Um... Hi. I'm back. It's been months, and I have one excuse. I couldn't actually upload chapters, so I couldn't actually post new ones. has that happened to anyone before? I figured out that I needed to upload the actual files, not just copy and paste them, and here I am. So, blame technology. I'm really sorry it's been so long. Thanks to Lya200, morningstar115, fastreader12, Juliana Brandagamba, bubzchoc, NC, fallenangelsofolympus, Snipern0sniping (love your name), Guest, ElvishPhanlockian, Guest and MythologyStar for reviewing.
Also, this story now has over 100 reviews, oh my gosh, I'm so happy, I'm bouncing in my seat now and I did a happy dance when I found out. When I started this story and thought I'd be lucky to hit 30 reviews, so to have that much support and love from you guys is just amazing and I can't thank you enough for sticking with me for so long.
I'm really sorry for taking so long with this update, I promise that this story will never have that long a hiatus ever again. To ensure that, you guys have my permission to PM me if I haven't updated in over a month. I'm super sorry about the massive delay with no warning, and I hope you enjoy this long-awaited chapter.


He opens his eyes on the other side, and sees six people he'd hoped for, but never really believed he'd see again. Eyes bulging out of their sockets he whispers.
"Arthur!"

It had been three days since the six rogues fled Camelot and came to the Druid camp. Every morning Merlin would help gather berries for breakfast and herbs for medicine. He'd wake up the Knights and they'd all eat together. Then the Knights would go hunting in the forest, being careful to stay out of sight.

The women would make lunch and they'd all convene again to eat. After lunch they'd continue hunting and Merlin would either help heal the injured or entertain the children with little tricks. A favourite of theirs was the dragon of embers. When asked what its name was, Merlin jokingly called it Kilgharrah, the arrogant riddle-maker. The name stuck and now Merlin was dreading having to explain to Kilgharrah why the children will grow up calling him an 'arrogant riddle-maker'.

Every night Merlin helped make dinner and shared stories around the campfire. On the second night, the Knights and Arthur came and helped, sharing their stories of battles and quests and, in Gwaine's case, bar fights. Lots and lots of bar fights.

On the third day, merlin had just finished eating his lunch when Iseldir called out to him. "Emrys." He mind-spoke to Merlin. "A friend of yours is about to come through the trees."

"Who?" Merlin asked. But the connection had broken. Sighing, he walked to the Knights. "Someone we know is about to come through the trees."

"Who?" Arthur asked.

"No idea. Iseldir wouldn't tell me."

"Well, let's go meet them." Said Gwaine, ever the optimist. Everyone smiled at the roguish knight's constant enthusiasm and they all traipsed toward the mouth of the cave and the tree barrier.

No sooner then they arrived, did the trees harden and become impenetrable. They figured that someone had tried to get through with intents on harming them, and discovered the hard way that Druids were very hard to find if they are threatened.

But then they heard something that shocked them. Though the trees, they picked up a quiet whisper. A whisper from a man they knew very well.

"Leon" Percival breathed, not daring to believe that he found them.

But he had.

The next moment, a very well-known and long awaited person walked through the trees. He looked at them in shock. They look back in a similar fashion. Finally, eyes bulging from his head, he whispered. "Arthur!"

"Leon!" Arthur, Merlin, Elyan, Percival, Gwaine and Lancelot all shout, before converging onto him, firing questions at him like wildfire (except Percival, who just nodded a greeting).

"Are you alright?" Asked Lancelot

"Can you see us?" Merlin questioned, worried that his disguise hadn't worked

"How are things in Camelot?" Arthur was desperate for news

Gwaine's first question was, as always; "Did you bring ale?"

Elyan was worried for his sister "Is Gwen alright?"

Merlin was equally worried for his guardian "How's Gaius?"

"Are they all looking for us?" Arthur already knew the answer, but he needed a confirmation.

On and on it continued, before Percival stepped in. "Let the man breathe!"

At this point, they had Leon in a tight circle and were penning him in on all sides. They realized what they were doing and stepped back, ashamed. Percival smiled, pleased that he had been listened to. Leon then said. "One question at a time. Who's first?"

Arthur spoke up first (he was raised as a prince) "How are things in Camelot?"

Leon took a deep breath and blew it out quickly, showing how stressful it had been. "Crazy, sire. There have been council meetings everyday about the situation. You're being referred to as the 'fugitives' and everyone has been convinced of your 'guilt'. Patrols are being sent out all day and all night and guard duties are beings swapped every half hour. No Knight has been able to get a good night's sleep this whole time. I know I've only had about three-four hours of sleep every night so far with constant guard duties and patrols." Looking at Merlin, he added. "The servants don't have it much better either. They've all been questioned and have been ordered to check over every room in the castle to make sure there are no 'dangerous magical weapons' hidden anywhere." His tone when made it clear to all present what he thought of that particular order. That it was at the top of his list of 'Stupidest things he's ever seen'. Gwaine sticking his hand in a beehive was up there too.

They contemplated this for several seconds, before Elyan broke the silence. "How's Gwen?"

