Chapter 37
[Woods near Camelot]
Morgana glared down at the unconscious Gawain slumped against the tree. Her hands crackled with dark energies. Her eyes glowed a menacing yellow tone. "As if you'd stand against me, Sir Knight? Too bad you're sleeping it off. I'd so love to see your reaction as I finally shut you up." She tensed to launch the killing blow.
Then she felt something tugging at the inside of her head. Some force wanted her attention. It had wormed its way into her head and was….
…it was trying to pull her out of her body….
"NO! What is….?" She allowed the spell against Gawain to dissipate. Instead she wrestled with whatever force pulled at her skull. "Get out! GET OUT!" Her eyes glowed. "Falbh a-mach!"
A sound akin to a raging wind blew through her mind before her perceptions cleared again. She winced and took a cleansing breath. "Mithian," she realized with a deep vengeful frown. "When I hunt that little tramp down, I'll…." She stared at the ground incredulously.
Gawain had disappeared.
"A game is it? All right!" She spun around to find Mordred and Talesin pulling the sleeping knights closer together. "Sir Mordred! You know better than to cross me!"
"Lady Morgana, please stop this. We can be reasonable…." Mordred started.
She laughed and fired a mystical burst at her former protégé. "As a traitor deserves!"
Talesin stepped between them. With a thought, he erected an energy barrier which took the blast's impact. "I'd listen to him, Milady." He held his staff at the ready; his magic crackling in the air about himself. "Do not make me do to you what happened to Morgause."
Her eyes narrowed even further, shrinking barely to more than slits. "YOU DID THAT? I will kill you!" She threw a lightning blast at him.
Talesin deflected it with his staff. "You can try." He pointed at her and returned fire with a spell of his own.
Mordred looked down at the trees around them. He motioned toward the tree to her left. "Cheangal aice!"
From the trees on either side, roots ensnared her ankles. The branches seized her arms.
She snarled like a wounded animal. "Loisgidh!" She made herself glow with a fiery aura incinerating the makeshift bonds. Then she advanced on the two sorcerers. "You're both going to pay for Morgause and this farce! Before you do, you will tell me where Emrys and Mithian are!"
"Not likely," Talesin countered as he started the next magical duel.
"So be it!" She retorted while returning fire yet again drawing her concentration on the reincarnated sorcerer. But as she did so, she felt the buzzing in her head yet again. "No! NO! Blasted Princess!" She threw a wild burst toward her enemies.
"What?" Mordred queried after raising the next defensive barrier.
"It seems this is what Mithian struggled with back at the cave. Focus, Young One!" Talesin commanded.
But Morgana had other matters to concern herself with. Once more she struggled with Mithian's tapping into her mind. This time, however, she could not devote the energy to ousting her adversary's advance. She slumped to the cold grass as unconscious as Gawain had been.
"As you suggested, Sir Mordred. Teamwork indeed did bear fruit here," Talesin sagely noted. "We should deal with her accordingly. "Cheangal aice!"
Instead of the trees, chains formed from the very energies surrounding them around her hands and feet. A gag muffled her mouth as well.
"What do we do with her? We can't take her back to the cave. Camelot's still denied to us. Kay will execute her without a trial," Mordred pointed out.
"It seems a quandary indeed," Talesin concurred. "Let us hope our friends are up to the next stage."
[Dreamscape—sometime before]
Perceval opened his eyes slowly. He rubbed his forehead while trying to shake off the residual drowsiness. "What?"
"Magic. What else?" Elyan groused. "Bad enough to be put to sleep by that hag. Now we're in some strange place." He surveyed the orange sky and pink grass underneath. A few clouds hung low overhead. "Wish we'd get a shot at Morgana."
"Not bloody likely," Leon indicated. "Woman's like a bloody snake. Sneaks up on you and strikes when your back's turned." He went to check on their dozen or so companions making sure that they were waking up.
How quick you are to judge, Good Knights.
Mithian waved a hand while making herself appear by a large rock. "I brought you here to keep you safe and to have a discussion."
"You have some idea of safe!" Elyan protested. He tried to draw his sword but found there was no blade to be had.
