Merlin stood and paced as he waited for the hour to crawl by. Lana had gone off on her own again, and he wasn't sure where she'd gone. It made him nervous not knowing where any of the children were. What if they were getting into some sort of trouble? He needed all of them in place in order for his plan to work.

The door slammed open, and Merlin spun around to face Lana. Her face was red and she was gasping for breath. His heart sank. "Trouble?" he guessed.

It took her a minute to regain her brother. "U-Uncle Emrys, Rampion, she ..." The bard could go no further. Merlin was horrified to see tears glistening on her cheeks. Pressuring her would do no good; he had to wait for her to regain some semblance of calm. It took a relatively short amount of time. "She attacked Emrys and Gwaine!" she wailed.

"Attacked them?" Merlin stared at her. "What in the world do you mean?"

Lana wiped her cheeks with her sleeve. "She tied them up with her hair," she whimpered. "And then this woman turned up and laughed at them. She said she was going to burn them both at the stake to get to you!"

"Nimueh!" Merlin snarled. He raked his hand through his hair in frustration. "Ahh, how could I not have seen this coming? She's going to put them on the stake with Elisa and Eve ... and she knows I'll do anything to save them. But how could I have known that she could control Rampion? Rampion should have been immune to magic, like her father ..."

"Uncle Emrys!" Lana's sharp voice brought Merlin back to Earth. He looked at her quizzically. "What are we going to do?"

Merlin pursed his lips as he thought. Then he came to a decision. "What we've been doing," he said. "We continue with the plans we've made with the swans. But come with me. I plan on finding out if Nimueh has left her prisoners in that tower, and I am not separating from you."

Lana obediently followed behind the sorcerer as he strode through the hallways with a purpose. Since noble dinners apparently took a while, there still wasn't anyone wandering the halls. Even though Lana had much longer legs than Merlin, she still had to hurry to keep up with him. "Where—are we going?" she panted.

"We're going to the tower prison," Merlin said. "If the prisoners are in there, you can bet your life that I'm not leaving them there. Come on."

They reached the door to the prison without incident and mounted the stairs. By the time they reached the top, Lana's legs were burning, and her breath was coming in rapid gasps. Merlin hardly even looked winded. He motioned to the top of the stairs and said, "Wait here. If the door closes behind me, I don't want you to get caught inside."

That was fine with Lana. She stood beside the stairs, hugging the wall. It would be a long way down if she fell, she thought nervously. Merlin approached the metal door and laid his palms on it. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Lana saw smoke rising from the metal and the door swung open. Merlin cursed. "They're gone!"

Lana went to answer when someone wrapped an arm around her neck. She shrieked as she was dangled over the stairs, her feet just above the stone. "Help me!"

Merlin said nothing for a moment. Then, "Nimueh. What have you done to Rampion?"

"Oh, you mean you didn't know?" Nimueh laughed. Judging from the proximity of her laughter, Lana guessed that she was the one holding her. "Will Scarlet's immunity to most magics comes with a price. Mental magic is extremely potent on him and his family. Particularly mental manipulation."

"You sound so proud of yourself," Merlin growled. "Look at yourself! Attacking children, burning women at the stake. Where does it end? What have you become?"

"I haven't become anything," Nimueh said in a low voice. "This is how I always was. And if you were under any other impression, it was simply due to your infatuation with me. Nothing more, nothing less. I advise that you step back into that cell and let the door close. Otherwise, the bard will fall."

Lana heard a sharp intake of breath from Rampion, standing nearby. Her expression was horrified for a brief moment, but it faded to blankness in a flash. Perhaps the spell could be broken on her, though ... "Uncle Emrys," Lana said, her voice quivering. It was small consolation to her even if Rampion could be freed. It still seemed like she was going to end up going down the stairs, and not in a good way.

"Don't, Nimueh," Merlin warned. Lana couldn't see his face.

"You know, I'd rather enjoy seeing this," Nimueh said after a moment. "Poor little Lana, the only child not to be related to a Guardian ... not a long way to fall figuratively, but literally? Let's find out."

And she let go.

. . . . . . . . . .

Merlin saw Nimueh prepare to drop Lana and quickly threw out his hand. Wind flew from his palm, catching the bard before she could hit the stairs and swiftly moved her to safety behind him. For some reason, she'd lost consciousness, and Merlin doubted it was simply from the fright of getting attacked by Nimueh. He'd have to deal with that later, though. "It was a nice try, Nimueh," he said, crossing his arms.

"Oh, you always do ruin my fun," the sorceress answered, pouting. "Shall I use Rampion? You always did have a weakness for children, especially since you go around looking like one. Honestly, don't you have any self-respect?"

Merlin snapped his fingers, and Rampion crumpled. Another wave of his hand and she too was moved behind him. "This is between you and me, Nimueh," he said. "Although, I have you to thank for being able to lift the spell from Rampion. I never would have realized that Rampion is weak to mind magic without you."

"Me and my loose lips," Nimueh replied, laughing. "I suppose it's my fault, isn't it?"

Merlin squared his shoulders. "Enough with this childish act, Nimueh," he snapped. "We both know it's a fight with me you want. Let's get it over with." Flames lit up both his hands.

Nimueh mirrored the action. "Very well, dear," she said. "I think that you're going to burn, just like your sons."

Merlin formed a barrier over the two unconscious girls and just barely had the time to dive out of the way as Nimueh hurled her fireballs. He shot another at her and she danced out of the way, her long dress not even hindering her movements. "You'll have to do better than that, Merlin!" she taunted him.

Using her momentum against her, Merlin slammed his palm into the ground. The stones shuddered beneath Nimueh's feet, knocking her down. Dark tendrils shot from her hands, wrapping around the shield he'd placed over Rampion and Lana. They squeezed in an effort to break through, but Merlin was confident in his abilities. He didn't even bother increasing the power over the shield as he approached Nimueh.

She wasn't out of tricks yet, though. A tendril he hadn't seen whipped up from behind her, wrapping around his neck and throwing him backwards, down the stairs. He only fell down six or seven, managing to catch himself with his magic before falling any further. Bruised and battered, he staggered to his feet. Nimueh looked disappointed. "Even hurtling to your doom down tower steps, you still keep the shield up over the little doves!" she said. "Do you care nothing for your own safety?"

"Not when I'm defending the people I care about," Merlin answered, and shoved his hands forward for all he was worth. Wind magic exploded from his fingertips, slamming into Nimueh and pinning her to the wall. Under the battering assault of the wind, she slid down with a groan. Merlin walked up the steps to her and stood over her, fist raised, but he didn't move yet.

"Well?" she said. "I know you're not strong enough to kill me. Not alone. So what are you planning to do?"

"For the moment, I'm going to focus on rescuing the people I promised to protect," Merlin said. "Which means that you can't be around while I do it. I'm going to banish you from this Story."

"I've done my work here," she spat. "Try and wake your precious bard!" She started laughing, as if they'd shared a private joke.

Goaded into action, Merlin brought his fist down. The banishing spell activated and Nimueh's form shimmered before disappearing. The Six Swans Story wouldn't be hearing from her again. But her words about Lana made him anxious, and he quickly dispelled the shield over the two girls and knelt beside Lana. He laid his hand on the side of her head and attempting to return her to consciousness, but she wouldn't wake up. "No, no," he murmured. What had Nimueh done to her?

Moving to Rampion, he repeated the hand movement and was rewarded with her dark eyes opening. "M-Merlin?" she said, blinking. "What happened? Where am I?"

Merlin sat back on his heels, frustrated. "I defeated Nimueh," he said. "But she's done something to Lana. I can't wake her up."

Why was everything going so wrong?