Chapter 25

Merlin watched Morgana and Mordred carefully, waiting for any sign of attack. If he wanted to have a chance at surviving he had to be careful, and stay alert to any sudden movement.

He was aware of his fatigue from being in the battle and the pain in his shoulder, as well as the few other random scrapes he had aquired while fighting. Nothing life threatening, but it had the potential. He was also aware of the attention he and his two enemies were recieving from Camelot's army. Every eye, both friendly and furious were on them, waiting to see what would happen. Uther was probably hoping they'd all kill eachother. Arthur on the other hand...

Arthur. Merlin felt the sudden desire to turn and look at Arthur, to see his face, to see if he was angry, or maybe happy, or even betrayed. He needed to know. Even if it was one of betrayal he needed to know. But he couldn't turn and look. He couldn't take his eyes off of Morgana and Mordred, or they would take advantage of him as his back was turned. And he couldn't let that happen. Maybe if it was just his life at stake, but it wasn't. He had to beat them for the whole of Camelot. If he died, so would Camelot. So much rested upon his shoulders, and he was determined to win.

He saw it coming from the corner of his eye. A ball of light, flying toward him, sure to kill on first contact. He heard his name called out frantically from someone in Camelot's army. He felt the air grow hot as the light closed in on him. He did the first thing that came to mind.

He ducked. The light flew over his head and the air around them shook as the light hit the great shield. Slowly Merlin stood, his hand out.

Morgana laughed, "What a great sorcerer you are. Ducking away when you could have blocked it. Maybe we underestimated you, Merlin."

Merlin didn't let what she said bother him. They were nothing but empty words meant to distract him by means of his ego. Merlin smiled,

"I thought I'd save my energy for a real attack. That was pathetic." Morgana frowned, anger in her eyes at his remark. In rage she sent five more lights at Merlin, which he easily blocked without saying a word, his eyes flashing the brightest gold.

"Is that all you have, Morgana?" Merlin asked, trying to cover the fear he felt within him, threatening to make him lose any chance of winning this seemingly hopeless battle.

There was silence and then Morgana and Mordred moved away from eachother, moving towards both sides of Merlin. Realizing what they were doing the warlock quickly moved forward, to where they had been standing a second ago, never taking his eyes off of them. And then it started all over again. Morgana and Mordred trying to corner him, Merlin moving away, their eyes never leaving him, his eyes never leaving them. It was like a dance.

On and on it went. No one attacked, no one faltered in their gaze. It was just them, nothing else mattered.

And then it started.

With a stream of words Mordred let loose all of his feelings and his power, releasing a long flow of magic, straight at Merlin, aiming to kill, to destroy. Merlin's eyes flashed and the energy stopped in midair, creating an explosion that threw all three backwards. Merlin jumped up and searched quickly to find the two, finally surrounding him. Before he could move away spells came from both sides. He blocked both and sent them back toward the respective casters. They blocked their own spells as well and then began to circle him.

Merlin was beginning to worry now. They were powerful. With Mordred's calm skill and Morgana's rage Merlin was beginning to see that he really didn't stand a chance. And their shield kept any chance of the Dragon helping him away...

Another attack, this one leaving Merlin on his knees, gasping for breath.

They were still circling. Merlin pushed himself back to his feet, shoving away the pain and the fatigue. He had to fight. He had to win.

And another. This time he stayed standing, not wanting to show he was growing weaker. He had to fight back. He couldn't just stand and take it. His eyes flashing gold he pointed his hands to the ground under Mordred. He was thrown backwards as the ground rose up suddenly under him. It continued to rise until it his the top of the shield. He spun around to a stunned Morgana. However, she quickly regained her composure and shot a ball of flames at him. He jumped out of the way, and pushed her away with magic.

The wall of earth exploded behind him to reveal Mordred, finally showing anger.

"Emrys!" He yelled in rage.

And suddenly there was pain. He was on the ground, and that's all he could understand. Pain everywhere, overwhelming, biting, killing...

And unconsiously his eyes flashed and Mordred was thrown backwards once more. The pain stopped. He saw another attack, Morgana's, and blocked it before it could hit him. He jumped up and ran to the edge of the shield, desperate not to be surrounded again.

He had to destroy the shield. Once that was gone Kilgarrah could help. But how-

And then his eyes landed on Arthur. Arthur who was watching with wide eyes filled with fear. But was it fear for him or of him?

And then Arthur smiled at him.

And in that moment Merlin knew. Arthur didn't hate him. Arthur was glad he was alive. Arthur didn't hate him!

And that was all he needed.

"Arthur! Attack the shield! It needs to be broken!" He yelled quickly, before turning back to Morgana and Mordred.

And then he attacked.

It was a magical attack unlike any other. Outside the shield Kilgarrah and Arthur and most of the souldiers of Camelot were working to destroy the shield. Only Uther and a few of his men stood away, yelling furiously about how Arthur shouldn't listen to sorcerers and side with Dragons. Not that Merlin was paying any attention. His attention was focused only on Morgana and Mordred, who looked shocked by the sudden attack from all sides. Merlin knew they couldn't withstand it. They couldn't fight him while trying to keep up the shield, it wasn't possible.

There was a scream as Morgana flew backwards and hit the ground, clutching her stomach, which was suddenly covered in blood. Mordred screamed and began to attacked once more with a malice he hadn't had before. It was the pain again, but he wasn't going to take it this time. He pushed back and suddenly Mordred went flying backwards as well.

And with an explosion the shield was destroyed. For a moment there was silence, the loudest silence Merlin had ever heard. And then there was chaos. Knights were everywhere, yells coming from every direction. Merlin searched the chaos for Mordred. And then he saw him, blocked by a the Knights. He was fighting them off, until he finally gave up. And with a bright light and high speed winds he dissappeared into thin air.

"Find him!" Yelled Arthur over the chaos, "Search the woods! And find Morgana!"

And, amidst the chaos, Merlin ran.

:D

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