And now the continuation of this Merlin fanfic.

Sigh, I don't own Merlin. Rats.


The warlock breathed in the salt sea air as he and the two knights that were with him aproached the small port town of Grastone on the western shore of Dyfed, A small kingdom West of Camelot. Gwaine and Galahad dressed down for the trip not wanting to advertise that they were knights of Camelot, especialy considering they were not in Camelot. The only part of their knight uniforms they carried with them was their swords.

Merlin gently pulled on the reins of his horse bringing her to a halt, Gwaine and Galahad brought their horses to a stop aswell. From the hill the three men were watching the town from they could see people going about their day. Merlin's eyes found the small shipping port, it wasn't much but it was a good place to find a ship.

Arthur had provided the small group with a couple bags of gold coins, hopefully it would be enough to hire a ship who's captain won't ask to many questions. Gwaine and Galahad held onto the gold while Merlin held onto the copy of the map that Morgana had made, they obviously couldn't bring all the books that made the original map.

"so, what do you say we find the local tavern and grab something to eat before we head over to the port" Gwaine suggested.

"really Gwaine, the tavern?" Galahad fought the urge to roll his eye.

"what? I'm hungry" Gwaine said

"so am I, and the towns tavern is probably the only place that serves food," Merlin said

"yeah, I suppose you're right," Galahad said as their horses started moving forward again.

"plus I could use a drink," Gwaine told them with a grin.

Galahad valiant effort to not roll his eyes, and almost succeded.

Merlin slowed his horse and dismounted just as they got to the edge of the town, Gwaine and Galahad followed suit and the three of them walked through the town toward the shipping port. The people were used to stranger coming through their town so most of them paid them no attention. There were, of course, a couple of curious people who would watch the three strangers for a moment as they walked past, before returning to what they had been doing. Merlin smiled and gave a small wave to a little girl who was peaking at them from behind her mothers skirt.

The towns tavern which also doubled as the local inn sat just beside the port. Merlin and Galahad took a seat at one of the tables while Gwaine leaned on the bar talking to the inn keeper/bartender.

He got them a room and some lunch before joining his two friends at the table.

"I didn't see many ships in port," Galahad said

"are you sure this is a good place to hire"

"it's only mid-afternoon," Merlin said.

"and besides the next nearest port west of Albion is four days ride north,"

The tavern wench brought over a fews of mugs of ale and set them on the table. The three men thanked her and Gwaine gave her a flirtaious smile. She smiled back, blushing a little.

"would you like anything else today?" She asked.

"do you serve food here?" Galahad asked.

"aye, that we do." The wench told him.

"I recommend the fish plater"

"fish plater?" Merlin asked

"yes, it comes with sliced up pieces of Hadoc, cod and Halibut the fish are deboned and then covered in flour and cooked in boiling oil made from Olives and it comes with a side of vegtables"

"sounds good" Gwaine said giving her a smile.

"we'll each have a plate"

"alright, I'll let the cook know and it should be ready in about five to ten minutes"

The tavern wench turned and walked into the back, after a couple minutes she came back out just as some more people came in.

The small group of men looked rough and a bit sweaty, like they had been working in hot sun and needed a bath. Galahad glanced over at them, each man had a weapon in his belt but none were making any theatening moves. One man seamed to be the leader of the small group and suprisingly it wasn't the man that almost made Percival look small. They looked foren, Galahad figured they must be sailors.

While Galahad just glanced Gwaine openly looked at them, one of them noticed and gave Gwaine a friendly nod. Then his eyes landed on Merlin who was looking at the map and not paying attention to the new group of men. The man got a look on his face like he was trying to remember something. Gwaine and Galahad both noticed the look that the man was giving Merlin, the two knight slowly placed their hands on the hilt of their sword. It would be just Merlins luck to attract somesort of trouble. The man who was looking at Merlin turned and tapped the arm of the man who was the leader and said something to him. The groups leader turned to look at their table as did a the large burly Percival shrinking man.

The groups leader took a step toward them, him eyes on Melin. Gwaine was just about to stand up and put himself inbetween the men and his friend when the man spoke.

"Merlin, is that you?"

Merlin looked up at the sound of his name, he knew that voice. Merlin smiled and stood up quickly rolling the map and putting it back in his bag as he did, when he saw who it was.

