Autumn Moon Fae- Thanks! I love Gwapple too. I have chose Melodie a name that you suggested for Gwen's mare.

TJTMaira- Congrats you were the first one to get the riddle so I PM you about choosing a name for a character.

Mike- Thanks for the help

Kaldi97- Thanks!

Guest- Glad you liked the chapter!

"Yes. I am Emrys," Merlin confidently confirmed. Merlin stared into Morgana's eyes with immense power that Morgana never even could have dreamt he had. Frowning, Morgana raised her hand to make herself seem more powerful too, although her magic had not returned. Emrys did not know that and she didn't plan to let him know it, yet, so she kept talking to him.

"You have managed to deceive my dear brother for years. You are a traitor and have condemned heaps of your kind to death by leaving them at the mercy of Uther," Morgana hissed. Merlin decided to choose his next words carefully but his eyes still pierced into Morgana. He tried to read her mind but could not predict her next move though, knowing Morgana, it wouldn't be good.

"I didn't want to but it was sacrifices I had to make for a better future. Arthur will accept sorcerers with my help. Every time one of my- our kin die, I can't stand it. I do not want any of my kin to suf-"

"Why did you not tell me the truth?" Morgana snapped. "I entrusted you with my greatest secret but you would not entrust me with yours." Merlin breathed deeply, cautiously thinking of what to say. If he said anything that cause Morgana the slightest distress or anger then she would act rashly and he would have to react back. Mind reading, as Mordred said, was naïve so Merlin changed his tactics to react depending on what emotions Morgana was feeling. He knew that this would be very difficult as Morgana was a great actress and had even deceived himself, briefly. At first Morgana had not been able to stop her emotions overwhelming her when she discovered Merlin was Emrys. She managed find her spite and usual attitude hastily though and was now as Merlin classed 'unreadable' although Mordred and a few others would be able to figure out what she was thinking and feeling.

"I wanted to entrust you with my secret but Gaius wouldn't let me. I have told no-one about my secret although a couple of people have accidentally found out," Merlin lied. He had only choose to tell Gilli and also Mordred though with Mordred it had been a split seconds decision. Mordred had known that he was Emrys as soon as Merlin had revealed his magic. Gaius, Lancelot, Gwaine, Nimeuh, Agravaine and Alator had all accidentally found out. Iseldir, the Druids and most likely the seers knew who he was from prophecies.

"Above all of these little questions I have asked you, I have a extremely important question. I did try and ask you it once before but you managed to miraculously avoid asking it. Why?" Morgana hissed, looking desperate for an answer. Merlin raised his eyebrows as if to ask what Morgana was asking though he knew fine what she meant. "Why are you so loyal to Arthur? Why do you let your own kin die just to save his life?"

"I always knew that he had the makings of a great king an-"

"Makings of a great king," Morgana spat in fury. "Arthur kills your kin. He murders innocent people. The only kingly quality he has and ever will have, is he is a skilful swordsman." Merlin sighed heavily, again and concentrated hard. He needed to convince Morgana to leave her brother alone.

"Ever heard of destinies Morgana? My destiny has been written in the stone since the dawn of time. Emrys is said to protect the Once and Future King and help unite the lands of Albion. Arthur is said to create a kingdom of peace and unite the old ways with the new by returning magic to the land," Merlin explained.

"Rubbish. Arthur is tyrant and could never make peace," Morgana snapped though strictly speaking that was not true. Arthur had managed to ceasefire with Queen Annis and create peace with her. Well make peace with anyone decent, Morgana firmly told herself.

"When I first came to Camelot I admired your determination and courage, Morgana- I still do but I despise your ignorance and bloodthirsty nature. I am going to give you the best advice you will probably get in your life. Run, Morgana and come back. Start again and be the person I know you can be. Find somewhere where your gift is appreciated and save as many lives as you have taken. Look after your half-sister and take her with you. As long as you are with your sister and far away from here, I assure you that you will have happy life. Come on Morgana," Merlin said trying to steer clear of the pleading tone that sometimes appeared in his voice.

"Alas, Merlin. I do not run if I'm afraid. Unlike you I face the consequences of being magical and try to do everything for my kind."

"Morgana I'm going to give you one last chance for you to flee or I won't show you any mercy. Stubbornness isn't going to get you anywhere with me," Merlin sorrowfully murmured.

"I shan't show you any mercy either Merlin," Morgana retaliated stepping towards Merlin to see his reaction.

