A/N: I'm getting quite quick at updating!! I just can't get this story out of my head. I've already changed the ending about a million times and I've still no idea how it's going to end up. Will Camelot be destroyed? Will Arthur die? Will Uther die? Who knows?? I don't. Thanks for all of the reviews!! I am very happy!

Chapter 9- A Risky Trip

Morgana stared at him in shock.

"Merlin, you can't. It's too dangerous."

"It's the only way Morgana. Arthur can't be caught unawares." Merlin pleaded with her desperately.

Morgana still wasn't convinced.

"You wouldn't even make it into the city, let alone to the palace to find Arthur. If I know Uther he'll have the entire kingdom out searching for you, he'll take it as a personal insult that someone in the palace household was a sorcerer."

Merlin knew she was right. But what else could he do? He remained still for a moment, racking his brains, thinking of ways to get into the castle without being caught. He could feel the magic slowing coming back into him, running through his body. It was not nearly as strong as it had been, somewhat diluted, but Merlin guessed with time, he would regain his full power. At least he hoped.

Morgana spoke suddenly.

"I'll go. The guards will let me into the castle. I am the King's ward. I can tell the king directly what's happening, tell him some story about being kidnapped by some hostile sorcerers and then escaping. He would believe me."

Merlin looked at her.

"Morgana, if you go, you'll be trapped again. You belong here now, you're happy here. If you go back, you won't be able to just be yourself, just living a lie."

"I know, but what choice have I got? I don't want all of Camelot to suffer just because I want to stay here. I cannot condemn them and abandon them for my own personal happiness, " she said fiercely. "What good would it do if everyone I ever knew or cared about in Camelot died because of my selfish desires. I could not live with myself, being safe here, it would not make me happy if they were suffering, when I could help them."

Merlin stared at her, an admiration in his gaze. He knew what it meant for her to be here, safe, to be able to talk to others of her own kind without fear. He was impressed that she would give all of that up to save Camelot, the place whiche she knew only as a place of magical repression and fear.

Merlin sighed. He had to admit, her plan made sense, and he could find no counter-argument. He could tell she was determined, and he knew not to cross Morgana when she was like that.

Still, he had to try, he did not want her to be stuck in Camelot again. He could not be there to help her with her magic. She would be alone once more.

"There must be some other way, a spell we can use to send a message to Arthur. A way that we don't need to actually be in Camelot."

Morgana shook her head, at a loss.

"The crystal has had a huge effect on you Merlin, so much more than you know. Your magic is being returned slowly, you will not be able to use the spells you once could for at least a day, while you recover your strength."

Merlin knew this. He had already tried to summon his magic, but it would not come. He could feel it inside of him, not like a raging furnace as usual, more like a dull roar, more like candlelight. He couldn't use any spells, when he tried all he felt was a slight tingling sensation in his fingers. It made him frustrated to be so weak and powerless. Patience was not one of his strong points.

Morgana continued:

"Perhaps one of the other Druids could warn Arthur?"

Merlin shook his head.

"Arthur wouldn't trust trust a strange Druid. It would have to be me, if he were in the least going to trust someone who warned him of a magical threat. He would just believe that this Druid was in on the plot and trying to trick him."

"But we don't have time to walk to Camelot!"

"I know, " Merlin said with a sigh. If only he had the power to Transport directly to Camelot, like he had left. He could appear directly into Arthur's chambers, warn him, and then leave quickly. He might even have a chance to explain...

But he couldn't wait a day to regain his full power, he had to act now. Perhaps if one of the other Druids sent him? But then, he realised, the Druids might be knowledgeable, but none of them were exceptionally powerful. Transportation required huge amounts of energy. There must be someone with enough energy to send him there....

Morgana began pacing about, like she did when she was nervous, worry in her stance.

Comprehension suddenly dawned on Merlin's face. Morgana.

"You can do it! You can send me to Camelot!" Merlin practically shouted at her.

Morgana looked confused.

