw that Morgana hadn't moved from the spot she'd been kneeling in.
"Whatsa matter? Don't you wanna play?" she asked a tone of sadness in her voice at losing a potential play mate. Morgana shook the shock from her face as she slowly approached the little Dragon, giving her a Dragon version of a child like grin. Once Morgana approached the stream the little Dragon had jumped into the stream, creating a wave that swallowed Morgana. She expected herself to scold the little Dragon but found herself laughing instead. It wasn't long until the two were laughing and purring at an hour long splash fight in the stream. Finally, exhausted and cold from the activity, Morgana sat herself underneath a tree by the stream and leaned on the tree as the Dragon approached her.
"What's wrong? You hurting?" Morgana smiled at the little Dragon's innocence and replied,
"No I'm just tired, I haven't played like that in the longest time." The little Dragon walked towards Morgana and laid herself on her lap.
"What's your name lady?" the little Dragon asked. Morgana laughed at the question before replying.
"My name is Morgana,"
"Ohhhh pretty!" the Dragon exclaimed. "I'm Aithusa,"
"Well that's an even prettier name," Morgana complimented. Aithusa looked up from Morgana's lap with a surprised look and asked, "You think so?"
"Absolutely," Morgana replied with a smile, earning a gleeful squeal from Aithusa. Morgana couldn't help but laugh as Aithusa nuzzled closer to Morgana's body.
"I don't get to play with others often," Aithusa admitted sadly. "Kilgharrah is always so serious and doesn't like to play."
"Is he your father?" Morgana asked. Aithusa gave a disgruntled look followed by a fit of laughing.
"Noooooo hehehe, he's my mentor. Father is the Lord who hatched me, he's away a lot though and I rarely get to see him." Aithusa looked away sadly for a moment looking at the stream, after a few moments of the awkward silence Aithusa spoke again sounding like she would start to cry.
"Maybe Father doesn't like me, and that's why he spends more time with Kilgharrah."
"Nonsense," Morgana said surprising Aithusa. "I just met you and I think you're wonderful,"
"Really? You mean it?" Aithusa asked happily.
"Absolutely," Morgana replied, the signs of her sadness instantly wiped away from Aithusa's face. It wasn't long then when the two heard a loud roar come from what seemed like many hundreds of leagues away. Aithusa sighed sadly as she got off of Morgana's lap.
"I have to go now, Kilgharrahs calling." As she walked away a few feet she looked back at Morgana with an unsure look on her face. "Can we play again sometime? Please?" Aithusa asked innocently. Morgana gave a warm smile and said just as warmly, "Whenever you'd like," Aithusa smiled and purred again as she flew off into the sunset towards the roar that had called to her…
And they had been together ever since, but never once had Aithusa told her that Merlin was her father. She felt betrayed that Aithusa had never told her that, she was willing enough to fight Merlin to some extent but not inform her of this. Morgana decided that she had to know why.
"Aithusa," she called to the young Dragon. Aithusa looked up from walking and gave a low roar.
"Why did you never tell me that Merlin was your father?" Aithusa looked away uneasily and let out a reluctant moan.
"Please tell me Aithusa, did you not trust me?" Aithusa shook her head with a defiant roar. Finally Aithusa craned her neck and breathed her magic into Morgana. Suddenly Morgana's vision turned red and whitish as she saw things at a lower perspective. She had no control of the movement of her body and was shocked when she found herself looking up to the large Dragon present at Aithusa's hatching.
"Now Aithusa, under no circumstance are you to tell people who hatched you. If anyone found out a Dragon Lord still existed many would want to harm him to get control of us."
"But why would anyone want to harm Father? He is so nice and he brings me rabbits!" Aithusa declared, as if the idea of anyone harming Merlin was a preposterous idea. The large Dragon chuckled dryly and said, "Indeed, we are lucky to have a Dragon Lord as kind as he, but regardless you must promise to not tell anyone about him, understand?"
"Ok fine," Aithusa pouted as Morgana's vision returned to normal. She found herself looking back at Aithusa who let off an apologetic roar. Morgana sighed as she put a hand on Aithusa's head, she should have known the Dragon would have told her if she could. She needed to learn not to be so quick to believe people had betrayed her. As Morgana lived the first few weeks in the Fortress of Isere she realized that now that there was no way she could successfully attack Camelot now there was nothing for her to do with her life. She had no purpose, no reason to go on. She expected Merlin was at the castle being exalted and honored for defending Camelot, the thought of him, a sorcerer, being revered in Camelot made her proud and disgusted, betrayed even!
