Last time…
Agravaine was three steps away… two steps away…one step away…
Before Agravaine could reach out and grab Merlin's hood he broke the rope that bound him and Lancelot. They both ran toward the window, acutely aware of the first time they'd done this. They jumped through the stained glass window and Merlin teleported them back into the physician's chambers before they hit the ground.
"Merlin? Lancelot?" Merlin looked up to see Gaius and Gwen seated at the table.
"Hi," they replied. Gwen ran over to help them both up.
"What happened?" Gaius asked. They recounted all that had taken place. Everything from the moment they had to surrender, to the king standing on the battlements and the final plan due to begin in an hour.
"Well I think the question should be, who is he waiting for?" Gaius prompted, thinking hard on the matter.
"No, Gaius, we need to think of a way to save the people of Camelot as well as Arthur, Morgana and Uther. I'm willing to bet this is why he wanted the soldiers to encircle the lower town all those months ago." The warlock was worried. Terrified, in fact. There didn't seem to be a viable way for him to save everyone. He couldn't be in two places at once!
"I think we should consider who he is waiting for more closely, Merlin. They might be dangerous-"
"Gaius, I can handle whoever walks into Camelot. I need to save the people and I need to do it fast!" Merlin shouted angrily before he teleported away, leaving the three of them behind.
"He didn't mean that," Lance told Gaius as he took off his armour. "He's just annoyed that he can't fix the problem right now." Lancelot smiled as if he knew they'd be okay.
"I'll find him," Gwen said before leaving the chambers and running toward where she knew he'd be.
Meanwhile, in the council chambers, Agravaine angrily paced up and down the hall. The two siblings watched him carefully, questions above questions towering high in their minds.
"How could you let them get away?" he shouted at his men, who took a clear step back. "Get out of my sight!" he bellowed and they all sprinted out of the chamber.
"Can't get the staff these days," Arthur quipped to his uncle.
"You know what?" Agravaine began. "Since this is your last hour on this world, I'll let you spend it with your father." He shooed some soldiers off who came back with the King, who still looked like an emotionless zombie.
The King was forced to kneel beside his children yet he did not glance their way. He stared toward Agravaine like the lapdog their uncle had turned him into.
"Release him from the enchantment!" Arthur barked. Agravaine strolled over to the once great Uther Pendragon and ripped the pendant from around his neck. The constant red hue dispersed until it went black.
"Ugh." Uther swayed a little even on his knees. "Where am I?" Uther looked up and gasped at the sight of his children and brother-in-law. They looked five years older at least!
"Father? Are you alright?" His daughter, she looked so mature now. A woman in her own right.
"No, he isn't." Agravaine laughed. In an instant, he came around to punch the King straight in the jaw. "It's been five years, Uther, five years of your life you will not remember but you will remember today. Today your kingdom falls and your family dies." Uther stared in shock at the evil form in front of him.
How could he have missed five years of his life?
Gwen knew Merlin would be on top of the bell tower. Luckily Agravaine wouldn't put his plan into action until he had this "someone" to watch him do it. For the life of her, Gwen couldn't work out who it could be. No one other than Hengist was closely connected to Agravaine and Hengist was dead now.
The young maid - servant stared up at the bell tower. She knew he was there but that damned perception filter kept her from really seeing him. Her vision kept wandering off to the side or above or below him. It was very annoying once you realised what was happening. Suddenly, two hands grabbed her waist and teleported in a swirl of wind and leaves from the ground.
"You bring too much attention here, Gwen, people will begin to see me and that won't do at all," he murmured which was unusual for him.
Gwen peered over the edge and gasped at how high up they were. Merlin stayed close to make sure she didn't do something stupid. He motioned for her to sit; they sat in silence on the edge with their legs dangling in the air. The maidservant held onto him as tightly as she could for fear of falling.
"I remember the last time you held me like this." He smiled at her coyly but chuckled light-heartedly all the same. They were comfortable being friends, they weren't destined to be together.
"There is no use reminiscing on what was, Merlin. We must look forward and decide what to do about our predicament." Sometimes Merlin felt she was the wisest person in Camelot. But she still sped around the castle, tripping and stumbling over both objects and words. He couldn't have asked for a better friend.
"Well, Agravaine has the royals, he has a big portion of the army on his side ready to slaughter everyone, and he will be king. I've got about forty minutes to come up with some sort of plan to prevent at least two of those things happening." Merlin's jaw clenched as he thought about the sacrifices he would have to make, maybe this is what the dragon had been talking about?
