A/N: I can't actually believe how much more I've written from my old version to this version. Thanks for your continuing support. I have increased the rating to a T because there is more description of violence and some adult themes. A chapter later on also include some adult themes and scenes described which some readers may find distressing. (chapter 8) I will reiterate this again in chapter 8. I still don't own Merlin and if that changes I'll let you know. Hope you enjoy and happy reading!

TheNinja3004

Arthur's POV

Only now has the battle finally begun to cease. Blood, swords and men are all scattered across the pathway. Stepping over them is becoming a repetitive nature and one that I do not enjoy. A man reaches up to me as if my touch will heal him, though by the looks of it… no one can save him now. In this desolate place, if you're injured you don't stand a chance. There are still Saxons running rampage and Morgana is still at large. I inhale deeply, just as the man exhales for the last time, looking around at the devastation and then continue moving through the never ending flood of the red cloaks belonging to the Pendragon army. It looks like a river of blood… Men on both sides lost their lives, the greatest debt that can never be repaid. It doesn't matter whether they fought in red or in black, they were all just pawns on a giant chess board, where loosing meant death.

Suddenly a noise alerts my ears; having been trained to kill since birth I instantly recognise the sound as the drawing of a sword. I'm fast and manage to turn, facing my challenger. Our swords clash and I'm preparing for another battle. It is only then that he raises his head and his identity is revealed. Mordred, my once friend and now… I suppose enemy. He betrayed me and I betrayed him, I know that this is not going to end well.

For a fraction of a second we both lower our swords and I think he's about to ask for forgiveness. But he doesn't and uses my hesitation to his advantage by lunging forward, pushing his sword into my stomach, I'm winded and can't draw breath, my knees buckle and I await the final strike.

"You gave me no choice" he says solemnly. The sentence seems to give me new found energy and I stand, penetrating my own sword deep into his body. I hold it there for longer and when I withdraw it, Mordred smiles at me before collapsing to the floor… dead.

I can feel that I also don't have long, but the worst thing I want to do is end up dead next to Mordred, he would just kill me again in the afterlife, so I manage to stumble a few steps, but the pain; it's excruciating. I clutch at my stomach and begin howling internally because I'm too weak to scream out loud. My last memory is of the darkness circling me like a shark and the finite clang as my sword Excalibur hits the ground.

^.^

Being unconscious is incredibly hard to describe as a feeling. I can almost sense things that are happening around me but at the same time, I'm completely unconnected to my body, it's like being unaware but aware of everything at the same time. I don't think I'm dead. At least not yet… I always thought that death would feel… more heavy… definite. Whereas right now I feel as if nothing is certain and I could be wrong but I have the vaguest suspicion that I'm being carried.

Some amount of time passes before images begin to swarm my inner mind. I don't know if what I am seeing is real or a bizarre concoction created by my unconscious brain but three images keep coming up in a particular order; a man, a forest, a fire. There's a certainty in which these images come, making me think that they may have actually been happening at some point. With each repetition the images move faster and become brighter in colour, until a multitude of colours are overcrowding my mind. The images come like a beat of a drum, constantly and hard.

A man.

A forest.

A fire.

…

A man.

A forest.

A fire.

…

A man…

A forest…

A-

And then all of a sudden it's like a breath of fresh air has been given to me. I have finally stopped being underneath the surface of consciousness and am now rising steadily towards it.

I let out a gasp as I come to. I blink a couple of times before fully opening my tired eyes, sitting in front of me, back turned is Merlin. I call his name in surprise and he jumps a little before spinning around and coming over to me.

"How are you feeling?" He asks reaching my side. The worry in his voice is unavoidable. I groan with the slightest movement of trying to readjust myself into a sitting position, I'm agonised to find out just how much pain I am in. I grunt again and place my hand on Merlin's shoulder, he holds it in place and whispers gently "lie back, lie back."

"Where have you been?" Like his worry, my disappointment is obvious. He looks at me and his bottom lip begins to tremble.

"It doesn't matter now," he mumbles softly. I move a tiny amount but again the sharp shooting pain returns which makes me wheeze deeply. It feels like I have been through hell or worse…

"My side!" I manage to muster, but too quietly "My side!" I repeat more loudly,

"It's not bleeding." Merlin replies glancing at my side.

"Well that's good then, I thought I was dying!" I say trying to add some humour into the conversation, but Merlin just looks at me with deadly serious eyes. I know that look and it comforts me because he always dramatizes my injuries which means my side is better than I suspect… That's what I hope anyway, otherwise I might actually be dying, and that's bad.

