Hey everyvbody! I am so sorry about the wait! This chapter took a while to write because i didn't want to break it up into little chapters and make you wait several weeks! So instead of super short chapters over the course of a month I decided to give you one long chapter (okay maybe two but that one will be up in like three days at most so you won't have to wait long). This chapter is almost three times as long as the others! I hope you like it and please review!

Arthur's POV:

I'm going to kill him, I thought as I ran back to our camp. How dare that idiot think that the only solution was to end his life! The moment Hawk had said those words I took off determined to get some answers. How is he even alive? I wondered. If he killed himself, how is he still here?

I burst through the trees into the clearing. Everyone looked up as I arrived clearly surprised by my dramatic appearance. Merlin was studying me carefully trying to find out what was wrong. "You committed suicide," I blurted out in a half-yell.

Merlin paled as the words left my mouth and I could see in his eyes the fear and denial. This was another thing he was never going to tell me even if he could have. I had always thought my best friend to be an open book but I was starting to realize that Merlin was nothing but a liar even if was still a good person. He would never willingly tell anyone the truth not even me and it saddened me that he had such little trust in people. Have we not proven that we care about him? I wondered. Have we not proven that we would never turn our back on him no matter what?

"Who told you that?" he asked. It should have been obvious though considering Hawk was the only one with me. Must be the shock of the situation, I mused, it's making him overlook the obvious.

"It doesn't really matter now does it?! How dare you! How dare you think that you could just take your own life? Were things really that terrible for you?" I asked getting angrier with every word. The knights looked shocked at my accusations and looked expectantly at Merlin to deny it. When he didn't they were horrified. After all, who could ever picture sweet, innocent Merlin doing something like that? We had never been so shocked before not even when we had found out he used to be a killer. No one could have expected this and I hadn't even really believed it until I saw the guilty look on Merlin's face.

"What do you care it happened before we even met?" he asked.

"Merlin you're my friend, of course I care!" I yelled. "It's just not you; I could never see you doing something so cowardly!"

"And here I thought I was doing something brave," he said hurt, "stopping myself before I could kill any more people! Some people would be too selfish and put their own life above others, damn the consequences! I didn't!"

"That's an excuse and you know it! You weren't doing it for other people you were doing it for yourself so you didn't have to feel bad about the things you did," I said, "You did it so that you wouldn't have to take the harder path!"

"So what? The end result is the same!" he yelled getting frustrated.

"No it isn't because Jal still walked away and did the same thing to other children that he did to you," I said. "If you dug deeper, if you fought back, you could have saved them! You are smart enough and powerful enough to put an end to all of this and you took the easy way out! What's the point of all your power if you don't use it to save those who have no way to save themselves?"

Merlin looked down at the floor in shame and I turned away, afraid that if I looked at him any longer I would do something I'd regret.

When my anger died down some I asked, "How are you even alive? If you had to die to end the spell then how is it you are here?"

He sighed. "I guess there's no harm in telling you now considering you would never do it. It happened like this…"

Merlin's POV (age 18):

I walked into Jal's throne room with a sense of dread in my gut. Good things never happened when I was summoned it usually meant that someone was going to die and I really didn't feel like killing anyone today. Jal sat on his throne looking bored and he looked up when I entered with a malicious glee. I sighed and bowed when I was in front of him.

"Good you're here," Jal began, "I have a mission for you. We have been contacted by King Uther to kill a sorcerer."

"Why would he want us to do it? We employ sorcerers," I said.

"Because he's a hypocrite," Jal said, "He'll use magic when it suits him but will burn anyone else who does it at the stake. You've heard the rumors about what happened with his wife?"

"Do you mean the story where she was killed by an evil sorceress?" I asked.

"No boy! There's a rumor going around that Uther employed the sorceress to give him and his barren wife an heir," Jal said, "but Uther, being such an ignorant fool, didn't realized the consequences of using the magic of the Old Religion."

"What consequences?" I asked. This was one of the only times Jal ever talked about magic. He was worried that if I learned how to control my magic I would break the spell he has on me.

"The Old Religion has powerful magic," Jal lectured, "At its very core is the power to mimic life and death. The sorceress could grant Uther his wish and give him a child but to create a life there must be a death, for balance. So she did it but she didn't know who would be sacrificed. Uther was an idiot he assumed that the life that would be taken would be the life of some faceless peasant but he didn't realized that his child would be born a prince or princess and the life of a royal is an extremely powerful life so the sacrifice couldn't be some nobody peasant. The Old Religion took Igraine's life. Uther blamed not only Nimue but magic too. He claimed that magic was an evil and malicious forced and vow to destroy it."

