A BIG thankyou to all who have left reviews, added this story to their Alert List, or Favourited it. Thankyou!

Sorry for taking so very, very, very long to update, as I simply have had very little time to work on it. As it is now, there are now roughly 2-3 chapters left of this story, as this is my version of the alternate ending to the BBCs version.

All rights to the BBC for Merlin and whoever created it.

Chapter 9

Gwen point of View

Gwen blinked repeatedly as normal light returned to the room, and quickly looked around for a sign of Merlin, but saw none other than Gaius also frantically looking around.

He looked down with alarm where Gwen couldn't see, and just at that moment Percival, Gwen and Leon raced into the tent in alarm, swords raised for battle,

"My Lady!" Gwaine shouted,

They looked around wildly and suddenly found themselves at odds,

"We heard yelling, were unsure what to do, but then saw a really bright light coming from in here! Is everything okay!?" asked Leon,

She would have laughed at such a sight, of three grown men in a tent wielding swords, especially knowing now how ineffective they were in the presence of this sorcerer, had she not then seen the look of horror on Gaius' face at that moment, and where he was looking.

Gwen rushed over to Gaius followed by Percival, Gwaine and Leon, and the sight that she saw nearly made her scream.

On the ground looking withdrawn and incredibly pale and haggard was Merlin, although he was barely recognizable. He looked as if he had been through several hedges as well as a major battle, deep and many tiny scratches covered his entire face.

His clothing as well as his face looked blackened and his clothing was severely ripped, particularly the red cloak.

Gwaine asked, "What the hell just happened and who the hell is that!?"

Gaius was bending down to tend to Merlin, to see if he was okay, and before Gwen could reply Percival commented,

"We never saw him come in..."

"I have never seen anything like it..." commented Gwaine, until he saw the tattered red cloak, then said something which Gwen herself could not have predicted, considering Merlin's appearance,

"The cloak, he's that sorcerer from the woods!" nearly shouted Gwaine and all three of them, Leon, Gwaine and Percival pointed their swords at Merlin,

"Gaius! My Lady! Step away from him! He could be dangerous!" urged Gwaine,

Gaius did not move and before Gwen could say anything, her thoughts being too much on Merlin, Leon said louder,

"Gaius! I ask you too step away, you are dealing with a sorcerer who is using god only knows what magic to disguise himself, and make himself look badly hurt!"

Gaius looked up at Leon angrily, raising his eyebrows, saw the tips of their blades near Merlin, and said sternly,

"Put those swords away now!"

Leon and Percival went to protest, clearly neither he or Percival believing what Gaius had just said. Gwaine just stood there still looking at Merlin, not moving.

"Gwaine, Leon, Percival." commanded Gwen, and both Leon and Percival looked at her as she commanded,

"Put those swords down now!"

They protested. "My lady, he has obviously bewitched you!"

She commanded again, "I can assure you, that I have by no means been bewitched!" she looked at them ordering sternly,

"Now put them down!"

Gwaine remained defiant as Leon and Gwen slowly and hesitantly lowered their swords, leading to Gwen commanding,

"That also applies to you Gwaine, put your sword down."

As Gwaine looked at Gwen she added,

"That is an order from your Queen."

He complied very hesitantly looking between all three of them, as Gaius looked at Gwen, she nodded for him to speak and he reported,

"He is barely alive."

"Will he be okay?" She asked,

Gaius nodded getting up, speaking in a softer tone, glancing at Merlin,

"Yes, but it will take him a good while to recover."

Leon, Percival and Gwaine looked at Gaius, with Gwaine asking obviously stunned:

"You know him!" said Gwaine

Gwen interrupted knowing they deserved the truth, but knew that Gaius needed to have a good look at him first. She just hoped that it was all over now and that Merlin had dealt with Morgana.

If Morgana turned up now she knew they would not stand a chance, Merlin was their only hope and means of defense. She knew she could not rely on hopeful thoughts that perhaps if Morgana was alive and came for them now, and had just come from battle, that her magical powers would not be anywhere near as dangerous or hurtful due to tiredness.

