A/N: I was feeling really inspired! Surprises at the end!

CHAPTER 33

Unexpected Encounters

"A true friend accepts who you are, and yet, pushes you forward to become who you should be" Unknown.

"C'mon Arthur! I have seen turtles move faster than you!"

"Don't you start on getting patronizing on me!" Arthur yelled as he crouched to the floor panting, shield raised to cover his head. "It doesn't suit you, Merlin!"

There was a silence for a moment and Arthur risked a glance over his shield. Merlin was in the middle of the clearing, yards away from him. From this distance Arthur couldn't see the gold in his eyes but the moment he saw Merlin's hands moving Arthur knew he had to move. The prince barely had a second to run before Merlin's hand shot outward, a flash of light sizzled missing him by an inch.

"Merlin! You said—you said only stunning spells!" Arthur yelled outraged, gasping for air. He rolled into his back once, and then sprinted a few yards to hide behind a boulder. He took a moment to recover his breath as his eyes strayed to the place he had been standing a few moments ago, now sporting a burned grass, he gulped.

"Now you understand how I feel in knight' practice!" Merlin yelled. Arthur peeked from around the edge of the rock, he rolled his eyes at his friend but the warlock was too busy imitating Arthur's voice. "'Even a five year old can do this, Merlin!" You said, 'it will only be a sword practice, Merlin!'" Merlin glared in his direction. "But you use the mace, and the knives and the crossbow anyway!"

Merlin didn't wait for a reply as he launched another attack. Arthur grunted and crouched behind the bolder, closing his eyes when he felt the impact vibrating trough the rock, then he heard a deafening crack and Arthur knew Merlin had managed to break the rock. Fearing that the rock wouldn't hold on much longer Arthur sprinted to get away from it, rolling on the floor when he sensed another attack. The spell flew harmlessly above his head, relieved, he started to get back on his feet, managing to get into one knee; but this time prince was too slow on his actions.

Knowing he was going to be too late to deflect the next attack, Arthur steadied himself with his knee and foot on the grass and raised his shield—magically modified but his personal sorcerer— to cover his chest and head. The shield swiftly took the blow causing him no magical harm, however, the impact was enough to make him wince. Feeling kind of dizzy Arthur blinked several times before standing up completely. His arms shaking due to the effort.

After Kilgharrah had left, Merlin and him had gone through the magical positions of elements that Arthur had been learning for the past few days. After an hour of this—where it looked like Arthur had finally grasped the basics— Merlin decided that Arthur was capable enough to tell apart the different kinds of attacks, and so he argued that it was time to use that knowledge on the field, saying that Morgana will most likely attack the two of them at the same time.

So now Arthur was running around the clearing in an effort to keep his body in one piece. Too proud to admit defeat just yet, however, two hours running and dodging around in the sun was tiring him faster than any normal training. Apparently, fighting magic was harder and more taxing than any other type of training he had endured and Merlin was merciless on it. Arthur wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt; he had stated that their priority was to keep Arthur alive during the whole ordeal with Morgana, hence this training. But Arthur as things were going by the end of the day there was going to be no Arthur left to actually rule a kingdom.

Arthur panted with effort as he dared to look above his shield again. Sword gingerly grasped in his other hand –magically empowered too, now his sword could cut through some attacks, especially water and air ones.

"Are you done lazing around? Get up, it's not even midday!" Merlin screamed and Arthur grunted when the next attack landed on his shield, so powerful that it made him take two steps back.

"Shut up," Arthur huffed. Merlin had been standing in the middle of the clearing and had not even moved an inch since he started this training session—or torture, as Arthur would have said. Arthur, on the other hand, had dogged, crouched, run, sprinted, jogged, jumped and literally had gone around the clearing at least twenty time now.

So far, he had gotten stunned five times—which left him sprawled on the floor in ridiculous poses until the effect died— he had gotten a minor burn on his left leg, a cut on his shoulder and had taken (at least) thirty blows with his shield. His arms had begun shaking minutes ago and by now he was sure that his wrist and knees were going to bruise.

He was exhausted; mentally and physically he was at his limits.

Although he had made some progress, it took him several minutes but finally he had caught up on some of Merlin's magical patterns. First and most important, he now knew by heart the word for 'burn' or 'fire' so and every time Merlin said the word "Fobaerne" he tended to literally run as far as he could from those spells since there was no safe way to confront them.