"So if he's so against magic why is he paying a bunch of sorcerer mercenaries to kill a sorcerer for him? Isn't that what his knights are for?" I asked. "I've heard talked over the years that the knights of Camelot were the best in the five kingdoms so wouldn't it be better for him to send his oh-so-impressive knights who he trusts rather that a bunch of evil sorcerer mercenaries?"

"Apparently the sorcerer is very powerful and has been evading the king's knights for months," Jal explained. "Even the prince, Arthur, has been unsuccessful in apprehending him and there's been much talk lately claiming that he is the best warrior in the five kingdoms."

I snorted when he said that. I knew very well that whoever this Prince Arthur was and no matter how good a warrior he was there was no way he'd ever beat me in a fight, even without my magic. He was probably just a pompous, arrogant, royal who talked big and wasn't nearly as good as he said he was.

"Now the king would prefer it if you could capture the sorcerer and bring him to Camelot so he can be give a public execution as a sort of message to other sorcerers but he understands if thing get out of control and you have to kill him," Jal said. "He and his family are in hiding and they were last spotted in the north in a small village not too far from the Isle of Apples so start there."

"What would the king like me to do with the sorcerer's family?" I asked.

"Kill them," he said nonchalant.

"Alright, what's the sorcerer's name so I know which one to bring in?" I asked.

"His name is Salias," Jal said. "You will be alone on this mission."

"That's fine I would rather work alone anyway," I said and turned to leave.

On my way back to the barracks I ran into Wren. She gave me a shy smile.

"Sorry about that Wren I should really watch where I'm going," I said quickly.

"It's alright Wolf I was actually looking for you," she said.

"Oh, well I guess you found me then," I said nervously. Wren was one of the prettiest girls I'd ever met and I had sort of a crush on her but I never had the courage to tell her so we just became really good friends. I didn't even know if she liked me back.

"Yes I heard you just got an assignment," she said.

"Yes I did."

"Nothing too difficult I hope?"

"No it's pretty straight forward."

"That's good," she said. "So I was wondering when you came back if maybe you would want to go on a date with me?"

When she said that my insides burst with giddiness and I tripped over myself in my rush to rely. This can't be happening, I thought. It's a dream come true!

"I—I wo-would love to!" I said with a grin.

"Great!" she said relieved, "Then I'll see you when you get back!"

"Definitely," I said with genuine enthusiasm. God it was so rare these days for me to be really excited about something it was a refreshing change.

I said my goodbye and then headed to my room. I quickly packed my equipment and some supplies and departed Jal's fortress an hour later. I decided to take a more roundabout way to the north part of Uther's kingdom, eager to avoid the capitol, and took a road that lead deeper into the mercenary lands so I could use the northern exit. I knew immediately when I left Jal's territory and enter the part of the mercenary lands controlled by a mercenary lord named Benton. The mercenary lands were very large and they were controlled by five lords (Jal, Benton, Corrison, Jasper, and Ari) they all had their own group of mercenaries, though Jal was the only one to enslave his with magic, and they all had their own land. Of the five lords Jal was by far the most powerful and the most ruthless. He was sort of like the mercenary king and as his second in command I had the right to enter the other mercenary lord's territory unopposed.

I knew I crossed into Benton's territory because each one was divided by magical barriers and you could only enter if given permission or if you were a potential customer. As Jal's second-in-command I had permission to enter all five territories whenever I wanted to without waiting for clearance from the lord of that territory.

I rode for the rest of the day and set up camp when night fell. I knew that I would be at the northern exit by midmorning tomorrow. Sleep came easily enough but it wasn't a deep sleep. No, even then part of me remained conscious always on alert for potential threats. Years of training had left him with a sense of weariness and alertness that was attune to the world around me. Every noise was heard and processed. My magic was hyperaware and would inform me of any threats long before they came near, but even that wasn't perfect so I relied on my senses as back up.

As dawn broke the next morning I packed up my small camp and set out for the border. As I predicted I reached the small fort that divided the mercenary lands from the north part of Uther's kingdom and the southern part of Bayard's kingdom by midmorning. The village I was looking for was the small town called Longstead. It was a small fishing village. It was two days from here on horseback. I urged my grey mare forward through a large grassland.

