A/N: I'm glad everyone's so happy with the outcome of the last chapter! Merlin isn't dead! Whoohoo! Also, I know have over 70 reviews! Whoohoo, again! Thank you all for helping me begin to achieve my goal of 100 reviews! To everyone who reviewed/followed/favorite: You guys are my Knights of the Round Table! Yes, you are that awesome.

Warning: The beginning of this chapter may be a little confusing, but hopefully it'll make more sense as you read. Just stick with me! If it still doesn't make sense or there's something you're not totally clear on, feel free to PM me and I'll answer any questions you may have.

Disclaimer: I think we have now established I do not own Merlin, no matter how badly I want to. (dramatic sigh)

Emrys Revealed

"On me!" King Arthur Pendragon yelled as the gigantic griffin approached the gates of Camelot.

"Sire, we can't hold it off for much longer." Sir Leon said, taking a fighting stance beside Arthur.

"We'll hold it off as long as we can." Arthur insisted. "We just need to stall it, to give him time."

"To give who time, Sire?" Leon asked.

Arthur opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a deafening roar coming from their left.

The griffin was getting closer.

The Knights of the Round Table ran up to it first, protecting their King. But the griffin gave a huge swing of his claw, and backhanded the knights to the ground. All if Arthur's knights were knocked out and lay motionless on the ground. The King was alone.

Arthur adjusted his lance as the griffin raced toward him.

"Come on, come on." He whispered under his breath. "It's getting closer."

What if he's not here? Arthur thought to himself. What if I'm wrong about this? What if-

I am not wrong, he told to himself to counter those pessimistic thoughts. I wasn't wrong about the Basilisk, I wasn't wrong about the dragon, and I'm not wrong about this. He was there those other times; he will be here this time. I'm sure of it.

And as soon as that thought entered his mind, his spear started glowing blue and Arthur pierced the griffin through its heart. The giant beast dropped down dead.

Arthur quickly scanned the surrounding tree line for a movement, a flash of color, anything. But just like on all those other occasions, he found none.

Arthur dropped his head dejectedly and went to try and rouse his knights.

Eventually they awoke, after a lot of shaking and yelling, and they all headed back through the gates of Camelot.

Their journey up to the citadel was joyous, the townspeople celebrating the defeat of the griffin. The beast had attacked many outlying villages before coming closer to the castle. Arthur and his knights had bravely set out to defeat it, and by returning victorious, had given the people cause for merriment.

But Arthur couldn't take any of their praise in; he had only one thing on his mind. When they entered the castle courtyard, Arthur wasted no time jumping off his horse before running straight for Gaius's chambers.

"Gaius! Gaius!" Arthur yelled, bursting through the door to the physician's chambers and interrupting whatever conversation Guinevere and Gaius were just having.

Whatever it was it can wait, Arthur thought irritably to himself. This is more important.

"Gaius, didn't you say that griffins could only be killed by magic?" he asked to the startled physician.

"Y-Yes." Gaius said, recovering from the King nearly giving him a heart attack.

"Guess what? I killed it!" Arthur exclaimed excitedly.

"Without magic?" Gaius asked.

"No, with magic. Someone enchanted my lance. And I think we both know who it was. There's only one person who is powerful enough to cast that spell effortlessly."

"Merlin." The old man said, hope lighting up his face.

"Yes!" Arthur said, completely ignoring the warning look from Gwen. "I didn't see him but I know he was there. I just know it!"

"Merlin?" they heard a voice say from the stairs leading up to Gaius's extra room. Hunith appeared, looking hopeful for news of her son.

"Yes, Arthur thinks he helped fight off the griffin." Gaius said to her.

"Excuse me," said Gwen in as polite of a voice as she could muster, "I think I need to have a short word with my husband. We'll be back shortly."

With that, Guinevere grabbed Arthur's arm and pulled him out of Gaius's chambers. They walked down a hallway and turned into a spare guest room. Guinevere led Arthur inside and locked the door behind her.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Gwen said, looking madder than Arthur had ever seen her.

"I was telling Gaius and Hunith that I think Merlin is close to Camelot. Maybe he's coming home." Arthur said like it was blatantly obvious.

"And what exactly do you hope to achieve by doing that?" Gwen asked, her hands on her hips.

"I know they care about him and I was just letting them know in case he finally turns up. He's close, I can feel it."

Gwen put her hand in her hands. She stayed like that for a long while. Eventually she looked up and met Arthur's eyes, her own full of sadness.

"Arthur, you just don't understand."

"What don't I understand?" he said, confused about the way she was acting. He thought she'd be happy about this news.

"Arthur, you're disrespecting other people's feelings."

"Disrespecting them? I was doing the exact opposite. I was telling them so they could-"

"So they could what?" Gwen said, resting her hands on her hips again, her voice getting louder. "So they could hope again. So they could hope for the arrival of the one they love most, only to be crushed when he doesn't return."

"He might return-"

"Arthur, Merlin's been gone for over a year now! When will you stop looking for him every time something strange or out of the ordinary happens?"

"But it was magic that killed the griffin!"