The whole time they had been friends in Camelot she had confessed her fears of having magic to him and he never confessed his secret to her. She felt betrayed, there was a time that she felt she and Merlin were close, closer than friends even. It was obvious he didn't feel that way when he poisoned her though, poisoning her to get to Morgause was an under handed trick she never would have expected from him. Now she was alone in the fortress with none but Aithusa for company. For months she wallowed around suffering through grief, guilt, anguish, loss, anger, remorse and many other emotions. Aithusa was the only one who seemed to improve in condition, every night she would roar loudly into the night and some nights Morgana could hear a roar return to her. She assumed that it was Merlin she was speaking to but figured it could also be the older Dragon she had seen through Aithusa and Merlin's memories. Regardless it did wonders for Aithusa's health and she was acting like the young Dragonling Morgana had met years ago. It wasn't until four months into being isolated in the fortress that her wolves' magical howls began to echo throughout the fortress. Morgana recognized the howl they were relaying: something had been found in the tunnels below. She rushed to the tunnels with Aithusa at her side as she made the long descent down the castle into the tunnels. As she entered the tunnels she sees a pack of her wolves growling at the wall, confused she approaches them as she calls out in the direction of their growling.
"Whose there? I demand you show yourself," she commanded with a sense of her cool disposition trailing through her voice. For a moment there was no sound but the growling of the wolves, and then subtly Morgana heard soft footsteps approaching her. The first thing she saw was a blue glow around a figure, then suddenly the figure became visible to an oddly shaped creature with an oddly shaped head, light blue skin and as if its innards could be seen through its skin. It walked slowly and calmly towards her ignoring the growls from the wolves surrounding it. It looked at Morgana as if it was trying to decide something, and for whatever reason Morgana felt in awe of the creature even though she knew not what it was.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her icy composition somewhat dissipated.
"Who I be… is not important. What is important is the warning I bear to thee." One of the wolves growled vehemently at the creature in an attempt to scare it into submission. Giving a disgusted look at the beasts the glowing creature moved its hand sending all the wolves to recoil from an unseen force. They ran off in fear as the creature turned its attention back to Morgana.
"If you won't tell me who you are will you at least tell me what you are?" Morgana asked.
"I am the last of my kind, known as a Euchdag by those who would remember us, and I come bearing a warning. A warning… I am uncertain of whether you are worthy for yet."
"And why would I heed any warning from you?" Morgana taunted growing slightly worried. The Euchdag smiled coldly as it stared at her knowingly.
"It was not long ago that you searched these very tunnels for me, seeking the knowledge of the Bane of Arthur Pendragon." As the creature said it Morgana finally realized what it was she was talking to.
"You have the Diamair, the key to all knowledge!" she exclaimed. Almost instantly Morgana felt numerous questions that only this creature could answer, along with numerous thoughts of revenge to bring down onto Merlin and Camelot. As soon as Morgana's thoughts moved to thoughts of vengeance however Aithusa gave a loud warning roar that caused Morgana to flinch, causing the Euchdag to laugh coolly.
"It is not just me then who knows you still consider revenge an opt for time, know this however: I will reveal to you nothing more than what has already been decided. Any more would cause havoc to the lands of Albion and the rest of the world." Morgana eyed the Euchdag with an equally cool stare, regaining her composure she asked in a cool emotionless voice,
"And what makes you think I won't make you answer more than you're willing to share?" Before she could answer Aithusa roared angrily as she stood between Morgana and the Euchdag. The Euchdag said nothing, just gave Morgana a knowing smile that made her blood curl in anger. Finally recomposing herself she asked,
"What do you have to tell me then?" The Euchdag nodded as Aithusa moved out of the way so they could speak.
"A sorceress, corrupted by the will of a demon, is on her way to claim siege to your fortress here. Know that no matter what she may say she plans to kill you; and possess the power to do so easily."
"And you are going to tell me how to defeat her?" Morgana asked.
"No," the she said bluntly. "The sorceress will try to convince you to join her side and will promise you anything that you may ask of her,"
"And why would I not want to join someone one who can offer me anything?" Morgana interrupted with a smile and false bravado.
