I do not own anything and before someone says something; yes, it is all supposed to be in italics for reasons only my brain knows.

"No!"

The single word pierced deeper into his heart than any sword could. The word was shouted across scarred lands, deafening to the point where it was the only noise that could be heard. All the smashing of metal against metal and thunderous whispers of magic laden incantations were momentarily silent. All he could hear was that one simple word.

All he could see was the traitorous man he had saved as a child plunge a sword right above his heart. He could see the blue eyes widen in momentary pain or shock—from this distance he couldn't tell which—before the body slumped to the ground, unmoving and unnaturally still. The man standing over the top of him was grinning, his own dark blue eyes mad with power and insanity and pride. Pride that he had killed his friend.

He didn't think he didn't realize what he was doing; his body just seemed act on its own accord. His eyes quickly found the sword bathed in the flames of a dragon's breathe and his hand immediately sought out the familiar hilt. The moment his fingers tightened around the form of Excalibur, he felt as if he himself had been consumed by the fires of the dragon. His blood was burning. The blade was humming as the magic instilled within the metal roared for retribution, snarled for the lifeblood of his eternal enemy. And he gave it to the magical blade.

Excalibur entered into Mordred's body right where he had dared stabbed his friend. The fire inside of him flaring up in exhilaration when he saw the stunned eyes of the traitor slowly being to fill with agony, the sorcerer hadn't expected to be taken down by such mundane means He hadn't expected to be stabbed the same way he had just killed the man only a few feet away. Yet, even with him bleeding and gapping for breath of air only for his lungs to fill with blood instead, Excalibur was not through with the traitor. The magical sword drew on the burning fire inside of him and used them like the dragon's flames it was bathed in to incinerate Mordred from the inside out. His screams of anguish rang through the battlefield, silenced by a crack of thunder.

He didn't care though; he was already sprinting across the small stretch of land to his fallen friend. Everything else around him was just an inconvenience, another obstacle to saving the one life that meant more to him than he was willing to admit; even to himself. It was only a matter of seconds before he was at the still form's side, dropping Excalibur into the ground haphazardly and he, himself crumpling down to the ground. Gently, with more care than he could ever recall using before, he cradled the unmoving body to his chest and did the only thing he could do. He prayed, and not just to anyone, he prayed to the Old Religion.

The Old Religion was still strong on the land beneath him. Or at least it had been before the dawn of the day. Now the land bared all its scars to be seen by all. The ragged terrain which once housed a portion of a beautiful forest was nothing more than a desolated graveyard. Bodies of the proud warriors of Camelot littered the clearing, some of them had eyes which stared on for eternity yet were to never see anything again and others were clinging onto life, waiting for a miracle but there were none forthcoming. Limbs lay limp, severed from their owners next to puddles tinged red which were slowly growing bigger with each passing second.

"Come on, open your eyes! Open your eyes!" he muttered into the ragged, blood stained hair. "You can't die, cannot! Remember, we're two sides of the same coin? Don't you know; without one there cannot be the other? That means you can't die. I won't allow it, I forbid you to die."

"Be-tt'r," the word was coughed out, making him snap his head up and seeing half lidded glazed blue eyes stare into his own. Pale lips, which seemed to become even paler, keep moving, trying to whisper out words only to result in blood coming out in their place; blood which contrasted sharply against the white skin that was growing colder in his grasp. "…'ead…moster…"

"What?" he asked, trying to make out the words which were being chocked out by the man, who seemed keen on repeating the words again; coughing up more blood with each passing second. He tried to shush his friend, tried to make him save his energy until help came, but they both knew no help would come. Not in time; he was dying.

"…'ead…moster…t'an..ou"

"Dead… monster? Yes, I-I killed him, I killed Mordred, the monster is gone," he tried to reassure the dying man, but that only made the body in his arms tremble and shake before going still once more. A long breathe escaped the man's lips, but no air rushed in to his lungs to replace it.

Yet, the man somehow managed to pass on one last message through dying lips, "Luv..Art'ur."

The King of Camelot was temporarily dazed by his friend's last words to such an extent that he didn't notice when blue eyes closed for the final time. He was too caught up in the words he had never expected to hear from his beloved friend's mouth and in truth, he did not know how to feel. The warlock had always been by his side, always listening to him when he need someone to talk to, advising him when he needed, and even yelling at him when he was being a "prat" and he never seemed to want anything in return.

A fact which had never made any sense to him; why would the most powerful warlock in all of history be loyal to a fault to him? The warlock could have done anything with such power at his fingertip, but he never did. When asked why, he would just smile slightly and say it wasn't his destiny. But even the king knew that destiny did not, could not, have such a strong tie over such a powerful being. He could have chosen to break his own destiny if he wanted to; there was something else which held the warlock to his side. It only took his death for Arthur to finally find out.

Love bound the man to him.

The king only broke out of his reflections when he realized something was wrong after the body in his arms went completely limp, all the tension and pain flowing out.

"Merlin?" the whispered name was softly spoken as he lightly shook the body in his arms. But there was no response. "MERLIN!" the king shouted. "Come on, you can't just tell me that-that you love me and die! Not…not when…not without me telling…Merlin…I love you."

When he thought about it, when the thoughts crashed down on him, he knew it was true. He was in love with Merlin and for the life of him, he couldn't tell when he started to feel this way towards his friend. He could pick out a dozen of times when it was Merlin he went to, Merlin whose opinion matter so much to him, Merlin who he wanted to protect, Merlin…Merlin…Merlin. How could he have not realized it before? He had been in love with the warlock far longer than he had been married to Guinevere. But why hadn't the idiot said anything? Why had he helped him win over Guinevere's heart when he had obviously been in love with Arthur for just as long, if not longer, than he had loved him? The warlock had step aside for his happiness, that was the only explanation; but at what cost to himself?

"You idiot! You should have said something! You should have told me!" the man shouted, burying his head into the graying raven locks of hair which were now clotted with drying bloods. A tear making it's was down the King of Camelot's face. "I love you too, Merlin."

Around the Once and Future King, the Old Religion let tears fall. Rain drops fell down, mourning the loss for its son, the son of magic, and his lost lover as the wind howled its rage. Bolts of lightning danced around the graveyard and cracks of thunder roared its discontent. With one last large flash of lightning, the sky went black.

Hello Merlin community, this is my very first Merlin fic...sorry it is so depressing, but this was what happens when I've just finished reading the King Arthur myths and then watching random episodes of Merlin. It was supposed to be how Mordred killed Arthur and Merlin still being there unlike in the legend; however, somehow it ending with Merlin dying instead. For now, this is as complete as I can make it.

Riley Lee