"Yes, and it was magic that killed the Basiisk and magic that killed the dragon. And what did you do when you realized that? You rushed right over to Hunith and Gaius to tell them Merlin's coming home. And what happened? Nothing. Nothing happened. Merlin still didn't come home. So they were left with their hopes crushed and tears flowing, waiting for you to come barging in declaring that he's back. Then they allow their hopes to rise again, thinking 'Maybe this time.' And then are left disappointed. Arthur, I love you, but you need to stop this madness."

"I thought you cared about Merlin!" Arthur yelled back, his wife's anger coming as a surprise to him.

"I do care about him!" she yelled, but then closed her eyes and took three deep breaths, one after the other. "I do care about him." she repeated, calmer this time. "I just care about others also. And let's be honest, more bad than good is coming out of your drastic hunt for Merlin. You've lost good soldiers looking in remote forests and distant lands for him. You've given people hope, and then crushed it. I understand that you care about him, I really do, but did you ever think that maybe he doesn't want to be found?"

Arthur sat down on the bed and rubbed his face with his hands. Yes, that thought had occurred to him on more than one occasion.

Guinevere knelt down beside him. "I loved him too, I really did. And I can't believe I'm saying this but," she took a deep breath, "I think it's time for you to let him go."

And with that she stood up, patted him on the back, and walked out of the room, leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts.

Arthur could remember that faithful day at the castle clearly, even though it had happened over a year ago. He remembered the elation of finding footprints under that rock, satisfaction in knowing that Merlin was still alive, knowing he could still make things right. That day they had searched everywhere around that ruined castle for any signs of Merlin, but none could be found. They had searched all through the night as well, looking everywhere, but still found nothing. For weeks they had been away from Camelot, looking far and wide for Merlin, but he was nowhere to be found. It was almost as if he had vanished off the face of the Earth.

The knights and their king had returned to Camelot dejected, but not beaten. For the first week after their arrival, Arthur constantly sent out search parties, he himself leaving the castle in the morning and not coming back until after dark. Yet still no sign of the warlock anywhere.

Then came the Basilisk. It was a giant snake, hundreds of feet long, circling around the castle wreaking havoc. Gaius said the only way to beat it was with the use of magic.

Arthur had set out to face it anyway; he had beaten a beast supposedly only beaten by magic before. Or so he had thought at the time. Yet when Arthur finally met the Basilisk, his sword left no mark on it. After mere minutes of useless fighting with the beast, the large snake had him in a death grip. It was slowly squeezing the life out of him. Then suddenly his sword popped up from the ground of its own accord, glowed a strange red color, then stabbed the Basilisk, killing it. That was the first time Arthur knew Merlin was still there.

Then came the evil white dragon, then countless other things, defeated with magic. Arthur would sometimes see the magic, but never the user. Yet he felt sure it was Merlin.

Gaius had finally told the Knights of the Round Table the full story of Merlin's adventures in Camelot. Arthur had been so shocked; he could barely get out of his seat when the story was finished. The one part that hit Arthur the hardest was when Arthur had been bitten by the Questing Beast and Merlin had resorted to drastic measures to save his life. His servant had already cared so much for him and they hadn't even known each other that long yet. It still made Arthur sick to think of how he had repaid him.

He had stopped the no-magic law, allowing sorcerers to roam free in Camelot without fear, and yet Merlin still didn't return. Arthur felt sick with guilt.

But life kept going. More battles to fight, more peace treaties to sign, more magical beasts to die at an unexplained hand.

Gwen was right though. Every time Arthur got an inkling that Merlin was near, he rushed off to tell Gaius and Hunith; who had now moved in with Gaius, wanting to be the first to know if any new thing had been found of her son. And every time they would get their hopes up, thinking Merlin would come home, yet he never did.

Arthur knew that they must hate him. It was his fault really that Merlin didn't think he could show his face in Camelot again. Gwaine still hadn't fully forgiven him yet, creating some tension at the Round Table. The other knights, thankfully, had forgiven Arthur after they had witnessed his efforts to try to win that servant back. But now Arthur agreed with Gwen; maybe Merlin didn't want to be found. That knowledge crushed Arthur.

Maybe I should give up on him, Arthur thought. Maybe it's finally time to let go.

Suddenly the door to the guest chambers flew open and a very out of breath Sir Leon stood in the doorway.

"Oh good, I found you sire. There is someone here to see you."

"Who?" Arthur asked, allowing himself to sound a little hopeful. Maybe I don't have to give up on him after all, Arthur thought excitedly.

"It's a druid." Leon stated.

So much for that, Arthur thought bitterly. But still, druids were magical and they looked up to Emrys. Maybe this druid might know something.

Then Leon said, "He says his name is Mordred."

A/N: Alright, so letting you know, this story takes place after season 4 but before season 5. I'm so sorry I never mentioned that. So no Mordred isn't a knight, he's still a druid. And there was a one year gap between this chapter and the last, incase that was still confusing to anybody. Again, if you still have questions, feel free to PM me, I'll be glad to answer them. Do you think Gwen was OOC in this chapter? I just wrote her that way because I thought she would finally be at her breaking point after a year of Arthur hurting these people constantly with "news" of Merlin. Please review and help me get to my goal o 100 reviews! I would really appreciate it! Bye and hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it wasn't much action.