He was her dark fairy tale

She his twisted fantasy,

and together

they would burn the world to the ground.

Chapter 17

Necessary Bloodshed

The party started off like any other gathering Uther or Arthur had thrown. That was until Morgana's guests started to arrive. All were well dressed with lavish jewelry and fine linen like any other noble, but they dominated the room with their presence alone. None had magic as far as Merlin could tell, but the amount of confidence and ego in the room suggested that these were Kings and Queen, Lords and Ladies.

The night's festivities were a two-day event. It would end three days before the culling to ensure the contestants were adequately rested. He feared to contemplate what Morgana had in mind for all the young Sorcerers here. What was she going to do? She already had most of them on display for others to gawk and fondle when the want arose.

A few hours into the party Morgana had yet to make an appearance. Merlin surveyed the room. He waited anxiously for Cedric. He wanted to fulfill his end of the bargain as quickly as he could. Merlin bit his cheek, and drew blood. He didn't even know if Cedric delivered the letter. There was a lot of blind faith going on.

Finally, Cedric caught his eye. Merlin raised his brows inquiringly. Cedric nodded once and casually walked from the room, giving some excuse to leave. Merlin went unnoticed as he blended into the shadows. He easily fled the party.

Merlin entered what looked like a deserted hall. It was too dark to see how long the corridor was for sure. He looked around him, not sure where he was supposed to meet Cedric, but he didn't have to search far because Cedric leaned against the door frame to the servants' halls, waiting for him.

Cedric straightened as soon as he saw Merlin. "Put this on." He announced, hurried. He shoved a dark navy cloak into his arms.

Merlin easily swung the cloak over his shoulders and clasped it at his neck. He pulled the hood up so it covered his face. "And the weapon?"

"I was able to find this." He pulled out a dagger just a little longer than the one Arthur had given Morgana as a gift those long years ago as a birthday gift. Oh, how the times have changed. Only the hilt of this blade was plain except for a single black onyx stone embedded into the metal. "I had to find something that she wouldn't recognize as her own just in case. But I don't know if we'll be lucky enough for this to pass over her notice."

Merlin nodded. He took the dagger and held the blade flush against his forearm. It didn't matter. A deeply sick part of Merlin wanted Morgana to know it was he who killed her best men. He wanted to be caught. Stupid, he knew, but he wanted to drive her mad, as mad as she had driven him.

"Where are they?"

"They left the Medical wing of their own volition, still badly injured, but well enough, and are now in their bunks."

"They share a room?" Merlin asked.

"They are inseparable. You rarely see one without the other." Cedric sneered. Merlin felt a pang. Like he and Arthur, he assumed, they needed to be near each other.

"Just through this hall there is a corridor that goes to the guards wing. Their room is the fifth on the right."

Merlin pressed his lips together. He gave one curt nod. He walked down the hall until he reached the door at the end of the hall. He opened the door and walked through. He was careful not to let the door shut loudly as he crept forward. He moved quickly but cautiously down the next poorly lit hall with only a lone torch for light.

Merlin's heart beat hard in his chest. So fast and loud he feared others could also hear the rush of blood in his ears. He was conflicted. Half of him wanted to do this. Finish the job he started on the field and end their miserable existence. But the other half, however, the half that still had hope, still had faith in Arthur and the land he hoped to build, screamed at him not to do this. And all that he could think was that he had to do what was necessary. Only, he has never killed a man unarmed, alone in his bed. And an injured one at that. He wasn't an assassin, but tonight he was.

He reached the warriors rooms. He walked silently, counting down. One, two, three, four. five.

Was this necessary? Merlin faltered, the dagger held tight in his grip. Did he have to do this? Merlin stopped in front of Jerrod and Fredrick's room. Yes, he did. He had made a bargain and a bargain must be kept. But, if he did this, there would be no going back.

He shuttered. Unfortunately, that wasn't true. The day he chose to poison the woman he loved to save a kingdom was the day that ultimately changed him. All that this will do is seal his fate. He will become the monster he wanted to rid the world of, but then again it takes a monster to destroy a monster. He just couldn't lose sight of the reason he fought in the first place.

It wasn't easy. How did you beat a monster without becoming one? You couldn't. He knew this and feared it, but at the same time he embraced it like an old lover. It was what was going to keep him alive through this venture. He would have to play The Fire to Morgana's Brimstone, and pretend to help her burn the world down.