In addition to the magical words, he had also learned the motions of Merlin's body, however, Arthur needed to be quick and attentive with his eyes, otherwise he would lose sight of the sequence and be back again at being lost. Which was incredibly frustrating, since sometimes he ran away from an air attack that could had been easily been avoided by cutting it with his sword, and other times he stayed put on earth attacks, causing him to fall and lose his balance when literally the ground moved from under his feet

Usually, while training, Arthur did so without thinking too much, it was instinct and years of practice what allowed him to be an excellent warrior, now though he needed to think (Merlin would have laughed at him forever for this statement) at the same time he needed to fight. And any good warrior knew those things just don't mix together.

Merlin pushed his hand behind his back, Arthur eyes narrowed, that meant he was putting a lot of magic into the spell. The prince knew he wouldn't have time to dodge, and too slow to cut through it with his sword—his arms just refused to cooperate anymore— he just bravely readied himself to take the blown with his shield unable to do anything else.

"Merlin wait!" Arthur tried one last time but his yell sounded weak even to his ears. The blown came and Arthur was not prepared, his injured leg—which had been twitching for a while for the effort to keep him going—failed him, his back met the ground as the shield landed heavily and painfully into his chest; knocking him out of breath. He blinked, desperate to get air into his lungs. He realized that not being able to breathe when you wanted to had to be one of the worse feelings on earth. He felt like he was dying even if he knew he wasn't.

Finally, he was able to roll on his side and he shuddered as his chest unconstructed, cold and fresh air filled his lungs again. He panted with his eyes closed and hissed when his wrist throbbed painfully every time he tried to move. Something had happened but at the moment he was only focused on breathing in and out, marveled to be able to perform such a small task. The pulse of blood on his ears was enough to leave him deaf.

After what it felt like an eternity to him he finally stopped feeling pain on his chest, blinking confusedly about this change of events he opened his eyes to see Merlin hovering over him with a preoccupied face. One hand was on his back and the other on his chest, his eyes shining gold.

"Better?"

Arthur nodded jerkily as an answer. Merlin nodded and gently pushed him to rest on his back. Arthur breathed in and out twice before he nodded again looking at the blue, cloudless sky for a moment before his eyes traveled back to Merlin's face. "I—I'm fine—you just caught me unprepared."

"I'm so, so sorry, Arthur. I should've noticed—"

Arthur shook his head as he panted still tired but ever grateful for the break. "That's why we are training…. you fool… so I'm pre—prepared." Arthur's winced again when he tried to pry his arm away from his shield. Merlin noticed and kindly took it off for him, "Although I admit I don't like… being caught off-guard."

"Now you get how I feel," Merlin shook his head as he rolled his eyes in an attempt to joke. "Not liking training not that much now, uh?"

Arthur chuckled tiredly as he looked once again back at the blue sky. "No, no. I like training. It keeps my mind off things."

Merlin winced as he inspected the dented shield; it was in heavily need of repair along with the sword. "I hate training."

"You hate it because it keeps your mind off things. Funny isn't it?"

"Like two sides of the same coin," Merlin sighed and then stared down at Arthur, quickly inspecting him up and down, he noticed the burn on his leg and Merlin paled.

Had Merlin actually inflicted so much injures on Arthur? He didn't want Arthur to see but Merlin's hands were shaking. Arthur didn't only look exhausted, now that Merlin was watching him closer Arthur looked like he had just battled a war on his own. A cut on his left shoulder was heavily bleeding, he had a bump on his forehead, probably caused by hitting a tiny rock from all the times his friend had fallen to the ground in the past hour. Just the trousers of Arthur were burn and cut in several places.

Merlin gulped, this had not been training, this had been showing off. This wasn't like him. Just because he wanted a bit of payback didn't mean he had to put Arthur through this. Every spell Merlin did takes the effort of a blink, but for Arthur it took a lot of physical and mental effort to defend himself from each one.

As he watched Arthur close his eyes in pain Merlin remember how each time he felt like he was about to collapse in sword training Arthur stooped at the right moment, offered him a hand, sometimes a minute to recover or even called another knight to take his place.

Merlin had done none of those things. And as much as Merlin complained to Arthur about training and how much he loathed it Arthur had never once said a word against his methods. He hadn't even questioned him. He didn't ask for breaks, or a minute to recover, or for Merlin to go slower. He just took everything with a brave façade and Merlin had actually enjoyed it, not because this time the tables were turned but because this time he could actually show off a bit. Demonstrate he was not useless as Arthur often called him on training.

