Rebellion

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

Just having James wake up at the end of the last chapter was more for dramatic effect; don't worry their parents feel it as well. Thanks for all the reviews again.

James had just scrambled to his feet when Merlin and Morgana woke suddenly.

"Something's wrong!" Morgana exclaimed, grabbing onto Merlin's arm. Percival and Jennifer also woke up and looked around wildly for Abby.

"Lara and Abby are gone," James said, scanning the room and running out the door a second later. There was a weight on his chest as if someone was squeezing the air out of him. Something was horribly wrong. James was by no means magic but even he could feel it swirling in the air, charged from something or someone. It was as if a warning bell had been set off and James could feel it in his bones.

Without a second thought, James sprinted out towards the entrance of the valley, not really caring if he woke anyone up as he raced past. Someone was running behind him but he paid them no heed as he burst through the entrance and skidded on the leaves of the forest clearing.

"JAMES!" Abby's voice screamed from somewhere to the right and James hurried that way, shoving his way past trees and bushes to find her, sitting on the ground, crying.

"Abby! What happened?" he asked her when he reached her, looking around for Lara at the same time.

"I-I'm sorry!" she sobbed, "I f-followed a butterfly and Lara came after me and the-e guards found me. Lara said she would go with them and they left me." She was crying again and Percival appeared through the trees.

Abby caught sight of him and cried, "Daddy!" Percival scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly as he muttered, "It's alright; everything's alright."

Merlin and Morgana reached them but were looking around for Lara.

"The guards have got her," James said, "Mordred's got her."

Morgana pressed her hands to her face, trying to contain the pain and upset while Merlin could only wrap an arm around her and ask, "How long ago?"

James looked around the forest and then back at Merlin. "Long enough to have gone several different ways; we'll never find them before they reach Camelot."

"And we can't find them with magic if they are wearing those necklaces," Merlin said with a frustrated sigh.

The rest of their group, who had been woken when the others had stampeded out the door, reached them except Gauis who had not run anywhere in a very long time. It hadn't rained in days so the ground was bone dry and no footprints were made.

"What are we going to do?" Eddie asked as he walked up to James. "She's going to be in castle; how are we supposed to get in there?"

"We were going there anyway to stop Mordred; we can rescue Lara at the same time," Tom said, looking around at the group, "But we'll just have to invade the castle soon than expected because..."

He trailed off but Merlin finished his sentence. "Mordred will marry her as soon as possible." He narrowed his eyes and looked at Arthur. "I was going to suggest an idea to you today; if we're going to storm the castle then we're going to need a bit more fire power."

"What do you have in mind?" Arthur asked and a smirk came to Merlin's face.

"Well, Mordred's got my daughter; I was thinking something capable of utter destruction and devastation."

-Lara-

Lara was marched over the drawbridge of Camelot castle, the dust and dirt on the wood sticking to her boots. Her hair, which she had tied up the morning, was now falling out from the black ribbon. Her clothes were scratched from the forest and her hands were tied in front of her. The guards lead her into the great courtyard that stood in the centre of the castle.

As they walked across it and towards a door, Lara snuck a look around at the courtyard. She remembered it full of people and horses; remembered running down the large steps and through the archways. Now it was silent and dusty with weeds growing in the cracks between stones and even through the once beautiful windows that lined the courtyard were still there, they were grimy and mistreated.

The guards marched her through a doorway and down a corridor. Lara was in the west wing of the castle, where she knew Mordred really lived in the castle. She was pushed up some stairs and as they turned down a corridor, Lara recognised it. They had just been talking about it the night before. When a guard stopped her in front of a heavy wooden door, she knew that this was the room that Mordred kept his secrets in. The guard pushed the door open and Lara was lead inside.

It was a small room, with four pillars standing in a square in the centre of the room. In the middle of the square, was a pedestal with a solid sphere on top of it. It was looked like it was just black but Lara could see purple swirls dancing around behind the shiny glass surface. The floor was covered in a fine dust, a few centimetres thick on the ground. Beside the sphere, was Mordred.

"Leave her there; untie her hands," he ordered, not looking away from the sphere.

The guards freed Lara, who rubbed her sore wrists and watched as Mordred dismissed the guards. With the close of a door, it was just her and Mordred in the room.

It was the first time she had ever seen him close up. He was a young man, a few years older than she was and he had short brown hair and blue eyes. Wearing a drab green shirt and brown trousers with brown boots, he seemed like any other young man that could walk through a village. But then Lara saw the veins that stood up scarily against the skin on his hands and neck. The bags under his eyes were prominent and his hair stuck tiredly to his head.

He looked towards her and titled his head slightly. "So..you are Lara."

She stared at him for a moment and then replied, "Last time I checked."

Mordred smiled slightly and he walked towards her. She forced herself to stay exactly where she was and when he was standing in front of her, she raised her head to look him right in the eye. He smirked at this again and muttered, "So like your mother...or rather your father. You have inherited both their stubborn traits."

Lara paused slightly and replied, "As delightful as this conversation is, why don't we skip to part where to try to marry me."