She sighed heavily much as she might've at Lord Athelred at her father's council table. "Sir Elyan, I'll grant you that I'm still learning about these matters. Would you rather be sleeping under Morgana's spell in the forest? I could arrange that too."
Leon put a hand on Elyan's shoulder. "Mithian's been a friend of Camelot. We at least should hear her."
"That is all I ask, Sir Leon. Thank you," she expressed with relief. "As Merlin and I have tried to tell you before, not all magic is evil. It is a tool no more, no less. Our ethics and values determine how it is used. Would it not be the same with your weapons and skills?"
"She has a point," Perceval conceded albeit reluctantly.
"But what about those forces against the kingdom?" Elyan pressed. "They endanger everything!"
"Ever think your new world endangers us?" She arched her right eyebrow and glared right into the truculent warrior's eyes. "There is a reason why my father never enforced Uther's decrees. He never shared Uther's paranoia or taste for the Great Purge. Think what that has done to sorcerers. You corner people, deny them their gifts and threaten their lives, do you think they'll love you for it? OF COURSE NOT! Morgana is a case in point. Merlin now deals with what happened to her. He couldn't help her because of the balance created by the Great Purge! Everyone is so bound by what they want to come about. Our ambitions blind us! Arthur's torn between old and new. Merlin's torn between our kind, helping you all and obsessing over some prophecy concerning a united Britain. Wouldn't it be easier just to let everyone be? As long as we don't hurt each other, we can co-exist, can't we?"
"That's a big if, Mithian." Perceval glanced at the other knights who were nodding in agreement. "If you remember, I asked Merlin to come with us rather than try to run him through right there."
She snorted. "You were talking of throwing him back in that dungeon. Kay would've executed him and the others. He would've tried to "cure" me. Eventually he'd exile me as an embarrassment. You know I spoke to Arthur and Guinevere just as I'm speaking to you now. She listened. He acted like a spoiled child not hearing the intent of what I said. Merlin and I love you all like family. Sir Mordred, even now, works with us to free you from the sleeping spell. We are trying to help you!"
"Maybe if you weren't bein' such asses about it, you'd stop this rot. Lady's got a point, Gents," Gawain agreed as he stumbled into view. "Bloody hell! Morgana packs a wallop!"
"Says the knight who charges in head first," she cracked with a warm smile. "Relax, Sir Gawain. It was you reaching out through your pain that enabled my ability to find you. Thank you."
"Bloody glad it, you or whatever did," Gawain concurred as he sat beside her. "You're welcome. Where's Merlin? Figured he'd be showin' up."
She rolled her eyes. "He's trying to figure out what's going on. I didn't exactly have time to craft a parchment. Morgana was about to kill you. I managed to distract her and…." She felt the High Priestess' aura again. "She's at it again." She focused.
"At what? What's she bloody doin' now?" Perceval demanded.
"Another sorcerer engages her, dividing her attention. I need quiet." She concentrated trying to control the raging tempest rising within herself. She ground her teeth as she called out through the link. Merlin, where are you? I NEED YOU!
Much as he felt back in the cave, she was frustrated by the silence. "He needs to work on that." She felt Morgana's presence manifesting close by. "Be on guard! She's here!"
"She? Bloody blazes! You didn't bring the Lady Morgana here? I thought you were trying to keep us safe!" Elyan spat angrily.
"I didn't...not exactly," she argued tersely. "Get behind me!" She really wished that Merlin would find them. She could use his reassuring presence and aid against the approaching threat.
Morgana stewed angrily while taking in the scene around herself. "You are getting quite creative, aren't you? Pity I'll have to kill you." She threw a pair of energy bursts at the former Princess.
Instinctively Mithian created an energy barrier to protect herself and the knights. "What…I…?"
"Damn! I thought you didn't know it!" Elyan presumed.
"I just did it. I…" She marveled at the force field as much as the others did.
Morgana threw several more bursts rippling the energy and weakening it. "YOU CAN'T HIDE IN THERE FOREVER!"
She grimaced as a particularly potent burst almost disrupted her concentration.
"Hey! You can do this!" Gawain cheered her on.
"Thanks for that…at least." She exhaled a deep breath and pressed on with the defensive stand.
At that moment, they all heard, Mithian! Where are you?
