Chapter 21

Gwyn put a small box down onto the old wooden table and then took an involuntary step back as Merlin reached forward and opened the lid.

The warlock could have sensed what was in the box, even if he had not known in advance what was wrapped in the piece of cloth. It oozed darkness and evil. If he concentrated hard enough he could feel the hatred and bitterness of all who had succumbed to it emanating from beneath the black material.

Hesitating slightly, Merlin reached in and removed the covered Dark Amulet; quickly placing it down onto the table. Stepping backwards he re-joined Deryn and Gwyn and they all three stared silently at the cause of so much unhappiness.

"So no time like the present!" Merlin quipped with patently false joviality. "It has gone mid-night and we have no idea how long this will take. It will be better for all concerned if this is done quickly."

Merlin had awoken from a deep, empty sleep feeling even more exhausted than he had before. He felt heavy and slow, his body aching all over and his head pounding. In fact the only thing that felt fresh and strong was his magic; it had obviously realised that it needed to replenish itself rather than refresh its host. Merlin could feel its strength flowing within his blood; bolder and more alive than it had been since his descent into the Nightmare World.

Now as he stood staring at the Amulet he paused, suddenly unsure of what to do.

"Gwyn, have you any idea how we should actually go about this?" Merlin asked uncertainly.

The young man grinned and reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather book. Actually, Merlin thought, THE leather book. The one that Caldwell had used, containing all the spells and magic that were connected to the Dark Amulet.

"You mean to say" Merlin said incredulously "that there is a destruction spell in that book? Why on earth would the original author add one of those?"

"I think it was written in after the book was first made; and unlike the rest it is written in Latin." Gwyn said "I can only think that someone else must have tried to end the Aulet's power. I do not think the attempt went well"

Grimacing Gwyn raised the book up and Merlin could see a hurried, untidy piece of writing around the edge of the frontispiece. But it wasn't the bad penmanship that was causing the look of barely concealed disgust on Gwyn's face. No it was the large blood stain that almost covered the whole page that was doing that.

Merlin nodded; yes it did not look like the previous person who had tried to stop the amulet had come out of it successfully. It was no real surprise; but even so confronting the actual evidence of failure and probable death was a little disheartening to say the least.

"So…" Gwyn looked directly at Merlin and waited.

The warlock took a deep breath and went to take the book from the young man. But before he even touched it, Deryn grabbed it out of her son's hands and glared at them both.

"Are you mad?" she asked in exasperation. "Were you really just planning on saying the same spell without trying to work out what went wrong the first time?"

Merlin and Gwyn both winced and had the good grace to look shamefaced.

"Honestly, do you not have the brains you were born with?" she continued. "Come on, we need to read it carefully. Hopefully we can see where they made their mistake and correct it. I for one do not wish to end my days being blown up or disintegrated by the amulet."

The spell was written in Latin, unlike all the others in the book. Gaius had tried to teach this ancient language to Merlin but the youth had always found it hard to concentrate on it's vocabulary and complicated grammar rules.

But between them they managed to have enough knowledge to read the words. They all stared at the hastily scribbled letters. Thankfully all the words of the spell were still legible underneath the blood splatter and the three of them spent the next twenty minutes reading and re-reading it. There was nothing. It all seemed to be correct. For the first time ever Merlin wished he had spent more time studying and sent a silent apology to Gaius. Now he would never get the chance to learn more from the old man and yet another brick was laid in his wall of grief and regret.

"Here, what is this?" Deryn suddenly pointed to the beginning of a sentence in the spell. Both Gwyn and Merlin stared at where she was looking but neither of them could see what she meant.

"There, don't you see it?" She asked in an annoyed voice. Honestly, she thought to herself as she watched the incomprehension in their eyes, how could they not see the mistake? As she waited for them to get it she sent up a silent prayer of thanks to her dead mistress, Lord Caldwell's wife. The Lady had had such an unhappy marriage and controlled life that she had no friends from her own social station and so had spent much of her time in the company of her maids and servants. She had even taken a few of the brighter, more driven ones under her own battered wings. In Deryn she had seen a young woman with a thirst for knowledge and so had spent time teaching her all that she herself had learned, long ago in her Father's house. He had been an unusual man, one who had believed that girls as well as boys deserved a good education. So Lady Caldwell had learnt from a governess and now in her kindness and her loneliness she sought to pass on her knowledge. Deryn had never been more thankful to her than now.

"It is there." She said once she realised that the young men had no idea what they were looking for. "The writer made a simple mistake in his Latin. Look here, he wrote "They destroy" rather than "I destroy". He simply got his Latin wrong."

Merlin and Gwyn still looked at her perplexed. Sighing she had to explain it to them.

"He used the wrong words. In the whole spell he always writes about "I" doing something. Like here "I call upon the evil" or "I will give all my strength". But in this last part he does it wrong. "They destroy" rather than "I destroy". He wrote the spell wrong. That's why it did not work. Honestly it seems neither of you paid any attention to your lessons!"

"Mother, in all fairness, the education that Lord Caldwell provided was basic to say the least. He only gave us what we needed to enable us to speak the spells and not shame him should we join him in his depraved plan." Gwyn reached out his hand to his Mother and she took it, both joined together in their memories.

Merlin knew at once that this was the error that needed to be corrected. But he had to admit that he was a little more concerned over the other sentence Deryn had spoken aloud. Calling upon "the evil" and giving all his "strength" did not sound like they were going to be easy. But this was his path and he would follow it.

"We must hurry" Merlin said "We have taken too long. Any delay only increases the chances that Gwyn will succumb or that Arthur may return."

