Hi everyone!

First Merlin-fic, so feedback on the characters -or anything else for that matter- is greatly appreactiated. Also, English is not my first language, so feel free to correct me at any time. Or if there are any people interested in beta-ing...just say the word.

That being said, the idea of this story came to me while rewatching the sixth season of another one of my favorite tv-shows: charmed. So Charmed fans might stumble on a few familiar settings or sayings. :)

The story is set a week after Kilgarrah's attack on Camelot -2x13; the last dragonlord-.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the hird season -didn't we all love that last episode?- but there were some things that didn't line up with this story and I might have wanted to see differently.

So enough babbling...enjoy!

1. Introduction

They had warned for the King's hatred against magic, his hatred against my people, his hatred for the thing that couldn't save his wife.
They had warned us for the dangers of this time, and our influence on those.
They had warned us that the truth could never be told, that some things in the future were to precious to change.
They had not warned us however that everything we knew would be different, everyone we knew would have changed, everyone we loved would not yet know us.

They had not warned us it would be this difficult.

2. An unexpected hand

Arthur turned in his crouch, his sword drawn towards the cracking of wood behind him.

After his victory on the great dragon only a week ago, they had started the reconstruction of Camelot, thereby accepting offers to help from ally-kingdoms, and friendly declining the help of those who secretly wished to overthrow the thrown. Many surrounding kingdoms that had a difficult understanding and peace with Camelot had sent scouts to take a look for their selves. To see if this was their chance to take over the kingdom, while it was still weak. His father had laid the task on Arthur to show them Camelot was still fully strong, while in fact, it would not survive an invasion. So here he was, in the forests of Camelot, waiting for the raiders to come out of their hiding place, without any form of backup, since the few knights that had survived the dragon's rage were still recovering from their wounds or in a desperate search for Morgana. The entire forest was silent. Too silent. Not a bird that sang, nor a river that flowed.

Which brought him back to the earlier crack of wood he had heard. He was about to jump out of his hiding place to overthrow this invader of his kingdom, but as he sneaked closer, he noticed two familiar ears coming into his direction. "Merlin!" he hissed annoyed by his useless servant. He was beside him in mere seconds. "Yes Sire?" the dark haired boy asked. "Why do I even bring you on these kinds of things?" the Crowned Prince asked more to himself than to the boy as he went back to his hiding place. "Because you would get killed without me." the boy called Merlin answered nevertheless, a huge grin plastered all over his face. "Not much of a difference there then." the Prince muttered back between his teeth. Although he had to admit, if not to Merlin, never to Merlin, then to himself, the Prince quite liked his servants company. He was totally useless as a servant, totally useless while hunting, and definitely totally useless in battle, but there was just something about the raven-haired boy, something he couldn't put his finger on. That, and the fact that the boy had more then once been willing to die for or with him, made Arthur value and trust him more then any of his knights. To him, Merlin was the best friend, the only friend he had ever had. Although, like he said before, he would never say that out loud, to anyone, least of all to the boy himself. To the outside world, he was the Crowned Prince of Camelot and Merlin was just his servant. And that was how it was supposed to be.

The boy just laughed as he followed his master, somehow making a lot more noise then he was, in the progress. "Shh!" Arthur suddenly motioned his servant to be quiet, while he peered trough the bushes to the open space in front of them. He cursed silently under his breath, though not to quiet for Merlin to hear. "Sire?" the boy asked as he came to sit next to him, looking at the open place in front of them. "Assailants." The young prince explained in hushed tones, his eyes scanning the area. Merlin turned back to the clearing in front of them, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "I don't…" he began to say as suddenly an arrow hit the tree next to his head. A battle cry suddenly filled the clearing as several tall dark men came out of their hiding places. Merlin had no time to think before Arthur jumped out of his own hiding place, his sword blocking the blow of a raider who was already rushing towards them. He quickly disarmed the man, slicing his chest in the progress. There was, however no time to gloat over the little victory as the other men now swiftly made their way to the only danger they could see, the Crowned Prince of Camelot. "Merlin, do something!" he cried out as he tried to fight of three of the villains at the same time.

The felons, suddenly aware that there must be another opponent, rapidly made their way to Arthur's previous hiding place. Before either of them knew what happened that young servant jumped out of the tree he was hiding in, on the back of one of the invaders. This one however, hardened by many years of training and supported by his physical advantage quickly succeeded in throwing Merlin of his back. Before the servant was even half recovered from his blow to the ground the sword of the tall looking man was already swaying towards his head. He only managed to clumsy block the blow with his own sword right before it would have sliced his throat. "Merlin! Stop lying around and help me already!" the Prince, still fighting the three other opponents, said, obviously irritated by his clumsy servant. With a sudden light of inspiration, Merlin quickly turned around, like he had seen Arthur do many times before, causing the sword of the other man to hit the grass beside him instead of his head. He stood up swiftly, and brought his sword before him in a defending way. The other man charged and Merlin immediately felt that he was no match to the bigger and stronger man in front of him. Soon his sword flew out of his hand, landing several feet away from him. The thug in front of him smiled a toothless grin, closing him in between a tree trunk and himself, like a cat would do with a tiny mouse. Merlin looked around him in shock, searching for anything that might help, when his eye caught sight of the heavy branch above the assailants head. "sæge " his eyes flashed golden and before the man in front of him even knew what was happening, the heavy branch knocked him unconscious.

Quickly Merlin turned towards Arthur, who was having a hard time with his opponents, but before he could even stick out his hand for another enchantment, a bright whirlpool of light appeared in the middle of the clearing. All men, including Arthur, stopped fighting to look at the hypnotizing vortex. Two small dots emerged in the middle, growing swiftly, until a young woman and man stepped out of the current of light, which closed as abruptly as it had appeared. The warriors stared at them in shock and before their fear could overtake them and make them pick up their weapons, the girl's hands flew out, causing the assailants to fly through the air, landing at the border of the clearing. They got up swiftly, their clothes a clumsy mess as they ran as fast as their feet could carry them, away from Camelot.

Arthur however, finally over the first shock quickly picked up his sword and pointed it at the young woman in front of him. He was shocked to see she could not be older then Merlin. She was dressed like a warrior, though she wore the clothes with an elegance that could only be described as noble. Her fitting trousers were tucked into her ankle-high leather boots, the heft of a knife just audible, her loose shirt held together by a shiny belt, decorated by all kinds of symbols, as was the broche which held her dark red cloak around her shoulders. Her sword hung lightly on her left hip, though she just made it very clear she did not need it to defend herself. Merlin could feel the magic vibrating off this woman, and though she just might have saved Arthur's life, he did not know if he trusted this stranger. The young man beside her wore a similar cloak and if the crest on his chest had been that of a lion instead of a dragon and a sword, he could have been one of Camelot's knights. What was left of them anyway.

"Do not fear us, My Lord." the girl suddenly addressed Arthur, curtsying a little. "For we are here to help."