I'm in a forest I can't name but I know that this is a dream now. It seems extremely vivid but I clearly remember falling asleep in my bed, so this HAS to be a dream."Arthur, I don't see why we always have to go on a hunt when you feel miserable..." Merlin rode his horse over to my side and I knew I had to play along.

"Well, maybe if a certain servant of mine didn't slack off I wouldn't be upset."

"You're a prat you know that?" He said to me with an irritated expression and got off his horse uncharacteristically graceful.

"So I've been told...by a disobedient servant that STILL apparently doesn't know that he shouldn't call me a prat. Make a fire would you? It's freezing." I say as I suddenly realize that this dream is taking place in the winter.

"That's usually what happens in winter Arthur. It gets cold. Here..." I see him rummage through a pack connected to his horse. "I brought you your favorite coat. Just don't get it burned like you almost did last time."

"What happened last time?"

"You fell asleep next to the fire and an ember popped onto the coat." I noticed his matter-of-factly tone and I cane to the conclusion that this hunting trip was obviously just the two of us, because he didn't usually talk like that around the other knights because he knew it would embaress me.

I hear a noise off to the distance and apparently Merlin hears it too because he's stopped building the fire. "Merlin stay here, I'll check it out."I feel Merlin's hand on my arm as he walks ahead of me.

"No, you stay here. You're more important. If its bad you'll know from my screaming." He joked, but I still remember what the real Merlin told me about his nightmares.I let him go off and eyed him until he disappeared.

I tended to the horses for a bit until I heard another noise. The same man as before. He was again wearing a blue hood and the cloak covered his face and his entire body. There was no way for me to identify this man. "Your name is Emrys correct?" The man nods and then points behind me.

I turn around and at least ten bandits were running towards us. I grab my sword and I'm prepared to fight when suddenly I'm stopped in my tracks with flowers wrapping around my legs. 'So the kid from the other dream is also the man in the hood' I watched him move forward and he lifted up both hands in a fierce motion knocking all of the bandits against some trees, boulders, and the cold ground. He turns back towards me and quickly builds a fire. Once the fire is built he waves his hand and makes a dragon fly around me. He then whispers something into the fire and a word start to form above the flames. "Destiny" is what is spelled. the word goes away and another word replaces it, "Protect." Before I could ask what it means the scene vanishes once more."Rise and shine!" Before he pulls the curtains I quickly shield my eyes into my pillows.

"Can't you come up with anything different!?"

"I have...you didn't like those either." He quipped at me with a grin as he poured me a drink. "Did you sleep better this time, Arthur?"

"Not quite." I answer honestly as I get up from my bed and grab a piece of bread while Merlin gets my clothes. "This time the dream involved you."

"I don't think I like the idea of you dreaming about me Arthur..."

"Not like that you idiot! We were on a hunting trip and we both heard something..." I allow him to dress me before continuing and we both sit down to eat our breakfast. "...You went off to check and never came back. Then a man I couldn't identify used magic to create a dragon out of embers. he then made the words 'Destiny' and 'Protect' appear." After I finished talking I heard Merlin's cup clatter to the floor.

"Sorry, clumsy hands." He says with a genuine tone. "Anyway, what else happened?"

"Nothing, you nearly blinded me before I could figure anything else out. Seems strange though...I figured out that he is also the boy in the other dream that was being stoned and taunted by other children. He created the same flower trap around my legs as the boy did around the three bullies, just before he defended me against a group of bandits." This time I heard his fork hit his plate. "Merlin, are you alright?" I ask, genuinely worried about his health. He looks pale and he's just staring at his plate.

"Umm, I forgot to do something for Gaius and it was extremely important...may I leave for a moment Arthur?"

I look at him with more concern...this wasn't like Merlin at all. "Sure, take as much time as you need. I'll come check on you later. I have nothing to do today so it should be fine for both of us."

After about two hours of nothing I look outside my window and notice Merlin going into the forest, on my horse, alone. I rush down the stairs through the corridor, out to the court yard and grab another horse. Merlin is probably an hour or half that away by now but I might still be able to catch up with him. "Your Majesty what are you doing?" I hear Gaius call for me.

"Merlin went off on his own. I'm going after him."

"Merlin is upset, Arthur. Though, I don't know why. I don't think he would want to be followed, but if you do find him give him this would you?" He hands me a vial of salve usually used for deep wounds, scars, and burns. I give him a questioning look and he just nods at me and pats my leg as he turns away.

I make my way into the forest I watched Merlin ride into and I can very clearly see the horse tracks. It doesn't take me long to catch up to the fresher tracks.

I soon see my horse tied to a tree with more than plenty of food and water. 'Yep, Merlin is definitely nearby. only he can over feed and over water a horse.' I dismount my horse and I follow the boot marks until I reach a pair of discarded boots. 'Did he know I was following him? We're also near Druid territory so it would be easy to hide amongst the others who commonly walked around barefoot.'