"I'm sorry" He practically whispers and I feel like rolling my eyes because it doesn't matter anymore, I'm about to speak but he continues "I thought I had defied the prophecy, I thought I was in time," his words make no sense to me.

"What are you talking about?" I croak taking small breaths in-between each word, I should probably admit to him that it hurts to breathe before he begins to talk again. But I want to understand his speech, anyway he seems too emotional, to listen to my meaningless waffle, at the moment.

I can see tears welling up in his eyes his voice cracking as he speaks. "I defeated the Saxons," he gulps "The dragon, and yet- and yet I knew it was Mordred that I must stop." he breaths slowly in and out.

I smile at him knowingly; he's just being humorous, though he looks deadly serious. I pat his shoulder comfortingly. "The person who defeated them was the sorcerer!" I reply matter of fact-ly. But when my eyes meet his crumpled face I know something is wrong. Merlin doesn't usually cry or at least when he does he tries to hide it from me, but right now he's inhaling quick breaths which means he is on the verge of crying and doesn't care if I see him, or even wants me to see him.

"It was me." he trembles again, his voice sounds so final that I am almost convinced, but it's absurd, he… he can't be… he can't be a sorcerer!

"Don't be ridiculous," I reply voicing my thoughts. Lowering my eyebrows I frown, as I realise Merlin is actually crying "This is stupid, -" I exclaim "Why- why would you say that?" I continue between inhales of air.

Merlin finally manages to reply amongst his deep breathing and not quite but almost bawling. His expression and body language, it's scary to watch him like this. "I'm-a" he chokes up again. After a few seconds he starts to inhale and exhale more steadily this time. "I'm a… I'm a sorcerer," on the word sorcerer he points to his heart and exhales. My frown deepens, but Merlin continues "I have magic." he breaks down into sobs. I need to say something but no words come out "I use it for you Arthur." he nods his head at me "and only for you-"

Before he says anymore I say sternly "Merlin! You are not a sorcerer, I would know"

There's silence for a brief amount of time whilst he composes himself. He locks eye contact with me and speaks "look," he says "here," sniffing he rotates towards the fire "Upastige draca". A dragon appears in the fire flapping its great wings.

I grunt and turn away, my head is full of emotions and I can't express them at this present point in time "leave me" I close my eyes but can still sense that Merlin is there "Go away!" I mutter again, he does so and eventually after calming down a bit, I fall into a dreamless sleep.

^.^

Merlin's POV

As the idea of sleep slips beyond reach when dawn begins to break, I bite my lip and try to order my jumbled mess of thoughts. It's been a long night with little sleep on my behalf. I keep checking on Arthur to make sure that he's still breathing, and whilst he is, the breaths have definitely become shallower in the past few hours. On one hand I am so relieved that Arthur is still alive and that we may be able to save him as soon as Gaius gets here, but on the other I'm pretty sure he wants to kill me due to my magic. I thought he would understand, he's my friend, However he's also the king of Camelot and that power he holds- needs to hold onto- may be the deciding factor of my fate.

A twig snaps and instantaneously I stand up, drawing a sword close to my chest, ready to fight, ready to use my magic. Looking around my surroundings I see a shrouded figure, the mist covering his features, moving in my direction. I'm hoping that it isn't an angry Saxon, or any Saxon for that matter. Fortunately when the person does come closer I realise with a huge amount of relief that it's Gaius! An invisible weight lifts itself off my shoulders and new hope rises within me. I scramble up, embracing him with open arms.

"Where's Arthur?" he asks solemnly after a brief smile. I point towards where he is sleeping and Gaius walks over to him.

After what seems like an eternity, Gaius comes back towards me, frowning ever so slightly. "Is it as bad as I think?" I ask sinking my teeth far into my lip so that blood begins trickling into my mouth.

"Worse." suddenly the weights return and physically make my stomach drop, a nasty feeling begins to swell in my stomach until I'm overwhelmed and need to grab a tree branch to steady myself from the ever increasing moving floor.

"How long?" I brace myself, taking huge gulps of air, though I know no amount of it will end the drowning feeling I have "How long has he got… left to live?"

"Three to four days at the most," Gaius shrugs, looking defeated.

"Is this it then, we just give up?" I reply gesturing with my hands.

"There's isn't anything either of us can do for him…" tears are welling up in Gaius' eyes and my own are beginning to water. I feel suffocated, like my throat is closing and I can't breathe.

"I want to him to live," I manage to whisper.

"I'm so sorry Merlin-" Gaius begins,

"No Gaius you don't understand, I need him to live."

"He has a fragment of sword embedded in his chest."

"Then we'll use magic to draw to it out."

