A/N

Hey! Just wanted to say, thank you so much for reading this! This is my first fanfiction, so I hope you'll like it! Just got some things I wanted to say before you start reading!

About the story:

It might be a bit weird. This will mainly be about my made up character and Mordred and Merlin. There's not many Merlin/Arthur moments, so sorry if you're looking for that.

I didn't know if this idea was good or bad, but after much consideration I decided to post it anyway and hope you'd like it!

Oh, and by the way, I'm not from any English speaking countries, so sorry if there's any mistakes! I'll do my best! c:

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, Arthur, Mordred etc. etc.

Prologue:

Between the branches, placed in a high tree, it watches your every move, hears your every thought and knows your deepest desires. It watches you, and protects you, without you knowing its existence. It makes sure, that no harm comes to those, it loves.

Chapter 1 – The hooded knight

"Merlin! Get that lazy bottom of yours down here, so we can get going!" Arthur yelled from the courtyard. Merlin hurried as much as he could, with 4 large crossbows in his grasp, muttering an exhausted 'yes sire'. As he manoeuvred down the stairs and finally stood in front of Arthur, he uttered a delighted sigh, as he dropped the crossbows. Unfortunately for both Arthur and Merlin, he dropped them right on Arthur's right foot. Quite taken aback, Arthur's mouth widened as his brain registered the pain.

"Oww! You idiot! Don't you know how to do anything right?" Arthur yelled at Merlin while jumping around on one foot. Merlin choked down his grin as he knew what the young king would do to him, if he found him laughing. Finally realizing that he must look stupid, Arthur planted his foot on the ground again, swallowing the pain that slowly faded away.

"Right. Now that we're here, let's go. Those deer aren't going to wait forever" Arthur swung himself up on his noble steed. Merlin hurried up on his not so noble horse and followed the king and his companions.

The forest was as usual. Birds were singing, leaves fluttered and animals silently enjoying their normal lives. Arthur crept closer and closer to the majestic deer standing just far enough away to not scent them but not far enough to not get hit. He raised his crossbow, pulled the arrow ready to shoot and aimed. He pulled the trigger and the arrow flew closer to the deer. The deer noticed the sound and turned its head in the direction just to get the arrow in the neck. The kings companions cheered as they saw the grand deer fall to the ground. Arthur made a self-assured expression as he heard the cheers. He turned to Merlin, said a short 'and that's how it's done', and turned to his horse to ride back. Some of his companions took the deer and they all walked back to their horses. Merlin walked to grab the crossbow that Arthur had placed on the ground for Merlin to take, and was about to turn around, when he saw something. He narrowed his eyes to catch a glimpse of what he thought he saw, but the forest was as usual.

On their way to the castle, Merlin thought of what he'd seen. He swore, he'd seen a shadow.

That night was held a feast. The king and queen, knights and servants everyone feasted as if there was no tomorrow. No one would know, that this was one of the last happy moments they'd have the next year.

The next morning, Arthur woke by Merlin pulling the curtains, as usual. Breakfast was ready, he was all dressed, and all was as it used to. Until two knocks on the door told him otherwise. As he'd said 'come in' sir Leon walked in with a serious look on his rather handsome face.

"Sire, I bring terrible news" he said, his voice matching his face.

"What could be so terrible that I can't eat my breakfast?" Arthur said jokingly. Sir Leon looked at the queen and at Merlin before looking back at Arthur, indicating that this was indeed not a joke.

"A small village in the woods was found burnt down with no survivors" Sir Leon said. Arthur's expression quickly turned into a just as serious one as the one Leon wore. Merlin's ears perked up, as the eavesdropper he was. Arthur gave Gwen a last look before following Sir Leon with Merlin in his heals. Gwen sighed and went back to eating her breakfast as she thought of the poor villagers. Arthur sent Merlin to ready the horses and Sir Leon to get the usual team – Gwaine, Percival, Mordred and himself.