"Me? But I can't use my magic."

Merlin wasn't put down. He was convinced he had the best idea ever and refused to back off.

"It doesn't matter, its still there isn't it? It may be dormant, but you still have massive amounts of power, enough to Transport!"

Morgana still looked apprehensive. But Merlin was completely certain he had struck upon a chord of brilliance.

"But how can... I mean, is it possible....I have the magic, but I can't use it. What help is that?"

"You have the magic, I have the knowledge. We can combine our talents, it could work!" Merlin yelled gleefully.

Morgana thought for a moment. Suddenly a gleam of hope came into her eyes.

"Do you honestly think it will work?" She asked excitedly.

"No doubt about it," grinned Merlin. "Fyrmest taught me this..thingy..I can't remember the name of it....but it means that we can join our minds together. I would be in control of your power! I'd be able to use it as my own!"

Morgana almost smiled. But then she bit her lip.

"Do you know how to do this?"

Merlin deflated for a moment. He wasn't entirely sure, he'd never actually tried it, but he knew the theory.

They had no other choice.

"I think so. But what else can we do?"

Morgana considered for a moment. Then she nodded and came towards him.

"All right, I'll do it. What do I have to do?"

Merlin thought for a moment, trying to recall everything Fyrmest had told him, trying to ignore all the warnings Fyrmest had given him. Entering someone else's mind was relatively easy, even the weakest of magic users could do it, but entering was not the problem. Leaving was, it was extremely difficult to know when to leave, and how much energy a person could lose without being harmed. If something in the slightest went wrong, Morgana's mind and power could be stuck inside him forever, or it could result in permanent insanity in both parties.

"You can communicate with your mind can't you?"

Morgana nodded. "It's one of the things that..Byrne, taught me. He told me to open my mind and pour some of my magic out into him. He said it was a control exercise, teaching me to regulate my magic. It's what he did whenever I lost control. He would instruct me to pour all the excess magic inside of me into him. Looking back now, he was probably just trying to strengthen himself."

Merlin felt another upsurge of hate for Byrne.

"Don't worry, magic has a way of regenerating itself inside of you. What you learned is perfect, its exactly what we need to do. But you need to trust me Morgana, you cannot enter my mind and give me some of your power unless there is mutual trust on both sides."

"I trust you."

"Good," Merlin prepared himself for what was about to follow. Please let this work, he thought to himself.

Morgana stepped closer to him, looking nervous but determined.

"This is dangerous isn't it?"

Merlin nodded reluctantly.

Morgana took a deep breath and readied herself and seemed to come to a decision. Merlin was now vaguely aware of the sun rising , its weak light piercing through the trees. How long did they have before Camelot was attacked?

"But it would be more dangerous for us all if we didn't act," she said, more to herself than Merlin. She then looked up in his eyes, not a wavering of fear in her own.

Merlin stepped even closer to her and hesitantly placed his fingers of either side of her head, as Fyrmest had told him to.

Her skin was ice-cold under his touch, his own was feverish, his body still revering from the poison.

They both closed their eyes, calming their minds.

"Once you have shared some of your magic with me, I will speak the spell and travel to Camelot," Merlin murmured. "Try and sustain the magic for as long as you can, don't over exert yourself, when you begin to feel weak, too weak for you to handle, withdraw from my mind and I will reappear here. I need your magic to keep me in Camelot, if I don't have it I'll be brought back. Don't try and hold it too long, you'll end up killing yourself."

Morgana mumbled her acknowledgement, concentrating hard on what she was doing.

Merlin reached out with his mind, until he felt Morgana's consciousness touch his own. It seemed foreign to him, and conflicted, like a raging sea, so unlike his own. He sensed powerful magic, crazed magic, which seemed to swirl around in her mind, untamed.

He felt Morgana's magic slowly enter into his mind. It took all his will power not to reject it and throw up a barrier. It felt strange, Morgana's magic was completely different from his. For a moment he panicked, thinking he would not be able to control it, but he calmed himself immediately. This would not work unless he was completely relaxed.