Merlin closed his eyes in dread. Arthur had already believed he was the best to the job, he didn't need to demonstrate anything. He had been a prat for the first time in his life because what? He was finally on his element?

Just because it was effortless for him didn't mean it wasn't taking Arthur the triple amount of effort in every way possible to keep his pace. Merlin had never understood how much Arthur cared for his knights—Merlin included. Every pause, every breath, every time he says 'stop' or 'next' it's calculated, it's for their benefit not his. That's what teaching and training is about; to help the other one get better.

This wasn't training; this was just showing off, this was just a push to the limits to see when Arthur would break. Secretly Merlin had always wanted to see Arthur being beat at his own element, however, Merlin certainly didn't want this.

Merlin pushed the guilt away and closed his eyes. He felt himself rearrange the magic around and inside him. His magic had gone erratic when he had seen Arthur fall to the ground unmovable. And it had gone even more frenetic when he saw that he had actually injured Arthur of all humans beings. It took a while but finally he was calmed enough that the magic began to shootee him too.

Merlin opened his eyes, calmed once again, his hands hovering over the burned leg of the prince.

Arthur would give him a minute to recover from a blown like this one, isn't it? Well- Merlin decided stubbornly—he would heal his leg instead. After he was done he looked at Arthur again, who was intently looking up at the sky.

"I—does anything else hurt?"

"My wrist. Check my wrist, Merlin" Arthur said, "I think I might have sprained it." Arthur said tersely, not daring to verify that.

"For the love of—Arthur, It's twisted… I—I broke your wrist!" Merlin said horrified.

"Don't be such a girl. It would not be the first time. It doesn't hurt…. that much." Arthur closed his eyes and focused on his breathing instead of the sharp pain of his hand, as long as he didn't move he should be fine.

"I hurt you." Merlin repeated dumfounded.

"It wasn't your fault, stop worrying so much." Arthur sighed. After a moment he finally gathered the courage to use his good hand to sit straight. Gingerly he cradled his broken wrist to his chest, hissing when he touched the sour spot. Merlin was staring at the sight traumatized and Arthur scoffed lightly.

"First time you have seen a broken arm, Merlin?" Arthur's chest shook with silent laugher but the next moment he hissed, making his eyes close in pain. He bit his lip so he wouldn't make another sound. Once he was sure he wasn't about to pass out he opened his eyes again. He stared down at his hand mortified. He would be useless once again, not only at training—which he had just began to understand—but also at facing Morgana. Broken wrists took weeks to heal, his leg, even the magically cured by Merlin, still hurt from time to time.

"Merlin, listen to me, what you need to do is—"

"I broke… I broke your arm." Merlin said again as he finally looked to Arthur's face.

"Are you going to feel guilty over this too?" Arthur said annoyed more out of pain than anything else, "C'mon, bring a wood splinter, make one magically if you must and let's head back to Ealdor so we can have a physician to look at it."

Arthur was gingerly turning his wrist, it was not broken, at least it didn't feel like it was broken, but a red and purple bruise as forming around it alarmingly fast.

"God it feels awful," Merlin said after a moment and Arthur raised his eyes to meet his terrified blue ones.

"What?" Arthur said dumbfounded.

"I had never hurt you before. Magically," Merlin clarified, "It's…. I feel… my whole self…"

Merlin just motioned to the air around him like that was self-explanatory before he finally shook his head in dread. Arthur forgot about the pain for a split second, for all the pain Arthur was going through at the moment, it looked as if Merlin was having even a worse time than he was.

"Merlin, is just an injury—"

"I don't know how to fix broken bones," Merlin confessed in a rush, "And Ealdor doesn't have a physician, not a good one anyway. Maybe Mom can help. Gods, how are we supposed to keep up training? Or face Morgana? Or—"

"Merlin," Arthur interrupted him before it was too late to stop him, "It's not broken, heavily injured yes, maybe sprained, but not broken." After a moment of contemplation he slowly pushed himself to his feet and began walking to the nearest tree, once there he sat heavily on the floor, panting heavily. Merlin was too terrified to actually aid him and he watched as Arthur cradled his injured arm to his chest once more.

Arthur, even in the midst of his pain, could pinpoint the pleading in the blue eyes of his friend. He didn't need to ask to know Merlin was probably being consumed by guilt. After a moment he uncovered his wrist and managed a quiet sigh.

