*Gasp* Back so soon! Yay! Told you I had the next chapter written. :P I was actually planning to post this once 29 was fully completed as well, but I just thought that you lovely, patient people deserved not to have to wait any more.

Thus, without further ado, I present to you chapter 28!

Discaimer: I don't own Merlin. It seems that if I did, the waits between series would have been longer than those for Sherlock. And that really wouldn't do.

Chapter 28

It was far from quiet in the throne room. Agonised screams ripped harshly though the hall, their echoes eliciting yet another smile from Morgause's lips. Morgana did so enjoy playing with her new toy. And Morgause did so enjoy seeing Morgana so happy. She couldn't recall a single incident in their months together in which her sister had smiled so much. It was almost sad, in a sense, that it had taken so tremendous a circumstance to bring about the action, but the Blonde could understand why. It must be liberating, to return to the place where one had for so long been nothing but a captive- trapped and forced to hide what made you who you were- only to upturn your former prison with the very power you had been forced to hide. Avalon only knew, it was thrilling enough for Morgause herself. For Morgana the pleasure must have been tenfold.

Closing her eyes momentarily, the Witch allowed herself the smallest of contented sighs. Magic was finally free, and all those who had tortured and persecuted her kind for so long were, at long last, going to be brought to justice- most of them, thanks to her spells, almost completely willingly. She wondered, briefly, what would be the best way to eventually dispose of Uther, once Morgana had had her fill of fun. Possibly by beheading? Or immersion in hot oil? Or maybe, as had been the case for so many magic-users through the years, he should be burned to death, shackled to a wooden pyre. Yes. That was the most fitting. She might even go one step further and force him to build the thing himself, before relishing in his expression as he burned without even a single one of his former subjects feeling any tangible emotion at all over his death. That would make the entire scene even more perfect. Not yet though. Killing him too soon would serve no real purpose. First things first- he had to suffer. It was only a shame that his son wasn't joining him.

Her eyebrow twitched in irritation at the thought of the Pendragon brat- even just the thought of his name was enough to leave a bad taste in her mouth. However much she had hidden it from her sister, it truly was galling that they had yet to find him. Even without his pet magician around, she was aware that the former Prince had a most annoying penchant for getting in the way. Their victory just wouldn't feel complete until they had captured him, and had him chained up and screaming alongside his tyrant of a father.

So intent was Morgause on thoughts of revenge that she almost didn't notice it. A slight shift in the magic around her- barely detectable, but there nonetheless. Hazel eyes snapped open, and the Blond cast a subtle eye over the room and it's inhabitants. Something had changed. She was sure of it. The only question was, what?

It took her almost a full minute to come to her conclusion, her piercing gaze settling upon one of the guards by the doors. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Sister!"

Striding purposefully over to the younger woman, Morgause used a firm but gentle grip to pull her disappointed sister from her fun, and drew her to one side.

"Sister. We have a problem."

Emerald eyes bore into her own.

"What is it?"

"The tethering spells," she hissed sharply. "Someone's removed the tethering spells." After all the work they had put into setting them up, the reinforcing enchantments were gone. Just like that.

Alarm sprouted instantly in the raven-haired woman's expression. "Arthur?"

"It can't be." Seeing her sister was about to protest, the sorceress hastened to continue. "Such an act would require a great deal of both magical knowledge and preparation. Not to mention an intimate understanding of how the enchantments worked. Even if Arthur were involved, there is no possible way for him to have been able to act this quickly, not unless he has an extremely formidable ally. And if he did, surely we would have heard rumours indicating as such long before now."

Silence fell between the two for a moment, each of their minds whirring to come up with a solution. Unfortunately, a portion of their worry must have presented itself either on their faces or in one of their respective postures, because their thrice-accursed captive somehow managed to pick up on it.

"What's wrong?" He sneered hoarsely, smirking as the two sisters spun on their heels to face him. Through panting breathes he continued, lording it over them even in his current state. "Has something gone wrong with your supposedly 'perfect' plan?"

Morgana quickly rose to the bait, eyes glinting with hate as she strode back towards him, enchanted finger raised threateningly.

"Shut up."

A shadow of hesitation flitted across Uther's gaze- something between wariness and some still-lingering form of affection for his daughter no doubt, but it was quickly suppressed. "After living here for so long, Morgana, did you honestly believe that Camelot would fall so easily? Impossi-"

His speech was cut abruptly short by a strangled scream, as his former ward jabbed him menacingly in the chest, sending yet another bolt of dark magic searing through his veins.

"I told you to shut up!"