"The difference is I have nearly always shown you mercy before when I could have killed like this." Merlin snapped his fingers and continued, "Whereas you have never shown me any mercy since you spent that year with your deluded sister of yours."

"Y-You never s-s-speak of M-Morgause l-like that a-a-again," Morgana fumed. Merlin swore that he could feel the floor quaking with Morgana's every trembling word. Pure rage seethed through her but Merlin stood his ground. The mighty Emrys would not back down to a sorceress. Not even if she was a High priestess of the Old Religion, a witch, a conquer, a murderess and an extremely adept swordsman. Morgana carried on with her rage shaking words, "You c-c-condemned her to a s-slow and p-painful y-y-year and d-death a well." For the second time Merlin had drastically failed to convince Morgana to change her tactics.

Gwaine emerged from the darkness which he had been lurking in while Merlin unsuccessfully tried to convince Morgana to run. He had remained in the dark to not annoy Morgana but he knew now that things were getting out of hand and he needed to step in.

"Lady Morgana," Gwaine charmingly said putting on his posh and disdainful accent. "We really need to stop meeting like this. I can never talk to you properly if every time I see you, you are at someone's mercy and are about to die. Just try and stay away from dangerous people to er... Make you chances of dying less."

"You," Morgana groaned. "Sir Knight please leave as me and Merlin need to discuss delicate battle and them I need to claim his life." Merlin shifted uncomfortably, Gwaine was going to end up getting killed if he kept this up. He was stupid to try and annoy a barbaric king and one of the most powerful witches ever.

"'claim his life'," Gwaine quoted doing a posh mock accent that sounded too posh to be Morgana. "But that conclusion is preposterous. Your supercilious and loathsome attitude, forgetting your malevolent nature towards the notable warlock, is utterly absurd and disrespectful. My lady, thou shalt travel with one to a different land. There thou shalt remain with thou's sibling for the rest of thou's life. Ye shall be able to start ye's life again and have a loving family member to guide you. Ye shall be able to go to taverns an- Oh great posh people don't call taverns taverns do they?"

"What?" Merlin gasped, completely bewildered and lost with what Gwaine had said. Morgana was still trying to figure out what Gwaine had said though she could not understand how taverns linked with family members. Happily smiling at how confused he had manged to make Merlin and Morgana, Gwaine decided to act 'serious' now.

"Basically I wondered if Morgana and her sister would like me to help them travel safely far away from here to make sure that they get a decent place to live if she chooses to start again, faraway from here," Gwaine defined.

"Why couldn't you have said that in the first place," Merlin moaned.

"Because I was imitating Morgana," Gwaine replied. Morgana now needed to make Gwaine and Merlin have an argument so she could hopefully slip away unnoticed.

"I do not speak like that," Morgana protested, praying for Merlin and Gwaine to start arguing. A great idea came to her head as possibly Gwaine never knew about Merlin's secret. "Merlin is a sorcerer and a traitor to Camelot." Gwaine looked at Morgana pitifully before taking a quick glance at Merlin who nodded for him to go on.

"I already accidentally knew that Merlin was a sorcerer but I never knew he was a traitor to Camelot because that is a lie Morgana. Face it your living a lie, Morgana. Your imagination is truly amazing but I think you would have a better life without it."

"Living a lie," Morgana stupendously echoed. "My life is as real as yours."

"Your life is as real as mine," Gwaine confessed. "But that is not what I meant. You pretend that your brother is an evil tyrant and is as bad as your father when he is not. Your brother is a good man who tries to create peace in the land and even has began to trust magic a bit. If you had chosen another path to your life and chose to help Arthur learn that magic can be good then I'm sure the kingdom's magic laws would be lifted as soon as Uther would have died a natural death. I'm telling you Morgana, not as an enemy but as a friend to run. I know that if I was in your position I would run. Everybody in Gremian's and Arthur's kingdom are searching for you to kill you. In other kingdoms people have heard the price that King Gremian would pay to have you or Arthur captured. Nowhere near here is safe."

Suddenly Morgana felt a sensation power lurking inside her and she almost managed to smile but changed her expression as she remembered who Emrys really was. Gwaine was unnerved by Morgana because he was worried about what Morgana planned to do next. He knew worry wasn't a wise counsel but he was slightly nervous Merlin and told himself firmly not to get to involved with Morgana again.

"What's wrong, my lady," Gwaine asked.