"C'mon, you have fixed my leg before, I think you could at least ease the pain. "

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Arthur settled his back against the tree as he felt Merlin's magic tingling in the air. Even though he had seen Merlin perform magic a hundred times now he was still marveled, even more so when Merlin used it to cure him. It was remarkable how Merlin's magic fitted him perfectly, it felt bubbly and warm and gentle, just like his friend.

Arthur vaguely wondered how his magic would feel, or if all magic felt the same, he wished that wasn't the case. He liked to think that Merlin was unique in every way. Not that he would ever, in this life or the next, tell Merlin that.

He silently watched as Merlin carefully turned his hand over his, sometimes his finger prodding on his injure made him hiss, other times his fingers just hovering above it. The red and the purple stared to fade to a dull pink, it was incredibly rare to feel his muscles moving just slightly under his skin and finally the pain began to recede. He was fascinated as he was disturbed.

Merlin eyes stopped shining gold after several minutes, and finally, after one more inspection, he dropped Arthur's hand moving to sit by Arthur's side, eyes low and a general anxiety around him. Arthur raised his wrist to eye level.

"Good work, Merlin," Arthur raised his wrist to eye level, fascinated, "With you on my ranks my knights are going to be the healthiest warriors in the kingdom,"

When he got no answer back even after he had said such a compliment Arthur swatted him with his good hand.

"Oi—"

"Stop thinking about it, "Arthur ordered in his best 'I'm your prince, Merlin, just shut up' voice, "It was an accident and look, as good as new." To prove his point Arthur raised his just healed hand and turned it around, flexing his fingers so Merlin could see, it still throbbed a little but Arthur managed to hide the pain.

Merlin just shook his head sadly, the guilt still there, "Is just… it's… incredibly unsettling."

"What is?"

"This," Merlin said pointing to his hand meekly, "I hurt you. It felt… wrong." Merlin shuddered shuffling where he was seated so he could pull his legs closer to his chest. "You can't understand…"

Arthur was silent for a few minutes, still self-consciously cradling his wrist close to his chest as he assessed Merlin, finally he sighed, getting comfortable under the shade of the tree.

"Actually I do. I'm in charge of a kingdom, Merlin. I have to protect thousands of citizen and to some extent I care about them all. It's like having a huge family that you need to do your best for… and even though you try, sometimes it's not enough." Merlin dropped his head to his knees, watching Arthur intently but with a soft smile. Arthur scoffed with a soft laugh. "What? I'm a wise man, Merlin."

"Once every blue moon, yes," Merlin joked lazily. Arthur just grunted and focused on his hand again. They were both emotionally tired, and Arthur physically so and it wasn't even past midday. After the loud ruckus of the last hour the prince was glad for the quiet break they had managed to get, he looked around the now completely destroyed field and winced. Will would have thrown a tantrum.

"So," Arthur said as he finally stopped fidgeting with his hand, "Anything I should know about the druids?" Merlin cringed unconsciously, he could make a list of answers for that question, "If this is one of those secrets you keep to yourself in order to protect me I'll advise you to drop that thought and just tell me, Merlin"

Merlin hesitated, tugging at the grass, "You are not going to like this… even I, after all these years, I'm terrified."

"This is about the druid kid, right? I saw the dragon tense when you mentioned Mordred… if dragons can tense at all, that is."

Merlin nodded.

Arthur considered that for a few minutes, "Since you mentioned Mordred I have been thinking about him. I remember that back then, when I snuck him out of the castle by the undergrounds paths of Camelot, I almost didn't make it. You were supposed to be on the other side of the bars, horses ready… and for a moment there I doubted you would show up."

Merlin sighed dejectedly "For a moment there I thought so too. I was actually going to let you get caught; I knew that Uther wouldn't raise a hand to you, so you would be safe from his wrath. You would have probably hated me but it was better than the consequences."

Arthur looked at Merlin for a long time. What consequences? Arthur would had been mad before, but now he was just a bit affronted, he had come to understand that everything Merlin did was for the greater good and so questioning him about why was pointless, but he now wanted to know the reason behind it.

"So you would had let a kid die. Why? You are not the man who would do such a thing."

Merlin looked at Arthur square in the face and for the first time ever the prince saw some darkness swirling inside his friend's eyes. He wondered how many things Merlin had done, or sacrificed, in order to keep Arthur alive.

"Not without a good reason," Merlin conceded after a moment, now sitting cross-legged as he absently made the vase fly to his hands, "That's why Kilgharrah is angry with me even after all this years. He advised me to let him die but I didn't."

