Prologue

The night was cold as the wind howled mercilessly. The sky was overcast, letting the moonlight through in small pools. A young man stumbled through the thick and dark forest, away from Camelot. The wind whipped his hair and his worn brown jacket billowed behind him. His face was caked with dirt mixed in with his tears.

You betrayed me, betrayed your friends, and betrayed Camelot!

His vision became blurred as more tears fell. The man stumbled and fell. Gently, he picked himself up and leant against the tree. The king's words just kept swirling inside his head. The man knew he would need to keep going; everyone in Camelot was probably searching for him and the brave and noble knights of Camelot would soon find him. But the man found he did not have the energy to keep going. His breaths came out in heavy rasps and the cold was constricting his chest.

Wearily he rubbed his eyes, stopping the onslaught of tears. With great effort he took a deep breath and yelled in a foreign language.

Within minutes a loud rumbling could be heard. A massive shadow loomed over the young man and when he looked up, he found himself staring at huge yellow eyes and rough green scales.

"What has upset you, Merlin?" The Great Dragon asked. The tears that Merlin had managed to suppress only a few minutes cascaded down his cheeks once more.

Merlin spoke, his tears muffling his words making only a few words audible, but the dragon found he understood the gist of what the young man was saying. "Arthur…found…magic"

The Dragon watched the young warlock before him, waiting for him to elaborate. But Merlin found he could not find words to describe all that had transpired just a few hours ago. He didn't know how everything had turned downhill. It had been a day like any other and Merlin had discovered that the diplomats from Giliochtin were not here for peace talks. Merlin had seen the arrow heading straight for its target; King Arthur. Merlin did the only thing he could; use magic to change the arrow's direction. But the King had turned around. He saw the arrow and how it had deflected course and more importantly seen his trusted manservant's eyes flash gold. Arthur was no fool; he knew what that meant and had yelled the only thing he could. "Seize him"

"You betrayed me, betrayed your friends and betrayed Camelot"

"Arthur I…"

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear any more of your lies."

"But Arthur…"

"NO! I'm tired of your treachery."

"I don't know what to do" Merlin moaned pitifully.

The Great Dragon simply stared at the young Warlock, not knowing how to offer his sympathies. A moment of silence passed as Merlin sat there with closed eyes and the Dragon watched him.

Then finally the Dragon spoke. "The knights are hunting for you. You cannot stay here for long"

"I know. But where do I go? I cannot go back to Ealdor. And I have nothing. Everything I own is back in Camelot."

The Dragon took a moment before he spoke. "There is a Druid camp over the mountains. They will be very happy to get you back on your feet"