"Gwaine!" she looked at Gaius who nodded, receiving puzzled looks from all three knights,

"There is no time for this now! Move him to a more comfortable place." looking around she saw the spare bed, and pointing it out to them, urged them,

"Please, move him there!"

And as they bent down to pick him up, Gaius urged,

"Careful now!"

They picked Merlin up carefully as the three knights gave each other looks, being rather hesitant in actually carrying out what Gwen had ordered.

Gaius exchanged looks with Leon, Gwaine and Percival, nodding to each of them,

"He's so warm!" remarked Leon, who exchanged worried looks with Gaius.

Gaius merely nodded as they carefully placed the sorcerer onto a makeshift bed near Arthur – two tables which had been tied together. Hardly comfort but they had been dealing with the casualties of battle, and this was the best they could do and was better than nothing, and allowed them to treat the casualties easier.

Looking at Merlin on the table now was a very strange experience for Gwen in what she felt right now was a very surreal situation, and one quite frankly she had not expected to come across.

She quite frankly was uncertain how to proceed but she knew that she had to make sure as few people knew about this being Merlin, and who he truly was, and allow time to truly think about everything that had happened, and not make a decision while the non magical battle was still seemingly raging on outside.

She had no doubt that there were quite a few people who if they even suspected sorcery, would right now be showing fear and demanding that Merlin be burned at the stake. The law demanded it, but this was Merlin, and she was still trying to get her mind around the recent revelations.

Gwen, at a time with her mind still reeling from from she had both seen and heard, was a little unsure how any of the three knights would react, as far as they could be concerned she and Gaius could be under a spell, it was tactic that had been used before in witch trials.

So she was desperately trying hard to think of a way to gain more time to think, and at least calm the three knights down, and give them an explanation that would allow proper thinking time, and stop any accusations being made, or worse, Merlin being put to the sword.

She herself knew that it was an option of putting this 'Merlin' to the sword - as how did she know that she had not been hoodwinked? She wasn't entirely sure, but right there and then she just knew - her gut instinct told her that this was Merlin, and to have faith in Gaius. Her gut instinct had not failed her before - and when she had ignored it it had nearly cost her her life.

With all the experience that Gaius had had in the field of magic he had been very careful to hide, a man she knew to be wise and kind from all the years of speaking to him in the castle, she knew in all that time she would have noticed something, and her gut instinct told her that he would not have been hoodwinked so easily over the years by Merlin, and that Merlin had had plenty of opportunity to dispose off either herself or Arthur.

So she resorted to the only action she could think of, and looked at them both and demanded,

"No questions! This is not the time for them, go outside and guard the tent and let no-one enter!"

They looked at Gwen questionably who then added,

"No word of what you have just witnessed will leave this tent! Unless I expressly tell you otherwise! Do you understand!"

All three of them looked at Gwen again and Percival questioned,

"Your Highness, we are only concerned for your safety here!" he pointed to Merlin,

"We simply do not know what has happened here, who this man is, or if this is a trick by the sorcerer! And where is Merlin!?"

Gwen smiled slightly, touched by their concern for her welfare but replied,

"Thankyou for your concern, but I promise you I am in no danger. And I promise you I will personally give each of you an explanation soon."

she looked at Gaius who added,

"The safety of both Gwen and Arthur are my top priority and concern. I would not risk either of their lives."

"I will call for you if I am in need of assistance!" urged Gwen,

Leon, Percival and Gwaine looked very reluctant but nodded, bowed to Gwen and casting several glances backwards at Gwen, Gaius, Arthur and Merlin left the tent.

Shortly after they had left the tent a moan sounded from Arthur...


Arthur Point of View

Arthur felt nauseous, but considering what he remembered of the battle, he was relieved that is all he felt, but he could not understand why he was still alive, let alone breathing. He had flashbacks and remembered Mordred and what he did and what happened.

He felt all his limbs making sure he had them intact, and was mightily relieved to feel them all there, and as he remembered more, he thought he could hear two people talking nearby and realized very quickly that he was in the tent still.