"That only shows you are human Merlin," Arthur waited for Merlin to continue but he didn't, "You said the kid talked to you in your head? How is that even possible?" Then he sat straighter "Wait, when we went to retrieve the cup of life from the druids, were they reading my mind?"

Merlin chuckled and shook his head, "No, I don't think it works like that. It's a special bond between sorcerers, and even then not all of them can do it. Only the most powerful creatures of the old religion can."

"So this Mordred kid was powerful? He looked… well, tiny."

Arthur, so observant.

"Where magic is concerned everyone can be powerful despite their looks."

Arthur scoffed, "Thanks the gods, if it depended on being physically capable I doubt you will go far, Merlin. But you have not yet answered my question. Why is this kid so special?"

Merlin mulled the answer for a moment.

"Merlin, I have listened to you saying you are a sorcerer, then my father saying he has no son. I just meet a dragon. Talked to him even." Arthur listed quite amused himself that so many things had changed in so little time. "I can cope with this,"

Merlin just shook his head, a hunted look on his eyes, "This is one of those things I promise you will better be off not knowing."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Like you being a sorcerer? Wasn't it you who said we needed to share things and stuff if we wanted to survive this? Just tell me already, it cannot be that bad."

Merlin looked at him with a deadpanned look before he shook his head, "Let's just focus on the meeting with the druids for now, I'll tell you later about Mordred later, I promise."

After all Merlin was sure that the chanced of meeting Mordred were highly unlikely since there must be around ten different druids camps around the kingdoms. He hoped that Mordred's and Arthur's encounter was still far on this timeline.

Arthur nodded, he wasn't going to let it go but for now he could respect Merlin wishes, "Very well, what do I need to know about them?"

Merlin shrugged, "Not much, just remember these are pacific people, I'll say we go unarmed but I don't know what troubles we will find on the way there, maybe we can leave your sword and shield somewhere hidden before entering their camp,"

Arthur hated the idea of entering anywhere without weapons, his sword was an extension of himself, however, he would do so gladly if it mean a solution to his father's problem.

"I agree. Secondly, should we lie to them about the vase? It would be easier to get them to cooperate if we don't tell hem who has been affected with it,"

Merlin nodded, "We will not lie, we will just don't say anything, although they are very smart sorceress. They might even recognize you." Merlin sighed as he looked to the fading black hair of the prince, which now looked a black dirty color, "I don't know if it will be wiser if I just went alone."

Arthur shook his head, "Oh no, I'm going. This is my father you are talking about. Besides I just made peace with the great dragon, shouldn't I begin making peace with all the other branches of magic? Albion will not be built in a day, Merlin. We are making internal progress but I think is time we start thinking of external moves. Getting the druids on our side will get us closer to our goal."

Merlin blinked, honestly he had been thinking less and less of Albion as of late, just focused on the pending fight with Morgana but Arthur, always the strategist, was looking way ahead of him.

"Well, as Will would've say, we've got ourselves a plan." Merlin joked.

Arthur scoffed, "I bet Will was always the planner."

Merlin looked affronted at that, "Well, let me tell you I was the planner, how do you think we managed to escape the ire of my mother whenever we made something reckless? Certainly it wasn't Will's forte,"

Arthur almost kicked Merlin, "Oh shut up, like if Hunith could ever get mad. Your mother is literally patience in a person."

"How can you say that?"

"She had you, didn't she? And kept you alive for twenty four years? Next time she comes to Camelot I might give her a civil title for her efforts."

Merlin grinned, Arthur was so in love with his mother it was endearing but he didn't dare say anything out loud to Arthur. It was enough that the prince always looked quite out of place in such a warm environment like the one Hunith could provide.

"Still have not heard any news from Kilgharrah?" Arthur asked after a moment motioning to Merlin's head, scrunching his face, "Don't you get worried he might, don't know, listen to something you don't want to share? It's there like… a barrier when you don't want the bond to work?"

Merlin chuckled, "It's not like Kilgharrah is there talking to me all the time, Arthur, is just on occasions and I feel it before it happens. Although I could understand you being mortified about it, imagine Kilgharrah being able to know all the things you think about Gwen when no one is looking? Although, on the other hand, he might just get glimpses of all the food and chocolate you just wish you could inhale."