"Hey! That's Merlin? Where is he? Blazes!" Perceval realized.
"He's speaking to me actually. About time too!" Mithian focused on the link. Merlin! Will you come on? I NEED SOME HELP HERE ALREADY! Just go under! You trust me? she directed pointedly.
Okay. Here goes…
Any time, Merlin! She felt a large backlash coming. "BRACE YOURSELVES!"
The field exploded sending evaporating shards everywhere.
"Pity your effort couldn't hold against a real priestess," Morgana crowed. "Siding against the traitors to true sorcerers! You're no different than Emrys, Traitor!" Her hands glowed with dark light. "Gawain, I'll deal with you next!"
"You'll deal with me, Morgana!" Merlin interjected while materializing in between the two sides. "STOP THIS!"
"Took you long enough," Mithian groused behind his back.
"It took me long enough to figure out how to get here!" Merlin fired back while protecting them with a defensive ward. He pointed at Morgana and threw another blast at her. While the High Priestess had deflected it, she noticed the concentration level had split between the two fronts again. "How well can you control what happens here?" he asked his Princess.
"About as well as the rest of the magic. I can't control it! It's weird…." Mithian noted.
He nodded. "I understand." He threw a potent blast disrupting her shields.
Mithian ground her teeth. Let this work! She glanced to the sky and called out, "Stoirm!"
"She really thinks she can call on nature? Really, Emrys!" Morgana scoffed sarcastically.
"Give her a chance and…." Merlin glanced up at the sky overhead.
Dark black clouds swept in. The wind picked up into a howling gale. Rain poured down on them.
"ARGH!" Morgana glowered at them in the midst of the raging tempest. She tried dispelling it to no avail.
"What's the matter, Lady Morgana? Having problems with my apprentice level spell, are we?" Mithian taunted almost savoring the bit of turnabout. "Merlin, finish this."
"Yes, Dear." He pointed at Morgana. Before he could utter the next spell, the storm ceased. The clouds parted and bright sunlight streamed down on them all.
"So much for your spell, Mithian. Now I'll finish you!" Morgana declared while willing up another spell.
STOP!
The triple goddess appeared in their midst. It is I, Morgana Pendragon, who intervened in that spell. You have done enough! I have warned you of the consequences of such actions. I declare you cast down from the High Priestess title. I have replaced you as such. Her eyes glowed bright red. Back to Avalon with you! She waved her hand.
Morgana disappeared from the dreamscape screaming as she did so.
Such measures should be unnecessary, my Children. The goddess turned toward the assembled mortals. Be aware that what Mithian spoke of is the truth. A new time of co-existence is upon us all. While I would prefer my order dominate all, I would also see peace across the land. I charge you all with bringing magic back to the land. Follow Emrys and Mithian as they do so, Noble Warriors. This I beseech you.
"What of Morgana? What becomes of her, Good Lady?" Merlin inquired respectfully.
I have sent her back to the holy isle, Emrys. I thank you for standing strong against her. However, much as your companion said to these men, you will need to better guide those with magic around you. While your destiny is to guide Arthur Pendragon in his quest for Albion, do not allow the path to blind you to virtue and the truth of who you are. I have granted you a gift. For too long, you have been alone in this world. Now you and Mithian have each other to love, protect and serve each other. Cherish this boon. Such is my will.
"What about this place? Pardon me, Lady, but may I ask about my magic? I don't understand," Mithian inquired.
Of course you may ask, my Child. Morgana Pendragon's stratagem awoke the magic within you. In addition you have the ability to tap into places such as this one. Your training as a leader among mortals makes you worthy of this gift. Master it for I will depend upon you to use it wisely. As you said to them, magic is a tool to be utilized by the individuals that I call to it. Their intent shapes its use. Now back to the cave with you all. Time runs short for Arthur and Guinevere Pendragon, I fear. You must sweep the last remnants away of this mad scheme. Order must be restored.
"We shall," Mithian vowed.
"Indeed," Merlin concurred while squeezing his love's hand.
"And we'll be there too," Gawain declared with a respectful nod.
So it shall be, my Children. Now back to the cave with you all! You must get to the Amazon lands. The triple goddess waved her hands making a bright light cast a white glow over everything and sweeping them away.
And so it went…..