I continued to walk forward until I heard a rough and commanding voice. The voice shook me to my core. I ran faster than I thought I could, just so I could catch who the voice belonged to. It was in another language and it sounded like an incantation, but it was so demanding.

I come to a clearing, the voice is gone, and I see a man in a dark blue hood wrapping around his body. 'It's the same man from my dream! Where is Merlin...what has he done to him!?'

My thoughts were stopped when I heard a large thundering sound above my head and if it were possible, I'm sure my eyes would've fallen out with how wide they were getting. It was the dragon from years ago, and he was calmly sitting in front of the hooded man. "What troubles you now young warlock?"

'THE DAMN THING CAN SPEAK!?' I can't hear what the man is saying but the dragon lays his head down next to the man. "So he's been dreaming about you...how interesting. I don't think i need to remind you that it IS your destiny to protect the once and future king, just as it is the young Pendragon's destiny to unite the lands of Albion."

'Destiny and protect...'

Once again I can't hear the man but the dragon chuckles lightly at the man. "You've been looking after him and guiding him since the day the two of you met young warlock. You say he won't except your magic, and that may be true, but you also have to realize...you've gone years with the two of you knowing each other and he is none the wiser to your great powers. You are the most powerful warlock to ever walk the earth. He should take pride in knowing that you've done everything and sacrificed so much...just for him."

Before I can register what's happened the dragon is gone and so is the man. "Arthur, what are you doing here?"

I look at him and he's holding firewood in his hands and a few herbs his pockets. "I came looking for you. Gaius said that you were upset and that I was to give you this." I handed him the salve and he gave me an exasperated sigh.

He takes the vial from me and his face contorts into something akin to a child who doesn't want medicine. "I'm going to need you to put this on me...there are things I haven't told you, that Gaius seems to think I should."

My eyes go wide but I nod my head and motion for Merlin to lead the way. Once we're back he builds a fire and fumbles with the flint as usual.

Finally the fire is built and I can see q7pwhat both Gaius and Merlin wwereere talking about with this strange salve. "So where is it supposed to go? No where embarrassing I hope."

He gave me a wry smile. "No, at least not what you're thinking. They are embarrassing to me. Just don't get mad." I watch as he takes off his jacket, and then his shirt, followed by his neckerchief.

I quickly notice what he and Gaius were talking about and my heart drops to my stomach. "Merlin...I've seen less scars on a seasoned knight. What happened to you. Some of these are quite old, but most of these are new." I trace a burn mark on his chest that runs deep...It seems that it goes straight to the muscle.

"Some are from when I was in Ealdor, and some I've gotten while I was here. Others are from battles We've been in together."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to have to worry about an incompetent servant that gets injured." He gives me a dry laugh. That doesn't sound like the Merlin I know.

"Always tell me if you get hurt...my God Merlin...What happened here?" I open the container and gather some of the salve to put on the huge burn mark.

"I got burned."

"Noooo, I wouldn't have guessed. I mean how Merlin."

"It was..." he seemed to be contemplating on telling me something about the burn mark but more than anything he seemed...fearful. "You were dying from getting attacked by a creature of magic and there was supposedly no cure..."

"I remember...go one." I feel each and ever dip and groove in the burn mark, its a severe burn...it must've been incredibly painful.

"I asked Gaius if there was anyway to cure you and he said that there wasn't...I couldn't stand to watch you die so I went to...a friend...and asked him the same thing. He sent me to the isle of the blessed where I would find someone of the old religion and I could talk with them about saving your life. When I got there, it was Nimueh."

"But she's said to have been dead for years now!"

"Not active...she was very much alive."

"Was?"

He cleared his throat and looked up to the sky, "Anyway, she said that in order to save your life from dying...someone else needed to die. I was prepared to die for you." He then looks at me with a seriousness and forboding guilt I had never seen on him before. "I gave you water from the cup of life and I accepted my fate after I felt relieved you were alive. I went to bed that night fully thinking I wouldn't wake up and I was strangely content with that, but I woke up the next day to discover that my mother was dying. Later I found out that Gaius was going to trade his life for my mother's...I chased after him but when I made it to Nimueh, Gaius was already dead. I got angry...in a way I've never been angry before...we fought and I killed her...She gave me this burn mark by throwing a fireball at me. When I killed her the balance to nature had been restored and Gaius came back to life."

I stopped in the middle where he said he fought Nimueh. "How are you not dead Merlin? Why would you trade your life for mine? Why do you think so little of yourself? Why would you fight someone that powerful? You could've been killed!" With every question I felt my body grow colder and watched my own skin grow paler. My oldest and possibly only friend had been willing to go to the depths of sorcery to save me and he was perfectly fine with dying.

