The three knights lead Merlin into the castle, Merlin had been handed a sword to help them protect the group. Once inside the castle, the knights run up the stairs to their left, Merlin followed behind them, confused because he had never seen a knight of Camelot move through the town so fast. That was how Merlin knew that Morgana really had become a problem. No knight of Camelot has ever been afraid like this before.

"Where are we going?" Merlin asks.

"To Arthur." Gwaine says. "He and Queen Guinevere will want to see you, as well as Gaius."

"We would like to tell them as quick as possible." Percival says. "It's almost night and that is when Morgana's army attacks every time."

"We should also try to convince them to let you fight when we are being attacked." Leon says. "Right now, we need men with your skill in fighting."

Merlin nodded and continued to follow them up the stairs. Merlin looked around trying to remember everything about the castle again. That was a battle habit that Merlin had gotten used to. He did not trust any building that he did not know every inch of and unfortunately he has forgotten about the castle, not that Merlin knew every inch of the castle before he left.

Merlin did, however, completely remember the hall that they were in right now. It was the hall that led to the council room where Merlin assumed was where Arthur and Guinevere were. Percival opened the doors to the throne room, and Merlin is surprised when he sees the big round table in the center of the room. Around the table are about thirty knights, a few common people, and at the side farthest away from Merlin is Arthur, Guinevere, Gaius, and Elyan. There are only about forty people sitting at the table when the table looks like it can seat eighty people.

When the doors open, all of the knights quickly turn around, their hands going to their swords. They stop when they see that the people that opened the doors were other knights and a man they did not know, or remember. Arthur stands up when he sees that his knights have left their post as guards to protect from strangers to Camelot.

"Sirs Leon, Percival, Gwaine. What are the three of you doing here?" Arthur asks. "I hope you know that I could throw you in the cells for leaving your posts."

"Sire," Sir Leon begins. "We have found someone I think you-"

"Merlin!" Guinevere says and gets up from her seat to run over to Merlin. Gaius follows his queen and Merlin drops the bag that was on his shoulder, which was carrying all of his belongings, and walks over to them and meets them in the middle. Guinevere hugs Merlin first and then Gaius.

Arthur watched his wife and Court Physician hug the man that they thought to be his old manservant. Arthur looked closer at the man and saw the deep shade of blue in the man's eyes, the pasty white skin, the black hair, and the goofy grin. The man was Merlin. Arthur stared at his old friend, not sure what to think. Should Arthur be angry for him leaving, happy for his return, or pretend not to care?

"It's so good to see you, my boy." Gaius said when he parted from Merlin.

"Where have you been Merlin?" Gwen asked.

"Just travelling around." Merlin decided to shorten his place of living for the past few years. "I stayed in the same area though."

"Good." Gwen said. "I can't wait to hear all about your adventures in the past seven years-"

"Yes," Arthur interrupts. "We would all love to listen to Merlin's bedtime stories, but we were in the middle of a meeting. If you have forgotten, we are at war. Now let's get back to discussing how to defend ourselves. Gaius you can take Merlin to your quarters if you wish, or you can stay."

"I will help Merlin with his belongings." Gaius says.

"Very well." Arthur says. He takes his seat again and turns to Percival, Leon, and Gwaine. "You three should go back to your posts."

"Yes sire." Sir Leon says. He and the other two knights leave to go back outside. "But before we leave we would like to tell you that Merlin-"

Leon is cut off from finishing his sentence when a loud rumble goes across the land. A horn is sounded outside the kingdom and the warning bell sounds. It sounds a lot louder and faster than Merlin remembers, but that could just be his mind. All the knights stood up and unsheathed their swords before running out of the council room.

"What's going on?" Merlin asks.

"Morgana's army is attacking." Gaius says.

"Merlin." Arthur says running towards the doors to go fight. "Get everyone here into the inner chamber. Now!"

Merlin was surprised for a second that Arthur still trusted him enough to protect Gwen. Arthur ran out the doors with his sword raised to show that he is ready to fight. The people, Gwen, and Gaius turned to Merlin. Waiting for him to follow the king's orders and take them into the inner chamber.

Merlin started walking in the opposite direction of Arthur and the knights, instantly remembering the path to the inner chamber. Gaius and Gwen were next to him the entire way to the inner chamber, the common people a little further behind them.

"What's happened, Gaius?" Merlin asked. "Camelot may be under attack, but I have never seen the knights like they are now. They're scared and anxious to fight at the same time."

"They are not anxious to fight." Gaius answers him. "They are anxious to protect Camelot and her people."

"Either way, this needs to stop." Merlin says.

The doors to the inner chamber are in sight when Gaius stops Merlin. "Gwen, could you give Merlin and me a moment."

"Of course, Gaius." Gwen said then turned to her subjects. "Let us continue."

Gaius turns back to Merlin after Gwen and the people go into the inner chamber, "We will take the people from here. You go help Arthur."

Merlin smiles, and hands the sword that Percival gave him to Gaius, "Thank you. I'll see you soon."

