A/N: Review :)

Day 4

For once, Merlin didn't wake up Arthur at the ass-crack of dawn and Arthur wasn't sure if he was happy or not about that. But he did get to sleep in till just before noon so he counted that as a blessing.

Merlin was sitting at the breakfast table though, his feet up on the table, frighteningly close to the food, and his head leaned back. His eyes were closed and he looked to be asleep, but Arthur knew better. As soon as he sat down, quietly as possible, Merlin's eyes opened and he beamed at him.

"Ready?"

"Are you ever gonna let me eat? Like I would like to finish breakfast just once."

Merlin laughed, "Okay, fine. I have to meet Lancelot to give him some eggs anyway. He forgot them yesterday. Will you be ready when I get back?"

"Yes, I suppose. What are we doing today?"

"You'll see," And then he was walking out the door, and as soon as he out of the doorway, he was just gone, disappeared into thin air.

Arthur proceeded to stare at the doorway for a solid minute before he shrugged and dug in. Leon came up at some point and sat down by him, the other knight doing the same. They both grabbed plates and started to eat, but Leon was clearly upset about something.

"What is it?" Arthur said after a minute of Leon pushing his food around his plate and dissecting his food.

"I shouldn't say," He whispered before looking up bashfully at his prince. Arthur nodded for him to continue. Leon sighed before he muttered quickly, "These aren't bad people, sire. They don't deserve to die."

Arthur dropped the piece of bread he was holding onto his table, feeling suddenly sick, "I know."

"Sire-"

"I don't have a choice, Leon. You know that. I'm sorry," He pushed back his chair, stood and immediately walked out of the door. He just needed air. Desperately.

So apparently the sorcerers were having just as much as an effect on his knights as they were on him. A part of him, the Prince of Camelot in him, wanted to believe that they were under some sort of enchantment and it wouldn't completely surprise him but-

"Hey. You okay?" Merlin was standing in front of him, less than a foot away.

Arthur jumped away from him, his heart in his throat, "Jesus!"

Merlin snickered, "Sorry."

"Yeah, you seem so torn up."

"Do you have your sword?"

Arthur shook his head, confused, "No, I left it downstairs. You said no weapons."

"Go get it. And change into your chainmail. Then meet me out back, okay?" And then he was walking away.

He was just gonna pretend he knew what this kid was talking about. He jogged downstairs, grabbing his chainmail and pulling it over his shoulders. One of the knights came and helped him to strap on the rest of his armor. He grabbed his sword and jogged back up the stairs.

He didn't really know how to get to the backyard from inside the house. He didn't see a door. So trying to save time, he decided to climb out the shattered window. Merlin glanced up as he stuck a leg out and his face deadpanned, "You still owe me for that."

"Shut up." Arthur muttered, finally pulling the other leg through and dropping heavily on the ground.

Merlin still didn't look amused, but some of the anger left at that.

Behind Merlin's house was literally just a flat plane of grass, similar to the one at the Druid camp, even carrying the similar scorch marks. Merlin was standing on the far right side and he pointed for Arthur to stand at the far left, facing him.

As soon as Arthur did, Merlin held out a hand, yelled something, and a fireball shot from his palm straight for Arthur. Arthur rolled away, barely missing it. He stood up, furious, "What the hell!? You could have killed me!"

"I was testing you!"

"For what!?"

Merlin sighed, dropped his hand, and took a step forward. Arthur held his sword up, hell no. Merlin backed up again, "I want you to know how to defeat a sorcerer."

So apparently this kid was incredibly daft.

"Why would you want me to know that?"

"Because it's valuable knowledge," yup, he was stupid. Incredibly so, "Now do you want me to teach you or not?"

"I think you're an idiot, but yeah, sure."

Merlin smiled. "Okay, we'll work on elemental spells first. I would teach you how to deflect a stunning spell, but unfortunately, unless you are magic, there's not much you can do to defend yourself from those."

"Stunning spells?"

