"I'm in position." Stark declared over the radio hovering high above the ground in his gleaming red and gold suit. "And so is the rest of the Iron Man fleet."

Loki wiggled the earbud to make sure it fit snuggly in his ear. "So am I."

Barton was perched at the best vantage point outside the henge, a flat-topped boulder, perfect for shooting arrows from.

Natasha stood at his side with her guns. "We're ready here too."

The Asgardian archers under Barton's command were scattered around at the highest points in the plain.

Tyr had about fifty former royal guards stationed around the henge to cut off any escape once the enemy arrived with Cassandra. The rest were evacuating civilians from the village in case things became dicey.

Strange's spell concealed everyone from view. The sorcerer floated nearby, with his arms crossed over his chest. Wong and Li had joined them the previous evening citing three sorcerers were better than one.

The pair would provide support to Tyr's guards.

As the full moon rose over the horizon and spilled across the monoliths, Loki rose from his crouch, Excalibur's hilt crushed in his fist. He was a part of the first wave. His job was to go in and rescue Cassandra leaving everyone free to attack the enemy. While they were routed Loki and Cassandra were supposed to cast the spell to banish Morgan le Fey.

Loki patted his pocket to make sure the spell scroll was secure. He had a pouch of dried herbs from Kamar Taj's apothecary tied to a belt loop to ignite the incantation.

It was a haphazard plan with lots of holes but the best they could conceive in three days.

Seconds ticked by then minutes as they waited for the enemy to appear.

The ocean breeze blew drifts of snow off the altar in the henge, revealing the aged and weathered rock.

"Something's wrong. They should be here." Banner declared; voice strained with tension.

"Did you screw up the calculations, Banner?" Stark demanded. "You were adamant the ley line well was located here. If they're somewhere else, then there's nothing we can do now to stop them from freeing Morgan le Fey!"

"They should be here." Banner insisted. "I don't understand what's going on. This is the correct location."

Loki cursed and kicked a stone plinth. "Perhaps you lost some of your brains when you turned into that green beast permanently!"

"Not helping Sideshow!" Stark barked.

But Loki didn't give a fuck. Panic clawed at his throat as his eyes darted around the henge. Cassandra wasn't here.

So where was she?

*************************************************************************************

Nimue led Cassandra up a set of ancient stairs carved into a giant sloping hill. Springy moss created a nice carpet for her naked feet.

They climbed to the top of the hill, which Cassandra believed was called a Tor because of the rock formation near the ledge of the cliff.

The nymph had yet to speak again since ordering Cassandra to follow her. She only did out of a thirst for answers.

Nimue walked over to a narrow ledge where a cluster of wildflowers bloomed. She paused to admire them, watering them with a fine mist from her fingertips.

The air crackled with Cassandra's growing impatience. "If this is not a dream, then what would you call it?"

Nimue raised her hand to stall her. "Do you understand the concept of astral projection?"

Cassandra blinked. "Well, yeah, but I haven't tried it out yet. Master Wong didn't believe I was ready."

The nymph swept her arms out gracefully. "Yet here you are with a little help from me."

Patting her body self-consciously Cassandra swallowed a ball of panic. Shit. She was outside her body yet everything felt strangely tangible. She stooped to pick up a round flat stone, worn smooth by water. It was cool against the pad of her thumb.

Cassandra dropped it hurriedly. This was way too freaky. "What do you want from me, Lady Nimue?" It seemed like the best place to start.

"Cassandra you are so close to realizing your true power. Why do you hesitate? What is it you fear?"

Cassandra sighed. "Ask the easy questions why don't you?"

"I only ask because you need to hear the answers." Nimue said cryptically.

Frowning, Cassandra focused her thoughts. If this was Nimue's way of hinting at her stupidity and incompetence, the nymph had a point.

Merlin was the epic sorcerer to end all sorcerers. All she had done since inheriting his power was bumble around like an idiot and get herself captured by a delusional man who believed himself to be King Arthur.

Surely, there was no one more unworthy than Cassandra to be the Merlin.

Nimue seemed to sense her internal struggle. "What troubles you?"