That day was uneventful and that night I again slept under the stars. The next morning I continued my journey and I wondered if the sorcerer would try to put on a fight. I'd fought many sorcerers in my time as a mercenary. Most of them had studied for years to perfect what little magic they had and a few were beginners. Made no difference either way though, no difference how long they had studied, their power was nothing to mine. Their magic was a lazy river to my stormy ocean. My magic had depths they could never dream of. Even though I didn't know any spell the sheer force of my power pushed any magical opponent back and forced them into submission. This sorcerer Salias, no matter how powerful he was, didn't stand a chance.

I closed in on the village and noted that it was smaller than I had thought it would be. The sorcerer must not have been hiding here long. I asked the villagers if they had seen any travelers lately and an old beggar woman told me that there was a family camped out on the shore. I thanked her with a few silver coins and made my way to the trees near the shore. I changed out of my armor and into some peasant clothes and a travelling cloak in hopes of tricking them into a false sense of security to give me the advantage. I spotted the small fire of their camp they must have been using it to counteract the cold from the sea. I made my way over.

"Hello there," I greeted with a charming smile that could disarm the coldest of men. It was the smile I use to give my mother every morning when she'd put extra cinnamon in my porridge.

A man with light green eyes approached me, blocking my view of his family.

"Do you need something stranger?" he asked his voice full of mistrust.

"I mean you no harm, friend. I am travelling south to visit my cousins in Ealdor in Cenred's kingdom," I began making it up on the spot. I don't know why I used the name of my home village it was just the first thing to pop into my head. "Unfortunately there are no inns in the area and I don't fancy making camp alone if I can help it. There's been talk of bandits in the area and I don't fancy my luck again those big brute, not scrawny me, no. I was hoping maybe I could share your camp? I could pay you a few gold coins and share some of my food with you in return."

I shut up and waited for his response. I gave him another innocent smile and tried to look as small as possible.

He nodded a moment later and stepped aside to let me through. I noticed four other people in the camp. They all had the same green eyes and dark hair, except for one woman whose hair was blond. The man put his arm around her when he caught me staring and made it very clear that she was his wife. I sat down on a log next to one of the children. He was a small boy of about five years old. He seemed very quiet for a five year old and didn't have that same energetic aura that all other children exuded. He felt more closed off and his green eyes held a sort of sadness in them that made him seem older. He looked back at me and I got the strangest feeling that he knew exactly who I was and what I was doing there. It was creepy!

"Maybe I should introduce myself," I said after a long silence. "My name is Merlin. I was born in Ealdor but left a few years ago to make my way in the world. Hasn't exactly worked out just yet but I'm still trying. Anyway I missed home and decided to go for a visit. What's your story?"

"We don't have one," the man said evasively. I could see the fear in his eyes and I knew I had the right family. Now I just needed to find out who Salias was the father or the teenage son. I already dismissed the little boy as a possibility he was too young to be an all-powerful sorcerer. He was young to have begun studying magic.

"Well perhaps I could at least know your names," I said. The man was silent for a moment, considering whether or not he should tell me, then nodded.

"My name is John," he said. "This is my wife Jana, my eldest son Porter, my daughter Hana, and my youngest child Salias."

I froze when he pointed to the little boy sitting next to me. The man, John, gave me a worried glance and I quickly recovered from my shock. I gave him a reassuring smile and continued to pretend that nothing was wrong. I dug into my pack and passed out the bread and cheese I brought for my journey. We ate our meal in an uncomfortable silence. I tried to take my mind off the fact that I was going to kill a little boy's family right in front of him then drag him to Camelot to be burnt at the stake. I still couldn't believe that the five year old boy was a powerful sorcerer. I wondered if maybe there had been some mistake and the boy had been falsely accused forcing this boy and his family on the run. It was entirely possible that this boy had no magic whatsoever and that he was innocent. It's not the first time something like that had happened. But grimly I realized that even if it was true there was nothing I could do about it. I had my orders and I had to obey.

"Tell me John have you ever studied magic?" I asked knowing it was the time to act.

The whole family froze up when I said that. John unsheathed a dagger from his trousers and pushed his wife behind him. The two younger I children rushed for their parents but I grabbed Salias before he could take two steps forward. The teenage son also had a dagger out. I tightened my hold on the scared little boy and pulled out a dagger of my own.

"Who are you?" John asked, hate in his eyes as he saw me hold the dagger to his little boy's throat.

"My name is Wolf," I said. They deserved the truth after all they were about to die. "I have been hired by King Uther to bring in your son Salias so that he may be charged for being a sorcerer."

"My son isn't a sorcerer!"