"Because she wants only to kill you, or worse. You have nothing to offer her now that she be corrupted, she merely seeks revenge upon you and the one who saved you." At hearing what she said Morgana's mood instantly darkened.
"Merlin," Morgana said with ice and loathing in her voice.
"Yes, Emrys. The sorceress will come here for you, expecting you to be unprepared and alone. She is wrong on both counts."
"What do you mean?" Morgana asked.
"One comes here to aid you, and is willing to sacrifice themselves to insure that you are not killed. No matter whom it is who saves you, you must go with them! Or else all will be lost for the future of Albion." The Diamair turned to leave as Morgana stood stunned for a second but reacted quickly at seeing the Euchdag leave.
"Wait! You should help me, this sorceress attacks your home as well. With your help I can easily defeat her-"
"No," the Euchdag interrupted. "It must not be risked that she finds the Diamair, and she cannot as long as I remain here. You must survive on your own until your aide arrives." As the Euchdag turned to leave again Morgana called out to her one last time.
"At least tell me when the sorceress will arrive!" The Euchdag gave Morgana a sad look and said in a raspy pained voice
"She is already here," At that moment Morgana heard the tunnels around her moan. She looked around and saw that something was shaking the fortress above her. When Morgana turned back to question the Diamair it was already gone. Cursing under her breath Morgana summoned the pack of wolves that had retreated moments ago, they arrived at her call and awaited her orders.
"Find whoever is attacking the Fortress, bring them down." The wolves all howled in unison as they ran in the opposing direction towards the outside. Morgana ran the opposite way back to the inside of the fortress. As she climbed the fortress stairs she continued to feel the tremors being sent through the fortress, how many magic users were there under the sorceresses control to inflict such damage. When she finally reached a window in the once impregnable fortress she was shocked to see at the amount of people out in the snow, wearing nothing but a simple black dress.
"There's only one person out there," Morgana whispered to herself terrified. She watched as the sorceress blasted at the fortress again, with nothing but bursts of dark air slamming into the fortress. One blast was enough to shake the entire structure, but multiple blasts of such power would destroy it eventually, Morgana didn't have much time. She rushed through the maze of corridors, struggling to keep balance from the constant shaking of the blasts until she finally made it to an outside passage of the fortress. Aithusa flew from above as she met Morgana at the passage. She roared at Morgana just as another tremor went through the fortress, Morgana struggled to keep her balance but looked away towards where the woman was.
"Aithusa help me down!" Morgana exclaimed. Aithusa then made a quick lap around the fortress where she then grabbed Morgana with each of her legs and lazily glided down to the ground. Morgana was too focused on not struggling her form to make the glide down easier for Aithusa when Aithusa made a drastic dive to the ground. Morgana was about to complain about the drop when she saw that the witch who was attacking the fortress appear below them and had launched a concentrated blast of dark fire at the Dragon. She launched another blast at them which Aithusa wasn't able to dodge completely, striking her under the left wing Aithusa began falling towards the ground. Morgana panicked as she tried to think of a healing spell to aid the Dragon when Aithusa opened her wings right before hitting the ground, resulting in a to close call glide on the ground. Aithusa then dropped Morgana into the snow and lifted herself high into the sky. Morgana looked out to the figure of the woman approaching her, long red hair in a plain black dress with no adornments on it. Morgana couldn't tell anything from the cold stare and smile the woman was giving her except that she knew that the Euchdag was right. Morgana could tell just by looking at her she couldn't be trusted, that scared her even more.