Merlin squared his shoulders and slipped inside Jerrod and Fredrick's room. It was a large room with two small beds side by side next to a low burning hearth. The muted glow supplied just enough light for him to see the two figures asleep in their beds. He glanced around. It was a simply furnished room, but he noticed something off near the fireplace. What was that? He wondered. It looked like two bodies slumped on the ground as far from the door and the fire as they could be. At first he believed his eyes played tricks on him.

Silently, so as not to disturb the men in their beds, Merlin crept forward to examine what was slumped on the floor. As he got closer his suspicions were confirmed. He was oddly calm as he stared at the forms on the ground. He thought he knew what he would find, but that didn't prepare him for what he saw.

Both boys, no older than seventeen, lay crumpled on the floor, broken and bleeding. He knew these boys. James sat up against the wall, Darrin laid flat, his head rested on his brother's lap. James shivered. He was covered in bruises and blood. Darrin was pale, cold, and his lips were tinted blue. Red covered his chest, staining his simple brown tunic. Merlin immediately noticed his still chest. Darrin was nearly gone, if not already dead.

Merlin grit his teeth against another wave of barely controlled rage. He looked back briefly at the men asleep peacefully in their beds. He could just kill them now in their sleep. He immediately dismissed it, not because he couldn't do it but because it was too easy, too good for them.

When the door creaked open it Jarred James from his daze. His grip on his brother tightened in fear. Were they awake? Were they back for more? James started to shake. The horror and terror of their predicament stole through him anew. He didn't know if they could survive another minute with them. They were pure evil and their perversions knew no bounds.

James squinted into the darkness. He caught the flash of steel and a flap of fabric. He tensed as the figure came into the dull firelight. His Stygian Sapphire eyes shined back at him from under a dark hood. Relief like he couldn't believe rushed through his veins like winter water. Merlin! James opened his mouth and tried to speak.

"Mer-" A broken voice spoke from the darkness. "Merlin." He choked again. He fought to get the syllables out.

Merlin's head snapped around to the voice. James looked up at him dazed. Merlin knelt down. He reached a hand out but hesitated. He didn't know where to touch him, every inch of James was covered in blood, his clothes torn and slashed and he couldn't determine if he had any wounds, but that didn't mean there weren't any.

"James?" Merlin breathed. He removed his hood. "Oh God, what did they do to you?" Merlin wondered softly. He knelt on one knee and leaned towards him.

"S'ok. N' so bad." James gave a small tiered and bloody eyes suddenly had more life. "Will! Wh're is he?" He slurred.

"Don't worry. He is safe." Merlin looked over his shoulder briefly."Can you get up?" Merlin asked urgently.

James frowned at him and nodded. " I d'nt 'ant to leave 'em."

"You don't have to. Take your brother with you. Down at the end of the hall a man named Cedric waits, you'll know him when you see him. Ask him to take you to the healing waters, I will take the punishment if needed."

"What bout' you?" James asked, blearily.

"I'll meet-."

"What do we have here?" A deep voice interrupted menacingly.

Merlin tensed. He looked down and shook his head. Damn it. He turned back to James.

"Get up. Now." Merlin murmured. "Take your brother with you. Cedric is at the end of the hall, you'll know him when you see him. Go to the healing water. I'll follow after shortly."

Groggily James nodded and started to rise. He hefted his brother up as much as he could. Merlin helped steady them. Jerrod and Fredrick got up from their beds and grabbed their swords from their scabbards that hung from the small bed posts. Jerrod and Fredrick took a step towards the kid as if their intention was to stop him. Merlin blocked their path and pointed his dagger at them.

"Let them pass and you can have me." Merlin said seriously.

The brothers thought about it for a moment. Fredrick nodded and stepped aside. Jerrod, however, glared angrily and wouldn't budge, but didn't attack either. James made it around him and to the door. He looked back at Merlin as he fled the room with his brother. Merlin held them at bay with only a dagger and his words.

He hated to leave him but James needed to find a way to save his brother. He could see Darrin's life force, it drained away and it would soon fade forever. James made his way down the dim corridor with the world on his shoulders and the weight of his brother in his arms.

As soon as the door closed behind James a boulder of weight lifted from Merlin's shoulders. He turned and focused solely on Fredrick and Jerrod.

Merlin's rage was held at bay on a very thin leash. He stopped trying to figure out where it came from because he knew. Flashes of James and Darrin, their bodies bloodied and broken eyes fueled the already raging inferno inside him that Morgana had birthed, and he began to embrace it.

"My dagger against your sword. Hm. It isn't much of a fair fight is it?" Merlin teased confidently. He smiled softly. "I'll try to be gentle."

