Chapter 2 is here! While I was proofreading this I had to stop like fifty times only to reblog the (SPN 12X01 SPOILER ALERT!) Destiel hug again, I loved the episode so much! Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter! ;)

A little warning: this chapter includes a sacrifice. I'm not good enough to write some graphic description in English though, and I probably wouldn't even want to, but... just so you know :)

CHAPTER 2
Of Tricks and Secrets

About a month ago

She ran across the forest at the speed of light, hurriedly avoiding every tree and every bush that got in her way. Her red silk cloak and long black hair were fluttering in the wind and it seemed like she didn't even mind it was dark and cold.

All she could think about was her sister and that the message she was about to deliver to her might change everything they have planned. They already had the dagger, yes, but they expected Merlin to be dead. The nightmares that Morgause had enchanted him with were supposed to kill him.

Yet he returned to the castle with Arthur by his side, with his goofy grin as ever and very much alive. How could that be? How come Merlin was always somehow involved? How come he always knew what she was up to and managed to doom her plans?

The owl in the distance hooted and Morgana suddenly stopped, realizing she was already at their usual meeting place. But Morgause wasn't there yet. Morgana sighed and leaned against a tree, looking around. The most important message in the last year and her sister was late? Unbelievable.

"Sister," Morgause's voice called from the dark moments later and Morgana rushed to her side, embracing her. "What was so important that you had to meet me immediately?"

Morgana's face wrinkled as she said the servant's name. "Merlin is still alive."

Morgause's eyes widened. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know, but he has just returned with Arthur back to Camelot." Morgana frowned. "Your nightmares have failed us, sister."

Morgause's grip on Morgana's hands tightened. "No sister, we have to find the reason he survived. He was supposed to die and if he didn't, someone had to help him." She mused out loud. Then she looked into Morgana's eyes. "You said he was somewhere with Arthur. What was their destination?"

"Some village." Morgana answered, trying to remember the name of it. "Felldora, I think." She said. "Or Felindor. I'm not sure. There was some monster, attacking it and Uther sent Arthur to help them."

"I know that village. It's called Fellindora." Morgause smiled. "There is no one who could have helped him there though, unless..."

"Unless what?" Morgana was so eager to get her answer that she stepped even closer to her sister, clutching her hands as if her life depended on it.

"Unless the druids helped him." Morgause finished. It made sense, didn't it? Druids were peaceful people who often helped kind strangers. Morgana even wanted to stay with them once.

"The druids?" Morgana asked, frowning and looking down. "That is possible." Then she quickly looked up into her sister's eyes again. "We must go to their camp and ask them, Morgause. He's always in the way and he always knows what our plans are. He has to be somehow involved."

"Maybe he isn't just a servant." Morgana's sister agreed. "He spied on us once and when I asked him why does he serve Arthur, he didn't want to answer."

"We must get that answer now so we can finally get rid of him and finish what we'd started when I stole that dagger." Morgana insisted. "I'll go to the druids, they helped me once, they can help again."

Morgause nodded. "Be careful my sister. The druid camp you're about to go to is hidden in a forest between Camelot and the mountains of Isgard. While you'll be there, I'll go to find out if there are any Dragonlords left."

Morgana nodded and then she frowned. "Why Dragonlords?"

"We need a Dragonlord's blood for the ritual to work. And a sacrifice that possesses powerful magic. But I've already taken care of that." She smirked. "There is a girl that wants to become a priestess of old Religion. She's powerful, but she has no chance of becoming one."

Morgana's smile widened. "Be as nice to her as you can then." She smirked. "And then when the time comes, we'll use her."

"Of course." Morgause smirked too and caressed Morgana's cold cheek. She was so proud of her. Of what she has become in the last year. "I'll search the books at our castle for any other things that we need for the ritual."

Morgana nodded and embraced her sister. When she pulled back, Morgause kissed her cheek. "Good luck, sister." She smiled.

"To you too."