As Morgana struggled to run from the witch she found herself having trouble traveling through the knee high snow quickly. She looked back and saw the witch walking atop the snow without sinking, quickly progressing towards her. Morgana nearly cried in relief when she heard the howling of the wolves, a pack of them put themselves in between Morgana and the witch giving her time to get away. As the wolves blocked the witch's past she looked at them curiously, with a hint of a smile forming at the corner of her lips. The first wolf darted at her with an angry howl, followed by two others in close pursuit. The witch raised a hand and sent the two farther away wolves flying into the snow, the closest one she grabbed by the throat as it lunged to attack her. Morgana watched in despair and shock as she held the animal by the throat as if it was effortless. The wolf struggled under the witch's grasp as ripples of dark mist trailed down off of the witch's arm and into the wolf. The wolf stopped struggling from the grasp and began to shake violently as she threw the animal away as its form began to convulse and morph, the reaction sent chills colder than the snow around her up Morgana's spine. When the wolf stood up it was completely changed from how it had been only seconds ago. Its fur was replaced by red skin covering its entire body, its ear were gone leaving only slits where they should be. Two sets of bestial fangs came from the top and bottom of the beast's mouth. As it stood up Morgana realized that it had now grown to the size of a horse and twice as thick making it gruesome fight for even an army. Realizing that she'd never win using the wolves she released her hold on them and scared them into fleeing. The monster leapt and bounded toward Morgana causing her to scream in fear, as if called Aithusa appeared and breathed fire down blocking the creature's path. Turning its attention to Aithusa the creature howled a blood curdling howl that seemed to shake the very world around it. The monster then leapt a surprising distant and landed atop Aithusa midair bringing the two down in a fit of claws and fangs as they fell.
"AITHUSA!" Morgana called out frantically as she realized the witch was approaching her. With a flash of her eyes Morgana sent a bolt of white lightning from the sky directly at the witch. If it hurt her she showed no inclination other than staggering back a step from the recoil. The witch even seemed amused by Morgana's attempt at fighting her. Trying to get away quickly Morgana ran as fast as she could through the snow (which would barely be considered a jog) to get away from the witch. Unfortunately the snow ended up being her downfall as it caused her to trip and fall. Unable to get up in time Morgana tried to crawl away sending another bolt of lightning at the witch, but unfortunately she felt her body being lifted by an unseen force. As she rose from the snow and inches from the ground she found herself staring eye to eye with the opposing witch.
"Why hello, Morgana Pendragon, It has been far too long." She said. Her voice sounded strange to Morgana, she heard a feminine voice that seemed to fit her but then there was a second voice, a darker sinister, male voice that spoke the same time she did.
"I've been looking for you for quite some time, and I must say you don't disappoint."
"What do you want?" Morgana managed under the invisible grip of the witch's spell. She gave Morgana a cold smile as she placed one of her hands under Morgana's chin.
"Why I want you milady, I was disappointed when you left me all those months ago. So I came to find you." Morgana was struggling now to keep moving, but no matter what she did she was helpless and simply struggled in midair.
"No one has claim to me you bitch! Release me before I kill you!" This earned Morgana a chilling laugh from the witch.
"I never took you for one with a sense of humor Morgana, but never the less, your power was once mine and it will be once again, but there is no reason we cannot work together." The Euchdag's warning flashed through Morgana's mind.
"I want no part of what you're up to," Morgana defied. She felt the grip around her tighten as the woman working the spell frowned. Then a cold menacing smile that would put all that Morgana had done to shame formed on the woman's face as she said cruelly,
"As you wish,"
Just as with the wolf the witch summoned tendrils of black mist to progress down the upper area of her arms as it slowly progressed downwards towards Morgana. Morgana was frozen in fear as she saw the mist approach her, she knew that she should try something, anything, but couldn't find the right words or spell to help herself. Aithusa cried out from her battle with the wolf but couldn't get away without gravely hurting herself. Just then, as the mist was about to progress into Morgana's form, it stopped abruptly at the wrist of the witch's hand when an all too familiar voice shouted out that caused the woman to frown angrily.
"Marion!" The voice shouted some distance away, Morgana knew instantly who it was but was prevented from speaking just then by the Witch's spell. Turning around, the witch faced her new adversary.
"So you finally show yourself Emrys? "
Merlin was seriously regretted running to Alice's home instead of riding a horse there, had he known beforehand that he'd have to pass through Annis's land to the Fortress of Ismere he'd have brought Honey with him for at least part of the ride. When he finally reached that frozen waste land that stood as the boundary to the fortresses land Merlin changed back into his human form panting and exhausting. He knew that Aithusa was just over the hill, and Morgana wouldn't be far from her. Or so Merlin was hoping. He decided to walk the rest of the way to the fortress instead of running, taking the trip to reclaim his breath and think of a plan to not get blasted by Morgana on sight. It wasn't long however until he heard a blood curdling howl that sent shivers up his spine. It was then that Merlin saw a pack of wolves running straight at Merlin. Grabbing the staff from his back he pointed at the pack expecting a fight, but when they passed him completely he was utterly lost. It was then that he put things together: the evil sounding roar, ferocious wolves running away like pussy cats-
"Aww hell this can't be good," Merlin cursed to himself as he ran atop the hill, he quickly conjured warm air currents to surround him to prevent him from freezing due to his lack of snow clothing as he ran. It was easier for him to run now and it helped him progress a little faster. When he finally made it to the top he was frozen from shock: Marion was holding Morgana in front of her with a spell while Aithusa was busy rolling and fighting with a giant red monster. As Merlin saw the monster atop of Aithusa Kilgharrah's voice rang through his mind explaining the creature.
