Chapter 34: Rescue

HALE

"It's pointless!" Morgana cried happily as she fired spell after spell at us. It was taking all our concentration not to get hit, let alone deal a blow ourselves.

A fire spell hit the ground between Gwaine and I. We leapt to the side, cursing as we did so.

"Brimstréam!" I shouted and a jet of water shot at the witch. She never stopped smiling as she twirled her hand, wrapping the water around it, before sending it right back in our direction.

How long had we been at this for? Hours? Days? Weeks even? I knew that weeks passing wasn't possible, and even days was a bit of a stretch, but I blamed my distorted perception of time on the cave. It must be messing with my senses.

I raised my sword and barely managed to block the jet of water. The liquid sprayed around my weapon and splattered harmlessly on the ground.

"Oh, too bad," Morgana simpered. "I was hoping the water would land on Merlin - he could do with a wash."

"That wouldn't be necessary if you hadn't kidnapped him in the first place!" I snarled, sending a lightning spell the witch's way. She simply flicked her fingers and my attack bounced off an invisible shield.

"That's the best part. I didn't kidnap him. That was all Mordred. How pathetic, the world's supposedly most powerful sorcerer being defeated by a child!" she crowed proudly.

"Where is the brat, anyway?" I asked. I put up a shield just in time as a fireball nearly hit me in the face

"I sent him somewhere safe," the witch replied. "He is quite skilled, but a child has no place in a battle between gods." I raised an eyebrow.

"Should have thought of that before you decided to help Gilfaethwy," I taunted. Morgana scoffed.

"He won't hurt me. I have been of invaluable help to him. And he will give me what I want," the witch declared.

"Yeah right!" Gwaine charged the witch but she sent him flying back with a wave of her hand. He hit the wall hard and slumped down, unmoving.

"GWAINE!" I screamed, running towards his prone form. I was stopped by a lightning bolt in my path.

"Where are you going, little girl?" Morgana asked. She sauntered towards me with the confidence of someone who knows they've won.

"I'm not done playing with you, yet," she said sweetly. She stared me down and suddenly I couldn't move. Had she paralyzed me with the power of her eyes?

"Now," Morgana said. She walked closer. "Where were we?"

"Leave her alone!" Elyan roared as he slammed into Morgana. They both toppled over and Elyan rolled out of the way. The break in eye contact freed me.

"Thanks, Elyan!" I shouted. He nodded and raised his sword to charge again.

"Enough of this!" Morgana snarled. Her eyes flashed gold and the two of us were thrown back from the force of the spell. I landed next to Gwen, who was still trying to free Merlin.

"H-Hale," Merlin whispered. "Come here."

"I'm a little busy right now!" I forced out between gritted teeth. I sat up with a groan.

"No. You need to come here, I know a spell that can defeat her," Merlin whispered urgently. My head whipped towards him.

"What?!" I hissed. "Why didn't you say something sooner?!"

"Because I just remembered. And I couldn't yell in case she became suspicious." I suddenly felt bad for snapping at Merlin. He had been through a lot.

"Sorry," I whispered, crawling over to him. "What is it?" He leaned forward and whispered the spell into my ear. I mulled it over for a few seconds before nodding in thanks and rising to my feet. Morgana noticed my sudden surge of confidence and raised an eyebrow.

"What's this? This is hardly the time to be sharing secrets, don't you think?"

"Actually," I said. "I think this is the perfect time to be sharing secrets." I spread my legs apart and planted my feet firmly on the ground. Then I raised both hands in front of me and recited the spell.

"Ic her aciege ænne windræs! Færblæd wawe! Windræs ungetermed: gehiere! Ic ðe bebiede mid ealle strangnesse ðæt ðu geblæwest ond sierest strange! Ge spurne þeos hægtesse!" Immediately the wind picked up, and where my fingers pointed a whirlwind emerged. My eyes briefly flashed white.

"This spell? Hah!" Morgana cried. "It may have injured me before, but I've grown much stronger since then. You can't hurt me!" I smiled grimly.

"We'll see about that," I said smugly. As if on cue, lightning flashed within the depths of the whirlwind. Morgana's eyes widened and for the first time, she looked afraid.

"How do you like this?" I shouted over the roar of the wind. I kept my hands out in front of me, guiding the storm towards the witch. She shouted spells of deflection, trying in vain to ward off the approaching storm. But it was all for naught.

With a shrill scream the storm engulfed Morgana. I was only able to hold the spell for a few moments longer before I fell to my knees in exhaustion. The spell died the moment my knees hit the floor, but it was enough. Morgana lay battered and still on the ground before me.

"I-is she?" I panted. Gwaine chose that moment to come to, which he did with a loud groan. Elyan cautiously stepped towards the fallen sorceress.

"She's alive, but barely," he called. Then his brow furrowed. "And she's… mumbling something?"

"Mumbling… something?" I repeated between gasps for air. A prayer, perhaps? No, that wouldn't be like her. Then what was she doing?

That's when it dawned on me. Horror filled my being.

"NO!" I shouted, realizing the dying witch was trying to cast a spell. I frantically muttered a shielding spell to counter the attack. But I was too late.

With a sick smile, Morgana shot a bolt of black lightning at Elyan. As the spell left her fingertips, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell back, dead. The bolt hit Elyan directly in the chest. The force of the spell knocked him onto his back.

"ELYAN!" Gwen screamed. She fell at her brother's side. His lifeless eyes stared up at her.

"No," she said, shaking. "No, no no no…" She choked as sobs began to wrack her body. She rested her head on his.

