Percival froze as the castle around him shook from an explosion. The dungeon's corridors were a maze, and he was certain he had turned down the wrong path more than once. The sound of the blast echoed through the halls. He saw a brief flash of light, and it finally gave him a hint of which way he needed to go.
The ground shook beneath them, and the wyvren seemed to awaken from whatever spell had compelled them. They turned on each other; snarling and snapping, or fleeing to lick their wounds. The three men were no longer the priority.
Seeing their chance, Bran led Gwaine and Arthur quickly down into the dungeons; throwing the lever to drop a gate behind them. He traded his axe for an unlit torch hidden next to the lever. It lit quickly with a spark from a piece of flint struck against the sword that he'd pulled from his belt. "This way," he said, rushing down a slope into the prison.
Merlin's mind finally caught up to everything that had happened.
The warlock had cast another spell, which sent Morgause spinning into one of the pillars. He had on top of her in an instant; the magical dagger in his hand ready to strike.
Suddenly...it wasn't Morgause.
He had felt the moment the illusion spell had broken. Before he'd had time to react, the shockwave from an explosion hit him from behind, and sent him and the dagger straight into the Red Dragon Lady.
He had tried everything he could to stop her from dying. With all of his skill as a physician from years with Gaius, his magic - even his abilities as a dragon lord – and she had still died in his arms...from his blade.
He was startled when someone touched his hand. Snapping back to reality, he thrust his arm out - ready with another spell.
It was a woman in tattered, dirty clothing. Her dark eyes were wide with terror as she backed away from him, apologizing with each step. As she reached the doorway, a figure stepped out from behind a pillar.
Merlin's eyes narrowed as fury raced through him. His mind rushed through different scenarios. He assumed the woman Morgause held hostage must have been Gwaine's sister, but he was wary of another possible illusion.
Morgause's eyes sparkled, and she dragged her captive back into the hallway.
"Stop!" A voice yelled from outside the room.
Bran, Gwaine, and Arthur saw the situation unfold in front of them.
"That's the wench from the brothel. Let her go!" Gwaine hollered at the woman with the knife. His sword was out and he stepped menacingly towards her.
She turned towards the three men. Her gold eyes glowed eerily in the torchlight and suddenly the clash of steel echoed through the dungeon. Bran's blade swung out to strike at Gwaine.
The roguish man faltered back a step. Looking into Bran's eyes, he could see the struggle for control.
"Sorry about this." Bran grunted out, his face was contorted into a grimace. The actions of his body were out of his control.
Gwaine's sword came up and met Bran's next strike. "S'all good, friend," he gritted out.
Morgause was backing away down the corridor, using Clare as a shield. Merlin came through the doorway, joining Arthur. Meanwhile, Gwaine and Bran were battling in the middle of the hallway, blocking them from the women.
"Any ideas?" Arthur asked through clenched teeth.
Merlin's eyes flitted to Arthur then down the hall to a point just beyond the women.
The glint of chainmail, peeking cautiously around a corner, caught his eye. He'd been curious as to where Percival had gone to, when he noticed the large man wasn't with his companions.
Percival saw Merlin, as well. He pointed to himself then the women and made a tugging motion.
The warlock gave him a single, inconspicuous nod. Although, he was reasonably certain Morgause's attention was on the two fighters. Merlin looked away from the fighting.
Arthur caught the glint of gold in his cousin's eyes. He felt Merlin's hand brush his arm and a warm tingle spread through the king.
"I hope this works. Are you ready?" Merlin asked.
"Anything I should know about?"
"Just run as fast as you can toward Morgause." Merlin whispered. He took a deep breath. This would be his first time ever attempting something like this, and if it worked even he would be amazed by it.
He let the magic, fueled by his anger at the dragon's death, build inside of him. He had to wait for just the right moment.
Morgause kept backing up, unaware of the danger behind her. When she was a step away from the adjoining corridor Merlin called out to his friends, just before the golden fires lit his eyes. "Sorry Gwaine, this is going to hurt."
"What's that?" Gwaine panted, before he felt himself flung to the side by Merlin's magic.
Merlin's eyes flared again stretching out to the space. Time slowed around him and it took all of his willpower to hold the spell, while spreading out his magic to Arthur and Percival. He hoped that Morgause would be affected by the sluggish time effect, however being the dark spirit of a High Priestess, he wasn't certain that she would.
Arthur burst into motion, charging Morgause, whose eyes widened in surprise.
Percival was momentarily shocked that everything around him appeared to slow down, but it didn't take long for him to understand. He quickly grabbed Clarissant, yanking her away from Morgause's grasp as Arthur advanced on the witch with his sword ready, once Gwaine and Bran were forced to the sides.
His sword bit into the witch's flesh, just as everything sped back to normal. He saw her eyes flash and felt himself flying backwards. Crashing into Merlin and they both tumbled to the floor.
"Fools!" The mad woman hissed, holding her side.
Bran and Gwaine recovered quickly. The Prince of Corbenic finally had control of himself for the moment and he turned on Morgause menacingly.
"One last parting gift, dear Bran," Morgause crooned. Her free hand pointed at the advancing warrior. "Lígcwalu bánwærc!*"
Bran collapsed, screaming in pain, and his body writhed in the throes of a seizure. Gwaine, Merlin, and Arthur were once again blocked from reaching Morgause. Gwaine grabbed his sword and finally managed to get an opening. Chopping downward, he severed the head from the body.
