Chapter 1

The foliage crunched beneath his feet, loud in the eerily silent forest. He and his companion had forgone all stealth in favour of speed. They just needed to run.

Fast.

A sudden roar from behind him spurred him to move impossibly faster, weapons digging uncomfortably into his hip. He wore only simple clothes made of cloth and leather, giving them none of the protection his usual armour would have, though right now he was grateful for the extra speed.

'That sounded close.'

'Really? Well aren't you the observant one.'

'Shut up, Gwaine.'

Gwaine shot a forced goading grin over his shoulder at his companion, earning an exasperated huff.

'Wait,' Arthur hissed, grabbing the back of Gwaine's coat and jerking him to a stop.

Gwaine coughed and wheezed for a second, rubbing his neck where the coat had dug into it but dutifully fell silent, glancing around the forest with barely concealed trepidation.

The wind tugged softly at the leaves overhead and their breathing was harsh from exertion, no matter how much they tried to stifle the sound. But there. Heavy footfalls that were getting…

Softer?

'It's leaving?' Gwaine breathed incredulously.

'Or regrouping,' Arthur countered darkly.

'Who cares? It's gone, thank the gods,' And with that, Gwaine collapsed onto the ground, arms and legs splayed and looking for the world as though he would never move again.

Arthur looked down at him derisively before sighing and sitting down with his back against a tree next to him, still trying to catch his breath. He looked around the forest, trying to find any kind of distinguishing feature, but coming up short.

Brilliant.

He had already crossed into unfriendly territory when he found the thing, but now, after their frantic dash through the forest he had no idea where he was.

The back of his head thunked against the tree and he groaned. His father was going to kill him. Hell, Morgana was going to kill him. Considering how strange she'd been acting these days, it probably wouldn't be a pleasant death either.

'Well, now that we're not about to be eaten, mind telling your poor drinking buddy just what you've gotten him into?' Gwaine asked. He rolled his head to the side the look at him, heedless of the leaves and hair that fell in his face as he did so.

Arthur met his eye and weighed up his options.

He, Leon and several young knights had been sent to their borders to investigate some rather brutal deaths that seemed to be the work of a magical beast. When the tracks had lead beyond Camelot's territories, Arthur had volunteered to continue alone to see if he could find its lair, despite Leon's vehement protests. He'd removed anything and everything that could identify him as Prince of Camelot, and followed the trail. It lead him to a small town, that he soon found had been suffering attacks by the same creature, the same brutal deaths that left victims frozen in grotesque positions with their veins coated with an unusual black substance, spreading under their skin like a spider web.

Arthur had met Gwaine in the local tavern. Gwaine had been wandering from tavern to tavern and had heard stories of similar deaths through the region. After more than a few pints, some heartfelt declarations and a brawl that got them both kicked out of the establishment, he'd agreed to show Arthur the other places it had attacked. Before too long they'd caught up with it, or rather, it had caught up with them.

So here they were.

Arthur sighed.

'Like I told you, I've been tracking this thing for days. As far as we know it's some kind of magical creature, and it kills indiscriminately. I haven't found any kind of pattern or link between victims, it doesn't even eat them –'

'Gross,' Gwaine cut in. Arthur shot him a look but he just grinned back, unrepentant.

'Anyway, I'm trying to pin it down, find its lair and maybe find a way to kill it if I'm lucky. Gaius, the physician back home, is trying to find out what it is and how to stop it but he was yet to find anything when I left. From experience, I know that getting rid of magical beasts is harder than your average bear,' He finished darkly.

Gwaine studied him a moment before snorting.

'Well ain't you mysterious,' He commented wryly. 'So, this home you'll tell me nothing about has you chasing monsters. You're not very good at the whole, making-yourself-seem-trustworthy thing, are you?' He snorted again but nonetheless shifted himself up into a sitting position with a seemingly great amount of effort.

Arthur grimaced apologetically but didn't elaborate. The fewer people who knew he was from Camelot, the better. They weren't exactly the most beloved kingdom in Albion at the moment.

'Well, if its magic, I might be able to help you out with that,' Gwaine said.

Arthur tensed before he could stop himself, hand creeping towards the sword sheathed at his hip.

'Are you a sorcerer?' He couldn't believe it. Gwaine, ridiculous Gwaine who cracked the worst jokes at the most inappropriate times but that was ridiculously skilled with a sword and agreed to help him on a dangerous quest because he thought it sounded like fun, was a sorcerer?

'What?' Gwaine looked amused. 'Gods no. As someone who chases magic monsters, I assume you've heard that learning magic takes time and patience. Not exactly my strongest trait, but I might know someone who can help us.'

'Us? You still want to help me after all this?' Arthurs eyebrows shot up incredulously.

'Sure,' Gwaine replied easily with a roguish grin, 'I've always liked the look of bad odds.'

He stood up with a flourish then reached a hand out to Arthur. Arthur stared at him blankly, then shook his head with an incredulous grin and took the proffered limb.

Gwaine hauled Arthur to his feet then looked around thoughtfully.

'Hmm, looks like we're near the Perilous Lands,' he looked towards the sky then nodded decisively.

'Yep, definitely the Perilous Lands. That's good though!' he hastily added, seeing Arthurs horrified face. 'That means we're pretty close to the friend I mentioned who can probably help us. Maybe. He runs an inn not too far from here.'

'Am I safe in assuming this inn has a bar of some sort?' Arthur sighed.

Gwaine acquiesced that point with a mock sage face.

'Very true my mysterious friend, you are wise beyond your years.'

Gwaine turned back and forth for a minute, getting his bearings, before crowing triumphantly and pointing confidently in some direction.

'It's this way, I'm absolutely sure of it.'

Arthur looked at him with a deadpan expression before mentally shrugging. He had no clue where he was, so he might as well follow the madman he'd somehow managed to find himself stuck in an unfamiliar land with.

'Onward then. I hope this friend of yours is as helpful as you say he is. Picking up the trail after this is going to be a nightmare,' Arthur shuddered, thinking of Leon who had no doubt already told the King about his hastily-made plan who was likely already planning the lecture of a lifetime for when he got back, if he got back.

No, when. Definitely when.

'Don't worry, he's great. Though I should probably warn you, considering that less than encouraging reaction you had to thinking I was a sorcerer,' Gwaine looked pointedly at the hand still hovering near the hilt of his sword, which Arthur removed hastily. 'He gets a whole lot of, let's say, interesting patrons. Magic's legal in these lands, though a lot of people still get antsy around it, 'specially since we're relatively close to Camelot here. Since he has magic himself, he takes in pretty much all the magic folk that come through. He's a decent bloke though, and a good friend,' He finished with a fond grin.

Arthur grimaced. No matter how "decent" the man, he was still going to a bloody sorcerer for help when he was on a quest given to him by the king of Camelot.

He took a deep breath. He could do this. No one knew that he was royalty in Camelot, and all he had to do was go in, get the information he needed, and get out. If the sorcerer figured out who he was and attacked, well, he thought grimly, it wouldn't be the first time he'd had to kill a sorcerer.

He took another breath and looked at Gwaine, who was watching him calculatingly.

'I'll keep that in mind.'

The was a pause, before Gwaine replied.

'Good. Then let's go.'

Hey guys, this is my first published story so let me know what you think and I apologise in advance for any grammatical errors that I miss in proofreading.

Happy reading!

~Seagrass12