So, A new chapter is here and I'm so sorry for the delay, it should have been up ages ago but alas, my muse decided that thinking about other things is better, but it's here now and I hope you'll enjoy it, it's a bit shorter *or a lot* than the other chapters but that is because the next one will be a bit longer. Anyway, thanks again to all those who favorited and alerted and to those dear people who left a comment. Thank you and I love you all!

Disclaimer: The boys aren't mine, if they were... *drifts off to that fantasy world* The songs this time are:
1. The lion's roar- First aid kid *Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Go and check them out!*

2. My immortal- evanescence *well, you should really know how awesome they are by now pfff*

And without further delay:

Now the pale morning sings of forgotten things
she plays a tune for those who wish to overlook
the fact that they've been blindly deceived
by those who preach and pray and teach

The morning mists twirled around Merlin's boots as he stood in the middle of the meadow and waited. The sun was barely above the horizon and Merlin shivered in his thin tunic.

"What's taking him so long?" He mumbled to himself as he scoffed the edge of his boot on a small rock nearby.

He sighed and sat down, lifting his head towards the sky and squinting at the sky, the soft wind drove the clouds from one side of the sky to the other and Merlin smiled softly, he remembered better times, back in Ealdor when he and Will used to sit next to the pond and play with the clouds, Merlin would change their shapes and Will would laugh when he created dragons and knights.

He swallowed and stared at the ground again, Will was dead and Merlin has had enough of dragons and knights.

A sudden gust of wind signaled Kilgharrah's arrival and Merlin stood up.

"You summoned me young warlock?" The dragon asked and Merlin had a suspicious feeling that he already knew why.

"Yes. There are several things I need to ask you."

The dragon was silent for a moment before he sighed and lowered his head.

"And those would be?"

"I had a visit from Alator," Merlin started and Kilgharrah simply stared. "He said a couple of interesting things."

"Such as?"

"The reason for my dreams," Merlin said calmly even though he was anything but.

"I know the reason for your dreams Merlin, even a fool would have known." The dragon mocked and Merlin's control snapped.

"How dare you?" He screamed. "I'm not a puppet to destiny's will! I will not be tormented by it for choosing my-"

"You have a destiny that you must fulfill warlock!" Kilgharrah boomed. "You can't break down over patty things such as-"

"I have a right to choose my path!" Merlin yelled and his eyes flared gold as he forced Kilgharrah to submission.

"I have the right to choose my path as I see fit, destiny has no right to do that!" He was breathing hard and his hands were curled to white knuckled fists.

"You may wish to choose your own path young warlock but if it will not lead to the desired result in destiny's eyes than it is not a path to be taken."

Merlin threw his hands in the air and screamed his frustrations.

"I'm losing my mind!" He told Kilgharrah. "Is that part of destiny's plan? Is that part of her path for me? How can I fulfill my destiny when I'm mad?"

The dragon was silent for a while as the sun climbed higher in the sky and Merlin's breathing slowed down.

"I trusted you." Merlin said quietly. "I trusted you and you, you lied to me, all the way, Nimueh and… and… my destiny with Arthur and this whole thing about two sides and…you knew about my dreams, you knew what I was suffering yet you chose to hide things from me, hide things from your dragon lord, you-" A sob broke free from Merlin's throat and he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

But don't you come here and say I didn't warn you
About the way your world can alter
And oh how you try to command it all still
Every single time it all shifts one way or the other

Kilgharrah regarded him with golden eyes a few moments before he answered.

"I did what was necessary for your destiny to begin. I've never lied to you Merlin, you refused to listen! How dare you accuse me of lying when I told you a long time ago that the witch must never find out about her powers? Or the destiny of the druid boy?"

He stopped and lowered his head so he was face to face with a silent Merlin.

"I've always been on your side Merlin, but you rarely listened." He finished quietly.

Merlin swallowed and nodded.

"You tried to build your own path despite my warnings, you thought you could control it all and change things that have been written long before any of us, you were mistaken Merlin and now…"

Merlin lifted his head and stared in Kilgharrah.

"Destiny succeeded." He simply said and started walking.

"I will assist Alator and destroy the witch and Mordred, after that, my path will be written by me."

And with that he left the meadow.

Kilgharrah looked after him before his mouth curved into the resemblance of a smile.

"Very good young warlock." He mumbled before he flew away.

Well I guess sometimes I wish you were a little more predictable
That I could read you just like a book
For now I can only guess what's coming next
By examining your timid smile

Merlin was planning something. That much was clear.

Arthur talked with Gaius and Gwen and they both agreed that Merlin was seemingly back to himself, he smiled at everyone and the smile reached his eyes, he talked to Gwen and he even bantered with Arthur this morning!

Gaius confirmed that he didn't scream again in the night since his collapsing and, well, that was sign enough that he was up to something.

"So Merlin," Arthur started on the morning of the third day since Merlin collapsed.

"Yes sire?" Merlin answered while he fluffed the pillows on Arthur's bed.

"How about a hunt tomorrow?"

Merlin froze for a moment before he carried on.

"I don't feel like hunting sire," Merlin said and Arthur's heart sped when he noticed a smile tugging at the corners of Merlin's mouth.

"Well. It's a good thing than that I don't care what you feel regarding the hunt now isn't it?" Arthur teased.