I shrugged. "It makes no difference to me. I wasn't paid to find out if he was a sorcerer or not I was paid to bring him to Camelot."

"He's just a little boy! He has done nothing wrong! He never chose any of this!" John said desperately. "Please, have mercy! Let him go!"

My hands were shaking. I wanted so badly to drop the dagger. He's right, I thought, this is wrong! This could have easily been me! But, like every other time I tried to show mercy, I found my body taken over by the dark magic of Jal's spell and it held my hand, and the dagger, firmly in place.

"I'm sorry I can't just let him go," I said sadly.

"Why not? Is money that important to you?" he asked sickened.

"No it's not about the money! I don't have any choice!" I said. I desperately wanted him to understand that I really didn't want to do this. I wanted him to forgive me for what I was about to do to his family.

"Of course you have a choice! Everybody has a choice! You could choose to put down that dagger and walk away!" he said trying to play on the doubt and hesitation in my voice.

"Not me," I said my voice full of ten years of pain. "I'm a slave, bound to my master by dark magic."

I looked at him hoping to see forgiveness in his eyes. I saw a little pity but it was hard to feel sorry for the person holding a knife to your son's throat.

"Please," he begged but he already knew it was useless.

"I'm sorry," I said again. My eyes flashed gold and they slumped to the ground, dead. I tried to make it as painless as possible because they certainly didn't deserve to suffer.

They boy in my arms began to cry. I lowered the dagger and tried to comfort him but he pushed away from me and ran to his father.

"DADDY! MOMMY! NO!" he wailed. His voice was full of pain and I could see this boy lose his innocent as he stared into the sightless eyes of his family.

"I think maybe we should bury them," I said. They deserved a nice burial. The boy paid no attention to me. He was still too lost in his grief.

My eyes burned gold and the dirt near four rowan trees rose and moved away making four graves. I walked over to the bodies and started to pick up the body of Jana. That got an immediate reaction from Salias.

"No!" he screamed. "Get away from them! Don't you touch them you monster!"

"I have to bury them," I insisted. "Unless you would rather they become food for the crows?"

He gave me a glare but he couldn't deny that what I was doing was for the best. He was just too small to do it himself. I left Jana's body and placed her into one of the graves as gently as I could. I did the same with the other bodies. Once they were in I used magic to fill the graves and as a nice gesture I magick up a beautiful bed of wildflowers from the ground. All in all it was a nice resting place even if it didn't make up for what I'd done.

I grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him back to the village where my horse was waiting. He resisted the whole way there but seeing as he was five it did absolutely nothing for him. I got him on the horse then climbed up after me. We rode away from the village in silence, the boy grieving for his family and thinking morbidly about the fate that awaited him in Camelot. I was thinking about his impending execution as well and feeling extremely guilty.

The first night after I captured the boy was awkward and any time I looked at him he would glare at me. He blamed me for everything that happened and if I was being completely honest I blamed myself too.

"So why does Uther think you have magic?" I asked.

He was quiet for a while and I was sure he wasn't going to answer me but then I heard him say in a whisper, "Because I'm a Seer and that's close enough to magic that he decide I had to die."

"Is that how you've evaded his knights?" I asked. "You saw them coming?"

He nodded.

"Why didn't you see me?" I asked. He should have seen me coming to kill his family. It would be a hard one to miss.

"I don't know. Nobody in my family has magic so they don't know much about my powers. It only started when I turned four. I would have them most horrible, painful nightmares and they would come true," he explained. "Anyway, somebody told the king. I 'saw' that he would send knights after me so my family and I escaped in the night. We've been running ever since. But I don't know why I didn't see you. But I should have known someone was coming for me I've been dreaming all week of my death, visions of fire and the cold blue eyes of a tyrant."

"I see," I said. We didn't talk for the rest of the evening.

Three days later we entered Camelot and I was escorted to the throne room by some guards. Salias walked behind me, his wrist bound together, he was shaking with fear. Uther and his court were waiting patiently as I entered. Uther looked pleased as he spotted the young Seer behind me.

"My lord, here is the sorcerer," I said getting straight to the point.

"Yes, I see that. I'm quite impressed by your skill," he complimented. "This boy has eluded even the best of my knights and here you have caught him all on your own."

"Thank you, sire."

He motioned behind me and the guard tossed me a large sack of gold coins.

"Not to worry it's all there," he said distractedly. He hadn't really looked at me once since I entered with the boy.

"Thank you," I said and bowed. I turned to leave and as I passed Salias I mouthed a silent goodbye.

