Okay, so this is my first ever fanfic! Yay, exciting! I'm a bit nervous about the response this will get, so please review so I know how it is!

The plot bunnies sort of attacked me in two different groups for this, I decided to put the two ideas into one story as it kind of went together. Again please review so I know if it does.

Right, what else do I need to say? Oh yeah, disclaimer.

I don't own Merlin, if I did I would be sitting on set right now, writing scripts and geeking out about how I own Merlin. But unfortunately I don't, so I'm not.

I think that's it, so without further ado, read on!

Morgana was waiting. She had been waiting for so long. But finally, finally she would know. She would know who Emrys was.

She had been having visions again, visions not even her healing bracelet could block, and every night she would be forced to look into Emrys' deep blue eyes and feel the same dreaded fear of him. He was her destiny … and her doom. That's what she had been told by Cailleach. That's what she was afraid of.

And now, standing alone in the woods, the sun not yet over the horizon, she was not thinking of Emrys, but of another. Each night, as her dreams ended, a face would present itself to her, a painfully familiar face, and as the image faded, she would hear herself saying, "You know who Emrys is." She knew the face. She knew the person. And she knew where to find him.

The face was Merlin's. Merlin knew who Emrys was. And she would find out.

At that very moment, Merlin was in King Arthur's chambers, attempting to wrestle his master out from underneath the bed covers, quite unaware of Morgana's plans.

"Come on sire!" he shouted cheerfully. "It's time to get up!"

"Merlin!" came the muffled yell from the pillow.

Arthur was being quite stubborn. He didn't want to get up that early, and couldn't see why he should have to get up that early.

"You'll be late for the ride!"

Arthur groaned. Of course. Gwen's ride in the woods. She had suggested it the previous day, saying it would be nice for them to go for a ride, and it would, had it not been freezing cold and the ground covered with snow.

"Do I have to go?" he whined like a small child.

"Yes! Both Gwen and Ayra are ready. You'd better hurry if you want breakfast."

Arthur groaned again and rolled out from under the covers.

"Don't look so happy, Merlin," he said to his annoyingly cheerful servant.

Merlin dropped his smile and donned a laughable sombre face.

"That's even worse, you know," he said, looking at the meal he had set out for him.

Two pears and a bit of bread.

"Where's my meat?"

Merlin went back to his cheerful grin and pulled back the curtains. Arthur sighed, not wanting to enter another "you're fat" argument.

"Why are you looking so pleased anyway?" he asked him.

"Oh, you know, it's a good day!"

"Is it? Is it really?"

"Yes. Shut up and eat your pears."*

They were going for a ride in the Darkling Woods; and despite Arthur barely managing to get up, Merlin eventually dragged him outside.

Ayra rode proudly on her horse beside Queen Guinevere, her mare trotting calmly beside her mistresses'. They were a small party; only the king, queen, Merlin, Ayra and a couple of guards.

Ayra had been the queen's maidservant for over two months now, and she liked her mistress very much; she was a kind and gentle queen, and a good friend to her. Her mistresses' husband, King Arthur, rode on his horse at the head of their small party, Merlin beside him. Ayra had taken a great liking to Merlin, he was a very good person; she had seen that from the first moment she met him when he took the blame for another servant's mistake. She hadn't spoken to him much, but being the king and queens servants, they crossed paths often. He always had a smile ready for her, no matter what gruelling task Arthur was making him do.

Ayra was grateful for the fresh air, there was little time on her hands these days to go for a walk in the woods like she used to, although, she had to admit, she had more time than most servants. Having been a servant herself for most of her life, Guinevere was quite capable of doing most of the things she did for her, and sometimes even gave her the day off. On days like these, Ayra would go to the woods. She could stay hidden in the trees for hours and no one would come looking for her. She would spend her time climbing trees, swimming in rivers, or just running for the sake of it. She loved the way the wind whipped the light brown hair off her face. She looked forward to days like these; they were the highlight of her life, apart from Merlin's smiles of course.

Ayra looked around at him. He sat tall on his horse, looking placidly ahead, the faintest of smiles upon his face. His raven hair stood out against the white of the snow that covered the ground. She shivered slightly, and pulled her cloak further around her shoulders. She had never liked the cold, and this was one of the bitterest winters anyone could remember.

She tried to forget the ice in her bones and breathed in deeply letting her eyes close for a few seconds, the sounds of the forest filling her ears. Of birds singing, leaves rustling in the wind, the soft crunch of the freshly fallen snow beneath the horses' hooves. And the whistle of an arrow passing through the air beside her bare neck. She felt the air whoosh past her as it missed her by inches.

She opened her eyes and her heart gave an unpleasant jolt as she saw bandits pouring in from all sides over the edge of the small gulley they were in. The mercenaries had waited until the small party were halfway through the gulley and then attacked, meaning they wouldn't be able to make it to the end before the bandits completely closed in on them. Ayra and the others were completely outnumbered, and of the six of them, only three had any means of defending themselves. Arthur and the two guards jumped off their horses and drew their swords, preparing to fight.

