Alright everyone, there is going to be a sequel which will focus on purely on Mergana and how the Battle of Camlann should have ended. I kind of had writer's block and couldn't put the first scene of this chapter into words
Jedimasterawesome- Don't worry you weren't rude at all. ;) I have started writing the sequel and it's Mergana from the first scene. Throughout the rest of this story there might not be heaps of Mergana but the sequel's main focus is Mergana.
Renessaincbooklover108- Thanks! ;D
Danterevan- I hope it is a 'good' ending. I thought of it in July basically when I started writing this story. In fact in the second chapter of this story there is something really important for the ending.
Junior Woofles- don't worry it'll just been a follow on like another series to prevent this story becoming to big.
"ARTHUR!" Merlin yelled running to catch up with his master. "Everyone from Camelot has set up camp near the river. The last time I checked on a map, it was east of here not west." Arthur rolled his eyes at his servant. He still couldn't believe that Merlin had magic.
"Don't chance your luck," Arthur warned. He was just beginning to understand that Merlin was a sorcerer. It just couldn't be true. It seemed preposterous. "If we were in Camelot just now, I would have banished you by now."
"Really?" Merlin asked in disbelief. Shrugging in dismay, Arthur silently felt glad that they weren't in Camelot. He wouldn't know what he would of done to Merlin. Since they were wondering around a forest and Arthur wasn't king anymore, he could hardly chuck Merlin away.
"I would have throttled you with my bare hands first, of course," Arthur joked.
"Well wait until I tell you how many times I've saved your life using magic," Merlin chuckled. "First time I used magic to save you was from that witch who impersonated that singer. Then I saved you from that knight which tried to kill you in a tournament. I remember a vicious dog almost killing Gaius. After that I saved you from... was it Nimueh and the poisoned chalice or the plague that Nimueh spread? I can't remember." For twenty minutes Merlin explained how many times he had saved Arthur's backside. The former king walked alongside his servant and didn't utter a word the whole time. It was unbelievable. Merlin couldn't have magic. Or could he? Arthur just couldn't make sense of this at all.
"M-Merlin," Arthur stammered. He was baffled by how many times Merlin had his life. "You a-are perhaps not as much as an ass as I thought you were." Proudly Merlin nodded. He knew that Arthur was really saying 'Your are a genius'.
"We have to be careful and keep our voices down," Merlin warned. "We don't know what could be lurking in this forest."
"Saxons?"
"Perhaps," Merlin whispered. "Bandits too. Most likely Morgana. She seems to spend her whole life wondering round forests looking for abandoned castles to live in." A small smile appeared on the king's bemused face. He could picture his half-sister fleeing around, looking for castles in wrack and ruin.
"What happened to Morgana?" Arthur asked. "I mean you and her were fighting full on."
"Aithusa, the young dragon, saved her again. You know about Aithusa saving her from King Gremian?" Though Merlin had not witnessed Aithusa saving Morgana from King Gremian's wrath, the rumour had spread quickly. Soon the whole of Camelot had heard about the witch escaping from the clutches of the malicious bandit king. Most of the citizens had hoped that the witch and the bandit king would annihilate each other. They were both a threat to Camelot and therefore, nearly everyone in Arthur's Kingdom wanted both of them dead.
"Everyone's heard about that," Arthur indignantly pointed out. "Everyone has also heard about the time she escaped on a rampaging bull. I have to admit that I would have rather liked to have seen that."
"Yeah you have to admit that, although she is an evil, twisted, old witch- Morgana has style," Merlin agreed trying not to laugh. "When I was five, I got trapped by some bandits and they forgot to lock the side door so I just walked out." Arthur laughed at this. He didn't understand where the hell Merlin was going with this. It seemed that Merlin the magician still talked incoherent gibberish. Arthur sighed in relief. Merlin was still Merlin. Magic did not change who he was.
"How are we going to claim the citadel back?" Arthur inquired. Merlin playfully nudged him. "Ow"
"How do we think we are going to get it back?" Merlin teased. "Perhaps along the same lines as we managed to claim it back the last two times." Glaring at him, Arthur wondered if Merlin had become somewhat cocky since Merlin had told him that he was in fact a sorcerer.
