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"In a land of myth,
and a time of magic,
the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy.
His name... Merlin."

What Merlin didn't know, was that it wouldn't be just the Kingdom of Camelot, but the United Kingdom; A great kingdom indeed...

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Merlin always knew that if he could change one thing in the last 16 Centuries he'd been alive and kicking, it would be the elimination of human dreams.
Man, did he hate dreams.

He was exhausted. Merlin always had the same reoccuring nightmares that intruded his mind when he was at his most vulnerable state; asleep.
He would relive all those dreadful times in his early stages of life, when he was just a young boy; The 5th Century, which included the stressful and terrifying reign of King Uther, a horrible man, yet the Father of his best friend, Arthur, nevertheless.

Merlin's very existence itself went against Uther's core belief; That magic, and all those who possessed it, should be put to death.
Therefore, every time Merlin took a breath of fresh air, every time he blinked his eyes, or just simply lived within the Kingdom of Camlot, he was going against everything Uther ever believed in, although, at the time it was unbeknownst to Uther, and that was terrifying.
You see, when Uther was alive, he never knew that Merlin was a Warlock. If he had of known, Merlin would be executed, right on the spot.

Arthur, King Arthur that is, (You know, the dude that pulled out the sword stuck in stone?) he was Merlin's best friend. And the very moment he found out about Merlin's existence as a Warlock, he died. Bummer.

The last real look Merlin could remember on Arthur's dying face, his best friend, was a look of betrayal and fear. Merlin was the very thing that Arthur was taught to hate and fear, and in the end, it felt like that had come true.

For years, Merlin had thought that the worst thing that could happen to him would be if he was put to death, that being if Camlot found out his secret. He'd been so close to being found out and executed, numerous times. It was the worst kind of fear he had ever experienced.
That was, until Arthur died. That was the day he realised that death, wasn't his biggest fear, but rejection and isolation was.

The irony? Death took revenge on him. Death took away his morality, cursed him with immortality, and gave him rejection and isolation to spend eternity with. That, Merlin always thought, was a fate worse than death, worse than Hell.

Nevertheless, Merlin still dreamt. He dreamt of the war between Morgana and Camelot and worse of all, the death of his friend, Arthur. It was always Arthur, every night, in his dreams. Merlin watched repetively through dream the death of Arthur. The sword impaling him, one last fatal blow. Then, when he managed to just about survive that, and he found his way to Merlin, he discovered the truth, and died in Merlin's arms.
If his chest and body where already aching with these memories and the anxiety that came with it, it was nothing compared to what was about to happen next.
His dreams always changed to a different scene. A setting filled with fog.
There was no light, no smell. No sound either, a pebble could drop, and there was just nothing. That's where Merlin found himself in his dreams then, he was in nothing.
And then, he would see something, an object in the distance. He would run, and the grounds texture would change. Suddenly, he was in a lake, swimming towards the mysterious object. He'd start to get close, and the object would reveal itself as a wooden boat, sailing peacefully into the abiss.
When Merlin squinted his eyes and looked deeper, he would see a body- Arthur, inside the boat. Arthur lay there still, wearing the same battle uniform he wore the day he died.
Merlin would swim as fast as he could towards him, he'd try to call him, but his voice would not come, his voice would be gone. Arthur! He'd try and scream, Arthur! But alas, he was just shouting inside his mind, watching his soul mate sail off without him.
And then, Merlin would forget how to swim. The lake would take him, pull him down under its surface. And he'd kick and scream, trying to reach the surface, trying to get to Arthur. But dreams are cruel. They know you better than you know yourself, so they use that knowledge against you. Use your biggest, deepest fears against you.
And suddenly, when Merlin gave in, and everything was still and quiet and he could have swore that this was death, dream took him by the hand and dragged him, fast, into a land of memories. Dream, made him watch, watch it all again. And he did,
It all came in a bundle, so fast:

Merlin: The Return Of The Once And Future King.   (BBC MERLIN)Where stories live. Discover now