Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin

The world you seek to build

Merlin groaned and opened his eyes. Sunlight greeted him. He blinked quickly as his eyes adjusted to the new level of light. He sat up and looked around. He's sat by a bridge made of old wood, which looks almost rotten. Close to the bridge, there's a small fire with a pot steaming above it, cooking some sort of stew by the smell of it.

"Ah, Magic, you are finally awake, I see." A voice greeted him from the other side of the fire.

Merlin looked up, to see Grettir standing there.

"What am I doing here?" Merlin asked, realising he was by the bridge to the Perilous Lands, aka the Land of the Fisher King.

Grettir smiled, slightly, "It is time you fulfil your destiny, Magic."

"My destiny is to protect Arthur, he is the Once and Future King," Merlin answered with a slight frown.

Grettir shook his head, "The Morgana you knew is dead. She was mortally wounded, so with the last of her magic she fled to a place hidden deep in the far mountains and spilt her blood on The Stone of Mordred the Dark... He is known to have practised the darkest of the Dark Arts of Magic, not even Morgana would have been able to practice the likes of which he practised, and she wouldn't have had the power to.

"When she spilt her blood on the stone, she died and gave her soul to him and by doing so, she woke him from his deep sleep, he returned her life, by placing the soul of his sister in her body. By doing this, your destiny has changed."

"Changed how?" Merlin asked.

"You no longer protect the Once and Future King and him alone. You now protect all those with magic, too. But first, you must restore these lands to what they once were. For this land is to become the only kingdom where magic is practised freely and without limitation. Once this land is restored all those with magic will come here and you are to protect them, until a time when magic is free in all of Albion."

"But how am I to do that?" Merlin questioned. "I don't have that type of power."

"You don't have magic, you are magic," Grettir answered. "You are magic in a physical form. You are a creature of the Old Religion. You are Emrys the Immortal. You are King of the Druids. You are the Last High Priest of the Old Religion. You are the Last Dragon Lord. It is what you were born to do."

Merlin just stared at Grettir, "But I don't know enough about magic."

Grettir smiled, in his hands appeared a staff of white wood, "This is the Staff of Emrys, it was created by the Gods for you... And you alone can wield its power. It will aid you and it will guide you."

Behind them a branch snapped, Merlin spun around and out of the trees stepped a man in purple and grey robes.

"Greetings, Emrys," The man said.

"Alator of the Catha," Merlin replied.

"It is good to see you are awake, at last." Alator bowed. "I fear the spell I used to knock you out was more powerful than I expected."

Merlin sighed, "You could have just told me to come here, you know?"

Alator smiled, "I feared they would kill you before you had the chance."

Merlin nodded sadly, "I fear I am no longer welcome in Camelot."

"It is time for you to start your quest, Magic," Grettir explained. "You have to succeed, for if you do not there will be no Albion and no Golden Age."

Merlin sighed, "So no pressure then."

)o(

Gaius sat at one of his workbenches, across from him sat Isolde and Tristan. They were staying with him until some of the guest quarters had been prepared for them. Tristan had explained to Isolde what Merlin had done and how he had been kidnapped.

It was an understatement to say she was shocked that he would use magic like that for her and was worried for him, God knows who that person was and what they were going to do with him.

"I still can't believe it. That he risked being caught and executed for me," She muttered.

Gaius smiled, "Merlin knows what it means to have loved and to have lost. Far too many who are close to him have died. He could not bear to see another go through that pain. Every time one of his kin are killed, it breaks his heart a little more because he fears it proves Arthur will never truly accept him," Gaius looked sad. "He is the most powerful warlock who has ever lived or will ever live, so if Arthur could not accept those with minor powers, what would he do if he found on his own manservant was the most powerful of them all?"

"But why me? Why did he not do it for someone else? I don't have magic like so many he must have seen die."

"I'm surprised he's lasted four years here without doing what he did sooner. Truth be told, he only mastered the power over life and death in his first year here, so those before that he could not save. But every time someone was killed I feared Merlin would step in and stop it, I guess he just finally had enough and knew it was time to change. He helped many escape the dungeons, but those who were chased down he couldn't save," Gaius replied.

"He spoke of someone called Freya, who was she?" Tristan asked.

"That is not my tale to tell, I'm afraid," Gaius answered. "But he loved her and she died in his arms, much like Isolde did in yours."

Tristan gripped Isolde hand, "I will be forever grateful for what he did, for I could not live without you, Isolde."

Isolde smiled, "Then we will have to find him, thank him and keep him safe."

"If you wish to find him, you are best off finding the Druids.," Gaius offered. "They will most likely know where he is."

"You do not seem that bothered by the fact he was kidnapped," Tristan muttered.

