Merlin darted from left to right, barely dodging the arrows which were coming his way. He panted as he conjured a shield which protected him from said weapons until he managed to get behind a solid defense of rocks.
He and Ronove had been dancing around each other for the past couple of minutes and Merlin hated to admit it, but the Marquis of Hell was winning. It appeared this creature was no ordinary sorcerer.
The arrows were replaced with something else, but Merlin could not for the life of him get up and see. They were breaking the wall of rocks with every second going by.
Merlin looked around him to assess whether there was any place left he could go to given the fact that Ronove had had the brilliant idea of shooting fire towards Emrys in the beginning. His heart thudded as morose thoughts passed through his mind. There was nowhere to go. He was doomed. He would not be able to save Morgana, prevent Camelot and everyone there from decaying under the regime of horror and injustice which would befall them most likely.
Suddenly a cackle was heard which soon turned into gasps and a powerful roar. The hits against the rocks ceased and the fire disappeared. So had Ronove. Merlin stood still as he heard footsteps nearing him. He was prepared to lunge in for a desperate attempt to preserve his life against the new foe when an all too familiar voice said:
"It's good to see you're alive, Merlin."
Merlin never thought he'd been happier to see Balinor in his life. He smiled at his father who moved the scepter he was holding to his one arm and opened up for a hug, a smile adorning his features. At that point, Merlin's body went rigid as he realized this was just another illusion.
"I'm here to say goodbye, my son."
Merlin's eyes widened as he smiled and uttered, "You managed to complete your quest."
Balinor simply nodded grimly and stated, "The Encantado was my enemy and I must say she was rather difficult, but once you manage to perceive her illusions, you can pass through."
"What happened to Ronove?"
"Let's just say he won't be coming back to bother you here again," Balinor replied cryptically.
"He's still part of our world and I'll be on my way to eradicate him or at least send him back to the hell hole he's crawled out of," Balinor added, making Merlin chuckle.
"You're already on your way I presume. You're probably swimming through those strange creatures in the sea, leaving the Caves of Nymphia behind." Merlin responded, sounding more desolate than he ought to. Balinor's eyes darkened as the scepter turned into a small brown stick which would deceive anyone into thinking it was just an ordinary child's play stick even.
"I will…"
"Don't…" Merlin cut him off, "Don't make promises you're not sure you could keep, father."
Balinor's eyes smiled sadly, knowing full well he'd only defeated a small illusion which held a fraction of Ronove's true power and the chances of coming back from a confrontation with the real one were slim to none.
"It was good seeing you, Merlin."
"Likewise. Thank you for saving me."
"Anytime," Balinor responded as the two embraced before parting ways. Balinor disappeared into small rays of light whilst Merlin exited from the caves and went to meet his last challenger.
Merlin swallowed thickly as he saw the dark locks twirling in front of him and the dazzling smile which soon turned into a smirk matching the mischievous look the green jewels almost always seemed to carry.
"Morgana." Merlin breathed as his subtle happiness drowned into a river and worry which etched upon his forehead, making Morgana smile sadly.
"This is the chamber of souls." Morgana explained as she drew nearer, "This is the last place one who has been poisoned occupies before they…"
"So I've been poisoned as well," Merlin said remembering how Ronove had tricked him into drinking. In his defense, he'd been awfully thirsty back then.
Morgana nodded as the room started glowing in soft blue as Morgana's eyes met his and she nodded as the bitterness of the situation lulled them both to the notion that perhaps this was the best way for things to end. For a second they entertained the idea of forgetting about everything and spending their last days together. Here they could be themselves - two creatures of magic who harbored feelings for the other, two humans who could connect with each other on a different level.
Merlin thought how incredible and drugging it would be to kiss Morgana on those supple lips again and again. Morgana looked into those blue depths she could drown in. The soft touch of Merlin's hand on her cheek was addictive. Merlin felt tingling sensations run through his skin as Morgana's fingertips grazed it.
They both gasped as electricity surged through their bodies. Morgana smiled as Merlin grinned and they gazed into each other's eyes.
"What a lovely scene has just unfolded in front of my eyes." A woman dressed in silk robes with unruly red hair suddenly said. Her menacing eyes tore away any semblance of sex appeal the form may have had to a man and even certain women's eyes, "I even feel partial guilt for coming here to ruin it."
"You've already done so just by taking on such an appearance," Morgana said as she drew away from Merlin.
"You know who she is?" Merlin asked as Morgana scoffed and murmured, "Do you honestly believe she would leave me alone in my dreams and not take the wondrous opportunity to torment me with nightmares?"
"On the contrary, I did give her beautiful dreams of your lives together had you been born without magic, at a different place or perhaps with magic at a different time."
Merlin felt bile rise in his mouth. The Encantado really had no mercy when it came to showing people their most deeply buried desires. Desires which ripped their hearts apart since they could never become a reality or even if they could, they would be only a temporary detour from an otherwise morose existence.
"Forbidden love is my favorite force to toy with." The red-head said.
"So it would seem," Morgana replied as armor replaced her blue dress and sorrow filled her eyes.
Merlin's eyes widened as he too had a piece of armor envelop his frame.
"This is crazy," Merlin muttered as the two drew swords at the Encantado's command.
"You can't honestly expect me to fight her."
"One of you gets to live, discover the cure to my poison and have the chance to deliver it to Camelot and save everyone, well, if you make it in time." The Encantado responded.
"What about the other?" Morgana asked, making Merlin gape at her. He could not believe Morgana was actually listening to this evil creature and planning on following along.
"The other will die for good. Of course, their energy would feed me."
