Title: Drowning In You

Rating: T

Pairing: Arthur/Morgana.

Summary: Someone is drowning young women in Camelot. With no motive and no suspects, Morgana must work out who the murderer is before she becomes the next victim…

"Bridget?" Arthur's hand rested on his sword.

Bridget shook her head, put her finger to her lips and then silently pointed upwards.

More footsteps were coming down the dungeon stairs.

"What do we do?" hissed Merlin.

Morgana glided noiselessly over to the cell door, picking up her fallen book along the way. Counting down silently she waited until the footsteps grew louder, til they were at the door.

Suddenly she thrust the door open.

"No! Run!" the chained demon screamed. But it was too late.

With one hand Morgana grabbed at the person yanking them inside. Her other hand swung the book at their head. There was a distinct thud as the weighty tome collided with a skull.

Thaniel collapsed to the floor.

"That's what we do," said Morgana as Merlin crossed his arms. "Now, help me chain him up."

"And they say reading's meant to be good for you," quipped Arthur.

Morgana shot him a look, even as she dragged the young man over to the wall beside her duplicate, cuffing his hands securely. The demon Morgana sunk down beside Thaniel as far as her chains would let her. She shot Morgana a filthy look, before softly running her hands over Thaniel's face and pressing kisses to his eyelids.

"How long do you think he'll be out for?" asked Bridget softly.

"Not long enough," Morgana replied, even as Thaniel's eyes began to flicker open. "It's a side effect of the possession. The demon not only enhances your physical appearance but also your health."

"What are you saying?" said Arthur, even as Thaniel stood up slowly, hands behind him sliding up the damp dungeon wall to help push himself up. "He's immortal?"

"No, not immortal. Just a damn sight harder to kill than a normal man," Thaniel smirked and touched his head. "You certainly leave an impression, Morgana."

His eyes wandered lazily from one Morgana, chained at his side, to the other Morgana stood beside Arthur, the book clutched to her chest. Something flashed in his eyes as though he'd suddenly worked everything out. He gave Morgana an appraising stare and then a small smile, as though she'd just surprised him.

And oddly, as though he was proud of her.

"So…" said Merlin in the awkward silence that followed. "Now what?"

"Well, an explanation of what the hell is going on would be nice," said Bridget quietly. She fixed her eyes on Thaniel. "What have you done to my brother?"

"So you've finally noticed? Don't you like the improvements, little sister?" Thaniel smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, the pupils sharpening, and his gaze growing cold and predatory.

"You have no right to call me that," snapped Bridget, her voice thick with fury and anguish. "What have you done to Thaniel?" When he said nothing, Bridget drew her blade and held the tip to his throat. "What have you done to him? Tell me."

"Very well." Thaniel's lips press together into a thin line. "Three years ago I drowned your brother."

Bridget's arm remained firm, even as tears slipped down her face. Morgana clutched her book tighter to herself as Merlin shifted uneasily at the revelation. Bridget appeared unable to speak, her eyes burning bright with furious tears so it was Arthur who asked the next question.

"Why?"

"Why did I drown him?" Thaniel gave a gaelic shrug, managing to look elegant and composed even in chains and with a blade to his throat. "Why does a bear protect her cubs or bees collect honey? Instinct. It's what Fossegrim do. We lure humans to the water, we drown them, we lure more. In a millennia of existence it is how it's always been."

"But why possess him?"

Only now did Thaniel show some agitation. His eyebrows drew close together, and a faint line appeared in his forehead as he frowned. "Your brother had magic."

"You're a liar and a bad one," said Bridget, gritting her teeth. "Thaniel wasn't a wizard; he hadn't got a magical bone in his body."

"But he had got magical blood." Thaniel laughed as Bridget blanched, her face draining of all colour. "Troll blood contains powerful magics, and the magic still runs thick in your veins despite the dilution of several centuries of generations."

"Sorry," interrupted Merlin, "but what does Thaniel being the descendant of a troll have to do with you possessing him?"

Thaniel looked at Merlin as though he'd just dribbled down his shirtfront.

"Magical cores," explained Morgana quickly before tensions heightened even further. "Grimacre mentions it briefly," she added at Arthur's look of surprise, touching the leather bindings of the book she held. "Magical begins (wizards, trolls, goblins etc) have a magical core at their essence. When a Fossegrim kills a normal person the spirit leaves the body and the body drowns. When a Fossegrim kills a magical being then the spirit leaves the body just the same. Unfortunately however, with the spirit gone the magical core left behind will lock onto the closest spirit to it in order to replace the one that has gone."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Merlin. "Uther's burnt hundreds of wizards and witches at the stake. If magical cores seek replacement spirits why haven't there been cases of possession before? There's always a crowd at an execution. The wizard should have been able to steal any soul and carry on living."