"No, the blade that struck Arthur is no ordinary blade. I fear it was forged in a dragon's breath. Its fatal power will not be easily denied."

Aithusa it must be, they are the only one who could have done this.

Gaius continues by explaining that the blade's point is travelling towards Arthurs Heart, but I'm not listening, I just want to help Arthur so badly that in a sudden outburst I say "There must be something we can do, Gaius!?"

He mulls the words over before talking again. "Well there is one thing. In the midst of the Lake Of Avalon there is an ancient isle. The Sidhes dwell there; their magic is as old as the dragons themselves, the isle is the source of their power. You must take him there."

"He won't allow that."

"He will. I spoke to him."

"What does the ritual involve?"

"The Sidhes will return the persons soul and life to the persons body, however…" He tales off.

"What?"

"They may require a sacrifice." Gaius' expression makes me feel uncomfortable.

"I will do what I can to ensure Arthur lives."

"I know my boy, I know."

My mind races around forming a plan "Can you give Arthur something that will keep him asleep for a day?" I say to Gaius, he nods and I turn to the forest before running into the green thicket. I crash through some brambles and into a clearing. As loudly as I dare, I call Kilgharrah "O drakon, e mala soi ftengometh tesd'hup anankes! Erkheo" I brace myself for his landing and as soon as I hear the flapping of his wings an overwhelming sense of comfort surrounds me, he has always been there for me and is still right here when I need him the most, he truly is my kin. Kilgharrah bows his head towards me and I bow back-it is after all a remark of respect between kin members- "I wouldn't have called if I had a choice... I have one more favour to ask of you... can you take me and Arthur to the lake of Avalon where the Sidhes reside... please?" Kilgharrah nods his head and blinks, he opens his mouth as if to say something, but the moment passes and he shakes his head. Before either of us utters another word Gaius appears, Arthur awkwardly in his arms- I can see that Gaius is struggling with him a lot more than I did- "I'll take him from here, Thank you" and I bob my head at him so he knows just how much I appreciate his efforts and words of wisdom.

Gaius says nothing, he just stares at me with a look that says 'be safe, be safe my boy and bring our king back' I try to send him an 'I will do' look back, but Gaius has already turned away and has started to walk back in Camelot's direction. I hold Arthur tight and with one last look back, I climb up onto Kilgharrah's head... awaiting the long journey that lies ahead.

^.^

We finally arrive at the isle in the middle of the lake, the moon has appeared along with the first few stars. Normally I could gaze out at the twilight sky for hours but my thoughts are on Arthur and trying to heal him, I just hope all of this, is not in vain.

"Hello?" I call out cautiously. I know I am no friends of the Sidhes, but they're my one and only hope. "Please come... please" I glance up at Kilgharrah but he just bends his head a little lower. He's been quiet most of the way here as if he's mulling something over. Suddenly there is movement in the nearby bushes and I slow time itself down to watch the Sidhes come out, dancing, flying zooming all over the place, at any other time I would Love to gaze at them and their routine but I haven't the time. A girl Sidhe comes in front of me, she frowns and glares at me" I am-" I begin but the girl cuts me off.

"We all know who you are Emrys and why you have come here today but you are not a friend, you killed our leader, who happened to be my father, tell me why shouldn't I kill you?" She spits in disgust and points her staff towards my heart. I feel guilty for killing her father so I bow my head in shame.

"Please! I'm desperate, I am sorry for killing your father but right now you need to help him," I say gesturing to Arthur "He needs to live in order for Albion to reunited in peace where magic is free to roam… please, you have to help him." I'm finished and the tears have begun to take hold.

The girl Sidhe smiles "I can't forgive you Emrys for killing my Father, nor do I think you have a chance to ever be considered our friend, but… I admit it isn't up to me to decide whether Arthur Pendragon lives or dies, so we'll perform the ritual and let fate decide his future." She pauses "You do realise that the balance of the world needs to be kept the same, he is almost dead and so the world of the dead requires a soul."

"I realise this and I am happy to give my life up for Arthur." I'm about to step forward but then Kilgharrah unexpectedly pushes me to one side. "Kilgharrah! You don't. No!" but the words don't form. He takes another step forward. He Turns around and bends his head.

"It has been a privilege to have known you, young warlock-the story we have been a part of will live long in the minds of men- but it is my time and I cannot think of anyone greater to sacrifice myself for."

I give him a hug around the neck " Thank you... Kilgharrah... thanks for everything."

"Remember me." Another step, he's almost next to the girl Sidhe.

"I will always remember you… I will never forget."

We nod at each other before the Sidhe speaks again Follow me... we have no time to lose."