"And assist you in wreaking havoc somewhere else? Over my dead body." Merlin uttered.
"I will leave that to you two or well fate decide just like she decided to have my entire species killed and have Uther live and be able to breed." The Encantado said, her voice chilling as it was laced with so much contempt. Her expression was one of disgust and sadistic joy as she left Merlin and Morgana to make a choice they thought they would never be forced to make.
Morgana looked at Merlin and then at the blade as guilt washed through her eyes and fear. With so much at stake, they did not have much time to think their decisions through. One of them needed to escape and bring the cure to Camelot and save everyone. Morgana's eyes widened slightly.
"Merlin, if indeed everyone at Camelot has been poisoned and are now on the path to death and this is the last stage then why are they not with us?" Morgana uttered, watching as Merlin's blade reflected the sudden glow which returned to his eyes. He'd just realized the answer perhaps.
"This is all another one of her tricks." He then looked around as the room turned bright red and rose petals started falling as the all too familiar symbols started surrounding them, marring the previous pristine walls.
"She's trying to sacrifice us," Morgana whispered in fear and disgust as the threw her blade to the ground, urging Merlin to do the same.
He watched as the symbols of the Old Religion mixed with ones which were probably even more ancient as his eyes locked with Morgana's. They needed to escape and the only way was to defeat the source to all of this.
Suddenly a piece of the nearby wall broke and in came beasts, running towards them. Morgana and Merlin immediately stood back to back as the creatures circled them, their mighty hooves making dust rise and dance around with them, ready to bring everything in this place to peril.
"Merlin, where do you think she is?" Morgana spoke as one of the beasts roared and soon lunged itself towards her. She screamed and her eyes blazed gold, making the beast explode. She then gasped and fell to the ground as Merlin's eyes widened. He did not know how much energy she had left but was certain that blow had just taken quite a lot of it from her body. He cursed as he created a shield to protect them both as he knelt down and asked her,
"Are you sure you can carry on?"
"Yes," Morgana answered after she'd managed to regain her breath. Merlin noticed the shield had almost been broken due to the enormous hooves and tusks hitting it. These creatures were strange mixtures it seemed of different species which lived over the years.
"We can't waste time and energy trying to defeat these. That's exactly what she wants."
Morgana nodded as she looked at the ground and smirked as she looked at Merlin, "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, of course, I do, but is this really the time…" Merlin's sentence was cut in half as the ground beneath them disappeared and the two started falling. He screamed and soon closed his eyes as his body collided with water.
He fought the urge to breathe, knowing this would bring even more water into his lungs. He soon managed to come to the surface and noticed Morgana was already sitting on one of the pillars, drying her hair.
"I can't believe you did that."
Merlin then looked above, hearing the deafening roars disappearing.
"I imagine she would not let her wonderful beasts drown. Plus given how angry she is she will probably come after us finally."
"You're not afraid?" Merlin said as he got out of the water and sat next to her.
"I've spent almost two weeks sharing one mind with that creature. Trust me I am a lot of things, but not afraid of her. She's just a vengeful spirit that wishes to see justice come to pass. To be honest, I do understand her contempt with Uther."
She whispered the last part, making Merlin eye her worriedly. The two had never had an open discussion on a lot of things. What they were going to do given how they felt about Uther's unending wrath was one of them. His hatred towards magic and all magical creatures had caused so much sorrow and had even brought this trouble to his loved ones, after all.
"In spite of what he has done, murder is not the answer," Merlin said, making Morgana's eyes widen. She had entertained the idea for a moment, but in the end, knew that nothing would come out of it. Plus she'd lost her father and would not wish to bring that much pain to Arthur.
"You do not love him anymore?" Merlin murmured, making her head shot up and her eyes meet his. She let out a dark chuckle.
"I don't think I ever have ever truly loved him. I cared about him deeply, respected him, but now?" Her eyes were sad as she looked into Merlin's and added, "How can I love someone or even hold him dear when he's brought so much suffering to this world and would continue to do so?"
Merlin did not have time to answer as a sudden flash caused them both to look up. The ceiling had been destroyed as a ray of light came down and started shooting haphazardly at them. Merlin and Morgana immediately hid behind one of the pillars as the ball of light kept shooting everywhere, effectively destroying the place.
"She's trying to bury this place alive and us with it," Morgana yelled as Merlin closed his eyes, attempting to sense the magic around him.
His mind started pulsating with all the raw energy, but soon he managed to find her. It was rather faint and her energy seemed to be becoming even more distant with each passing second. She was planning on leaving this place.
He sighed as he wracked his brain for a possible solution. The pillar would not last long. The ray of light would not disappear until it had reached its target. One of them needed to get out of here and kill the Encantado.
"Merlin." Morgana gasped as something blazed her arm. He looked at her with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry." It was all she said before she grabbed his neck with both hands and crushed her lips into his, successfully wiping his confused expression with one of unexpected joy. He reciprocated the kiss, their lips entangling into a dance of passion before Morgana broke away and smiled. She then let go and jumped into the water, submerging herself, making the light focus on herself only.
Merlin's eyes widened as it started hitting her, she'd surrounded herself with a shield which would not last long. He noticed that the ball of light had effectively created holes in the walls. He could easily jump out of one of them and get to the Encantado. It was probably what Morgana had intended anyway - to have herself act as a decoy and Merlin escape.
He even remembered her words. The time he'd had to save her was almost over and there was no certainty he would make it in time. With a guilt-ridden expression, he jumped through the wall and cursed his luck as he'd lost one of the most important people in his lives.
Disclaimer: I do not own the TV show 'Merlin'.
A/N: Thank you for the wonderful support.