*Dons a customised version of Arthur's tattoo*

Hi there... yeah... I seem to have done some damage to peoples' hearts with that last chapter... Apologies for being slightly late with this one- peskychesk arrived in Japan on Saturday (school holidays have started) so, in true celebration of our first chance to be truly touristy in the country we both love so much... we spent most of yesterday watching Sherlock. Lol.

Although I think I'm still okay for this fic being a T, I have been advised that I should probably include a little graphic warning here. I'm fine with such stuff, but any readers with more... delicate constitutions may be slightly disturbed by some scenes in this particular chapter. Sorry...

I will try to continue with a chapter a week during the holidays, but there are certain days where I'll have to work (English camps and a speech contest), so there is a chance of small delays during the coming month. But fear not- peskychesk herself is reading this now, so I highly doubt she'll let me go long without updating. She's rather fond of my OCs in this story... Oops...

(Also, apologies for any faults- haven't had time to read over it yet. Was too eager to post.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Chapter 31

The flames struck on the left, hissing and spitting sparks as they tore indiscriminately through material, skin and hair alike. They were gone in a flash, fleeing before the tiny body had even completed it's painful arc through the air, but the evidence left behind made it easy enough to imagine the excruciating torment which Aveline had experienced in the last moment of her young life.

By the time she hit the floor, her entire left side was completely unrecognisable. Gone were her sparkling eye and her brunette locks. In their place, instead, was charred and blackened flesh. Sparks had torn into her body, burning right through at such speed that it was actually possible to see glimpses of the tattered remnants of some of the young girl's still-smoking organs. And her limbs could barely even be identified as such, whittled away as they were to brittle bones.

But the worst of it all was not the decimation, but rather the side of her face which was still intact. There was no hint of the quirky character Aveline had held in life. None. Instead, her expression was twisted into a determined sort of agony- the image of someone who had volunteered themselves for the most painful of tortures, and knew that they had paid the ultimate price for their choice.

And as her one good eye stared up at Merlin, he knew without a doubt that this exact moment would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The Warlock could count on one hand the amount of times he had truly given in to unadulterated anger. The last time he had, Nimueh had ended up as mere ashes, strewn across the Isle of the Blessed as punishment for her atrocities. He had sworn then never to allow it to happen again. But, as he tore his eyes away from the form before him and slowly inched them up to take in Morgause's expression, he felt himself coming dangerously close.

The Witch looked shocked for all of two seconds. The the shock faded away, to be replaced by precisely the kind of angry annoyance which told Merlin that the only thing she regretted was that her spell had not succeeded in doing the same to him.

He would have snapped. He really would. Were it not for the fact that he suddenly remembered just who was behind him.

He glanced back for a single second. But that second was more than enough. A mix of shock and desperation was the first thing he noticed, followed by the way the older man struggled almost subconsciously against his bonds, in a futile attempt to reach his daughter.

Instinctively knowing that it would take time to wrest control of the creature binding his friends, Merlin instead fixed the final sorcerer- Merek, was it?- with a pointed glare and, allowing his anger to seep through into his voice, confronted him with a power and authority capable of controlling even Dragons.

"Release them."

In a moment of mercy (or possibly fear- he couldn't really bring himself to care which) Merek actually obeyed, and the creature withdrew across the room, slithering back across the floor and shrinking into the box it had been summoned from.

Michael was past him in a flash, falling to his knees at his daughter's side with a painful thud. He stared at her for a moment, eyes wide and glimmering with unshed tears, before reaching out with a shaky hand to slowly trace it down her one unblemished cheek.

The action, though gentle, was enough to cause Aveline's head to drop further, giving the children huddled at the end of the room a perfect view of the devastating damage Morgause's spell had caused. Muffled cries erupted from the group as eldest of them relinquished their previous efforts to calm the younger ones, finally giving in to the fear they had been bottling up for so long.

Seeing that Gwen was now free from her fight, Merlin quickly met her eyes. The two rather over-whelmed looking Knights beside her were ignored in favour of an unspoken conversation before the young serving girl, nodding her understanding, darted, unseen, across the room and behind their enemies' backs, hastening towards the distraught group. As soon as she reached them, Merlin conjured up an opaque golden shield between them and the rest of the room's occupants. He was entrusting Gwen with the task of calming the children's nerves, and at least this way he knew that any further incidents would be hidden from their view.

