Okay, I still feel bad about not updating in forever besides the last chapter...So here's chapter 10!

Woah, two chapters in two days...I'm on a roll!

Also...I'M OFF FOR THE SUMMER NOW! Meaning more writing time!

ENJOY!

~Donakiko

Merlin and Aurea rode through the trail in the forest. The light peeking through the trees and creating a kaleidoscopic pattern on the surroundings, a river flowed lazily beside them and an even denser packed area of trees was on their other side.

"Daddy…where are we going?" Aurea asked again for the sixth time since they left Camelot.

"I told you crystal" Merlin repeated "It's a surprise and if I told you, then it wouldn't be a very good surprise now would it?"

Aurea pursed her lips in thought before shaking her head "no…" They both went into silence for a minute before Aurea once again broke it "Are we there yet?"

Merlin laughed, she was as impatient as Arthur sometimes. "Not yet. We'll be there soon though"

Aurea nodded and looked up into the trees. Gasping slightly when she saw a small light on one of the branches. The light faded to show the outline of a small pixie wearing a dress made from leaves and sewn with grass and shoulder length curly purple hair. The pixie put a finger to her lips and Aurea nodded.

Learning about her magic had opened her eyes to an entirely new world. New plants, sights, animals, smells…it was like a curtain had been pulled away to show her all the things she'd never noticed before. Like a part of her she'd always had but never knew about had been revealed.

"Daddy…are there any fairies in here?"

Merlin tensed slightly "Why do you ask?"

Aurea opened her mouth to say that she'd seen one, but closed her mouth at remembering the pixie asking her to stay quiet. "I…uh…I saw it in a book…yeah, in granpa Gaius' bookcase. It was a little lady with tiny cute little wings." She quickly made up.

Merlin nodded, a distant look in his eyes. "Well….yes, they're real, but I don't know if they're in this forest. I don't think so, but Aurea…never believe what a fairy tells you, they're deceitful and untrustworthy"

Aurea glanced back to the tree and saw that the little winged lady had gone. She sighed before turning back to watching the trail. "Are there any meanies in this forest?"

Merlin shook his head, his eyes returning their usual twinkling light. "No sweetheart. The knights have been patrolling here for months and there hasn't been any activity from…meanies"

"Good!" Aurea laughed "They're big and ugly…at least that's wait Perc-y-val says, Leon-lion too"

Merlin chuckled, she just had to nickname everything-

"Daddy?" Aurea said in a worry tone "Something wrong with Cloud"

Merlin looked at the horse and saw that he was acting strange. Cloud was glancing at the gaps in the trees with a wild look in his eyes and sniffing the air. He clopped his hoof on the twigs and leaves and flared through his nostrils.

"Woah boy" Merlin jumped down from his stallion and tied her reins to a branch before walking over to Cloud "It's alright, shhh" He soothed as he stroked the black mares nose. "What's wrong?"

"D-daddy…" Cloud whinnied and backed up.

"MEANIES!"

Then a loud shout erupted from beside them. Merlin turned to see at least 15 bandits charging out of the denser area of the forest. Cloud reared up, her eyes wide with panic. Aurea screamed and let go of the reins to wrap her arms around the horse's neck. Cloud through her hoofs down before bolting across the river and out of sight.

"Aurea!" Merlin screamed after her. He turned to face the bandits, his hand outstretched in front of him.

Then all hell broke loose.

"So give me a moment to understand this" Arthur told Gwaine, sitting across from the knights at the table in the tavern. "You think you know where Morgana and Agravaine have been hiding?"

Gwaine shook his head "Not Agravaine, but we have an idea about Morgana…"

"When we were on our last patrol, we found this old house in the forest. We thought someone had lived there so we left it alone. Then on the way back, we found this" Leon continued, pulling an amulet from his pouch and setting it on the table.

The Amulet was a thick silver disk with a circular purple gemstone in the centre. Around the gemstone were runes which Arthur recognised instantly.

"The old religion" he said out loud, Picking the amulet up by its silver chain and holding it up in the candle light to inspect it.

"If there's a sorcerer or sorceress in the woods…it could be Morgana" Leon voiced. "Then again, it could have also been dropped by someone who had been tricked into buying it by a sorcerer and sought to get rid of it." He continued, leaning forward on the table.

Arthur nodded, Leon had a point…but this was the only lead they'd had all year. "It's not much…most likely it could turn out to be nothing…but it's all we've got. And it could lead us to Morgana-"

"Here you are" A slim woman walked over to their table carrying a tray of tankards of Ale "Just what you need, you all look thoroughly depressed" The woman smiled, her dark brown eyes twinkling.

"Mu…um a….ahuh…" Gwaine slurred, staring wide-eyed at the woman.

The knights didn't even fight to keep down their laughs this time.

"Close your mouth Gwaine" Arthur ordered, smiling as he took a drink of his ale.

Gwaine blinked and shook his head, standing up so fast he knocked his sword hilt of the end of the table. "Um, I'm…s-sir Gwaine" He held his hand out to the woman who had just gone red in the cheeks.

"Oh, hello…I'm-"

"Medith!" Shouted the man behind the counter "We have other customers!"

"Right dad!" Medith shouted back, pushing a strand of her black hair behind her ear "Sorry, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you Sir Gwaine" She waved shyly, picking up her tray and walking back to the counter.

The table was silent before Leon and Elyan sang "Gwaine and Medith, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G-"

Clang!

They didn't get to finish the song before Gwaine hit them over the head with his tankard. "Shut up" He said, taking a drink and smiling.

"Daddy!" Aurea continued to scream as she held onto Clouds mane to stop herself from falling. "HELP, DADDY!"

Suddenly a bright light shone through the trees in front of her, Cloud reared so fast that Aurea lost her grip on the horse, she fell off the horse and onto the ground as Cloud bolted for the forest and away from the light.

Her vision blurred after the fall, the last thing she saw was the light coming towards her…

Then her world went black.

Remember to review! I only got two for my last chapter