Sorry this one took a lot longer because I have been working on my other story "Buried" for a while and it took up all my time writing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Hope you enjoy.

Trust me

I looked around, the fire slowly growing closer. The air around use became almost unbearably hot and I felt myself gasping for air. I desperately looked around for a means of escape but the fire surrounded us. Jasper and Aida shared my fearfulness. We had to get out, and fast or the fire would overtake us. The horses moved uncomfortably and we struggled to keep them calm in the face of the fire.

There had to be a way out. It couldn't all end here, with one simple accident, one mistake. That's all it really took in the end, one mistake and you would be falling with no way to get back up again as the fire consumes you body and soul.

I wanted to cry out for help but I couldn't see what good that would do. I had to be strong, for their sakes. It was for them that I needed to find a way out. I didn't need to save myself, only them. Right from the start it had been them I needed to protect. That was my job and I wasn't going to fail them.

That was the very reason that I was going to try something that sounded completely stupid and dangerous. That's what my life seemed to be filled with lately. Making stupid and dangerous decisions. I felt Merlin squirm in the sling he was laying in. I had almost forgot he was there. It wasn't only Aida and Jasper that I needed to save. If things went wrong a whole destiny would be destroyed and we would never be free.

I looked back at the others. "Follow me." I turned to ride off but Jasper's voice stopped me.

"We can't go that way." He argued. "That leads straight into the fire. It will kill us."

"Do you have a better idea?" I called back to him. He remained silent. Jasper hadn't trusted me since the day he arrived and no matter what I did he still looked at me as if any second I would send word to Camelot that I had two sorcerers in my custody, but that wasn't me. Would he ever understand that?

"We shouldn't have come here." He continued.

All right, that was it. I turned my horse around and trotted up next to him. He looked at me warily as if I was going to throw him into the fire.

"Do you think I knew this was going to happen?" I was angry. "Do you think I wanted to get you hurt?" Jasper was speechless at the anger and sincerity in my voice.

"If you want to get out of here alive you are going to have to trust me." I looked him straight in the eye. "I know that will be hard for you but you have to realize I'm not the bad guy. I want to keep you both safe and I would give my life to protect you."

I could see Jasper was having an argument with himself inside his mind. Should he trust me? The correct answer was yes but he seemed to be having a hard time grasping it. I meant every word of what I said. Why couldn't he see that?

"We don't have time for this." The fire was getting closer. "Come with me and have the chance of living, or stay here and battle the fire. It's your choice."

With that I rode off. Aida followed me, and a few seconds later Jasper joined us as well. We rode our horses straight towards a wall of fire. If I was right, and I hope I was, this wall would be smaller and thinner then the others. I took a deep breath. Time seemed to slow. Then in one powerful movement, the horse jumped, carrying me over the wall of fire. We landed safely on the other side and I could see a clear path out of here. I looked behind me to make sure the others had made it too. They had.

I steered the horse, weaving in and out of the trees in order to avoid the flames that lashed out at us, trying to burn us. Our cloaks flapped behind us. We were so close to being clear of the heat, riding fast to keep ahead of the flames that were rapidly growing, devouring everything in its path.

Then I was hit with a burst of cold air as we burst into the open and away from the burning forest. We came to a halt in the snow-covered field, looking back. Aida came up beside me. Both of us looked over at the third horse, realization coming over us. There were three horses but only two riders.

"Where's Jasper?" Aida voiced the question. I looked back into the fire. He must have fallen off his horse. For all we knew the fire could have already gotten to him or at least the smoke. But I wasn't going to tell Aida that.

I tried to ride my horse back into the woods to go look for him but the horse refused my commands so I was forced to dismount.

"Aida you stay here ok."

"What are you going to do?" She asked fearfully.

"I'm going back in to find him."

"I'll come too." She began to dismount as well but I stopped her.

"No, you need to stay here and look after the horses." I removed the sling from around my neck and handed Merlin to Aida. "You need to keep him safe. Can you do that?"

She took Merlin in her arms and nodded. I smiled at her then ran back into the forest on fire. I looked around, desperate for a glimpse of the boy. I went in further, my hand over my eyes to try and see better. I unwrapped a red neckerchief that I always kept tied around my left wrist and used it to cover my mouth and keep out the smoke. I squinted, falling to the side as I narrowly escaped being crushed by a falling tree.