"Captain Jahan, Liax, Hainley " Merlin greeted them stepping around Galahads chair and toward the men. The big man smiled and pulled Merlin into a hug lifting him up off the ground.

"it's good to see you again lad" Jahan said clasping hand with him after Hainley put him down.

Gwaine and Galahad both relaxed their hands away from their swords and stood up, it was obvious that Merlin knew these men.

"Where's Morgana?" Jahan asked glancing around while Liax got his turn to greet Merlin.

"she's back in Camelot," Merlin told him.

Galahad raised an eye brow at that, how did men like this know Lady Morgana?

"so you found your way back then" Liax commented

"yeah, it's about half a forte night east," Merin said

Gwaine cleared his throat.

"hey Merlin, aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?" he asked.

"oh yeah," Merlin said almost looking sheepish.

He had almost forgotten the two knight were there in his surprice at seeing his old crew mates.

"Gwaine, Galahad these are some friend of mine Jahan, Liax and Hainely. Jahan, Liax, Hainley these are my friends Gwaine and Galahad" Merlin introduced them gesturing to each man as he said their name each of them shook hands. Merlin looked over at the men standing back one of them watching the group curiously .

"and I believe that is Danius and Berk over by the bar but I don't think I know the other man" Merlin giving them each a slight head nod, then turning back to Jahan and giving him a questioning look.

"That's Ben," Jahan said.

"He joined the crew a couple months after you and Morgana left"

Merlin smiled at Ben and nodded a greeting.

"Ben"

Ben gave him a bit of a half smile, returning his greeting. Merlin thought Ben looked kind of familier but he couldn't quite place were he might have seen him before.

Merlin invited Jahan and Hainley to join him and the knights at their table while the others sat at the table beside them. The tavern wench came and took the sailors food orders and left the men to their conversation.

Jahan told Merlin they had nearly got caught in a storm a few hours after he and Morgana had left the ship and had been lucky enough to find a port. While at the port the ship had been hired to deliver some goods to Dyfed, on account of the merchant having heard rumours of an impending war between two of the kingdoms they would have to cross to get to Dyfed.

After Dyfed they had ended up being hired to go to Eire and then back around to Anglia and so on. The ship's crew had ended up finding a lot of work in the area and had been all around the large island.

"we've done pretty well considering we were just going were the wind took us" Hainley said as he took a bite of his lunch.

"well that explained you're improvement of the local languages," Merlin said

"the last time I saw you you could hardly speak a word of English"

"most of the crew still can't" Liax said

"yeah, but Ben's been teaching us, and translating when we have a hard time understanding," Hainley told him.

"really, Ben is it? How is it that you know Armenian?" Merlin asked

"My grandfather on my mother's side was from Armenia, he taught the language to my mother and she taught it to me" Ben told him.

"so, Merlin what brings you here?" Jahan asked.

Merlin thought for a second going through what he could tell him. He trusted Jahan to an extent but he wasn't sure it would be a good idea to tell him about the pheonix stone. So he opted for a half story.

"we heard rumours of an uncharted Island off the west coast of Eire" Merlin explained.

"our king sent us to hire a ship and investigate"

"I've heard no such rumours" Liax told him.

"not many people have," Merlin said as he reached into his bag.

"however we also have a copy of an old map that shows the island"

Merlin unrolled the map on the table just enough to show were the island was while stategicly covering the picture of the pheonix with his hand. Jahan stood a little to get a better look at the map.

"so the Island is charted, but you said"

"it's not charted, at least not on any map we've seen besides this one," Merlin told him.

Jahan looked at Merlin then at the map again, giving it some consideration.

"you'll need a ship," He said glancing at the members of his crew.

Liax gave him a slight nod indicating that he agreed with what the captain was getting at.

"that is why we're here," Galahad said.

"to find a ship that will take us to the islands coordinates"

"well now you found one," Jahan said .

"seriously?" Merlin asked

"you'll help us?"

"of course," Jahan said clasping Merlin on the shoulder.

"you know I'm always up for an adventure"

"yeah," Hainley agreed.

"and an Island that only exists on one map sounds like an adventure"

Merin and the two knights could hardly believe their luck. What were the chances of running into sailors who were not only friends with one of them but also willing, no questions asked, to agree to sail to an island that isn't on any official map.

"we do have gold to pay for your services, if you truly are interested," Galahad told them.

"aye, we are," Jahan said.

"what do you think Merlin?" Gwaine asked.