She caught the surprise in his eyes and allowed herself to smirk. He blinked and replied, "You are well informed. But do you know what this is?"

He turned slightly to gesture at the sphere and Lara shrugged. "I suppose that is the thing keeping you alive. You are looking at little unwell, Mordred."

He smiled again at her sarcasm and strolled towards the sphere. "This," he said as he ran a hand over it, "is the Cornelius's Energy Sphere. Do you remember him? His vault was found years ago by King Uther but many of his treasures were locked up again. Once I took over, I ordered for the vault to be unlocked once again. Finding this sphere was a lifesaver."

He walked around it, his hands behind his back as if he was showing off a prized possession. "You see, if enough energy if placed into the sphere, the owner can transfer that energy to himself. It has helped me many times over the years. And finding life energy wasn't really a problem."

He said this last part with a look towards her. How was she supposed to know where he got the energy from? The wheels in her head started to turn though and Lara suddenly thought of all those girls that had been brought in here. Mordred saw the realisation on her face and nodded. "Yes, although many think that I bring girls here to steal their virtue, really I just wanted their life energy. Trust me; any woman that I have been with has been entirely willing."

Lara didn't know if she should be glad or horrified about any of that. "But..." she muttered, "No one comes out of this room. There are no windows or other doors. Where did you put their bodies?"

Mordred looked down at their feet and Lara followed his gaze to see the thick dust that covered the stone floor. A breath got stuck in her throat and she quickly backed up against a pillar, trying to keep the dust off her feet.

"I needed every last drop," Mordred said, "I'm afraid there was nothing left to keep their bodies together. Oh well."

Lara had pushed herself so far back into the pillar she was surprised she hadn't suck into the stone. This dust was all that was left of so many young girls, who were filled with the youthful energy that Mordred needed.

Suddenly the door was opened slightly and the bald head of a middle aged man looked into the room. "Sire?" he asked in a shaky voice, "Is it time?"

Mordred's piercing gaze looked over Lara's face. "So much power..." he mumbled, "...and wasted on you."

With a nod from Mordred, the man shuffled into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He made his way towards them, holding a leather bound book in his hands. Mordred titled his head at Lara and smirked. "Say hello to the man who is going to marry us."

Panic started to set in at that moment but before Lara could move a muscle, Mordred's magic pinned her to the pillar painfully. The stone was digging into her back and she could barely breathe with the pressure that was on her neck.

"Start!" Mordred snapped at the man who jumped and quickly flipped through the book. Lara was vaguely aware that the man had found the page he was looking for but she was trying her best to get some air to her lungs. The man cleared his throat and started to call out a number of words. Suddenly he stopped and Mordred's head snapped towards him. His concentration falter slightly and Lara drank in the little amount of air that she was suddenly aloud. Her head was pounding from lack of air but she could still manage to hear the voices.

"What is wrong?" Mordred demanded to know and the man managed to stutter out a few words. "The marriage vows...they are magic so she should be responding to the spell. But...there is nothing...it is not working on her."

Mordred gave Lara another look over and then snapped his head back to look at the man. "Well, can you fix it?" he asked and the man desperately looked at the page again, searching for an answer.

The angrier Mordred got the less pressure was on Lara's throat and she was just able to breathe normally again when the man found his answer on the next page of the book. Shakily he looked at Mordred and said, "There-e seems to be a loophole in the spell. She-she..."

"What? Do not tell me that we actually have to be in love for this to work?" Mordred yelled and the man replied, "It doesn't matter if she loves you or if you love her...what stops the spell is if she is in love with somebody else."

A pair of blue eyes and blonde hair flashed in Lara's mind and she let a smile come to her face just as Mordred turned to her. He had a look of absolute rage on his face and with a flick of his wrist; he sent her flying through the air and slamming into the far wall.

Lara slid down it painfully and Mordred sent the man scrambling out of the room. Lara sat on the floor, trying to catch her breath and Mordred stared down at her, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

Suddenly he doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach. Lara stared at him before saying, "You're running out of time. That sphere won't work forever and now you'll never have the dragons to heal you."

"Shut up," Mordred snarled at her, "That sphere would work if it had enough energy!" He stopped at this thought and slowly, looked up to stare at Lara. This unnerved her and when he moved towards the sphere, she tried to get up despite her wounds.

Mordred ran a hand over the sphere and it started to shrink. Before Lara could move, Mordred had the now small sphere in the palm of his hand and was marching towards her. She was trapped against the wall, her sides aching and her arms bleeding as Mordred grabbed her right wrist and placed the sphere onto the silver band that was stopping her magic. The sphere melted into the silver and it sat comfortably in the band.

When Mordred let go of her hand, Lara suddenly felt the effects of the sphere. She felt as if someone had sucked the life right out of her bones. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor as if someone had punched her in the gut.

Mordred looked at her and said, "You are the daughter of the two most powerful magical beings in history; the magical energy in you alone could last me a lifetime. Of course, the sphere takes time to suck out all that energy but it shouldn't be more than a few hours."

With that he called for his guards and two came quickly through the door. "Take her down to the dungeons...to the same room that her family slept in for all those years."