"I'm not dead because I won, you're life is more important than mine...you wwere a prince and I was a servant...there was no contest, I don't think little of myself, and again it was to save your life."

He looked so indifferent to it all, he turned around and I noticed more scars, and there were mace marks on his upper right shoulder. "Did I cause that when we met the second time?"

"You're truly skilled with a mace Arthur." He laughed and it seemed honest but also filled with sarcasm. "It goes on my lower back now...as well as between my shoulders."

I look to where he's talking about and there are many more scars. Some I recognize as arrows, swords, daggers, but what really concerns me is the one down his spine. "Merlin...I know this mark, but I've only ever seen it on a dead man." I unconsciously place some of the salve on it and I hear him wince in pain. "When did you get stung by a Serket and how are you not dead?"

"Umm...my friend...the one who sent me to isle of the blessed helped heal me just before the poison took over."

"The only way thats possible is with powerful magic, Merlin..." I can't help the sadness I feel. The guilt, the betrayal, the confusion, the anger, and the curiosity I feel...all towards Merlin. "How long have you...How long have you been talking with sorcerers behind my back?"

"Arthur..."

"Tell me Merlin. How long have you been betraying me?" I want just one day where someone close to me isn't trying to betray me. I guess its a weight I must carry...

This time his head whips around and he looks at me with such scrutiny and he looks so hurt by my words its almost painful for me to see. "I have NEVER betrayed you, Arthur. I will NEVER betray you, you have to know that. Everything I have ever done has been for you and only you!" I rub the rest of the salve where he told me to and he turns back around to face me. "Arthur, you may not think the same, but you're my best friend. I'd do anything for you. I have before...remember? I was willing to give my life for yours, and I'd do it again."

I had a feeling he wasn't going to answer my question but the complexity of the look he gave me just now...this is usually the look he gives me when he is offering me the Un-Merlin-like wisdom he gives me before battle.

while he is redressing himself, I think about the fact that he has been engaging with sorcerers so maybe he knows about the one I saw earlier. "Merlin, may I ask you something?"

"You're the king, you don't have to ask, to ask something."

"Right...well, first...even during my father's rule when I know you knew the law well, why would you go to sorcerers?"

"If it was going to save you, I was prepared to do anything."

"You would've been executed for even looking at a sorcerer..."

"To me, I believe you would be worth it." He says it with such surety I almost can't believe I'm still talking to Merlin. Merlin, the man that is as clumsy as a newborn foal and the Merlin that can't stand to go hunting because we would harm innocent animals.

Finally I gather my thoughts together after he puts more wood into the fire and begins to cook a rabbit that I didn't know he had caught. "Merlin, you wouldn't happen to know a sorcerer by the name of Emrys would you?" At my question I notice him quickly still Himself and he drops something that I don't care to know about. "I'll take that response as a yes."

"Where did you hear that name?"

'That's what he cares about?' "It was the name of the man in my dreams. He is apparently destined to protect me and apparently we know each other. Although, I don't believe I've ever met an Emrys before. Yet, you have?"

"Umm...I've heard of a druid tale...Emrys is supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer and warlock to ever live and it's said that he will always be so. The tale goes on to say that he is destined to protect the once and future king of Camelot...meaning you, Arthur."

"I gathered all that from my dreams...what I want to know is how you know him. Do you know him personally?"

"Will I be executed based on my answer?"

"Not if you answer me."

"Yes, I know him personally. The druids call him Emrys but it's rumored he has another name...a more common name. He is also known to be the last dragon lord. His father was Balinor...When he died his powers transferred over to his son."

"Interesting, and he never harmed you in anyway?"

He laughs a genuine laugh, which was a relief from the strained expression he held moments ago. "No, I can safely say that Emrys has never harmed me in anyway."

"That's good..."

"Arthur, did you want to meet him?"

"I don't know. I was always taught that magic is evil and to some extent I still believe it. Yet, here we are and my servant was willing to face execution by going to sorcerers to save my life. You were also healed by magic...I don't know what to think."

I leaned back on a bed roll Merlin had set down for me and I looked to the sky which was quickly growing darker and I could make out some stars. "In my opinion, Magic isn't unlike your sword. It depends on whose using it. Morgana obviously uses it to kill and shows no kind of mercy, and it seems that Emrys uses it for good. When you hold your sword you use it to defend and protect your people...when Cenred holds his sword he uses it to threaten and kill."

"That's...a nice comparison."

"Get some sleep, Arthur."

"Wait...you haven't told me why you were upset?"

"I'll tell you when you wake up. I can see you have a lot on your mind."

"I'm the King Merlin...you can't tell me what to do."

"And I'm your servant who is supposed to look after you. Get some sleep."

With immense hesitation I lay fully down on the bed roll and drift off to sleep, hoping that my dreams will reveal more of the man that is known as Emrys...