Was it Worth It?

10. Eye For an Eye

The inspirational quote for this particular turn of events:
"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." -Confucius

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Merlin rode in silence, only stopping to eat and let his horse rest. He had no idea that King Arthur and the knights were on his trail. He only stopped to set up camp when he reached his cave, the sun was now coming over the horizon. He would wait in his house until night fell, then he would attack. He would kill the guards first, then the soldiers, so he could work his way towards the center of the castle with no alarm bells being rung. At least, that was the plan.

He successfully made it inside the castle walls without raising suspicion, but the one thing he didn't prepare for was extra guards. Of course, he knew that because of his recent escape and such there would be more than normal, but this was definitely overkill. He should've guessed that she would be paranoid. By the time Merlin reached his fifth group of guards there were simply too many for him to take on at once. They came at him in groups of two, he managed to fend off all but one. This soldier managed to slice up Merlin's arm pretty badly before he escaped. Not even fifteen minutes later the warning bells sounded, echoing throughout the empty corridors. He rushed through the halls he spent months of his imprisonment memorizing, desperately trying to reach the throne room before he could get caught. He ran into some trouble along the way but it wasn't long until he arrived outside the large set of doors.

He cautiously looked to his bleeding arm before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he then shoved the doors open and stepped inside. The interior looked exactly like he'd imagined, crumbling pillars, shattered windows, and an aging throne. On it sat Morgana, she was resting her head on her hand, a small amount of amusement dancing across her face. Merlin was infuriated, how could she sit there when she just killed an innocent man, someone who had helped her and cared for her unconditionally. Rage shook his body as he killed the guards standing next to the throne, slamming the doors shut in the process. Morgana nodded her head in approval before speaking up.

"Merlin, I had a feeling that you would be coming." She said in a fake cheery voice.

"You killed him." Merlin growled. Any remaining glass in the windows shattered as the rage built up inside him. The witch covered up the slight fear in her heart and maintained eye contact with Merlin.

"Killed who?" She asked curiously, honestly not knowing who he was talking about.

"Gaius. You killed him." Merlin said, punctuating each word with another step towards her throne. The unmistakable look of regret, sadness, and denial flashed across her face in an instant, but she managed to keep her calm.

"Just another casualty of war." She said nonchalantly, trying to convince herself more than anything. Merlin's nostrils flared and his hand raised, lifting Morgana along with it. As she was hovering in the air over her broken throne he squeezed his fist closed. Her eyes bulged out of her sockets as she raked her fingers over her neck, desperately trying to get air into her lungs. Merlin grinned maniacally, she was finally getting what she deserved.

Once Arthur and the knights arrived at the castle it wasn't hard to find out what direction Merlin went in, they just needed to follow the trail of dead or unconscious bodies. They grew desperate as Elyan pointed out that there was now a small trail of blood on the ground, meaning Merlin was probably wounded. The closer they got to the throne room the more resistance they went up against, however, these soldiers were no match for the emotionally compromised knights of Camelot. They had a friend to help and nothing would stand in their way.