Seeing that Morgana was about to truly lose her temper, Morgause took it upon herself to step forward and address the former King.

"Do not underestimate us, old man," she hissed. "We are still far from defeated."

Uther battled past his exhaustion in order to lift his head, and looked her straight in the eye. Yet another infuriating sneer spread across those hateful features of his before, evidently unable to draw enough breath to speak once more, he instead settled for glaring at her disdainfully... and spitting at her feet.

It took all of Morgause's well-honed battle instincts to prevent Morgana from physically launching herself at the chained man. Pausing only to send a spear of dark energy stabbing into their insolent captive as punishment, Morgause dragged her sister from the room, using another bout of magic to slam the doors to behind them.

The younger woman struggled out of her grasp.

"Why did you stop me?" She demanded. "After what he did-"

"We cannot allow our tempers to control our judgement." Morgause interrupted, her own simmering fury still barely in check. "Uther is merely trying to distract us, and we cannot-under any circumstances- allow him to succeed."

"But-"

"We need to focus on solving the problem of who extinguished the tethering spells. Then, once that situation is solved-" she smiled darkly, "-Uther will be dealt the full force of the punishment he deserves."

It took a few seconds, but Morgana seemed to calm down enough to see the logic in her argument.

"Then what should we do?"

"You should order the people to search for signs of anything suspicious. I felt the original wave of magic. I'll attempt to track it back- find the source. Once we know where is came from," she smirked, "we can attack."

The world was aglow with magic. Innumerable threads of it spread out in every direction- countless hues of colour illuminating every corner of the kingdom, their shine deceptively bright for having such a dark purpose.

Merlin spread just a hint of his power along each one, moving so subtly that none could have detected him, and drawing on the vessels' power to guide his path. By this point his mind was so segmented, and the concentration required so intense, that he only just had the ability to keep his physical body breathing. He was still vaguely aware of, and could see, the room around him, but was so involved in his task that he would have been incapable of moving even if he had tried.

He could sense that the witch-sisters had begun to move- as he had thought, it hadn't taken long at all for the elder of the two to detect the magical shift. With any luck, though, the traps he had set up would be sufficient to delay their arrival long enough for him to complete his work.

The set-up was almost complete. Only a little more to go now.

Almost there.

Morgause opened hazy eyes.

"Found it."

"Where?"

"Below the castle. There's some kind of cavern down there. The magical signature seems to suggest that it's the centre of a runic system spread throughout the city. Whoever did do this has probably been setting it up for days."

Perfectly sculpted eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What? How could we have missed something like that?"

"We let our guard down." The Blond stated, only now understanding just how much time and effort must have gone into such an attack. Whoever had done this wasn't going to waste any time. They probably had a lot more planned than just this. "We'll need to move fast if we want to stop them. Let's go."

Taking hold of her sister's arm, Morgause tugged her magic-enhancing stone from where it hung around her neck. Using it was the perfect way to preserve her magic should the need for battle arise.

"Bedyrne us! Ástýre us þanonweard."

A rush of black wind appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and wrapped itself around the sisters until they were completely engulfed in a whirlwind of power. The two closed their eyes against the blast and, when next they opened them, found themselves balanced upon a ledge on a single outcrop of rock, located in the centre of a cave so large one could scarcely believe that such a place was located beneath a city such as Camelot.

What caught her attention, though, was not the cavern itself, but instead the large rune etched into the stone before her. She recognised the magical scent which lingered upon it.

"Michael."

Morgana was not yet trained in identifying the magic of others. "What about him?"

Hazel eyes narrowed in anger. "It seems there was a traitor at the heart of our operation all along."

The younger woman's expression quickly shifted to match her own. "How dare he?"

Ignoring her sister's question, Morgause placed a single hand on the rune, concentrating on the traitor's magic. It hadn't been long since the spell was cast so, assuming the Ginger-haired man had transported himself out of the cavern, there should still be-

"Got it." Glancing at her sister, she allowed herself a small self-satisfied smirk. "There's a trail. But it's disappearing fast. We'll have to go now. When we arrive, you'll need to order the best fighters- both magical and non- to meet us there. There's no telling how many others are with him."

"Understood."

Determination blazing in their eyes, the two grasped arms, and were soon engulfed once more in a veritable tornado of energy.

Uther really is epic. I hope you think so too, because I really do love that man (in a completely he-was-such-an-insanely-awesome-character type of way).

And the time is close! The confrontation we've all been waiting for is almost upon us! It's so incredibly amazing in my head, so I really do hope I can do the scenes justice with my writing.

I guess that's it for today. 'See' you soon!