"Jesus Crist, every time I think you can't get more annoying you surpass my expectatives, you are hanging around with Gwaine way too much," He spat angrily. "And I do not think about food all the time." As if on cue Arthur's stomach grumbled. Merlin grinned in his direction but Arthur pinned him with a stare. "You say anything and I swear I will tell Hunith your broke my arm on purpose."

At this Merlin wisely shut up and hastily stood up to his feet. Merlin wouldn't hear the end of it if that happened. She might even ground him, and the last time Merlin had been ground he had been like nine years old.

"I didn't bring food with me when I rushed out the hut but I'll see what I can find here,"

Arthur had wanted to stand up and help, he really did, but he was way too exhausted to move so he just nodded as royally as he could while sitting under a tree with peasant clothes.

"I'll keep watch on the vase."

Merlin was about to say a remark but stopped himself. Arthur was going to always be Arthur.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

In the end Merlin managed to find some fruits and had magically caught some fishes from the near river. When he had come back Arthur was softly snoring under the tree and Merlin let him rest as he cooked. Remembering all the times in the woods where he had cooked for the knights.

We wondered how Lancelot, Gwaine and the rest were doing. They had been absent a week now and he knew by experience a lot of things could go down in just a few days, he just hoped that between Gaius and Gwaine things could stay controlled until they arrived.

He woke up Arthur when he was done and in amiably silence they ate their respective portions.

"Have you ever thought about telling your secret to more people?" Arthur asked eventually as he finished his first fish and went for seconds, "I mean, everybody that knows you have magic is because you didn't have a choice. Have you ever told anyone willingly?"

"Honestly? Keeping my magic a secret is second nature to me. Telling people will get me dead, isn't it? So actually telling someone is… kind of scary. Every time someone finds out I have a heart attack. You should have seen my face when Lancelot confronted me about it. I thought I was going to die there."

Arthur hummed in contemplation, "It's a good thing he knows. He's a smart man. But seriously you have never told anyone because you wanted to? Certainly it needs to be people out there who are not that terrified of magic?"

Merlin shook his head before a melancholic smile crept into his face, it was a face that Arthur had come to link with Freya and he was not disappointed, "Only once. With Freya."

"Will you ever tell me about her, Merlin?"

Merlin's eyes twinkled, "She likes vast meadows, and cows, and she wanted a house near a lake in the village she was from."

Arthur blinked not knowing what to do with this information and Merlin chuckled.

"Just let it go, Arthur. I'll tell you about her eventually, alright? But not today, maybe after Morgana is dead—"At this he watched the carefully hidden look on the prince face. He knew Arthur understood the situation they were in, however, listening to your best friend saying he planned on killing your sister must be kind of unsettling, "Freya is a nice story, sad but nice an warm and… mine. I don't want to tell you about her sitting under a tree in a clearing that reminds of yet another dead friend." Merlin said quite honestly and Arthur nodded, however before he could say anything Merlin's eyes grew wide. He stood up in a swift motion to his feet.

"Merlin?" Arthur said worriedly looking around the clearing for any threat but merlin hushed him.

"Shhhh, is Kilgharrah,"

Arthur tensed and crouched ready to sprint, his blue eyes looking for his sword, however, when he looked back at Merlin he noticed the small victory smile on his face.

"He found them."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"I don't know, Merlin, this seems kind of suspicious," Arthur said later that day, the moment Kilgharrah had sent Merlin the location of the druids, who were just three hours away by horse, the two boys had run back to Camelot to retrieve their stallions, changed into some better clothes and had parted without waiting another moment.

At first they had both been excited, it was the first good news they had received in weeks and Merlin seemed confident that the druids would help.

Now, hours later, Arthur had begun pondering if going to see the druids was actually a good idea. Would they take revenge with his father? Would it be wise to lie? Were they really as pacific as Merlin believed them to be? Merlin thought so but he remembers the uneasy look on the dragon and if Arthur had to bet he trusted the dragon's instincts more than Merlin's.

Merlin and him had dismounted their horses a few minutes ago, leaving with them Arthur's shield and sword. At first, again, Arthur had thought it was a good idea. He respected other cultures, however, he felt incredibly vulnerable and naked at the moment.

He was a master in hand-to-hand combat, however, he was painfully aware how much his hands (one he had just managed to sprain a few hours ago) were useless against sorcerers.

Maybe he should have let Merlin come alone.

Arthur walked with born stealth and grace, aware of his surrounding, every limb on his body moved with purpose, he observed the ground as they walked but he wasn't able to see any footprints on the dirt, any broken branches, anything that gave away that somewhere near them a whole druid camp was settled.