Gaius smiled, "The man who took Merlin will do him no harm. Of that I am sure. It was Alator of the Catha. He, like the Druids, is loyal to Merlin, as are all the Catha. I guess he feared Merlin would be killed and took him away. After all, Merlin would never willingly leave Camelot, even if he was sentenced to death."

)o(

Percival and Gwaine sat on the training field. Nobody had spoken about Merlin since he was taken. Gwaine had been one of the first to draw their sword but was too late to save him.

News had spread fast that Merlin was a sorcerer and how he had saved Isolde's life. Everyone in the castle knew about it, surprisingly the servants seemed to find it a great honour that one of their own would risk so much to save one person from death and another from heartbreak.

"So..." Gwaine muttered, looking around. "Let's talk about Merlin."

"What is there to say?" Percival replied. "He's a sorcerer and, if he ever returns to Camelot, the King will have his head."

Gwaine laughed, "Do you think he could turn water into ale?"

Percival rolled his eyes, "That's all you think about, isn't it?"

"Yep," Gwaine answered with a grin.

"It makes sense, though," Percival spoke up after a moment's silence.

"What does?" Gwaine asked.

"Merlin having magic," Percival answered.

"How so?" Gwaine questioned.

"Well think about it, Gwaine," Percival sighed. "How many times do tree branches snap and fall on the enemy? Or bandits drop their weapons, just as they are about to attack us from behind? Or arrows that suddenly fly off course? We always said it was luck, but it must have been Merlin, no one gets lucky, that many times."

Gwaine nodded.

"All those times, he seems to know what's about to happen before it happens. All those times Merlin warns us not to trust people and it later turns out they are not trustworthy. All those times when he knew so much about magic, like that time when we passed through the Druid burial site or whatever it was," Gwaine glanced at Percival. "You don't seem to care that Merlin has magic."

"I don't," Percival shrugged slightly.

"Why? All Arthur ever goes on about is how evil magic is and how we should never trust it and how the kingdom will never be safe until magic is gone for good. He almost sounds like Uther sometimes!"

Percival shrugged again, "After my family were killed by Cenred's men, the Druids took me in for a while until I was old enough to look after myself. They used magic. They have never hurt anyone. Even when they are threatened they do not harm people with magic. All I have ever seen them do is heal people and use magic to make their lives more comfortable. Magic is not evil. It is the person who uses it."

Gwaine nodded, "I have travelled to many places over the years, not all are like Camelot. There are places where magic is practised freely. I have seen the good it can do, but I have also seen the damage it can do. I agree with you. Magic isn't evil."

)o(

Arthur stood staring out the window of his chambers. Behind him at the table sat Elyan, Gwen and Leon.

"How could he betray me like this?!" Arthur demanded. "After all the damage he has seen magic do! How could he do this?!"

Gwen looked at Arthur sadly. Merlin had been her best friend too and he still was her best friend.

"We don't know why he started practising magic. Maybe his mother got sick and he was forced to turn to magic to cure her. I mean you know how much he cares for her. Maybe his friend Will taught him. Remember was a sorcerer," Gwen reasoned.

Arthur turned and glared at her, "Magic is evil. All those who practice it are evil. It corrupts your soul."

"How do we know that for sure?" Gwen reasoned again.

"Gwen, magic got our father killed," Elyan said. "If it was not for magic he would still be alive."

"NO!" Gwen exclaimed. "If it wasn't for magic our father would have died! When that illness spread through the water and my father was affected, magic was used to cure him! I always thought it was strange how Merlin knew my father was better. He even went and told the Uther he was the sorcerer who did it! He wasn't lying."

She didn't wait for the men to respond as she fled from the room.

Elyan watched her go, before getting to his feet, "I need to go after her."

He left Arthur alone with Leon, calling for Gwen to wait for him as he did so. Arthur finally sat down at the table. Leon knew better than to say anything. Everyone knew Merlin was Arthur best friend, even if Arthur could never admit it.

"Why would he betray us like this?" Arthur finally asked.

Leon shook his head, "I have no idea, Sire."

Arthur looked at Leon, "Did you ever suspect him?"

"He has been accused of sorcery time and time again," Leon answered.

"Just answer the question, Leon!" Arthur snapped.

"I always thought there was something different about him, but I would never have said it was magic," Leon replied.

Arthur sighed, "To make it worse, he must have been using magic under our noses for years. If what Guinevere said was true and he healed her father, then he must have had magic when I met him. It was only a couple of months after he became my manservant. You do not learn the Art of Sorcery that quickly."

"So, what are you going to do, Sire?" Leon asked.

"We have to find him," Arthur finally concluded. "If we can bring him back to Camelot, we can make sure he never practices sorcery again. Like Gaius stopped for my father."

"And what if he refuses?" Leon questioned.

Arthur took a deep breath, "Then I will have no choice but to sentence him to death."

)o(

Hello, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. I'll update as soon as I can,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.