Author's Note: Sorry I have been gone for so long! I have been so busy! 'Serial blogger', you have made me the happiest girl in the world : D if it weren't for you, I think I would have just deleted this whole Fic. But now I have been saved by you wonderful reviewers and made me feel wanted again ^^. So here's a big chapter for you amazing people who have stuck with me and are still slightly interested in my story : ) Really looking forward to seeing your thoughts on this chapter. It's getting very near the end so I was hoping that maybe a few more of you could read? Maybe? OK, so please review and make me update quicker! Please!

Disclaimer: I still do not own any characters of Shine and the BBC's TV programme Merlin (wish I did!) but any added characters and plotlines were completely my genius! All mistakes and splelnig errrors are also my own, which are not so genius…

Chapter Fifty Four

Absent

Was he dead? Yes, of course he was. He wouldn't be flying otherwise. The wind whipped through his cloak and almost pulled his hood down. He had long since undone the spell that forced it to stay in place and conceal his identity so why was it staying up now? Probably because it had become so accustom to hiding his face in shadow it had stuck itself there. Become part of him.

Was this what death felt like? It was surprisingly pleasurable. He felt like he was being airlifted by clouds. Then what was that stabbing sensation in his shoulder? So he still felt pain in death. That was unfortunate. The reason he had wanted to be dead was to get away from the pain. There goes that hope.

But if he was being airlifted by clouds, then why did the clouds feel hairy? Did clouds normally feel hairy? Emrys had never felt clouds but he hadn't thought they would feel like this. Although the surface was soft, it was still hairy. He had always thought that clouds would be fluffy.

This was stupid. He was dead and all he could think about was the texture of clouds. But what was he meant to think about? Eternity alone. Suspended in limbo. What was he meant to do?

Suddenly he felt a sort of…beat, on his right arm. It felt like whatever was beneath him was moving. Then there was one on his other arm. Something was moving up and down on either side of him.

Where the hell was he? And what the hell was happening?

Was he actually somewhere?

Could he see? Could he open his eyes? Could he actually see where he was? His eyes flickered open and stared round. He immediately realised what it was beating either side of him. Wings.

Giant bat-like wings were beating the air harshly as they ascended higher and higher over the battlefield.

Ceira was flying.

She had saved him.

"Ceira? Ceira?" he yelled over the wind forcing itself against him. "Y-you can fly!" he laughed. They floated on the wind for a while, all the time flying further and further away from the raging battlefield. Emrys looked back over his shoulder and grinned as he saw the Spectres that were still standing, glaring up at him sailing away. He had an urge to pull a face but figured that he probably shouldn't and faced back to the night sky. Suddenly, they dropped a little. Emrys frowned and leaned forward a little to see if he could see Ceira's face. She was too concentrated on flying. Emrys dismissed it. This was her first time flying after all. She was bound to have a couple of problems. But then they dropped again, and stayed pointing downwards.

There was something wrong.

Emrys leaned forward as far as he dared and looked down at Ceira. Her eyes were closed and her wings had stopped beating. "Ceira? Ceira? What's going on? What're you doing? Ceira!" There was no response. She was partially unconscious. Emrys' eyes widened in panic. What was he meant to do now? He desperately tried to pull her back up and to open out her wings either side of him. But his attempts were in vain. There was no way he was going to be able to pull her up in wind as harsh as this. He would just have to hope they landed somewhere soft. Ceira's wings started to fold in on top of him. He lay low over her back as they enveloped him.

Then he realised what was happening. Ceira knew what was happening. The spell that the Spectres had fired at her had affected her badly and it was now seeping the strength out of her. She couldn't fly anymore. She knew she was going to crash land. She had folded in her wings over him just before she lost consciousness to ensure he didn't get hurt, to cushion him from the impact. She was going to take the collision force instead of him. Emrys stared disbelievingly at the oncoming ground. It was rushing up to meet him way too fast. But he couldn't stop it. Ceira certainly couldn't stop it. It was all up to gravity to determine what happened next. Suddenly, they were there. The ground hardly gave them a warm welcome. Ceira smashed into the ground and skidded across the grass, tearing up the ground as she went, leaving huge skid marks. Emrys flew out of the casing of Ceira's wings and went tumbling across the ground. He went head over heels more times than he could count and his shoulder burned like fire. But he wasn't as hurt as he should be.

Author's Note: OK, I think I'm going to insert a cheeky little mini spoiler here ;P The next chapter is a BIG CHAPTER! Well that might not have been as subtle as I had have wanted… Ah well. OK, please review because I want to get the next chapter up here as quick as I can :] Thanks and please review!