"That's the most common spell people use. It's the easiest to learn. It's just literally shoving you backwards. The only thing you can do is try to land on your side, not your back or head. But again, not much you can do much about that. So elemental magic. That include fire, earth, water, or air. Most powerful one is fire. Fortunately, fire can't retain its initial heat the whole time its traveling through the air. That being said, you can use your sword to deflect it," He yanked his jacket off, that stupid brown one again, and threw it down to the side. Underneath, he was wearing a black, sleeveless tunic. On the inside of his forearm was the druid symbol, but it was outlined in gold instead of completely black.

He thrusts his hands down, and suddenly flames flared from his palms, covering the bottom of his hands and licking all the way up to his elbows. Arthur's hair stood on end, because it was incredibly terrifying. The flames travelled up his arms in the same way it did the pyre, quickly, powerfully, and fully enveloping whatever was inside it. Merlin's arm wasn't even visible beneath the flames. It stopped at his elbows, but sparks rose to his shoulders. He held out his arm, straight towards Arthur and a flame shot from it.

Arthur held up his sword, instead of ducking like always. The flame hit it, splitting in half and blowing off to each side of Arthur's face. He smiled, ecstatic. But it was short lived because Merlin shot another. Arthur deflected it as well.

"Okay, now, hold this one, but duck soon because the sword will heat up eventually," Before Arthur even had a chance to ask what the hell he was talking about, Merlin shot a solid tunnel of fire at Arthur.

Arthur held his sword, the blast splitting in two once again and blowing past him. He held it there, but the tunnel wasn't letting up and Merlin was right, his sword was starting to become too hot. He dropped first, to his knees, then brought his sword down and rolled away.

"Good!" Merlin smiled, and the flames dissipated from his arm. "Okay, now water magic can be used in two forms, water or ice. Water isn't nearly that dangerous, in fact it's rarely even used because you have to be near a body of water to use it. Ice is different though. It can be used to slow your opponent down. It doesn't freeze them over completely, well it can, but there are very few people who can do that. Most people are lucky if they can freeze a hand or a leg."

"I swear to God, Merlin, if you make me an ice cube."

Merlin laughed, "Anyway, it's best if you just try and jump out of the way of these. You can try and deflect it, but I personally would just avoid it," and with that he thrust his hand down again and a whitish blue flame appeared in the same way the first one had.

They went through each spell. Merlin taught him different ways to deflect and defend himself. And the spells were numerous.

"Okay, the best way to defeat a sorcerer is to restrain their hands. Most of them are powerless without their hands," he pointed to himself, "I'm not. But most. So make sure to grab their wrists and aim them away from you. They may use a stunning spell but if you hold on, you'll pull them with you so they may not try it."

A few hours after noon, Merlin decided Arthur needed a break. And by that, he means he forced Merlin to give him a break. He sat against the house, drinking a goblet of water, sweating, and counting up his various injuries for the day. Three burns, two on his arm, and one on his thigh. Two places he was sure were frostbitten. A few bruises here and there where Merlin had stretched out an arm and the ground had literally shot up in front of Arthur in the form of a tiny cliff and hit Arthur directly in the shin.

The only thing that didn't take a lot of practice was the hand-on-hand combat. Merlin was fast, but he wasn't stronger than Arthur. Not without magic.

And now, on top of the stress that had become Arthur's life, they had gathered a small audience. Leon, Lancelot, Sir Vidor, Sir Geraint, Will, and lastly, a man and woman Arthur had never seen before now gathered by the edge of the house, clapping their hands at random moments and cheering the two on.

Merlin, since he was an asshole, then decided they were going to do a final battle. In front of everyone.

"How is that even fair? If you're the most powerful sorcerer to ever live I don't even stand a chance."

Merlin just shrugged, "I'll go easy on you."

He scowled. Stupid sorcerer. Flipping his sword over in his wrist in a way that was familiar to him, he rolled his shoulders back and took his stance.

Merlin clenched both fists and one arm shot up with the red flames, the other with the bluish white. So fire and ice. How cliché.