Quickly now they gathered in a circle and joined hands. With one voice Merlin and Gwyn began to recite the spell.

A wind sprung up from the book, bringing with it a dark and ominous looking cloud, twisting and turning in the power of the internal storm. The dust and debris it carried covered the three of them, blinding their eyes and suffocating their lungs. Each new breath was a battle against the rampaging gusts and the sour smelling detritus.

Gwyn began to struggle as the wind sought him out, buffeting him again and again, nearly pulling him down onto the floor. Only the tight hold his Mother and Merlin had on him prevented his falling. Over the sound of the storm the warlock could hear a voice shouting, calling Gwyn to join with it. The young man was yelling "No" loudly. Merlin could feel his pain through his defiance and knew that the youth was nearing the end of his ability to withstand the pull of the amulet. If he did not help him then all would be lost, Gwyn would be beaten.

Merlin's magic had held up well so far, putting all of its strength into defeating the amulet. But now Merlin called some of it back and sent a protective spell towards Gwyn. A faint shimmer appeared over the young man and Merlin could feel him gathering strength again to fight. But in doing this, in protecting Gwyn, Merlin had made himself vulnerable. The amulet could feel the lessening of his power and it struck. Now it could find a way through his defences and it sensed a greater prize than Caldwell's son. It sensed it could turn the mighty Emrys and it wanted that more than anything. Their combined power would be unstoppable.

And so it concentrated on him, leaving the other lesser beings alone. The storm circled around Merlin, cutting off the air that he needed to breath and the light that he needed to see. Merlin could feel his body being ripped and pulled in all directions and his mind and magic being surrounded and entreated. Whilst his body was undergoing pain and anguish the amulet was showing his soul what they could accomplish together. It was simultaneously seducing and killing; and it was not certain which action would succeed first.

His eyes were closed against the damaging tornedo yet Merlin could still see images. Power, money, women, land…all could be his if he gave in and accepted the amulet's offer of joining together. Such riches and such dark glory were there to tempt him. Not enough, Merlin resisted all these.

But then the amulet found a true path to Merlin's corruption - he could make magic legal, restore the Old Religion; punish those who had hurt his brethren. All this could be his and Merlin yearned for it. Yearned for freedom from fear and oppression; for sorcery to be adored. He would accept. This was his true destiny the amulet whispered through the storm. Together they would bring back magic and begin an eternity of magical superiority. All he had to do, the voice promised, was accept the amulet.

"Yes" Merlin thought. "Yes, I acc…"

But then the dust cleared for a moment and Merlin caught an agonisingly brief glance of Gaius's body still lying undisturbed on his bed. And he knew with blinding clarity that he could never be one with this evil. This was not his Fate, he was destined to work alongside Arthur, to bring about the world that his two Father's; Balinor and Gaius, had given their lives for. Not for him the dark path of tyranny and destruction.

Emboldened by his realisation, Merlin pulled harder at Gwyn's arm and was rewarded by the youth managing to look directly at him. Nodding towards the book on the table he yelled that they needed to carry on with incanting the spell. Merlin was not sure if Gwyn heard his words over the cacophony of noise and movement that surrounded them but it was obvious that he understood for he began to move his mouth in time with the warlocks. Taking a second to check on Deryn Merlin was delighted, yet not surprised, to see that she too was reciting the words. Though she had little power and the magic she did have was all for healing, her faith in him and her love for her son could only add to their strength.

Pulling all his magic back to him, confident now that Gwyn could withstand any barrage of enticements, Merlin gathered his strength and did as he had promised in the spell. He gave his all. Magic poured out of his fingers and into the amulet; wave after wave of brilliant gold flames left him and entered into the object of his hatred. This was what had taken Gaius from him, what had tried to kill his King and what had nearly overcome his own purpose.

Even as he felt his body begin to shake and sweat and convulse Merlin did not stop his magic. He sent it all, gave everything to the battle despite the pain that coursed through his entire being. It was as if he were being ripped apart; heart beating so fast it was close to bursting; lungs not getting any air. Yet still his brain controlled his magic and sent it where it needed to go.

But now Merlin could sense the end, feel that there was little more within him. But this did not cause him to stop; rather he gathered what he had remaining and he launched it with all the conviction and belief that he had. All his love for those he had lost and for those he still needed to protect. With this enormity of emotion behind his magic there was no way he could be beaten and as it entered the amulet that evil antiquity briefly glowed white hot and the wind drew back all the grime that it had spread. As the heat emanating from the amulet reached an unbearable temperature a voice whispered one last time in Merlin's ears "We could have been Gods" and then the amulet melted into an unrecognisable mess of molten, base metal and lay lifeless on the table.

The three of them dropped hands and looked around. Deryn and Gwyn stood there shocked for a moment and then expressions of joy and relief covered their faces and they reached over and hugged each other. They were safe, the terror and the threat were over. The amulet and Caldwell were gone for good.

Turning to Merlin to share their joy they were rewarded with a truly Merlin sized, brilliant smile. One that reached into his very soul and showed him for the man he really was.

But then the door to the chambers burst open and Arthur ran in, sword out and shouting about the noise and what was going on, and what did Merlin think he was doing standing there in the middle of the room smiling like an idiot…?

"Arthur." Merlin's voice was husky and almost broken. "Arthur. Thank you."

Then as the King, Deryn and Gwyn looked on in abject horror Merlin seemed to gasp for air, a tortured, wet last breath and then he collapsed onto the ground.

And as the warlock took what sounded to the horrified on-lookers as his dying breath the silent, still body on the bed began to move. As Merlin's chest rose and fell for a final time Gaius took a deep breath and filled his lungs with air.

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