Hey!
Here is the next installment :)
Thank you so much for your review, WAY :D You convinced me to publish this chapter right away!
Alaric was running alongside Arthur Pendragon through the maze that was the castle of Camelot. A few days before, this situation would have seemed completely impossible and unimaginable, but there he was. A lot had changed over the past few days.
Arthur turned right and Alaric followed him up a narrow staircase before stopping in front of an ornate, thick wooden door.
"This is it."
Alaric nodded and prodded the door for any traps. He found none.
"There are no spells on the door."
Arthur grimly smiled.
"It seems that Morgana thought we would not know where the source was."
Alaric nodded, and whispered the opening spell – Abregdan -, and the door's lock shifted. Arthur gave a small smile to the druid and pushed the door open.
The room had not changed since Morgana had turned dark. Arthur swallowed a painful, anguished lump in his throat. He closed his eyes and blocked the images of what could have been if he had not been so blind to Morgana's suffering.
Alaric looked at him before stepping inside the room. Once again, he held out his hand and probed the room for spells.
There was nothing, except...
Dark magic was emanating from a drawer, just as King Mycroft had said. The druid marveled at the monarch's unique ability to read minds before gesturing Arthur to come closer.
"It is in the drawer. I will open it first."
Arthur looked at him, alarmed.
"Don't! I do not want you to be hit by a curse."
Alaric laughed a little, still pleasantly surprised that a Pendragon would worry about a druid. This truly was the beginning of a new era – that is, if they won the battle against the evil witch and the Essetian King -.
"I will perform a few spells first, Sire. Do not worry."
His eyes flashed gold as he chanted.
"Awiergednes ábrecan, scildan fréawine emel mec."
A dark, sizzling sound came from the drawer. The King looked at him questioningly.
"That was the curse. I just made it leave and protected us from any backlash effects."
His companion nodded and opened the drawer.
A ruby pendant was hidden under some clothes. The King looked at the druid. Alaric took the pendant, and whispered:
"Ende."
A great light erupted from the pendant before spreading out of the room.
Alaric heard surprised shouts coming from the courtyard. They had succeeded! He let out a relieved laugh.
Leon paused as an eerie, blinding light spread over Camelot. It seemed Arthur and Alaric had succeeded. Leon allowed himself a silent whoop before schooling his features.
The Essetian man he had been sparing with suddenly jerked and looked at him, holding his hands up.
"I am no enemy, Camelotian."
The man shouted to all:
"Let's kill the witch for what she has done to us."
Other Essetian soldiers brandished their swords and screamed.
"For Albion!"
Leon and the Camelotians joined in their battle cries as they all ran towards Morgana.
The witch was holding her own against the Camelotian and Essetian armies, shooting spells and swirling her sword around her.
Even the Great Dragon's flames did not seem to touch her.
Her spells were all pitch black, and deadly. She pushed the druid chieftain, Iseldir, away from her and kept her opponents away with her sword as she started a long, threatening chant. With a final shout, dozens of black forms, shades, appeared in the courtyard. Each shade jumped on the nearest soldiers, who died as soon as they were touched.
Leon and the other knights stared. This was a nightmare.
Without waiting, the druids formed a circle around the courtyard and chanted. The blades of all the soldiers suddenly blazed with blue flames. Leon tentatively stabbed a shade. It burst in flames and disappeared.
The battle resumed, but the number of shades and other magical animals did not diminish under the blows of the fighters. Giants, griffins, snakes and overgrown birds appeared out of thin air around the courtyard.
Leon frowned. After parrying the axe of a three headed giant, he looked up.
Morgana was standing on the balcony from which Uther had led the sorcerers' executions during the great Purge. Her arms were raised towards the sky as she brought more monsters to life in the courtyard.
A druid noticed her too and transported himself towards her in a whirlwind, but she jumped from the balcony and disappeared from sight. Leon sighed before dodging a blow from a shade.
This was a massacre.
Merlin was gradually feeling stronger as he stumbled towards the throne room with Sherlock. They finally came to a stop in front of the heavy wooden doors.
Sherlock looked at him with a worried expression.
"Merlin, I think I have a way to counteract the ritual. Just... trust me, alright?"
Merlin squeezed Sherlock's hand with a worried frown but nodded. Both opened the doors to the throne room.
Moriarty was sitting on Arthur's throne, looking pleased with himself. His eyes were coloured with a dull yellow - a remnant of Merlin's glorious gold -. Geoffrey of Monmouth was standing next to him, his actions mechanic, as if Moriarty was controlling his movement with an unseen force – which was most certainly the case -. The older man was speaking solemn words while his eyes betrayed a silent warning to the two newcomers.
"...and let us crown King Moriarty of Camelot and Essetir!"
Moriarty was taking the crown from Geoffrey of Monmouth's hands when he noticed the two Princes.
"I see you have joined me, little Princes... Be the first to acclaim my new reign."
Sherlock felt a crushing force him to his knees and bend his head towards the ground. Before he could speak, Moriarty's mocking voice resounded again on the throne room's white stones.
"Oh, wait. I want everyone to witness your downfall."
In a blink, the room's occupants found themselves in the same position, but in the courtyard of Camelot. With a lazy wave of his hand, Moriarty pushed the fighters away from the central courtyard, and locked Sherlock, Merlin and himself in a shimmering globe.
Morgana, who had been fighting off the druids, the Camelotians and the Essetians, shrieked in anger. Rolling his eyes, Moriarty silenced the outside of the globe with a spell.
He looked around the crowd and saw the Great Dragon fuming at him and the ex-Kings of Camelot and of Semloh banging against his magical wall.
