I jump out of the tree and run to the tower. I hear the knights and Gwen not far behind me. Once at the tower I climb the rope heave myself into the room. I am getting blisters on my hands from climbing it so many times. I do a quick scope of the room; worried Morgana might be using it as her hideout. Satisfied that it is empty, I stand under the dome and start the spell. As I am reciting the words that will eject Morgana from Jade's body, the knights clamber through the window one by one, led by Gwen, and offensively stand in a circle around me. As the magic pulses out of me, I look up and reach my hands up towards the dome, up towards where Morgana came from before infiltrating Jade. I feel the powerful bursts and I need to concentrate really hard on pronouncing all the words right and concentrating all the power towards the top of the dome.
I scream the last words and am exhausted at the end. I feel myself lowering and look down. I hadn't realized, but I was floating when I cast the spell, just like Jade when I saw her the first time in this very spot. Jade. I need to find Jade. I need to make sure she's okay. I—We. We need to find Jade. We—I look up and realize there gone. I'm alone again. A tear falls down my face.
"Merlin, are you coming or what?" Arthur says, popping his head in the window.
"What?"
"You were the one mumbling about Jade while lying on the floor. Come on, we're searching for her right now." Jade.
"Yes, of course. Yes, I'm coming." I get up off the floor and climb out the window. I land on the ground with a thud, too anxious to find Jade to slowly make my way down the rest of the wall I jumped only halfway down. Bad idea. I feel my shins vibrating with pain. But I don't have time to worry about that now. I have to find Jade. I have to find Jade. I have to find Jade. I have—
I don't know when I started moving or how long I've been walking or where I went first. All I know is when I saw Jade lying in a heap tucked in a space under some rubble my vision tunneled. Jade. Jade. I ran toward her, as fast as I can. But it still wasn't fast enough. It felt like forever until I finally got to her. I fell to my knees and rolled her onto her back. Jade. Jade. Jade. Tears rolled down my face, Jade dead in my arms.
"No. No no no no no no no. Jade." I whisper into her hair.
"What?"
"Jade?"
"Uh, last I checked, yeah. That's my name."
"Oh, Jade! I thought you were dead! I thought she killed you! I thought—"
"Shhh, Merlin, it's okay. I'm okay. It's okay." I pull Jade to my body, hugging her, crying into her hair, relief pouring over me.
When we get back to base Gwen and I bandage Jade up as best we can. Jade keeps claiming she's fine and nothing hurts, but she winces when we clean her scrapes. The knights are gathering our belongings and packing up the camp.
We all walk back to the lake together. We're happy. We defeated Morgana once more, hopefully for good this time. Maybe now she can rest. At the lake, a hand comes up from the water. Freya's hand. I smile at the memory of her, but I squeeze Jade's hand, which is laced in mine. Freya makes a beckoning motion with her hand. I grow solemn. It's time.
Arthur, Gwen, Elyan, Leon, Gwaine, Percival, and Lancelot need to go. Everyone grows silent as they all come to the same conclusion. Tears fall from everyone's eyes, silently streaking down their cheeks. A single sob fallen from unknown lips echoes through the forest. I look at my friends and say a silent prayer that they all make it back to a better place or at least not a worse one. I can't peel my eyes from my friends, sad that they're being taken from me again. It makes me question why I've lived so long without meeting the same fate they have. Everyone takes turns hugging Jade and me.
Each whisper a sad goodbye in my ear, I respond, "I'll see you." When they pull away, each one has a sad smile on their face, a sad but happy feeling brought on by my words.
They all take each other's hands and walk into the lake together, disappearing to the depths of the lake and the depths of the afterlife. Jade tries to ask what happened, but stops herself when she sees my wet face.
"Come on, I'll take you home. You can take a shower and sleep. I'll take you home tomorrow."
"What if I don't want to go home. What if I want to stay with you?" Jade rests her head on my shoulder.
"Then things are going to get strange."
"A dead woman was inside me, there is an arm in the lake, and seven people just disappeared in a lake. I don't think it gets much weirder than that."
"Speaking of Morgana, how did she choose you?"
"She said it was my ring…" Jade said, playing with it on her finger.
"May I?" I ask. She nods and hands it to me. I look at the simple silver band and throw it into the lake. Freya catches it and takes it away, just as she did with Arthur's sword many years ago.
"What was that for?" Jade asks accusingly, lightly punching my arm.
"Don't want her coming back. If she anchored herself to the ring, best it stays at the bottom of the lake." Jade nods in understanding, followed by a yawn. "Let's go."