Five minutes later, Merlin and Arthur had arrived at the camp where most of the citizens of Camelot had taken refuge. All around young children played and ran, oblivious to the danger there were in. Though there were only a few tents up, men and women kipped around the fires clutching the few items which they had managed to take with them. Some people had even managed to lead their livestock out of danger. Several sheep were there as well as a dozen lambs, half a dozen horses, a few pigs and a couple of cows. Even one lone goat was grazing on shrubs. There must of been around twenty dogs too. Some were vicious snarling away whilst others radiantly chased the children or rolled on their backs hoping for attention.
"My lord," Sir Leon sighed in relief. "Merlin. It gladdens my heart that you are alright. Others have not been so lucky." Arthur frowned. What was Leon doing here when he was supposed to be negotiating with Queen Annis. Where was Princess Mithian?"
"Leon what are y-" Arthur began.
"Queen Annis told me to give you this," Leon interrupted handing Arthur a scroll of paper. "Queen Annis and I had to literally force Princess Mithian to remain in the safety of Queen Annis's castle. She wanted to help fight but she is still weak and emotional from what has happened to her in the past few months.!I came back here to help move the Camelot citizens to Annis's lands where they shall be safe." Arthur opened the letter which read:
Arthur Pendragon.
On the eve on the second night of your battle, my people shall be prepared. Meet me at the place where my husband was slain.
Yours Sincerely,
Annis Caerleon
"Queen Annis wrote it very carefully to make sure that it the Saxon's got their hands on it, they wouldn't understand it," Leon said. Arthur crumpled the note in his hand turning round his eyes locking with Merlin's eyes. Both of them knew what was going through each other's heads. Was the warlock going to help by using magic?
...
"Are you telling me that you and Alvarr are going to try and live in Camelot?" Mordred gasped bemused. Morgana smirked at this. Some people were just too naïve for her likely.
"Yes Mordred," Morgana laughed her eyes glistening in the sunlight. Alvarr and Mordred both frowned at Morgana. A plan had obviously been hatched "As long as Alvarr gives a suitable reasoning for helping torture me, Alvarr and I will come and live in Camelot. But first, may I ask you why you saved Arthur and Emrys and the knights but left me to die, when we were first imprisoned by King Gremian and his men? May I also ask why you are a knight of Camelot?"
"You are a High Priestess, Morgana. I knew that you would esca-"
"How was she meant to escape whilst her shackles absorbed her magic," Alvarr interrogated. The young knight blinked in astonishment. Why were Morgana and Alvarr teaming up on him? Alvarr had locked up and tortured Morgana for weeks on end. Why had she sided with him? It didn't make sense.
"I knew that Morgana would manage to beat Gremian somehow," Mordred innocently explained. "Seriously, that man has no brains. He could never annihilate a High Priestess. You want to know why I rescued Arthur, Merlin and the knights of Camelot? They would have gotten away anyway. Merlin would have used his magic in the end. What I have done for the past few months has been an act. I beguiled everyone including yourself and Emrys. Never did I care for Arthur or Emrys or any of the knights apart from Gwaine."
"Gwaine," Morgana repeated in deep thought. "He actually has a heart compared to the rest of them. I owe him a debt. Though I hate him, he is one of the few people that treats me like an actual human." Mordred let out a small laugh which he covered up with a small cough. He was now pretty defiant that both Morgana and Gwaine had fallen for each other. By the end of the day the druid knight was expecting them to be betrothed. They had such great chemistry and Mordred could imagine them together.
"Some people believe that Arthur is to die at a Druid's hand. I want that druid to be me," announced Mordred pausing for a dramatic effect. Morgana's heart rate increased at this. It was all too good to be true. Soon Arthur would be dead. "I became a knight of Camelot so that when the time is right, I can strike out at Arthur and kill him. The time that I speak of will soon be upon us. If all of us work together we can bring about his bane."
"And Emrys's bane too," Morgana snarled. All three of the magic users stood in silence for a few minutes. They all glanced at each other trying to work out what was going on in each other's minds.
Morgana sighed in relief. Mordred's explanation and motives seemed to make sense. It had been important for her to make sure that Mordred was on her side first as he could be very dangerous. Alvarr was not powerful enough to be as much as a threat as Mordred. She could defeat Alvarr blindfolded and tied to a chair as Alvarr's magic was fairly feeble and he preferred to use a sword. Of course his magical abilities could have miraculously changed since the last time Morgana had met him, but she severely doubted this. If they had then Morgana would just have to call her loyal Aithusa again. It was getting quite old escaping on her dragon whenever she came into a life threatening situation but it ensured her safety. It wasn't like Aithusa minded. The young dragon had practically pledged life and limb to her service.