He felt the magic slowly add to his own supply, he felt it growing and growing. He suddenly felt exhilarated, brand new and powerful, however he forced himself to remember this was only shared magic, he still had his own to get back.

As soon as he felt he had gained enough from Morgana to try the spell he told her with his mind to stop. The flow of magic ceased. He felt the open link between them, magic shared and exchanged between them.

He opened his eyes and looked at Morgana, who looked at him worriedly.

"Here goes nothing," he said, trying to be cheerful.

"Good luck," Morgana said, concern evident in her gaze.

Merlin nodded. "Remember, pull your magic back as soon as you feel too weak to continue. I'll reappear here," he reminded her, desperate to make sure she listened and nothing went wrong.

Merlin, then spoke the spell he needed; the same spell that had taken Merlin from Camelot was now about to take him back. What would Arthur say when Merlin found him? Would he forgive him? Or would he ignore him and have him arrested? There was no way to know, but Merlin knew he had to try.

""Lyft brucan mec animan hwaer ic willa beon hal!"

He felt darkness closing in around him, Morgana and the clearing disappearing. He felt himself travelling, moving faster than he had ever moved, causing buffeting winds around him. He could feel the constant link with Morgana, providing him with the magic he needed.

He was going back.

Arthur looked into the face if his opponent, through the visor of his helmet. The Knight approached him, his sword raised high in the air. Arthur veered towards the left, ducked the oncoming blade, twisted around and struck out with his own sword, and the man went tumbling down, with a cry of pain. He heard applause ringing out from the sidelines of the fighting arena and felt angry.

The people still enjoyed seeing their Crown Prince win every battle. Didn't these people understand? A huge army was coming straight towards them at this very moment and all they could do was cheer. Didn't they realise that the Knight Arthur had just defeated so easily would be defending them against ruthless invaders?

Arthur felt despair wash over him. The whole of the night had been spent preparing Camelot for war. People from the surrounding villages had been gathered into the safety of the city, bringing with them as much food and livestock as possible, preparing for a siege. The townspeople had been ordered to stock up on supplies, help build barriers around the castle, and volunteer for sentry watch.

Arthur had supervised this all night, his weariness had been pushed aside, as had all of his doubts over Merlin; now was the time to act, he could not be distracted.

When he had finished all of this, or assigned others to watch over his duties, he had returned to the castle. He had been training with the Knights since then, most of the new recruits were only young, and had never seen battle. They had to be prepared.

Arthur was frustrated at how easily he was defeating them. What chance did they stand?

A trickle of early-morning passers-by had stood to watch some of the fighting, thinking this to be some form of entertainment. But Arthur knew it to be more than this, it was life and death.

He shouted at them all to return to their houses and prepare themselves, and they did so, grumbling as they did so. They did not understand the seriousness of the situation. They had complete faith in Arthur, they were not even afraid, they knew he was on their side fighting for them, and they trusted him to protect them all. Arthur wished he had their confidence.

He saw his father walking quickly over to him across the arena. His face had fresh new lines on it as though he had aged ten years overnight, and his eyes had a tired expression.

"You have done enough Arthur, I know you have been working all night, " his father said to him as soon as he arrived. "You must get some rest, you are no use to us half-alive."

Arthur began to argue, but then relaised it was true. He felt insurmountably weary, his body was aching and he could barely keep his eyes open. He should get some rest, he needed to be prepared. He noticed the sun rising and realised how long it had actually been since he had last rested.

He nodded at his father, who strode off satisfied towards the Council Chambers, where his advisers and him had been planning all night how to see off this new threat.

Arthur assigned Sir Leon to oversee the rest of the training and headed off to his chambers, dragging his feet.

One bad thing after another had been perusing Camelot for the past couple of weeks, when would it ever end?

