Merlin stared at the sky, waiting. He didn't have to wait very long.
Within an hour, there was the familiar rushing howl of a magical wind. Three figures stepped out of the whirlwind onto the grass. Morgana smirked. "Hello, Merlin," she crooned.
Merlin twiddled his fingers at the trio. He was utterly exhausted, but he couldn't sleep; he was in too much pain. It burned beneath his skin.
"Poor Merlin," Morgana murmured, striding forward and brushing her fingers down his chin. "How does it feel? All your friends have left you behind to save the world, and here you are, cowering in a circle of rocks. Pathetic."
Merlin raised his drooping head to glare at the three sorcerers. They all seemed smug, as if they'd already won the battle. There was a very good chance that was how it was going to go down. Merlin could almost feel his body shutting down. He wasn't going to last much longer, not with Arthur draining his magic.
"It seems as if you've won, Morgana," Merlin croaked. "I'm powerless. Does it feel as good as you thought it would?"
Morgana grinned. "It feels even better than I'd ever imagined." Morgana leaned close and whispered into Merlin's ear. "And now, I'm going to kill you."
Morgana wrapped a hand around Merlin's throat, lifting him into the air with a burst of inhuman strength.
Merlin hung there, desperate hands scrabbling at Morgana's wrist. He gasped and choked. His vision was spotted with white blobs, shivering and expanding.
Merlin's legs folded under him when Morgana dropped him.
Merlin's gasped, coughing, trying to get air through his stinging throat. In the back of his brain, he registered the sounds of gunfire and screaming.
He pressed himself onto his hands as soon as his vision cleared enough for him to see. The sight before him was rather horrifying.
An army of undead warriors was clawing its way out of the dirt and grass. The Quin-jet was hovering in the air, machine guns roaring. On the ground, making his way toward him, Arthur was cutting his way through the draugr. Excalibur, with its ability to kill the dead, was just the right tool for fighting the monsters, slicing the beasts into pieces.
Merlin blinked and glanced behind him. Morgana was struggling to her feet, a halo of bullets around hers making the dirt fly. Nimeuh was chanting, arms held above her head, and Loki was nowhere to be found.
Nimeuh finished her chant. The Quin-jet's wings exploded, fire and smoke billowing away from the bent and steaming metal. The Quin-jet hit the grass and crumpled into a burning mess.
Merlin pushed himself onto his knees. He honestly wasn't sure whether or not he would be able to stand, but he had to help. He couldn't just sit around, or he and everyone else would die.
Merlin staggered to his feet, but fell over, the world spinning like a top. His skin was hot, but Merlin felt cold.
Merlin coughed and felt blood drip down out of his nose. Merlin let it drip. He raised a hand toward Morgana and clenched his fist. Nothing happened. Merlin could feel heat behind his eyes, but he was pretty sure it wasn't magic.
Morgana scoffed. Nimueh stepped forward, and the pair of sorcerers stood over him, smirking. "Finish the job," Nimueh hissed.
Morgana nodded sharply. "My pleasure."
Morgana raised a hand to finish the task she had started earlier, but was interrupted by several multi-colored blasts of light meeting in midair, exploding above the trio in a giant fireball.
One blast of light was bright blue, another was yellow, and the third was greenish-gold. Merlin glanced upward. A red and gold blur slammed into the grass. Tony raised his gauntleted fists. "Reindeer Games," he said. "Not good to see you again." Vision alighted next to Tony.
"Ladies," he said, inclining his head to Nimueh and Morgana. "Is there any possibility of ending this without further violence?"
Thor slammed down next to Vision. "Listen to the purple weirdo, witches," Thor threatened. "Do not try us. Release your undead thralls!"
"Quit the lollygagging and just get them already!" Steve's voice was rather high-pitched from his position in Sam's arms.
Sam dropped Steve onto the grass and shot off to decapitate a pair of draugr. The Quin-jet hovered in the air, Clint and Natasha glaring from the front windshield. Wanda leaped out of the Quin-jet, rolling and coming to her feet, power ready.
"It looks as if the team is all here," Loki hissed. Morgana and Nimueh backed up until they were standing side by side with Loki.
"That's right," Tony said. "We're here to kick your—"
"Enough chit chat!" Steve cried, slamming his shield through the neck of a draugr. "Just get them already!"
The fight was brutal. More draugr clawed their way out of the dirt to join the battle. There were enough draugr to prevent all the Avengers and the King of Camelot from attacking Loki and his companions. The Avengers didn't even blink an eye at Arthur. They fought together as if they'd been doing it for years.
