A/N: I am so happy that I was able to get this chapter done today and give you all a quick update. You guys are so amazing. I really appreciate all of your support and encouragement. This chapter has just been sitting at the back of my mind for well over a month now. It feels so good to finally see it on my computer screen. Enjoy!

Despite being surprised that the sorceress knew his name, Merlin did not flinch away when the young woman spoke. He continued to stand there in the middle of the stables, silent and unmoving. He could sense the sorceress taking a few steps closer to him. He raised a hand out in front of him. A warning.

The sorceress laughed. "Do you really imagine that you have the power to defeat me, Merlin? I could burn this whole city to the ground in an instant. I suggest you tread carefully."

"Why are you doing this?" Merlin spoke at last, pleased to note that his voice sounded far more confident than he felt.

The sorceress was silent for several seconds as she considered the young man standing before her. She looked into his sightless eyes, fully aware that he was unable to see her. She smiled a twisted, wicked smile, before speaking again.

"I am surprised you would oppose me, Merlin."

"How do you know my name?" Merlin demanded.

"From the connection that you formed between us," the sorceress replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's understandable of course that you weren't able to figure out how to use the connection correctly. It takes a lot of practice. You have to really push your way into the other person's mind. Then you can have access to all of their thoughts. All of their secrets." The sorceress' smile only grew wider at the look of horror on Merlin's face.

"But since I know so much about you," the young woman continued, "I think it's only fair to tell you a little bit about myself."

Merlin remained silent as his mind raced in circles. Did this woman really know everything? All of his secrets? It wasn't as though he had ever kept the connection between them for very long. The coin was always too hot to hold onto for more than about a minute or so. But did that really matter? Suddenly, Merlin felt his fear mounting.

"My name is Leah," the sorceress said, almost no emotion in her voice now. "I have been on my own for quite some time now. Ever since my mother and father were murdered for their magical talents."

"So you seek revenge," Merlin stated, completely unsurprised. It was always the same story. The same reason. The same excuse to take innocent lives. "You want others to suffer as you have suffered. So you murder innocents."

"My parents were innocent!" the sorceress screamed.

"And you think that justifies what you've done?" Merlin asked angrily. "Do you think you are the only one in the world who has ever suffered such an unjustified loss?"

"Why do you defend this kingdom?" Leah spat out suddenly. "If you were ever discovered, you would die!"

"I thought you knew all of my thoughts?" Merlin replied, raising his eyebrows.

Leah didn't respond, and Merlin let out a small sigh of relief. She had been bluffing. She may know some things about him, but not everything. Her advantage over him was not so big after all.

"I want magic to be accepted, too." Merlin said quietly. "But I will not slaughter innocent people to make it happen."

The sorceress laughed. "Then you are a fool, Merlin. Your precious king would never accept you if he knew the truth, and you know it."

Merlin shivered at these words, but refused to back down. "This has to stop," he said firmly. "I suggest you leave Camelot now."

The sorceress scoffed. "And why would I want to do that? Just think how I would be rewarded if I were the one to bring Camelot to its knees. How she would reward me if I handed her the crown."

"Morgana," Merlin stated. "You are doing this for Morgana."

"Yes. It is about time that the rightful Queen of Camelot took the throne, don't you think?"

Merlin didn't respond.

"You should join me, Merlin," Leah said suddenly when the silence stretched on for several seconds.

Merlin was startled. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Join me. You may think me a cruel person, but I would really hate to have to kill another magic user. We really ought to stick together. Morgana would be grateful for our service and loyalty."

It was Merlin's turn to laugh. He doubted whether Morgana would ever be grateful to him for anything. She wanted him dead almost as much as she wanted Arthur dead. And that was without even knowing the whole truth. That he was Emrys. This sorceress really didn't know much at all, Merlin realized. He felt his confidence building up inside of him.

"My loyalty is to Arthur," he stated, loud and firm. "That will never change."

