Merlin found himself in the training fields again, only this time, he knew he was in a dream… a nightmare… Nothing had changed. The bodies still lay there… blood pooled around them… And Arthur was still frozen, shock etched into his features. Time seemed to come to a standstill as Merlin uttered a string of words… A jet of light flew towards Arthur, but in such slow-motion that Merlin could see the individual strands of energy pulsating, wrapped together in a blood red orb. Then he felt something else… some kind of core, empty and inviting. He reached down and saw the crystal… he couldn't remember where he had got it, but it was pulsating… and he knew it could help, if only he could reach it.
Tim, ever so slowly, started to speed up again and Merlin knew he had little time to take control over his own body… over this invading web of dark magic…
Then he heard Arthur's voice, slowed by the time-stop, but seeming to last but a split second.
"Merlin!"
But the split second was enough. Merlin found himself feeling stronger than he had ever felt before, and lashed out at the darkness within him. Wave after wave of his own magic, layered one on top of the other, swept out from him, gold encompassing red, and red giving in to his will. Being absorbed within him as his own. And vanishing within the crystal at his chest.
The whole act seemed to last hours, but was, in fact, mere seconds. Then time seemed to start unravelling. Arthur stayed in place, but everything else seemed to go backwards. Gaius and Gwen got to their feet again, flying upwards, and retraced their steps backwards and out of sight. Merlin turned, his magic still flowing around him, and watched as the blood receded around the knights, and they flew upright. Gwaine seemed to catch his eye and was about to speak when Merlin felt himself drifting away… Spinning, he realised Arthur was doing the same thing, and then his magic spun back into his body. For a moment, his whole world was plunged into darkness, before he found himself on the banks of the Lake of Avalon. A young woman stared at him, love evident in her dark eyes, her dark hair whipping about in a wind that seemed to surround only her. The tattered red dress that she had been wearing the last time Merlin had held her, whipped around her body but she didn't seem to pay it any heed.
"Merlin…"
"Freya…"
"Merlin, we don't have much time… The magic of the Old Religion itself is troubled. But now it has begun to heal… You need to believe in yourself. In your ability to control your magic… You begin to believe, enough for you to control it, but not enough for you to embrace it. In time, you will, but you need the help of those who care for you… Come to Avalon Merlin… We have little time now. Come to Avalon…"
A startled gasp echoed behind him and he spun to see Arthur, looking disorientated. His head seemed to clear.
"Merlin? What the hell…"
Freya spoke.
"Merlin… This is no apparition… the subconscious of both you and your king have been brought together…"
"Why?"
"I do not know… the ways of the old religion are clouded… cocooned in secrets and prophesies… You must go Merlin…"
"But Freya…"
"Freya?" This was Arthur, who seemed to have got back his bearings, though still held his confusion. "You are Freya?"
"Yes…"
"Then I… I killed you…"
"No… You set me free… Do not let this matter haunt you, Arthur Pendragon. I have long forgiven you… Now you must go. Both of you… Dreams shared are rare, and so you must think upon what this means… what this means for both you and Albion… Come to Avalon, Merlin."
"Freya…" before Merlin could touch her, she had faded away, and both him and Arthur were shrouded in a mist.
"Merlin? What the hell is going on?"
"A shared dream… We should be waking any moment now…"
"You know how crazy this is, right?"
"Yeah…"
Suddenly, a flash of light forced him to shield his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was staring at the ceiling in his rooms. In Camelot.
Merlin lay there as his mind absorbed what had happened, then rolled over, heading for his wardrobe. Within minutes, he was dressed and racing out of his rooms. He needed to speak to Arthur…