Leon smiled. "She's fine. She was questioned with all the other servants and then again briefly about where you two grew up. They were trying to think of some place you'd go to that you'd be familiar with, but Gwen made it quite clear that you grew up in Camelot. She just happened to forget to mention when you left Camelot for years." They all laughed at this.

Lancelot smiled. "That's our Gwen."

"What about Gaius?" Merlin asked.

Leon waved a hand. "Questioned briefly and then asked for his opinion. He's ok. No problems there."

"Did you bring ale?"

"No Gwaine. We're on a patrol. Not everyone brings ale on patrols" Leon replied, exasperated.

They all laughed at Gwaine's kicked-puppy look, but then Arthur thought through Leon's sentence. "Wait, what do you mean, we?"

"Oh, no! They're still out there."

"Who?" Percival asked.

"Sirs Jerald, Aaron and Gregory. We were the only available knight so we went patrolling together. Which reminds me, there's a bounty on all of your heads. 2,000 gold coin reward for information that leads to your capture. 10,000 gold coins for each of the Knights, alive, 5,000 for Merlin, dead or alive, and 20,000 for Arthur, alive."

They took a moment to process this information. Gwaine in particular was seething about the 'dead or alive' part tacked onto Merlin's reward, but shrugged his reward off. It wouldn't be the first time he had money put out for his capture.

Arthur felt cold dread enter his heart when he heard the amount Uther was willing to offer for his only son, regardless of the fact he was disowned. He was also worried for Merlin. He didn't like the fact that Merlin could be 'dead or alive' while everyone else had to be alive. It made Merlin a target for people trying to make easy money.

Elyan was in the same boat as Gwaine in regards to his experience with having money on his name, so he wasn't too worried.

Lancelot took it in stride, like he did with Merlin's magic, self-exile, the Cup of Life, being a Knight and Arthur's magic. All things considered, this was just another day in the life of Sir Lancelot.

Percival was thoroughly pissed at Uther. Why couldn't the man just leave them alone? He wasn't worried about being captured; it would take a lot of men to capture Percival. It would just make things complicated if they ever had to leave the Druids. Why couldn't they just be left alone? He lamented.

Merlin was glad that everyone had to be alive, it would make protecting them much easier. He wasn't worried about being captured; he could always just escape using magic. He was more worried about Arthur. How would it affect him to know that his father wanted him captured and was willing to pay a very large amount of money to do so? Because 20,000 gold coins is a lot of money. More than he, and all of Ealdor combined, would probably earn in a decade.

Once the silence had stretched past a minute, Leon asked a question he'd been wondering about. "Where are we?"

Iseldir answered from behind them. "In the caves of one of the largest Druid settlements." They all jumped, except Merlin, who knew he was there. "The trees act as a barrier, blocking anyone with bad intentions form passing. That's why one of you tried and could not enter, and why you could. Come, the council awaits"

Leon leaned close and whispered to Arthur. "Is he always like this?"

Arthur shrugged. "As far as I know, yes."

Merlin and Iseldir were engaging in another mental conversation.

"Who is he, Emrys?" Iseldir asked, referring to Leon.

"Sir Leon. Don't worry, he can be trusted." Merlin assures him.

"I'm not worried about that. I helped heal him with the Cup of Life, remember. I was merely curious as to his name." Iseldir replies.

"What is the council meeting about?" Merlin subtly let Arthur into the conversation at this point, but quickly warned him not to say anything, just to listen.

"We are discussing what to do with the Knight." Arthur looked at Merlin questionably, and Merlin mouthed 'council meeting' at him. Arthur nodded his understanding.

"What do you mean by that?" Merlin asked.

"Is he to stay or go back to Camelot. We also need to discuss what to do with his three companions."

"Companions?" Merlin was confused

"The three knights he came here with. They saw him go through and tried to go after him. They have been stunned and are unconscious. They will need to be dealt with."

Merlin didn't like the sound of that last sentence. Arthur felt the same, but a flash of Merlin's eyes and he couldn't speak. He looked at Merlin in indignation, but Merlin just projected. "Don't look at me like that, you were going to say something. Iseldir doesn't know that you have magic and hearing what we've been saying would be a clear indicator of magicalness. Plus, Leon doesn't know either. You heard him, he thinks you've been framed. You'll need to tell him sooner or later. For now, just leave it to me." He broke the connection and turned back to make a comment to Iseldir, but they had reached the council area.


Thanks for reading! Once again, sorry this took forever. Updates will be once a week (hopefully) and probably on Sundays. Thanks to Lya200, morningstar115, fastreader12, Juliana Brandagamba, NC, fallenangelsofolympus for answering the Question of the Chapter. I like Kilgharrah because he had great character development, though Aithusa was so cute! But *SPOILERS! SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH FOR NO SPOILERS FOR SERIES FIVE* then he (she?) got older and worked for Morgana and burnished the sword that killed Arthur (one of my favourite characters) so...yeah, cuteness only gets you so far.

Question of the Chapter: What's your favourite Merlin Fanfic on this site (preferably finished), that's not this one? I'm running out of good ones and would love to hear your suggestions.
See you in another life, ScruffydaDruid