Author's Note: Hi everyone! First off, really sorry. I am being rubbish at updating things. But everyone who is liking all of my work has been really encouraging and has made me want to write more so thank you for all of that! I am going to try and update more regularly with this story. It's one that I have some ideas for, I just need to wring out a few details to get across to these things and hopefully I can do some more stuff.

Thank you very much!

The scene Merlin arrived at was not one that he expected. He had imagined trees around him, while infront of him was the great city of Camelot. It stood tall, towering over the countryside, but the place was also covered in light with animals all around. The area was peaceful looking ... of cause Merlin was only getting that from the drawing he had seen, maybe with a bit of information that Arthur had mentioned one night about the kingdom he loved.

From where Merlin was standing, this place had never been peaceful, and would never be peaceful again.

He was surrounded by skeletons of trees, something he actually found quite beautiful in it's own way. But it normally happened in winter, but it was hot here and they smelt of charcole. But this was nothing in comparison to what was infront of him. Merlin would have looked across the plain first, but he knew that there was something wrong in the sky so his gaze fell upon the castle.

It was bigger than the picture had depicted, but that was probably not the artists' fault as Merlin expected that it wasn't floating while they were drawing it. The castle was warped, with parts of the structure being spread out across the sky. It was all still connected by stone staircases that should not be able to stand in the air. The stranger thing (an odd sentiment all things as they are) was the colours coming off of it. As wind passed through the deformed castle it moved slightly, and as it did there was an eruption of colour. It reminded Merlin of ripples on a lake, with different parts of the building releasing different colours...or was it something to do with the strength of the wind hitting against it? The colours sometimes changed on the same structure. Merlin wasn't sure, but there was one thing that Merlin was thinking while watching this.

"Beautiful." Everything that made it up was just that. It was weird, and wrong looking...but that didn't bother Merlin. Why did a castle have to look like a castle? Why not have something that looked like this?

Merlin then saw why not. He finally looked at the field and saw the piles of soldiers across the blood stained plain. He saw swords strewn across the floor, and he could see the pain on the faces of the soldiers. They weren't moving, so he took a good look. They were terrified. Whatever had happened, they probably knew that they were going to die. They didn't get to escape.

"The Magic King...he is a genius and a maniac..." Merlin thought, as he looked at all of it. He stood around the bodies and felt his head feel strained. He had been ok with the dead bodies until that moment, when the smell permeated through the burning that had gone through Merlin's head up to that moment. He couldn't handle that. He quickly ran back towards the wood and crouched down and lent against a tree with the castle to the back of him. At first he thought he was going to vomit, that would be a legitimate response, but then he didn't. Instead he just sat there. He tried to focus on the smell of the burning. On the feel of the leaves crunching around him (something that was quite nice, it reminded Merlin of autumn. He liked autumn.)

He sat there for an hour, trying to process what was happening. He ran the images through his head of each thing allowing his emotions to wade through them. He went through the faces of all of the soldiers he had seen. He didn't want to, but he had to. He had to see it all clearly otherwise he wouldn't be able to figure out what to do.

He pictured Arthur. He was somewhere in that castle.

"I've got to find him." Merlin thought. He then slowly stood up. He didn't want to go through the field. He wanted to find another way. So he walked through the trees and around the scene. Eventually the bodies started to lessen, and Merlin started to see some trees that had only been licked by fire. He ventured through them and then tried to follow them towards the castle. He eventually ended up at a bit of field where a battle had not taken place for some reason.

As Merlin stepped towards it, he felt a force press against him. This area was warded for some reason.

"Have you only just noticed? Really? That barrier started a couple of miles ago! Didn't you think that the lack of soldiers was a bit weird?" A voice echoed through the empty area. Merlin looked around, but he couldn't see anyone.

"Who and where are you?" Merlin asked.

"I could answer that, but you see I lie a lot. So we'll see. I'm Pictorious Alegro and I am currently standing on the Stones of Nematod doing a pavane...oh wait, you didn't ask what I was doing did you?" The voice chuckled. Merlin was mostly certain that he was lying, so he continued to check the area for anything that looked out of place, "What? No witty retort? Are you that boring? I hate boring. Don't be boring. Stop it. Stop it right now."

"You're irritating." Merlin stated, as he started to step further into the force. It took a lot of effort, but he was able to walk forward. It was then that he noticed what the field was trying to protect. There was a barred gate on the wall to the castle, which meant that there was probably a way in.