Hell Hounds are not a creature to be trifled with, there presence in the living world is almost as disboding as that of the Questing Beast. The venom that courses in their saliva is toxic and means an immediate death to all creatures not born with powerful magic, but unless treated they will eventually succumb to a horrid pain filled death.
Shaking his head to clear his head Merlin clutched his staff and slammed the bottom to the ground.
"Marion!" he shouted out, knowing that she would hear him. Morgana's expression turned to one of relief and fear at the sound of Merlin's voice but he was unsure whether she was scared of him or Marion.
"So you finally show yourself Emrys?" Marion said. Her voice didn't scare Merlin nearly as much as it should have.
"Let them go Marion," Merlin demanded. Marion laughed without humor as she turned her gaze back to Morgana.
"I was a fool to think I needed Morgana's help to summon a powerful demon Emrys, but I may still have a use for her body as a vessel for one of my brethren."
"You may have been fool and fortunate enough to find a demon to merge with Marion but you'd be a fool to think you can force it onto another." Merlin's words seemed to take Marion aback, she hadn't expected him to know about her deal with a demon, but did he know how powerful a one? No he couldn't.
"With time and my limitless power, I don't believe that to be a problem." Marion rebutted in an attempt to scare Merlin, she was unsuccessful. Merlin eyed her angrily, the normal soft blue hue of his eyes replaced by an icy steel, Marion felt the demon within her shiver, whether out of fear or excitement she didn't know; but she would not be bested by Merlin again.
"What makes you think you can defeat me?" Marion shouted to Merlin, not about to let her be caught worried. Merlin did not respond with words or a spell, but with a roar that was equally as terrifying as the Hell Hound's.
"O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!" Once Merlin's command was uttered Aithusa released a loud roar that would have rivaled Kilgharrah's. With a new found strength Aithusa managed to force the Hell Hound off of her and bit viciously at its neck, when the beast tried to claw at Aithusa's flank she released her hold and flew off to join herself with Merlin. Marion was distracted by Aithusa's sudden advantage over her hellhound and in result gave her no time to react to Merlin's spell.
"Acwele!" A bolt of pure white energy was fired from Merlin's staff and hit an off guard Marion square in the chest. Marion was sent flying a fair distance, and as soon as she had been hit Morgana had dropped from her entrapment. Morgana's heart was racing ecstatically after being under that witch Marion's spell, her anger coursed through her body as she got up to look for Marion's body. She saw a form lying on the ground and moved towards it with her mind rapidly moving to different ways to end her life. When she approached Marion and was about to unleash her fury, but she was paralyzed by what she saw; what lied in front of her was Marion there was no mistaking it, but she looked anything but human. She still wore the black dress from before but her form was altered drastically; her skin was a dark sickish purple hue that covered her entire body, her hair was replaced by two menacing looking horns that held a dark red flame slightly above the meeting point of the horn's tips. She retained some of her human attributes but they were strongly over flowed by whatever creature she had turned into, unfortunately Morgana's shock gave Marion the time she needed to recover.
"Do you see the power that you could possess Morgana? Join me! Join me, and together we will destroy Emrys and RULE this world," Marion reached her clawed purple hand to Morgana who stared at it for a split moment, her eyes were undeceisive and clouded as her hand slowly approached Marion's hand. Just as the demon smiled Morgana smiled herself as her eyes instantly cleared and glowed, from her out stretched hand came a ball of hot condensed fire as she yelled, "Forbærne Ácwele!"
Marion's smile disappeared as she was consumed by the fire leaving Morgana standing above her smiling evilly. Her smile slowly vanished though as she realized that Marion wasn't screaming or being burned alive, the fire surrounding her began moving in one fluid motion around her body as it traveled to the flame atop her horns.
