I don't own Merlin.
- Merlin is pushed to the edge because of Morgana and Agravaine's actions with torturing Gaius and framing him for treason.
Please let me know what you think.
Overly Harsh.
Night had fallen over the land. The dark blue sky was an inky colour illuminated by the light from the moon, with the stars speckled on it. Wreathed in the darkness of night, the light from the moon was casting shadows on the forest floor. The moon was high in the sky, signalling midnight. By now everyone was asleep, and across the lands of the Five Kingdoms, the only people asleep were guards on night duty or officials who felt the night was the perfect time to work.
In short, it was the perfect time for spies and saboteurs to leave castles. As he followed Agravaine out into the woods, trying to keep in perfect sync with the other man's footsteps, wrapped from head to toe in a long dark cloak, Merlin wondered what he was going to do. He had been keeping a watchful eye on Agravaine for the last two days, even neglecting his own health while he had tried hard not to fall asleep during the days.
Gaius was worried about him, which was the last thing he wanted to do, but Merlin was just so angry. With Arthur who'd preferred to forget nearly three decades worth of knowing Gaius was loyal to him in favour of the word of a man who had never been there all of his life, with Agravaine who had been instrumental in setting Gaius up to be captured and tortured to help Morgana learn more about Emrys.
Gaius had been afraid one day he would let him, Merlin, down for revealing the secret of his magical identity. However, when he had seen his friend and mentor stretched out, exhausted and in agony over being tortured because of Alator, Merlin had decided there and then he wouldn't have been upset had Morgana discovered the truth. To Merlin, the witch who had once been one of his friends until that horrible day during that mess with Morgause and the Knights of Medhir where Kilgharrah had told him she was the vessel channelling and powering the sleeping spell which had befallen Camelot, it was only a matter of time before Morgana discovered the truth. Morgana had always been a stubborn, wilful and highly intelligent woman, and while he wished he could go back in time and tell her that he himself was a sorcerer when she had been terrified when she had discovered her powers for the very first time before Morgause had gotten her claws into Camelot's unofficial princess, he knew only too well Morgana would discover the truth.
Merlin had no idea where and when it would be, it could be a few weeks from now or even years, it didn't matter. One day Morgana would learn the truth about him, but right now he had something in mind.
There was no doubt in his mind that Morgana and Agravaine were allies, but in the last few days, since Gaius had been tortured by Alator, Merlin had been slowly and surely giving in to his anger. Through Morgana, Agravaine had crossed a line. Gaius was family to him and while he adored Gwen and liked Arthur even if the King's stupidity sometimes made him wonder if being the protector of the Once and Future King was worth seeing the countless mistakes Arthur had a tendency of making.
He hardly learned from them. To make matters worse every time Merlin hoped he had, Arthur made another stupid mistake that made the last one look minor by comparison, but he didn't doubt for an instant Arthur would continue to trust Agravaine, who would cloud his mind for Morgana's ends. The warlock wished he could drag Arthur out of Camelot and show him what his beloved uncle was doing. To hell with the consequences and the temper tantrum.
It wasn't that hard to follow Agravaine. The other man was cautious, but Merlin kept close watch over him as he walked closer to Morgana's hovel. It wasn't really hard to find Morgans's hovel; the witch had lit a fire and was using it for warmth or to cook her meal, Merlin didn't know and didn't care which. When they finally reached the gully in the forest which the witch had made her home, Merlin stayed on the outside and listened.
"Morgana, you called for me?"
"I did," Morgana's voice was low.
"Good lord," Agravaine gasped. "A-are you alright?"
Morgana didn't scream or shriek her feelings against her lackey. She was either too badly hurt following Alator's betrayal or too tired to really care what Agravaine said or did. "No, I'm not. I am positive Gaius knows who Emrys really is, Agravaine. I had the perfect opportunity to learn more about him, and it was ripped through my fingers. I just do not understand what kind of hold Emrys has over Alator."
"Morgana, I know what you've been saying, that Emrys is your doom and how you saw him in a vision-," Agravaine began, but Morgana interrupted him.
"Oh it was more than a vision, believe me. He was standing over me, Agravine, and I can still feel the power coming off of him as he glared down at me with anger. Morgause taught me how to bleed my emotions out for others to feel, but I have never felt power like this; for him to bleed that power through my visions," Morgana paused and sighed - Merlin was sure she was shuddering but he paid little heed to that.
He was paying more of his attention to what Morgana had just said.
When Morgana had been in Camelot before Morgause poisoned her mind when Uther's endless massacre towards magic caused an untold number of arguments between the stubborn pair before her magic manifested itself and Morgana's terror had pushed her right into her twisted sister's grip although the Pendragon bloodlust and prejudices towards those with magic or possessing a connection to magic, she had suffered from a number of dreams and nightmares.
But they weren't dreams or nightmares.
They were visions of what was to come. Merlin had lost count of the number of times he'd taken a potion to Morgana to help her sleep. But they had never worked, despite Gaius' assurances. Merlin knew he and Gaius had to accept a great deal of the blame for Morgana's current state, but so to did Kilgharrah. If Merlin had just trusted his instincts because he knew what Morgana was going through because he had gone through the same pain all of his life, perhaps this mess would never have happened. He had been such a coward, giving into his inexperience and lack of judgement he had allowed Morgause to twist Morgana until she was a monster. But it seemed she had been having visions of him as Emrys, and she was terrified. It was no wonder she was determined to learn who his alter ego was; after going through all of those visions throughout her life, and not having the means of understanding what they really meant, now she was a witch and High Priestess Morgana would have the full resources and power at her disposal to understand everything.