"your hired captain," Merlin said clasping hands with Jahan.

Merlin, Gwaine and Galahad found a stable that was willing to take care of their horses while they were away for the price of a few gold coins with the promise of more when they returned. The next morning they went to meet up with Captain Jahan and the others on the ship just before high tide.

Merlin looked around taking in the familiarity of the ships deck. Aside from a new sail and a new crows nest everything looked the way he remembered it. Merlin and the knights turned to look at the captain when he started shouting orders.

"P'vokhadrum khariskh, kshrrel e mijakaym" He shouted. (haul Anchor, weigh the main sail.)

Gwaine and Galahad had no idea what the captain was saying.

"do you understand a word of that Merlin?" Gwaine asked

"yeah I do," Merlin told them.

"Morgana and I learned a translation spell, everything people said we could understand. However once in a while I would deactivate the spell and just listen"

"so you learned to actually understand them after only a few months?" Gwaine asked

"I understand most sailing terms, but I wouldn't be able to carry on a real conversation" Merlin admitted.

Jahan looked over and saw Merlin talking with Gwaine and Galahad.

"Merlin, if you've still got your sea legs what say you help with the riggings," He said.

Merlin smiled and moved to help Derk and Danius.

"aye Captain".

The warlock quickly fell back into the familiarity of the workings of the ship, it was almost as if he hadn't left the ship at all.

Once the ship was well on its way and sailing smoothly across the open sea Merlin joined Gwaine, Galahad and Captain Jahan up on the helm deck. Jahan caught his eye giving him a nod he handed the wheel off to Liax and led Merlin and the two knights into the quarter deck office.

Captain Jahan unrolled a map onto the table, the map showed Albion and the land of Eire with out the island that was on Merlins map. Merlin took out the map with the island and unrolled it just enough to show the area where Eire and The blessed Island were.

"it looks like the fastest rought will be around the south and then up north west, once we get here" Jahan pointed to a port town that was on his map on the west shore of Eire.

"we can make port a night then head west toward where your map show the island to be"

"sounds good," Gwaine said

"It does, except going around south," Galahad told them.

"and what is wrong with going south" Jahan asked

"The currents are stronger and going in directions that the ship would have to fight against, and there are more hidden rocks and reefs around the south of Eire. The ship would have to go several miles out to avoid them or risk damage to the hull." Galahad explained

"When I was young my mother used to take me to visit her grandparents on Eire, they lived on the south west but the captain of the ship we traveled on always insisted on going around the north of Eire because even though it looked longer it was safer and the currents worked with the ship rather than against"

"I see" Jahan said rubbing his beard and looking at the map.

"are you you sure?"

"yes, north may be a greater distance but taking in the currents and the reef on the south going north is both safer and faster," Galahad told him.

"alright, north it is then. we'll head west until we see Eire then turn north" Jahan said.


Morgana walked into the great hall where Arthur was just finishing up hearing the last of the days petitioners. Gwen who saw standing at the side of the room to Arthurs left saw her and nodded a hello, Morgana walked around the back of the small group of people and the few lords that were there and stood bye Gwen.

"is there any news yet," Gwen asked in a hushed voice.

"yes, but I want to wait till Arthur is done," Morgana told her in an equaly hushed voice.

The last pettioner was a man from a village that had suffered a fire after a lightning strick during a heavy thunder storm. Luckly no one had been hurt and no one's homes had been damaged but over half of the villages food stores had been burned before the rain and the effort of the towns people using buckets of water from the towns well put the fire out. The village would not have enough food to last the winter even with rationing to the smallest portions possible.

Arthur told the man that they would provide the village with the food they needed. There were a few villages that had taken in a large harvest this year and he was sure if he asked and offered a reward in return they wouldn't mind sharing what they could spare.

The king stood and dismissed the people ending the days petitions. After everyone had left including the lords after Arthur had a few words with them with instructions to send some one out to the villages to inquire about helping the village that had suffered the fire, Morgana and Gwen joined Arthur were he sat on the throne.

"Merlin telepathed," Morgana told him.

"And ?" Arthur asked sitting up straighter.

"They found a ship," Morgana told him.

"He say they ran into captain Jahan and he agreed to take them"

"did he say how long they would be?" Arthur asked

"No, he said he didn't know." Morgana said

"Jahan, Jahan why does that name sound familier?" Gwen asked.

"He's the captain of the ship I told you about," Morgana said.