"SO BE IT!" Marion roared. The flame atop her horns grew as a burst of dark fire erupted from Marion's hands; Morgana didn't have any time to react as she felt someone push her out of the way and onto the ground followed by a shout of the spell, "Scildan!" When Morgana looked up she saw Merlin in front of her holding back Marion's spell. Morgana could tell that even though Merlin was able to hold back Marion's spell that he was having trouble doing it.
"Always playing the hero Emrys, when will you learn that it will be your downfall?!" Marion roared as she increased the intensity of the spell. Merlin gritted his teeth as he continued to hold of the spell. Morgana watched in astonishment as Merlin was able to defend at equal levels with the monster that had left her as defenseless as rag doll until Merlin's forced utterance snapped her out of astonishment.
"What are you doing? Get out of here!" Merlin had managed under Marion's strain. Not waiting for another word Morgana stumbled up and did her best to get away as fast as possible. As she watched Morgana escape a knowing smile escaped Marion's lips.
"Ahh I see what you're doing Emrys. You think that by sacrificing yourself I won't have any need for Morgana." She laughed as she doubled the power of her spell again, she then snapped coolly and without humor, "Unfortunately for you I intend to make the both of you duffer for all eternity!" Merlin laughed as he was forced to take steps backwards from the spells intensity.
"Then it's a good thing that wasn't what I planned at all," Merlin rasped with a strained as he was forced to a knee. Marion frowned until she heard a familiar roar come from above, Aithusa had gotten away from the hellhound and was now diving down towards Marion. Mid dive Aithusa let burst a stream of dragon fire from her breath. Forced to redirect her spell Marion aimed one of her hands and directed it to intercept Aithusa's stream. Unfortunately for Marion Aithusa wasn't about to relent; she stopped diving and continued breathing fire down at Marion. Thanks to Aithusa's attack the pressure was greatly reduced from Merlin's shield; standing back up (and still holding his hand to block Marion's remaining stream) he thrust his staff before him and shouted, "Ácwele!" Another burst of pure white energy was fired and pushed at the remaining blast of dark fire. Marion was now the one being forced to the ground as she was slowly brought to her knees from the two unrelenting forces. Finally with a groan of reluctance Marion stopped her spell and took the full blast from both attacks. She screamed from the combined force and pain that now seared through her body as a dark purplish black smoke began to fill the air around them.
Merlin tried to look through the smoke frantically in search of Marion, but unfortunately was unable to find her.
"Aithusa! Find Morgana and tell me if you see Marion!" Merlin commanded. With a roar of agreement Aithusa flew towards Morgana flying around her in the sky. Merlin kept his staff pointed in front of him preparing for any kind of attack, he hadn't a clue if Marion survived the combined attack (he hoped it did) but he refused to let his guard down. The smoke for whatever reason would not dissipate and Merlin worried that it was a ploy used to distract him, he then heard Morgana yell a spell followed by an angry roar; apparently the Hell Hound was still on the prowl. Merlin ran through the smoke and saw Aithusa and the Hell Hound intertwined wrestling on the ground again, Morgana using spells to strike at the monster but seemingly doing little damage. Merlin then felt Kilgharrah's wisdom flow through him again:
Hell Hounds are resistant to all forms of magic, even one as powerful as you would have trouble dissipating it. The only way to defeat them, aside from concentrated Dragon fire which is rarely available on hand, is to strike them down with brute force: Piercing their heart or rendering them unable to fight.
As the knowledge left Merlin silently cursed himself for not bringing a sword. Merlin ran to the fight between Aithusa and the Hell Hound and managed to land a number of bolts on the Hell Hound. It didn't seem to notice the pain despite the marks it made and Merlin couldn't help but moan in discontent. He looked back to the smoke behind him and saw that it was beginning to vortex around into a cyclone as a bodily shape began to form within the smoke. Acknowledging it to possibly be one of the biggest mistakes he'd ever made, he tossed his staff to Morgana who caught it with a surprised look on her face.