With that, Morgana turned around and started walking back to Camelot. She wanted to head to the druid camp right the next day, after breakfast. And once she was there? She'd finally find out if Merlin was only a mere servant.

xoXÖXox

The next day

Telling Gwen she was going for a ride to clear her head was too easy. The girl seemed to not care anymore, was it possible that she also has changed? Morgana shook her head to concentrate on what she was doing in the middle of the forest. She stopped and closed her eyes, trying to sense something - magic.

It didn't work. Her magic was still weak. She frowned and started walking up a hill so she could look around and maybe spot some cave where the druids might be hiding.

Morgana?

She paused and closed her eyes again. She knew that voice. Young and innocent. She replied, Mordred?

Instead of an answer, she heard someone moving behind her. She quickly turned around and saw the young druid boy standing under the hill, smiling up at her. "Morgana!" He ran up to her and hugged her. She couldn't help but smile and hug him back. She always liked that boy.

"Mordred," she laughed and pulled away so she could look into his blue eyes and ruffle his dark hair. "What are you doing here? Do you have a camp somewhere near?"

"Yes!" He smiled. "I'll lead you to the others." He grabbed her hand, but she stopped him.

"No, wait. Why don't we just talk here? I'm supposed to get back to Camelot soon." She lied, but this was a perfect opportunity, wasn't it? Mordred was young, and knew things that other children his age didn't know because he grew up with the druids. There was no adult here who wouldn't want to answer her questions, and Mordred was too young to understand and what was better – he loved her.

She smiled down at him. "I need help. A friend of mine, his name is Merlin, might have wandered in here a few days ago. Have you seen him?"

"You mean Emrys? Yes, he was here." Mordred answered, unaware of Morgana's evil destiny and smiled. Morgana frowned. Emrys? Who was Emrys?

"Emrys?" She repeated with a confused frown and Mordred nodded.

"Yes, that's his true name. I call him that."

"I call him Merlin." She told him.

"That's the name his mother gave him, but in the prophecies his name is Emrys." This was all very interesting, wasn't it? Mordred didn't even know how much valuable information was he giving to Morgana and what she intended to do with it.

"What prophecies?" She asked. She hoped he would tell her everything because it seemed Merlin was not a mere servant after all. Maybe she would finally find out why he kept ruining her plans.

"Well, it's prophesied that Emrys and the Once and Future King, which is Arthur, will once unite the lands of Albion and bring peace and magic back." He explained. "Emrys is the most powerful sorcerer ever to walk the Earth. How come you didn't know that?"

How come she didn't know that? Even the mere thought of Merlin having magic sounded ridiculous to her, but when she stopped and really thought about it... about how lucky Merlin always seemed to get and how he always stayed by Arthur's side and how Arthur was always lucky too... everything clicked into place in Morgana's head and her eyes widened.

"Morgana?" Mordred's voice brought her attention back to him. She faked a smile and nodded.

"And you helped him, didn't you?" Morgana stood up because she was still kneeling so their eyes were at the same level. If Mordred helped Merlin, or Emrys, did that mean Mordred was not on her side at all?

"Yes. The adults helped him. I heard him say he had bad dreams." Mordred answered, confused at Morgana's strange behaviour.

"Thank you, Mordred." She smiled and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" He called after her, suddenly looking sad. "You don't want to stay longer?"

"No, I need to go back to Camelot." She nodded at him and walked away to her horse. Once she was certain he couldn't see her anymore, she mounted and galloped back to Camelot as fast as she could.

She was wrong before. Merlin not being dead was not the most important message of the year. But Merlin being all powerful sorcerer from some prophecy called Emrys... that certainly was.

xoXÖXox

Back to present day

Merlin groaned as another twig fell down from his arms back to the forest ground. Seriously, it was such a lovely day and he had to spend it on a hunting trip, collecting firewood. The most boring job of all. Well, at least he didn't have to watch Arthur slaughtering some innocent rabbit for their dinner. Didn't he say he took something from the royal kitchen for him?

And why on Earth did he have to take so many blankets here? It was a hot day and without the sleeping mats, the trip shouldn't take more than a few hours. They certainly weren't supposed to sleep out there.

