Arthur and Merlin arrived to the stables, and locked Day and Night away.

"Seriously Merlin. Who were they?" Arthur asked again.

Merlin sighed. "Jeremiah and Jack. They were two of my many childhoos bullies. They were only a couple of them left in the village, and the two happened to stay. I always get harrassed by them when I visit. But it's no big deal." Merlin told him. Merlin started to walk inside the castle, and Arthur followed.

"Well if you ever go alone and they harass you, I give you full permission to do what you will with them." Arthur told Merlin. They both shared a quick laugh, and Merlin fetched the dinner. Merlin carried both larger trays to Arthur's room, and set them onto the table.

"Let's go see how your room looks. I want to make sure you're satisfied." Arthur told him as he lead Merlin to the other room.

When they walked in, it was very dark in nature. The windows were covered by black curtains, and the bedding was all black, with forest green accents. The dressers were even new and black, with brass knobs. The carpetting was mostly forest green, with a lot of black detail. Even the mirror placed in the room had a black wooden frame. Everything looked very elegant and dated, but Merlin love it. When he looked in the drawers, it was filled with darker colors clothes. And even some different color cloaks.

Haedon walked in just in time, carrying an empty tub for bathing.

"Oh there you are. I just finished. Is everything to your liking?" He asked. Merlin nodded happily.

"It's great. I love the detail. You have a good eye." Merlin thanked him.

"It was no problem. When do you want me to draw your bath?" He asked, setting the tub to the side.

"Oh don't worry about it. I can fill it myself. You can go home for the night." Merlin dismissed him. Haedon thanked him again, and left the two.

"You have an odd sense of style. But I have to admit it does suit you." Arthur told him. They left the room to dine in Arthur's.

They sat at the table, and chatted. Even after they finished, they talked about serious and trivia topics.

"We still need to find Gaius an apprentice. We never did that today." Merlin told him. Arthur nodded.

"I actually got a recomendation letter from one very trutworthy lord. His son's friend who is a baker at the moment wants to come here to study medicine. I was told to wait a day or so for him to arrive, and to give him a chance to see if he would make a good apprentice." Arthur told him.

Once they finished, Merlin just stacked the plates together, and the trays onto each other so it would be easier to clean up in the morning. Arthur moved behind Merlin, and wrapped his arms around his waist. Arthur started to kiss Merlin's neck, which made him giggle.

"What are you doing?" Merlin giggled. He turned around, and wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck.

"Can't I kiss my lover?" Arthur asked. Merlin smiled and kissed him passionately. They stood kissing, and Arthur moved to sitting on the bed while Merlin sat in his lap. Merlin sneakily untied Arthur's cloak and his own, letting them drop. Arthur laid back onto the bed, and let Merlin straddle him as they kissed. Arthur flipped Merlin over, and now Arthur was on top. Arthur slid his hands lightly up Merlin's shirt to hold onto his hips. Merlin giggled into the kiss as it tickled him. Merlin playfully grabbed on Arthur's butt, which made them both laugh. They both madeout passionately, before they heard a knock on the door. They both shared a quick look of fear before Arthur jumped off of Merlin, and Merlin stood up. Merlin kicked the cloaks to the side, out of sight. Merlin hopped into one of the tables.

"Who is it?" Arthur asked through the door.

"It is Gwen. I was the only servant around at the moment, but there's someone at the door, wishing to speak to you. He's very distressed." She rushed.

"We will be down in a moment." Arthur said. Arthur quickly placed his cloak back on, so did Merlin, and they rushed down the stairs. It was sprinkling outside, and the man looked muddy and tired.

"Please come inside." Merlin ushered. Gwen let him in, and closed the door behind.

"Tell us what's wrong." Arthur told he man. He was panting.

"An army! They were using magic! They sweeped through the land! They burned the crops and killed some of our livestock that were still grazing! I heard from one that they are going to sweep the kingdom. They should be here in a couple of hours!" He exclaimed.

The thought for a moment.