I made my way through the castle. On the second day of my journey to Camelot I was injured while hunting and while I had managed to bind it up somewhat I wanted it to be looked at by a physician. I approached one of the guards.

"Do you know where I might find a physician?" I asked.

"Our Court Physician is currently unavailable. He left a few days ago to treat an illness spreading in the southern part of the kingdom but there are several competent healers living in the lower town that might be able to help you."

I thanked him and left the castle. I asked around the lower town until I found a healer named Vara. She sewed up the wound and put a cool grey paste on it to help it heal.

"So what's your business in Camelot?" she asked as she patched me up.

"Oh nothing I was just traveling and got injured so I stopped in the city to get it healed," I said.

She nodded accepting my story.

"Do you have a name?"

"Yes, my name is Merlin," I said and shook her hand. That was the second time in the last few days that I had used my real name and I felt strange saying it because I hadn't used it in years. I certainly didn't feel like a Merlin anymore.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said.

When she finished I paid her and left the city but I didn't get very far before my thoughts strayed to Salias. The poor boy would be executed tomorrow and it wasn't even really his fault he had visions just like it wasn't my fault I had magic. It was something we were born with. We didn't go somewhere to study it!

This all felt so wrong! I desperately wanted to stop this! I wanted to save the young Seer! But Jal told you that you had to take the boy to Camelot, the evil part of my mind said. I cursed. Wait, I thought, he may have said I have to take the boy to Camelot but he didn't say anything about letting him stay there! I cheered as I found a loophole to exploit.

I made my way back to the city and rented a room for the night at a tavern called The Rising Sun. I planned well into the night to make sure nothing went wrong. I knew Uther didn't get a good look at me in the throne room but there were so many people there that I'm sure one of them would recognized me if I rescued the boy. And if that happened the king would tell Jal and then Jal would kill me and the boy.

I had heard of sorcerers who could use magic to hide their face, it was called glamour, but I didn't know the spell for it. I wondered if maybe my instinctual magic could replicate the effects off such a spell without knowing the actual spell. It's worth a shot, I thought and spent a good part of the evening practicing. Three hours later I managed to add three inches to my height; add a bunch of boils to my face; and turned my hair a curly, sandy blond. It was pretty good for not knowing the spell. I felt kind of proud of myself.

I slept uneasy that night worried about what tomorrow would bring. A part of me thought of my future in general. I didn't want to be a monster anymore. What happened if I had to go after another kid like Salias? I didn't want that. I didn't want to destroy people's lives. I killed many people over the years, some who deserved it and some that didn't, but this was this first time I had to do this to a kid and it was just so wrong! He didn't deserve it! He was too young to be so hate! Too young for someone to want him dead! I didn't want to do this anymore! The guilt was eating me up inside, eating away at my soul, and I couldn't take it anymore! If I kept doing this I might wake up one day and find myself enjoying this! The idea that I could become that terrified me! The day I began to enjoy killing was the day I truly became a monster!

This has to end.

The next morning I left the inn, but not before checking that my disguise was still in place. I followed the other people as they made their way to the castle courtyard. Half the city was crowded around a pyre separated only by a few guards. I edged as close to the pyre as possible, making sure I still had a clear path to the exit. Uther walked out onto the balcony overlooking the courtyard. His advisors stood behind him in a straight line. I noticed that there were only two knights present a blond, cocky looking boy and a man who was a few years older with curly hair and a beard. The drums began to beat and Salias was lead out onto the pyre. He was tied up onto the post.

"Citizens of Camelot," Uther began, "this boy, Salias, has been found guilty of practicing magic and enchantments. In accordance with our laws he will be burnt at the stake."

He signaled that guard to light the pyre. It's now or never, I thought grimly as I leaped into action. I knocked the guard carrying the torch out of the way and ran to the pyre. Using my magic I untied the ropes holding Salias. The two knights I had spotted earlier were running toward us and the guards moved to block the exits. My eyes flashed and the two knights flew back into the crowd. I didn't have time to get into a fight with them more knights would be on their way here now and I can't fight them off if I have to protect Salias; just as I realized this a dozen knights entered the courtyard. Damn it, I mentally cursed my luck. Weneedtogetout!

Whether my magic was just complying with my unspoken wish or whether it just instinctually was protecting me I will never know but in that moment a warmth spread through my body and my skin shined a faint gold and Salias and I disappeared in flash of blinding light. We reappeared in the forest a few miles from Camelot.

The boy tore away from me and asked in his most demanding voice, "Who are you?"