Arthur, and most of the people, were confused. Why had Cendred attacked now? True, the two kingdoms had never been on friendly terms, but the Peace Treaty had at least brought and end to the years of bloody fighting; there had severe losses on both sides, until neither thought they could continue. Why had Cendred waited until now to begin his attack? Was it something to do with Merlin? After all, Merlin was from Cendred's kingdom. Was he a spy?

He pushed that thought aside immediately. He wasn't going to open that bag of doubts again for a while.

He was so engrossed in thought that he did not see Gwen walking towards him in the corridor until she was right upon him.

Gwen looked up at him, and then down at her feet as though embarrassed. Ever since her outburst three weeks earlier, she had been avoiding him. He could tell she was not ashamed of what she had said, rather just embarrassed that she had shouted at the Crown Prince.

He did not resent her for it, in fact he had welcomed it. Gwen had given him a lot to consider and he was grateful for the fact she had been so direct and honest with him, it had helped him to accept what had happened. Some of his doubts had been quenched and he no longer blamed himself for anything that had happened.

Gwen curtsied hurriedly and made to walk around him, but Arthur stopped her.

"Gwen..."

She looked up at him, hesitancy in her eyes.

"Sire?"

Arthur took a deep breath.

"I want to say I'm sorry. I never should have doubted Merlin, I should have known there was no evil in him at all. I just wanted to say...you were right, I was wrong. What you said to me, I needed to hear it, I needed to be told straight that what I was thinking was wrong. And you have no idea how grateful I am to you for being so honest."

Arthur looked at Gwen, carefully, watching to see if another outburst would come, like his last apology had turned out to induce.

However Gwen just smiled up at him.

"I shouldn't have chastised you like that. I should have known that your doubts were valid and tried to understand them. But I was just so angry, I had to tell you what I thought. I'm sorry if I spoke out of place."

"No, Gwen, don't be sorry." Arthur hated it when Gwen spoke about their 'places'. "You should always speak to me about what you feel. Never be afraid to tell me what you're thinking, a good prince always listens to his subjects, particularly the ones he cares about..."

Arthur trailed off, afraid that he had said too much. But Gwen just smiled sadly up at him. This pained him more than anything. The fact that they had to be parted, how Arthur was not allowed by society and his father to express his love for Gwen. He wished more than anything just to be with her, without worrying about their places in the world. It did not matter to him in the slightest, the way it once would have. He now saw Gwen for the beautiful and kind person that she was.

He did not know what else to say. He wanted to tell Gwen how much he really cared about her. But he did not, it might make this easier on both of them. If he admitted openly how he felt, it would come between them, the frustration at not being together would ruin them. He didn't want that to tear them apart. He also did not want to make Gwen wait, she deserved happiness.

Gwen seemed to know what he was thinking and regarded him with pity. Gwen was such an amazing person, so pure and good. She felt sorry for him when he knew she was suffering just as much as him; she truly was selfless.

She reached up and placed one of her hands, rough with the work of servants, on Arthur's face, bringing it down to look at him properly and she stared into his eyes.

"You look tired Arthur, you should get some rest, you must be ready for the battle."

Her voice shook slightly as she mentioned the battle and for the first time he saw a glimmer of fear in her eyes. He reached up and held her hand with his own.

"Of course."

Gwen smiled at him with such affection in her gaze it took all of his power not to grab her and hold her in his arms, despite the fact they were in a busy corridor just off the courtyard.

Suddenly, his stomach gave a large rumble, ruining the magic of the moment they had just shared.

Gwen giggled and Arthur found himself laughing along. It felt so good to laugh, He hadn't since Merlin left.

"I'll bring you some food in your chambers. His Royal Stomach must be fed." Gwen teased, before taking her hand out of his grasp and continuing down the corridor.

Arthur felt his skin tingle where her warm skin had just left.

He smiled and set off towards him chambers. He now no longer felt the slightest bit tired. Gwen woke up every feeling inside of him, many he never knew he had.