Merlin runs in the opposite direction to Gaius' chambers. Once there, Merlin drops the bag on his back on the ground and digs through it until he finds his real sword. It was a sword like Arthur's, forged in the dragon's breath. However, Merlin's blade was darker, almost pure black, because not only did he forge it in Kilgharrah's, but in Aithusa's breath as well. It took a long time but Merlin did eventually make Aithusa see the error in his ways for saving Morgana. Forged by the breath of two dragons, it was the most powerful sword ever created, not even Kilgharrah knew of its power.

After Merlin took the blade out of his pack, he put the blade on the table and looked for the other thing he was looking for. A black tunic with a hood, black trousers, a black piece of cloth to wrap around the bottom of his mouth, black shoes, and a black belt that could hold his sword. Merlin changed into these things quickly, sheathing his sword, then he ran out of Gaius' chambers.

Merlin took a secret way out of the castle and summoned Kilgharrah and Aithusa when he was far away from the castle for no one to see. The dark night sky helped the two dragons not be seen when they got to Merlin a minute after being called. Kilgharrah stood tall in front of Merlin, Aithusa was lowering her head, most likely from fear of having to kill Morgana. Merlin might have got Aithusa to see that Morgana was evil, but Aithusa still loved Morgana like she was her mother. Merlin felt a ping of jealousy. He was the one that summoned Aithusa to this world and gave her the name Aithusa. If Merlin's and Kilgharrah's souls were brothers, then Merlin's must be Aithusa's soul's father.

Kilgharrah looks around and takes a deep breath. "It has been many years since we have been this close to Camelot."

"I need your help to weaken Morgana's defenses and stop the attack on Camelot." Merlin says.

"We will follow you into this battle Merlin," Kilgharrah says. "But be warned, we cannot enter this war. We cannot let neither me nor Aithusa die. It would be the definite end to our breed."

"All I need is time to get Camelot rebuilt." Merlin says. "Camelot winning this night might ensure that."

"Very well." Kilgharrah says. He bends his neck and Merlin climbs on, gripping onto a spike on Kilgharrah's back. When Merlin was safely on the dragon's back, Kilgharrah straightened his body. "May this night bring about the end to Morgana's evil."


Kilgharrah flew through the air, and flew over Camelot from the South. The fight was taking place in the North. Aithusa flew next to Kilgharrah's tail and Merlin did not know anymore what she might be thinking. When Merlin turned away from Kilgharrah, he could see the battle field and knew from that moment that the only reason that Camelot had not completely fallen yet is because Morgana had allowed it to remain alive. The thirty or so knights were barely managing to keep out the thousands of Morgana's soldiers.

"Attack!" Merlin shouted at Kilgharrah and Aithusa.

Immediately after he said it, Merlin realized that he had said 'attack' in the language of the dragons. Kilgharrah and Aithusa positioned themselves so that they were in the air but only hovering and not moving. A column of fire came from both dragons' mouths and the flames hit Morgana's army. Screams come from the invading forces and they start retreating, none of them escaping the flames. The dragons stopped attacking and Kilgharrah went close to the ground so Merlin could jump off to help get rid of the remaining enemies.

Merlin was fighting a man when he kicked the man into a jet of fire coming from Aithusa. The man screamed as he fell to the ground burning to death. Merlin turned and barely got out of the way of another enemy's sword came towards his head. Merlin ducked and jabbed upwards, piercing the man through the heart. Merlin fought for what felt like an hour with Aithusa and Kilgharrah, sometimes using his sword, other times he used his magic.

When every last one of Morgana's knights were dead, Merlin turned to the knights of Camelot. The dragons landed next to him while Merlin was sheathing his sword. The Camelot knights knew that a sorcerer had just saved them with his two dragons, and they all looked skeptical. Arthur, who was in the front of the knights, gathered up the courage to walk over to Merlin.

Arthur held out his hand to Merlin. "My name is Arthur Pendragon, I am the King of Camelot. I thank you for saving us."

Merlin took Arthur's hand and shook it. Merlin used a spell to hide his voice, the spell didn't change his voice it just amplified it so that Arthur would be too busy taking in its power so that he would not recognize the voice. "Well King of Camelot, you are welcome. I see that this was not the first time you have been attacked. You should use the time that I have gotten you to rebuild your kingdom. From here on out you can call me your ally, I promise to protect your lands. I will be back to help whenever I can and I will always be watching over your lands."

Arthur was taken back by the mysterious man's promises, and the voice that he promised them in. Arthur was glad that he would have such a powerful ally, but disappointed that it would be an ally that was also a sorcerer. Arthur turned to see his knights staring at the man in front them in amazement and horror. He knew that his kingdom would be dead without the sorcerer so he made the smartest decision available.

Arthur turned to the man, "Alright, I see that you care for my kingdom. I will allow you to enter my kingdom without fear of being burned for having magic. May I ask who the savior of my kingdom is?"

"I cannot tell you that. I trust you but you most likely will not trust me." Merlin says still using the spell. "I must go now. I will be seeing you."

Merlin got back on Kilgharrah and he and the two dragons flew off. The knights of Camelot looked at the horizon as their savior and new protector left them standing there. It was at that moment that Arthur realized that not one of his knights had died. He wasn't worried about having to watch his friends die anymore, however. For he had just gained a Guardian of Camelot.