I let my disguise fall away and Salias gasped.

"You? But I don't understand you said that you couldn't help me! You said you were forced to do all this by dark magic! Was that a lie? Did you kill my family for the fun of it?" he yelled.

"No! Listen to me Salias I was ordered by my master to kill your family and bring you to Camelot but he never said anything about helping you escape after I collected the reward. I can't disobey a direct order because of the magic he used on me but if he never orders it I'm free to do what I think is right," I explained. "I already caused you so much pain I didn't want you to die as well!"

He was quiet. Salias didn't look like he completely believed me, but he was alive and that counted for something it seems because he nodded to me an instant later.

"What happens now?" he asked.

"Now I take you to a druid camp," I said a little uncertainly. "Which reminds me do you happen to know where we could find a druid camp?"

He gave me a look that clearly said I was an idiot that didn't think things through. "My family and I stayed with a druid camp for a few days about a month ago. I don't know if they're still there though."

"It's our best shot and even if they aren't there I can still track them with any clues or residual magic they left behind, I said more confidently.

He pointed east to the forest of Ecitir not far from Deyra. We set off careful to avoid the roads and three days later we reached the camp. Luckily they hadn't left yet. The leader came forward to greet us. The rest of the druids were giving me a strange look a mix of awe and trepidation.

"My name is Col and I am the leader of this camp," Col said. "What can I do for you?"

"This boy's family was killed and he needs a safe place to live. I thought maybe you could take him in," I said hopefully. "Please he has nowhere else to go! He's a Seer and Uther would kill him if he found him."

"He is welcome here," Col said.

I sighed with relief. Salias walked forward into the camp after giving me a quick goodbye. I started to walk away when Col spoke again.

"Where will you go?"

"Back to where I belong I suppose," I said in a resigned voice.

"And are you sure you know where that is?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He shook his head and ignored my question. "There is dark magic emanating from your body, why?"

"I have an enslavement spell placed on me," I explained. "I am forced to obey the mercenary Jal. Why do you ask?"

"I was curious," he said.

"Do you know how to break it?" I asked.

"There is only one way that I know of but I'm certain you already know what it is," he said. He gave me a bow as if I was some kind of lord. "Goodbye, I'm sure we will meet again soon."

I waved and left the camp. He was right, I thought, it's the only way. When I resolved to save Salias I promised myself I would never hurt an innocent again. My heart simple couldn't bear it anymore. I would prefer death over this! It was the better option, the only option.

When I was far enough from the camp I took out my dagger. I decided it would be best to slit my throat and cut off the major artery in my neck. I stopped the blade an inch from my throat. I knew that this was the right thing to do. It was the only way to stop me before I became a soulless beast but a part of me was afraid of death. I was only eighteen my life had only just begun. Sure it was a hellish life but still I knew what to expect from it. Death was something else. It was unknown. It was permanent. And I didn't know if I was ready for it all to end.

But I have too, I thought, for Salias and all the other innocent people who would be hurt if I lived. And that list of people included me too. Without further hesitation I ran the cold blade across my throat.

I fell to the ground. At first I struggled to get air into my lungs only to choke on my blood. The coppery taste filled my taste buds and I could swear it was the taste of death itself. My whole body ached as my life force slipped away. It felt like this was going on forever but it was probably less than a minute. Towards the end my body felt cold and numb with the blood loss. I felt as if I could be sleeping and the world darkened
around me like I was closing my eyes to take a nap.

I was floating on what felt like a lake. In the distance I could see a beautiful green island that I instinctively knew was Avalon (even if I didn't know what Avalon was). I was heading towards the island at a leisurely pace and I laid back to enjoy the ride. I didn't get very far before I was forcibly being pulled backwards. My whole nonexistent body was killing me and I felt like I was tied by my arms and feet to four different horses and pulled in opposite directions. My spirit was slammed back into what I instantly recognize as my physical being and I was aching on a whole new level now. Once again I was straggling to breathe. I was dimly aware of voices above me chanting in a guttery tongue. For a moment the pain intensified before quickly fading away into a dull throbbing. I opened my eyes slowly, still getting used to being alive again, and looked around. I was surrounded by the druids I had just left.

I lifted my hand to my throat and felt a thin scar where I had cut myself. I felt different too, and that was becoming painfully aware. It felt like I was missing something. It took me a minute to realize that what I was missing was the dark mass inside me that was Jal's spell. I was free.

"How am I alive?" I asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Cup of Life?" Col asked.