"Fine," Leah replied, her voice taking on a deadly tone. "If you wish to remain in Camelot under the current rule, then so be it." She began to walk forward, getting closer and closer to where Merlin stood, his hand still outstretched, prepared to defend himself.

"But do you know what happens to sorcerers who remain in Camelot under the current rule, Merlin?"

Merlin took a step back, a chill suddenly travelling down his spine.

And then the sorceress took three quick, long strides and was at Merlin's ear. "They burn," she whispered.

Merlin's eyes glowed gold and the sorceress stumbled backwards as Merlin's spell hit her in the stomach. But a moment later, she was reciting her own spell, and then there were flames surrounding Merlin on all sides.

Merlin immediately cast a shield around himself, but he knew it would not last for long. He could still feel the heat of the fire through his thin wall of protection.

The sorceress was laughing at him. It sickened Merlin to realize how much she was enjoying this. He then spoke the words that had extinguished the flames earlier, and braced himself for the consequences, knowing that the fire would likely intensify before being put out.

Instantly, the magical flames leapt into the air and reached the roof of the stables. They spread throughout the whole building, now surrounding the sorceress as well as Merlin.

But seconds passed, and they did not die down. Confused, Merlin brought his arm up to his face as he began to cough uncontrollably. What had gone wrong? Why didn't the spell work?

The sorceress continued to laugh. "You fool. This magical fire is very special. Do you really believe that it was you who extinguished those fires in the lower town? I only allowed you to think that you were in control. But these flames answer only to me. And I cannot be harmed by their touch."

Merlin's mind was working very slowly now. The heat was so terrible. He tried to shrink away from the flames, but there was nowhere to turn. Everywhere around him was just fire. And he couldn't stop it.

His thoughts drifted to his mother. Had this been her fate as well? What a horrible way to die. He couldn't breathe, the smoke was so overwhelming. Hopefully he would lose consciousness soon. Before the fire touched his body. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep himself from screaming then.

In the back of his mind, he had always feared that this might be his fate. Death by fire. Even though he knew that Arthur was far more likely to just hang him or chop off his head, the possibility had still entered his nightmares from time to time over the years.

And yet, fire had brought him warmth and comfort as well. When he had first lost his eyesight, he had kept his head turned towards the fireplace, and it had made him feel relatively safe. It had kept him from screaming out in frustration at the otherwise cold and empty world around him.

But these flames were something else entirely, and Merlin knew that they would kill him. Any second now, they would begin to climb up his body. And the sorceress would watch as it happened, protected by her-

Merlin choked as he opened his mouth to speak another spell. He probably only had one chance at this, and he couldn't miss his opportunity.

Using his awareness spell, Merlin located the sorceress. Then, because he couldn't manage to say the words any louder, he whispered the incantation, and his eyes glowed once more.

The sorceress was taken completely by surprise. She had not expected Merlin to continue to fight her. He looked about ready to collapse when his blue eyes morphed to gold. And therefore, she had no time to react when the coin that hung around her neck, the master coin, suddenly yanked free from her and flew across the stables into the waiting hand of the young warlock.

The sorceress' hand flew to her throat and she shrieked at her sudden loss. Suddenly, the heat from the fire surrounding her reached her flesh and she cried out in terror.

"You're not really a powerful sorceress, are you?" Merlin wheezed out between coughs. "Without this coin, you're nothing."

"No!" the sorceress screamed. "Give it back! You have no use for it. It will only answer to one master!"

"I have no intentions of becoming its master," Merlin whispered. He almost wasn't able to say it. His voice had almost left him.

The sorceress lunged at Merlin, trying to stop him from doing what she knew he would do. But it was too late. Merlin flung the coin into the flames.

And the sorceress screamed. "What have you done!?"

