Hey there just a quick little one-shot for you all! Set pre-series when Merlin is about 7-8.

The small boy sat watching the clouds. It was summer and in the heat of the day the Ealdor farmers had taken a few hours off to allow the heat to wane a little before continuing work. So he had run off to the shade of the surrounding trees to rest, and possibly take a small nap. Or make twigs fly about, giving chase to the small woodland critters.

He stopped instantly when a set of footsteps came crashing through the woods into his shaded spot.

"Oi! Get outta here brat!" Merlin stood up but kept his ground against the single bully who had found his get-away.

"No, I was here first!" The bully, Hugo, stepped forward growling in a way that matched the brutish child's appearance.

"Well I'm here now! So scoot!" Merlin shook his head and Hugo ran towards him yelling.

And then stopped as an overhanging tree-branch was snapped off by a large hawk landing on it, causing the bird to squawk and fly off. Said branch landed on the bully's head knocking him clean out. Merlin grinned, then giggled and headed home to tell his mother how his name-sake helped him out.

And many years later he would remember that day, as he dropped perfectly healthy branches on top of the heads of those who tried to hurt his friends, hiding behind other trees as he did so.

Even more years later he would laugh along with those friends, as he recounted the tale to them, all of them laughing at the pure luck even the young version of their court sorcerer (Warlock, as he would remind them) had had.

But for now he would run giggling, towards his mothers hut, blissfully unaware of the dangerous future ahead of him.