Morgana shook her head. "For the magical core to lock onto another spirit you have to be in extremely close proximity."

Thaniel smirked. "Within kissing distance actually," he corrected as his eyes met Morgana's. Though she met his gaze squarely, her fingers tightened on the spine of the book. "Grimacre of course doesn't phrase it like that. He was far more interested in the monsters than the maidens."

"No-one gets that close to the flames," Morgana said shortly, "so that's why all of Uther's victims die. The Fossegrim is much closer to it's victims on the other hand. The demon gets sucked into the body involuntarily possessing it."

Thaniel nodded sharply and turned back to Bridget whose tears had dried, leaving only red rims around her eyes and tracks down her cheeks. "As your brother's spirit left his body I suddenly found myself in it instead. It was extremely inconvenient."

"You bastard, I ought to kill you right now," Bridget hissed, her knuckles round her sword clenched white. "How dare you. Inconvenient? You killed my brother and all you can say is that is was inconvenient?"

Thaniel watched her impassively. "It was. I was stuck. I tried to drown the body again, but you can't drown a Fossegrim, consequently neither can you drown a Fossegrim inhabiting a human body. I couldn't get back. I couldn't separate from the body." He leaned casually back against the wall, Bridget's blade following him. "Did you know humans are made up of almost seventy percent water? I didn't mind really. I had all his memories. He lived a good life. I made him more handsome, more popular. And I could have been content. Perhaps." He turned to Morgana's magical duplicate and laced his fingers with hers. She smiled lovingly back at him. "But a life on land meant leaving my beloved behind. I couldn't return to her. And she couldn't return to me."

"Spare us the melodrama," sad Arthur caustically. "So what, you just started killing off young women in revenge for lost love?"

"And what do you know of love, Princeling?" sneered Thaniel. "You know nothing. I have been with my beloved for centuries, and will be for centuries more."

Bridget inched the blade slightly deeper into the skin of his throat. A thin trickle of blood ran down his neck. "Not if I have anything to do with it. Now get on with the story."

"My beloved was prepared to sacrifice her life in the water to inhabit a body. To join me in the mortal world. And it was easy to lure a human girl down to the water." Thaniel's expression turned dark. "But it failed. Time and time again. She could not inhabit a body. And I realised these were all mortal women without magic. We needed to find a witch. Someone strong enough that their body could contain a spirit. Someone with a strong magical essence."

He fixed his eyes accusingly on Arthur. "Not an easy feat when the king has forbidden all magic on pain of death. It's incredibly hard to find a magical being when no-one admits to being one, let alone performs magic."

He turned back to Morgana. "Then your letter came with its interesting postscript. I thought perhaps I could find someone in a new location. My beloved travelled from the sea up to the river to the lake here. We tried a girl before we came to the castle. But again she failed. And then I found you."

Thaniel's expression turned sly. "You were admittedly beautiful…by mortal standards anyway. And then I remembered how we used to play together when we were children, you, my sister-" he winced as Bridget's blade nicked his throat deeper, "and myself. And the terrible dreams you used to have. Your nightmares." His eyes fixed on her face. "Visions of the future."

He laughed as Morgana shifted uncomfortably and Arthur stilled beside her. "Oh so you hadn't told them. Looks like it's revelations all round."

"Get on with it," Morgana spat.

"As a seer you were perfect, your magical core ripe for possession." He frowned. "And then they found her."

"The woman you'd drowned before you got here. You'd forgotten to dispose of the body," guessed Merlin. "The day you arrived and the knights put the woman in the Great Hall. Lord Bedworth was shocked, but you displayed no emotion." He nodded as the past slowly began to make sense. "Of course you didn't care, you'd killed her."

"The night before we'd stopped in a village at one of the inns. You went for a walk and said you'd got caught in a rain shower," Bridget realised in sudden horror. "That's when you killed her."

"Disposal was trickier here -at home the corpses had simply vanished into the depths of the sea," Thaniel explained. "It was unfortunate she was found as Uther banned any trips to the lake and I had no way of getting you down there that didn't seem suspicious. So as I stayed here I learnt more about you."

He smiled, but it was a smile that hinted at personal knowledge, of intimate detail. Morgana repressed a shiver.