Merlin flipped the dagger lightly in his right hand. The blade caught the low fire lite. The almost gold glow glinted dangerously. He caught it easily. He had seen them fight, they were good, but they were injured. Merlin knew he was superior in his abilities with his magic, which was, unfortunately, unavailable at the moment. He had to rely on brute force.

It didn't matter. The rage inside him was unlike anything he could comprehend. It eclipsed his sense of right and wrong, mixed together to make some kind of blend of gray. Kill to save. Save to kill. He didn't care how he did it anymore, only that they died. Painfully.

Merlin looked at them levelly. "I know what you did to them." Merlin stated dangerously.

The brothers laughed."And?" Fredrick mocked. Not denying anything

"And it doesn't bother you that you used them, that you nearly killed them?" Merlin remarked bitingly. His molars ground together. He wanted to taste their blood. Rip out their throats with his teeth. A small flicker in the back of his mind felt disgust at his need for violence, but flashes of those poor boys seared his brain and blocked out his moral heading and left a vengeful monster in its place.

Jerrod shrugged. Fredrick grinned maniacally and shook his head. "No," Fredrick said carelessly. "Should it?"

"I don't know how to put this nicely, so I wont." Merlin said disgustedly. He glared at them. They needed to die a painful death. "You both are worthless pieces of meat I wouldn't feed to the pigs."

Jerrod scowled intimidatingly, obviously angered by his words. Fredrick, however, just smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was a barring of rotten teeth. "And you're a worthless servant who will be dead by the end of the week. And even if you manage to kill us, Morgana will have your head." Fredrick limped towards him, his brother on his heels.

Not if Merlin shared her bed. Merlin smirked. Jerrod lunged around his brother. He was unable to retrain himself another moment. He tired of the banter and struck out at Merlin.

Merlin jumped back. He narrowly missed the sword slicing open his stomach. Jerrod was off balance due to Merlin's earlier sparring session with him and overcompensated. He tripped and fell to his knees, then fell back and hit the wall with a heavy thunk. He gasped, the force knocked the wind from his lungs. He grunted miserably, more injured than his brother. Fredrick went to aid him, but Merlin used their misfortune to his advantage and pounced.

He shoved Fredrick back against the wall his brother fell against. He grabbed a fist full of his tunic in his left hand as he shoved his forearm against Fredrick's throat. He felt Jerrod start to rise next to him, attempting to use the wall for support. The man gripped blindly at Merlin's hip. Merlin kicked him off and he flew back against the wall once more. Jarrod gasped but fought to grab Merlin again. He gripped blindly at his leg and hip.

"I, fortunately, unlike you, have nothing to hold me back from killing you." Merlin purred. He stared into Fredrick's black eyes challengingly.

Merlin took the dagger in his right hand and shoved it into Jerrod's heart. He felt Jerrod's hands tighten briefly on his loose shirt before he fell away, dead. Fredrick protested. He fought to get free for just a moment, and for the first time a spark of emotion flared behind the darkness in Fredrick's eyes before it completely snuffed out like a candle in a hurricane. The emotion hadn't a chance.

"Don't you feel anything?" Merlin asked.

He removed his arm and gripped Fredrick's chin. He forced him to look at Jerrod's still form by their feet. The dagger was still in his chest, blood pooled around him. His mouth worked soundlessly for a few seconds, a wet gurgle came out that sent a shiver down Merlin's spine. He hid it, released Fredricks chin, and pressed his forearm tighter against his neck to gain Fredrick's attention.

"I just killed your brother." Merlin stressed. Fredrick pressed his lips together and glared at Merlin. "Well? Aren't you sad? Angry?" Merlin wondered. Curious why he would protect his brother but not be angered by his death.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Fredrick countered. Of course he was angry. Merlin just killed the last remaining family he had left.

"Kill you?" Merlin almost laughed. "No. I have something better planned for you. You killed one of my own. All the honorable and innocent sorcerers and their kin are under my protection." Merlin fumed. "You are going to help save him." Merlin said menacingly.

"I'll do no such thing." Fredrick spat.

He slammed Fredrick's head back against the stone wall and pressed his arm harder against his throat and choked him.

"You'll do as I say because you haven't a choice." Merlin growled. "You are a magic user, yes?" He inquired though he already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear Fredrick say it. Fredrick nodded. "Do you follow the Old Religion?" Merlin pressed further. Fredrick paused, not sure he liked where this was going. He nodded hesitantly. "Then why do you fight against your leader?"

