The Rise of Arthur Pendragon

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Alia could almost see the malice in his face before she had even turned around. "I believe I was, Sir Merrill. if that is in fact your name.",she sneered. The man gave her an evil grin and said; "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you my dear but I must be on my way." His eyes flashed gold and a piece of the ceiling came crashing down. Alia barely managed to roll out from underneath it in time. As she straightened up out of her dive she screamed; "Cume her fyrbryne!", and a steak of flames sparked to life at Alia's feet and shot towards Sir Merrill who yelped and jumped out of the way. "Oh you are good aren't you.",he jeered. "You like fire do you? Let's see how you like this then. "Ástríce." A column of fire blazed in his palm as then hurtled towards Alia. She reflexively thew her arms up to shield herself. The young sorceress knew her arms would do her no good when the inferno stuck her but she had not yet learned anything powerful enough to stop it. "I'm sorry Arthur. I'm sorry Merlin.", she closed her eyes and waited. Then, a shout rose up behind her; "Brimstréam!" A jet of water came flying out of nowhere to meet the column of fire. "Merlin!", she cried, relief flooding through her. Merlin only grunted in reply. He was focusing on fighting back the flames which Sir Merrill still held steady. It was a spectacular sight to see. Sir Merrill at one end of the room, a bright orange inferno blazing from his palms, to be met by Merlin, standing on the other end, an icy jet of water rushing from his hands. No one how long they stood there for. Sir Merrill was certainly a powerful warlock but after a while, he clearly began to tire. But Merlin too was wavering, for he had sent a stream of magic into Arthur to speed up the healing process, which in turn, had weakened him. Alia didn't know what to do. She didn't know how long Merlin could hold out for. She stood in the centre of the room feeling panic, anger and desperation rising up inside her like a mighty wave about to break. Closing her eyes, Alia tried desperately to think of a way to help her friend. Then, a husky voice spoke in her head; "The time has come, young Druid." "Kilgara.",Alia breathed, remembering what the great Dragon had told her. "The time has come.",she muttered to herself, nodding slowly. Her eyes snapped open and she knew what to do. Turning to face Merlin she yelled; "Merlin! Break the connection! Now!" Merlin, who was turning paler by the minute gave her a small nod and threw himself to the side. The jet of water stopped and the column of fire crashed into the wall, blasting a hole in the wall where Merlin had been standing just seconds before. Then, Alia faced Sir Merrill who had a triumphant smirk on his cruel face and said softly; "What you have done is unforgivable. You are despicable excuse for a sorcerer and do not deserve the gift of magic." Suddenly, she lifted her hands high above her head, harnessing the power of the last Great Dragon and screamed; "O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!" The figure of a dragon appeared in the air before her. Then it swooped down towards the traitor. His face was now a mask of fear. Just before it reached him it went into a nosedive and barrelled into the ground at Sir Merrills feet. For a second nothing happened. "It seems you have fail-", he began but stopped abruptly when the floor beneath him started to shake. All of a sudden the ground broke apart leaving a gaping hole right under the Knight. He, it seemed, would not go down without a fight. Just before the earth swallowed him whole, he turned to face Alia and his eyes flashed gold. Then, he was gone.

Something hurtled through the air toward her. She gasped and fell to the floor clutching her stomach. Then Merlin appeared by her side, an incredulous look on his pale face. "You're... you're a...",he stammered, "You're a dragonlord." Alia groaned and it was only then that Merlin saw the ornate silver dagger, protruding from his friends side.

A/N: Hey guys! It took me a while to write this chapter cause I couldn't get the ending right... I really hope you like it the way it is now! School starts tomorrow and it's gonna be a tough time for me so I'm really sorry if I don't update as often anymore. I'll do my best though! Thanks for reading and PLEASE let me know what you think! :P