A/N: Came down with a horrible case of writer's laziness. I knew what I wanted to happen, but wasn't sure how I would make it happen, and then I was just like, "Who really cares?" and then… well, I just didn't write a chapter last week. I'm actually still suffering from the writer's laziness, but I will attempt to get past this chapter. After this it should be… somewhat easier. I want to finish this chapter within a few weeks. That way I can publish the new story I'm planning, Assassins, and start to work on the story I've just published, Just One, Big, Happy Kingdom. So… I'll do my best.

I'm hopefully going to start updating this once every few days.

Not beta'd right now; I wanted to get it out tonight.

Chapter Fifteen

Xyla was wondering to herself whether she'd rather have her neckerchief back or a knife. If she could use her magic, that would be nice, but she wasn't so great at fighting with magic. And she doubted she'd want to heal anyone here. Then again, she didn't have such a great record with knives either. The only person she'd ever managed to hurt with one was Merlin.

Still, if someone handed her a knife and put Morgana in front of her, she figured she could get a whole lot better really quickly. But she'd leave all that to the men for the moment.

Merlin peeked around a corner and drew his head back. Leaning against the wall, he whispered, "Two guards outside the door, just like I thought."

"Both with armor and swords, just like I thought," she said drily.

He sent her a withering look. "Are you always this peevish?" he asked quietly.

"Only when I'm on a stupid suicide mission with a stupid powerless warlock saving a really, really stupid prince. In a castle that I'm not familiar with."

"A stupid castle."

"Oh, shut up. Alright, how do we get past the guards?"

Merlin looked at the sword in his bound hands. "You think I could use the sword to get these cuffs off?"

"Probably break the sword. The cuffs are magic."

Merlin really wanted to look around to see the guards standing about half a room's length away from them, but he resisted the urge. "I've got an idea. But it's dangerous. For you more than me."

Xyla's eyebrows drew together over her brown eyes. "Well…"

"I could take the more dangerous part," he decided. "But the part I was planning on taking involves using the sword…"

"I'll take the dangerous part. Just… don't let me get killed. What is it?"

Merlin nodded, squashing the guilt he felt for what was about to happen, and jerked his head towards the open hall. "Go stand there."

"What?" She looked aghast.

"Trust me."

Ashley saw the girl at the same time as Bryce. It was hard to miss, of course, since she wasn't really making any effort to hide herself. She just walked out from behind the corner and stood in the hall, not looking at all nervous. She just blinked a bit, blankly, and stared at the guards, waiting for them to move from the door.

Of course they did.

"Hey—" said Bryce, sounding confused even through his helmet. "You there—"

Both started forward, drawing their swords and not afraid to use them. Ashley saw the girl's eyes go a bit wide, but she didn't move. She just watched them get closer, and closer. As they neared the corner she'd appeared from, she took a step back, her eyes flickering left and right. Her breathing sped up.

"Now," said Ashley, facing her and lifting his sword, "What—"

And then something dull collided with the back of his neck, where his helmet met his chainmail, something cracked, and bright lights went off in front of his eyes.

Bryce spun to face the new threat when Ashley yelped and crumpled.

Merlin felt it was too awkward to use the hilt of the sword again; besides, this man was pointing a sword at him. So before he finished turning, Merlin ran him through the neck, where the protection was weak.

He fell too, and Xyla yelped, her eyes wide. She stared at Merlin, and then her eyes started to sink down to stare at the dead man with red starting to stain over his chainmail.

"Don't look," Merlin suggested in a low voice. "Sorry."

"No…" her voice caught and she had to clear her throat. "I get it." She looked briefly at the other guard. He might be dead too, but this was no time to think over that. "I suppose… I suppose the door over there's unlocked?"

"Probably. Arthur's probably tied up, and Morgause is alone, I'd think. I don't remember them locking it when I was there."

"Well… I guess we just walk in then?" Xyla looked a little amused as she walked towards the door. "Morgause won't be happy with that."

"There's a wall of weapons against the back wall, the chair's in the middle, Morgause could be anywhere. Maybe she'll be too surprised for a moment. We can cut Arthur free…"

Xyla waited. "That's it? That's the plan?"

"Pretty much."

"Merlin, you don't plan well, you know that?"

Merlin shrugged. "First Arthur and now you," he griped. "I do the best I can!" Shaking his head, he grabbed the swords from the guards and gave them to Xyla, who winced but took them.

"Keep one, give one to Arthur," he said. "If we need to do some distracting, I'll distract Morgause."

"What if Morgana's there too?"

Merlin paused, going a bit pale. He hadn't thought of that. Oh, well. "We'll cope."