Merlin flung out his left hand, the one with the fire, and a fireball hurled at Arthur. He took a defensive stance, holding his sword in front of his, deflecting the flame. Immediately, Merlin shot out a stream of ice and Arthur dodged.

Merlin advanced, hurling fire and ice balls at him. Arthur rolled away easily, deflecting when necessary. Merlin smiled, standing back and clapping, "Good! Now come at me."

Arthur rolled his eyes. He took off in a light jog, dodging Merlin's numerous spells. He took one swing at Merlin, as soon as he was close enough, but Merlin ducked, slamming his fist into the ground as he went down.

The ground shook, throwing Arthur off balance. He stumbled backwards, Merlin standing, wobbly himself, and shot two fire balls at Arthur. Arthur deflected them, just barely, some of the sparks hitting the side of his face and burning him. Merlin surged forward, ducking his head and Arthur flew backwards, sliding against the ground, knocking the wind out of himself.

"Do you want to give up?" Merlin laughed.

Arthur shook his head. Standing up shakily, he took a minute to recover, "You're holding back."

Merlin's eyes narrowed, "Want me to amp it up a little?"

He nodded and Merlin smiled, slamming his fist into the ground again. The ground shook once again, but Arthur was smarter this time and went down into a crouch to stabilize himself. The sky opened above them, drenching them in rain. Arthur looked around, noticing the rain was only hitting them, not the people watching on the sideline. They were holding onto the side of the house though so they must feel some of the earthquake.

Arthur pushed himself off the ground and sprinted towards Merlin, bringing his sword over the top of his head and down into a vertical slash. Merlin held out a hand, and the sword froze in his hand and then went flying out of it. He threw a punch, Merlin dodging and throwing a fireball that in turn, Arthur dodged.

For all the power Merlin had, Arthur couldn't help that notice Merlin wasn't strong with hands-on fighting. It's not like Arthur could blame him either. Merlin had relied on magic his whole life to defend himself and probably hadn't even allowed someone to come this close to him before, there was no reason to learn physical fighting.

Merlin was still throwing spells, Arthur barely dodging half of them. Finally, he managed to grab one of Merlin's wrist and yank it behind his back. He kneed Merlin in the back of knees and Merlin went down. He bent down, low to whisper in Merlin's ear, "Do you want to give up?"

Merlin, who was breathing heavily and sweating, laughed breathlessly, "Congratulations, you beat a sorcerer at an amateur level."

"What?"

Suddenly Merlin's wrist was hot, far too hot to touch. It felt like touching something straight out of the blacksmith's fire. He yanked his hands away, and Merlin was on his feet again, turning to face him. While Arthur was still initially shocked by the blisters on his hand, within seconds, Merlin's hand was on his shoulder and suddenly Arthur's knees felt weak. Arthur sunk down, feeling powerless. Merlin was above him, holding out a hand and suddenly his hands were restrained behind his back by invisible ties.

His golden eyes watched the prince and narrowed, "You won't beat me, Arthur."

He stared up at him dumbfounded.

There was clapping off to his right and he looked over to see the whole damn group of people clapping. Suddenly his hands were free and his power returned to him. He stood up shakily, Merlin was already walking towards the group.

But he was not about to go down that easily, "Wait!"

Merlin turned back to him.

"I challenge you to a duel, just swords, no magic."

Lancelot laughed, "Teach him some moves first at least."

An hour later, after a quick spar to judge skill and then a few lessons after, Arthur thanked the gods that Merlin was a sorcerer, because he would have been a truly awful soldier.

Merlin didn't wander off that night like usual. He stayed and ate with them, but didn't talk much. Arthur met Freya and Gwaine, some of Merlin's close friends. Gwaine was a drunk and incredibly inappropriate, but slightly charming. Freya was beautiful, sweet, if a little shy, and also seemed to be the only sorcerer there besides Merlin. She sat by Merlin for most of the night and he smiled at her and there was something more there. Something that made something in Arthur twist uncomfortably. Freya looked at him once, and he looked down, too ashamed to meet her eyes.

