And here lies the second chapter of the battle. Thank you to everyone for their amazing reviews; I really don't know what else to say to you guys, except that you're amazing. It means a lot to me.

Another quick note; Arthursmol will be posting a oneshot written by my 9 year old brother, who has ASD, in the Harry Potter fandom later today. It would mean the world to the both of us if you would check it out for him. Please be kind with any reviews; he is only 9. It is very cute and we are both very proud of him. It's called Albus's First Day At Hogwarts.

On with the chapter!

Merlin rolled as he hit the ground, sweeping his cloak aside as he clambered to his feet, turning to face Mordred. The younger man was already up, snarling at Merlin.

'What did you do?'

'Took you away from Camelot,' Merlin smiled. 'Morgana is in custody and your army is retreating; it's over, Mordred.'

'It will not be over until Arthur Pendragon is dead!'

'Why?' Merlin yelled back. Mordred stopped his advance, looking slightly surprised. 'I know that you feel that I've let you down, and I have. But that's me; not Arthur and not Camelot. It's my mistakes that have caused so many problems, but I've done everything in my power to fix it! Why destroy Arthur for something that has nothing to do with him?'

'Because it is my destiny!'

'Screw destiny!'

Mordred actually took a step back from the Warlock, as Merlin advanced towards him.

'You have a choice, Mordred,' Merlin whispered, extending his hand. 'As much as the prophets say that we don't, we do. I chose to embrace my destiny, but you don't have to! I could have left, escaped Camelot when I had the chance, but I wanted to stay, and make a difference. We make our own destinies; we chose our own paths. If you come with me now, I promise you, you will never live in fear again.'

The younger warlock looked at Merlin's outstretched hand, seemingly considering taking it. He moved forward, extending his own.

Suddenly Mordred flicked his wrist and Merlin was thrown backwards, slamming into a tree. He gasped, trying to get back up. Mordred advanced on him, his handsome face twisted into a cruel smirk.

'Then maybe I should make it my destiny to destroy you!'

He raised his hand again, but Merlin was quicker. Without even bothering to move, his eyes flashed gold and Mordred hurtled backwards, vanishing amongst the brush. Merlin stood, and ran across the clearing, clouds forming in the sky above the clearing. Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin noticed a drop on the edge of the clearing, and noted, with some surprise, that this was the clearing where he and Agravaine had fought months previously.

Mordred was back in the clearing now, his golden eyes blazing with fury.

'You will pay, Emrys!'

Merlin smiled sadly at him. 'I wish you would reconsider, Mordred. You could have everything.'

'I will have everything, even if I have to take it from you myself!' Mordred screamed, letting loose a powerful blast of magic.

'Scildan!' Merlin threw his cloak up, a shield forming in front of him. Immediately he heard Mordred cry out as a bolt of lightning struck the ground next to him. There was a loud cracking sound, and a scream. Merlin stood quickly, just in time to see Mordred disappear over the edge of the cliff.

He ran to the edge, dropping to his knee's to look over, but could see no sign of the Warlock.

He let out a breath of relief. Mordred was gone; he may not be dead, but he wouldn't be back for some time.

Merlin groaned as he stood for the last time, looking around the clearing. There were black scorch marks on the ground that made Merlin wince; he really didn't like battling with his magic.

Exhausted, he turned and made his way back to Camelot.

XxX

Arthur picked up the staff that lay discarded in the middle of the courtyard, looking around at the wreckage in the courtyard. The mercenaries had begun their retreat not long after Merlin and Mordred had disappeared. Leon had announced that Morgana had been captured, and the opposing army had pretty much run away after that.

He caught sight of Iseldir and Alator, making their way through the crowd, leading a group of druids, searching for survivors amongst the fallen. He sighed as he straightened up, still clutching Merlin's staff tightly. Gwaine hurried over, picking his way through the rubble.

'You alright, Princess?'

Arthur nodded, numbly, taking in the blood and dirt on the other Knight's face.

'Where's Merlin?'

Arthur gulped, licking his dry lips before attempting t speak. 'He…'

Gwaine's eyes narrowed as he came closer, staring at the staff in Arthur's hand. 'Where. Is. Merlin?'

'He took Mordred away. I don't know where.'