"You are a liar," Morgana snarled. "You consort with Emrys so therefore you are deceiver, Sir Knight. You wish to probably hand me over to King Gremian or Arthur to ensure that I will not have my revenge. They deserve it? I shall start now with you, Sir Knight," Morgana announced blasting Gwaine back off the wall. Fortunately for Gwaine the stone wall had a layer of soft moss and earth on it. Merlin reacted hastily to Morgana's movements and stepped back.

"Five seconds, Morgana," Merlin warned. "Run or your dead." For a moment Morgana was conflicted as she could run away then come back to kill Arthur. She would have to abandon the quest though and surely Emrys would tell the seers not to tell her about Arthur's bane. Sacrificing many nights of sleep, peaceful days and her last reminder of her sister would seem pointless if she gave up now. Morgana hadn't had a nightmare yet but still she felt devasted. Perhaps it was just an ominous feeling lurking in her stomach because she knew of the distress that her dreams were going to bring her.

"Five... Four... Three... Two... One," Merlin counted slowly. Looking disappointed that Morgana had not moved anywhere Merlin held his hand up as a warning.

"Looks like I'm going nowhere," Morgana smirked. "But your wrong. It is you that shall be lying on the ground dead, Emrys." Gwaine stumbled onto his feet and lifted Gwen (who was still unconscious) out of the way of the two sorcerers which were obviously going to have a barbaric and bloody battle.

"You must take Gwen and go, Gwaine," Merlin ordered.

"I won't leave you here," Gwaine protested.

"The Queen must live or Arthur won't be the king that I know he can be. I can look after myself well enough, Gwaine. I'm not that much younger than you."

"Well you still look the same as when I first met you same trousers, t-shirts, scarfs, boots and hair," Gwaine laughed. "Have you changed your name though? Emmyris sounds like a girls name."

"It's Emrys," Morgana hissed. "You have tarried too long Emrys and I shall put an end to that. Belúcan hine." Merlin's scarf began to tighten around his neck, suffocating him. Merlin tried to loosen it but he could get it away from his neck. He felt like a fool as Morgana had no doubt enchanted it.

"Gelipian mec," Merlin gasped. His eyes flickered gold but the scarf did not loosen like it was meant to. Morgana's powers were as strong as his now.

"So Emrys is going to die from suffocation. I expected so much more," Morgana laughed coldly. Gwaine was standing struck on the spot with Gwen in his arms. He had expected Merlin to be a lot more powerful to especially since he had somehow managed to defeat any human or creature that threatened Arthur's life or destiny.

"R-RUN!" Merlin croaked. "Gelipian mec." His eyes turned gold and he finally managed to loosen his scarf. Merlin gasped and spluttered, kneeling down on the floor taking in large mouthfuls of the icy air. Gwaine realised this was his cue to leave and he loped away carrying the precious Queen.

"Hleap upon bæc," enchanted Morgana. Merlin had no time to react and he had no other option than to be blasted against the earthy wall. She was purely better than him though she had the advantage of making the first move. Knowing how she would finish Merlin off, Morgana levitated her dagger over Merlin's heart so it was digging into his skin slighting and a small line of blood was trickling out. Merlin tried to send Morgana's dagger back at her but he failed. Perhaps he was just unwell and tired. Morgana blurred out like everything else in the room and Merlin felt himself going.

Standing over the apparently mighty Emrys caused Morgana's lips to break into a smile. He would not be her doom after all then.

"I'm going to poison you with hemlock and leave you in this godforsaken place that the Druids call their home to die. It is no less than you deserve," Morgana sneered. Merlin's eyes stared unfocused into the distance and Morgana who had not realised that Merlin had fainted raised her fist. She slapped him but Merlin did not stir in the slightest. Needing him to be awake when she force fed him the hemlock so that he would die in pain, Morgana gave Merlin's face a small nudge with her foot. She gave him a hard kick in the face making blood spurt his nose. Continuing to kick his face, Morgana spilled more of Merlin's blood everywhere making her boots and bottom of her dress drenched I It too.

Finally, when Merlin regained conscious, he couldn't see anything because of the blood which was only beginning to clot.

"Now I want you to feel how I felt. To know that your own kin betrayed you and poisoned you is beyond any pain that I can admit. The only way I can make you feel that is by doing what you did to me. I am going to force feed you hemlock," Morgana coldly hissed. Merlin looked up nervously into her eyes and smiled. This smile startled Morgana as she didn't understand how someone who was going to die could be happy.