He entered his room and began to remove his heavy armour. His body now felt lighter and more relaxed. He flopped onto the bed, and despite knowing he had to sleep, he could not still the thoughts of battle and war raging through his mind enough to rest.

He wondered vaguely where his new manservant had gotten to. What was his name..Bowden..Magan....he hardly ever saw him...never had to tell him to do his chores, never had a conversation with him...He conformed to the perfect servant ideal; never seen and never heard. Arthur hated it, he remembered what Merlin had said about Arthur being bored if he were to ever change. He now knew what he meant. Perhaps he would not have felt so conflicted and confused if he could have had some servant prattling away, distracting him from himself. That's whatever Merlin had done whenever Arthur had been upset...

Suddenly Arthur felt an abrupt wind sweep his chambers and a triumphant voice cry out:

"It worked! It actually worked!"

Arthur lay there still for a split second that seemed like a lifetime. He knew that voice, but it couldn't be...he just had imagined it because he had been thinking about him...he couldn't be here...

Arthur leapt up from the bed. He faced the corner of the room where a cloaked figure was standing. A cloaked figure, with ivory skin, messy hair, sticky out ears and a wonky grin which soon faded.

It was Merlin.

They both stood there silently for a long moment, each contemplating the other.

Arthur felt as though a huge pit of emotions in his chest had just leaked out everything had had been feeling the past few weeks. He didn't know how to react. What should he do? He once again resorted to the painful torment he had been enduring. How on earth was Merlin here? More to the point why?

But here he was. Merlin stepped hesitantly towards Arthur his hands held up.

"Arthur..." he began uncertainly.

Arthur just looked at him. Merlin looked the almost the same as when he had left. Only...was he getting fatter? He certainly looked less like the almost skeletal figure Arthur had known, so skinny all his bones had stuck out. He looked well looked after, his clothes were simple but not tattered, he did not look as if he had suffered in any way. If anything, it looked as though he had been enjoying the past few weeks. Arthur knew he looked terrible, he rarely got a peaceful night's sleep and had not been eating regularly. He was thinner and had great circles under his eyes. Hadn't Merlin been suffering the great torment he had?

Anger suddenly boiled to the surface.

"Why are you here?" He asked in a cold voice that shook with rage.

"I've come to warn you Arthur. An army is approaching Camelot. An army belonging to King Cendred." Merlin looked apprehensive, he also looked slightly worried, with a slight far-off gaze which told Arthur there was something else he was worried about.

Arthur was confused for a moment. Merlin had risked his life coming back to Camelot to tell him that? He remembered Gaius saying how Merlin had constantly risked his life to save Arthur's, was that was he was doing now? Or was it a trick?

"We already know about Cendred's army. We have taken steps to counteract it. We are not completely worthless." He was not sure how to react. He could sense the anger and hurt in his voice.

Merlin looked surprised.

"You know about the sorcerers?"

Arthur was immediately suspicious. How did Merlin know this?

"What sorcerers?"

Merlin sighed. He still looked worried about something other than their conversation.

"Some of the discontent Druids have allied themselves with Cendred, They hope to raze Camelot to the ground and return magic to the kingdom. They are led by a man named Byrne, a very powerful sorcerer. It was he who sent the Griffin to Camelot. You shouldn't underestimate him."

Merlin spoke this in a great rush, as though he was running out of time.

Arthur did not know whether to believe him or not. It made sense of course, it would explain why this war had suddenly come out of nowhere, Cendred had obviously just allied with some powerful sorcerers. Arthur felt a sudden horror, how on earth were they to defeat an army of sorcerers?

"How do you know this?"

"They tried to make me join them. I refused. As a result I have temporarily lost my magical powers, I am using Mor...another Druid's powers at the moment to warn you. Her power will not last forever and I only have a short time to tell you this."

Arthur was shocked. He had never heard of Druids sharing power before and felt a great curiosity as to who this mysterious Druid was that was sharing her magic with Merlin. Why would she do this? Why were any Druids willing to help Camelot? Arthur was then struck by a sudden realisation: Merlin was now a Druid. His father's enemy.

