Into the Light

AN- Hello again! I'm back! I've been out of wifi for quite a long time so if I didn't get a chance to reply to you last time then I'm really sorry but I appreciate it just the same. You're all awesome! And it makes me incredibly sad to say that this but this will the last ever chapter of the Sorcerer's Shadow. As in,"The end". I've loved writing this story with all my heart but I've finally lost my inspiration for it so I'm going to end it with the chapter I wrote before I wrote chapter one. So you'll know this was always the way it was going to end.

Thank you everyone who reviewed, alerted and favourited for inspiring me all the way through this story and making me believe in myself as a writer. This chapter is dedicated to all of you.

Finally, I will be returning to this fandom with another story at some point (I already have one planned) but I don't want to write it until my inspiration kicks back in so it might not be until series 5 starts. But don't give up on me, i will be back!

So thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy the final chapter of the Sorcerer'Shadow. And I would love it if you reviewed one last time to tell me what you think. Of this chapter, of this story as a whole or of the ending. It was always going to end like this. But you all made it possible for me to get there.

Cloud-dee

In the end, destiny is unavoidable. Though you may fight and run, struggle and do everything you can to prevent it coming true, it will always come back. Destiny will always have its way.

Many, many years ago destiny had dictated that the warlock Emrys would help the Once and Future king achieve peace and unity to the land of Albion and return magic and the balance of nature. The stubbornness and narrow-mindedness of a prince had almost changed that. But in the end Destiny had its way as it always did.

A young witch, however good her intentions were, was always destined to become the villain of legend, because it was what Destiny decreed. A beautiful peasant woman who one day roes to be queen would always betray her king, no matter how much she loved him, because that was the path destiny saw fit for her to take. And a powerful young druid boy would always kill the king, no matter how many kindnesses had been done to him, because that was his destiny.

There were only three in the world who knew of this. A silent man sat far away in a cave where time would not touch, writing out the parts before the characters had even been created, designing the turn of the world before the world had begun. A great dragon, the last of his kind, allowed to know,but never prevent, only to sit and watch as destiny unfolded. And a great friend, who had protected and served no matter the cost, and could save the one he watched from everything but fate.

From the minute he died, Merlin knew. He could look, see and predict the future, the many dangers Arthur would face and the only ways he could be saved. It was like an instinct, like the one he had used to save Arthur all his life, a gut feeling that had protected him for so many years, only this one was a thousand times stronger. He could see and plan each and every way he had to act to save Arthur's life. But he also knew, from the second breath left his body, that there was one thing he could not protect his friend from, no matter how hard he wished he could.

The once and future king was destined to die by the hands of the one he had saved, a young druid boy with steel in his eyes and ice in his heart. This was what destiny decided and there was nothing anyone could do to change that. In life, Merlin had blamed himself. For not acting, for not following the advice of his mentor and allowing an innocent child to die. But now he could see that no matter what he had done, somehow, the boy would have escaped, he would have ended up harbouring a murderous rage and he would deal the fatal blow that would strike down the greatest king to ever live.

So Merlin went about his not-life, protecting his friend, watching the kingdom grow into everything he had hoped it would be, watching his dreams come true, but all the while sensing the darkened threat of destiny lurking in the shadows behind him. But he knew that nothing happened without a purpose and if Arthur's death on the battlefield by Mordred's hand was the path chosen, well…who was he to deny the master he had served all his life. Destiny.

And he watched with a mixture of dread and anticipation as the armies of darkness amassed on last time and for the first time in his life, he was powerless to help.

For Arthur, he knew none of this. He remained as blissfully ignorant in his later life as he had been all those years ago when he had had an illegal warlock as his best friend. He continued to rule fair and just, with his beloved queen at his side. Proudly, he watched as a son of his own grew, dark-haired and strong, with his own skill with a blade and his aunt's powers in magic, although with none of the darkness that rested in her heart.

He could see that one day his son would be a great king, with his wise, fair mother to guide him, so he had no fear of death. When he marched into battle he was proud and brave, the golden dragon and Pendragon red fluttering proudly before him. And on the day of his final battle, the soldiers later recalled their final memory of him to be the greatest king they had ever know, his hair clouding his face like a golden halo and his sword flashing in the new day sun, charging them to his final, glorious victory.

And when Arthur was dealt his mortal blow, just as destiny had foretold so many years ago, the whole of Camelot mourned and Albion seemed to turn dark with the loss. But for Arthur, the day he died was not a sad one. And that was because, as he lay drawing his last breaths, through the half closed lids of his eyes, he could see a very familiar figure standing, waiting for him in the shadows. As the people surrounding him watched, Arthur smiled, a smile of true happiness, before he closed his eyes forever. And in the last few seconds of his life, he whispered just two words that would puzzle many for years to come and that none but a few would ever truly understand.

"He's here."

Then Arthur died.

The world mourned, but Arthur knew none of this, nor did he care. All he knew was that here at last, he could see his friend again. He smiled and Merlin smiled back and Arthur knew that in that moment, everything was finally alright again. He was here, really here this time, and when Arthur reached out to embrace his friend he was as solid and real as Arthur remembered him in life, not like the shadow he had later become. He wasn't alive but that didn't matter anymore. Merlin beckoned to him, then turned to walk away and Arthur followed, unknowingly leaving his body and his life behind him.

The two friends were finally reunited once more and together they walked, out of the shadows of the mortal word and into the light of Avalon.

The End