"I'm irritating...hmm...I guess you're right. But you are boring, and I think that's a bit worse, don't you?" Merlin was close to the gate now, but it was becoming harder to move. His eyes glowed as he moved, which seemed to help him to come a bit closer, but as he reached the gate it felt like it was a brick wall stopping him from opening it, "What? Are you ignoring me now? Really? Can't we have a chat."

Merlin then stopped and sat down. He wasn't going anywhere else pushing against the wall, "How about I do you a favour? You answer three of my questions, and I will tell you how to open the door."

Merlin nodded, "Ok."

"Excellent! Fantastic! That's what I like. Maybe you will be a bit less boring after this. Ok...Let. Me. Think." The voice started to make a lot of noises which sounded to Merlin like he was playing a game that he didn't like, "Ok! Excellent. So, question number one. What is bigger, a bucket of water or a feather from a cockatrice?"

Merlin sighed, it was a stupid question, "Depends on the size of both of them. Show me the bucket and the feather and I can tell you, but without it I cannot answer that."

The voice laughed, "Wrong. A feather from a cockatrice. More letters. But you didn't have to answer it right, so we'll do question two. Which of these can float on water: a duck, a rock, an apple and a broom?"

"The duck and apple would. The broom could do if it is light enough...Everything but the rock." Merlin answered.

"Wrong again. Wrong, wrong, wrong. They'd all float if you used magic on them to make them float. Last question. Do you think I am in the castle, in the forest, or in your shoe?" The voice sounded like it was smirking. Merlin quickly kicked his shoes off and into the air, causing the voice to let out a huge laugh, "Good answer! I am not in your shoes, but I like your thinking. That's definitely more like it. You are now at least slightly interesting. It's a good place to be."

"Why's that?" Merlin asked, as he examined the inside of his shoes while putting them back on.

"Because I will open the door for you if I find you interesting. I don't let people in unless they'll provide me with suitable entertainment." With that the door opened and Merlin felt like the pressure had left around him. He stood up and walked towards the gate but then it slammed shut infront of him, "But that wouldn't be fair would it?"

"No, it wouldn't." Merlin replied. The voice stopped laughing when they heard this, "You only said you'd tell me how to open the door. It would be unfair to open it for me."

"...touché." The voice muttered. There was then silence for a minute, "But I also said I was a liar, or was I lying about that?"

Merlin touched the gate and tried to pull it open. It wouldn't budge. So instead he stood back, now the barrier had gone, it would be much easier to get in through the gate. He held his hand up to the door and muttered a few words and then there was an explosion infront of him. The gate fell down infront of the doorway and Merlin grinned. He then stepped in.

"Nicely done." The voice muttered as Merlin walked into the dark corridor, "I think we are going to have some fun today Merlin. I'm looking forward to meeting you."

"Are you having fun?" Morgause asked, a tone of disapproval very evident in her voice. A bit too evident.

"Yes. I could have more by removing your lungs, but yes, I am having fun." The voice chuckled. Morgause was silent at this remark, but he could tell that she was plotting a way to kill him. That was what a person in his position received. The price of power ... or something like that. He preferred the initial price of destroying Uther and the Knights of Camelot. That was good fun. This was boring in comparison.

He had some ways to entertain himself though, like that fact that Morgause couldn't see him. Instead there was a large curtain separating the two that she was speaking through. He had, of course, enchanted his voice to make it sound different, making it change every now and then. This made it so that she had no idea what he was like, which made things thrilling to say the least.

She wouldn't think so, but she was a pessimist so what do you expect?

"My Lord." Morgause started, "Are you going to see the young Pendragon at any time soon?"

"Hmm...no. That doesn't need to happen. I need to play with the Warlock for a bit longer. You and your sister can play with the prince, however if you do remove any parts of his body then I suggest limiting it to two fingers and two toes. Make it look even as well, I don't like sloppy jobs."

Morgause stared for a minute, and then left when there was no other response. He quite enjoyed how exasperated he could make her. While she was plotting to kill him, she currently knew that she didn't stand a chance. Even with all of the knowledge that he had passed over to her and her sister, their power was nothing in comparison to his. He was something completely different, something they didn't understand.

And he loved it.

He stared through the mirror infront of him. He had done a basic enchantment to give a reflection of the person he wanted to see. Merlin. He had now made it into the castle, and so the fun could reach it's next stage. He just had to decide which torture he would like to inflict on him.

"I've got time for all of them." He laughed to himself.