Merlin's eyes shot to the ceiling above Morgause and loosened the stone ceiling above her. The force of the falling rocks displaced the air and extinguished all the torches in the immediate area.
"Is everyone alright?" Arthur called out, being the first to recover in the near darkness. He could hear the groans from the others as they began moving.
Bran's voice was the first to respond. "Better than I was. Thank you, Sir Gwaine."
"Yep." Gwaine replied gruffly. "Clare?"
Percival's voice was next to answer, "We're alright."
"Ryren*," Merlin said softly and all the torches flared back to life. He had managed to land next to one of the walls and sat with his back resting against it. He closed his eyes, trying to will the pain away. He didn't need to see to be able to feel his ribs; probably cracked from either the magical battle and following explosion, or from Arthur being blasted into him. Yet, the hurt he felt went far beyond the physical aspect of it all.
"Merlin, come on you lazy half-wit, pull yourself together." Arthur called jokingly over his shoulder, as he stepped across Bran's former body.
Merlin chuckled sarcastically. "Don't bother checking the rubble. She's not there."
The king scowled and ignored his cousin's advice. Just as Merlin had predicted, there was no sign of the witch's body. "How did you know?" Arthur asked angrily.
Merlin just shrugged, "I'm not sure I could count the number of times I have crushed that woman...in whatever body she inhabited. She always manages to escape."
"That's a priestess for you." Bran's head mentioned offhandedly.
His comment got Merlin's attention and he finally opened his eyes to glance at the head. "What do you mean?"
"It's something to do with the Dark Earth aspect of the goddess they serve...the one who controls the underworld. Falling rock won't harm them if they are truly devout." He wished he could see Merlin's face, but the way his head had fallen, he was turned away and on side. "The earth will swallow them and spit them out somewhere safe. If Taliesin was still around, he could explain it better."
Percival and Clarissant came around the corner cautiously. While the woman ran into her brother's arms, Percival moved over to the severed head. He looked down uneasily, before gently picking it up. Although he was slowly getting used to Merlin's ability with magic, the talking head was completely a foreign concept.
"Merlin?" Gwaine's voice was filled with concern. He let go of his sister and moved over to his friend. He noticed the blood covering Merlin's arms and torso, and immediately began checking the warlock over.
"Stop, Gwaine. It's not mine...just a couple bruised ribs." Merlin stated, trying to push Gwain off of him.
"If you're not bleeding, then who…?" Arthur questioned, but trailed off and went to look in the room Merlin had come out of. "Oh, damn."
"She was using an illusion. It wasn't your fault." Clarissant offered softly, standing behind her brother. Merlin looked at her, his eyes so different from what she had seen in the room. There was no anger in them anymore, just a deep sorrow.
"You must be this one's sister." He motioned to Gwaine. "I'm Merlin. The blond clot pole is King Arthur, and that's Sir Percival. Thanks, for whatever you did in there to break the spell."
She smiled and tried to smooth out her rags. She instantly felt very self-conscious to be in the presence of royalty. "Nice to meet you all. Thank you for saving me." Clarissant turned to her brother. "So, you really are a knight now?"
"Don't start with me," he warned, as he helped Merlin stand up.
"I meant it as a serious question," she mumbled sadly. She watched as the king came out of the torture chamber carrying the woman's body.
Percival still held Bran's head, as he came up next to her. "Don't mind him. I still don't think he's come to terms with being a knight after all these years...and now a prince on top of it."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
Percival just shrugged and began to lead her out. Clarissant stopped by the door to the chamber. "One moment."
He nodded and kept his eyes protectively on her, as she moved inside.
Torches burned low and rubble from the battle littered the floor. She easily found the dropped book and bent to pick it up. A glimmer caught her eye and she noticed a small, broken shard of the Stone that Morgause had been holding. She picked it up cautiously and glanced around for more.
"Clarissant?" The tall knight called to her. The ceiling above them creaked, weakened from the blast.
"Coming," she replied. Not seeing any other remnants of the Stone, she pocketed the crystal and made her way back to the hallway.
AN: *Fiery torment, Pain in the bones * a fiery torch
When I wrote this chapter originally, I had some serious flow issues which resulted in some rambling 'outtakes' to try and clear my mind.
Gwaine took his sword and finally managed to get an opening, chopping downward and severing the head from the body. (('tis a flesh wound, come back I can still bite your kneecaps! Or in Bran's case… toenails.)) (Monty Python ripoff)
Merlin's eyes shot to the ceiling above her and magically caused it to cave in on the witch. ((B-Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat. R-Again?)) (Rocky and Bullwinkle...and picking on how Morgana almost always got away in the show)
"Is everyone alright?" Arthur called out, being the first to recover. ((WOW there's a first so friggen OOC, usually he's knocked out first and last to recover, wonder if the readers will buy it?))
"I think I'm stepping on a hand!"
"That's mine, but don't worry, it's not going anywhere and I can't feel it. OMG I can't feel my hand, or my legs, or my body… Oh wait I don't have a body anymore, thanks for that by the way. Step on it a couple times for me, hell kick it if it makes you feel better." So Gwaine did.