The unicorn
Standing feet away from Merlin was a magnificent creature. It looked like a horse, but bigger and more beautiful than one Merlin had ever seen. Its silky coat was glistening in the early morning light, and Merlin could feel the magic emanating off of it like heat, only instead of warming him on the outside, the glow seemed to comfort him on the inside and calm his anxiety. It tossed its magnificent mane carelessly and Merlin saw a golden, spiralling horn projecting from its forehead. This explained its presence here; Merlin had often been told stories of unicorns saving lost travellers in some of the deepest, most magical parts of the forest.
Unsure whether the unicorn would let him ride it, Merlin stepped cautiously towards it. The feeling of security inside him increased and somehow he knew that the unicorn would help him to find Arthur. Merlin reached the unicorn's magnificent head and patted its neck gently; he leant forward and whispered into the creature's ear.
"Can you take me to Arthur?"
Merlin looked up at the unicorn, feeling silly. He didn't know why he had whispered to it but now he was regretting it, and was glad that no one was there to see him blush. Caught up in his embarrassment, Merlin jumped when he felt the unicorn nudge his arm gently. He stared, was that a "yes"? In a split second he had made up his mind. Grabbing hold of the unicorn, Merlin pulled himself up onto its back, and without hesitation it started to gallop.
Even for Merlin, who felt at home on a horse, this should have been terrifying, the unicorn was going so fast that he couldn't see a thing, trees seemed to part for the unicorn and it was as if it was flying. However, Merlin still felt completely relaxed, the thought of falling off seemed ludicrous and he would have trusted the unicorn with his life.
As they rode on, Merlin thought back to this time yesterday, he and Arthur had only left the castle to go on a hunt, but when Arthur spotted a strange, deer like creature his pride had got the better of him and he had dragged Merlin deeper and deeper into the wood, swearing that, "I am not lost, Merlin!" every time Merlin complained. Eventually, they must have wandered into a neighbouring kingdom, because out of nowhere, about thirty knights wearing an unfamiliar uniform appeared, seeing as only Arthur had a sword and they were heavily outnumbered, they had run, finally stumbling across an enormous stone with a sword sticking out of it. Merlin had known, of course, which sword it was, but Arthur just threw his own sword to Merlin (who missed it and had to chase after it as it rolled away from him) and pulled Excalibur out of the stone with ease. Merlin remembered his amazement as he watched Arthur swing round and kill two guards, before yelling "Merlin! Come on!" He had used the most powerful magic he knew from the old religion to trap the sword in the stone, and yet somehow, Arthur had overpowered that magic.
Lost in thought, Merlin didn't notice the unicorn slow to a trot, knowing they must be nearly there, Merlin started looking around for any signs of Arthur. The unicorn stopped in the middle of a clearing and Merlin dismounted.
"Thank you" he whispered "Arthur?" Merlin called tentatively, eyes searching the clearing but he couldn't see anything. Merlin turned around to see if the unicorn could help but it had disappeared without a sound or trace. Merlin's feeling of unease started to creep back inside him as he felt the unicorn's comforting magic getting further and further away. Merlin wondered why his own magic wasn't calming him when he realised that it had gone; as Arthur pulled the sword from the stone Merlin had felt it leave him, leaving him feeling breathless and weak. Disorientated and confused, Merlin had just carried on running, figuring he'd worry about that when he and Arthur were safe again, though somewhere in his mind he realised that he would have to tell Arthur about his magic.
Peering through the trees at the far end of the clearing, Merlin saw what looked like a body on the floor.