Then I saw him, he was still. I crawled towards him, trying to stay bellow the spoke. He must have been knocked out. I draped one of his arms over my shoulder and dragged him through the fire, back to Aida. The heat was growing and I had to blink black spots from my eyes. It felt like my lungs were on fire, but I couldn't stop. I had to get him out.

Jasper wasn't as heavy as I thought he would be. The Purge had made him thin. I was going to have to force food into his mouth when we got back. He needed to eat. We didn't have much food. It would be too suspicious if I bought enough food to feed three people when I was supposed to be the only one living in that house. It was a little easier with Hunith was here because now I had an excuse, but it was still hard. I would never tell them, but I hadn't properly eaten anything for a few days now either. I regretted it as I felt myself growing weaker under the heat of the fire.

We were almost there, just a few more feet and we would be home free. I heard the creaking of a tree as its base weakened. It was about ready to fall. The sound was close, too close. I realized just in time and pushed the unconscious Jasper forward and into the opening. He fell into the soft snow as the tree fell. I closed my eyes, ready for the end. I told Jasper that I would give my life for them. It seems now I would be living up to my words.

But I never felt the pain of the burning wood crushing me against the ground. I looked up to see that the tree trunk had narrowly missed me. My eyes were wide and my heart beat furiously in my chest. I had never believed in luck before this moment, but as I scrambled out of the burning woods again and into the snow I found myself becoming a believer, or had it been magic.

I looked up to see Aida, with Merlin in her arms. Jasper was sitting up now next to me. The cold snow must have woken him up. My eyes went back to Merlin who seemed to be staring down at me. Something inside me was telling me that I owed him my life. Magic ran through his veins. He would become great some day I just knew it.

Jasper was looking at me in shock. His mind trying to find the words for what just happened.

"You save my life." He sounded astonished.

"Never imagined that would happen." I said sarcastically.

"But why?" He seemed to finally realize that if I was evil then what just happened shouldn't have happened.

"I told you. I would give my life to make sure you were safe." I smiled at him. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you." Slowly I got to my knees, coughing.

Then Jasper did something I never thought he would do. He hugged me. I was caught by surprise. He didn't say it but I knew this was his way of saying thank you and maybe sorry for not trusting me. I returned his hug. I was just so relieved that he was safe.

Aida smiled and Merlin giggled next to us. The three horses just stood patiently and watched us. I was the one to pull away first. I looked both of them up and down and started laughing. Soot covered their faces. I got a snowball to the face for that. I returned it swiftly, smacking Jasper in the stomach. He looked winded for a minute but Aida was laughing so hard that he threw a snowball at her too. We laughed and insulted each other playfully, throwing snowball after snowball until we saw the sun coming up in the sky.

Hunith would be waking up soon and knowing her we would be in big trouble. Especially if she learnt that we had put Merlin's life in danger. He was laughing though. I looked back at the others. The looks on their faces told me that they might be thinking the same thing.

"Not a word to Hunith about any of this." They nodded. This would be our little secret, as if we didn't keep enough of those already. We quickly wiped away any signs of snow or soot then mounted the horses again. We galloped back to town and returned the horses from where we had taken them.

We slipped in through my front door without a sound and made our way up the stairs to the attic. I sighed with relief when I saw Hunith still fast asleep, but the candles had blown out. Jasper and Aida slipped under their sheets and pretended to sleep, though I'm pretty sure they fell asleep for real. Merlin was asleep too in my arms as I carried our cloaks back downstairs to put them away. They were wet from the snow and slightly singed from the fire.

I returned to the attic and sat down next to Hunith. I watched them all sleep and smiled. When Hunith woke up in the morning she wouldn't suspect anything.

As I looked at their peaceful faces I found myself once again wondering if they would ever be free or if the fire would find them first. I adjusted Merlin in my arms. He was so small and innocent but yet he had such a great destiny. One day he would save us all.

I had escaped the fire that night but how long would I be able to run for before the fire finally caught up.

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Hope you keep following because their not out of the woods yet.