As they all gathered in the courtyard Arthur rode first followed by his knights – and Merlin. As they came further away from the castle he let Sir Leon lead them to the village. You wouldn't think there'd been a village there. It was all black and several trees had fallen to the ground and were burnt – as everything else was. Arthur's face went from chocked to angry in a split second. He turned to Leon.

"Let's search this way. The branches have been trampled on. It doesn't look like they had horses, so they couldn't have gone far" Arthur's mine remained angry as they rode towards the path the villains had walked. They hadn't gone too far, when Arthur increased speed. The villains were running. They'd seen Arthur and were trying to escape. They soon caught up too them. Arthur jumped of his horse as his team did too. He noticed the torches in their hands and all doubt was cleared. These were the villains. There were only five of them so Arthur and company made the first hit. Unfortunately, the villains had company as well. About 10 other men came from the forest as the knights had just won over the original five. They were too many and too good. Arthur's anger wouldn't rest but he knew that they were too many. Even Merlin couldn't take them out without Arthur noticing him. As their defeat grew closer for each hit Arthur found himself against a tree with a villain going for the mortal blow. Suddenly an arrow came from nowhere and hit the villain right in his heart. Arthur was stunned. But he became more surprised and even more stunned as several villains fell to the ground with an arrow perfectly aimed in their hearts. No one from his team was hurt. He looked around and his eyes landed on Sir Leon who was the only one with a crossbow. He looked at him in admiration and said: "Well done, Leon!" Sir Leon looked choked as well at Arthur.

"But sire… It wasn't me" he said. That made Arthur's stunned face return. He looked around seeing no sign of anyone else. Suddenly he heard Merlin behind him.

"Over there!" Merlin yelled as he pointed at a dark silhouette running away. Arthur started to run after the silhouette, and soon everyone was chasing the slim shadow trying to escape. But why would he run, if he just saved our lives? Arthur wondered. The person running was fast, but not fast enough. The six men caught up to the person that they could now see even clearer. The person wore a dark long cloak that made it seem like it was just a shadow. As they caught up, Arthur and the knights formed a circle to surround their saviour. Merlin came after the others trying to catch his breath. The person stood in the centre of the circle, letting the hood of the cloak fall over their face, so they could not see who was hiding beneath it. At that moment, it felt as if the wood had gone quiet. All you could hear was the wind swaying over the top of the trees.

"Why are you running?" Arthur asked. The cloaked person didn't turn or lift their head as Arthur spoke. Nor did they answer.

"Who are you?" he asked again. Still no reaction. Arthur looked around at his knights and at Merlin with a questioning face. Why wouldn't this stranger answer?

"I see your arrows. They match the ones that saved our lives. I want to thank you, and repay you." Arthur tried again, his patience running out. Finally an answer came.

"I seek no reward, nor no thanks." The person said.

"That is admirable. May I at least see who saved me so that I one day can be of help to you?" Arthur said.

"My lord, I prefer being anonymous" the person said with the same neutrality.

"I am your king and I ask to see your face" Arthur said rather annoyed. The person glanced quickly in Mordred's direction but then looked at the ground again. A sigh came from the person and they turned to face Arthur. Slowly, the person removed the hood from their head. Arthur gasped. He was looking at a girl with blue eyes and brown hair braided to her side. Her eyes were fierce and full of deep and dark secrets he wouldn't dare ask about. Merlin examined her face as well. It looked familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. As the curiosity took over the knights they walked to Arthur's side to see the face of their saviour. They looked at her thoroughly all chocked to see that it was a woman who'd saved them. As Mordred walked around as well, he got eye contact with the woman. His eyes widened and he gasped. The woman's eyes remained fierce looking and as they all looked at her, she saw her opportunity to escape. She ran away swiftly, and soon she was out of sight. Before she ran, everyone close to Mordred had heard him whisper a name.

"Aya?"