A scream echoed through the village on the coast followed by the wail of a newborn baby. Two figures stood unmoving at a knoll nearby. The shorter was young, no older than twelve years, his black hair hidden by the hood of his deep red cloak. The most startling feature were the pair of smoldering gray eyes on the handsome face.

Beside him, the years were evident on his elderly companion's face. Years had curved the shoulders that had once filled out the shimmering blue and red cloak. Blue eyes that had not faded in color peered out over a wrinkled nose and a long white beard.

Both were covered head to toe in travel dust, as they were just arriving in the tiny village of Caperion. The elderly man gestured to the town, but his voice was strong, as though he was a man in the prime of his life only trapped in the elderly body. "That's him." He stared down the hill, using his gnarled cane to keep his footing.

The young boy pressed his thin lips together tightly, his eyes darting over the landscape and not missing a thing. "Are you sure?" His words were clipped, the doubt obvious.

"Positive, Dominic." The elderly replied, descending the hill at a speed that defied his age.

Dominic followed him hardly believing that long months of travel and search had led them to some small village. It seemed rather inconsequential.

He sighed at the boy's impatience. For all Dominic's skills with magic, he'd never had the patience to accompany it. They arrived in the village and walked to a well-kept house near the center. Without announcing their arrival in any way, he walked straight through the door and into the smoky room.

Inside, the tiny wails of the newborn filled the warm room. A woman in her early thirties lay exhausted on a bed, strands of her hair stuck to her face as the midwife tended to her.

"Who are you?!" a short man demanded, holding the child roughly in his hands, four other children stood behind him, their eyes wide at the intruders entrance.

"I," he fixed vivid blue eyes on the baby boy. The child met the man's gaze and immediately quieted. "Am Merlin."

In the silence that followed, Dominic noted the quiet care of the house despite the children's toys that littered the floor everything was in its place. The four children all similar in complexion and hair color became a little more brazen and studied the strange intruders with avid interest. They'd heard stories, rumblings and rumors from the other children in the village about Merlin the magician and this was the fantasy brought to life. How jealous their friends would be when they found out!

"This is my apprentice, Dominic," he gestured to the side. "We've come for the child."

Dominic gave a curt nod of his head, revealing nothing but he offered a hint of a smile to the children.

"My son?"

"Yes," Merlin nodded, his eyes piercing the other man's as he reached for the child. The father released him automatically. He cradled the child gently and smiled as the baby regarded him curiously.

"What-what are you going to do with him?" the mother asked, her voice panicked.

"I'm taking him to Camelot. He has much to learn there."

"B-but, he's my son!" the father decried.

Merlin narrowed his eyes, angered at the man's impertinence. "You are a bad father, John. Do not attempt to convince me otherwise. He will have a good life with me, I assure you."

John felt a warm comforting sensation overcome him and he nodded in a daze, "Yes, of course."

Merlin turned to the bed and walked to the woman who lay there, "Milady, name your son, so that he may meet his destiny."

Tears ran down her cheeks as she stared into the blue of Merlin's eyes. "Pacey." She ran a hand over the tuft of light brown hair on the baby's head, "His name is Pacey."