"How are we going to stay in Camelot?" Mordred incredulously asked.
"It's not like even Mordred can with the Saxons having taken over it," Alvarr added. Morgana laughed silkily at their ignorance. It was so obvious, clear and vivid to her, yet, an absurd idea to Mordred and Alvarr.
"Arthur will get Camelot back with Emrys at his side," Morgana assured them. "There is a room in Camelot which I discovered when I was ten. It scared me as it held the truth of my abilities of being a seer in it. I vowed never to go back there but now it is a perfect hide out."
"Where is it?" Mordred questioned with bated breath.
"It is behind a bookshelf in the library."
...
"Gather all the men, woman and children," Arthur ordered. "Take them to the very heart of Annis's kingdom unless Queen Annis doesn't let you."
"Yes, sire," said Sir Leon. The knight obediently began to round up all the men, woman and children.
"What happened to Alexander?" Arthur wondered. "Couldn't he call of the Sax-"
"He's dead," Merlin gruffly responded looking at the ground. The young warlock had been too late to save anybody's lives back there. Morgana's powers had grown a lot since he had last seen her. All twenty-five of the Saxons and Alexander who the witch had blasted back were dead. Merlin had buried them all with a little help from magic and made a cairn there with a rock on top which read:
Through life and death respect your enemies. We are all human. No person is black or white, we are all shades of grey. Here lie the bodies of twenty-seven Saxons.
Merlin had sorrowfully carved this message into the stone. Perhaps some of those Saxons had been forced into becoming soldiers or were just young and naïve. He felt angry at Morgana for several seconds but understood why she had done it. The Saxons had tortured her, starved her, imprisoned her, probably treated her like some kind of animal but worst of all (for Morgana) they had cut off her hair and left scars on her. Merlin pitied Morgana. This most likely was what prevented him from killing her
Alexander had never deserved to die either. He had helped Merlin, Arthur, Sunnivia and the knights escape even though he was endangering his life while doing it. Merlin had actually dug up Alexander's grave with an axe that had been blasted out of one of the Saxon warrior's hands. He owed it to the young prince who had probably never known any love in his life. His father seemed only to be interested in wealth and power and his mother had vanished before he was born.
Suddenly, Merlin hit his head in frustration as he remembered something. King Gremian's 'sorcerer brother' was still out there somewhere unaccounted for. He could prove to be a great threat to Camelot, Arthur and Morgana. Merlin felt himself feeling uneasy and apprehensive due to a combination of worry and frustration. The warlock was frustrated about not picking up on this fact and he was worried about everybody who could be in danger. However Merlin wasn't actually too concerned about King Gremian's 'sorcerer brother'. No, Merlin knew that he would be able to defeat this man in a matter of seconds. What more concerned him was Morgana. Something had stopped him from killing her. This frightened Merlin. What could stop him from saving many lives and all his friends by killing one person. Kilgharrah was right by saying Morgana was dangerous but Merlin just couldn't kill her. He had an ample amount of opportunities to kill her but yet he didn't; he couldn't. How could Merlin kill someone who he thought of all the time? It just wasn't possible. The warlock couldn't come to a conclusion of what stopped him. Perhaps Morgana's destiny was to live forever.
"I would't like to be the one to inform Sunnivia of Alexander's death," Arthur solemnly said interrupting Merlin's thoughts. The two men watched the blue eyed Sunnivia sitting on a log playing with her auburn curls. Sunnivia saw the two men watching so she got up and plodded towards them.
"Sir Leon is leading the people who aren't soldiers to a save haven in Annis's kingdom. You need to go with him," Merlin firmly ordered. Sunnivia glared at Merlin but then just shrugged her shoulders.
"You can't make me go anywhere," Sunnivia said. "I am sixteen and seven months. I am going to fight whether you like it or not." Merlin glanced at Arthur who was cleary conflicted and prayed that the king would stubbornly send her to Annis's kingdom.
"In truth I can't stop you from coming with us. I will warn you that there is only a very slim chance of coming out of this battle alive," Arthur warned to Merlin's dismay. Sunnivia gave a small nod in agreement.