"Do whatever you can to keep that smoke from forming: blast it, freeze it, burn it just do something Merlin ordered. Before waiting to see if Morgana would listen to him he rushed at Aithusa and the Hell Hound regretting what he was about to do. He changed mid jump into the fray between the magical creatures and landed on the Hell Hound as a bear just a foot smaller than the Hound. The Hell Hound was unprepared for the attack and didn't expect to be hacked upon by a roaring 500 lb. bear. Merlin hacked at the chest of the Hell Hound and its face as Aithusa (who obviously knew the bear was Merlin) clawed and bit at its hind quarters. After what seemed only seconds the Hell Hound forced the two off of itself forcing Aithusa back into the air while Merlin fell to the ground. The Hell Hound, judging Merlin to be the lesser threat, leapt atop of him and dug its claws into Merlin's hide. Roaring in pain Merlin tried to beat away the Hound but to no avail, gaining the upper hand the demon wolf bit its fangs into Merlin's left shoulder causing him to roar out in pain. The burning that Merlin could only assume to be venom entered his blood stream as he roared from the consistent pain from both the bite and the venom. Aithusa roared out in anger as she rammed into the Hell Hound releasing its hold over Merlin, Merlin looked down to his wound and saw that most of the fur (and skin) had been removed and that there was a green liquid coating the wound. He turned at the pained howl of the Hell Hound as Aithusa released a jet of fire upon the beast as it slowly roasted into death.
Merlin sighed in relief as he reverted back to his normal form, he was panting heavily now and as he looked down to his shoulder the wound looked much worse. The part of the shirt that had been there was torn clean off along with much of Merlin's skin. The green solvent coming from the wound burned like fire through Merlin's body and it hurt him to stand up. He turned to see how Morgana fared and cringed at seeing how soon the smoke was reforming. Morgana had been relentless in keeping the demon from reforming but unfortunately it wasn't enough. While Marion was reformed she was in no better shape than Merlin was: the parts of her body where Merlin and Aithusa's combined attacks hit had left scarred craters in her skin that obviously were causing her a lot of pain, unfortunately it seemed to have done little to weaken her power with a flick of her wrist she sent Morgana flying, knocking her unconscious upon impact and to force Aithusa to the ground suddenly and prevent her from moving. This seemed to be a more taxing spell to maintain. She then turned to look at Merlin with a venomous stare that almost made the pain in his shoulder numb.
"It is over Emrys surrender and I may be merciful," Marion said haggardly.
"Never," Merlin gasped as he slowly walked towards Morgana's form. As he slowly walked Marion sent a stream of dark fire at him again, which with great difficulty he was able to deflect. He noticed his staff only feet from Morgana but he knew that there was little hope of reaching it in time before the inevitable. He knew the poison and blood loss would force him to pass out in a matter of moments so he stuck out his hand and readied his final spell.
"There's nothing you can do to stop me!" Marion roared as the flame between her horns flared along with her hands. Merlin didn't respond he only incanted the spell.
"Ic her aciege ænne windræs! Færblæd wawe! Forbærne ungetermed: gehiere! Ic ðe bebiede mid ealle strangnesse ðæt ðu geblæwest ond sierest strange! Ge spurne þeos hægtesse!" As Merlin enchanted the spell a whirlwind, much like the one he used to defeat Morgana as Dragoon the great, was summoned into existence between Morgana's body and Marion, the one difference however was the added element of fire that surrounded the rims of the whirlwind. As it approached Marion she thrust out her hand and with her own chanting in what Merlin assumed was the demon tongue tried to hold back the spell. Fortunately it was then that Marion's seemingly endless supply of magic chose to stop for she was unable to redirect the flaming wind. The whirlwind increased in speed as Marion was eventually trapped into it, as it burned and tore at her flesh she howled in a fit of pain as her physical form dissolved. Her lack of power resulted in Aithusa joining in on the attack breathing fire at the demon. As Marion roared she began to revert into the black smoke from before, but as she did she roared out to Merlin in pain.
"THIS IS NOT THE END EMRYS, FAR FROM IT!" As she roared Merlin's spell final dissipated along with Aithusa finishing her stream. The black smoke that was Marion fled from the scene as it quickly went leagues away from the fortress to tend its wounds. Exhausted and in pain Merlin lowers his hand and falls to the ground in exhaustion as he quickly succumbed to the darkness around him. The last thing he heard and saw was the shadow of Aithusa followed by a worried shriek.
AN: Hey hope this made up for my last chapter please review and tell me what you like or what you think I need to work on!