"Merlin, alert everyone about the attack. I want 1/3 of our knights here. The other two third shall go split up to the other villages. You and I will travel around. We can use Ebony." Arthur spoke to Merlin. He nodded, and ran in the direction of the knights and servants quarters.

"Everyone wake up! We need to prepare for attack! All knights report to the courtyard! Any knights who are elsewhere please retrieve them! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" Merlin yelled as he ran. He stopped at the end, and repeated it one more time using his magic to amplify his voice. He ran back to Gaius's room where Ebony was.

"Gaius! Stay here and help anyone who is hurt! Ebony come with me! We need you're help." Merlin yelled. Gaius was immediately awake and getting ready. Ebony jumped into Merlin's arms, and Merlin ran back to Arthur.

"We need to go right now. It takes an hour to reach the border if we use them." Merlin told him. Arthur turned to Gwen. She was very shocked at all the information she was being told.

"I need you to gather all the knights. Tell them that anyone under the age of 19 stay here. That's roughly 1/3 third. Tell them all to spread out, and to fight anyone weilding magic wrongfully. You and Gaius will be in charge while we are away." Arthur told her. She nodded and ran to the knights hall to tell them to hurry up, and she then ran to Gaius.

"Let's go." Arthur said. The man just stood there aimlessly.

The two ran outside. "Ebony. Turn into a horse just for a moment." Merlin told her. She turned into a black horse, with glowing eyes. Merlin and Arthur jumped on, and they rode quick through the rain. The quickly stopped at the two knights standing guard.

"Once the knights have left, lock the gates and every other entrance. Do not open no matter what happens. We will be back soon." Arthur ordered the knights. They nodded, and watched the two ride to the woods. Merlin jumped off Ebony once they were far enough away.

"Ebony go natural." Merlin told her. She happily turned from a horse into her tall puma form.

"You go ahead with Ebony. I will call Izusa. I can freely perform magic from the sky. No one will be able to identify me." Merlin told Arthur.

"Make sure to protect Arthur at all costs. Hurt anyone who tries to hurt him." Merlin told her. Merlin gave Arthur a quick kiss on the lips, and started to run off to find a clearing. Arthur hopped onto her back, and rode.

Merlin found a small clearing, and he cleared his voice. He had never called a dragon before, but he read all about it, and listened to Kilgarrah. If he concentrated enough, and actually called for her, his true voice would come out.

Merlin sat there for a moment, and then yelled. It turned into a deep yell, that traveled for miles. Arthur heard it behind him, but continued to ride through the woods.

Merlin stood there for a moment, and soon heard wing flaps drawing nearer. Soon Izusa flew to the ground to greet him.

"Hello Izusa. I will need you. There's an army attacking. I will need you to fly above and let me be in range to shoot spells. Don't get too close to them, or they may identify me or shoot you." Merlin told her. He jumped onto her back, and immediately became airborne.

As they speed down, they passed Arthur. Ebony ran even faster trying to keep up with Merlin, and quickly they started to hear the commotion.

There were screams, and men yelling. Clashing of swords, and whisps of arrows. Merlin flew overhead, and assesed the situation. There were hundreds. He looked in the other directions, and noticed that they split up. They were going to sweep through.

Merlin immediately covered himself more, and pointed his attacks onto the large clusters of men who wore all black. He noticed that they were not just burning crops and killing cattle. They were killing men and women. Beating them in their yards.

Merlin rained hell onto them.

Arthur soon arrived to the village, and grabbed a stray sword. He rode Ebony through the chaos, and striked down the unfamiliar invaders. He saw above him was Merlin, who was shooting lines of bright blue magic, which struck many of the men. They were either dead or knocked out. Arthur noticed a stray arrow glide through the air, and strike Merlin's arm. He grabbed it for a quick moment, and then continued to fight. Arthur directed Ebony to the men with arrows, and struck them down.

Soon the invaders were retreating away towards the border. Merlin quickly landed Izusa next to Arthur and Ebony, and Merlin spoke quick and quietly.

