"Merlin," Arthur sighed in relief, hugging his friend tightly.
It was the moment when the warlock vented his emotions. He fell apart, but not wanting to show it to others, he hid his face in Arthur's arm. The chill of the armour on his forehead soothed the pain in his head. He had witnessed such events before, but this time, the enormity of the damage and loss was terrifying. Almost every house has been destroyed by Saxons. People of Camelot had nowhere to return to.
All the dead bodies, both Camelot and Kent knights, have been brought to the main square. In the meantime, Arthur told Merlin to go and help with the injured while he and his soldiers would be taking care of the fallen. So the warlock headed towards the infirmary where Gaius, Guinevere and her maid had their hands full.
"Thank god, Merlin," said Gaius as the warlock walked into the chamber. "You're all right."
"Gaius," he mumbled, looking around at all the injured. He was terrified that there were so many of them, and more were dead. "It was… a complete nightmare."
The physician didn't know what to say. He has never seen his apprentice like that before.
"What happened, Merlin?" he asked, walking over to him. "Does Arthur…," he began but Merlin shook his head immediately.
"No, Arthur's fine," the warlock said, nodding his head. "It's Vortimer."
Gaius sighed. "I'm so sorry, Merlin," he pulled him into a hug. "I really am."
"He was like a friend to me," said Merlin, his voice breaking.
"You've always seen good in everyone. I wish I could've done the same," the physician pulled away and looked at the warlock's face. "But he died in a fight for the place that was to be his home."
"No, his life has been taken from him dishonourably," Merlin walked to one of Camelot's knights to change a blood-soaked dressing. He had to do something to keep his mind off it.
"Merlin," Gaius' voice stopped him; "if you want to help you can't do it in that state," he said looking at his apprentice who was all covered in dirt and blood. "Bring my medicine bag too. I need to keep an eye on them," he motioned at the knights.
The warlock nodded and headed to the physician's chamber. He closed the door behind him and blissful silence came over him. He looked around and found a bowl of water on the table, probably Gaius left it in the evening to wash before going to sleep. Unfortunately they didn't get a chance to do it, neither wash nor sleep. Merlin dipped his hands in cold water and began rubbing them. The liquid quickly changed its shade from crystal clear to red as he cleaned his hands. He sniffed and grabbed a cloth burying his face in it. His shoulders jerked with a sob. It took him a moment to collect himself and when he wiped his face and looked at the window, a new day had already dawned.
Leaving, he took the cloth and Gaius' bag and went straight to the courtyard, tossing the physician his medications on the way. He walked outside and saw rows of bodies put one next to another. The sight was similar to when pestilence swept across Camelot. Merlin passed between them, looking among all the familiar knights' faces for the one he saw every day. And every one of them looked the same. After a moment he finally spotted him. He kneeled down and glanced at his peaceful face. There was one thing the warlock didn't see before, and it became clearer as he looked closer. There was a trace of dried tears on Vortimer's cheeks. Merlin took the cloth and wiped his friend's dusty face.
"It's not fair," Merlin whispered. "I hope you will find the longed-for peace where you are now," he said and walked away to look for Arthur.
At Merlin's request, Vortimer was buried in a separate grave near the Darkling Woods. Later, the warlock visited Kilgharrah and Aithusa and told them about Vortimer's death. Both of them expressed their regrets. Merlin learnt from them that the dragons were disturbed by the Saxons and that they were afraid about their safety in Camelot. It was hard especially for Aithusa who wanted to be free, but with Vortigern's army there hunting for her it wasn't possible. The battles between two kingdoms didn't help either.
Two weeks passed and the city slowly began to come back to life after it was devastated by the Saxons. Arthur and the knights rebuilt the houses of the citizens, and Guinevere helped equip them with the most necessary tools and items that were damaged or stolen. Merlin also helped them by using magic.