Wanda helped Merlin into the relative cover of one of the stones. "Are you all right?" Wanda asked.
Merlin shook his head. "You need to figure out how to cut Loki's connection with Morgana and Nimueh. Separate them. Vibranium. Use that."
Wanda nodded and hurried away, shouting into her comm.
Merlin watched the battle through hazy eyes. Breathing heavily, barely able to pull in enough air, Merlin reached for his magic. Even trying to touch it made his nervous system ramp into overdrive. His skin burned. Merlin coughed blood.
Things were blurry, and fading fast, but Merlin still saw Morgana coming for him. She jerked him to his feet and slammed him against the stone he was leaning on. Panic burst through him, clearing his head just the tiniest bit. Morgana held a knife to his throat. "Goodbye, Merlin," she hissed.
Wanda, who was running back, saw Morgana's hand move, as if in slow motion, to finish the job. She screamed, and pushed her magic faster. Morgana froze, encase in red energy. Wanda shoved her away. Morgana hit the ground, still clutching the knife, still frozen.
Merlin slumped to the ground again. Wanda knelt next to him and cradled his face. "Tell me how to help you!" She shouted. Wanda could feel Merlin's life force fading. Merlin was nearly unconscious now. Wanda stretched her magic forward, searching. She could feel the cold touch of metal from Merlin, as if he no longer generated heat.
Wanda wavered. She had no idea what she was doing. It was instinctive. Merlin twitched in her arms. Follow the light. Merlin's voice rang through Wanda's head.
Wanda searched with her magic, searching for the so-called light. She found the tiniest, thinnest thread, and followed it to a wall, blocking Merlin's magic.
Wanda pushed with her magic against the wall.
It gave the tiniest bit. She searched along the wall, feeling for defects, and she found one, where Merlin's magic was escaping through a tiny pinprick.
Wanda pushed her magic against the hole with all her strength. "Help me, Merlin!" she cried. "Fight for it!"
Merlin twitched again, and felt a rush of heat. His eyes popped open, glowing gold. The wall, weakened by time and Merlin's constant pushing, imploded. Merlin screamed, and he felt as if fire was ripping through him.
Time seemed to stop. A waved of actual fire blew through the air, blasting through the hordes of undead warriors. They disintegrated like dead leaves in a forest fire, leaving only the Avengers, the knights, and the three sorcerers, all of whom looked a bit scorched.
Merlin collapsed completely, then, unconscious, breathing ragged. Wanda shoved herself to her feet, and stumbled forward to join the rag-tag team, all of whom were lined up in front of Loki, Morgana, and Nimueh.
Wanda stretched her magic forward, now that she knew what she was looking for, she could feel the strings of magic connecting Loki to Morgana and Nimueh.
There was a silent standoff for a few heartbeats.
Steve ended the silence by hurling his shield toward Loki, flicked it away with his knife. Chaos erupted. Steve's shield slammed into the grass near Wanda's feet.
It was amazing how quickly the battle was over after that.
Morgana and Nimueh were on their knees, hands cuffed behind them, dresses torn and hair ragged.
Loki's hair was in the grasp of Thor. "Release your thralls, Loki," Thor growled into Loki's ear.
Loki grinned, teeth bloody. "I won't," he said. "And my draugr will just keep coming. They'll never stop! I'll destroy all of you. I'll—"
Loki slumped forward, unconscious, as Thor slammed a fist into his face. Thor shrugged at the looks he got. "Loki has a twisted, and silver tongue. He could charm a bilgesnipe into surrender."
"Well now what do we do?" Tony asked, taking a deep breath of fresh air as his helmet folded away from his face.
Wanda picked up Steve's shield. The metal was cold against her fingers. "Vibranium effects magic," she said. "If we cut off Morgana and Nimueh's connection to Loki, I bet they would fade into non-existence."
Tony shrugged tiredly. "Worth a shot," Tony said. "Back to the tower, then? We can stick them in Merlin's old cell and Thor can take Loki back to Asgard."
Steve rubbed a hand over his face. "We need to make sure that the rest of the world is safe. Nat, Clint, Thor, take Merlin back to the tower and get him into medical. He looks pretty bad. Take Loki and friends, too."
Did you like it? I think I do. I hope I ended it all right.
Leave a review and tell me what you think, maybe?
-Indigene Syke