Chapter 5 - Farewell to the King

Merlin, the Doctor, Amy and Rory charged down a corridor only to be met by three advancing Daleks.

"Other way!" Rory shouted, turning and running again.

Merlin panted as he ran behind the Doctor. Suddenly their path was blocked once more by three more Daleks.

"Oh dear," the Doctor said, spinning on the spot and discovering they were surrounded.

"Doctor?" Amy asked, "what do we do?"

"OK!" the Doctor said, pushing forward to face the Daleks, "you've caught us, now what?"

Merlin however didn't give the Daleks a chance to make their move. The golden glow of magic lighting up his eyes, the ceiling above them collapsed downwards over the Daleks. The Doctor, Amy and Rory shouted in alarm, covering his heads but, feeling nothing hitting them, they lifted their arms to find the corridor wrecked and the Daleks buried under the rubble.

What with the advance of the Dalek fleet, Merlin had had no trouble in smuggling the Doctor, Amy and Rory into the castle. However the problem arose that they had no idea what to do. Merlin was exhausted from his use of magic and Arthur's life was hanging in the balance.

They had been going to get the T.A.R.D.I.S. but the castle was overrun with the Daleks.

"Come on," Merlin said quickly, "this way."

The armory was thankfully empty when they arrived. Merlin sank down against a pillar and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm so tired," he said.

"You're overworking yourself," the Doctor replied, leaping over piles of armor to reach his T.A.R.D.I.S. Amy and Rory followed but all three suddenly stopped.

"River!" the Doctor cried, waving his arms around in an odd manner.

Merlin looked up and saw a woman, with a main of curly blonde hair, leaning against the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Doctor," she smiled, "it sounded like you needed some help."

Gwen sat by Arthur's bed, holding his hand tightly.

"He's not going to die is he Gaius?" she asked softly.

"Not if I can help it," Gaius replied. He looked at the King worriedly however and Gwen couldn't help but notice how desperate he looked.

Arthur was pale and still. He almost appeared dead if it wasn't for the slight movement of his chest as he breathed lightly.

"Have the sorcerers been found?" Gwen asked Gaius, not taking her eyes of Arthur's face.

Gaius paused before replying and Gwen looked at him suspiciously.

"Gaius, is there something you're not telling me?" she asked, looking him directly in the eyes.

"I'm afraid to say that … I have been concealing them," he said. His voice shook as he spoke to Gwen. "I do not believe them to be sorcerers and I do not believe they played any part in the attack on the King."

Gwen let go of Arthur's hand and stood up.

"Gaius, for aiding a sorcerer there is but one punishment," she said, "surely you know that?"

"But my lady, in my defence, I was not aiding sorcerers, but innocent people, wrongly accused."

Gaius' words silenced Gwen for a moment but she looked deeply troubled.

"You should have expressed your concerns Gaius, rather than go behind our backs. Camelot is built on loyalty and trust, we would have accepted your views and made a decision upon it!"

Gaius looked down.

"Where are they now?" Gwen asked.

"They are in the castle, aiding in the defence, my lady."

Gwen took Arthur's hand once more.

"Do you think they can help him?" she asked quietly.

"My lady?" Gaius asked, surprised.

"Do you think they can help him?" she repeated.

"Yes," came a voice form the doorway, "we can."

It was not the red-haired girl, the soldier or the strange man who had spoken, but a woman with curly blonde hair. Gwen half moved to protect Arthur but the woman raised her hands.

"I am here to help," she said firmly.

Gwen looked at Gaius doubtfully.

"River," an angry voice came, as the strange man entered the room followed by the red-haired girl and the soldier, "I told you to stay in the T.A.R.D.I.S."

"Oh stop spoiling all the fun, Doctor," River laughed.

Gaius returned his gaze to Gwen and nodded.

"Swear to me you will not harm him," Gwen said, still looking extremely doubtful.

"We won't, we are only here to help," the woman named River replied.

Gwen kissed Arthur's hand gently and then stood back.

Taking a bottle from her pocket, River poured a few drops into Arthur's mouth. There was a moment of silence, everyone watching Arthur.

Then he moved, his body convulsed and he began to froth at the mouth.

"Arthur!" Gwen shouted.

Gaius looked up at the woman named River. She was smiling.

"River! River!" the Doctor shouted, "what did you do?"

All of a sudden, Arthur lay still. Gaius leant over his body and placed his fingers on his neck.

"He is dead," he said in shocked tones.

All eyes turned on River.

Who wasn't River anymore.

"Oh for a man as old as you, you are easy to trick," Morgana laughed at the Doctor.

"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded angrily.

"What have you done Morgana?" Gwen asked, her voice quiet.

Morgana laughed once more, her eyes sparkling in delight.

"I'm afraid my dear brother isn't with us anymore," she said.

"But how?" the Doctor asked, "how do you know who I am? Who River is?"

"The Daleks told me many things Doctor," Morgana replied.

"You've been working with the Daleks?"

Elsewhere Merlin was having troubles of his own. The Daleks were closing in and he was so weak.

He stumbled down some steps into the dungeons. The cells were empty, and the torches on the walls burned low. His head pounded and his vision blurred. It was dark down in the tunnels and he tripped over rocks and stones. He needed to get out …

The next time he fell he did not have the strength to get up. His head pounded the way it had the day before after the Dalek had shot him.

Then he heard it, one of the Daleks advancing down the tunnel. He raised his hand helplessly, hoping for some unknown strength, but he had no strength left and his hand dropped to his side once more.

"No," he moaned, "n-no …"

The Dalek stopped before him and began to extend its sucker like projection.

"No …" Merlin half begged.

Suddenly however the Dalek stopped and turned its head.

Merlin felt the heat and a searing pain as a shard of metal grazed his cheek, he heard the explosion and saw the Dalek as it was blasted apart.

The woman River, stood behind it and she hurried forward to help Merlin up.

"But I don't understand," he mumbled, "you're meant to be in the castle with the Doctor and Amy and Rory."

"No," River replied, "that's not me. That's someone quite different. Come on, I need to get you somewhere safe."

Note: This is all very unexpected! (Even for me! I had no idea at the beginning of the chapter that this would happen!) So just to summarise, Morgana disguised herself as River so as to be able to enter the castle and kill Arthur. Morgana is working with the Daleks. Merlin (and I don't know if this is possible or not) had been using so much magic he made himself really weak (like when Morgana did in 5x04 by using an aging spell). Anyway, Merlin was trapped by a Dalek and the real River saved him. So, there you go... I'm really enjoying writing this and thanks to everyone who's reading it. I'm beginning to write another fanfic at the moment so I'll have two on the go. Thank you for reading!