Gwaine let out a growl of frustration. 'How can you not know?'

Arthur's eyes widened. 'Are you blaming me?'

'Of course I'm blaming you! You were with him; you were supposed to be looking out for him!'

'He's the most powerful sorcerer to ever live, Gwaine! What did you expect me to do?'

'He's supposed to be your friend, or were you just using him to beat Morgana, and now you don't care about him anymore?'

'Where the hell did you get that from?' Arthur snapped, gripping his sword tightly.

'Then why aren't you looking for him?'

'Because I don't know where to start!' Gwaine stopped, looking at him with suspicion but with a hint of remorse in his eyes. 'If I send a search party to the wrong place, Merlin could die. And I can't send out everyone, because there's so much to do here, but I need to find Merlin, yet I have my duties as King to see that my people are alright! So what would you have me do, Gwaine? What would you do?'

Gwaine gulped, looking around him at the damage. 'I guess… I guess I'd send someone I know I can trust to find Merlin, so that I can handle all this, knowing it's being taken care of.'

Arthur smiled gently, handing Gwaine the staff. 'You do that Gwaine. You bring him home.'

Gwaine smiled before heading out of the city. Arthur turned, and made his way back into the castle, stopping every now and then to give orders to one of the Knight's.

'Leon!' Leon turned, and gave him a relieved smile, hurrying towards him.

'Sire! I was worried when we couldn't find you.'

'I'm alright, Leon. Where's Morgana?'

'She has already been taken to the dungeon's my Lord. She… she's been trying to use magic, but something's not right. It's not working.'

Arthur smiled. 'Well done, Merlin,' he whispered before turning back to the knight. 'Thank you, Leon. I'll head down there once I am certain everything else has been taken care of.'

Leon nodded, and gestured up the stairs. 'Gwen and Gaius have the infirmary under control, if you'd like to head up there now.'

'That I will.'

He shook the Knight's hand briefly before heading towards the infirmary. Gwen was just entering when he arrived.

'Arthur,' she breathed, throwing her arms around his neck. He buried his face in her dark hair, taking a deep breath. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine, thanks to Merlin.' She nodded, before turning away. Arthur frowned.

'Are you OK?'

'I'm fine.'

'You're angry with him, aren't you?'

'Why didn't he tell me?' she cried, wiping her face with the back of her hand. 'I don't care about the magic, or what he's done. Why didn't he tell me though?' Arthur grabbed her in a hug, pulling her close as she began sobbing, feeling tears of his own prickle behind his eyes at her distress.

'He didn't want to put you in danger, Guinevere,' he whispered, using her full name to get her attention. She looked up at him with red eyes, and he kissed her forehead. 'It's the reason he never told anyone. He's a selfless idiot who was too scared of someone else getting into trouble because of something he'd done. He's Merlin, Gwen; what else would you expect from him?'

She laughed slightly, wrapping her own arms around him again, resting her head against his shoulder.

'Where is he?'

'Gwaine'll find him. Don't worry; Merlin's always OK.'

She nodded, before taking his hand and leading him into the infirmary, where a fussing Gaius was waiting.

XxX

Gwaine stopped at the edge of the main road from Camelot, trying to decide which route to take. The army had fled through the woods, and he was worried that Merlin had run into them. Whilst he stood, contemplating his options, a rustle in the bushes caught his attention. He drew his sword, edging forward as the cloaked figure emerged from the bushes.

'Show yourself!'

The man limped forward, pushing back the hood of his cloak. Gwaine let out a relieved laugh. 'Merlin!'

Merlin grinned, tiredly as Gwaine grabbed him in a hug.

'Good to have you back, mate.'

All Merlin could do was nod.

And there it ends….

Next chapter will be Merlin's interactions with everyone, including Morgana! I hope you liked Gwen and Gwaine's reactions to Merlin's magic... it will have more detail in the next chapter.

Only two more chapter to go till the end! I will be so sad when this is over… Oh well. Only have a month and a half till I can start another fanfiction!

Thank you to my Beta's for putting up with me! Check out Hollyblue2's Alex Rider fics, and Arthursmol's Romione oneshots. Thanks guys!

Reviews, as always, are golden. Let's aim for 200, pleaseeeeeee! Let me know what you think!
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