Arthur, mostly, was beginning to truly hate the stupid gold and red tendrils that were swimming around the room. They didn't seem to have a sense of direction and often bumped into him, which felt like someone was tickling him and sent him into a whole fit of annoyed.

"Can you make those stop?"

Merlin, who wasn't paying attention to Arthur, suddenly snapped back, "What?"

"The stupid light things, make them stop."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because they have a calming effect."

"Calming effect, my ass. They're aggravating me," He said as another one passed directly in front of his food.

"That's because you're a prat."

Arthur deadpanned and let the topic drop, no matter how much he hated the stupid things.

Merlin, escorted by Freya, eventually wandered off to his room, which Arthur finally figured out was the first room when you came down the stairs. Eventually, after a great amount of drinking, especially on Merlin's friend's part, people started to wander off to bed.

Arthur had been laying in bed for all of five minutes before it clicked in his head, "Son of a bitch."

He flung his blankets off him, storming down the hallway straight to Merlin's rooms. He didn't even bothering knocking, just flung it open.

Merlin's rooms were simple. He had a large bed in the center of the room with nightstands on either side. A small dining table was set up close to the door and an elaborate rug was spread beneath it. Two chairs were pulled up next to a fireplace against the farthest wall. The stupid magic tendrils were swirling around the entire ceiling, creating a constant-moving pattern. A druid symbol was painted on the wall beside the fireplace.

Freya and Merlin were sitting on the two chairs by the fireplace. Freya was pulled back in her seat, one hand on her face, another in Merlin's hand as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, to talk to her. They both looked up when Arthur barged in.

"Freya, leave us." Merlin said after a few seconds.

Freya stood, brushing her hand across her face to wipe off a few tears. She hurried past Arthur, not bothering to hide her glare.

"Arthur," Merlin started.

"You don't intend to come back to Camelot with us. You lied to me," Arthur shut him up before he could speak, "Why else would you teach me how to defeat a sorcerer? You know that by killing you, magic is erased from the world. So the only thing I can figure is that you don't even plan on coming back with me."

"Even if that was true, Arthur, why would I teach you to defeat a sorcerer?"

"I haven't figured that out yet. All I know is that you don't plan on magic being erased from this world," He took a step forward. Merlin remained in his chair, "You lied to me!"

Merlin sighed, standing up, "I'm coming back to Camelot with you, you ass."

Arthur was about to argue, but he just sighed, "How can I trust you?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. But I am coming back. I'm just worried that maybe your theory is wrong. If you kill me and magic isn't erased, you're going to have hundreds of sorcerers coming after you. I want you to be able to defend yourself."

Arthur stopped and watched as Merlin approached him, stopping a few feet away from him. Arthur sighed, the golden eyes watching his every move, "Why do you care if they attack me? I am your killer after all."

"Because I don't believe you're a bad person. You will be a great king one day, the greatest the land has ever seen. I believe that, and if I can't be around to protect you, I hope you can protect yourself."

"You would protect me?"

Merlin held up a hand to Arthur's face and he flinched away. Merlin shushed him, "You have a few burn marks," he pressed a warm hand against his face, causing Arthur to wince, and whispered a few words. The pain of his touch lightened until he couldn't even feel it.

When he was done, he nodded towards the seat where Freya had been sitting, "Do you want some wine? I'll heal the rest of your wounds too."

Arthur shrugged and Merlin poured them two glasses. He handed one to Arthur and sank down in the chair next to him. Arthur sighed, "I'm sorry to barge in with Freya and all."

"You didn't interrupt anything," Merlin took a sip.

"She was crying. Was that because of me?"

Merlin nodded without breaking his stare from the fireplace.

"She loves you." He said quietly, "How long have you two been together?"