Xyla bit her tongue to keep from protesting exactly how much this plan stunk. "We get the prince, we run," she said.

"Yes."

"Okay."

Merlin walked forward, opened the door, and walked in.

And was immediately blasted back against a wall, so they had to tweak the plan a bit.

Three voices said his name at once, with emotions varying from alarm to pleasure, but his head was swimming too much from the collision with the wall to sort them out. He tried to sit up, but another wave of magic knocked him back again, and it felt a little like his head had exploded.

"Nice of you to join us, Merlin." That was Morgause. They was positively, undoubtedly Morgause. Ow, his head. "I admit I didn't think you would make it out of the cell."

Yes, everyone was always underestimating him. Now if he could just sit up and show her who the real magician here was…

Another hit with magic. There was no letup. Tears were rolling down his face from the pain of biting his tongue and smashing something… Light was everywhere… he couldn't see a thing.

"Stop!"

Xyla grabbed at Morgause, but the blonde easily pushed her off and knocked her to the ground. Xyla got to her feet again, eyeing the blue neckerchief that was in the back pocket of Morgause's practical trousers. There was her magic. She wanted it.

Standing, she went for it again, but abruptly stopped when Morgause held up a hand in Merlin's direction and yelled the magic-coated words: "Dal i wal!"

Merlin was picked up from the ground where he'd been sitting and trying to remember how to breathe, but this time when he was thrown against the wall, he didn't fall back to the ground again. He just hovered there above the ground, his legs kicking wildly, his eyes rolling.

Arthur yelled Merlin's name again, but was ignored. Everyone had rather lost interest in the prince, who was chained to a chair with a shallow gash decorating the side of his face, stretching up past his hairline and turning his hair red on that side.

Xyla reached for Morgause again, but the sorceress held her hand up higher, threateningly. "I'll kill him," she warned.

Xyla stopped.

Hell.

It looked like they were rapidly losing control of the situation. Merlin was stuck hanging on the wall like the prize of a hunt, Arthur was tied to a chair, and she had dropped her swords in her surprise and never picked them up. And, if the way Morgause kept looking at the door was anything to go by, someone else – like Morgana – would be along in a moment.

She'd known this was a bad plan.

"Fine," said Xyla, shaking her head, and for the first time casting a look at Arthur. He was staring at Merlin with his neck twisted back in an uncomfortable position. "We surrender."

"What?" said Merlin. "No we don't…"

"Shut up, Merlin," she said. "Give me my magic," she told Morgause. "I'll take Merlin and go, that's all I want."

Morgause grinned. "Why would I do that?"

"Because." Xyla licked her lips, swallowed, and made sure not to look at Merlin. Or Arthur, who was now staring at her. "Arthur's all you need to bring Camelot to its knees. And Merlin's already told you all you want to know from him. And… And if you don't agree, I might pick up the sword at my feet and run you through before you manage to kill Merlin. And if you do kill him, I know I'll do it."

"I don't—"

"And I can do it before Morgana arrives."

There was a small silence, punctuated only be the furious growl from Merlin's throat. "Xyla…"

"Why do you need your magic?" stalled Morgause.

"To transport us away from here," said Xyla. "Come on, Morgause, all my magic is good for anyway is healing. Hardly dangerous to you." Her palms were sweating. She wiped them on her shirt.

"Or I could just wait for Morgana to show up," pointed out Morgause.

Xyla took a step forward.

No one else even peeped.

She took another. Morgause's eyes narrowed, but she didn't stop Xyla as her hand inched forward and took her neckerchief from Morgause's pocket.

Magic surged through her again, and as the two boys watched her with wide and betrayed eyes, she started to walk towards Merlin. If she just reached him… Transportation wasn't her forte, but it wasn't offensive, so she was passable at it… She just needed to touch his ankle or…

Suddenly Merlin fell to the ground as Morgause released that spell to cast another. The air tensed and gathered around the sorceress as cold words fell from her lips, the start of a spell.

"Tân y—"

Xyla's feet left the ground as she launched herself at Merlin and landed nearly on top of him, shrieking her spell before the other one could reach them, her mind fixed firmly on one thought.

"Cludiant!"

The world swirled, darkness and wind suddenly felt like they were ripping Xyla's flesh from her bones as her body began to disappear until there was nothing left there.

A/N: Okay, there. Now, I don't want Xyla to be the only person getting anything done in this fic… But I figured this was fair, since Merlin went on a mission, got the key, got them out of the dungeon, and killed those guards, and all Xyla's done is get Arthur and knock out a guard. But Merlin will get more action again next chapter. And Arthur will get more action… whenever he gets untied, if he ever does!

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