"You still act as if you are alone in this world." Gwen smiled. Merlin stared at her in confusion from under the hood he had worn for almost a year. He liked to think that a glimpse of the cloak itself gave people strength and hope. But after this fight he didn't think he would be wearing it again.
"I know I have you, Lancelot and Gaius but I don't think that only we four can take on an army like this one." Gwen smiled again and Merlin simply waited for her wise comment.
"We are not alone; you have many friends and the town's people would lay their lives down for you." She grinned at him as his eyes lit up to put the pieces together.
"Gwennie, you genius!" He kissed her on the cheek before he jumped and teleported away.
The maidservant sat for a moment, simply happy she could help until she realised that Merlin had left her on the bell tower with no way down.
"MER-" she stopped herself quickly.
"Please do tell the entire town who I am, Gwen." He laughed as he teleported her back into the physicians' chambers.
"Shut up and save the kingdom already." Gwen pushed him off of her.
"So you have a plan?" Lancelot stood up, sheathing his sword.
"Of course I do. First you need to buy some time." Merlin began telling them the plan. He explained quickly because they only had 30 minutes left before Agravaine put his plan into action.
"Agravaine you traitorous, low life scum of a man! How dare you betray me like this?" Uther bellowed from where he knelt, his face red with anger but even Arthur could see how terrified he was.
"Oh shut up, Uther. You do go on a bit, don't you? I think I did the entire kingdom a favour by enchanting you." He chuckled evilly. "Anyway, The Cloak has about 25 minutes before I can put my plan into action. I hope Merlin has found somewhere to hide but he's never too far from danger." Another chuckle crawled out of poisoned lips.
"If you've done anything to him I swear I'll hurt you!" Arthur warned the Lord who towered above him.
"Please, Arthur, you barely know the boy, you hardly see him in the day." Agravaine retorted back. "I wonder where he does go." A clearly rhetorical statement, Arthur noted.
"What do you know, Agravaine?" Morgana asked suspiciously.
"Oh just that Merlin is-"
Just that moment Knight Blade stormed into the council chambers with a small platoon at his back. The soldiers controlled by Agravaine began attacking and Knight Blade led the way. The Cloak had managed to convince them not to kill but to capture those who opposed the crown. They would hang anyway but at least it would be legal and fair.
In the chaos, Arthur, Morgana and Uther got up from where they stood and ran to the nearest soldier on their side; Leon.
"Leon, thank God you weren't part of Agravaine's plan. I don't know what I'd do." Arthur smiled as he was cut loose from the rope. He, Morgana and Uther picked up swords and hacked straight into the crowd, side by side with Knight Blade. But where was The Cloak?
Agravaine stood back and watched his soldiers get slaughtered. It hardly bothered him as he watched the once powerful king fight with his children. He grinned as he watched his own knights line up on the balconies, armed with cross bows. One by one each soldier dropped their weapon as they realised they were beaten.
"Well that was unexpected, but did you really think I wouldn't have planned for something like this?" The lord showed mock hurt as he strolled around them all. "Did you just waltz in here to defeat me with nothing but forty-odd men who stayed loyal to the crown? It seems The Cloak has abandoned you also," Agravaine spied.
"Always so blind, Agravaine," Knight Blade replied.
"Blind?" The lord eyed Knight Blade. "What do you mean?" The vigilante only laughed as he stood up.
"I would give my life to help him." Knight Blade stood smiling up at the lord. He was up to something, he just knew it.
"You see, Agravaine. I've been fighting you with The Cloak for almost a year now and if I've learnt anything from you, from Hengist, from that sorcerer you sent after us last month, from the bandits and the kidnappers. The one thing I've learnt from all of that, compiled into one thing, as in-"
"Please do take your time, you're only wasting time." Agravaine smiled.
"See that's it isn't it? You're so thick. Thick, thick thickos from thickland, Thickania. Don't you see? We have you right where we want you; you have no one around you, just the knights up there and the army out there. You're alone and you've let me use about fifteen minutes with the whole attack and the talking and what have you." Lancelot stood in the middle of the chamber with a big smile on his face and Agravaine started to get very, very worried.
"What are you doing?" Morgana asked just as confused as everyone else.
"Well, I believe it's called buying time…"
Suddenly, there was a ruckus on the balcony and Agravaine watched his men fall one by one. He couldn't see who the shapes were that were cutting through his knights but he began to feel scared.
"Hello you lot!" A man with long brown hair sliced through a knight before sliding down one of the poles holding up the balcony. They recognised the man from when Gwen was taken. He had fought for their food.