"How did you lose you powers?" Arthur asked in curiosity. He looked at Merlin closely, noticing that he was not as well as he had first appeared. He looked weaker than usual, and seemed to be swaying slightly on the spot as though extremely weary. He was also breathing heavily. What had the Druids done to him? Had Merlin suffered because he refused to join Cendred's armies?

"It doesn't matter, we don't have time, we-" Merlin suddenly stopped and looked around the room, surprise on his face.

"Your chambers are tidy", he said in disbelief.

Arthur felt annoyed. He needed to know what was happening.

"Of course they are, what's your point?"

Merlin shrugged.

"I just never thought you'd ever learn to tidy up after yourself."

Arthur sighed in annoyance,

"Of course I didn't tidy it myself," contempt in his voice. "My new servant did."

Merlin then looked incredibly hurt.

"You got a new servant?"

He looked again around the room, sadness and disappointment in his gaze. He looked wounded and offended. "What's his name? Is he any good?"

"He's a better worker than you Merlin but a boot-licker and nauseatingly servile."

Merlin looked happier.

"Oh, that's good. At least I know you don't like him. Besides I could never be happy with my replacement being a servant who thought the sun shone out of your-"

"Can we get to the point Merlin!! Where is this army now? How strong is it? How many?"

Merlin bit his lip.

"Ummm..I don't know."

Arthur couldn't believe his ears.

"Then what was the point in coming here?"

Merlin looked slightly annoyed at that.

"Hey, I thought you'd be grateful I told you half of the army were sorcerers! It's better than running out to meet them on the battle field, whacking them with your sword, having it split in two, and then be like to the guy next to you 'Why won't they die?' and then 'Oh yeah, they're sorcerers. Crap! Go and tell the others...oops I'm dead.'"

Arthur almost laughed. He had missed Merlin's mindless babble. But then he realised how very serious all of this was.

"And if that's what happens when you hit them with a sword, how do we defeat them?"

Merlin looked worried at that.

"You can't, not unless you catch them unawares or distract them. They'll constantly have a barrier up that protects them and they'll likely be protecting the other soldiers as well."

"Great, so they're invincible."

"Pretty much."

"Perfect."

Merlin looked distracted once more, and looked as though he was talking to someone far away in his mind.

"Why do you keep doing that?" He brought Merlin's attention to himself.

"I'm talking to Morg...the other Druid. Her magic's beginning to run out. I can't stay any longer without hurting her. Arthur, you have to talk to your father, Tell him what's happening, you can't run out and meet them on the battlefield, you'll be slaughtered."

Merlin looked seriously alarmed then.

"I have to go. I'll try and convince the other Druids to fight on your side, but I can't promise anything, they hate violence."

"My father will never-"

"Your father won't have a choice when he sees his city in ruins. I need to go. I'm sorry."

Merlin then disappeared, leaving Arthur alone in his chambers. At least he thought he was alone.

He heard a quiet gasp behind him. He spun around and saw Gwen standing in the doorway, holding a tray of food.

How much had she heard? Judging by the look on her face; enough.

Merlin felt himself land back in the forest clearing, impacting the ground with force. He was never going to get the hang of landing.

He stood up hurriedly and ran to Morgana who was still standing there herself, a silent statue in the rising sun.

"Morgana," he gasped.

He grabbed her, and she collapsed into his arms, moaning weakly, her breathing weak.

Merlin knew why he had come back so quickly, why Morgana's graceful figure was now limp in his arms.

She had ignored his advice. She had given him too much.

A/N: Should be the last chapter in the next few days. Sorry for the cliffy...actually I'm not..hehe. If you see a post anytime soon you'll know I have absolutely no will power and have abandoned Shakespeare and critical essays for this. I mean...who would rather study than be in the magical world of Merlin?

Review please! :D:D