Lara felt herself being picked up and carried somewhere but her vision was swirling and she felt dizzy. She was aware when she was set down again on some hard stones and a large door slammed shut. She pushed herself up to lean against what she guess was one of the stone slabs that her family had slept on for eleven years.

Pulling her knees up to her chest she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to stop the pain. But her mouth felt dry and her throat was scratchy. Her arms were bleeding from cuts and there were bruises all over her sides and legs from hitting the wall. She could feel the energy fading from her and she was so tiered.

But Lara knew, somehow she knew, that she would be rescued. They would come for her and save her and then her father would destroy Mordred. Or maybe Uncle Arthur would. Heck, she would do it herself. Through the pain she managed to realise something.

She loved James. That was what had saved her. That annoying, pain in the ass prince had managed to get her to fall in love with him. He had turned from that little boy who splattered princesses with mud to cheer her up to a strong young man who she couldn't help but admire.

A small smile managed to appear on her face. James would come after her; he wouldn't stop until he found her. That was the person he was, even if he didn't love her back. Oh, she wished he loved her back. But he would find her. All she had to do was wait.

She could only hope that they would find her before the sphere turned her to dust too.

-James-

James leaned against a tree, biting his thumbnail and waiting. Merlin and Arthur had marched off deeper into the forest a few moments ago and told the others to wait there until they returned. But it had been a few minutes too long for James and he was getting impatient.

The knights and Morgana were gathered in a circle going over the layout of the castle to remind themselves of entrances and exits as well as the best places to attack and defend. Eddie and Tom were listing to them while Will was sharpening the swords and his daggers. Jennifer, Abby, Penny and Rachel had gone back to check on Gauis as well as to gather the other weapons that hadn't been quickly grabbed on the way out the door.

Gwen appeared at James' side and he tried to smile to reassure her. But she saw right through it and muttered, "Just like your father."

He shrugged and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's fine. We will get her back and Mordred will be defeated. Trust in that as well as your family and yourself." She spoke with such determination that the alternative didn't seem possible.

James gazed at her and replied after a moment, "I almost forgot that you used to be a queen. But with speeches like that how can I?"

Gwen smiled at him and opened her mouth to reply. But she was interrupted by Merlin and Arthur returning.

"So?" James asked, "What's this secret weapon you have?"

Merlin just grinned and looked up into the sky. Everyone followed him and gazed up at the clear blue sky that hovered over the forest clearing. Suddenly there was a clap of thunder and a huge gust of wind. James blinked but when he looked up again, his jaw fell open when he saw two dragons swooping from the sky.

The thunder and wind was from their wings and they descended into the clearing as gracefully as possible. The larger dragon was a golden red colour and his wing span outstretched some of the trees in the forest. The second dragon was a white colour and seemed younger then the first.

"Kilgharrah and Aithusa," Merlin said in the most commanding voice he had ever heard, "have returned to help us."

Eddie, Tom and Will had moved to stand beside James, out of habit and Kilgharrah's head turned to look at them. "It has been many years since I have seen you little ones. You have all grown into fine young men."

He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Which one of you used to trip over my tail?"

Will slowly stepped behind Tom.

Kilgharrah turned back to Merlin and he said, "We well help you attack Camelot castle and rescue Lara. Not only because you have the power to order us but because-."

"Because kicking Mordred's butt is going to be so much fun!" Aithusa interrupted and Kilgharrah rolled his eyes.

"Teenagers," the older dragon grumbled and then continued. "Tell me more about this marriage spell that Mordred has in mind for Lara."

"We don't know much else," Merlin said, "He will be able to take her magic if it works, including future authority over you both."

A deep growl came from Kilgharrah's throat and he said, "Well if it is the spell I think it is then there is one chance for Lara that it will not work."

"And that is?" James asked and Kilgharrah turned to look at him again.

"If Lara's heart is already taken."

A beat of silence ran through the group before they all turned to stare at James. He blinked, looking back at them before Arthur clapped him on the shoulder and replied, "We don't have to worry about the marriage then."

Everyone turned back to the dragon but James turned to his father. He cleared his throat and mumbled to his father, "So, you know then?"

Arthur grinned and replied, "James, we've known since you were four." Arthur grinned as his son tried not to turn completely red in the face with embarrassment.

Kilgharrah stood in front of Merlin and said to him, "When will we attack?"

Merlin turned to Arthur who nodded and then said, "During the night, near dawn. According to Morgana, that is during the longest shift that the guards take. They will be tiered and won't be expecting us."

From then on James only half listened to the details of the plan. He knew what to do but the idea of him saving Lara from a marriage to Mordred still drifted around his head.

He knew he loved her; but did she love him back? It wouldn't make any sense. She was a powerful magical being as well a beautiful girl. What would she see in him? But he really didn't care at that moment; as long as he got her out alive.

His thoughts were interrupted by Will putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready?" he asked and James nodded.

Will grinned back and said, "Storming a castle, rescuing a friend and avoiding the giant fire breathing dragons; like the Aithusa said, this is going to be so much fun."

So, some of you have been thinking of what Merlin and Morgana will do to Mordred when they get their hands on him; well you'll find out in the next chapter.