"Why are you happy Emrys?" Morgana interrogated harshly. "Do you want to die a slow and painful death?"

"No I don't want to die, Morgana, but it looks like I don't have a choice," Merlin grumbled.

"Your right Emrys, you do not have a choice. Don't try and avoid my question though as you will fail. Why are you happy then if you do not wish to die?" Morgana inquired with a bone chilling calmness. They glared at each other for a minute before Morgana raised her eyebrow and Merlin knew that he had to answer.

"I'm happy because I know that you will never be able to defeat Arthur or Camelot," Merlin spat, causing Morgana to frown a bit. Quickly transforming her frown into an evil smile, Morgana extracted a vial out of her cloak.

"Your wrong, Emrys. The only reason I am not still Camelot's is you. Without you Arthur won't last a second let alone a lifetime. Don't worry it's not hemlock in this vial," sneered Morgana. Her frosty laughs reverberated round the tunnel causing Merlin to violently shiver and the water droplets to turn to ice. To Merlin's relief Morgana purposely dropped the vial. Oh dear!" Morgana cruelly remarked. Hitting the ground, the vial did not smash and remained completely intact. The relief vanished from Merlin as soon as it had came. Morgana laughed even more coldly.

"Hurry up," Merlin mumbled. His eyes only focused on one thing- Morgana's eyes. Merlin's dying wish was for Morgana to regret killing him although he knew that it would be almost impossible. Wrenching the vial open, Morgana poured all the liquid down Merlin's throat. Merlin tried to choke it all up and spit it out but Morgana had been prepared for him to do that and forced it to travel down Merlin's throat by using a magical spell. Morgana merely gave Merlin a sad smile before standing up and taking a couple of steps away from him.

"There is no doubt that you are a powerful sorcerer, Emrys, but you have made the wrong choices and must pay with you life." Merlin's breaths became short and strangled. Is this all his great destiny had been about? He hadn't really united the lands of or returned magic to Camelot though Arthur was beginning to trust magic.

CRASH!

Suddenly, the the roof fell in splitting Morgana and Merlin up. Morgana could still hear Merlin's rasping breaths and smirked. He was going to die alone and Morgana knew that the image of her face would always haunt him and cause him sorrow, forever. Putting up the hood of her cloak, Morgana sank to the ground from exhaustion but shook herself awake. The quest was all going to plan. All she needed to do now was ask the seers about Arthur's bane. Morgana could hear the rasping breaths getting weaker and weaker so the witch decided to stay here until she could hear the weak breaths no more.

...

Gwaine panted loudly and gently placed Gwen on the ground while he took a drink from the crystal clear river that flowed through the cave. When he turned around there was a man standing behind. Drawing his sword out, Gwaine pointed it at the man.

"What are you doing here?" Gwaine asked, warningly.

"I only wish to help you get out of this tunnel, Sir Gwaine," the man courteously replied.

"Who are you?" Gwaine inquired still trying to decide whether this man was a threat or not.

"A seer," the man replied. "I shall show you the way." Walking away, the seer gestured for Gwaine to follow Gwaine carefully picked up Gwen and followed the seer deciding that the seer possessed no threat. It took Gwaine and the seer ten minutes to get out the tunnel. The exit of the tunnel was not near the entrance but surprisingly the horses were tethered just outside the exit. Before Gwaine could turn around to thank the seer, the seed had vanished into thin air.

Gwen's white mare, Melodie, stamped her hoof impatiently when she saw her mistress in Gwaine's arms. Gwaine carefully placed Gwen on top of Melodie's back as even though Gwen was unconscious, Gwaine knew that Gwen would be more safe on Melodie than riding on his untameable beast. Clicking his tongue, Gwaine just managed to hold his lively horse back at a walking pace from galloping into the distance while Melodie obediently walked by Gwaine's side. Gwaine walked, leading the horses for hours hoping that he would find somewhere to rest. He didn't even know where he was and could only guess the way back to Camelot. Well it was actually only twenty minutes until Gwaine came across something, though it felt like hours to Gwaine.

"Look there's a camp here," Gwaine rejoiced to Gwen whom was still unconscious. Gwaine led Melodie and his untameable horse to camp to ask for directions. A muscular man came out of a tent and noticed Gwaine standing with the two horses and Gwen on Melodie's back.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" the man roared. It was then that Gwaine noticed the man wore the Saxon crest on his tunic.

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