Chapter 16

Warning/s: IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: Sorry…what did you say? The…the last chapter? *shakes head* no…it can't be!

Disclaimer 2: this first half of this chapter was written whilst watching jacksepticeye on YouTube (who, if you don't know, is an incredibly energetic and hilarious games commentator) and the second half was written whilst listening to the Swan Lake Suite Op. 20, so if this chapter is weird, that's why. I love both of those things but they do NOT go together.

"Morgana," Merlin wheezed, as both heads turned to him. There were gasps from both of those standing inside, Arthur's one of shock but relief, and Morgana's simply one of shock. The shock soon turned to a sneer, but Arthur was simply glad to see his friend, if not alarmed at seeing his friend in such a state.

"How are you even standing?" Morgana questioned, her eyes flinty. "I severed your kneecaps, I know I did."

Merlin heard Arthur gasp but ignored that for now. "You shouldn't leave the antidote to your magic-blocking potion so close by." He moved in front of Arthur, his king and friend, sending him a look that told him to stay behind him.

"Of course," Morgana snarled. "No matter. Neither of you can defeat me, not even with your magic, Merlin."

"Can anyone defeat you?" Merlin asked innocently, knowing full well who could – himself.

"Only Emrys can, and I know you know who he is." Morgana was twitching a little from the pain in her leg, and her eyes were threatening to flicker shut. Merlin hated himself for enjoying seeing her suffer.

"I do. And I could tell you, if you want, seeing as you're going to die soon anyway."

Morgana laughed. "As if you could ever kill me," she roared.

"I can!" Merlin shouted back, letting his magic flow like ropes around his wrists. "Because I am Emrys!" He shot a lightning bolt at her to prove his point; it was well known in the Old Religion that Emrys was the only one able to do such things. To shoot a lightning bolt, one of the most powerful elements, was not something that no ordinary sorcerer could do – they required a pure core of magic, which had all been wiped out in the Great Purge…except for Merlin.

Morgana paled. "No…it can't be…" She backed away, now scared, but tumbled over because of the blood spilling from her leg, weakening her muscles. In desperation, she raised a trembling hand and flung a ring of fire at him. It was bright and red and orange and burning hot, scorching him when it got too close, but small. Her power was obviously diminishing. Merlin halted the fire in mid-air and then tossed it to the side with ease, letting it dissolve, and yelled at Arthur to move before he got himself killed. Merlin could handle Morgana easily, but having to protect Arthur could make things a bit more difficult.

Morgana took advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration to shoot a paralysing spell at him, freezing his arms to his sides. She was obviously under the impression that any major spells he would cast needed his arms; she was wrong. She was foolish to even consider the possibility that Emrys would need more than his mind to destroy her.

Merlin retaliated with a ball of blazing, scorching fire that grazed the side of her face before she managed to dodge it. She shrieked in pain and Merlin followed it up with a blisteringly cold wind that knocked her over again, and then a flock of crows which circled her, pecking at her face and hands with large, ebony beaks.

He was tempted to summon a sword to appear from nowhere and run itself through her heart, and kill her instantly, but he wanted that honour to go to Arthur. She had committed the crimes against him and had betrayed him personally; he should be the one to see the light leave her eyes. Without taking his eyes off Morgana, he called out to his king.

"Arthur! The crows won't attack you." He worked on a way to lay into the spell Morgana had placed on him in his mind, but it was unfortunately extremely powerful and a lot of his magic was focused on keeping the crows attacking Morgana, not leaving a lot free for him to use for anything else.

"What?" Arthur had been watching from the side-lines, and was obviously confused about all of the events. It was overwhelming, Merlin supposed, but he really needed Arthur to not be a clot-pole right then.

"You should be the one to kill her," he shouted. "I will keep her busy."

Arthur looked sideways at him, and for the first time since Merlin could remember, there was genuine gratitude in his eyes that he wasn't trying to cover up with some form of irritation or arrogance. "Thank you, Merlin," he said, just loudly enough to be heard over the cacophony of squawks from the crows and Morgana.

Arthur stepped towards his sister slowly, with his sword in front of him, until he had the blade pushed against her chest. Merlin saw the fear in her eyes as she pleaded with Arthur, the words not reaching him, but that only seemed to push him over the edge. He saw a vicious look in his eyes as Arthur stared down at the person who had betrayed him, and knew instinctively what was going to happen.

