The rest following the attercroppe attack was not nearly long enough, but they pressed on, alert for the sounds of pursuit.

Despite Brisane's words, the tunnel seemed to continue on forever.

Suddenly, Branwen stopped, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. She turned and looked the way they'd come, then backtracked, the men following in an obedient herd.

She stopped and turned again and appeared to be listening. She backtracked again, slowly this time, dragging her fingers along the side of the tunnel.

She stopped again and placed both hands on the wall. "It's behind here."

"Stand back," Merlin instructed. When everyone had given him sufficient room, he held out a hand and blasted a hole into the chamber beyond.

He stepped out of the resulting flow of stagnant air, then they all cast concerned glances at the ceiling as the concussion rumbled up through the rock.

"Is the mountain supposed to make that sound?" Gwaine asked.

"Not… ideally. I think we might want to hurry." Merlin glanced at Branwen just in time to see the stone activate again.

"What was that? What are you doing?"

"Just making a door, Brisane. Now, if you don't mind…"

She gave an irritated huff and the stone went dark, leaving Branwen swaying. Merlin put a steadying arm around her.

"I really wish she'd stop doing that. Makes me feel…" she shuddered.

Merlin gave her a sympathetic squeeze.

He sent his magic into the chamber to freshen up the air and they entered.

The space was large and empty except for a pedestal near the far wall, on which rested the overturned bowl. They approached it cautiously. It was large, nearly two feet across at the rim, and covered with runes.

"Any idea what they say, Merlin?" Arthur asked.

"No, I've never seen anything like them."

"I know what this is." Every eye turned to Branwen. She explained, "Overturned bowls have been used to trap evil spirits for ages. According to these markings, this particular bowl contains," she examined the runes, then swallowed hard. "Lilith." At their blank stares, she elaborated, "The queen of all demons."

They exchanged worried glances.

"What could she want with the demon queen?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head. "Nothing good."

Branwen was backing away from the bowl. She shook her head in disbelief and seemed to speak more to herself than them. "Brisane must think she can control her, but she can't. No one can. Taking this bowl to her will unleash unspeakable evil on the world. Worse than the Doracha." She was becoming agitated, pacing as she spoke. "This can't happen. So many will die. I won't let this happen." She startled all of them by shouting, "Do you hear me, Brisane?! I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!"

Before the words died away, her eyes lost focus and she began an incantation.

"Branwen! NO!"

She ignored Merlin and kept speaking. The stone in the chain glowed, then faded, the fluctuation echoed in her eyes. There was a chink and the chain tightened. Branwen's voice wavered, but her spell didn't falter.

The chain chinked again, and again, until she could barely force the words out. Then her eyes blazed golden, overpowering the paleness from the stone. The chain dropped to the ground and Branwen followed, coughing hard.

Merlin was immediately at her side, his magic soothing her abused throat, Arthur and the knights surrounding them in concern.

Merlin was just helping Branwen back to her feet when the mountain shook. He threw up his hand, magic deflecting the stones that fell from the ceiling.

"Merlin."

Arthur's call drew his attention and he followed the king's gaze to the pedestal. He watched in horror as the bowl vibrated toward the edge. Time seemed to slow as it tipped off, rotating gently in the air to land upright, and miraculously unbroken, on the cavern floor.

They all scrambled back as a billow of smoke roiled up, resolving itself into the shape of a woman, unnaturally tall, wings sprouting from her back, and legs more bird than human. She had the piercing eyes and sharp, quick movements of a raptor.

"You have freed me." Her mouth didn't move, but her deep voice rumbled through the cavern. "Your reward shall be death."

She threw out a blast of power and seemed surprised when Merlin countered it. Her head swiveled to focus on him.

"You challenge me?"

Merlin took several quick paces, putting distance between himself and his friends, and answered with a fireball.

Lilith blocked it and returned a spell that knocked the warlock on his back.

He hauled himself back to his feet, vaguely registering his name in Arthur's panicked voice. He glanced at him, and saw that Branwen was holding the king back, telling him something. He seemed to be listening to her, and Merlin was relieved when he, followed by the knights, moved away from him, toward the bowl.

He needed to keep Lilith from noticing them, so he launched another spell at her.

'What did you tell them?'

'That they need to put the bowl back over Lilith.'

He nodded. 'I'll distract her as long as I can.'