Merlin rubbed his forehead. He cursed himself for never telling Morgana the truth. He cursed the fates for bringing him to this state. He wished he could find a way of redeeming her, to make the witch become the woman she had once been.
"That's why you want to find him, to stop the vision coming to pass?" Agravaine's question brought him out of his thoughts, and the warlock returned his focus to the conversation between the witch and Agravaine.
"Yes. I have heard of Emrys, Agravaine. He's a lapdog of the so-called Once and Future King, but for some reason, he is tied to Arthur. And that makes it imperative I take the throne. This Emrys is a traitor to magic, Agravaine."
Merlin didn't know what was worse, the fact Morgana knew so much about the old druidic prophecies without any trouble although truthfully any sorcerer with a huge amount of knowledge would know about the damn prophecies or the fact she and Morgause believed him to be a lapdog.
Was that the general image people had of him?
After a moment Merlin decided he didn't give a damn about what Agravaine nor Morgana thought about him. Merlin leaned in to listen closely.
"Gaius certainly knows something," the witch continued thoughtfully, "I just wish there was a way of convincing him… unless of course, we use his precious Hunith to offer an incentive."
"I will find a way of getting to her, Morgana," there was sadistic anticipation in Agravaine's voice.
White-hot rage exploded in Merlin's mind; he had already decided to come to Morgana's part of the forest to punish her for what she had done to Gaius, but Morgana was now crossing a line she should never cross… Agravaine's sadistic eagerness only made Merlin more determined to inflict pain.
Merlin blasted the door and a good portion of the wall in, startling Agravaine and Morgana at once.
"What-?" Agravaine gasped, but Merlin telekinetically blasted him into a wall before he turned to Morgana, and attacked her. Morgana tried to fight back but Merlin, fuelled by his rage overpowered her quickly and sent the witch into the wall while he paralysed her with his magic. Morgana was glaring at him, breathless with shock at how fast he had overpowered her.
"Who-?"
"Shut up!" Merlin's voice was cold and sharp even as he disguised his tone so the witch would not realise who was in front of her. "I am speaking, you are listening."
He punctuated that by willing his magic to cause her pain. Morgana gasped, choked and let out a scream. Merlin loosened his grasp over her and leaned in closely. "I mean it, Morgana. You are going to listen and you're going to do as you as you are told; you want Emrys, you've got him."
"What?" Morgana choked. "Emrys is an old man-!"
"I'm also a sorcerer, Morgana, or have you forgotten we can change our forms?" Merlin partly regretted saying that because he would be losing an advantage, but if he could fool Morgana into thinking the old man she had seen before was not what Emrys truly looked like, it might make her draw her main focus away from Arthur and from Camelot, and begin probing more deeply into discovering more about him. "Now listen, and listen to me well; I don't care what you think about your own destiny, but my job is to ensure the land of Albion is created. I will not let you destroy it. I have worked long and hard on trying to protect the Once and Future King who will usher in a new age. You won't usher in anything; oh, you might be able to take control of the Five Kingdoms, but what would you do with it? Will you begin a purge of non-magical people? It won't bring back those killed under Uther's reign, and you're incredibly arrogant and stupid to think it will. You've done more damage to magic than I have when you ensured Uther Pendragon died; I will not let you make it worse.
"But you have my complete attention now when you ensured the Catha kidnap a man to learn more about me, and now I hear you're planning on involving an innocent woman. Bad move. If you go anywhere near that woman or have your lackey over there do it, I will come after you and you will pay dearly for it. And to make sure you understand I am being completely serious….," Merlin closed his eyes and concentrated, the language of the Old Religion rolling off of his tongue, a language of music, death, life, sorrow and joy.
Unfortunately for Morgana, it was agony as the magic of the spell took one of her hands and twisted the wrist and forearm at an unnatural angle. Morgana screamed in agony as her arm was twisted. The paralysis left her as Merlin loosened his hold over her slightly, allowing some of his compassion to surface, but only some of it. Morgana lifted her remaining arm and cradled her limb protectively, closing her eyes. Her vision was swimming, she felt cold and nauseous, and she found herself barely able to focus on anything around her. Once she had seen Uther order a man who had information on a sorcerer, and the man had stubbornly refused until Uther, in a typical act of brutality, cut the man's hand off. Morgana had never once forgotten the man's scream, and how he had looked like he was about to faint. It was the worst physical pain she had ever experienced.
Merlin looked down at the woman who'd been a friend to him once, a very good and dear friend and was now a bitter and vicious enemy sadly. He knew Morgana would recover and heal herself with her magic, but he had just made his point.
"Don't try my patience again, Morgana. You will regret it," he threatened the witch.
He had taught her a lesson, that while Emrys was willing to remain in the shadows he was willing to come out of them from time to time. Hopefully, with this reminder, Morgana would be more cautious. He only hoped nobody else suffered for what he'd done tonight. Merlin looked out of the hole he'd made of the door. It was still dark outside, but he needed to get back to the city. He sighed and left Morgana's hovel, truly regretting just how far things had come to lead up to this.