Another two shapes moved through the other side of the balcony and Agravaine gritted his teeth as they were quickly defeated as well.
He gasped as he saw Gwen and her father Tom the Blacksmith.. Two peasants taking down his guards? Impossible. They were nothing.
"Gwen!" Morgana shouted as they both slid down the poles. "Guess those secret lessons with me worked then." Of course Morgana would teach her maidservant such things. Fools the lot of them.
"Name's Gwaine." He shook hands with Arthur and Morgana who picked up their swords and pointed them at Agravaine. "The Cloak found me and asked me to give him a hand. I was pretty bored so I agreed."
"Well then you were a fool. You have done nothing, achieved nothing and in five minutes you will be nothing as will everyone in the lower town. They'll be slaughtered like cattle." Arthur and Morgana suddenly looked very worried again but Gwaine didn't seem to be very bothered by the prospect.
"You and what army, Agravaine?" The Cloak appeared out of thin air with a druid girl at his side. He gestured to the lower town and he watched as cloaks of red felled all of his soldiers. His eyes gazed outwards to see the guards weren't killed. First mistake he thought but hid his smile.
"The druids do not kill," she had a sickeningly sweet voice, "they heal, and those soldiers whom you paid to betray the crown will be thrown in the dungeon and tried in a court. Kings kill, not druids."
"You've lost, Agravaine." The Cloak stood straight and towered over him and Agravaine could just about see Merlin's blue irises.
"You forget who you are. A man with a heart, you see this is why I'm blessed that I care for no one. No one can actually black-mail me for I care for no one but myself." The Cloak watched him carefully and wondered what he was up to.
"You've lost," The Cloak said more forcefully than perhaps needed.
"Ah, I may do but you will lose something; I guarantee it." Merlin's eyes widened as Agravaine looked up and behind him. Merlin turned to see an arrow racing towards him, he didn't have time to react, he could've stopped it but instead Freya pushed him.
Merlin hit the floor. His head ached and as his hand came away from his forehead it trickled with blood. He turned toward Freya but blood covered her where the arrow had hit her heart.
His lips began to tremble as Agravaine laughed maniacally. Tears stung Merlin's eyes as her hand came up to feel his face. He couldn't close his eyes to her touch for fear that when he opened them she would be gone. There was no saving her; all of Gaius's teachings told him this that even with magic she couldn't be saved.
It was his fault.
He smiled as Freya wiped away his tears as she began to pass. He would be strong before she passed fully he was glad he'd decided to go and find her in Nemeth and convince her clan to join him in the fight against Agravaine.
"Live well, Merlin," she breathed before her eyes became vacant and her magic was lost to the earth.
"In sibbe gerest, Freya," he replied.
Merlin stood, eyes hard. They glowed gold for a second and a crack was heard from the balcony as the guard fell on the spot. He walked slowly towards Agravaine who had stopped laughing after Merlin killed the guard. Merlin felt Morgause's presence, but she quickly disappeared after he used his magic to force her away by sheer will.
"That was not necessary," he spoke slowly and clearly, his voice still disguised.
Merlin grabbed Agravaine by the neck and held him high above his own head. His eyes glowed gold as Agravaine screamed and wailed. Smoke began to rise from Agravaine's back. It lasted five minutes and no one dared interrupt the screaming and wailing coupled with The Cloak's sudden change in persona.
At last he dropped him. He was still alive but he trembled from the pain.
"What have you done to me?" Agravaine murmured. The entire hall was quiet; no one made a sound as The Cloak bent down in front of him.
"I have engraved the names of those you have innocently killed in your plight. You will be confined to your jail cell and if you try to escape then it won't matter because someone will see, someone will recognise a name and they will kill you anyway." The Cloak spoke with a darkness never heard before in his voice and even Lancelot was very wary of his partner's actions.
"Why not kill me?" Agravaine asked in confusion.
"Because that would be letting you off easy." The Cloak whispered some words of enchantment and put Agravaine to sleep where he sat.
The Cloak turned to those behind him and took a deep breath. He gazed upon Freya's lifeless body and with a wave of his hand she was clean, there was no blood and it was almost like she was alive…almost.
"She did not die in vain." Arthur spoke through the silence. The Cloak looked up and under the hood a faint smile could be seen as he picked up Freya and turned away from them.
"Hunt those who are still connected with Agravaine. Trust no one but those at your side now. Disassemble his syndicate and build a new Camelot, a better Camelot."
Just like that, he disappeared…
This was the last time anyone would ever see The Cloak but it was not the end for Merlin and his journey to become the true hero.