"Please," Gwen begged. "Please, you can't leave me too! Elyan! ELYAN!" The last word came out as a heartbroken shriek. That's when she gave up and began wailing over the body of her dead brother.

Gwaine stared at the body of his friend, unmoving. His hair covered his face, so I couldn't see his expression, but the trembling of his shoulders led me to believe he was crying.

I stood numbly to the side, panting. Some powerful sorceress I was. I couldn't believe I'd failed so badly. How could I not have seen that last spell?

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Merlin spoke up suddenly. Tears ran down his face as well, but he was trying his best. Even though he was bound and drained, most likely suffering from severe malnutrition as well, he gave me a soft smile.

"Elyan was a knight to the very end. He helped defeat an extremely powerful witch and may very well have saved Albion. I'm sure wherever he is, he'd tell you not to worry and that he doesn't regret anything." My eyes watered and I threw myself at the helpless warlock. He was knocked backwards from the force.

"You big dummy," I sobbed. "How dare you make us all worry like that? Most powerful sorcerer ever, my ass."

"Ack!" Merlin yelped as my hug choked him. "Yes, yes, Hale, love you too, but this is kind of killing my arms so if you could let go please…?"

"Oh right, sorry," I sniffed. I used my sword to cut through Merlin's bonds, as the enchantments on the chains died with Morgana.

"Always in the nick of time, aren't you," Merlin joked weakly. "If you'd arrived any later, I'd be completely drained of magic by now. Say, how'd you get here anyway?"

"Kilgharrah brought us," I said, helping him stand. The poor thing was so weak he toppled right over.

"Kilgharrah? Really?" he asked from his position on the floor.

"Yes, he took on Gilfaethwy -" Right, the god. My head whipped towards the entrance of the cave. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't heard any noises from outside for a while.

"He did what?" Merlin cried. He tried to stand again but this time both Gwaine and I had to catch him.

"I'll go check on him. You stay here with Merlin and Gwen," I told Gwaine. He nodded lifelessly.

"Hale don't, it could be dangerous -" Merlin protested.

"I have to. We may have taken out Morgana, but Gilfaethwy could still be a very real threat," I said seriously. I gave him a weak smile.

"And I wouldn't be much help anyway. I'm in no condition to fight. None of us are." With that, I strode to the front of the cave. I cautiously peeked around the corner to get a sense of what was happening.

What I found was an enraged dragon pacing back and forth and muttering to himself. There was, however, no sign of Gilfaethwy.

"Um, Kilgharrah?" The dragon either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. "Hey Kilgharrah?" Still no response. "KILGHARRAH!"

His head whipped towards me at my shout, mouth open and ready to fire (literally). He relaxed when he saw it was me.

"I take it you were successful then, little one?" he inquired. I grimaced.

"For the most part. Merlin is alive but weakened, and Morgana is dead. But she took Elyan with her…" My voice cracked. The dragon bowed his head.

"I am sorry for your loss. He was noble indeed," Kilgharrah said solemnly.

"And you?" I asked, wanting to change the subject. "What happened to Gilfaethwy?"

"The coward ran away!" the dragon snarled. "He used a spell to transport himself somewhere. I do not know where he is, and I can't track him." Kilgharrah pawed the ground in frustration.

"Then Cairon is our top priority," I said. "Can you take us back to the battlefield?"

"Yes," he said simply. I nodded and walked back inside the cave.

"Gilfaethwy got away," I announced grimly. "Kilgharrah is alright, just furious that the coward ran off on him. He's going to take us back to Actica so we can deal with Cairon."

"Wait," Gwen said. Her voice was hoarse from crying. "I want to give my brother a proper burial. I wish he could be buried with all the other fallen knights, but this is the best I can do under the circumstances. He deserves that at least." Even though we would be wasting valuable time, no one had the heart to protest.

We buried him with his sword at the base of the most majestic tree we could find. Gwaine and I supported Merlin so he could be present too. Gwen found a flat stone and placed it tenderly over where her brother's head lay.

"Can you use your magic to inscribe his name and everything on it?" she asked me. Without a word I stepped forward and used my magic to carve:

HERE LIES SIR ELYAN OF CAMELOT

A NOBLE WARRIOR, A LOVING BROTHER, AND A LOYAL FRIEND

I considered adding something about what he died for, but decided against it. Elyan was so much more than what he accomplished at the time of his death.

"Does that do him justice?" I asked Gwen. She smiled shakily at me.

"Yes. It's perfect," she whispered. We took a moment of silence to honor our comrade, and then we moved back to where Kilgharrah stood waiting. As we helped Merlin onto the dragon's back, I suddenly realized someone was missing.

"Where's Gwaine?" I asked frantically. Merlin gave me a strange look.

"He's right next to you," he said slowly. I shook my head.

"No, my marten. Where did he go?" I heard Merlin asking about my marten as I raced off into the trees.

"Gwaine?" I called. "Gwaine! Where are you, you little rascal?" I called his name a few more times before my marten's namesake placed a gentle hand on my arm.

"Hale," Gwaine said. "He's a wild animal. It's very possible the fight scared him off and he decided to leave."

"That can't be right!" I exclaimed. "He's been in battle before! If he was so scared, he would have run off a long time ago!"

"Regardless, we need to go. If he hasn't come by now, I don't think he's coming back."

"But he -" At Gwaine's stern but understanding look, I bit my lip and stopped arguing. It seemed as though my time with the little marten had come to an end. Even more depressed than before, I followed Gwaine back to where the others waited. We both mounted Kilgharrah and flew back to Actica in silence.