He bent down to grab the last twig and clumsily walked back to their camp that Arthur was supposed to "prepare" while he was gone (whatever that was supposed to mean). He groaned again when another twig fell down and he had to bend down again to collect it. When he finally made it to the camp though, he paused and opened his mouth.

"What-" he whispered in disbelief. So this was why Arthur wanted so many blankets and food from the royal kitchen!

In front of Merlin, around the fire and next to a thick tree, were the blankets spread across the ground, with Arthur sitting on top of them, leaning against the tree. He was smiling up at him and held a blue flower in his hand, and next to him was the food from the kitchen. No dead bloody rabbits or birds, no, there was fruit and wine.

A big stupid smile spread across Merlin's face and he didn't even care that the firewood fell down from his arms again. Arthur really was the most perfect boyfriend in the kingdom.

"Is this... a date?" Merlin asked sheepishly.

Arthur smiled as he nodded and stood up. "Of course it is. Our first. I thought we deserved it."

Merlin let Arthur take his hand and lead him over to the tree, where they sat down together on the blankets. "So you lied to me to surprise me?" Merlin smiled up at him.

Arthur grinned as he hovered above Merlin's head with his arms on each Merlin's side. "I did." He whispered. Merlin's breath hitched in his throat and he lost the ability to talk when he looked up into Arthur's deep blue, sparkling and oh so loving eyes that were looking back at him. He was sure they were mirroring the exact look he was giving Arthur right then.

And then Arthur leaned down and closed the distance, pressing his pink lips to Merlin's red ones, leaning all the way down and pressing himself to Merlin's body. Not that Merlin minded of course. His hands flew up to grab Arthur's hair and neck, to try and pull him as close as possible. He wanted nothing else than to feel Arthur, all around him and everywhere. In his every breath and every move, for the rest of his life.

He moaned as Arthur opened his mouth and had a little heart attack like every time Arthur did that. Everything was just so perfect. This was their first date, first real date, and he was so glad that Arthur decided to keep it a secret. It was the best surprise Merlin's had in his entire life. No one has ever loved him like that, not even Freya.

"Arthur," Merlin moaned into the kiss and pulled a little away to gasp for breath. Arthur's kissing could be very exhausting. Arthur grinned as he looked down at him. "Thank you so much for this." Merlin beamed.

"No need to thank me if you keep kissing me like that." Arthur said, still almost out of breath. Merlin grinned up at him and pulled him back down, for another bruising kiss.

And in that moment, everything had to be ruined, didn't it? Merlin cried out in pain as something sharp cut his arm. Arthur immediately stopped kissing him and reached for his sword, but it was too late. The woman that attacked them clenched her hand in fist and her eyes flashed gold, and Arthur was flying backwards.

Merlin ignored the pain and blood on his arm and used magic to protect Arthur – he sent the woman he recognised as Morgause flying backwards against a tree, only with his mind. Her magic was strong, but ever since he got his magic back in the crystal cave, his magic was stronger than ever before.

Then he made a mistake though. Thinking that Morgause was unconscious, he got up and hurried to Arthur's side. The prince was definitely unconscious and his head was bleeding. "Arthur? Arthur, do you hear me?" He called desperately and touched both his cheeks with his palms. "Purhhaele dolgbenn!" His eyes flashed gold again in an attempt to cure Arthur and stop the bleeding.

Arthur sighed and his eyes moved under his eyelids, as if he was only sleeping. Merlin sighed with relief and smiled, but then he remembered Morgause was still somewhere behind him. He turned around only to find an empty place where she had landed. She managed escape.

Merlin's eyes widened. Morgause now knew he had magic! She knew he was a sorcerer, what was he going to do? He shouldn't panic, that's what he definitely shouldn't do, but that's what he did. The sharp pain in his arm reminded him that there were much more important things to do. Like to heal himself and then get Arthur to Gaius and check his head for a concussion.

