It was deathly quiet in the woods this time of night, and Merlin would gladly admit that the silence was freaking him out a little. In fact, this would have to be at least the fifth time this night that he has mentioned it.

'Don't be such a girl, Merlin. There are no monsters in the woods, remember?'

'But- but Arthur, something isn't right! I'm telling you, something is out there watching us!'

Arthur stopped in his tracks, spinning around to look at Merlin with an annoyed look on his face.

'If you're so afraid, Merlin, go back.'

Merlin looked into Arthur's eyes, hypnotised by the mix of blue and green, and he knew that he could never leave Arthur out in these woods alone, especially not with something out there, hunting them down.

'No. I'm not leaving you.' Merlin says, quietly, and Arthur nods.

'Good.' He says. 'Now, hurry up!'

By the time Merlin looks back up, Arthur is already a way ahead of him, walking faster than he was before.

'Wai- Arthur!' Merlin calls out, rushing to catch up with the Prince.

The sun had been gone for almost two hours now, the air had grown cooler and there were no longer birds tweeting. The dark cave they had come upon seemed evil, and Merlin certainly had no intention of walking into it any time soon, but Arthur didn't seem put-off by the smell of burning or the old, dead trees that blocked the entrance. Merlin reached out, gripping the prince's arm. Arthur turned around, reluctant to wait any longer.

'What, Merlin? He asked, no less irritated than before.

'Are you sure this is a good idea?'

'No. But I'm going anyway!' Arthur replied, shaking off Merlin's hand.

'Just think about this, Arthur! This place has been untouched for centuries, it's a sacred ground! Do you really thin-'

'Shut up, Merlin.' Arthur retorted, squeezing through a gap in the sea of trees that lay ahead.

Arthur looked into the cave, hypnotised by the darkness, and scared by the eerie silence. A sense of dread suddenly washed over him, and he stumbled backwards a few steps, almost knocking into Merlin. Spinning around, Arthur narrowed his eyes, while Merlin took in the expression on his face.

'What, Arthur, what's wrong?' Merlin asked, taking a step forward.

'Nothing's wrong, why would anything be wrong? I'm fine.' Arthur spat out quickly, trying to convince himself more that Merlin. He could feel his heart beating through his chest, his breathing sounded unbelievably loud. Arthur sighed and looked around him, frowning.

'H-how do we get out of here?' he asked, moving towards a cluster of trees and trying to see through them. It was useless, he could see nothing but thorns and leaves and branches linking together, stopping him from leaving. Dropping his sword to the ground, Arthur turned and walked to the other side of the clearing, and then the other.

'Damnit!' he exclaimed, angrily, leaning against one of the trees.

'Arthur, calm down. We got in, there's obviously a way to get out.'

'Oh, is there! Well, where is it Merlin?!' Arthur yelled, sliding to the ground and kicking his legs out in front of him. Merlin opened his mouth to reply, and abruptly closed it again as he looked around.

Arthur had a point. Trees surrounded them, and as far as Merlin could see, there were no gaps between them. Merlin could no longer see the way out, and by the look on Arthur's face, it seemed they would have to spend the night here. Merlin walked over to Arthur and sat down next to him.

'It could be worse.' He offered, trying to lighten the situation.

'How?'

'Well… we could be in there.' Merlin said, pointing towards the cave.