Chapter Fourteen

He ran as fast as he could, maybe there was still time to save them. Blood. The very scent sent shivers through him, his throat burning. Halting at the edge of the clearing, he saw everything he needed to, to realise his hope was misplaced, as they had all fallen. One body he noticed stopped him dead in his tracks. Merlin.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Remember when I once said that it wasn't your destiny to die by my hand? Maybe fate is avoidable after all." Nimueh stepped out from in between the trees opposite.

Arthur felt a burning fury he had never experienced as a human. "You will pay for this you witch!" Diving at her, the woman merely threw him off course. Just as he attempted to stand again, the newborn was surrounded by the three vampires.

Something huge appeared, snarling. It's body shaking with rage. It swiped at the vampires whom fled before the huge russet wolf could tear them limb from limb. It spun around to see the sorceress. It leapt at her with full force, throwing her into a tree, it snapping in half, just missing Nimueh, as she stood up. "A Quileute? The only group of people that can change at will."

"You are, however, wrong." Spinning around, a cloaked figure appeared from the shadows. They lifted their head, and the hood fell back to reveal a pale, red eyed vampire. Aro. His long dark hair neatly hung, framing his face. "I warned you Nimueh, you were not to play God in the Era Of The Faithless."

"You've named these pitiful times? At least when Uther ruled, people knew yours and mine existed, even if you went into hiding." The witch weaved in between the bodies watched carefully by Arthur.

Sighing, Aro looked down upon Edward's and Bella's corpses, "It never has been your place to pass judgment upon my people, the Cullens were no different. A pity, they were talented young ones." Looking away, he noticed the prince. "A newborn?" Within a nanosecond, the Volturi had his hand upon the teen's neck. "Intriguing, the Prince Arthur Pendragon, yet you are so young a vampire, how could you possibly here?" As if realising something, Aro set his eyes upon the limp corpse of Merlin, "Oh my. How could you be so hypocritical, you realise the 'justice' you have been serving has been breaking the laws of both, the Seventh Realm and of the my coven?"

"The Seventh Realm is merely a fairytale, just as the Tale Of The Three Brothers had been, so do not pass judgement upon me based on fiction, and even then, you have no right to do it anyway, I gave you back the life you so passionately desired. Needed."

The vampire snarled, "I never asked to be bought back, and even if I had, do you think I wanted to become this?" Rage rushed through him, her ignorance was to be punished. "And you only claim The Seventh Realm is a story because you fear what would become of you if you encountered The Runekeeper, or worse, The Elder."

"HA! Like I would fear them! If they existed, their power would be half as effective as in the tales. They would have no additional powers as vampires or werewolves. The only magic they would be able to do would be cantrips at best!"

The vampire sighed, "It is a strange matter of realms and their veils. You see your idea of a cantrip is making someone cough, unlocking a basic chest or a puff of smoke, nion-useless. Theirs, on the other hand would be your level of magic! They can control people, read their thoughts, even transform into savage animals." The pale man truly believed in what he was saying, maybe even relying on it.

Laughing, Nimueh crossed her arms, "They do mere gypsy tricks? Lingered with the druids too long perhaps? Please, if I could kill Merlin, 'The greatest warlock of all time!' and change the course of many futures, I honestly don't think that fictional old people and their grandchildren could kill me."

Tutting, Aro shook his head, glided over to Merlin's corpse crouched beside it and placed his hand on its shoulder. "Oh, so young, I would've like to have met this one for myself. The things we could have told each other!" It seemed the vampire loved knowledge above all things, even his own coven.

Looking over to the quiet Arthur, he gave him a solitary nod, without saying a word, he had told the prince everything. They both stood, the wolf joining them, it seemed the tables had turned. It wasn't a clearing full of the dead, the murderer and the ones soon to join the fallen, no. It was a clearing no more, but a battleground. The James, Laurent and Victoria joined Nimueh. "Do you really think you will kill me? You are but lone vampires and," She sniffed in disgust towards Jacob, "A dog."

"In that, you are wrong," From behind the witch emerged a snarling Merlin. His skin was pale white. He walked around to face her. "Reverse what you have done, and I wont kill you where you stand." His now blood-red eyes burned with fury.

"I will never surrender to a child!" The woman's eyes started to glow, the ground shaking beneath them, her extending her arms to the sky, "Profundus Plasmator of duodeviginti regnum audite meus dico!" Her hands smothered in obsidian black flame, now pointed at Merlin.

"Lux lucis Plasmator of septumdecim regnum audite meus dico!" The young warlock's eyes, too, started to glow, his hands wrapped in flames of blue, he too prepared to kill.

As the vampires and wolf burst into combat, the two mages stood, breathing deeply, and then, the world around them froze. Time had stopped. The first to throw a spell was Nimueh. Merlin parrying the ball of flame, only to throw one in return. "Obscurum dissimulo mihi!" The vampire called, and the two were suddenly encased in darkness, lit up only by Merlin's flame which counteracted Nimueh's as she threw more.

"Deleo is obscurum!" The witch yelled in fury. The wind picked up, the darkness was then swept away.

Merlin's body started to shake, the power that filled his body was more than he could bear, more than he could possibly release. "Levitas exsisto mei!" With that, the flames became electricity, spreading all over his body, the red glow in his eyes became the same blue that encased him. Diving at the woman using his new vampire physical powers, a sword of what seemed to be mercury formed, the blade rippling. Swinging the weapon, Merlin landed behind the witch whom had spun around.

The young warlock received a ball of flame to the gut, flying backwards into a tree before kicking off of it and extending the blade, the sword making its way into Nimueh's chest. Both fell, and the battle between the others resumed. The troublesome trio fleeing before they were obliterated.

Seeing the two mages on the blood covered dirt, Arthur rushed over to Merlin, "Merlin?" The prince shook his friend's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, but he will be dead." Aro knelt beside the blonde male and gripped his shoulder, not to read the boy's mind, but to comfort him. Not knowing the older vampire, Arthur did not realise that this was out of character. Aro never usually travelled alone, fought alongside a newborn and a 'werewolf,' or comforted people over the dead, let alone feel solemn over a death himself.

Something had gone terribly wrong.