Merlin finally tore his gaze away to look at Arthur. His elbows were on his knees, the goblet dangling in his hand while Arthur leaned back in his chair, relaxed. Merlin took a sip and then turned back to the fire, "We're not."

"It seemed like it."

Merlin shrugged, "We were. For awhile actually. But I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Losing her," he said quietly, "The people that try and hunt me down, they'll look for any weakness I have. I find the less attachments I have the better," his eyes closed for a second like he was stopping something, "She's leaving tonight. She only came to say goodbye."

Arthur was silent for a minute, the guilt crippling him, "It must be lonely."

Merlin nodded and a dry laugh escaped his throat, "It's incredibly lonely. Will, Lance, they refuse to leave me. Gwaine too. They're incredible friends, but I worry for them everyday."

"Why am I the only one you allowed to find you?" Arthur muttered because the guilt was eating at him.

Merlin didn't answer. Instead he stood up, taking the goblet from Arthur's hands and setting them to the side, "Take your shirt off."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm gonna heal you."

"Oh, no, that's fine. I'm used to bruises. Thank you though."

Merlin rolled his hands and reached for the hem himself. Arthur backed off, reaching for the hem himself, "Okay, fine. Damn, have you learned to accept 'no' yet?"

Merlin ignored him, instead stepping far too close to Arthur than he was comfortable with. His hand was on his lower stomach, warm and callused and comforting. His head was inclined, his breath cold on Arthur's shoulder and chest as he chanted spells.

Up close (and far away), Merlin wasn't bad looking. He was taller than Arthur, but smaller, more lean-cut muscles from dragon-riding and swimming and everything in between. His smile was magnetic, everyone stopped to watch it, and he filled the room with a certain light that you couldn't ignore, something that made you feel alive. His eyes, him, all of it was magic.

Merlin's hands moved up to his chest, and he chanted a similar spell. He glanced up to check Arthur and stopped when he noticed Arthur studying him.

Arthur just watched him, he didn't know what to say, didn't know why he felt so guilty or why the thought of Merlin dying made him sick. But here, now, Merlin was beautiful. He had always been beautiful. Before he could even talk himself out of it, he was leaning forward and pressing his lips against Merlin's.

Merlin's lips were chapped, and he was tense against him, but he didn't pull away. Nor did he kiss back.

Arthur pulled away, "I'm sorry."

Merlin's eyes were different, there was a flicker of blue that disappeared as quickly as it appeared, but he nodded. And then Arthur was leaning forward again, apology forgotten, his hand on the back of Merlin's neck.

This time, Merlin pressed back, his hand on Arthur's hips and his magic humming between them. Arthur could feel it surrounding his body, pressing the two of them closer together. It wasn't like kissing Gwen, it wasn't sweet and chaste, a soft touch of lips. No, it was hungry, consuming, and lit a fire in Arthur so powerful that he could feel it in every single of his limbs. He opened his eyes, curious as to what the thrumming sound near him was and gasped, Merlin's tongue slipping in.

The two of them were in the midst of a tornado of gold tendrils, swirling around them tightly and blowing the hair out of Arthur's face. Near the ceiling, small balls of light floated, creating their own little galaxy. It was beautiful and it was heartbreaking.

Merlin was the first to pull back. He stepped back, his eyes that strange mixture of blue and gold, "You should go."

Arthur stopped, watched as the lights disappeared and the tendrils resumed their normal floating around. "Yeah."

He didn't turn around when he walked out, and Merlin didn't follow him. He went to his room in a zombie state, dropping onto his bed and throwing his hands over his eyes. He heard one of his knights ask him if he was okay, but he didn't answer.

Why had his father sent him? Why had Emrys allowed him to come? And why did Arthur have to go and fuck everything up by kissing him? Arthur groaned, because how the hell was he supposed to take Emrys to his death now?

The next day, to Arthur's greatest horror, Merlin was gone.

Lancelot reassured him he was coming back that night, but somehow, Arthur wished he wouldn't. Arthur wished he would stay away and leave Arthur no choice but to return to Camelot empty-handed.