Merlin on the other hand was brightly carrying his satchel with the vase inside like he was taking a stroll in the halls of Camelot. Unknowingly crunching leaves as he went.

"Can't you be more strident, Merlin?" Arthur whispered.

"Relax, Arthur, I told you, druids are pacific people. They wouldn't harm us."

Arthur didn't seem to relax in the slightest, on the contrary he keep his eyes sharp at any movement as he walked almost glued to Merlin's side. Merlin was, for the first time in his life, his only chance at survival…uh, how things had really changed. He eyed Merlin by the corner of his eye. Yep, definitely screwed. He just wishes being friends with Merlin gathered him a safe place within the camp.

Arthur opened his mouth to ask Merlin about Mordred again when he heard it. The disctinve sound of a flying arrow, who the next second passed them above their heads, impaling itself a few yards in front of them. They both alertly turned, Arthur's hand going for his sword just to find his empty seatbelt. Damn it.

Another arrow crossed the air but Merlin was prepared this time and he froze the arrow just a few yards away from his face. He let it fall to the ground.

Merlin and Arthur got back to back assessing the forest. See? This is what Arthur meant with the situation being suspicious.

"Didn't you say they were peaceful!?" Arthur hissed as his blue eyes scanned the forest without being able to see anything.

"I… maybe this is the wrong druid camp?"

"Merlin!" Arthur said yelled angrily.

At that moment he felt Merlin's back tense and Arthur turned sharply to see a man with a bow perched on the highest branch of a tree a few yards ahead of them. The man was wearing a long green and gray cloak. Merlin raised his hands in case they were attacked again. Several seconds passed before the man, in swift movements, finally made his way to the ground.

Arthur and Merlin shared a glance. None of them said anything and then;

"Lyaa! What are you doing?! What have been telling you all this time? Do not attack strangers that just happen to pass by!" A woman yelled, the cloaked figure seemed to radiate annoyance under the heavy clothing. He pushed the cloak back to uncover his face.

Or rather; her face.

Arthur and Merlin shared another glance.

The cloaked archer as actually a girl; blond hair, pointy ears, blue eyes or green Arthur couldn't quite tell. Her petite body seemed out of place with such a strong attitude, as she seemed to be annoyed that she had been called on her behavior.

"I'm sorry, tensai*," she dragged as another figure made it out of the woods, "They just looked pretty suspicious to me,"

Another woman, this one taller than the first appeared on top of a rock. She had soft chocolate hair pulled up in a ponytail and piercing gray eyes. She had a bow too but unlike the blond she had it strapped it behind her back, useless at the moment. Where the hell does these women come from? Again Arthur's hand went to retrieve a sword that wasn't there. Alright, coming here without weapons was a huge mistake. He sighed as he tried to keep his cool.

Arthur took a step forward and raised his hand in peace, "We are sorry to—"

The older woman pinned him with a stare and Arthur amusedly—and a bit angry, if we might add—shut up. What on earth? Then the woman completely ignored him, choosing to look disapprovingly to the blond girl from above the rock, the girl seemed to shrink a bit where she stood, however, she crossed her arms defiantly.

"Just look at them! Something is wrong here, I feel it," The girl complained but the older woman just shook her head again.

"That is not reason enough to actually attack them, Lyaa."

Merlin walked to stand by Arthur side and he just shrugged, apparently they were being ignored and neither of them knew exactly how to behave. Merlin had definitely not seen this coming. The older woman crossed her arms, not quite letting her eyes trail too far off from the blond. Then she called to the forest behind them.

"Ronin*, get your feet here, training is over,"

Another cloaked figure made his way down the tree Merlin and Arthur were nearest and Arthur choose to glare intently at Merlin. This was his fault. They were surrounded! And they haven't even noticed! How did this ever happened?! Oh, right, because Merlin had said 'They are peaceful, they will not harm us'

This was the last time he obeyed Merlin.

"Yes, Mersan," This time it was the sound of a boy's voice that met their ears, the boy rounded them, his steps light as he walked towards the blond, who was still eyeing them with narrowed eyes. As he turned to stand beside Lyaa he nodded in the direction of the woman. He didn't have a bow but instead two short swords strapped behind his back.

Definitely a bad idea.

"Good. Now, ronins, do you have any idea who just attacked?" After saying this, Mersan, that seemed to be the name of the oldest woman, jumped gracefully out the rock and into the ground.