"remember I told you about Merlin and I working on a merchant ship for a few months"

"oh right" Gwen said

"And you and Merlin got off in Bernicia, except you said you didn't know that it was Bernicia till later"

"yes, that's the ship that Merlin, Gwaine and Galahad are on," Morgana told her.


The ship sailed around the north side of Eire and turned south following the coastline. Jahan had to admit Galahad had been right about the currents. The ship anchored just off shore a tenth of a mile from a port town in Connacht. Merlin, Gwaine, Berk and Hainley took a long boat to shore to pick up some supplies from the port town.

The docks were full up so there was no place for their ship to dock. The men got the supplies and returned to the ship within two hours with almost no problems. Merlin only had to stop Gwaine from trying to get them to stop at a tavern twice.

The ship stayed anchored for the night allowing the crew to get some much-needed rest before the real part of their journey began. They would be going west toward an Island that no one but Merlin and the knights was sure was there.

Merlin stood at the starboard railing near the bow of the ship looking ahead over the water. His mind was on the task ahead of them, they needed to find the phoenix stone so someone could finally die. The young man wondered if he could really do it. The fisher king was not an enemy who need to be stopped like Nimueh or Sigan, he was an alie who had helped them when Camelot needed it the most.

Plus who was to say they would find the Island? What if the reason it wasn't on any other map but the one hidden on the back of the books and the copy Merlin held in the bag that he kept with him at all times was because like Perisolas it was not there anymore.

The ship reached the distance from Eire that the blessed Island was supposed to be. For four days the ship crisscrossed the area going north then turning back south. They tried going a little further west and coming back in toward Eire a little. There was no Island to be found anywhere.

"We can't do this much longer Merlin," Jahan told him

"just one more day Captain," Merlin asked.

"It has to be here somewhere,"

"I understand the lure of finding an Island that no one else, save whoever made your map knows about, and it's always worth looking even just the adventure of it," Hainley said placing a hand gently on his shoulder.

"but you've got to know when"

"Land ho" Derk's voice called from the crows nest cutting Hainley off.

Jahan, Merlin, Hainley, Galahad and Gwaine all ran to the port side of the ship where Derk was pointing.

Sure enough, there was an Island there, it was small perhaps about two miles from one end to the other from the angle they were looking at it from. The Island was also close the ship was almost close enough to run aground.

The captain started shouting orders for the sails to be lowered and for the riggings and the tac to be worked. They need to slow the ship down before they got stuck until high tide, The wind was pushing then toward the land. Merlin and Galahad helped to get the sails lowered so that the wind had less to push the boat while Gwaine helped with the riggings. They finally got the ship slowed and moved a safe distance from the island.

"weigh anchor" Jahan ordered.

He turned to Derk who had come down from the crows nest to help the others.

"where you sleeping up there man" He demanded

"that Island was so close we almost ran aground"

"No Captain" Derk told him.

" I swear I don't know what happen, one minute all I could see was open sea and the next there's an island"

Merlin and the two knight looked at each other the back at Derk. Jahan regarded Derk for a second, the man seemed to believe what he was saying. Jahan saw no dishonesty in the man's face, he was keeping eye contact and he didn't seem to have any of the nervous ticks that Derk tended to get when he was hiding something.

"Alright," Jahan nodded then turned to Merlin.

"I imagine you plan to go ashore?" He asked.

"yes, or course," Merlin said.

"Galahad and I will be going with him of course," Gwaine said.

"aye, I would expect nothing less," Hainley said.

"I've seen how you three watch out for each other".

It took fifteen minutes for them to gather a few supplies into the long boats. Waterskins and two water barrels that had been full when the ship had left Eire but were now empty. The captain figured they might as well look for fresh water while they were exploring the island.

Jahan insisted that he and a couple of his men were going ashore with Merlin, Gwaine, and Galahad.

Merlin wasn't sure it was a good idea but had no way of changing Jahan's mind. Plus Jahan had just as much right to go ashore as anyone who had put in the effort to find the Island.

They sat four to a long boat. Jahan, Galahad, Groban, and Danius were in one boat while Merlin, Gwaine, Ben and a sailor named Ari were on the other. Merlin sat near the back with back with Gwaine sitting behind him and Ben and Ari in front. The knight could see the tension in his friend's shoulders as the four of them rowed, and the young warlock had a pensive look on his face.