As it was, Merlin didn't get the chance to speak to the king until they had finished saddling the horses and were riding out, ready to meet the Dragons. Merlin and Arthur dropped to the back of the group, and the others seemed to realise that they did not want to be disturbed. Merlin spoke first.
"Arthur? How much of that dream were you in?"
"From where I saw… the knights… Did you…?"
"In a prior nightmare… But it was only my subconscious reflection of my fears… of how I felt I couldn't control my new power… This time, I managed to control it."
"So… wait… I shared a dream with you… but why?"
"I think the old religion knew I needed something to help me overcome my fear… Hence your appearance. It worked. I think I have a better grasp of my magic…"
Arthur was silent for a few minutes as he took everything in, figuring things out, then he spoke up again.
"But why did it not end there?"
"For some reason, I have to go to Avalon… To Freya…"
"So that was her? The girl from a few years ago?"
"Yes… She hasn't changed a bit…"
"I'm sorry… I had no idea…"
"Forget it. We've already been through this. All I know is that I need to head to Avalon, and hopefully soon…"
"Take as long as you like…" Arthur was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, "So these… shared dreams. How exactly do they work?"
"I'm not sure. I think it's just our subconscious' joining together… Don't ask me how, I have no idea…"
"Right… So, basically, this happened to help you overcome your fear of your new powers, and to give you a message?"
"Pretty much. Yeah."
"… Fair enough."
Merlin suddenly burst out laughing, and Arthur looked at him, bemused.
"What?"
"Fair Enough? That all you are going to say?" He shook his head, failing to hide his grin, "Sorry… It's just that when I think back to a few months ago, the idea of having magic acting on you whilst you were sleeping would have…"
"Sent me into an enraged craze spiral… Yeah, I know. Times change."
Merlin simply shook his head, grinning wildly.

They were silent for a few more moments, and another part of the dream came to the forefront of Merlin's mind. No… surely it wasn't possible… He reached down to the Aurora stone, around his neck, and reached out to it. As his mind came into contact with it, he felt a thrumming energy, and the sheer amount of power in the crystal had him pulling back, shocked.
"Merlin? What is it?"
"The stone… there was a moment in the dream where I felt a huge amount of magic go into the stone… I just checked it and… Arthur, the amount of magic in this crystal is… Incredible…"
"And it all came from you…"
"I… yeah. I guess…"
"Then you had better get a handle on this whole 'being more powerful than any other man alive' thing sometime soon…"
"That what I intend to ask Kilgarrah about."
"The let's hope he has some answers. I don't want to be sucked into some other god-awful nightmare… Being inside your head… Ugh."
Merlin scowled,
"It wasn't inside my head as such…" he grumbled, causing Arthur to smirk.
"Well, look on the bright side Merlin. If the Brotherhood find out about this, then they won't dare attack…"
"If I can learn to control it properly. Even a slight increase in power for some spells can have… bad results…"
"Like what?"
Merlin's face morphed into a sheepish expression.
"That bog in Gwaine's room a few weeks ago? That wasn't completely Archie's fault…"
Arthur laughed,
"As if I needed any more reminders not to annoy you…" he said grinning,
"As if. You do nothing but annoy me..." Merlin snorted, and Arthur grinned, but then his face got a more serious look to it.
"You know you don't have to fight this thing alone, Merlin. I mean, you have Gaius… Kilgarrah… Taren…"
"It's great to know you care so much, Sire…" Merlin said, with an amused scowl, but he knew what Arthur was trying to say. Honestly though, would it really hurt for the prat to come out and say it?
Apparently it would, because the stubborn Clot-Pole clicked his heels and his horse sped up.
"Merlin! I thought you wanted to get there on time?"
"Prat…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing Sire…"

They were stood in the clearing for less than ten minutes before the two Dragons swept down. After nodding, reverently, to Kilgarrah, Arthur and the knights, went over to Aithusa to thank her for her help. Merlin, however, head over to Kilgarrah.
It took him a matter of minutes to explain his dreams and the message from Freya, and THE Great Dragon was silent for a few moments before responding. He chose to speak into Merlin's mind, keeping their conversation private.
"It would be foolish to ignore the warnings given by the Lady of Avalon Merlin. You must travel there as soon as you get the chance. As for your fears, they are ungrounded. You, yourself, have said that you can sense a greater control over your own magic… And with the aid of an Aurora Stone, you have nothing to fear. I'm afraid I have nothing more for you, young warlock. Go to Avalon, and make use of the druid's gift. It is more of a git than you could ever know."
"I'd got that much for myself Kilgarrah…" Merlin sighed, "But can you not tell me more about the Crystal?"
"Search for a volume on the High Priestesses of the Old Religion, and their connections to the Isle of the Blessed. The crystal you hold is rarer than you know Merlin."
"Do you think Freya will know?"
"It cannot hurt to ask, Merlin. She is one with Avalon, the core of the old religion. I know little of the creations of men, and not enough to ease your confusion I fear, only enough to provide you with more questions than answers. I believe that Avalon may be your only chance of fully understanding."
"Yeah… But it'll have to wait until we've cleared the Saxons from the forests…"
"Merlin!" Arthur strolled over, "You still talking?"
"I was… Though not any longer it appears…" Merlin replied, and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We need to clear out the Saxons, the sooner we do that, the sooner I can get to the Lake of Avalon."
Arthur nodded, knowing Merlin wouldn't leave Camelot at the moment, and sighed.
"I'll convene a meeting of the round table when we get back. Open the idea up. Hopefully, we'll hear something new from Gwaine and the others either this evening or early tomorrow. They should be reaching the border any time soon."
"I'll check in with the others when we get back."

