Arthur's day was not going well.

Firstly, Merlin had been even later than usual, which in turn made Arthur late for a council meeting. Needless to say, Uther had not been happy. Merlin's method of trying to cheer Arthur up was to say, "It can't get much worse, Sire."

Secondly, due to his bumbing manservant scaring off all the prey, Arthur had only managed to catch one measly rabbit during his hunt. Try as he might, one rabbit would not feed all of Camelot. Merlin had turned to Arthur, "Come on, it can't get much worse."

20 minutes later, a group of bandits had attacked. Fortunately, Arthur managed to fend them off, with no help from Merlin of course (though he found help from the occasional tree branch). The rabbit was lost during the scuffle.

And it wasn't even midday yet.

Merlin, ever the optimist, had once again tried to assure him that it couldn't get any worse. Arthur smacked him round the head.

"What was that for?" Merlin complained, rubbing the back of his head.

"Now that you've said it couldn't get worse, it definitely will!" Arthur yelled.

Merlin scoffed, "Since when have you believed in things like that?"

"Since they always come true when I'm around you!"

And when a sorcerer appeared, Arthur could only glare at Merlin icily, his point proven rather spectacularly. The man was dressed in a long black cloak, obscuring all but a pair of well worn, leather boots, and glowing, golden eyes. Arthur drew his sword and stepped in front of Merlin. However, the sword soon flew out of his grasp with a quick incantation. Arthur, for once, looked at a loss for what to do.

When the sorcerer made no move to attack, Merlin gingerly called out, "What do you want with us?"

"I have a message for Arthur Pendragon." A deep voice rang out from under the hood, echoing around the forest.

"And what makes you think I'll listen to you?" Arthur retorted, putting on a brave face (he couldn't seem weaker than Merlin now, could he). Merlin whispered to Arthur, "Don't make the sorcerer angry please. I'd like to live for another day, thank you very much." Merlin received another smack on his head as a reply.

The sorcerer chuckled at the exchange, "It does not matter if you listen to me, Pendragon, only that you are given the message."

Arthur crossed his arms, "Fine, get on with it."

"I'm telling you at great risk to myself. In no less than five days, an army of sorcerers will march on Camelot." Arthur paled considerably, but the man continued without hesitation, "Camelot can be saved however, but it will come at a great price. Are you willing to pay that price?"

Arthur nodded, "No price is too great to save my people."

"You must remember that it was you, Arthur Pendragen, who chose this path. You were not forced by any sort of magic."

"I will."

"Then my work here is done. But before I go, I will leave you with one last thing. It has been foretold that two people will save your kingdom; a man who is magic, and someone who is no longer trusted. Only if these two work together can your city be saved."As the sorcerer uttered this last sentence, he began to fade.

"Wait!" Arthur called in desperation, "How am I supposed to find them if I don't know who they are?"

The sorcerer, now almost transparent, laughed. "If it were that easy Prince, many more kingdoms would still be standing." And with one last chuckle, the sorcerer was gone.

Arthur and Melin turned to one another, both unsure of what to say. Finally, the silence was broken by Merlin, "You know what they say, it can't get much wor-"

Merlin was cut off by Arthur grabbing his collar, "Don't you dare finish that sentence Merlin. Don't even think those words, or I swear to God, I will have you put in the stocks until your back naturally bends that way."

Arthur let go of Melin and stalked off in the direction of Camelot. Merlin mumbled, "What's his problem?" Fortunately for Merlin, Arthur was too far away to hear his words.

This is my first fanficition, so I just wanted to say hello to all you Merlin fans(hopefully) reading this. If you have any suggestions for where you'd like the story to go, feel free to review :) I hope you enjoy the rest of this story!

I would like to say a huge thank you to SapphireNight, for being a great beta.

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