Killian's Inferno

Chapter Eighteen

Inside David's mind…

Back in Camelot, the heroes were all still chained to the trees standing tall behind them as they struggled to break free to help Emma against Zelena, Arthur, and now Merlin who was being controlled by the once and future King who had long since given up his fight for good and became evil in his quest for power. The bindings held firm as they were all helpless to watch the scene unfold around them as Emma glared at the enemies darkly.

The Wicked Witch of the West sneered at Emma as she asked smugly, "So, Dark One, who should I execute first? Hmm? Your boyfriend or your father?"

Emma remained calm as she handed the small box in her hand over and responded, "You can have the flame."

"Zelena, make sure that's real," the King said immediately as he watched the witch do as he ordered her to, when all of a sudden, dark ropes erupted from the box and tied Zelena to a tree, just as Merlin had done to everyone else.

"Now you want to give me my family, or keep fighting?" the Dark Savior asked as she turned back to face Arthur again.

He called out the sorcerer's name, "Merlin!"

Merlin continued to look at the woman he was trying to help keep the darkness at bay as he suddenly shot a large burst of power from his hands as he attacked Emma while he pleaded, "Please, Emma. Give him the flame. This is a battle you cannot win."

"I wish you could defeat me, Emma," he continued as she fought back with her own magic. "But I've played this game for too long."

"Aah!" Emma cried out painfully as she lost the magical struggle and collapsed down to the ground in a heap.

Arthur spoke again as he raised Excalibur again and commanded, "Merlin, kill her mother."

Not being able to control himself, Merlin slowly conjured a vine that began to snake around Mary Margaret's neck, causing the Princess to gasp in her own pain, while David struggled against his chains as he shouted fearfully, "Mary Margaret!"

"It's no good," Robin Hood stated in frustration as he too struggled with the bindings. "They're too strong."

"Keep trying," Regina replied worryingly.

Emma remained on the ground as she tried to help Merlin once again by saying, "You have to fight it."

Mary Margaret gasped as the vine grew tighter while the sorcerer tried to fight the power Excalibur held against him as he answered, "I can't!"

"You are the greatest sorcerer that has ever lived," Emma continued. "If you cannot fight off the darkness, no one can."

"Aah!" he gasped, still trying to break the hold.

When Merlin finally succeeded and released Mary Margaret, the King raised the sword higher as he reinforced his command, "I said kill her! By the sword, I command you! Kill her!"

While he struggled to keep resisting as the power of him began to grow stronger, the sorcerer said coarsely, "I can't hold him off much longer."

"You... will... kill her," Arthur ordered once more, just as Killian was about to break free upon pulling off the brace he wore to hold his hook in place of his left hand, when all of a sudden, the vine swiftly wrapped around Mary Margaret's throat once again and immediately snapped her neck, the evil King's command finally being done.

"Snow!" Charming shouted fearfully upon watching his true love die right in front of him, while he had been helpless to save her. "You murderer! How could you do this to us? We trusted you!"

Arthur ignored the man he had made a knight as he looked toward Merlin again and commanded, "Now, you will kill the rest of them as well."

Hook finally broke free as he rushed forward to try to knock the sword from the King's hand until another force from the sorcerer drove him back hard into another tree as one of its branches impaled him through his lower back and out through his stomach. Emma cried out for the man she loved and raced to his side, ignoring the pain she felt from her own fight. As he struggled to look into Emma's eyes one last time, his blood poured out from the wound, then began to trickle down from the corners of his mouth until he died as she took his face in her hands until she collapsed down to the ground again and wept, trapped in disbelief that she was unable to prevent Killian's death, as well as her own mother's because she was too weak to fight against Merlin despite being the Dark One.

Robin was next to die as Merlin made one of the archer's arrows appear in his hand, then used his magic to project it into his chest. Regina was pissed off to say the least, but she was unable to fight back against her enemies as the magical chains firmly continued to block her own powers, especially when a fire suddenly appeared at her feet and burned hotter as the flames grew around her and engulfed her, causing her to scream in agony until she was also dead, in a very fitting way for an Evil Queen.

David and Emma were the only ones left and just as Merlin was about to kill her father too, Emma stood tall and moved to stand in front of David, who also had tears falling down his face as well, then raised her hands as magic burst from them again to defend all that was left of her family. Merlin defended himself as he fought against her, but then suddenly aimed her power directly at King Arthur instead and sent him flying through the air, successfully knocking Excalibur from his hands as it fell to the ground. Merlin collapsed, having used up all of his willpower to fight off the hold on him for as long as he could, then watched in horror, as did her father, while Emma levitated the sword itself into the air and forced it through Arthur's chest so that he would die almost as Killian had.

When the King was dead, and both of the remaining survivors looked around them as they struggled to come to terms with all the death that had occurred in that forest before them, the darkness once again suddenly surrounded the former Savior, having taken her final step into the dark, and when it dispersed, Emma's appearance was changed. Instead of her long, flowing blonde hair and white robe she wore over her gown, she was now wearing a black leather jacket and pants, her face and skin was pale, and her hair had become white as it was pulled back into a tight, braided bun on the back of her head.

Emma, what… what have you done?" David asked fearfully as he looked into his daughter's cold, hate filled eyes and no longer saw anything in them that belonged to the child born from true love, who had been born to save them. "Please, don't let your hate consume you. We can still…"

"You're wrong!" she said angrily. "It's too late to save me now. And without Killian, I don't want to be saved. All of you, failed. Don't try to find me. I'm not the Savior any longer."

"Emma?" Charming called out when she disappeared in a black cloud of smoke with Hook's body held firmly against hers, leaving her father to deal with everyone else's deaths alone. "Emma!"