Guardian

He'd been separated from the Arthur. Not only had he been separated from Arthur but he was also bleeding from several different places. The sad thing was that other than the bleeding this hadn't been the worst day he'd ever had. Merlin could easily think of several more that had been much worse than this one had.

Though to be far most of those revolved more around Arthur being wounded instead of him being wounded but his current state could have been much worse. He was in fairly good shape considering that he fallen down the side of a narrow path after their patrol had been attacked by bandits and he was now sitting in the forest some hundred or so feet down from where he'd been before.

Again.

Merlin was quite certain that the first thing he was going to do when he had more than a minute of free time upon returning to Camelot was looking for a spell that would negate these types of things, if there was one, and if there wasn't he was sure he could make something that would work like he wanted it to. He was quite tired of being attacked every time he went somewhere with Arthur.

In order to do the much however he needed to get up and find his way back to Arthur and the others and that was his current problem. His being unable to get up that was because Merlin was fairly certain that he might have broken something during his fall because every time he tried to stand sharp pain would bolt up and down his entire body.

He'd thought about trying a healing spell but with his luck with such spells it wouldn't work. Plus he'd promised Gaius that he wouldn't use healing magic when he had a head wound. So here he was stuck sitting at the base of a tree in a forest injured and waiting for his friends to come find him.

It wasn't something he wanted to repeat anytime soon of ever. He hated making people worry and he really did it too much as things were. Merlin sighed and shifted his left arm so that he could wrap his hand around a badly bleeding cut on his right arm. The sleeve of his coat had been torn off on sometime during his fall which was rather annoying considering he only had two coats. Things could be worse. Things could always be much worse than they currently were.

"At least it wasn't Arthur." Merlin mumbled to himself as he let his eyes drift shut. The sharp call of a bird and a flutter of wings caused him to jerk his head up and open his eyes again. Blue eyes blinked and Merlin fought off the mad desire to rub his eyes with his good arm because sitting only a few feet away from him on the root of a nearby tree was a falcon. The irony of it being a merlin wasn't lost on him either.

"What are you doing here?" Merlin asked the bird. The falcon simply stared at him and turned its head in answer. Merlin blinked and if he had been able to find the strength to hit himself he just might have done it. He was talking to a bird like it was going to answer him. Considering he talked to the horses in the stables maybe he wasn't quite insane yet. Oh well, Arthur was likely to get him there by the time their destinies were done and over with anyways so it didn't really matter.

"I don't suppose you could help me could you?" Merlin asked the falcon. The bird screeched in response before taking flight. Merlin sighed.

"I didn't think so." So it was with a sigh that Merlin let his head rest against the trunk behind his head and closed his eyes. If he was going to be stuck in one place for a while he could at least get a little rest first.

Ooo

Merlin didn't know how long he'd been drifting in and out for when a familiar shriek and flutter of wings caused him to jerk into complete consciousness. Merlin let out a gasp as pain shot through his body at the sudden movement. The area around him was darker now the sun just beginning to set. It was also starting to get colder as well.

Both those things however didn't hold his attention for very long however because sitting on the same branch as before was the exact same falcon. Merlin blinked twice just to make sure he wasn't seeing things and when the view remained the same he found he had to speak.

"Where did you get off too?" Merlin asked. The bird blinked and fluffed its wings in reply before turning and looking in another direction. Merlin had to wonder if it was looking at something that he couldn't see yet. Knowing the bird it probably was. Merlin wasn't quite sure he liked the thought of the falcon before him knowing something that he didn't. He didn't like the thought of knowing that something dangerous might be coming and not being able to defend himself either.

He'd use his magic if he absolutely had to but it was something he'd like to avoid if he could. Doing magic with a head wound was dangers and sometimes it could only make things worse and not better. A soft chirping sound brought Merlin back to the present and it took him a moment to realize that he'd been drifting off while thinking.

"What do you see that I can't?" Merlin asked. Wings ruffled and extended and for a moment the falcon took to the air. It didn't go far however because its next perch was Merlin's uninjured leg.

Merlin watched eyes wide as the falcon shifted and moved so that the two of them were almost seeing eye to eye. As Merlin stared his gaze became unfocused and slightly distant and after a moment his eyes burned gold. There was no strain with this act of magic like there might have been with any other he tried while injured. This magic was instinct.

This was the same type of magic that had shown him Gwen's true form when she'd been turned into a deer by Morgana. It took a moment but before long he could just make out something reflected in the falcon's eye. As he watched the reflection came into sharper focus revealing a group of men moving through the forest with two familiar figures leading them.

Merlin would know Arthur and Gwaine anywhere even in the reflection of a bird's eye. Merlin huffed a soft laugh as the bird screeched at him and took off into the air. Merlin blinked as the bird flew away through the trees. He had to wonder if the falcon was going to make sure if Arthur and the others were on the right path or if it was gone for good this time.

"Merlin!" The voice yelling his name sounded annoyed, worried, and relieved all at once. Only Arthur could manage to sound like that while trampling through the woods and making enough noise to alert everything nearby of his presence.

ooooooo

Well look at that my first finished Merlin fanfic. With some luck this will be the first of many to come. This story was based off of the picture Guardian by *mizuk0 on deviantart. I'll post a link to the picture on my profile if you want me to. Just ask and I'll have it up as soon as possible.

Now this story has three parts so far. Each part is based off of a different picture and will be a different story. I'm going to try and have the second chapter posted sometime this month. Please bear with me however I have a fairly long list of one shots waiting to be written but I will try.

And please let me know what you think. Oh and please let me know if I got Merlin right. I like to think I did but I'm not sure.

Happy reading!

Pagen