"I knocked out most of the men. Tell the villagers to retrain them just in case, and let the knights take care of them when they get here. I'm going to head to the next village. It looks like they are starting fires." Merlin spoke quickly to Arthur. He flew up in the air again.

"Restrain the enemies that are not dead. The knights will be here for them soon." Arthur spoke quickly. He then followed Merlin from below, and rode quickly to the other village. There were some hiding raiders that jumped him, but Ebony took them out quickly, and continued to run.

Merlin saw the fires from above, and saw the Camelot knights start to advance to the village. He flew down to Arthur to speak to him.

"The knights are almost here. Go back to the castle and start giving orders. I will fly around myself and help along." Merlin told Arthur, mostly ordering him.

"No. I will stay with you and fight. I am the king and it is what I must do." Arthur argued back.

"I'm not dealing with this. I am the second in command, but I am no king. Go back and I will fight until I run out of energy." Merlin argued. Arthur processed for a moment and gave in.

"Alright. I will. But you better be back soon." Arthur told him. Merlin smiled tiredly.

"I will. No go." He said. Ebony ran towards the castle, and Merlin flew in the opposite direction. Merlin decided to take a more direct approach. He found the a group of enemies just about to hit a village. Just as they became visible to the villagers, Merlin knocked them all out. Merlin landed quickly, and kept his face hidden, and his voice strained.

"Tie them up. Wait for the knights to retrieve them." He spoke quickly. He then flew to the other villages. With this tactic, he cleared out most of the army, and went to the villages already under attack.

Knights were everywhere, but it looked like the enemy was overpowering them. Merlin reined down his magic, and knocked many of them out. He used the other enemies as easier targets, and he would slam them together, effectively knocking them out. Soon the knights were overpowering the enemies. Merlin became careless, and soon the knights noticed his presence. Although no one recognized him, they started to shoot arrows at Izusa and himself. Izusa tried her best to dodge the arrows, but some did stike her. Merlin would quickly lead down, and pull them out. Her own healing powers were able to heal the wounds, and they continued. Merlin was filling with pain from the jerking and constant strain on his muscles to stay onto Izusa, that he blocked all his pain receptors. It was an amazing feeling, and Merlin was able to freely shoot without consequence of pain. Once he knew the knights could overpower them entirely, he moved onto the next village, which was the biggest and closest one to the castle.

The villagers either fought the enemy, or shot arrows at Merlin. They had no idea that Merlin was trying to help them. Not to say that Merlin did not feel the many many arrows slice and sometimes pierce him. He just felt pressure in certain areas. Merlin guided Izusa high into the sky, and looked over the land. The fires had ceased, and he saw mostly red march through. Merlin was effectively able to diminish the numbers for the knights to fight. Merlin could feel himself weaken, and he had Izusa drop him down to the ground. Merlin pulled some of the arrows out and helped heal her.

"You can go on now. I will be fine. Make sure you are not seen by any more people, and stay clear of trouble. We will meet again I bet." Merlin told her. She soared out, and far away. Merlin started to walk back to the castle. As the rain poured harder, he started to calm down, and the adrenaline in his system lowered. He soon was able to feel the slight pain in his body. His magic was much weaker, and he could not fight the pain any longer if he wanted to heal himself later.

Merlin tried to pull his cloak off, but felt it it snag on something. He ripped it off swiftly, but was shot with pain all throughout his back and thighs. He looked at the cloak, and noticed the holes and blood that littered it. He threw it to the ground, and looked at himself. He saw arrows jetting out of him. He pulled the ones he could reach, and healed them. But there were still many in his back that he could not bring himself to pull out.

Merlin trudged through the rain and mud, and soon the pain grew and grew as he became more aware of it. After a bit of walking, Camelot was in view. The gates were up, and the mote protected it.

Merlin became so happy to see it in tack, that he started to feel dizzy. He limped through the mud, and finally was able to see knights standing there.

"Is that you sire!" They yelled through the rain. Merlin nodded, not really able to muster a yell. They started to open the gate for him, when everything started to become dark.

Merlin sucombed to the darkness, and passed out.