Merlin looked over to see that the knights seemed to have finished speaking with Aithusa, and were hanging back, away from Kilgarrah. Those who hadn't seen him before, so basically everyone aside from Bedivere, Peredur and, (strangely enough, seeing as the ast time he had seen the dragon was when it was attacking the Citadel), Leon, were eyeing the huge dragon with wary eyes.
Merlin felt a small grin spread across his face.
"Kilgarrah? I believe that you have yet to be acquainted with the majority of the knights within this clearing…? I'm sure Arthur will be pleased to introduce you."
Arthur smirked as well, at the horrified looks on the men's faces, and nodded.
"Of course…"
Merlin head over to Aithusa, and asked how she was.
"I am perfectly fine, Merlin. Helps that I had a decent sleep and a half decent meal this morning…?"
Merlin scowled at the insinuated accusation,
"I'll have you know that I get plenty of sleep. And since when have you been so concerned with a decent diet? Or sleep? You are a dragon…"
"Who has yet to be tutored in the finer aspects of the polite way to speak, and use the human language by Kilgarrah. Hence my very informal attitude and style of speech with my own tonue, and the formal tongue I use when speaking with the human language... Also, Taren has been worried about your living style… And your irregular sleeping habits… and, as you are my Dragon Lord, I feel obliged to carry on her message, seeing as it is of importance to your health…"
"That's just… Just…"
"Err… Merlin? What on earth are you doing?" Bedivere looked completely bemused, and Merlin realised he had been speaking in the dragon tongue. No wonder Aithusa had been so informal… Kilgarrah had taught her only a formal way of speaking in the human tongue, but it didn't inhibit her in her own tongue.
Merlin grinned, stroking the young dragon on the head.
"Speaking to Aithusa… In dragon tongue…"
Leon snorted, shaking his head,
"Bedivere, we've been over this. He will always be able to surprise you…"

Half an hour later, and they were heading back to Camelot. The knights had rapidly changed their opinions of Kilgarrah, and were now busy discussing the possible advantages of having a dragon on their side during a battle.
Merlin had joined in the conversation, adding his own knowledge to the pool, and giving the knights enough of a discussion to last them till they got to the lower town. There, Merlin dismounted, along with Arthur, to check on the druids.
Arthur had grinned as Merlin had been accosted by a group of druid children, who were playing with Camelotian children. Even better, their parents seemed to be getting along just fine too. Whilst Merlin kept the children occupied with small sparks of colour, Arthur head off to Aglain, who had just exited the tunnel.
"Aglain. Is all well?"
"Yes Sire… In fact, Arthur, it has turned out better than any of us had dared hope. A few healed injuries and other helpful acts and it appears that the people of Camelot have accepted us."
"They must be good judges of character. So, are there any problems?"
"None that we cannot deal with… either ourselves or with the help of the magic users in Camelot."
Merlin joined them, having left the children to pay amongst themselves. He seemed to have overheard Aglain's last words, and spoke up.
"Anything I can do?"
"Thankyou Merlin, but we are fine. As it is, I believe you have troubles enough of your own… Though I believe Taren may be better placed to explain. She has asked me to give you message. Gally received word from the patrol you sent to the border. They have not yet arrived at the post, but have sent a warning. I'm afraid I do not know the details, but I think you should find Taren…"
"Of course. Thank you Aglain…"