Smriking at Sherlock and Merlin, he put an amplifying spell on his voice and proclaimed to all:
"I am the new King of Albion. Bow to me, the Once and Future King who possesses the powers of Emrys."
Sherlock swallowed any protest, not wanting to bring the madman's wrath onto his brother.
He tried to call onto his ability of blocking any magic, but it seemed as if Moriarty's spell was unbudgeable. As the renegade laughed, his voice booming around the courtyard, Sherlock looked at his brother.
Merlin was kneeling next to him. But he was jerking, gasping. His eyes met Sherlock's with a frightening plea. Moriarty had removed all air around Merlin, who was choking in silence next to him.
His voice wavered as he called out.
"Moriarty, stop!"
Sherlock could feel his cousin's crazed eyes trained on him.
"Say please, Sherly..."
Sherlock did not hesitate.
"Please, Moriarty, let Merlin breathe!"
Merlin's movements were slurring...
"I beg of you, King Moriarty. Let Merlin live."
A maniac laugh echoed around the room as Merlin collapsed on the ground and painfully breathed in.
Sherlock felt Moriarty's concentration wavering as he mocked him. He took his chance as Moriarty raved again.
"How does it feel, cousin, to be bested by me? To kneel and submit yourself to a renegade?"
Sherlock ignored him and let out an angry shout as a golden light blazed around him. As the last shreds of oppressive magic vanished from around him, he spat out.
"It feels ridiculously ephemeral, Moriarty."
Not leaving time for Moriarty to recover from his surprise, he ran towards him and gripped both his arms. A string of Old Language words escaped his lips. Sherlock did not stop to wonder how he knew these eerie words, and let the chant flow through him. Golden blazes were leaving Moriarty and shooting towards Merlin.
Moriarty growled, and blasted Sherlock away. The Prince hit the magical barrier before standing up again. Moriarty shot a green spell towards him, but Sherlock waved it away.
Suddenly, Moriarty shook.
A bright light flooded the courtyard. It was not a threatening flame, nor an aggressive one. It was one of pure, raw joy.
Merlin was frustrated beyond belief. These last few days had been really trying on his patience.
He had been captured, restrained, locked away, healed, injured, imprisoned again, and hurt yet again.
Just as he had felt his magic returning to him on its own, Moriarty had gone and tried to choke him. Merlin had spent his last forces on not dying from the lack of air, and was left panting on the ground as Sherlock risked his life for him yet again. Sherlock, who had already ridden from Semloh, to Camelot, to Essetir, who had grieved for him for years, who had kept endangering his life for him as he was unable to protect himself properly. And now, Sherlock was being attacked by his own magic in another's hands. In the hands of the one who had taken him away from his family, who had poisoned Arthur and tortured them both.
It was his turn to protect his friends and family.
He felt his magic return to him, felt whole again... but Moriarty managed to cut the flow and began to steal Merlin's magic back for himself.
Merlin, using what magic he had managed to keep, stood up and closed his eyes.
He would not lose his magic again.
He did not have magic. Magic was who he was.
Time slowed down and came to a halt. Merlin relaxed and cleared his mind of what was happening around him.
Instead of feeling what was inside himself, he focused on the world around him. He felt his friends' pain and hope, his brothers' strength and anger, the Camelotians' confusion and resolve. He looked even beyond, and felt himself engulfed in all-encompassing, protective Nature. Flows of pure light spread over the land, converged through him. He grinned. Energy came rushing back at him, and he let it flow freely through his veins. The warlock smiled with exhilaration as time resumed its course. He opened his blazing eyes.
Moriarty, for all the powers that he had wrongly stolen, was no match to magic itself.
Without a word, Merlin walked towards the renegade King, who was shouting spell after spell at him in desperation. Moriarty's unnatural magic did not even come close to the warlock. It faded out of existence as soon as it was unleashed.
Merlin spoke in the language of the Old Religion, infusing his words with magic.
"Moriarty, you have wronged magic itself. You have disrupted the natural flow of the world."
The traitor tried to hide his panic, but his wide, uncomprehending eyes betrayed his feelings.
"I have to break the ritual and take magic away from you. You were not meant for such power."
Merlin looked at him with a resigned expression.
"I am sorry for what you have become."
Moriarty closed his eyes as a yellow light left his body. His face betrayed no emotion.
The shimmering barrier separating the courtyard disappeared. Whispers erupted from the crowd.
Merlin avoided the stares as his eyes returning to their intense blue.
He turned towards Sherlock, but nearly walked into Morgana. The witch was right in front of him, a murderous glint in her black eyes. Merlin moved back into a fighting stance.
He heard Arthur's shout before he felt it.
"Watch out!"
Merlin turned around again, holding a golden shield in front of him. Moriarty was running towards him, a knife in his hand.
Sherlock did not wait to see if Merlin's shield held, and tackled his brother to the ground.
The knife buried itself in Morgana's arm.
The witch screamed, wrenched the knife from her arm. She examined it with a dark expression, laughed, and plunged it in Moriarty's chest.
The crowd jumped in shock, and watched as the renegade King let out a smile. He collapsed on the ground.
"This... is not... the end."
With a tremor, his body disappeared from the courtyard.
Merlin shivered.
Feeling a sudden inflow of magic, he looked up at Morgana, who was whispering a transportation spell. His eyes flared up with anger and she was frozen in place. The warlock looked at Arthur before knocking the witch out and binding her magic with a flash of his eyes.
Only one chapter left (normally...) :D Don't forget to review!