Then, barely thirty seconds after having regained control of his body, Merlin found himself stepping forward, with Arthur at his side and with eyes fixed firmly on the murderous duo before them. The two must obviously have realised by now that their vile web had been ripped to shreds. Whether they chose to continue fighting or not was entirely up to them now. Whichever option they chose, though, it didn't change the fact that the time was well past due for this whole sorry situation to be brought to it's no doubt bitter conclusion.

They were brought to an abrupt halt when Michael's head snapped up, eyes glinting with a hatred and anger which, in that precise moment, reached to the very depths of his soul. If looks could kill, Morgause would have died thrice over in that instant.

"You..." he snarled, jumping up to stand protectively in front of Aveline's prone form. "You will pay for this."

Then he started chanting And while the spell was entirely unfamiliar to him, Merlin knew enough of the ancient language that his understanding of it's purpose sent a shiver or horror through his veins. Relying on instinct alone, he reached out in desperation, stretching a hand out first to block the attack which Morgause had launched in retaliation, before then completely engulfing Michael with his magic.

It was only once the action was complete that he realised that the spell he had cast had been a silencer. Michael would still be able to access his magic, but without speech there was no way he would be able to attempt such a complex working as the one he had originally intended.

As the full force of the red-head's glare turned on him, Merlin only just managed to restrain himself from flinching under the weight of accusation those grief-filled eyes bore.

"I'm sorry!" The young Warlock pleaded, begging the older man to understand. "But I couldn't let you- Not like that... Not-"

He was interrupted by Arthur barrelling into his side, knocking him out of the way (and almost off his feet) as a spear of green-tinged flames shot past his shoulder.

"Save it for later," the Prince ordered. "We've got to end this quickly before another life is lost!"

Merlin's eyes automatically flicked to the side, towards where Mordon was gradually losing his desperate battle to stem the flow of the blood seeping from his brother's wound. The harsh reminder of their situation was more htan enough to force his attention back to the battle. Taking a deep breath, he turned his back on Michael and faced the Witch sisters once more.

Now was the perfect time to take advantage of the full height his gangly limbs provided. Standing tall, he glared down at Morgause, unwilling to look Morgana in the eye out of fear that he would be unable to spy even a glimpse of the woman who used to be his friend. Or maybe in case he was able to. He wasn't really sure which option seemed worse.

"Leave." He demanded, raising a hand towards them in warning, and ignoring the protests Michael was projecting into his thoughts. "Leave this city. Leave this Kingdom. And never try to harm any of it's citizens again. If you go now..." He paused, hating himself for finding it so difficult to bring himself to utter the next words. "Then I promise not to harm you. Leave. And never return."

There was barely even a moment's pause before the two women snapped back in retaliation.

"Never."

"Then you leave me no choice." Finally, Merlin's eyes met those of Morgana, and as her lips twisted into an ugly sneer her allowed himself one last farewell to the woman she had been before. "Goodbye."

And then it was chaos. Attack after attack rained down on the young Warlock. And without time to put up a permanent shield, he was instead left with no option other than to block each one individually. His only reprieves came when Michael, still unable to speak, settled instead for sending pulses of raw energy in Morgause's direction, disrupting her own blows as she fought to counter his.

Arthur, too, was doing his part. In a cruel mimic of one of Merlin's own traps, the sisters- or possible Merek- had, at some point within the flurry of activity, managed to create an immense snake out of ice. The ice was reforming rapidly after each blow the Prince struck, but he was still managing somehow to keep the beast occupied enough that it was unable to go after another target.

Even Kolby and Quentin seemed to have finally come to their senses. Quentin was on his knees, assisting Mordon with Kennard, and Kolby was battling his way through a puddle of water (formed when Merlin had countered yet another fireball with a wave of water, multiplied from what had been in his flask), seemingly intending to assist his struggling Monarch. The feat was made more difficult by the fact that the water was wrapping itself around his ankles, and appeared to be trying to drag him to his knees.

A wave of purplish fog suddenly erupted from Merek's direction, bursting forth from a broken vial at the stocky man's feet. An urgent warning in his head was all the warning Merlin got to create a filter around his airways before the mist engulfed him completely. It's poison instantly began to tear into his skin, etching crimson rashes onto his pale flesh.

"Scúr."

The water from the floor instantly relinquished it's grip on it's victim, instead springing up to drench the young Warlock from head to toe. As the torrent of droplets succeeded in dampening the noxious fumes, he swept a hand across his face and back through his hair, halting the liquid's process as it trickled towards his eyes. Blurry vision was the last thing he needed right at that moment in time.