After the long boats reached the shore and were safely anchored so they would not float away Gwaine pulled Merlin and Galahad to the side.

"Merlin, mate whats wrong?" Gwaine asked.

"nothing wrong Gwaine, I'm fine," Merlin told him.

"yeah right," Gwaine said.

"then why have you had the same pensive look since we go into the long boats"

Merlin sighed.

"it's what Berk said when the captain asked him about why we were so close to the Island before he saw it," Merlin told him.

"yeah I remember," Gwaine told him not understanding.

"What if the reason it's not on any map but the one we have is because it's not always there"

"like an enchantment of some kind?" Galahad asked.

"it would explain why no one but a few people in the past couple hundred years has ever found the island" Merlin reasoned.

"it would also explain Derks not seeing it one second and then it being so close the next"

Merlin's eyes scanned Jahan and his crewmen as they unloaded the water barrels one from each long boat. He and the knights needed to find the phoenix stone without endangering the sailors, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave them to fend for themselves on a possibly magical island, who knew what could happen.

The beach was made of white sand and stretched as far along the shoreline as they could see. Past the beach, the island had a thick forest with some rock formation that looked to be small mountains that stood about 30 meters high. Merlin turned his eyes toward the mountains, he could just barely make out what looked like a waterfall.

Merlin caught Gwaine and Galahad's eyes and pointed out the waterfall, the knights nodded understanding.

"Captain" Merlin called out.

Jahan looked over at him, Merlin pointed in the direction of the small mountain.

"I can see a waterfall on the mountain , could be fresh water"

Jahan and Darius walked over and took a look at where Merlin was pointing.

"aye it could be," Danius said.

"good eye lad," Jahan said patting Merlin on the back.

Jahan set Ben, Ari, and Groban to work getting some logs ready to use as rollers for the water barrels. Even without water they were not light and they would be heavier once they were filled.

Soon Jahan and the four sailors were on their way to the waterfall followed by a reluctant sir Galahad. The knight wanted to stay with Gwaine and Merlin, but Merlin pointed out that the sailors were only there because of them which meant their safety was their responsibility. If he didn't need to find the phoenix stone without alerting the sailors to it he'd be going to.

After the group was out of sight Merlin pulled out the map and unrolled it on top of a large rock.

He used four smaller stones to hold down the corners of the map and held his hand out over the top of the drawing of the blessed Island. The Warlocks eyes started to glow as he spoke a spell over the map.

"wæfersýn me bæcerne seo fenix stan standan" Merlin cast. (Show me where the phoenix stone rests.)

a small breeze blew Gwaine's hair into his face and some birds chirped but other than that nothing happened.

"maybe you need a different spell" Gwaine suggested as he brushed his hair out of his face.

"maybe," Merlin agree thinking for a minute. Merlin placed his hand over the map and tried again. He focused on an image of the phoenix stone and on an image of the fisher king as he had looked when Merlin had seen him all those months before.

"ic cepan pon rice gewill end seo awiergednes on seo fisoere angelcyning, seo fenix stan" Merlin's voice was commanding and requesting at the same time if that was possible.

"alyman me seo feru"

(I seek that which will end the curse on the fisher king, the phoenix stone.)

(show me the way).

At first, nothing happened, then something caught Gwaine's eye. The knight stepped forward to look at the map.

"Merlin, take a look at this" Gwaine pointed out the picture of the phoenix.

The drawing of the phoenix started to move, it flew around the drawing of the blessed island in circles getting bigger and bigger. Merlin and Gwaine both stepped back as the drawing grew so big that it's wings spanned the entire map, then it developed the colors fire yellow and orange. The two men jumped back as it grew larger than the map and the phoenix suddenly changed directions and flew off of the map and above them. The force from the firebird threw the Knight and the warlock back knocking Gwaine out. Merlin sat up and shook the cobwebs from his head. His eyes landed on Gwaine laying on the sand. He called out his friend's name as he ran toward him but before he could reach him the phoenix circled around and dove straight for the warlock.

Gwaine woke up just in time to see the phoenixes fiery feathers surrounding his friend, covering him from head to toe. Then the phoenix flew up into the air where it and Merlin both disappeared.


Oh my god what happen to Merlin?

My plot gremmlins surprised me with this at the last minute. Their tricky little buggers.

In case you are wondering, yes Ben is the same Ben from chapter 43 of a different path.