Author's Note: This is a pretty heavy chapter. Just as a warning, if any of my readers have gotten attached to Red (and let's admit it, who hasn't?) then be prepared for a shock. I won't give to much away but I'm guessing when you read the first line you'll see what I mean. So please don't send me hate mail for what happens to Red! It does have a purpose! OK, I'm going to shut up now and let you guys read or I'm going to end up giving the whole story away. Hope you likey! Please review if you're not too angry at me!

Chapter Nine

Vulnerable

Red lay there unmoving, a dagger protruding from his shoulder. Gwaine had also stopped in his tracks, staring at where his dagger had ended up. Emrys couldn't move. He felt as if the walls either side of him were closing up, squeezing his insides into tight knots. He felt like his lungs were being compressed so harshly that he could hardly breathe. He struggled to inhale a lungful of air to keep him breathing. His world was falling apart. He heard Gwaine start to approach the fox. Emrys held up his hand slowly.

"Don't… touch… him." Emrys spoke quietly, his voice staying surprisingly steady. "You know what I can do."

Gwaine stopped immediately and just watched. Emrys came a little closer to Red. His amber eyes stared up into inky sky, the stars reflected in them. They were unblinking and didn't have that lively character that Red always had dancing in them. Emrys held out a slightly shaking hand and grasped the hilt of the dagger. It was cold and stern beneath his fingers. He wrenched it out of Red's body and dropped it like it was hot with a clatter onto the ground. It was stained with blood, the same blood that was now flowing out of the wound on Red's side. Gwaine made a sudden movement that Emrys glimpsed out of the corner of his eye. Anger flared up inside Emrys and exploded out of him. He faced his palm toward Gwaine once more and yelled a spell.

"Anbidian cwellend áworpennes!" Emrys felt his eyes glint golden. A great force rushed up upon Gwaine, launched him off the ground and slammed him into a nearby wall. He fell to the floor and stared at Emrys with an expression of pure shock. Emrys fought the urge to smile at Gwaine's helplessness. Instead he turned to pick up the dagger he had threw on the ground next to Red. He held it up threateningly toward Gwaine. Gwaine's eyes widened and his legs kicked out, trying to move him as far away from the weapon as he could. Fear shone out of his eyes. Emrys narrowed his eyes and smiled inside. Sounds of running footsteps came floating up to Emrys and he was forced to lower the blade, much to the relief of Gwaine.

"You will pay. This isn't over." And with that, Emrys turned into the night and retreated just before Arthur and the rest of the Knights swerved round the corner and onto the scene. But all they saw was the end of Emrys' cloak disappearing round a corner at the end of the alley.

Arthur rounded the corner just in time to see Emrys' cloak swerve round the corner at the end of the street. Frustration raged up in Arthur but then calmed back down when he saw why Gwaine had not chased after him. The fox lay dead in a pool of its own blood. A triumphant smile made its way onto Arthur's face. Red, was dead. Arthur strode over to Gwaine who was staring at the fox and clapped him on the back.

"Good work Gwaine. Very good." Arthur said quietly. He then moved toward the dead fox. He picked it up by the scruff of the neck and held it up victoriously to his Knights. Olwyn and Delmar clapped furiously and cheered. Although Lancelot and Gwaine stayed completely silent, still fixed on the place where the fox had once laid, but was now just a pool of crimson. Arthur didn't notice though, he was too busy basking in his glory. He lowered his hand and handed the fox to Olwyn. "Take this to the tanner. Tell him to make something useful out of it." Arthur flaunted. Olwyn nodded and laughed, making Arthur feel even better. Delmar joined in, seeing the funny side of what Arthur had said. Arthur was finally having something over on Emrys. Then his thoughts turned to Gwaine. He had promised him this reward and he intended on giving to him for sure now. He would give it to him tomorrow Arthur decided.

It had been a long time since Emrys had cried. Big, round, wet tears rolled down his cheeks like raindrops on a windowpane. He let all the grief, sorrow, guilt, pain and hurt he felt pour out of his eyes and sink into the forest floor. His one friend in the whole world had gone. The one thing who had ever really understood him was now dead and probably being humiliated in front of the Knights by Arthur. The tears continued to fall, showing no signs of stopping. But Emrys didn't want them to stop. He wanted them to spill, flow, gush, stream and rush out of him.

To cause a flood.

To cascade through the city and drown the people who lived there.

To surge to the castle and knock it down with the force of his hurt.

To submerge Arthur and his Knights.

To fill their mouths with the bitter taste of his salty despair.

To fill their lungs with the rushing water.

And to brutally kill them like they had killed Red.

He felt his magic surge up in him. He didn't stop it. He embraced it as it rushed to meet him. And then it exploded. With Emrys' scream came a tidal wave of violent magic. He felt his eyes burn a fierce golden as the magic burst out of him. His arms flew open, reaching wide to let the magic rush out of him into a huge inferno of pain and anguish. The leaves that lay undisturbed on the ground were flung across the clearing. He heard branches snap off from their trees and hurtle into other trunks. Screeches of distressed crows echoed round the now silent clearing. Silent apart from soft sobs.