"You were strong, vivacious, prepared to break rules and you were curious. You couldn't let an injustice lie. I knew if I could intrigue you enough you would come. So I turned that dead body to my advantage."

"You deliberately killed women you knew had no magic, so that when you wrote that note I'd be intrigued enough to go down to the lake and be possessed," Morgana said flatly. "That's callous, even for a water demon."

"Callous and brilliant. And it worked, did it not? You came and you were possessed. I had my beloved with me again." He smiled down at the women chained to his side and touched her cheek. "I knew we could legitimately go back to the castle, announce we were to marry and my beloved and I could be together without anyone suspecting a thing."

"Merlin rather spoiled that plan though when he spotted my wet sleeves," said the duplicate Morgana, leaning her head against Thaniel's shoulder and glaring at Merlin. "I should have been planning my wedding now, not rotting in a dungeon."

"And yet, somehow I'm not sorry," Merlin snapped back.

"But that still doesn't explain why there are two of you, Morgana," said Arthur suddenly, beside her.

"I must admit, I am intrigued," said Thaniel, silkily. Knowingly. Morgana shot him a look of pure spite, even as Arthur turned to look at her. "What have you been up to behind everyone's back?"

She couldn't quite meet his eyes and her explanation when it came was addressed to Thaniel only. Her words were short and sharp, bitter and acidic like lemons at the back of her throat.

"I received your note to meet you by the lake. I knew it was a trap. So I used a spell to make a duplicate of myself and sent it down to the water. She was easily possessed- you needed a strong magical core and my duplicate was made solely of it." Morgana finally dragged her gaze from the floor to look at the prince. His expression was inscrutable and she sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Arthur."

"But which bit are you sorry for, I wonder. Sorry you have magic? Sorry you didn't tell him?" Thaniel smirked. "Or sorry you were found out?" He crossed his arms and appraised her approvingly. "It seems we're very much alike. Both of us rule breakers, both prepared to take risks for great gains."

"She is nothing like you," ground out Arthur.

Thaniel laughed scornfully. "She's more like me than you'd care to admit. Would you have broken your father's precious laws about magic to discover the truth? I doubt it, Princeling."

"I am my own person," interrupted Morgana, "and still in the room. So don't talk about me as though I'm not."

Thaniel laughed scornfully. "You can deny you're like me if it makes you feel better, but you can't deny you were the one who encouraged my actions."

"What?" Morgana's gaze grew incredulous. "When?"

"The music room. We were alone, I seduced you with my music," Thaniel smirked as Arthur's expression grew dark. "And you said nothing should stand in the way of love."

"One, I didn't mean killing people and two, you didn't seduce me."

Thaniel smirked but said nothing even as Arthur's grip on the hilt of his sword suddenly grew very tight.

"I hate to keep repeating myself," said Merlin as the atmosphere grew thick, "but now what?"

"Kill them," said Bridget, her voice devoid of any emotion.

And there was Bridget.

Bridget, with a sword held deceptively loosely in her hand, the shining, whip thin blade outstretched…

"Kill them."

Bridget's voice was void of any emotion, her eyes dead.

The recollection of the vision shook Morgana to her core, chilling her blood even as a heated debate sprang up between the two siblings.

"And how will you explain to Fath-" he winced as the sword dug deeper. "To Lord Bedworth you've killed his son?"

"His son is already dead. You killed him."

"Not in his eyes. For all intents and purposes I am Thaniel."

"He has a point." Morgana put her hand on Bridget's shoulder. "Your father will never believe the truth. It could start a war. More innocent people would die."

"But we can kill the duplicate Morgana," suggested Merlin, his voice tailing off as the real Morgana turned to look at him in surprise. "She's nothing but magic and the Fossegrim inside would be dead too."

"How merciless of you, Merlin. I didn't think you had it in you," said the duplicate Morgana. "But can you really kill me when I wear the face of your friend? Or your beloved?" she asked turning to Arthur. He reluctantly lowered his sword.

"It won't help anyway," said Morgana. "Stab her with your sword and you're within distance for the magical essence to claim your own spirit. You'd end up trapped in the body instead."

"Is there anything in that book of yours?" Said Bridget.

"It tells me how to unmake the body but that's useless. It's like catching a spider in a teacup and then smashing the teacup. The spider would still run free."

"Grimacre's doesn't say how to kill a Fossegrim?" Bridget replied. "What kind of folklorist is he?"

