The Golden Age Universe
All for Love - Chapter 11
~Fran Gipani
Disclaimer - I don't own Merlin, or the characters...I'm just borrowing them and adding a couple of awesome OC's
AN: I am seriously sorry for how long this has taken! I've started my first year of uni and everything has been a bit hectic to be honest, I love it though all the same! Plus a whole lot of other chaotic life things happened but here we are :) Chapter 11… I hope you enjoy, and please leave a comment if you have the time :) Have a great week!
Merlin's hands shook as he buckled the saddle onto his horse, "damn it!" He muttered as his hand slipped again. Tears of frustration threatening to break loose, he rested his head against the leather saddle.
"Here," Gwaine stepped over to Merlin, and moved his friends hands so he could do up the saddle, "there you go mate," he then called over his shoulder to the rest of the knights. "We're good to go! Everything will be fine, trust me Merlin, we will find her."
Merlin gave a shaky smile, "thanks Gwaine," he wanted to say more but there was little he could say. So he opted to simply nod, and lift himself up onto his horse. Merlin felt Gwaine pat him on the back, with that Merlin clicked his heals and he led the way out the gates.
As Merlin and the knights rode over Camelot's border and turned to follow it, Merlin couldn't help but feel the panic rising in is throat. He didn't exactly know where they were going, but he was following a strong hunch. He didn't have a definitive destination in mind until Percival called down from the back of the group.
"Where are we actually going?"
Percival's usually quiet voice carried all the way down the line towards Arthur who looked up and clicked his heels so his chocolate brown horse could catch up with Merlin. "Where are we going? Merlin?" He asked, rising up in the saddle slightly as the ground became more uneven and bumpy.
"I'm not exactly sure," Merlin admitted, the partial lie had already left his lips before he realised the truth of his gut feeling.
"Merlin..." Arthur prompted.
"Brooke's at the Great Stones of Nematon, she has to be..." Merlin trailed off, his heart thudding faster in his chest as he clicked his heals so that his pure white horse quickened it's pace, following Camelot's border towards Nematon.
~afl~
Brooke stood, magically rooted to the spot by Morgana, she watched helplessly as the witch worked a spell. Brooke struggled against her bonds, "you need to stop this!"
"Quiet! I need to concentrate so I can get this right before Merlin reaches the bottom of that hill." With that the witch continued to chant, and slowly, oh so slowly a large, circle of swirling light formed on the grassy ground in front of Morgana. Then, still chanting she cut a slit in Brooke's arm, who winced at the pain. Collecting the blood in a small bowl, Morgana then poured it into the centre of the circle, she said a few more words, then there was silence.
Brooke used what little magic she had left to heal the jagged knife wound in her arm. "What was that for?" She asked tentatively, her arm still tingling slightly.
"I'll explain later, I think Merlin needs to hear the best bit of my plan." Morgana smirked, "you see I had plenty of time after my last meeting with Emrys to plan this scheme to it's end. I can let you go now though, Merlin's here...and I'm sure he'll want to check you're okay."
"Wha...what?" Brooke whispered incredulously, suddenly she felt her bonds fall loose and she stumbled forward, her legs hadn't completely been holding her up before, the magic had. Brooke almost fell but then she felt familiarly gentle hands catch her before she reached the ground. "Merlin?" Her worlds were barely a whisper as she turned to face him, still leaning on him for support.
"Brooke? Are you okay, what's she done? If she has hurt you in any way I swear I'll-" Merlin spoke very quickly, his hands on Brooke's forearms.
"-Merlin, I'm fine, or at least I think I am, but-" Brooke started but Merlin cut her off with a kiss. He pulled Brooke as close as possible, and once their lips had parted he pulled her into a hug so tight it looked like he'd never let go.
"Merlin you need to get out of here!" She muttered urgently, hoping that Morgana wouldn't hear.
In response though, Merlin only shook his head, "I'll be fine," he whispered back, before raising his voice. "Please don't scare me again like that!" He muttered into her neck, smiling at the warmth that had spread through him, and it wasn't just from the morning sun.
"How very sweet," Morgana said, her lips curling into a smirk, "Nice to see you again Emrys, and Arthur, how very nice of you and your knights to join us!" She gave a 'ha!' of laughter, "it will make this far too easy."
"Morgana," Arthur growled, "what are you doing?"
"It's not what I'm doing dear brother, it's what I've done. You see while you were all worrying about Merlin and his memory and his magic, you should have been trying to stop me using it."
"What have you done?" Merlin rephrased, stepping up next to Arthur, protectively in front of Brooke.
This behind me," she indicated the swirling mass of light, "is a portal through time. I'm not completely sure where it comes out but, I have a feeling I do know." She finished with a smirk, "you probably do to…"
"A what?" Arthur spoke up, he and the rest of the knights had encircled the area, surrounding the ring of light behind Morgana, "a portal through time, but that's impossible."
"Not impossible," Merlin corrected, "just extremely dangerous." Worry rose in his chest as a memory surfaced, Brooke, "if you're going to do what I think you're going to do, there is so much hinging on that one little detail!"
"Yes, but with you powerless there is no way you can do anything to stop me." The witch grinned, "you will die Merlin one way or another, so in turn, Emrys will die too. Going through that portal or by my hand, either way will work just fine."
"You know what will happen if that moment is changed Morgana, the past ten years will cease to exist as we know them, everything that's happened, everyth–" Merlin paused, "ohhh…"
"You understand now don't you, you die then and I will easily be able to take Camelot, both versions of yourself will die on the spot, Uther's aversion to magic will take care of that. Then I will be free to do as I please when the time comes." She smirked, "you die now and I will be able to take Camelot just as easily."
"No!" Brooke yelled, "what the hell did he ever do but try and save the lives of the people he loves. You have no grounds to do this Morgana, whatever revenge path you have started on needs to end, now! You have no idea of the extent of the repercussions taking Merlin out of the equation will do. I won't let you, I–" She felt a hand on her arm.
"Ohh, and one last thing, Merlin, if you don't go through the portal, I'll push Brooke through instead so I'd think wisely about what you do next."
Merlin faltered, he knew what was meant to happen, but he couldn't let it, there was no way at all that he could let it happen, but what about Camelot? An idea formed in his mind, and a hopeful smile lit up his face, before turning back to his friends, "It's okay, everything will be fine." Merlin said calmly.
"What the hell are you doing Merlin?" Arthur watched as Merlin took a step forward, mirroring his friends movements, he did the same, just as Brooke took a step forward too.
"Stay back!" Merlin spoke, "please, stay back."
"Merlin no!" Brooke and Arthur yelled in unison.
"Trust me, everything is going to be okay." He turned back for a moment, a knowing smile on his face, before taking another step forward towards Morgana.