"My leader?" Fredrick wondered, now a little confused. His leader was Morgana. He would never fight against her, he worshiped her. "Morgana?" He asked, confused.

"Not Morgana." Merlin spat. The name ignited another wave of anger and against his permission, desire. "Emrys." He hissed.

Fredrick paled. "What of Emrys." Fredrick asked. "Where is he? Who is he?" He snapped, he tried to squirm out of Merlin's hold.

"Stop it." Merlin snapped. Fredrick stopped struggling. He realized it was futile.

He looked at Merlin, his eyes widened just a little. "You know, don't you?" He asked. "You know who he is!" Fredrick exclaimed, an awful masochistic light erupted in his eyes. No doubt he hoped this information would give him more attention from Morgana should he be the one to share it with her.

"Of course I do." Merlin smiled. "You do as well, all of you do, you just don't realize it yet."

Fredrick frowned. Merlin let go of his hold on his neck and took a step back. He waited to see what he would do. Fredrick just looked at him puzzled. Like this, Merlin could really see Fredrick's age. He was no older than his late twenties, but the look of confusion made him look years younger.

"Has Morgana told you who the Once and Future King is?" Merlin asked. Fredrick nodded mutely. Merlin nodded too, lips pursed. "And Emrys is to serve him, correct?" Again Merlin received another nod. "Who is the Once and future King?"

"King Arthur." Fredrick said, confident in his information.

"And who serves King Arthur, Fredrick?" Merlin whispered dangerously soft. An unconcealed warning in his voice.

Fredrick looked everywhere but at Merlin, his mind working furiously. Finally, his dark eyes settled on Merlin's face and Fredrick paled.

"You. You serve King Arthur. You're Emrys." He stated. Merlin nodded. Fredrick swallowed. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you aren't going to tell anyone." Merlin threatened. "As your leader I have the right to sentence you to death."

Merlin lashed out and punched him in the face. His head snapped back and slammed into the castle wall with a sickening crack. Merlin waited a moment to be sure he still breathed. The slow and steady rise told Merlin he would be out for a while. Good. He had time.

Merlin walked back over to Jerrod, and knelt down on one knee. He was still alive. He placed one hand on his chest and the other gripped the daggers hilt. With a hard tug he pulled it out with a wet slurping noise. A small gush of warm blood covered Merlin's hands. The blade was tinted red and dripped onto Merlin's already dirty pants.

He went to stand, but suddenly a hand gripped his leg and stopped him. Merlin looked down. Jerrod looked up at him, a bloody smile on his battered face. He swung his sword clumsily from the floor, aimless in his struggle.

Merlin kicked his wrist and knocked the blade from his hand. It clattered uselessly to the floor. Merlin knelt down and grabbed him by the front of his tunic and hefted him up to lock eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that." Merlin growled, provoked.

He was angry at Jerrod. At Fredrick. At himself. At Morgana. He was furious. Merlin didn't even think twice, which, he was sure, would come back to haunt him, but he didn't care because at that moment he saw red. Merlin took his dagger out of his chest and viciously sliced across Jerrod's throat.

A spray of hot blood saturated his face, neck and part of his chest. He didn't care. He was dead, and that was all that mattered. Their perverted nature was cleansed from this world. Merlin stumbled back away from Jarrod's lifeless body. He turned and walked quickly from the room.

The moment the door closed behind him he leaned against it. He slammed his head back into the door, hard. Once, twice. He squeezed his eyes shut and slid to the floor, his back supported by the door. One leg out, while the other bent at the knee and with his hands in his lap, palms up, shoulders slumped, he looked like a perfect portrait of defeat.

Merlin couldn't get his breathing under control. He looked down at his hands, and the dagger that rested comfortably in them. Both covered in blood. He expected his hands to shake, or nausea to overwhelm him and remorse to blacken his soul even more. But none of that happened. His hands were steady. His stomach was calm. And his emotions are as still as the eye of the storm. The rest of him, however, was a mess of devastated chaos.

Merlin realized with a distant pang of worry that this action had just changed something fundamental in him, and he had yet to find out what it was. He felt hollow as though his heart and soul had been damned to hell.

Merlin didn't even bother to wipe the blood from his hands or face. He let the dagger hang from his right hand. He stalked down the corridor and hurried to find Cedric. He needed to make sure James made it to him with Darrin, and that they took him to the healing waters. He pulled the hood up and covered his face. His footsteps were silent as he rushed down the hall. The blade glinted silver and red in the torch light as he quickly jogged down the corridor.