He stepped forward to put more force into the thrust, and the blade went in silver and came out red. Morgana fell to the ground, choking, and Merlin commanded his crows to leave her be. He couldn't deny the sick pleasure he got from watching his enemy die. The crows flew upwards in a spiral, disappearing when they collided with each other, and Merlin finally concentrated on breaking the immobilisation spell.

Arthur dropped his sword when Morgana took her last breath. He moved jerkily, seemingly shocked and dazed, and then prodded Morgana with his foot to insure that she was actually dead this time. He turned to Merlin, death and life in his eyes, and before the servant could do anything, Arthur rushed towards him and grabbed him in a hug. Merlin winced a little at the sudden contact with his injuries, but allowed himself to relax into the grip of his friend. He felt safe for the first time in a long time.

"Damn it, Merlin! Don't do that again!" he hissed.

"What, get captured against my will?" Merlin had known Arthur for so long now that he wouldn't put it past him to blame Merlin for this.

"Yes, that!" Arthur released him, tears shining in his eyes. "What did she do to you?"

"Broke my knees, broke all of my fingers, whipped me, froze me, burnt me…lots of things." Merlin regretted his words as soon as he saw the horror on Arthur's face

"Merlin," Arthur said hoarsely, letting his emotions show for once.

"It's okay. You came." Merlin smiled weakly, still unsure of how Arthur felt towards him, and more specifically his magic.

"Of course I came!" Arthur glared at his servant instead of showing how much he cared.

"I was scared you wouldn't," Merlin admitted. "I thought maybe you'd be angry after finding out about my magic." He felt a little faint suddenly, and staggered. Arthur caught hold of his arm and steadied him again.

"You idiot," Arthur sighed. "Come on, let's get back to Camelot, and then we'll sort this out. But know this – I could never hate you."

Merlin smiled and let Arthur lead him outside to where the other knights were waiting. They looked at the pair expectantly, apprehension and excitement in their gazes. "She's dead," Arthur said heavily.

"Team effort," Merlin added, taking his weight off Arthur and leaning against the doorframe. He was exhausted mentally and physically, but right now the physical side was taking priority.

Gwaine obviously noticed his sagging frame, because he moved to hold him up and said cheerfully, "Whose horse is Merlin sharing then?" Only Merlin detected the affection underlaying the knight's words, and the protectiveness that said to the servant, "My horse. Nobody else's."

"Nobody's, considering he teleported them back to Camelot," Percival grinned. "I tried to get him to leave but he refused."

"Oh great," Arthur said. "Great plan, Merlin."

"I can teleport us back too, clot-pole." Merlin muttered a string of words under his breath, his eyes flashed gold, and then they were just outside the gates of Camelot. He leant against Gwaine's support now more than ever, the strong magic weakening him more.

"That was awesome," Gwaine said appreciatively, looking around him as though he couldn't quite believe what had just happened. "I think we should get Merlin to Gaius," he added, noticing that the serving boy looked extremely pale now.

Arthur looked at his manservant, distracted by what had happened too, and paled himself. Merlin looked terrible. They had all been so awe-struck by his use of magic and relieved to have found him that none of them had noticed just how weak Merlin was. "Percival, can you carry him?" The big knight nodded and picked him up immediately, ignoring Merlin's protests.

"Let's go."

A/N: And the story is officially over! Whaaaaat? I know! It's been so long in the making (mostly due to my hiatus *cough*) and it's so weird that it's all over! I've gotten so much support for this story and it's been absolutely amazing; writing this story has been so much fun. It's honestly just so surreal that it's all over :( so of course: massive thank you to everyone who has followed and favourited, and especially to those who have reviewed and offered support and ideas. I bloody love you all.

There is going to be a sequel so never fear! It's planned but not written, BUT I am planning to start it pretty soon (maybe not next week but the week after that hopefully) and it's going to be called "The Power of Time". If you're following me then obviously you'll get a notification when that goes up, but if you're not I will also post a final 17th chapter on this story announcing the sequel so you will all know when it's up!

Again, I can't express how grateful I am for everyone's support and kind words with this story, and I love you all.

Peace,

~Cordelia Rose