With a start he opened his eyes and sat bolt upright as his mind cleared and he remembered the sorcerer.

"Gwen!" he nearly shouted, she was there immediately, as was Gaius he briefly saw staying at a distance to his right for some reason.

"I'm here Arthur!" she smiled sounding very relieved,

"That Sorcerer!" but with a finger to his mouth and a smile Gwen effectively silenced him,

"Everything is okay!" she said calmly but firmly,

He looked at her bewildered, then down at his chest as he remembered the wound, and realized he was dressed in clean clothes, and no sign of blood.

"You will be fine Arthur, just get some rest!"

He looked at her and had a distinct feeling something was amiss, but before he could say anything Gaius was feeling his chest asking,

"How are you feeling Sire?"

Arthur felt very much obliged to reply, his injury had been bad, of that he had no doubt, but he knew that they would not be able to evade his one question forever,

"I'm feeling remarkable fine thankyou Gaius. You worked wonders as usual!"

He noticed the raising of Gaius's eyebrow as he spoke and the brief glance at Gwen, Gaius said nothing.

Arthur felt this was odd and calmly asked,

"What happened to the sorcerer Gwen?"

She hesitated, with her eyes widening a little so Arthur calmly added,

"And please don't tell me that I was seeing things! I recognized him from when he tried to.." snidely finishing,

"..help my father!"

Gwen held Arthurs hand, and looked at Gaius who spoke in a stern tone,

"Be in no doubt at all Sire, you would be dead now if it had not been for him!"

Arthur just looked between them, not believing what he was hearing replying,

"You've both been hoodwinked. That same sorcerer killed my father!"

he noticed Gwen looking at Gaius who responded,

"In that you are very much mistaken Sire. It was Morgana who killed your father, planting a dark magical object underneath his bed, which ultimately killed him when the sorcerer used healing magic."

Arthur looked at Gaius stumped and confused,

"You need not defend him Gaius!"

"I am not. It is a fact." Gaius looked sternly directly into Arthurs eyes as he spoke,

"Then why are you telling me only now!?"

"Because I have only recently found out."

Arthur looked at Gaius then at Gwen who was smiling, tears running down her face, which she desperately tried to rub away with her free hand,

"What's the matter?" he asked,

"That sorcerer saved your life, Arthur."

Arthur found himself not being able to argue simply because he hated seeing Gwen crying, and had vowed he would never cause her too cry like that if

he could avoid it, Gaius continued,

"It is not the sorcery that is bad Sire, it is how the person decides to use it."

Arthur vaguely remembered those words being spoken by someone else, but he could not think who had said it, but knew the words were eerily similar to what Gaius had just said,

"Was I really that close Gaius?"

"If not for sorcery you would no longer be with us!"

Arthur was still struggling to comprehend what he was hearing, and looked at Gwen as Gaius examined his stomach once more,

"It couldn't have been that bad!" exclaimed Arthur,

but the looks both Gwen and Gaius left Arthur in no doubt that it had been, and a sudden horrible realization that he owed his life to magic.

He quickly looked at Gwen looked to be valiantly holding back crying a great deal, and was even smiling a little, saying,

"I'm sorry I caused you so much pain! It was never my intention to do so."

Gwen replied,

"I know, we know. We all know that when you go into battle or war what happens. There is always some loss, and you just hope it is not someone dear to you that is the casualty. It is even worse when you know you are fighting sorcery with a sword."

tears streamed down her face and Arthur found himself easily being able to place both his hands on the side of her face as she angrily said,

"We thought we had lost you Arthur! For a few horrible moments! It took sorcery to bring you back and for that I am very grateful!"

Arthur nodded, knowing not what to say, only whispering "I love you." to Gwen and gently kissing her.

Arthur noticed out of the corner of his eye that Gaius was tending to someone nearby and turned to look.

He was about to ask how they were doing as Gaius largely blocked his view, when he saw the tattered remains of a tunic that looked very familiar, then realized it must be the sorcerer.

With alarm he asked,

"What on earth is he doing here!"