"Prat." Merlin mumbled not so quietly before he spread the upper cover with a flourish. "There. Done." He then turned around and stared at Arthur for a moment before the smile came again and Arthur noted that his eyes actually sparkled.

"I'll tell you what, your highness," Merlin said with a small bow. "I'll come to the hunt tomorrow if you'll give me the rest of the day off." He finished with a smirk.

Arthur scoffed and pretended to be outraged.

"Merlin! Is that the way to address your king? By presenting him with conditions?"

Merlin pretended to think about it before he shrugged. "Yeah."

Arthur sighed. "Alright, you can have the rest of the day off, but I expect to see you tomorrow bright and early!"

Merlin's smile widened and he nodded eagerly. "Bright and early!" He sing-songed as he left the room.

Thinking about it, Arthur should have followed him.

These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

Merlin felt better than he had in months, since he declared his intention to Kilgharrah regarding his destiny it felt as though a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders and lounges and he could breathe again.

He managed to speak with Gwen again and even smiled like he used to do, he noticed the approving glances he got and that only made his smile turn bigger.

He did his best to act like his old self around Arthur even though his heart bled a bit more whenever he smiled at him and Arthur smiled back, his eyes sparkling with joy.

The hunting offer was unexpected but it fit perfectly into Merlin's plan, he needed a way to convince Arthur to give him a day off and that opportunity simply presented itself to him, it would seem as though destiny was approving of his behavior after all this time.

As dusk began to settle on Camelot Merlin left the library with a mountain of books, everything from medicine to the more dark side of the magical arts, he needed to be ready for everything Morgana and Mordred might throw at him.

As the sun set everything was ready and Merlin waited for Gaius to fall asleep so he could leave.

Three candle marks after midnight Merlin crept past a sleeping Gaius into the main room, the letter to the old man held tightly in his hand, he couldn't say goodbye to Gaius face to face but he owed it to the old man to try and explain himself, he knew it was the cowards way out but he had no choice.

"And where do you think you're going my boy?" Gaius's soft voice questioned from behind him just as he was putting the letter.

"I…" Merlin started and then stopped and sighed, turning around he presented Gaius with the letter and gave a sad little smile. "There's something I have to do and I… I couldn't…" The reality of it all crushed down on him and all these last months summed up to one single truth:
He was leaving Camelot, probably for good.

"I'm leaving Gaius." Merlin told him quietly and Gaius sighed.

"I figured that much out my boy, where?" He said and took another step towards Merlin.

"Alator asked for my help and I agreed." He couldn't tell him everything.

Gaius was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Will you be back?"

Merlin paused for a moment and then shook his head.

"I don't think I can Gaius, there are, there are too many memories here and I… I can't take it anymore, it's too-" His voice broke down a bit. "It's too much." He finished with a whisper.

Gaius crossed the distance between them with surprising speed and Merlin was enveloped in a tight hug.

"My boy." Was the only thing he said before he released his hold and turned around, walking back to his bed.

Merlin heaved a sigh and left.

And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Is something that I have heard before
A children's tale, the lonesome wail of a lion's roar

"We'll be there in a week sire." Leon said as Arthur stood silently and watched over the hills as they bathed in moonlight.

"Thank you Leon." Arthur said quietly without removing his eyes from the hills, a rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Sire, do you think… Do you think that…" Leon paused again, hesitating.

"What?"

"The druids, sire, do you think they'll be hostile towards us?"

"They have no quarrel with us Sir Leon." Their guide said.

After Gaius told them that Merlin left and with whom Arthur gathered his knights and they all agreed to join him and get Merlin back.

Their guide, Alomar, was an old friend of Gaius, one who knew the old roads and traveled far into the land.

"What does it mean?"

Alomar was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"The druids are peaceful my lord, they will not harm even when threatened, it's not their nature."

"I've seen druids who killed." Arthur said quietly and thought about Alavar.

Alomar sighed. "There are always those who are exceptional sire as I'm sure you are well aware of that."

Arthur turned around and stared at the old man. "Merlin." He said simply.

Alomar nodded. "He isn't an official druid but he is one of us, Emrys in our language. We have many prophecies about him, and you, sire." He added as an afterthought.

"I heard this name before," Arthur said as he moved back towards the fire, the sleeping forms of his knights sprawled around it.

"It's not a wonder, your highness. There are many myths regarding Emrys."

"Really?" Leon asked from Arthur's side, his eyes bright with curiosity.

"Indeed. Some say that Emrys is the epitome of all that is good in this world, his light is bright and brilliant and blinding all the same."

Leon seemed shocked for a moment before he turned to Arthur. "And that is our Merlin?"

Arthur chuckled. "It would seem so."

"What else?" Leon asked again, eager to learn more about their friend.

"Well-" Alomar started to say when a sudden howl interrupted him and he turned his eyes towards the moonlight hills.

"Wolves." Arthur said calmly.

"Under a full moon's light

When the wolves howl into the night

Emery's light will shine bright

And destiny will be sat to right."

Alomar finished his rhyme and stared ahead, his eyes unfocussed.

The wolves howled again and Arthur shivered, despite the fire.

"Alomar?" Leon's voice sounded worried and Arthur turned to look at the old man.

Alomar fixed his eyes on them and gave a small smile, almost sad.

"It has begun."

Was all he said.

So... yeah. That was it and now it's your job to tell me how it was! *liftes her pre-made sign that goes: Pretty please?*