Ch. 4
Loki sent Morgana ahead of him so they wouldn't be seen together. He walked back towards the castle, touching his lips every few seconds. There was a rustling to his right and Merlin broke from the trees, his face devoid of emotion.
Loki froze, staring at him. Merlin lifted his lips into a cold smirk and stalked towards Loki, like a lion on the prowl. "I saw everything, you know." Merlin whispered in his ear and Loki shook with rage.
"You don't know what I'm capable of, Merlin."
"Oh, I highly doubt that." Loki turned and shouted a spell just as Merlin did. They both flew backwards, landing on the lush grass.
Loki sat up and pointed a finger at Merlin. "You have magic."
Merlin sat up too, twigs stuck in his dark hair. "I was born with it!" Merlin sent a spell at Loki and he ducked, rolling in the grass and getting to his feet. "Stay away from Morgana!" Merlin shouted out another spell and Loki counter-attacked it.
"Why?" Loki shouted and Merlin shrugged.
"Can't tell you." Merlin said and Loki sent another spell. An invisible force knocked Merlin off his feet. He came back up, his lip bleeding. Loki stared at him as Merlin wiped his mouth. "Oh, you're good. I haven't had a challenge like this in a long time."
Loki nodded to Merlin. "Same to you."
Merlin smiled and sent a spell at Loki who ducked. The spell missed him by inches and hit a tree. The tree exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. Loki turned back to Merlin who shrugged.
"So Loki, who are you? You know my secret of course, but what about you?" Merlin fixed Loki with a glare.
"I'm nobody."
Merlin smirked at Loki and stepped closer to him. "Oh, you and I both know you are much more than that." A warning bell saved Loki from having to reply and he quickly backed away from Merlin.
Merlin took a deep breath and began to head back towards the castle. Loki reached out a hand as if to grab Merlin but he was already out of range. Loki sighed and began to trudge back towards the castle, keeping Merlin in his sight.
When he got there, the kingdom was silent and the only people that looked alive were the guards. They pointed Loki in the direction of the throne room and he walked that way, dragging his feet.
He kept coming back to Merlin's words. Oh, you and I both know you are much more than that. He got to the closed doors of the throne room and heard raised voices. "For God's sake Uther, he's just a boy!" Morgana, he'd know that voice anywhere.
"He has magic! Those people will stop at nothing to destroy us." Uther, Loki guessed.
"When are you going to stop blaming people for what happened then? This is now, and I won't let you kill him!" Loki sucked in a breath. Who were they talking about?
"You will go to your chambers!"
Loki quickly backed away from the door. "And you Uther, you will go to hell." Loki hid behind a pillar as Morgana opened the door and stalked out of the room.