"Merlin!" Arthur called. "Take Gwen to safety!"

Merlin nodded once although Arthur didn't see it – he had already turned and engaged a bandit in battle – and spurred his horse onwards through the gulley. Gwen and Ayra followed, urging their horses to go as fast as they could. Only two bandits stood in their way. As they drew closer, one of the men tripped over his own feet causing him to stumble into his comrade. He too fell over, and the three charged straight at them, making the men run to safety so they wouldn't be trampled to death. Ayra thanked their lucky stars that the men had fallen over, what were the chances?

Once they were free of the ambush, Ayra turned to one side to check on her queen, and she saw her panic mirrored in Gwen's features and was sure that their hearts were beating equally loudly. Looking ahead at Merlin, who was riding just in front of them, she saw only his raven hair whipping back in the wind. She couldn't see his face. As he rode, the neckerchief around his neck came undone and was whipped away by the wind. It swooped past Ayra and she turned her head to see it disappear between the trees.

About half a minute later, as they passed a small brook, the air around them suddenly exploded. Ayra was thrown from her horse and flew through the air, landing a good fifteen feet away. She was momentarily stunned, unable to move, all the breath forced from her body, and then she felt the air return to her lungs and lifted her head. She had landed almost in the brook, her left leg resting in the bubbling waters, the water running over her foot, soaking the edge of her dress. A short distance away she saw Gwen, quite close to the path and when she turned her head around she spotted Merlin, who was just three feet away from her, unmoving. Steeling herself for the worst, she crawled over to him. As she reached his head, he groaned and opened his eyes a fraction. Breathing a sigh of relief, she said, "Merlin? Are you alright?"

Recovering quickly, he scrambled to his feet and looked wildly around. Ayra rose as well and glanced at Gwen, who she was relieved to see also getting to her feet. It seemed none of them had been seriously injured. She was about to go to her queen, when Merlin grabbed her arm, making her stop.

"What is it?" she asked him.

His gaze was focused to the right, over by the path. Whipping her head around, she saw a lone figure, striding towards them. They wore a long, black cloak, the hood drawn up so they couldn't see their face. Merlin however seemed to know exactly who it was.

"Run," he said.

"What?"

"Run!"

The figure strode past Gwen – who stumbled backwards as she saw the figures face – and completely ignored her, making straight for Merlin and Ayra.

Ayra felt a sudden panic clutch at her heart. It was a sorcerer, it must be. How else could someone have ripped the air apart like that?

The two turned tail and leapt over the brook, Merlin still clinging on to Ayra's sleeve, dragging her along. He was a fast runner, and she found it hard to keep up with his long stride, despite her runs in the woods. The figure kept after them, never pausing and never going at more than a fast walk, but somehow they were easily keeping up with them. They were, in fact, gaining. After a few long and fast-paced minutes, Ayra broke away from Merlin, her heart threatening to jump out of her throat.

"I can't … go on. I need … to … stop," she gasped, clinging to a tree for support.

"Ayra, she's coming!"

She didn't question who she was, only leaned against the bark of the tree and closed her eyes.

"Go. I'll catch up," she lied.

"I'm not leaving you here!" he protested.

She gave him a weak smile and said, "I'll be fine," looking into his blue eyes.

"Ayra," he warned her.

"Merlin."

They both whipped around at the voice. The figure had finally caught up with them. They had removed their hood so now Ayra could clearly see who it was. She recognised the dark hair and pale green eyes immediately. Morgana.

She stood next to the nearest tree, watching them as though she had been for some time. She gave them a leer when they saw her, and slowly closed the distance between them.

"Long time no see, old friend," she said bitterly.

"I haven't considered you my friend for a long time," Merlin replied.

Ayra was surprised at the cold authority in his voice, the quiet anger. She had never heard him speak like that before.

"Now, there's no need to be rude. I only wanted to ask you a simple question," Morgana stepped even closer to them.

Ayra shivered. A bad feeling was creeping up her spine. She was worried, scared, terrified. Something bad was about to happen, she could feel it.

Morgana took another step, and she was just ten feet from them.

"Who is Emrys?"

Merlin stiffened. The name meant nothing to Ayra, however he clearly recognised it. He stayed silent, saying nothing.

"Not going to tell me?" said Morgana, her tone darkening. "Then maybe this will loosen your tongue."

She spoke a few short words in a language Ayra didn't recognise and suddenly something silver and wispy was flying through the air towards Merlin. There was barely any time to react. All he could do was emit a small gasp as the enchantment shot straight towards his chest. Ayra took one look at the thing flying towards her friend and didn't stop to think about what she was doing. She leapt in front of it, turning her back to Morgana and wrapping her arms around Merlin. She closed her eyes and –

She was nothing.

*Okay, so that line came from The Hunger Games. Awesome book by the way, read it.

How was it? Was it good? Bad? Utterly atrocious? If it gets a good reception I will continue to update!

... Oh who am I kidding, I'm going to continue writing it anyway!