He dodged another blast and aimed one of his own into the space between Lilith and the bowl, forcing her to step away from it. He kept up his assault, widening the gap more and more, until Lilith aimed an attack at the ceiling, raining rocks down on him. He ducked, covering his head.

When he looked up again, he saw that Percival, the only knight tall enough to reach above Lilith's head, had the bowl and was working his way behind the demon queen.

Then a blast hit Merlin square in the chest and knocked him back.

He was lying there, stunned, trying to remember how to breathe, when Branwen was suddenly standing over him, blocking another attack. Seeing her put herself in harm's way gave him the motivation to regain his feet.

Then he saw Percival tip the bowl over onto Lilith's head and watched as the runes blazed with a golden light. He felt a surge of triumph.

Lilith shrieked, but, apart from that, it seemed to have very little effect on her. She turned her attention to the men, briefly, before Merlin attacked again, drawing her eyes back to him.

'Merlin, can you manage a sustained attack?'

He considered. He'd never had to fight so hard, for so long, with so much of his magic. He was approaching exhaustion.

'I think so, but not for very long.'

'I won't need very long.'

Merlin cast again and white-hot light forked toward Lilith. He was wondering what Branwen had planned when he felt her arms wrap around his waist. He felt, rather than heard, her incant a spell against his back.

Suddenly, the power of his magic increased dramatically, and he nearly lost control of it. The lightning's blue-white light became tinged with purple as Branwen's spell piggybacked onto his own.

Lilith shrieked again as her form lost some of its solidity. She fought back, but the combined spells, along with the bowl glowing over her head, seemed to be distracting her and her next attack went wide.

Merlin gritted his teeth against the power blazing out of him, unsure how much longer he could maintain control. He could feel Branwen's arms begin to tremble around him.

But slowly, so agonizingly slowly, Lilith's shape blurred and faded and shrank. At last, the bowl reached the ground and the runes faded, leaving the cavern in silence.

Merlin felt Branwen's arms slip off of him and heard her hit the ground. He was turning toward her when his own knees buckled. His head swam and he fought the darkness that was creeping into his vision. He thought he saw Branwen take a breath, but he was having trouble focusing properly.

Then there were arms scooping her up, and hands helping him to his feet and supporting him as they left the cavern. The last thing he registered was the earth quaking violently as they raced back down the tunnel.

Merlin came to gradually, rising toward consciousness just enough that vague impressions of his surroundings registered, before he sank back into darkness. Each time he rose, the impressions became clearer and the subsequent unconsciousness shorter, until he finally opened his eyes, blinking at the unfamiliar room. Looking around, his eyes landed on a familiar shock of blonde hair.

"Arthur?" It was barely more than a whisper, but the king heard and turned to him, relief written on his face.

"I swear, Merlin, I thought you were lazy when you were my servant."

Merlin grinned. "The promotion does have its perks," he rasped.

"So it would seem." Arthur offered a cup of water and helped Merlin sit up, watching carefully as he gulped it down.

When the warlock spoke again, his voice was much clearer. "Where are we?"

"Brisane's."

With the name, memories flooded in: the tunnels, the cavern, Lilith.

"Where's Branwen?"

Arthur dipped his chin and looked past Merlin, who followed his gaze to discover her lying in the next bed. He threw off his blanket and stumbled across the space to her side.

He touched her face, finding it cool and not feverish, as he had feared. "Branwen?"

Her eyelids fluttered and rose. She blinked a few times, slowly, before her eyes found his face. "Merlin." She gave him a bleary smile.

"How are you?" he asked.

"M'fine. Just tired. You?"

He smiled. "Exhausted."

"Yes, yes," Arthur interjected. "You're both very tired. Now rest up so we can get home." He helped Merlin to his feet, but the warlock refused to get back into his bed until it had been snugged up next to Branwen's. Once he was satisfied that she was within easy reach, he allowed Arthur to settle him back under the blanket. He was on the verge of nodding off when an urgent question presented itself.

"Arthur."

"What now, Merlin?"

"Where's Brisane?"

"Dead."

"How?"

Arthur shrugged. "No idea. We found her body with not a mark on it. I think Branwen may have done it when she broke the spell on the chain. That's my guess, anyway."

"Ah." Merlin looked over at the sleeping girl. "She's pretty handy to have around, yeah?"

"You both are. Now sleep. That's an order."

Merlin gladly complied.