It was a cold and breezy Fall. The leaves were changing colors and falling off the trees, and the kids would rake them into piles and jump in them. Megan, a 16 year old girl, wasn’t allowed outside. “Merlin, please may I go outside? All my friends are out there having a great time and I’m stuck inside.” She said with a small pout on her face. “Megan, you know why you can’t go outside! You haven’t gotten control of your powers yet. And both you and I are both afraid that something will happen.” He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, she started to cry, “It’s just not fair! All the other kids can go and do normal things like play outside, go to activities, and have fun. But, not me I have to stay inside because of this stupid curse.” “Now you listen to me Megan,” Merlin said with a serious face, “your magic is not a curse! It’s a wonderful gift that both you and I have. You just have to get control of it first, and then once that happens you can do whatever you want. I promise!” She looked at him and was very silent; she just looked outside at her friends having fun.
That night Megan decided to go outside for once. She got on her jacket and pulled on her boots. She quietly sneaks to the door trying her best not to wake Merlin. She opens the door and slips out. The cool breeze hits her skin, she smiles and runs around and plays in the leaves that were still in piles. She lies down in a pile of leaves and looks up at the stars. Just then a shadow creeps over her, “Nice night wouldn’t you say?” Megan jumps up out of shock. “Prince Arthur? Is that you?” He comes into the light, “Why, yes it is! And you must be Megan, Merlin’s sister?” she smiles and puts her hair behind her ear. “Yes, I am! It’s nice to finally meet you. Merlin has told numerous stories about you.” Arthur laughs, “I hope they’re good ones about me?!” he says with a smile. She smiles at him then stands up and brushes the leaves off her person. “Well, yes they’re good ones. I particularly like the one with you pinning Merlin to the target with your sword.” Arthur laughs, then says, “By the way, what are you doing out here at this time of night?” Megan looks around nervously, “Look I’ve been locked on down in my house for days. I had to get out!” Arthur smiles at her, “Hey, I understand. I haven’t had anytime to myself for the past eight weeks. This is the only time I have to myself is at night.” He pauses then continues. “Hey, how about I show you the town. I mean you’re out here all by yourself and I don’t want you to get hurt or anything.” He smiles at her and hands her his hand, she smiles and says “Sounds great!” She takes his hand and they go walking off.

The next morning Megan wakes up to her brother calling her name. She looks around her room and sees Arthurs jacket from last night. She quickly grabs it and shoves it under her bed. “Megan, wake up.” Merlin says walking into her room. “I am up! Well at least now I am.” She says with a laugh. “Well, hurry up and get out of bed. We have a lot of work to do today.” Merlin says walking out of his sister’s room to start making breakfast. Megan gets up out of bed and puts Arthur’s jacket in her backpack. She gets dressed then walks out of her room and sits down at the table to eat breakfast. Merlin hands her some breakfast and they begin to eat. “So,” Merlin begins to say, “Where did you go last night?” Megan spits out the last bite of food she just put in her mouth. “How did you know?” she says with a nervous look. “Megan, I’m your brother. I know you like the back of my hand.” She smiles then all of the color in her face left as she thought to herself, ‘Do I tell him about what really happened last night?’ she finally speaks. “Oh, I just went outside and played in the leaves. Then went strolling through the park and then came home.” Merlin looks at his sister with suspicion, then looks down at his food and says, “Okay! If that’s what happened…that’s what happened. Did you have any…you know…magic slip-ups?” Megan smiles at her brother, “Thank goodness no! I think the training is really helping though.” She smiles and finishes her breakfast. “Well, I think I’m going to go to the market today. I’ll catch up with you later.” She waves good bye to Merlin, then walks out the door with her backpack. When she gets to the market she runs into a very familiar face. “Hey, watch where you’re…” she says as someone rudely bumps into her, but then she realizes who that someone is. “Arthur? What are you doing out here at this time of day?” Arthur realizes that the person he bumped into was Megan, “Megan! Oh… I’m just taking a stroll around the neighbor hood. Care to join me?” Megan smiles and says, “Oh sure. Why not! I got plenty of time.” The two of them begin walking down the neighborhood. “So,” Arthur begins to say as he takes her hand. “Last night, I had fun! Most fun I’ve had in years actually.” She smiles at him. “I agree! It was fun! Just walking around and looking at the town after night fall. I never thought the stars could shine that bright.” She says with a smile. Then the two of them come to this lake and they stop. Megan gets a big smile on her face. “Wow! This is beautiful! I remember coming to a similar lake when I was a little girl.” Arthur looks at her and they sit down in the warm, green grass. “Really! Tell me about it?!” she smiles then looks at him, “Well, it was when I was six years old. Merlin and I lived by this gorgeous lake; I think its name was Yeti Lake or something like that. Anyway, we would always pack a lunch and our swimming suits and we would spend the whole day at the lake. We had so much fun when we were little. Now…” she stopped herself, Arthur looked at her with confusion in his eyes. “What is it Megan?” “Now…it’s like we have no time to have that kind of fun anymore. Merlin is always gone and I’m always busy with work and such. It’s crazy!” Arthur looks at her with a smile on his face. “Megan, have you talked to your brother about this?” She lets out a big sigh. “No, I haven’t. I’m too scared to. Last time I talked to him about it, he wouldn’t talk to me for days.” Megan stands back up to her feet. “Speaking of Merlin, I should probably get home. Merlin is probably worried about where I’m at since I told him I would only be gone for an hour and a half.” She starts walking away, but Arthur catches up to her, “So… you want to meet up tonight? We could go to the light show. I hear it’s very colorful.” She smiles at him, she was just about to say yes when this dragon came bursting out of the sky. It lands right in front of her, “Megan…Megan…Megan.” says the dragon, “you shouldn’t be out here all alone.” Arthur steps in front of her, “You leave her alone!” The dragon just ignores his comment and throws him aside and grabs Megan. “Arthur, get Merlin… tell him peaches are now in season.” She screams at the top of her lungs as the dragon carries her away.
Arthur now in complete shock runs to Merlin’s house and pounds on the door. “Merlin…open up quick.” Merlin comes to the door. “Oh, hello sir. I…” “Merlin…” Arthur interrupts, “its Megan. The peaches are now in season!” Merlin’s eyes widen. “Where…when…how?!” Arthur catches his breath “We were in the park…by the lake…” Arthur takes a breath. “We were heading back to her house and this dragon came down from the sky. It knew her name, I told it to leave her alone, but it just threw me out of its way and grabbed her and carried her off. Merlin, what are we going to do?!” Merlin sits down in a chair at the table; he tries to comprehend everything that Arthur just told him. But his mind was just so boggled and confused that he didn’t know what to think. He finally came back to reality and looked at Arthur, “Wait an apple picking minute. What were you and my sister doing in a park, by yourselves, just the two of you?” Arthur just took a sip of water, but right when Merlin said that he spit it back out onto the ground. “Really Merlin…you pick now to freak out. And to answer your question we ran into each other, literally, at the market. And we started talking, nothing happened between us.” Merlin looks at Arthur with suspicion, but then comes to realize that Arthur meant no harm. “Okay Arthur. I believe you! But… we need to find her. And trust me; it’s not going to be easy. What you’re going to find out about her on this journey may freak you out. But you have nothing to fear.” Merlin quickly packs a few bags with clothes and food. Then he grabs his sisters’ jacket that she wore last night. “Here hold this,” Merlin says handing Arthur her jacket. “This will help us find her. Trust me!”