Merlin never got the chance to respond. The flames all around him got, if possible, even hotter. He could feel the magic in them. The pure, raw magic. But he knew, somehow, that the fire was dying. With the master coin destroyed, there was nothing left to sustain the fire. But that didn't mean that the flames weren't going to try to cause as much destruction as possible before they were permanently extinguished. They danced towards the ceiling, and Merlin knew that it wouldn't be long now before the entire stables collapsed. He knew that there was still very little hope of getting out of here alive.

And then something strange happened. The air became thick with the magic from the dying fire. It was almost as thick as the smoke that was slowly suffocating Merlin. He felt it wash over him, stinging his entire body. His arms. His legs. His eyes.

His eyes. Without warning, a bright, white light invaded the darkness surrounding Merlin, just as it had when Kilgharrah had used his healing magic on him. Merlin staggered back in surprise. Somewhere in front of him, he heard the sorceress screaming. Perhaps the dying flames had already claimed her for their own. Merlin knew he would be next.

The magic was building up around him. He felt it pushing in. He backed away from the intense pressure, blinking furiously at the fierce bright light in his eyes.

A burning sensation shot up his arm then. He let out a scream as he pulled the appendage closer to him. But it was no use. The fire had reached him. He was going to die now. Oh why couldn't he have passed out already?

As if to grant his wish, a wall of powerful magic suddenly rose up in front of him and slammed into his chest. The force of it was enough to throw Merlin several feet backwards where he slammed into the wall and slid down to the ground. As he began to slip away into unconsciousness, he could hear the roof of the stables beginning to collapse above him. And then someone was in front of him. Grabbing him.

Had the sorceress managed to get to him? Merlin found that he hardly cared anymore. He was too weak to do anything else. Unable to fight it any longer, he allowed himself to sleep.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, when he laid Merlin down on the ground at a safe distance away from the collapsing stables. He was now kneeling at his manservant's side. "Merlin!"

Arthur was breathing heavily and he was shaking all over. He thought back on the last few minutes. Had he been too late?

He and the knights had reached Camelot only to find the entire city completely enveloped in what could only be described as a thick cloud of darkness. To enter through the gates was to enter into the darkness, and he had been at a complete loss as to what to do.

But then the light had returned for some unexplained reason, and he had hurried into the city, unsure of what he would find. He left a group of knights in the lower town, to give aid to the people and to assess the damage, before hurrying on to the castle with the others, where he could see fire and smoke reaching towards the sky.

Upon reaching the courtyard, he found the stables to be consumed by flames, and the building was about ready to collapse.

Then he had heard a scream. A scream from the stables that sounded all too familiar to Arthur. Without hesitation, he had jumped off of his horse and rushed into the burning building.

"Merlin!" he shouted now, tapping the young man's cheek persistently, trying to wake him up. "Please, Merlin! Come on!"

He was aware that the other knights were behind him, keeping their distance. Leon, Elyan, and Percival stood closest, but none of them dared to speak. A few other knights had run to the well to get water to put out the fire, but it was hardly necessary. The flames were putting themselves out. They were dying. But not before the roof of the stable caved in, and the whole structure finally collapsed.

Arthur turned around to take in the sight of the destroyed building. But then a hand touched his wrist and he whirled back around.

Merlin's eyes were open.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, letting out a quick, relieved laugh.

"Ar...thur?" Merlin whispered, his throat sore and voice raspy. Then he began to cough for a few seconds before finally falling silent.

"Yeah, it's me. You're okay, Merlin. You're going to be okay. I sent someone to go find Gaius."

Arthur wasn't sure if Merlin was listening or not. The young man seemed to be confused. And he kept blinking.

Arthur was looking at Merlin's face then, a strange feeling suddenly coming over him. And then suddenly, their eyes locked.

Merlin was staring straight at him. Almost as if...

"Merlin, can you see me?" Arthur asked incredulously.

But there was no response. Because a second later, Merlin's eyes slid closed once more, and his whole body seemed to relax as he slipped back into oblivion.

A/N: I think I'm addicted to cliffhangers. I can't help it. They're too much fun. But you know I never take too long to update. I will put the final chapter up soon. Until next time! :)