Merlin and Arthur head off to Taren's, arriving to find nearly twenty sorcerers congregating there.
"Taren?" Merlin looked worried and the sorcerers all tune at the sound of their arrival, relief flooding their expressions.
"Merlin! Arthur… Thank the gods… We just heard from Holly, one of those we sent with Gwaine and the other patrol," she said, as an explanation to Arthur, "They haven't reached the border yet, but the path they took, took them past the plains… Right now they are staking the place out, until we can get a message back to them."
"Taren… What did they find?"
"Wyverns Sire… And Wilddeorn… Cockatrice's… Griffins… Serkets… From what they could tell, they are all under some kind of control, and Holly scanned the area. They found Lucas and dozens of other sorcerers… It's an army… And a big one…"
For a moment, both Merlin and Arthur were silent, then Merlin spoke up, sighing.
"Damn… I hate Serkets…"
"Just the Serkets?" Arthur asked, eyebrows raised.
"Well… I've defeated the other creatures without too bad an injury… The Serkets actually stung me. It wasn't pleasant…"
"But… Their poison is…"
"Deadly. Yeah, I know. Long story… Let's just say I owe Kilgarrah… Anyway, we need to get more men out there. We need to know what is going on…"

Before he could say anything else, Gally froze. After a few moments, he gasped and jumped to his feet.
"That was Holly. Three Wyverns have caught their movements… The other sorcerers and creatures are too far away to be dangerous, but they're stuck in a cave near to the Cavern Bridge at the foot of the western mountains… Gwaine is injured, and they don't have the ability to heal him…"
Arthur cursed,
"We don't have any way of getting to them…"
Merlin's hand wrapped around the Crystal, which pulsed at the contact with his skin. Could he possibly…?
He didn't have much of a choice.
"Arthur? I'll jump there… I should have the energy… Holly can guide me to them, and I can heal Gwaine and help get rid of the Wyverns. Problem is, if the Brotherhood find out we're there…"
"Merlin…" This was Taren. "Jumping the entire length of the kingdom? That's impossible… You'll kill yourself…" Merlin lay a hand on her shoulder.
"I can do it. Trust me, I'll be fine… I'm not leaving them to die Taren…" she nodded, still looking disbelieving and doubtful, and Merlin turned to Arthur, who looked shocked.
"Merlin… What if she is right? The energy it would take..."
"Arthur, trust me. I can make it. But I may not be able to hold them for long if they discover we are there…"
"We can be saddled and out by nightfall… And can be there in three days…"
"Then we'll hold till you get there."
"Merlin… Are you sure…?"
"I can't leave them…"
The King and his Court sorcerer shared a look, and Arthur eventually nodded.
"Then go. And be careful…"
Merlin nodded, and vanished.

Merlin took a few minutes to jump to his rooms, grab spare clothes and throw them into his backpack. He then jumped to Gaius's rooms, shouting out what was going on as he raided the medical supplies. Throwing everything into his bag, he hugged Gaius and Alice, who were only just grasping what he was going on about, and jumped back to is room, on a whim. He grabbed his dark blue cloak and also the dagger, that Kilgarrah had breathed fire upon. If ever he would need it, it would be now. He shoved it through his belt, and grabbed the small crossbow contraption from the top of a small table, stuffing it into his bag. After checking everything again, he took a few seconds to gather his energy and reached for the swirling mass of power in the Aurora Stone. He hoped he was right about this, because if he wasn't, the jump would, most-likely, kill him.
He grasped the stone and opened himself up to the flow inside of it, tuning in on the tracking imprint he had left on Gwaine.
It was now or never. As he locked onto the imprint, Merlin felt everything shift, and he was gone…
_

Bit of an 'end of fanfic' cliff-hanger. Sorry about that…
This story will continue in my next fanfic, 'Why's It Never Quiet On The Western Front…?'
A bit of BAMF with some of our favourite characters… Merlin meets Freya for the first time since he lost her… Merlin's new sword gets some major modifications in a pretty awesome upgrade… Oh yeah, and they have to defeat an army of the most dangerous creatures, under some kind of 'mind control', in the Kingdom…
Just another week in Camelot…

Please Review and let me know what you think, and Hope to see you, next fanfic… Which should start in a few days' time…
Thanks to regular readers and one-off readers alike. I really appreciate the support!
Hope you enjoyed XD