"I don't deserve this power. I'm not good enough." There was the blanket truth.

Nimue's red lips pursed. "That's where you're wrong. Emrys would not have chosen you if you weren't worthy."

Cassandra decided not to mention that the Merlin was bonkers when he made that choice.

"I love learning magic and casting spells. I mean, wow, how amazing does that sound? Despite all that I just can't shake the doubts. Look what mess I'm in now. My mom is being used against me. My magic suppressed." Gripping her hair at the base of her neck with both hands, Cassandra shook her head. "I made a big ass mess of things."

"Doubts are natural. Being controlled by your fears, however, is not." Nimue sent Cassandra a level look. "You need to have faith in yourself Cassandra and your power. Emrys trusted you. I trust you."

"Have faith in myself?" Cassandra shook her head, overwhelmed. "I know what I have to do. I'm just afraid of failing."

A sudden wind gusted across the tor, blowing Nimue's hair around her head in a wild cloud. Her eyes were pools of dark water, deep and wise. "You cannot fail."

The wind blew past Cassandra and formed a whirlwind tearing up bits of grass and dirt from the earth. For a second the echo of childish giggling spiraled around her then suddenly she stood in a meadow beneath a sunny sky.

Two little girls darted amid the flowers, their shoulder length raven curls bouncing in the sunshine. "I've seen this before." Cassandra murmured to herself. "Why? I don't understand. Who are they?"

Nimue appeared beside Cassandra in the vision. "Possibility." She smiled as she watched the playing children.

The girls still had their backs to them, their faces out of view. Cassandra shivered as a sense of déjà vu came over her. They were so achingly familiar, yet she had no idea why. Her instincts told her the children were important.

One of the girls plucked a bluebell and darted toward the edge of a cliff. Cassandra's stomach plummeted and fear unlike anything she'd ever experienced before swamped her thoughts, driving her into a panic. She burst forward to scoop the girl out of danger. The moment her fingers made to close over the child's shoulders she dissolved into mist.

Cassandra reared back, crying out in surprise as the meadow faded from view.

They were back on the tor, the children gone. A part of her ached to go back there. "Who are they?" She whispered.

"I think you know." Nimue said with a knowing smile.

Tears rolled down Cassandra's cheeks and she clamped a shaky hand over her belly. "But I can't be. We used protection."

Not to mention it hadn't been long enough to know if she were pregnant.

Nimue cupped Cassandra's cheek in a motherly gesture. "You are right. They are not yet conceived but if you do not defeat Morgan le Fey they will never exist."

"Who is their father? Is it Loki?" Cassandra could think of no one else as the father of her children.

"The Trickster is a fitting companion for the Merlin. His mercurial nature balances you well." Nimue plucked a flower from the ground and twirled it between her slender fingers. "Your lives were always meant to weave together." She glanced up at Cassandra. "You are truly blessed. Soul mates are rare in this world."

"Soulmates." Cassandra whispered. The word sounded so right.

Destiny had been at work when she met Loki in the park. Even then she felt a strange connection with him.

Cassandra had seen their daughters. Her children. The gravity of Nimue's warning sank in. She laughed at herself, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. A protective fierceness rose in her as she looked at the nymph. "I'm ready."

The flower dropped from Nimue's fingers, the pale pink petals shedding in the grass. "Good. Now focus your thoughts and reach for your Trickster."

"But how? I can't use telepathy-" Cassandra started to protest but Nimue silence her with a glare.

"You are the Merlin. Many of the rules you have been taught do not apply. Reach with your heart. He will answer."

A wall of water rose up from the lake below and rolled under Nimue's feet lifting her into the air so she towered over Cassandra with a forbidding expression. "Now, rise up Cassandra Pierce and claim what is yours! Rise up and defeat your enemies!" The nymph raised her palm and the water gathered beneath Cassandra raising her to Nimue's level. "Rise up." She said in a much softer voice and pressed her lips to Cassandra's.

Cassandra jerked awake with a violent gasp.

A/N: This chapter was so fun to write and I'm excited to reach this milestone of 50 chapters. I hopeyou enjoyed it! Have a great day.