When he woke up one day and looked out the window he knew that it was going to be a nice day and he decided to take a ride alone and visit Vortimer's grave. He rode, carefully observing his surroundings. A few hours earlier, a scout had returned to Camelot with the information that some units of Vortigern's army were stationed in the surrounding forests. So Merlin had to be vigilant. Soon he saw the place where his friend's grave was. He left the horse and headed towards the lonely tree that casted a shadow over the slab of stone. Earlier, Merlin had engraved an inscription on it so that whoever came by would know whose resting place it was. Vortimer deserved to be remembered.
The warlock sat down and looked at it pondering. He waved his hand over the headstone and his eyes flashed gold. After a moment a bundle of ivy appeared, which entwined the stone slab, leaving the inscription visible.
"It looks nice," said a voice behind him.
Startled, Merlin snapped his head to look at where the sound came from. His eyes widened immediately as he saw the person to whom the voice belonged.
"Mordred," he gasped, springing to his feet.
"Don't worry, I mean you no harm," said the druid, seeing a scared expression on Merlin's face.
"What are you doing here?" the warlock asked.
"I saw you going here so I thought that I would visit my friend, too," he replied.
"How did you know?" Merlin looked at Mordred suspiciously.
"News travels quickly," the druid said and walked closer to Vortimer's grave. He sat on the ground and looked up at the warlock. "Come on, take a seat," he nodded at him.
Merlin stared at Mordred, until he sat next to him with slight hesitation. They remained silent for a few long moments looking at the headstone before them, and the warlock finally decided to speak, as he could no longer bear the strange situation.
"What are you doing here?" he said softly, not looking at him.
"You asked about it just a moment ago. And I told you," Mordred replied.
"I mean, why'd you return to Camelot? I thought you were never coming back after what had happened."
"Because of Vortimer. But he has been taken from me, too."
"Were you friends?" Merlin asked.
"It's complicated," Mordred answered. "But I cared about him. We spent some time with each other."
"Thank you for warning us of the attack," said the warlock and eyed the druid.
"Don't think that it changes anything, Merlin," Mordred looked at him. "I have understood many things from the moment we met in Essetir. It is hard to come to terms with the fact that you have been deceived and misunderstood by your loved ones. Too much happened. It's hard to trust again. And I guess it works both ways, don't you think?"
Merlin sighed and looked away. He didn't have to say anything, Mordred knew the answer.
"I've already chosen my path," he continued. "Maybe we'll bump into each other someday. But for now, it is goodbye."
The warlock nodded slightly. "I think what is bad is behind us," he said.
"Yeah," the druid agreed and they both looked at Vortimer's grave.
"In sibbe gereste, mín frēond," said Merlin after a beat.
"In sibbe gereste, mín frēond," Mordred repeated.
Merlin returned to Camelot before nightfall. The conversation with Mordred was still in his head. The druid has changed. Experiences and everything that happened to him changed him. He just grew up and understood. There had never been agreement and trust between him and Merlin, and never would be, yet the warlock was glad they at least had buried the hatchet, and with it their mutual hatred.
He was heading to his chamber while Arthur caught him. "Ah, Merlin. How was the journey?" he asked standing in front of him.
"Good. I met Mordred," Merlin replied.
"What?" Arthur frowned. "How come?"
"Normally, he visited his friend's grave. He felt like doing it at the same time as me," the warlock glanced at him. "Don't worry, I'm not plotting against you."
"Yeah, I know that, Merlin," the king said. "And? How did it go?"
"We're at peace. But he's never coming back," said Merlin.
"Right," Arthur nodded. "I've come to tell you we're having guests tomorrow and we have to start preparations early in the morning. Today came a letter with a slight delay."
"Oh, who's coming?"
"It's the rulers of neighboring kingdoms. It will be a more political meeting, mainly about the Saxons and their brutal invasions."
"So it's getting more serious," Merlin stated.
"We hope it doesn't get us into another war," said Arthur.