Even clear vision, however, could give him no piece of mind. Instead, it only meant that he was free to watch as Morgause, evidently not above resorting to dirty tactics, used the break in Michael's attacks as he too defended against the gas to stride towards the trio of Knights on the floor. A wave of her hand blasted Quentin backwards as he lifted his sword in defence. As her gleeful expression met Merlin's horrified one, taunting him even through the chaos still occurring throughout the room, her intent was perfectly clear.

'These are my hostages,' her eyes were stating clearly. 'Surrender, or I will kill them without a second thought.'

He knew it was true. He had seen evidence enough of how ruthless the Blond could be when she truly wished. But the harsh truth of it was that he couldn't allow himself to be swayed. She seemed to have forgotten that his loyalty towards Camelot had been tested many times before. And there was little he wouldn't sacrifice of himself to ensure that Camelot had the chance to thrive and become the Kingdom he and Arthur envisioned as it's future. His choice regarding Morgana was evidence enough of his determination regarding that cause. There was no way he could turn back now. Even if it meant that the three Knights were lost. If he gave up now, then Aveline's sacrifice truly would have no meaning.

At the thought of Avelines, he could feel anger filling him once again. But this time the anger was aimed a himself. It was his fault that she was dead. He was the one who hadn't been fast enough. He was the one who had failed to protect her. And he was the one whose duty it was to make sure nothing of the sort happened again. There was no point in considering that the Knights might die. He just had to be strong enough and fast enough to make sure they wouldn't be at risk.

He had tried showing the sisters mercy, and they had refused.

Now it was time to end this.

"Enough!" He roared, both verbally and mentally. And the pure force of his yell was enough to completely halt all activity in the room, forcing the enemy sorcerers to clutch at their heads in pain and shattering the ice snake into smithereens. Taking full advantage of the momentary lull in the fighting, a shimmering veil of a barrier sprung up around the Knights and around himself. It wouldn't last long. But it allowed him more than enough time to utter just a single word.

"Ástence."

His eyes met those of Morgause just before a whirling plume of dust completely enveloped her. Then each speck scattered, transforming the dust into a tornado of minuscule points, each one thin and sharp enough that they almost seemed able to rent holes in the very air itself. Each point darted into action without warning, piercing through the Blond sorceress at lightning speed. Unlike her own attacks, they left no outward sign of their destruction, but all who witnessed the event held no doubt in their minds that her insides had been completely and utterly decimated. Time almost seemed to slow as she dropped to the floor, mouth open in what had been her last futile attempt one last curse, and she was lost to the world.

Even as she fell, a piercing scream rang through the air.

"NO!"

In a scene eerily reminiscent of the one witnessed such a brief time before, Morgana dropped to her sister's side and placed a single hand on the older woman's cheek. Upon receiving no response, she instead resorted to shaking the Blond by her shoulder.

"Morgause? Morgause!"

When, after several seconds, she still could not elicit a reaction, the raven-haired woman seemed to collapse in on herself, green eyes closing in anguish as she cradled the head of her fallen companion in her lap.

Merlin looked on with pity. He could never have imagined it would come to this- actually destroying the life of someone he had cared about by his own hand. But, regardless of whether or not it had been Morgana's own decisions which had brought them to this point, he had undoubtedly played his part. There was no way she would ever return to them now. No way she would ever forgive him for what he had done.

He wasn't sure he deserved her forgiveness anyway.

As she lifted her face, features twisted with fury and grief, he knew that he had just killed any link Morgana had still had to her former self.

Without warning she launched herself to her feet, magic forgotten as she leapt towards him, clawed fingers outstretched as though she was intending to throttle him with her bare hands.

Merlin was just raising own hands in defence, when another reached out of nowhere to grasp hold of Morgana's wrist. Merek barely took a moment to fix each of their party in the eye before, box held in one hand and Morgana in the other, he hissed the words of the transportation spell... and promptly vanished.

Scúr- Rain (specifically, torrential)

Ástence- Scatter

Please do review if you have the time. It pleases me to no end to know that people are reading and enjoying(?) this series. And as much as I truly do love my lurkers and those who have favourited this fic, there truly is nothing quite like a review to get the creative juices flowing. I won't force you though- I know I myself have been a lurker for several fics in the past.