Thank you for your reviews.

I am sorry for the rant in my last chapter. Just put what I was feeling at that moment and I needed to get it off of my chest one way or another and for once you guys got it. If anything, I am taking new fanfiction ideas as a positive. So there is more from me for when I get less busy or just have more time to myself where I am trying not to just get enough sleep to function.

Please enjoy this chapter. I didn't really know how to end it so I do hope that the ending is okay.


Chapter 18

It wasn't very often that Merlin felt scared. He knew that he would always have his magic to rely on to keep him safe. It was a part of him. How could he lose it?

But that was exactly how he felt in that moment. Like he had lost his magic.

Not lost it per say but he had lost the use of it. He could feel his magic bubbling up inside of him, wanting to be able to keep him safe. It wanted to be released.

It all happened when he had a chance encounter with Nimueh. He had been in the dark, attempting to make a light, when she appeared. She had told him that now that Arthur and Morgana knew the truth, it was his time he learned it as well. She blew something into his face and as Merlin was trying to rub it out of his eyes, she had started to chant. It was too late when Merlin realized what was happening and by that point, his magic was useless.

The only way he could describe how he was feeling was what he would imagine it would feel like if your blood stopped moving. It was the weirdest sensation ever.

Nimueh had gone on about the truth he needed to learn was that he wasn't some God.

The problem was Merlin already knew that. He never understood why the Druids looked up to him like they did. The Triple Goddess had given him the powers he had. The Triple Goddess had given him his destiny. He was just a person. Of course, he was a Prince or King, now but that was all down to the circumstance of his birth. Something that he couldn't help. He often used to think that life as a peasant would be easier.

Now Nimueh had left him totally and utterly defenseless. If he had thought that he wasn't going to make it out of the maze before, he definitely knew it now.

He was never going to see his Mother again. He was never going to see Morgana again. He was never going to see Gwaine and Lancelot again. Or Arthur, or Morgause, or Mordred. There were so many people he could think of that he would never see again.

But, more importantly, he was never going to follow in his father and become the King of Drugonia. It wasn't going to be his family that would sit on the throne for years to come. He was never going to complete the destiny laid out for him.

In short, he had failed.

Even if one of the creatures didn't get him, he had this strange feeling that he would be wandering around in the dark, never finding the exit.

"Oh dear Emrys," Nimueh said from wherever she was, her voice echoing down the corridor. "How small you are!"

"Give me my magic back and then let's have a fair fight."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because… I will give you my kingdom is you win."

"What makes you think that if you lose, you will still be alive to let me have your kingdom?"

"Face me Nimueh."

Merlin fell forward as the spell hit his back. He groaned as he hit the floor and attempted to get his breath back. Of course, she wasn't going to play fair. He just had no idea how he was meant to defend himself against her.


"So do you know where Merlin is?" Morgana asked Morgause.

"No. Being a High Priestess, I know that people are in the maze and their rough location but other than that, I am just as lost in this maze as you. Well, I do know where the center is and how to access the exit."

"Is the center where we are heading?"

"Nimueh is pushing him that way. He is the only other one in the maze to my knowledge. Plus, as I have said, Nimueh's focus has always been on Drugonia and Balinor for some reason. I always thought that she would be after Uther. He was the one that cast her from her role in the court and the one who lead the purge against magic. I think she just blamed Drugonia for not doing more."

Morgana nodded and smiled.

"You don't seem very worried," Morgause said.

"Obviously you haven't worked out what Emrys means. I mean, Merlin told me but it took him a while to work it out. Emrys means immortal."

"No, I know that. But I also believe that his immortality is linked to his magic. Nimueh knows a lot of dark magic, including spells that can bind magic."

"Oh."

"It is a good thing that we are nearly there."

They moved around a number of corridors before they entered the center. The room was a circle with the same stone walls that the rest of the maze had. Merlin was lying in the middle with Nimueh standing above him. Morgana acted on instinct and pushed her hand out. Nimueh was sent flying. Morgana ran straight to Merlin.

"Are you okay?"

He grabbed her arm before smiling up at her. "I am glad that you are."

"Well isn't this nice?" Nimueh said.

Morgana helped Merlin up and to stand as they faced her. Arthur, Gwaine, and Lancelot had all drawn their swords and stood in front of them, while Morgause and Gwen stood with them.

"You can be all trapped here together." Nimueh continued.

"Balinor wanted to help," Morgana said. "All these years, you have been living with this hate. Isn't it time to let go? You said you told Uther what would happen if you granted his wish but you did it anyway. You are the reason that the purge started. You made it possible for Ygraine to die in childbirth. You made it possible for my birth to occur. I guess that Uther took his chance when my father, my real father, was off fighting his wars against magic.

"Everything that happened since Uther's request has been down to you. You alone carry the weight of what happened and yet you have allowed good men not to only carry the blame but to die. Balinor only died because Merlin revealed his magic saving me."

"Morgana," Morgause said, warningly.

"You don't think you can guilt me into letting you free," Nimueh said.

"No, I can't. I know that. But this all ends here."

"Does it?"

Morgana didn't really know why she was saying what she was saying but she trusted her magic when it sensed something. Using her magic to pull everyone back, she hoped that Morgause magic was strong enough to protect them when she asked her to put a shield. The Questing Beast entered the room and started sniffing the air immediately. It was only when Morgause's force field was pulling them that they realized that she had found the exit. They only heard Nimueh's screams as the Questing Beast disregarded her High Priestess status.