He looked at his arm - the sleeve of his favourite tunic was ruined, soaked in blood and with a huge hole in it. Merlin sighed and looked through the hole at the injury, hissing in pain. It didn't look that bad, but it hurt like hell now that he thought about it. He very carefully placed his palm over the cut and concentrated on the spell. "Ge hailige!"

The bleeding stopped and the skin grew back together. Merlin smiled. His healing skills have greatly improved, but... his favourite tunic was still ruined.

He looked at Arthur again. Great, that dollophead was going to be unconscious at least for an hour, if not longer. So their date was completely ruined too. Well, at least he still had the food... Merlin reached for the grapes and ate one berry. It was very tasty.

Then he looked back at Arthur and put his hand on his forehead. At least he managed to stop the bleeding and heal him, hopefully. Healing spells were always a little problem for him, but he was sure he did quite a good job.

"Wake up, would you?" He whispered and kissed Arthur's forehead.

No response.

xoXÖXox

An hour later Morgana and Morgause were both standing around an altar in their ruined castle. It wasn't really their castle, it was an old but still kind of habitable ruin in Cenred's kingdom, and it served the purpose. It was brilliantly hidden – behind a cave and a lake and deep within the woods. And there was a great water supply – the castle was surrounded by a river, or as it might have looked like – the castle was built inside a small lake. And there were rooms in the remains of the 1st floor, which Morgana and Morgause slept in. It was the same bed Morgana slept in the year when she went missing in Camelot.

It felt like her second bed - the first one being in her Camelot chambers. It also felt like a second home, and that was because her sister was there. And now they had another plan and it was actually happening. They finally had everything they needed. They had the dagger, the sacrifice (the innocent girl was tied with magical ropes to the altar so she could not escape), Merlin's blood and the spell from centuries old forbidden books.

"Please don't do this!" The girl pleaded, but Morgana and Morgause only smirked.

Morgause then leaned closer to the girl. "Don't worry, your death won't be for nothing. It will help bring magic back to the kingdom."

That didn't seem to calm the girl down, but not that either of the sisters cared. Morgause took the dagger and spread Merlin's blood on the blade. Then she lifted it high above the altar and looked at Morgana. "Are you ready, sister?"

Morgana nodded. "Like never before."

A pleased smiled appeared on Morgause's face and she quickly stabbed the poor girl into her heart. Then she and Morgana both started talking in the language of old religion and in the language that only Dragonlords used.

Or still use, since they knew Merlin was a Dragonlord too, which took almost a week for Morgause to find out. First she had to find Balinor and when she only found a grave, she had to find his son – that was, if he had one. When everything she found out led her to a woman called Hunith from Ealdor, Morgana already knew who that son was.

Morgause's brown eyes flashed gold at the same time as Morgana's green eyes did. The bloodguards that swore to protect High Priestesses stepped away. Strong wind started blowing through the ruin of the castle and the dagger started glowing in the girl's chest.

Then as if everything stopped and time became irrelevant, the wind slowed down and the leaves on the walls started shaking more slowly than before. Morgause's and Morgana's eyes kept glowing as they focused their gaze in front of them, on the main square of the ruined castle, right in front of the altar.

Five – no – ten, maybe more little whirlwinds filled with dust and leaves and glowing air appeared in the courtyard and in the water around the castle. They kept getting bigger and bigger and the sisters had to shield their eyes that had slowly stopped glowing.

Suddenly the dead girl on the altar took a deep breath and exhaled, giving her breath to the dragons that started slowly materialising from the tornados.

It didn't take even a minute, but it felt like at least an hour. When the whirlwinds slowly disappeared, majestic dragons replaced them. There was a white one, a red one, three were grey, two were black and four were brown. They all stood in front of Morgana and Morgause who couldn't look away from their huge bodies.

The dragons bowed their heads. They were prepared to take commands of the two High Priestesses of Old Religion.

xoXÖXox

Arthur woke up half an hour after he had passed out and that was only because Merlin slapped his cheek. "Ow!" He complained as his eyes shot open. He closed them again as soon as he saw Merlin's pleased expression though. His head hurt and his back hurt and he felt as if he was broken all over.