The blond looked at Arthur and Merlin up and down twice before she shrugged, looking back at Mersan quite disinterestedly, "Two strangers passing by? Burglars maybe?"

The boy scoffed, "Burglars? Just look at their clothes,"

"Peasants then,"

Arthur crossed his arms and glared. He had never in his life been called a peasant before, and never, ever, since the moment he had been born, he had been this heavily ignored. Merlin, by the other hand, was apparently having a good time with this turn of events.

"One of them just made magic in front of you!" The boy chuckled and the girl, annoyed, rolled her eyes.

"She's like the mini version of you," Merlin said in awe to Arthur. At that moment the three strangers looked at them. The blond was now really paying attention to Merlin, while Mersan had a kind smile on her face, like apologizing for the stupid doings of her kids.

"You must comprehend this, Emrys," the woman said and Merlin tensed at the same time the blond girl gasped loudly, "Lyaa is just too eager to know the ways around her new bow."

"You would say a bit too eagerly," The boy said before he finally pulled his cloak out his face to reveal soft dark curls and green striking eyes, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he looked down at the blond girl who had gone paler by the second; she even dropped her, apparently, new crossbow to the ground.

Arthur felt secretly happy about that.

"Good job, Lyaa," the boy laughed, a hand on his hip as his green-blue eyes traveled from the girl beside him to Arthur and Merlin. "You just managed to almost kill the most powerful sorcerer on earth,"

The blond shrieked as she hit the older boy on the shoulder, "Y—you should have told me!"

Mersan quieted them down with a movement of hands and the teenagers obeyed. Arthur was now incredibly amused, he wished he had that type of respect from his own knights. He turned towards Merlin, seeing this it was probably wiser to let Merlin take charge of things, however, Merlin's eyes were rather cold as he stared gravely at the cloaked figures. The dark he could see in his eyes was barely there but Arthur had come to know Merlin like the back of his hand now.

"What, what is it?" He said under his breath as the woman walked in their direction.

All Merlin had time to say before the woman came within hearing range was;

"That kid…" Merlin gulped as his hands clenched and unclenched anxiously, "Is Mordred."

A/N: I wrote this chapter in like, four hours. Half of it was already written, this part of the training was meant to happen the first day, however, I thought that Arthur learning the history of magic needed to come first and eventually this chapter kept being pushed further and further back, it was by pure stubbornness that I moved everything so this fighting could take place. Originally Arthur was meant to break a leg and pass out, but that would have to push the druids meeting.

AND NOW. THE DRUIDS. I HAVE BEEN DYING TO POST THIS SINCE, LIKE TEN CHAPTERS AGO. They are still peaceful but im taking a new approach of them that I hope you like. And here's the surprise I have been talking about for like two months. The meeting with the druids has been planned for months, but ever since you all started to review and share your suspicions about the vase more and more characters came to my mind with literally your names on them, in the end, almost all the druids that you will see in this chapter (and the next, which is by far one of my favorite's chapters) were inspired by your reviews. You might catch phrases that you have said, others even see your names! Obviously I don't know any of you in real life, and like a stalker I read all of your bios so I could get a glimpse of your personalities, but in the end, please, (pretty, pretty pleaseee) do not feel offended or anything. I just mixed some things that I wanted to happen with some of the ideas I have of you dear readers. I did this just for fun and to let you know I do care when you review. I MEAN IT when I said when you do, the story changes a little even if you might never know.

In any case, this chapter and the next are supposed to be quite fun, since you all will be taking part in the story. If any of you feel offended I apologize beforehand and please do tell me so I can change it or erase it. I don't even know if this is against some rule or something?

Confession (10): Originally Mordred was never going to take place in this story… the druid boy was meant to be one of you… but (I might be 150% wrong) all of you who had reviewed recently are girls? (I can be like 293489234% wrong? I mean FF doesn't tell me much) so I was like… who should this character be?

And boom. Mordred. So Idk how this will play out…. *Grins*

Remember when I told you the last chapters to review? Yeah, this was the reason.

Linorien, Saimri, Suricata, NerdGirlAlert and Eliane will be in the next chapter, don't worry guyssss. You all have a part already and a name, but since I haven't posted it you have the chance to pick your names (or to not have a part on it, I'll respect your wishes, again, this is all just honest fun) hugs all the way from Mexico too anywhere on earth you are at.

A/N2:

Tensin= Teacher

Ronan=Student

In what language? Mine. Probably.