This fic feels post-apocalyptic. Everyone's dead at the beginning! Not everyone's dead. Oh, so the livestock escaped. That's great. Except for the sheep! The sheep are dead. You've lost me...

Character death. Crazy!Merlin. Implied Mergana.

Enjoy the insanity!

Morgana lay injured and awaiting death on a deserted battlefield. The only company she had was the dead. It was then that he showed up. Emrys, the man she had feared and hated for so long. Now, this same man was her only hope.

"Help me, Emrys." Morgana begged, sobbing. "Please!"

Emrys, however, was livid. Every inch of his being shook with his anger. "Is this really what you wanted, Morgana!" Emrys demanded.

"Please, no! Give me mercy." She wept. She didn't know exactly how this would end. When Morgana had dreamt this moment Emrys's anger had been enough to wake her. But now there would be no waking up. Emrys would kill her, and then she would never awake again.

"Mercy?" He spat, "You dare ask for mercy?"

"I don't want to die."

"Did you think Arthur wanted to die?"

"I only wanted to bring back the old ways. And to claim what was mine."

A muscle in Emrys cheek twitched in contempt. Without a word he swooped down and placed his gnarled hand on her shoulder.

In terror Morgana tried to pulled away. "No!" she screamed, as Emrys chanted. This is the end, she thought. This was how she would die, at those merciless hands. Then her world went dark.

To Morgana's surprise she woke up. She was still alone on the battlefield, the litter of bodies still stretching as far as the eye could see. Unlike them, Morgana was alive and even healthy.

Morgana stood. Maybe Mordred is still alive, she thought, just maybe. She scurried around the bodies until she found Mordred. The agony that tore at her heart made her drop to her knees. Mordred was clearly dead. The gash in his neck said as much. Her eyes stung with tears. She had loved him like a son. Morgana wanted, no needed to take care his body before making any new plans. But how would Mordred have wanted to be sent off? Unbidden, she recalled how Mordred spoke of a tale he had enjoyed as a child. It had been of a Crystal Cave hidden somewhere in the Valley of the Fallen Kings. That settled it. She would find this Crystal Cave and lay Mordred's body there.

After casting a spell on Mordred's body to prevent further decomposition until she could find his final resting place, she strapped the body to a horse. Then it was time to take the long journey to the Valley of the Fallen Kings.

When Morgana arrived at the Valley of the Fallen Kings she searched every crevice she could find. She never once took Mordred off the horse. She wanted to find the place before doing that.

Morgana stopped at what seemed like the hundredth cave. At least this time she could simply walk in. Some of the other caves required her to climb down to enter. The moment she entered this cave she came to two conclusions: that she had found the Crystal Cave and that someone had big plans for this cave. Every inch of the cave that wasn't a crystal seemed covered in symbols from the Old Religion. Morgana could see a man crouching on the ground, carving even more symbols in the cave's wall. He was muttering something Morgana couldn't hear.

"Hello?" She asked somewhat forcibly. She had not expected to find anyone here.

The man stood up and faced her. Furious, Morgana's jaw dropped. She recognized this man. It was Merlin.

A crazed smile played at Merlin's lips. "You might as well leave," he said. "You're too late to stop me."

Morgana smirked as she noticed that Merlin's eyes seemed a little over bright. Clearly the death of his friend had finally pushed his sanity over the edge. What a fitting revenge. "Stop you from what?" she asked a bit playfully.

"Banishing magic."

Morgana found herself laughing. Did Merlin really think that anyone could banish magic? He really had gone crazy. Maybe when this was over she'd keep him as a pet. A token of her victory over her dearly departed brother.

"If you don't leave," Merlin continued calmly, "you'll be trapped in here with me."

Morgana strutted towards Merlin. "Then why don't you leave?" She taunted.

"I need to power the spell. If you don't leave, you'll be powering it with me."

"Really?"

Morgana grabbed his shoulder. Funny. He didn't even flinch. No matter. She would cast a simple spell, and Merlin would be out cold. Then she bury Mordred. Afterward, she would take her new toy home with her. The possibilities were endless. But before she could utter an incantation, a loud rumbling noise broke out at the mouth of the cave. Seconds later the cave entrance collapsed.

"What did you do!" Morgana bellowed.

"I told you. I banished magic."

"That's impossible!" Morgana snapped. "Forbearnan." Fire burst from the tips of her fingers. "See?"

"All the magic that was in the world is now trapped in here." Merlin replied, unfazed.

Morgana turned to where the cave's mouth once was. "Ic abietee paet stanhol!" She screeched. Her eyes glowed momentarily, but nothing else happened.

"We won't be escaping," Merlin said ominously, causing Morgana to wheel back around. "Not even death is an option."

Alright, everyone, take a vote! Is the time of magic really at an end? Or is Merlin just crazy? Assuming we can give you a private message, if you review (with your guess), we will give you the answer. Yes, we're trying to blackmail you for reviews. Is it working?

And while you're at the reviewing, tell us which genres you'd put this under. We can't decide where it fits best.

And if you're bored, we happen to have an awesome poll on our profile. It's still there, waiting, even if you're not bored.

Oh, and no, I do NOT think of Merlin and Morgana as livestock. I really wish the internet had a sarcasm font.