Merlin collapsed to the ground, sinking slightly in the mud of the river bank as a heartbroken cry left his lips. Through the tears that streamed down his face, he could still see the little boat that contained Arthur's body. With another anguished cry he lifted his right hand out towards the boat and muttered a spell, and a fire sprang to life engulfing the little boat and Arthur.
"I'll miss you," Merlin whispered into the night as he watched the flames crackle and roar, "There will never be another like you, and I'll wait until it's time for you to come back. No matter how long it takes."
It was a declaration that would stick true, even if Merlin didn't know it yet. He would wait months, years and longer if he had to, he just didn't realise how long it would actually be. Wiping the tears from his face, Merlin sniffled and slowly got up from the river's edge, turning away from the lake as the boat finally sank beneath the depths of Avalon.
"What will you do now?" Gaius questioned Merlin, hobbling out from the trees, the old physician could see how devastated the young sorcerer was.
"I don't know," Merlin replied hoarsely, looking at Gaius, "I don't think I can stay here, i have no purpose anymore."
"Merlin… Don't say that!" Gaius admonished sternly, "The King may be dead, but Camelot will still need you…"
"They don't need me," Merlin replied shaking his head, "Arthur needed me and I needed him and now he's gone."
"And there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise?" Gaius asked quietly, leaning on his gnarled wooden walking stick.
"No, my mind's made up," Merlin replied morosely, sighing deeply and grabbing at his hair in frustration. "This should never have happened… I know it was foretold, that it was fate…"
"And you need to leave," Gaius said nodding his head solemnly, "What can I do? I can make up a satchel for you and you can say goodbye to everyone, that would be the right thing to do."
"That's fine," Merlin replied in agreement, he supposed he couldn't leave without telling anyone, especially Guinevere.
"How will we tell her? Merlin asked quietly, looking down at the ground, "That Arthur's…"
"Gently," Gaius responded resting his right hand on Merlin left shoulder, whilst his left clutched tightly at his walking stick.
The day after that had been a blur, Gwen had been absolutely heartbroken upon hearing that Mordred had slain King Arthur, relieved that both Mordred and Morgana were no longer alive to do anymore harm and completely understanding of Merlin's desire to leave and had wished him luck on his journey.
Gaius had shed a tear or two, as Merlin saddled and mounted his horse. Sir Leon, Sir Percival and many of the other Knights had come out of the castle to see him off. With a nod to all of them, Merlin turned his horse towards the gates of Camelot and had galloped away, leaving them all behind.
The years came and went; Merlin would visit Camelot three times a year to see Gaius and Gwen. When Gaius passed away, the visits became once a year and when Gwen had grown old and she too had inevitably passed, the visits stopped all together.
Merlin figured it would be for the best if he became less known, as he wasn't aging and he did not need the likes of witchfinders to take notice of him. Two hundred years later, in 732 it was Kilgharrah's turn to make the journey to the other side, Merlin had been with the Great Dragon when he died.
Not long after the Great Dragon's death did the world take a turn for the worse, there was growing mistrust against magic and more non-magical people began to fear it, while some tried to manipulate and exploit their magical brethren for their own gain.
In 1441 Merlin had witnessed the trials of two witches, Eleanor Cobham who had been sentenced to life in prison and Margery Jourdemayne who had been executed by a witch hunter. It seemed to Merlin that the war Uther Pendragon had started against the magical community was now only getting worse, despite Arthur uniting the lands of Albion all those years ago.
When King James VI came into power in the early 16th century, Merlin had begun to see the decline of magic, like it was shrinking in fear. Shortly before being crowned King of England and Ireland, what was once known as the lands of Albion, King James VI had created and enacted the Witchcraft Act of 1563 which had introduced the death penalty for sorcerers everywhere.
In 1650 magic had vastly declined from the land and when the last witch hunts ended in 1682 it was declared eradicated by the Royals, more so when the last witch to be executed was Mary Hicksin in 1716.
It was a sad day when magic vanished from the world, Merlin had woken up one morning to an eerie silence and knew what people proclaimed about magic to be true. It used to be everywhere, in the trees and the wind and now it was gone. Even the magical creatures had been reportedly hunted to extinction, there were no more Unicorns and no more Dragons.
Merlin hadn't seen Aithusa, the last dragon in hundreds of years. Not even when he called, as a Dragon Lord any dragons who heard the call would be forced to respond and yet none ever did, Merlin really was the last of magic kind.
Retreating into the woods, Merlin became a recluse, where the only thing that mattered was his extensive Vegetable Garden, self-sustainability and the never-ending wait for Arthur, the once and future King's return.
After many more years, magic was thought to be a fairytale and the tales of King Arthur and Merlin were that of myth and legend. It was around the 1920's when Merlin reappeared in society and when he went out in public, he never used his real name, instead he went by Myrddin Wyllt, just a wild man that lived in the woods.
Merlin had wanted to see how the world had changed, the changes were astonishing - where masses of trees and rolling countryside once were, was now a bustling city the likes of which had Merlin turning around and retreating back to the woods.
Until a few years later, when Merlin decided it mattered not how the world had changed and eventually ventured out into the bustling streets of London and beyond. In order to keep up with the world and appear normal, Merlin would attend the farmer's markets to display and sell the vegetables that he grew and collected.
Travelling from place to place by horse and cart had at some point become a thing of the past, and Merlin not willing to get a car, he considered them to be mechanical death traps on wheels, had gotten creative with his magic. He had created a satchel that could contain almost anything, in fact he could fit a whole veggie stall in there and still have a little room left.
Merlin had also learned to use his magic to travel, he called it A Vanishing Act. The fine art of disappearing from one place and reappearing in another just by thinking of said place. It was great as it enabled Merlin to travel to places where not a lot of people would remember him.
He had been doing this for nearly 55 years now, turning up at Farmer's markets and selling his delicate crop of fine veggies, earning money without the need for a bank card or birth certificate, Merlin had none of the documents to support his existence anyway. He was earning a living, which enabled him to deck his home out with the latest that society had to offer and it was also a good way to keep him busy and not thinking about Arthur and when he would be returning.
As of July, 1997 it had been 1,465 years to be exact, since Arthur had died, not that he was counting because that would make Merlin feel depressed and it did on occasion, how could he possibly know that everything would soon be changing.