Mary Annis looked at the son of her long-time friend and past boss "One question before we go in, how many people are we talking about?"

Arthur looked at the older woman his face serious "No one is sure but in the hundreds"

Mary looked shocked and repeated in a whisper "Hundred's!"

"Over two hundred that have been reported and Leon thinks it's much higher maybe even double" Arthur admitted

"Leon? As in your old school friend?" Mary asked remembering the lad in question

"That's the one!" Arthur smiled thinking of his friend.

In a change of subject Mary looked out of the car window "I'd forgotten how beautiful this place was, your mother would be so please it is being used and by you"

The two of them got out of the car and walked indoors to find Morgana with Gwen in the kitchen. Mary tried to force what she had just learnt to the back of her mind for now. She looked at the modern and smart kitchen and thought how homely it was despite its modern design. Smiling as she saw the dark haired, green eyed young woman at the table. "Morgana!" she held out her arms "It is good to see you my child"

Morgana walked into Mary's arms and the two women hugged "Look at you, you are looking good" Mary paused "I am sorry my dear that I couldn't persuade your father to let me see you, I asked so many times" She had tears in her eyes as she looked at the girl she had known for so long.

"Aunt Mary!" Morgana smiled as she saw Mary Annis then her expression changed "I refuse to call that man father! I will never forgive him for what he did" Then a small smile returned to her face "But it is good to see you after so long"

"Shall we go to the sitting room and leave Gwen to her work" Arthur suggested "I'm sure she will be grateful for the space"

Gwen nodded "Thank you for your help Morgana but please take your friend out and catch up on things. Like Arthur said it will be better with you all out of the way. I will see you later."

The three of then sat and talked over general matters and old friends they all knew when Mary asked "Do you ever see anything of Gaius now a days?"

Arthur nodded his face going serious once more "Yes we do, in fact it is his grandson who was helping Morgana before he disappeared"

"Hunith's boy? I haven't seem Hunith for a great many years, how is she? Such a nice lady" Mary smiled at the thought before adding "We both fancied the same young man once, but he much preferred her I didn't stand a chance"

Arthur took a deep breath "I'm sorry Mary, I understand Hunith died recently, cancer as I understand it. Merlin was her only son"

"So young" Mary said sadly "I should have contacted her but time just passed" she swallowed the emotion then looking at Arthur "Her son you say, well of course I will help you anyway I can, put me in touch with your friend and I will answer any of his questions."

Arthur nodded "Thank you, look I will feel happier if you move in here for now, there is plenty of room, I know you don't have magic but to many people are disappearing I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you"

Mary Annis shrugged "I will but only to keep your mind at rest, and so I can help you. But I will need to go home at some time to collect some things."

"I will get one of the boys to go with you Mary, maybe Percy. I'm not risking anyone else. I should have made Merlin move in, Gaius is also moving here later today, complete with his library I believe" Arthur gave a small chuckle. "Tristan and Isolde are helping him. I have given him the dining room, it's the only room big enough for all his books and it will save him going up the stairs. He didn't want to at first but I talked him into it."

Arthur rang Leon and told him to call in later and speak to Mary adding "If it is anything to do with my father she might just know something useful. She was his right hand person for years, even if she didn't agree with everything he did"

Once dinner was over Mary went to a room with Leon and they talked for several hours. Arthur didn't ask what about, he wasn't part of the investigation and Leon would tell him if he thought he needed to know. He was glad Mary was staying, she would be good company for Morgana as well as a very good organiser.

That very night Morgana had another vision, she had spoken in her vision to another magic user who said he had been taken but had a message from Emrys.

Merlin may have been trapped but when he could he spent time trying to get back control of his magic. The pain when it was being drained did not diminish, but at night when only small quantities were being used he continued to experiment. He was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, after what he called the executions, which were always the last thing his magic was used for each evening. So he would fall into a disturbed sleep were he would relive the nightmare that was now his life. But in the few hours before his energy was once more used in greater quantities he made himself concentrate. He found that by sending out his thoughts he was able to communicate the short distance with one of the other captives. A young man called Mordred, who it seemed also has strong magic but who had managed somehow to escape notice. He had been a captive for a week longer than Merlin. Eventually after experimenting and combining the power they attempted to bypass the suppressors enough to send out a message to Morgana as she slept. Giving what little information they could to the seer.

The side effect of his communication was that Merlin managed to in some part hold off the insanity he could feel himself drifting into. The people his magic being used to kill was destroying Merlin's mind. Mordred could feel the change in Merlin as they experimented and he could feel the utter self-disgust and self-hatred Merlin was sinking into. He did his best to tell Merlin that he was not to blame but after that one message they believed they had successfully sent Mordred heard no more from his new friend and he feared the worse.

Merlin had realised that he was affecting Mordred's mind and decided to cut of the communication, not willing to allow someone else to suffer. But now alone with his thoughts he gradually lost contact with reality and his world became nothing but pain, exhaustion and nightmares.