1001 NE, Spring

Merlin ducked through the tent and came to a stop just inside it, uncertain. Arthur made no move to throw him out, so he sat on the stool and stretched out, bringing up a hand to massage his neck. The rest of the day had been spent channelling with Aes Sedai and other Asha'man, practicing joining and leaving circles so they could present a more powerful, concerted force against the Dark One.

Merlin sighed. "Arthur," he said, and waited until he'd looked at him. "I didn't really think you would-- your sister is Aes Sedai, and Morgana said she would take me to the White Tower to be gentled. I thought the Borderlands the better option. It was the safest if the taint on saidin drove me to madness."

"It matters not, now, how it may have been," said Arthur, considering him. "Did you know I was in Cairhien, after the attack on the Dragon Reborn?"

"No," said Merlin, but remembered the touch on his face, the sun on Arthur's hair as he stood at the window.

"Come." Arthur held out a hand in invitation.

Merlin went to him and was drawn down to the bed. They were careful and slow, and Merlin embraced the bond wholly, wanting to feel it all. Arthur stopped a few times, looking down at him with a faint wonder, and drew him into a long kiss. Merlin's lips grew red and swollen. Still they kissed and, in a tangle of limbs, fell sleep.

They dressed slowly in the morning, taking long looks at one another, breaking the morning fast in silence. Merlin started to say any of a thousand things, but always stopped, and instead drew his hand down Arthur's side, revelling in being able to touch him, wanting to do so again and again. Before they left the tent they shared a kiss.

Outside Lance was waiting with three horses saddled, and he passed one set of reins over to Merlin. They mounted up and moved to join Arthur's force. Merlin could see the Asha'man, a mass of black, and Aes Sedai, up near the Dragon Reborn.

Merlin rode alongside Arthur. He brushed his leg on Arthur's at times, and Arthur's gaze would settle on him, a quiet, solid look. Here was the man he'd wanted to serve as a youth, grown into the commander he'd always known Arthur would be. Arthur smiled at him, quick, private, pressing his leg back, and soon they were at the front lines.

Tarwin's Gap was ahead, a narrow gap between the two jutting mountainous ranges, and beyond it the flatness of the Blasted Lands. It was a usually a yellowish brown from the twisted, and dying, vegetation, corrupted by the proximity to the Dark One, but Just beyond it lay Shayol Ghul, although Merlin couldn't see it yet. It was the Dragon Reborn's destination, and along with himself, one of the number of strongest of Asha'man and Aes Sedai.

All of the armies were there, their commanders out the front. Cauthon stood grimacing next to al'Thor, a golden horn in hand.

"Tia mi aven Moridin isande vadin," he said, shrugged, brought it to his lips. The note he blew was sweet, high, and long, calling down to Merlin's very bones. It carried long and far, its whispers spreading out over the armies, and a fog began to rise.

He could see golden lines coming out from it, curling around. One attached itself to Arthur, another to Merlin, and outwards: he saw one tendril touch a woman with a golden braid, bow on her back, standing with eyes wide.

"The Horn of Valere," said Merlin, wonderingly. They'd had it all along.

The Heroes of ages came rolling through the fog, some mounted, some not, all recognisable heroes from the stories of old.

"Well met, trumpeter," said Artur Hawkwing. The king of legend looked around, and his eyes settled on Merlin and Arthur. He smiled. "The Horn binds new heroes, it seems."

Merlin fell back, startled, and looked at the golden threads going back to the horn. Arthur looked at him, curious at his shock, and Merlin shook his head.

The Lord Dragon's banner unfurled, swinging out to proclaim itself in the breeze. Its tail fluttered with obvious presence, and Hawkwing nodded approvingly.

"We ride!" said Hawkwing. "Trumpeter, a march, if you will?"

Cauthon held the horn to his lips, and with every note Merlin felt himself lifted stronger, and saw the same of Arthur. The heroes made of the front lines of the armies, bristling with arrows, knives, swords, and encompassed in armour. Soldiers near them stood straight, buoyed, and turned to face the Dark One's armies.

"Asha'man, Aes Sedai. We fight at Shayol Ghul," said the Dragon Reborn.

Merlin turned to Arthur, words of farewell stopping up in his throat. He hesitated for a moment, and found himself crushed up against Arthur, his lips taken in a kiss. He took more back, a hard kiss fading into sweet, softness. Arthur pulled back and cupped his neck, his forehead against Merlin's, a fierce love coming through the bond.

"Live," Arthur said, pulling away, and as Merlin stepped through the Gateway to Shayol Ghul, turned towards Tarwin's Gap to face the Shadowspawn coming down the pass in a roiling sea.