Arthur holds tight to Megan’s jacket as Merlin sets up the horses. “Sir, where we are going we will be able to take the horses. But only for half the journey, the rest will have to be made on foot.” “Whatever it takes to find Megan…I’ll do it!” Arthur and Merlin climb up on the horses and set off to find Megan. They reach the gate of the land; the guard there looks and sees its Arthur, “Out for another adventure are we?” “Yes! This time though I will be gone for a long time; so you do you job and I will repay you with twice you income!” Arthur says to the guard then rides off; the guard is left there with joy and happiness in his mind. Arthur and Merlin ride for days and days; they finally come to this bridge, it was a troll bridge. All of the sudden a troll jumps out from the bushes. “Who goes there?” the troll says to the boys. Merlin steps forward, “We wish to pass.” The troll laughs, “Only if you can answer this question.” The troll looks at Merlin and then at Arthur and says, “What is the name of the girl you seek to find in here?” Merlin looks at Arthur and Arthur answers, “Her name is Megan.” The troll frowns and says, “So sorry my lad. But that is wrong!” The troll starts to walk away, but Merlin stops him. “Wait…her name is Crystal!” The troll smiles and says, “You may pass!” The boys walk by and cross the bridge. “Crystal?” Arthur says with confusion in his voice. “That’s her nickname. I use to call her Crystal all the time because of how crystal blue her eyes are.” Arthur smiles and says, “They are really blue aren’t they! Really crystal blue!” Merlin snaps his fingers in front of Arthurs face, “Dude! Snap out off it!” Arthur comes too, “Sorry Merlin. I just can’t stop thinking about your sister. Wow that sounded really weird!” Merlin starts to laugh. “You’re in love with my sister aren’t you?” he asks Arthur as they keep walking through the forest. Arthur smiles then stops by a rock and sits down to get a drink. “Merlin, since the day I actually met her. I couldn’t stop thinking about her.” Merlin looks at him with a smidge of confusion in his eyes, “When did you ever meet my sister?” “Well, remember the night she snuck outside. That night…” Merlin looks at Arthur, his mouth gapped open, “You hang out with her that night? No wonder she came home so late!” “Merlin, it just happened! We met and we hung out. We did nothing wrong though. I promise you that!” Merlin smiles than stands back up. And the two of them start walking again. They come to this desert type land full of nasty creatures. Arthur pulls his sword out, just incase he has to defend himself, Merlin gets behind Arthur. They two of them make it half way across, “Arthur, do you think we’ll make it all the way?” Merlin says with a nervous look on his face. “Yeah, I think…” all of the sudden this bird like thing comes out of the sky and grabs both Merlin and Arthur. They try to get out of the birds clutches, but the bird won’t let them go. The bird finally drops them into the land of Varro; it’s the land that Megan was taken too. Merlin and Arthur stand up to their feet and look around. Around them was a cluster of demon type creatures, Merlin looks over at Arthur then looks around himself. “Arthur…look!” he points out a cage to his right. “It’s Megan!” Merlin starts walking toward her, but is then stopped by a swarm of mutant wasps. He backs up to Arthur, “This is going to be more difficult then we thought.” Arthur nods his head yes. Then he pulls out his sword and starts killing off the wasps to get to Megan. Right as he was about to reach the cage, the queen comes down. “Arthur…Arthur…Arthur,” she repeats, “Do you know nothing of this girl?” Arthur looks at the queen with confusion. “Here…let me show you what she can do.” The queen orders her guards to electrocute Megan. Right when they did that, while Megan was being shocked, she threw her hands up and the guards went flying through the air. Arthurs’ mouth gaps open at the site of this, “Megan…you’re…you’re magical?” Megan hangs her head, and shakes it yes. The queen looks at Arthur and laughs. “You pathetic human! You guys can never tell who’s on whose side can you?” The queen kicks Arthur aside, “Pathetic human!” she laughs. Megan looks over at Arthur, then at the queen. She waves her hand and the queen goes flying away from her, she waves her hand that the lock on the cage and it opens. She rushes over to Arthur, “Arthur, are you alright?!” He smiles at her, “Yeah, I’m fine! We should really get out of here.” Arthur stands up and both he and Megan start walking, they make it to the gate and grab Merlin. Before to long the swarm starts coming after them, the three of them start running. But the swarm catches up to them, Megan quickly turns around and says a spell. All of the sudden this force field goes up around them, “Megan! Did you do that?” Arthur says with amazement. “Yes! And there’s a lot you don’t know about me Arthur. But you will soon.” She says with a smile. The wasps swarm around the shield, right then this huge dragon, with claws like a witch, comes bursting out of the sky and whips out the swarm. Megan let’s down the shield, she runs over to the dragon touches his forehead and it flies off. “What was that all about?” Arthur says with a confused voice. “Oh! I can also summon certain animals in times of need. And this was one of those times.” She says with a laugh. The three of them head back to their own land. Upon their arrival they are greeted with a welcome back party. “What is all this?” Arthur says with a smile. One of the guards walks up to Arthur and says, “Congratulations sir! You have defeated the swarm! Three cheers for the three triumphant.” The town gives them three cheers and they throw them a party. For days after Megan and Merlin were looked at as warriors and not just plain towns’ people. And they lived to be kings and queens of the land.