"He does give two methods," admitted Morgana. "Calling their true names- neither of which we know and are unlikely to find out - or cutting off their heads with an iron axe and burning the body, before burying the head in sand." She pursed her lips. "Besides the fact that we can't kill Thaniel without starting a war, we don't have any sand anyway. You may not have noticed, but Camelot is hardly the seaside."

"There may be another way," said Merlin quietly. "But we need Excalibur."

Arthur frowned. "Isn't that in the lake? The lake we are forbidden to go near?"

Merlin nodded morosely.

"What a shame," crowed Thaniel. "Looks like we won't be going anywhere after all."

"Shut up," said Bridget, inching the sword further into his flesh. Thaniel winced and was silenced.

"What exactly is your plan, Merlin?" said Arthur.

"One of Gaius' books mentions that a magical sword can trap Fossegrim spirits. It's our best shot at getting rid of them."

"Thaniel will still be dead though. His spirit won't be coming back to his body," Morgana pointed out gently.

"Leave the explanations to me," said Bridget dispassionately. "But this Fossegrim dies one way or another."

"Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just fetch the sword and bring it back here?"

"We don't have time to make the return journey before the dawn patrol discover Lord Bedworth's son is chained up in the dungeon and release him. They're coming with us," said Arthur. "The bigger problem is how we get out of the castle without anyone noticing us."

"We need a distraction." Merlin's expression turned sly. "And I have an idea."

"Never a good thing to hear from you," muttered Arthur.

"Merlin's already told me once, but just so I know he's not joking I need to hear it from you." Gwen crossed her arms, glanced from Merlin's face back to Arthur's, and shook her head in disbelief. "You want me to what?"

"Set fire to my room," said Arthur patiently.

"Because?"

"It will create enough of a distraction so that I can sneak us out of Camelot without anyone noticing."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "But why your room?"

"Believe me; nothing would give me greater pleasure than to ask you to set fire to Merlin's room." Arthur grinned at his manservant who scowled back at him. "Unfortunately nobody really cares about Merlin, except perhaps Gaius, and it won't create the kind of chaos we need."

"But why do I have to do it?"

Arthur motioned to the group assembled in the dungeon cell. It was starting to become a bit crowded. "Because everyone thinks Morgana is evil, Morgana's duplicate and Thaniel are evil, Bridget's not in a fit emotional state, I can't leave in case everything goes to hell in a hand basket and Merlin...Merlin will enjoy it too much."

Merlin frowned and folded his arms. "Spoilsport."

"You've all gone mad," Gwen muttered incredulously. "You'll be in so much trouble if the King finds out."

"Your objections are duly noted." Arthur smiled kindly but began to usher her out of the dungeon door. "But I still need you to go and burn my rooms down." He frowned. "Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd say."

Gwen frowned and was just about to walk away when Arthur tugged on her sleeve. "By the way, if you could attract attention quickly so my belongings are saved it would be appreciated."

Gwen pursed her lips. "I'll do my best."

Twenty minutes later with the warning bells ringing out across Camelot the group made their way out of the dungeons, Merlin leading the way through the labyrinth of servant's passageways and back alleys. Not that they need have worried. No-one was guarding the gates, all of the knights having been dispatched to fetch water to put out the fire, the servants crowding in the courtyard to gossip about what was happening, as the flicker of flames licked up the Prince's windows consuming his fine damask curtains.

The group of hooded figures slipped out into the night, the two water demons bound and gagged between Bridget and Arthur, Morgana heading up the rear, her eyes fixed as always on Arthur, her heart heavy in her chest. He hadn't spoken two words to her since he'd found out what she'd done.

A part of her wondered if he ever would again.

Thaniel stumbled as they walked through the dark forest, the way only lit by the moon and a handful of glittering stars in the sky.

"Keep walking," said Bridget as she marched along behind him, nudging Thaniel with her sword as he righted himself. "Don't even think about making a run for it, or we'll find out just how well you can heal yourself."

Gagged as he was with one of Merlin's neckerchiefs, Thaniel could only glare at her.

The wood came to an abrupt end and they were suddenly out in the clearing by the lake, a barren patch of land strewn with pebbles, dead saplings and mounds of dirt between them and the water.

Without warning Thaniel lashed out with his legs and knocked Bridget flat on her back, her sword singing through the air. With two deft steps to his right, the blade arced down, slicing the rope coupling Thaniel's hands together. He ripped the gag from his mouth and spat on the ground, his expression a tangible mix of disgust and triumph.

"On the contrary, sister mine." Thaniel smirked, swinging the sword in his left hand as Bridget scrambled backwards, "let's find out how well you heal instead."

