Gaius sat, head bowed, next to Merlin's prone form, his hand resting on the young mans chest. From what Gwaine had said, he could only deduce that Merlin had found the core of power that few sorcerers would ever notice or unlock. The most powerful sorcerers were said to have got their power from this indescribable source of, what legends say, was pure energy. Yet none of the books or scriptures had revealed anything to explain why someone could die from it... Gaius sighed and made to raise his hand from Merlin to get to his feet, but something stopped him. He leant in closer to Merlin and... yes, there it was again. Was it possible that...?

Arthur was shook out of his reverie by a soft hand on his shouder. He turned and, sure enough, Gwen stood over him.
"Arthur, the rest of us are eating... you haven't had anything since this morning and..."
"I'm not hungry." And it was true. He didn't feel hungry... thirsty... tired... Arthur sighed, turning to Gwen, he said, quietly,
"You know... Until we separated in the forest... I know I took him for granted. I never wanted to admit that I needed him Gwen... I wanted to be strong, to stand on my own... But he was always there and I never realised how much that meant to me..." he paused for a moment, staring at nothing, before he continued, "And I had only just begun to appreciate him... to realise how much he meant to me... and he's gone... and I can never tell him..."
He blinked away the tears that had involuntarily appeared, blurring the world in front of him. Then let a few fall... after all, it mirrored how he felt at the moment...
Gwen sat next to him and rested her head against his shoulder, her own tears falling freely.
"He knew Arthur. He knew how much you cared. All of us knew it... saw it. And every one of us cared about him too..." She choked back the sob that was working its way out and brushed away her tears, then continued. "But he wouldn't have wanted this... You punishing yourself and Gwaine blaming himself for it... You know he wouldn't..."
Arthur wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.
"I know... but I cant help it... I miss him Gwen. He's been dea- away... for less that two hours and I miss him..." He sighed, knowing that Gwen was right, and that Merlin would call him all manner of things if he knew what he was doing. He turned to Gwen.
"But you're right. Lets get something to eat..."
Turning, they both head towards the wall. They had taken a few steps before the wall behind them blew open, sending them both flying into the far side of the courtyard and smashing them into the rubble. Arthur struggled to his feet, dazed, and looked around, frantically for Gwen. He spotted her and stumbled over, his heart falling when he saw her closed eyes and the blood pooling from her head.

Reaching Gwen, Arthur pulled her close to him, feeling for a pulse. His relief at this sign of life was dimmed by her erratic breathing and the ever increasing blood flow. Pulling off his cloak, he pressed it against the wound on her head, struggling to stop the bleeding. The rest of his men were quickly making their way to him, but glancing around the courtyard, he knew they would never get there. Six figures stood at intervals around the courtyard, having smashed and blown their way in.
All dressed identically, and linked by a ring of red light, the six versions of Morgana stared at him, before seeming to simultaneously start chanting. As they spoke, the ring of light seemed to get brighter and wider. Then, as if by some unseen command, the light flared and they moved their arms to point towards him.
He knew what they were going to do before they did it, and, sure enough, the light started to bend and flex to follow their hands, until it was pointing to him. A sudden flick of their wrists sent the jets of light flying at him and he knew they wouldn't miss. Time seemed to slow and he heard cries and shouting from the knights, screams from several of the gathered women and the sound of rocks crashing behind him. He had no time to focus on it, as time seemed to speed up again and the red light surrounded him, forcing him to the ground... no, not the light, a person.

And suddenly, a blue light burst from around him and spread, in wave after rippling wave, across the courtyard, wiping away all traces of the red and knocking all of the copies of Morgana backwards. As soon as the magic hit them, they seemed to begin fading, and in less than half a minute, no trace of them remained. As soon as the last traces faded, the blue light did too, the remaining waves of power rose, and retracted, travelling back and fading to oblivion as the person behind him seemed to pull them in.
Arthur let out a breath he did not know he had been holding and fell back, knocking into... who? Turning and shielding his eyes from the sun, which seemed to have chosen that moment to come out, it took him a few moments to make out a familiar grin and, immediately, he pounced on him, wrestling him into a hug.
"Damn it, Merlin. Never do that again..."

Letting him back up, Arthur rose to his feet, pulling Merlin up with him. Joy turned to worry as he saw the pale skin and shaky muscles. Still, he made jokes.
"Never do what again? he asked, "Save your life or nearly die?" Arthur was too shocked to answer and simply hugged him again.
"What do you mean, nearly dead?" he asked, letting go again, "Your heart stopped beating..."
"No... " Merlin replied, "Just slowed down. I used a very rare kind of magic and my body hadn't had time to prepare for it. It too a while to... adjust to the change..." his voice faded out as he spotted the still figure lying on the rocks. "Gwen...?"
Arthurs heart fell as he stumbled over to her, pulling her onto his lap. His cloak had done no good, and the pool of blood was already soaking into his clothes, even now. Merlin slid down next to him, muttering under his breath. His agonized groan told Arthur all he needed to know... He couldn't heal Gwen...
Only a few seconds later, She gave a shuddering breath, and her body went limp. Too shocked to do anything, Arthur just held her, his mind focusing ony on the cruel irony of having Merlin back, only to lose Gwen...

It was only a few more moments until they were surrounded by the rest of the knights, but Arthur only had eyes for Elyan, who seemed as shocked as he was, and was already trembling. At the look on Arthur's face, he cried out, falling to the floor and smashing his fist into one of the rocks, again an again, causing his knuckles to bleed and his wrist to fracture. Merlin moved over and pulled his arm up, stopping him from hurting himself any further. The rest of the men had moved back, giving them room, and now sat on the scattered piles of rocks, some distance away. Meaning there was no one to intervene when Elyan suddenly shoved Merlin to the ground and pinned him down.
"You have to help her Merlin... There has to be something... Anything..." He loosened his grip as Merlin gasped for breath,
"Elyon... I cant. There is nothing I can..."
"You wont even try? Doesn't she mean anything to you?" Merlin shoved Elyon off of him, pushing himself up,
"Of course I care. You know I do... But I've already tried Elyon... I cant..."
Elyon wrenched himself up, tears falling down his cheeks,
"Merlin... Please..."

Arthur looked up, a slightly feverish look in his eyes.
"That cup... the cup of life... could that... maybe it could..."
Merlin froze, thinking it through,
"Yes... Maybe... but Arthur... For one person to live, another must die..." A hard look came over both his and Elyan's face as Arthur replied.
"So be it..."