The Future of Camelot

No More Deceit

Merlin burst into Gwen's apartment. A spot of blood on the floor caught his eye. He raced through the front passage into the kitchen. The door to the bedroom was closed, and the creature from his dream was banging on the outside. Merlin reached deep inside himself for the magic he had hidden for so many years. Once he found it, his instincts took over.

He flung the creature away from the door and onto the stove. Merlin got a good look at it here. It was about as big as a human and had tentacles coming out of its mouth and fingers. Several sharp spikes came out of its arms and hands. Its black eyes glowed as they stared at Merlin. His magic over the years had come faster and faster until he didn't have to say anything anymore, even for almost the strongest of spells. Merlin's eyes glowed and the gas lit. He snapped his fingers to create a spark, and the creature went up in smoke. All was well. Now he would go home and try to discover why on Earth such a creature had appeared after a thousand years of peace. He would tidy up and leave and -

"Merlin?" asked Morgan, just before she fainted.

0O0O0O0

Merlin lowered Morgan into Gwen's bed gently, careful not to bump the wound on her shoulder. Gwen kept her distance but watched as he held his hands over the place where the creature had pierced Morgan. Gwen had a small cut from a knife she had been wielding to protect herself, but Morgan's injuries were far more severe than that. He lowered his head so Gwen couldn't see his eyes when he surveyed the wound for poison or infection. There was a poison, a strong poison entering her bloodstream at that very moment. He would have to work quickly to save her, but there was something he would have to do first.

"Gwen," Merlin said, "do you trust me?" She looked at him in disbelief.

"You just bloody destroyed whatever that bloody creature was! I saw you! You lit the gas and the flame and you bloody killed it! Who the hell are you?"

"That's not what I asked," said Merlin, willing himself to keep calm. "Do you trust me to save Morga - Morgan?"

"I trust you," Gwen admitted. Merlin nodded at her decision.

"Don't be afraid, Gwen. I can do this. I can save her. Please, don't be afraid." He braced his hands on Morgan's shoulder and let the magic flow through his veins. It had been so long, but he remembered. His body resisted healing Morgana, but he forced it to. "Come on, Morgana," he muttered. Gwen inhaled sharply. Almost done, almost - he felt that the magic had worked immediately. Morgan's tense muscles relaxed under his grip as the poison was irradicated from her system.

Merlin was conscious of Gwen holding her hands over her mouth, then running into the bathroom. Grateful to be alone with Morgana - Morgan - he talked to her.

"I made mistakes, Morgana. I made so many mistakes. I took the wrong advice. I keep thinking that if I had told you about your magic, and about mine, that we could have helped each other. I could have prevented everything. You wouldn't have turned to evil. I could have prevented you from being corrupted by Morgause. God, Morgana, I'm so sorry. For everything I have done. And haven't done. How I miss the Morgana that used to be. I miss you. You are my second chance. There must be some reason why you and Guinevere and Lancelot have all returned at the same time. It must mean that Arthur shall soon return as well. Can you tell me?"

Morgan lay motionless on the bed. "No. I know you can't. Never mind. Having you alive is enough. All will be revealed in time."

0O0O0O0

Gwen was so confused. Too much had happened today, and she could not help the regurgitation that followed the sight of her best friend being stabbed by a terrible creature and their friend healing her - using magic.