"Bridget!" Arthur leapt to her defence, his sword ringing against Thaniel's as the latter swung his blade at Bridget's head.

Which is when the duplicate Morgana decided to make a dash for freedom as well.

"Merlin, find Excalibur! And be quick about it!" yelled Morgana as she chased after the Fossegrim, cursing under her breath as the demon headed for the natural safety of the water. Cursing under her breath she gave chase, leaping over fallen branches in an effort to catch her before she disappeared into the murky depths of the lake.

But they were evenly matched and the duplicate was almost at the water when she stumbled over a rock jutting up out of the dirt. She tripped, her ankle twisting out unnaturally and she fell, sprawling at the lakeside, her fingertips trailing in the water. She scrabbled on her elbows to drag herself in and slither down into the water but Morgana reached her and yanked her back by her hair, the sable locks twisting in her fingers and wrapping round her wrists in two thick plaits.

The demon cried out and tried to wrench free but Morgana held tight and forced the duplicate's head down into the water, holding her under for several seconds before lifting her out again.

"You can't drown me, idiot," said the duplicate Morgana, spitting water from her mouth and shooting her a smug look. "Fossegrim, remember?"

"I wasn't trying to kill you," Morgana retorted. "It just made me feel better."

"Bitch," the other replied and twisted, fingers clawing at Morgana's hands, water splashing around them as they struggled at the lake edge. Morgana held tight though and tried to drag her away from the water, shoes slipping in the mud as she tried to gain ground.

The Fossegrim thrashed desperately. Losing her footing Morgana fell, her feet sliding out from under her, accidentally yanking the doppelganger back with her as she tumbled. The rope of hair in her fingers forced the Fossegrim's head up and back unnaturally, twisting tighter and tighter as Morgana landed on her back.

There was a sudden sickening pop. The duplicate Morgana lay still in the water, neck broken.

Morgana rolled over in the water and heaved. She caught sight of Merlin out of the corner of her eye, waist deep in lake water, his expression concerned.

"Are you ok?" He called.

She nodded and got up on her knees. "If I'm not sick, I'll be fine," she muttered to herself, taking a few breaths and detangling her fingers from the hair still wrapped around her hand.

She was about to ask Merlin if he'd found Excalibur but from his focussed expression as he waded through the water towards the middle of the lake she assumed not. Instead the sounds of fighting caught her attention again and she looked over to where Thaniel and Arthur were duelling, neither looking like they had the edge. Bridget, weaponless, could only watch helplessly from the side.

None of them seemed to have noticed that one of the Fossegrim was dead, that Thaniel's beloved was gone.

Morgana concentrated back to the body splayed out awkwardly at her feet, the lake water gradually soaking into the clothes, the figure covered in sand, dirt flecked on her face and coating her eyelashes.

There hardly seemed much point checking for a pulse- no-one could survive with their head at that angle, so instead Morgana knelt down beside her creation and spoke the few muttered words that unbound the duplicate body.

The doppelganger dissolved away in a quiet shower of sparks, leaving only the faint odour of fireworks and blood behind. There wasn't even an impression in the dirt where she had lain. There was also no sign of the Fossegrim, which was unsettling, but perhaps Grimacre had been wrong in his theory and the spirit had been killed. Either that, or it had slunk into the shadowy water around her.

On that disturbing theory Morgana stood up, brushing dirt and twigs from her clothes."One down," she said and moved to get herself hastily out of the water.

She never noticed the silvery blue mist suddenly reforming behind her. The water demon twisting and writhing, two glowing sparks for eyes, hands reaching out for Morgana, it's face twisted into a mask of hatred, hundreds of needle sharp teeth suddenly opening wide.

Bridget momentarily glanced away from the fight happening in front of her to search for Merlin and Morgana. Her eyes widened as she spotted the danger, scrambling to her feet in order to race to the lakeshore.

She barely had time to scream Morgana's name though before Thaniel's sword handle crashed viciously into her temple and she sank to the ground unconscious.

"Morgana! Run!" Arthur shouted, even as his sword clashed against Thaniel's as they battled over the fallen form of Bridget.

But it was too late.

Even as Morgana turned to see what was wrong the Fossegrim demon leapt for her, slithering down her throat in a haze of thick fog. She began to choke, her hands reaching to her neck and she bent double straining for breath, fingers clawing at her throat.

"Looks like you're back to square one, Princeling," sneered Thaniel as he parried and thrust his sword at Arthur's neck. "Your friends can't help you now and Excalibur is nowhere to be found. What are you going to do?"

