A year ago if someone had told Merlin that he would become Lord of the druids and high priest of magic he would have waited for signs of Arthur finally accepting magic. If they had told him that he would achieve it without Arthur he would have thought the person was crazy to even bring up the idea. But that is what it is now. He had been able to convince some of the leaders of the five kingdoms to allow those with magic practice freely and also make them citizens of their kingdom to prevent any unwanted attacks.
At first these leaders shunned him while some wanted to execute him when they found out that he was Emrys. Mostly they were afraid of Camelot of King Arthur and his knights, none of them wanted to go up against the king of Camelot. In all these unfairness Merlin moved to the White Mountains. Since no one claimed it Merlin took over and made his way to the isle of the blessed there the druid elders and Catha priests pronounced him Lord and High Priest of magic respectively.
The isle was a big place and it had a lot space for people to settle in. when news went out that the Isle of the blessed was restored and Emrys is the new Lord of the White mountains many sorcerers started coming hoping they could settle in the Isle to avoid persecution. Among them he saw old friends again. He got reacquainted with Gilli and Alice. He also met a druid named Galahad who was skilled with a sword. He knew the peace would only last for a little time so he allowed Galahad to train a couple of fighters so they can best be prepared to defend themselves. Some people argued with him on the grounds that they had magic and can protect themselves, but when he asked them how much power they can release before they get exhausted that put an end to the argument. Before the end of that week they had over a thousand soldiers ready for battle. Though they were small it would be hard to take them down. He also encouraged the use of magic with sword fighting as that would also give them an edge if they ever ran in to trouble. They thought trouble meant Pendragon and Camelot, but deep in his mind it also meant Morgana. She hasn't been sighted for a while and that scared him so he sent spies to gather any information they could find.
He had also made good allies like Queen Anis, of course she still referred to him as Arthurs fool albeit in a good natured way. The alliance between the two had been favorable especially since the little tournament she set up in Merlin's honor when he visited her. Her best fighters were easily defeated by merlins own men, when she cried foul thinking they used magic, they swore on their life that they fought fair and square. Annis was no fool, she knew they would have died if they had lied since they swore on their lives. She decided to add military alliance in the treaty. He also had a good rapport with king Odin after he confirmed that he had indeed fathered another child with one of the Palace maids. The revelation that he was a father to another child almost softened his heart against Arthur Pendragon. Almost. When the maid gave birth to a son later on Odin was ecstatic, his line will continue. He promised himself that he would not push the boy too far. He also wasted no time in signing a treaty with Merlin. He could still remember the time he visited the druids to ask for this great alliance.
As the last dragonlord he commanded the wyrvens to take part and act as guards. Kilgarrah and Aithusa had also taken refuge in the mountains. They were still occasional scuffles against the isle. Sometime a neighboring king or Lord will try to stage an aggressive invasion. The first of this was Amata. King Sarrum heard of the new magical kingdom and prepared a quarter of his army to attack the Isle at night. Since Amata shared boundary with the isle he figured that it will be easier especially during one of the magical festivals. He ordered his men to bring magic suppressing cuffs and anything that will give them an edge. They didn't take into account that the soldiers in the isle were trained in both magical and sword fighting.
The Amatan army crossed the boarder without any hindrance, basking in the euphoria of a surprise attack they failed to notice that they were surrounded. When they became aware of their situation it was already too late. The battle was short but sent a strong message to the other kingdoms that any form of invasion will not be taken lightly.
Despite everything that has happened to him in the course of this one year Merlin still felt hollow, like he missed something, despite the treaties and alliances he had forged he couldn't help but feel he over looked something.