Revelation

Arthur can feel Merlins grip around his waist, the trembling running through his whole body, he hears his rapid breath and knows that his best friend is putting all his strenght into bringing him to safety. But he knows that there is nothing left to do. He will die. But not like this. Not before he had the chance to say what he always wanted to say but couldn´t find the strenght to actually do it.

„Merlin, just...just hold me, please" he mumbles realising how much effort it takes to speak at this point. Merlin sinks to his knees and holds him in his arms. Tears roll down Merlins cheeks as he watches his friend getting paler by the second.

„I want to say something to you...something that i never said before" Arthur says and takes a minute to properly look at Merlin before finishing

„Thank you." Arthurs eyes roll back and only a few moments later he stops breathing.

A bright light blinds Arthur, he pinches his eyes and winks a few times. After a moment his eyes accustom to the light and he realises what is the cause of it. The sun is shining bright on a clear sky. A few birds cross his field of view. It smells like spring and he feels the soft grass under his hands. He moves himself into a sitting position and realises that he does not feel any pain, a little groggy at most. Lifting his clothes he finds no evidence of the fatal wound Mordred gave him.

„What on earth..." he mumbles standing up and taking a closer look at his surroundings. He is on a small green hill with a clear blue lake only a few hundred meters away. A forest is covering most of the land around him. He does not recognize this place even though it feels kind of familiar. Weird. Did Merlin actually save my live...again. How is that even possible? Well, after all he is a sorcerer. But wouldn´t he be here somewhere?

After collecting his thoughts for a moment Arthur takes off in the direction of the lake. He has no clue where Camelot is but one thing he knows for sure: he has to go there and see if everybody is alright. Maybe they are able to tell him what happened.

Only a few hours after entering the forest near the lake Arthur hears voices and recognizes the smell of a campfire that lies in the air. Slowly and without making any noise Arthur gets closer and closer to the voices until he can see an old man and a woman sitting next to a small fire. Seemingly without any fear of bandits or any creatures they are talking and laughing together. A crack behind him makes Arthur jump.

„Hey, look who we´ve got here" a younger man who is at least two heads bigger than Arthur says pointing at him and singnals to the others at the campfire. Arthur readies himself for a conflict.

„Looks like some sort of knight. But he has a weird old armour and coat" the man points out and walks past Arthur to join the others. In his stupor Arthur looks down at himself. Weird old armour? It´s maybe a little dirty but that is the finest armour that can be found in this land.

„Hello friend, you look rather exhausted. Would you like to join us, it is getting late." the older man says signaling Arthur to sit with them.

„That is very kind of you. But aren´t you afraid to be here all alone in the forest?" Arthur says coming closer and sitting down against a tree. Only now he registers how exhausted he really is.

„Afraid? No. Why should we? The days when bandits and other ruthless people wandered through this land are long gone." At this Arthur furrows his brows. Long gone? Only a few weeks ago me and the knights fought against a dozent of them.

„My name is Joseph. Me, my wife Helena and our son here are weavers and we are traveling from city to city to offer our goods on the biggest markets." the older man said smiling at his small happy family.

„My name is Arthur, Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot. I kind of got lost here and it would be great if you could..." Athur stops in the middle of the sentence realizing that all three people are staring at him wide eyed.

„What?" he asks hoping that they are not enemies of Camelot who would deny him any help or even worse. The younger man turns his head to silently speak in his fathers ear.

„He really looks a bit like him. I saw a painting of King Arthur a while ago. And his weird armour...it bears the crest of Camelot"

„It can´t be! How should that be possible?" Joseph murmurs to himself but loud enough that everybody understands him.

„And why should that be impossible if I might ask?" Arthur requests.

„Because Arthur Pendragon died nearly 120 years ago"

Hey guys! This is my first Merlin fanfic and I would be grateful for any reviews. Take care!