Arthur growled and gripped his sword. "I can still beat you to a pulp and enjoy it."

He leapt at him, sword singing in his hand and sweeping low in an arc aimed at his thighs, so that Thaniel was forced to move back and give ground. Pressing his advantage, anger and desperation fuelling his movements Arthur forced Thaniel back, his blows becoming more and more violent, until Thaniel was struggling to parry them, managing to narrowly deflect a thrust at his heart.

Sweat beading his brow and teeth bared Arthur's fury flashed across his face. With one final blow the sword dropped from Thaniel's grasp and he fell backwards into the dirt, unarmed and helpless.

"When we find Excalibur I will take great pleasure in running you through with it," the prince murmured.

"Not if I run you through first," said Morgana, sweeping Arthur's legs out from underneath him.

He fell but with a quickly executed roll he dodged out of the way of her attack even as she stalked forwards, Thaniel's sword in her hand.

"Are you well beloved?" She asked, reaching out her hand to help Thaniel up. He grinned and took it gratefully.

"Better now you're back with me. For a moment I feared-"

Morgana cut him off by kissing him deeply, even as Arthur watched, his face contorted into a mask of hatred.

"The seer was foolish to rid herself of the duplicate so soon. She should have remembered her own ridiculous spider analogy!" Morgana smirked and caressed his cheek lightly. "And now we have only to rid ourselves of the Princeling and his bumbling servant and we are free to do as we like."

"Not bloody likely," said Bridget, punching Thaniel in the back of the head. Her brother stumbled and grabbed the back of his skull, whirling to face his sister.

"I thought she was supposed to be unconscious," said Morgana curiously, lazily swinging Thaniel's blade.

"Sorry to disappoint." Bridget grinned, "but a good friend of mine once said I'd got balls, and I'd hate to let them down. You punch like a girl, Thaniel, and you act like a pig, so I guess it's time to teach you how to fight like a man."

Thaniel scowled, flexing his fists. "Excuse me, beloved, but it appears I need to teach my sister some respect."

"That's fine," Morgana breezed, fixing her gaze on Arthur. "I have some issues of my own to work out."

Unnoticed by either pair Merlin had dragged himself slowly through the lake water, Excalibur clutched in his hands and was now making his way up from the lake, his waterlogged clothes hampering his movements.

"Looks like a re-match," said Morgana, as she and Arthur warily circled each other. "Except this time I won't be the one knocked unconscious."

Arthur's lips twisted into a mocking smirk. "You couldn't beat me last time we were here and you can't beat me now. All that power and you're still beaten by a mortal. Doesn't that just eat you up inside?"

The demon screeched in fury and leapt at him even as Merlin threw the bright shining blade of Excalibur. "Arthur! Catch!"

And in that moment time suddenly seemed to slow down.

Unconsciously dropping his own blade, Arthur's hand reached up, smoothly plucking the sword from the air as it whistled towards him, the edge glinting with refracted light as the first tendrils of the sun began to dawn in the sky. He felt the sword fit in his hand as if it had been made for him, the power soaking through his veins, strength filling his bones and he smiled as though anything was possible.

And he saw Morgana still leaping for him, her own blade bared to pierce his heart. Saw his hand come up to block her.

The hand holding Excalibur.

The sword so sharp, beautiful and deadly, poised to thrust her through.

He saw her eyes widen for that fraction of a second as she knew she couldn't stop, her own momentum carrying her forward into him.

Saw time run down.

"No!"

He didn't even realise he was screaming as the sword slid smoothly through Morgana's stomach and out the other side.

For a moment everyone stood frozen in tableau.

Then Arthur drew his arm back in shock, but it was too late. Thick rivulets of blood coated the blade, the blood staining the ground sunset red.

Morgana opened her mouth soundlessly, suddenly gasping for air as the sword in Arthur's hand began to glow, a streaming bright white light pulsating from it in waves as the Fossegrim was forcibly removed from Morgana's body. The demon writhed in the air, struggling against invisible bonds as it was sucked, screaming, into the sword.

And then the glow faded, the blade dulled and there was silence.

Morgana fell to her knees in the dirt, hands fluttering uselessly to her stomach. Her stomach now blossoming dark red with her blood.

Morgana's dying eyes found Arthur's.

Behind them the sun dawned.

Please Read & Review!

Sorry guys, but I'm the kind of author who celebrates Christmas by giving my characters life threatening injuries. It's not the season of goodwill and love to all men if someone's not been stabbed, shot, grievously maimed or found themselves in general peril ;)

Have a Happy Holiday!