"I know," she responded. "But I will die knowing that I was helping make the world a better place." Merlin scanned around the forest looking for Gaius. Finally, the young warlock spotted him and muttered something about talking to Gaius, to Arthur. Heading over to the old man, Gaius stood up in joy and embraced the son he had never had.
"Merlin. How glad am I to see y-"
"I have a lot to tell you Gaius," Merlin announced leading Gaius away from everybody. The physician looked suspiciously at Merlin wondering what was going on. "Arthur knows that I have magic. It was just a matter of time before he found out really."
"How did he react?" Gaius required.
"Shocked. Not too bad really. It's not Arthur knowing that I have magic that worries me. What worries me is Morgana."
"Morgana?" Gaius worriedly repeated. "What is she planning? What has she done?"
"Nothing I know," Merlin sighed. He didn't know how to explain it to Gaius. How was he meant to say I can't kill her but I can.
"What are you worrying about then?" Taking a deep breath, Merlin avoided Gaius's gaze. Now that he had got Gaius interested in why Morgana was worrying him, he had to tell Gaius the truth. Gaius really was a stubborn old goat.
"I can't kill Morgana," Merlin finally spat out. "I can't... I just can't."
"It's alright," Gaius reassured embracing Merlin again. "Morgana is powerful but you are even more powerful. You just hav-"
"You don't understand," Merlin trembled. His body was beginning to quake as he was becoming emotional. Being the person who the fate of Albion and Camelot rested on was a burden. "I can physically kill Morgana but my brain won't let me. If I don't kill her then I am scared that she will kill Arthur and all my friends and take over Albion." Merlin suddenly dropped to ground fighting back the tears. It was his fault Morgana was evil. That was why he couldn't kill her. He couldn't kill her because he felt guilty.
"Calm," Gaius soothed stroking Merlin's shoulder. "You know the people you love never truly leave you. Morgana has been corrupted yet she still remains in your heart." Merlin's tear stricken face looked up into Gaius's wise eyes. What was Gaius going on about?
"But I have never loved her," Merlin indignantly said in disgust. It was perhaps a lie but Merlin was not confessing his love to a deranged witch.
"Quite," Gaius chuckled. "You once had a bond though. This bond is still in your heart although the old Morgana is dead." This just puzzled Merlin. Gaius wasn't one to tell riddles. Had Kilgharrah been giving him lessons? Or perhaps Mordred?
"Yes but how do I eradicate this feeling?" Merlin asked pulling himself together. Standing and facing Gaius, Merlin felt ashamed to have dropped to the ground from such a trivial matter. The pressure on him had just piled on top of him and broken him down.
"You can't," Gaius simply said. "You must use it. You see if Morgana can turn bad why can't she turn good?"
"How am I going to make a stubborn and highly malicious witch have redemption?" Merlin incredulously wondered. Gaius just smiled at him in a way Kilgharrah would. The two of them had defiantly got together recently and talked about riddles.
"Do not underestimate the power of love." Now Merlin was conflicted. Kilgharrah had told Merlin to kill Morgana as it was the only way to complete his destiny but Gaius was advises him to help give Morgana redemption. For now, Merlin thought he would try Gaius's plan as it seemed like it could work.
"MERLIN!" Arthur yelled. Merlin reluctantly trudged over to his king to see Gwaine dismounting his horse.
"Gwen is fine and is in Ealdor," Gwaine gasped. The poor knight had obviously just got here at a full fledged gallop. "I don't know where Mordred is but he'll be safe; you know his abilities. But boy am I glad to see you two are safe. Leon's safe too I take it?"
"Yes," Merlin confirmed. "But however did you know that?" Gwaine shrugged.
"Leon is like immortal. He has survived everything when he should have died," Gwaine panted. Arthur suspiciously nodded but what Gwaine said was somewhat true. Sir Leon did seem tosurvive through two hundred thousand near death experiances.
"Have you heard that Merlin has magic?" Arthur whispered
"Took you a while to catch on," Gwaine chuckled with a rogue smile. Arthur laughed with him.
"Shouldn't we get the army ready for meeting Annis and her army," Merlin interrupted. This cut off both Gwaine's and Arthur's laughs. They had a battle to fight in and a war to win!
Thanks for reading please review because it makes me really happy and motivated. I know that reviewing can be hard (I am rubbish at it) but even if it's a small message, it's still appreciated. I love hearin from you all.