"Get up and help me pack, you're fine." He heard Merlin's voice from the distance. He didn't understand, what happened?

"What happened?"

"Oh just the usual. Someone attacked us, you passed out and I had to save you." Merlin told him as he bent down to fold the blankets. "It was Morgause." He added in a more serious tone.

"Morgause?" Arthur mumbled as he tried to sit up. He looked at his servant and when he realised what he was doing, his eyes widened. "Wait, what are you doing? The date hasn't ended yet!"

Merlin turned to look at him and sighed. "I'm afraid it has. You're hurt, Arthur, we need to get you to Gaius so he can check your head. You were bleeding."

"Bleed-" Arthur frowned and touched the back of his head. He hissed in pain. When he brought his hand back and looked at his fingers, there was almost dried blood on them.

"See? I stopped the bleeding and healed you with magic, but it's probably going to hurt a little longer. And Gaius needs to look at it." Merlin continued to prove his point.

"Wait, didn't she cut you?" Arthur asked, clearly worried. Especially when he noticed Merlin's left arm was covered in blood and there was a long cut on the sleeve.

Merlin looked down at his arm and then back at Arthur. "It's fine, I managed to heal it completely." He grinned.

"I thought you said healing spells weren't your best."

"Well, I got better at them." Merlin smiled. "Ever since we left the crystal cave, I felt my magic growing stronger." He admitted. "Hey, maybe I'm finally turning into that great prophesied warlock, the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the earth!" He exclaimed, forgetting they were in Camelot forests and someone might hear them.

"You?" Arthur laughed. "I doubt it. The prophesies must have been all wrong, you're so idio-"

A blanket landed on Arthur's face, making him stop mid-sentence. He could already hear Merlin's laughter when he removed it. "And that was with magic, without me saying anything. Remember that." Merlin laughed.

Arthur sighed and closed his eyes, laying back to the soft grass and ignoring his snickering boyfriend. He was right. Their date was over.

"Just when I was having the best time of my life with the love of my life, everything had to get ruined." He sighed. He didn't hear Merlin's footsteps as the manservant went closer to him. He only felt the soft kiss that Merlin gave him on his lips.

"Come on, we can have more dates in the future. I promise." He smiled down at him when Arthur opened his eyes again.

"If you kiss me like that again, I might even get up and help you." Arthur mumbled, already looking at Merlin's lips and smiling.

Merlin chuckled. "You're such a clotpole." But he leaned down anyway to kiss Arthur properly. The kiss ended way too soon though as Merlin laughed and walked back over to the tree. "Now get up and help me."

Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes, but the happy smile didn't leave his face. Then he got up and finally went to help pack the food.

Half an hour later, they were both on their horses and riding back to Camelot. The sun was still high and it was only afternoon, but they were both already hungry. They didn't eat much after all. Merlin reached out his hand and took Arthur's, and entwined their fingers. He smiled up at him.

Arthur smiled back. "Do you think anyone is going to notice we didn't kill anything when this was supposed to be a hunting trip?" Arthur asked, worried a bit.

"We'll just say the forest was empty." Merlin offered.

"I think telling them that you scared all the prey away is much more believable explanation." Arthur smirked and laughed when Merlin let go of his hand to punch him in the arm instead.

Then suddenly his hand froze in mid-air and everything seemed to slow down. The warm breeze, the hum of the insect and every movement. The time stopped and all he could feel was his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He stopped breathing and his eyes were looking at nothing in front of him.

"Merlin?" He heard Arthur's voice, but he couldn't move or reply. Everything was so slow and intense.

Then that strange feeling came. It felt as if his whole body was on fire and someone was pouring water at him at once, but it didn't really hurt. No, it felt... it felt... familiar even though he has never felt anything like that before. And then it all became too much. It was overwhelming.

"Merlin?"

Arthur?

Then everything turned black and he fell off his horse. The last thing he felt were Arthur's fingers on his cheeks as everything stopped and he fainted.

TBC

Excited yet? ;) I hope you like the story so far, prepare for adventure! And please let me know what you think! :)