Chapter 4:

(A/N) Thank you so much for the reviews, they are my candy on the web.

A couple of reviews have been about Gwaine being OOC. But, I really think that Gwaine would have been mad at Merlin for not entrusting him with the secret. He was in pain, also in the heat of the moment people will do crazy things that they wouldn't necessarily do in a normal situation. :) Even though this wasn't the response i was going for, It still gives me a smile, because i know people care enough to leave me these comments.

Thanks as always to the fangirl Dawnfire11

Disclaimer: Want to own Merlin, but has come to the sad realization that it will never come to pass.

Merlin slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in at the base of a tree, his legs aching from the strain of running almost half the night.

Then he remembered why he had been running. He remembered Arthur being struck down, the horrible fight that had occurred, and finally, he remembered the magic he had performed. His secret that he had spent countless hours and lots of stress trying to keep hidden from all his friends, was finally out.

The worst part, which he should have expected, was that his friends had all seemed to shun him. The life he knew had come to an end, because, while Gwen might accept him and his magic, the knights and Arthur would never be convinced that he hadn't set out to destroy Camelot.

What am I supposed to do now, go back to Ealdor I guess... then with a shock like ice water on bare skin Merlin thought ... wait... Ealdor. The town is in danger.

With that thought, Merlin gingerly got up from his half sitting position, and with a groan started hobbling as fast as he could east, towards his hometown.


As the sun started to drop down towards the horizon, Merlin stepped over a ridge and took in the sight his childhood home.

The buildings lay in ruins, burnt to a crisp, only a few houses remained, the walls barely holding up the charred roofs. The snow surrounding the remains were black from the soot and grime, as the fires spread from one building to another.

Merlin fell to his knees, eyes tearing up, his body shaking. His village, the place where he had spent his childhood was gone, along with all the people in it.

His mother came to his thoughts first. There was no possible way that she could have survived, could she? The fires looked like they had consumed the houses in an instant, with no concern for the lives it was ruining or the devastation it would produce.

Wait... he thought suddenly. There was a chance that the village had been able to evacuate before the fires had taken root. There was still hope.

Tiredly, but with great determination, he stood up and started towards the remains of his former home.

He began searching the outskirts of the town, not daring to go deeper because of the terrible images that were forming in his mind. The thoughts of innocent people whom he had grown up with charred in the ashes of their homes or cut down in the middle of the road, was almost too much to bear.

He found some footprints leading away from the small town, in the snow. His hope growing in his chest, he started running in the direction of his possibly alive and unharmed mother.

When he reached the edge of the wood, the there was only a glimmer of light, as the sun was slowly overtaken by the moon.

He walked for hours, trudging through the thick snow that was starting to pile up. Beginning to grow faint, he realized that he hadn't eaten since the lunch he had eaten with the knights and Arthur the day before.

Merlin's vision began to grow fuzzy, he slumped to the ground just as a figure rushed towards him.