Night had descended over Camelot, and Merlin was glad to see the castle as they emerged from the forest. He spurred his horse on, keeping up with Arthur and the accompanying knights. Their trip had been a successful one, and Merlin knew it was fundamental in keeping their neighbouring kingdom an allied friend. He looked behind him at the rest of the group; an uneasy feeling that they were being followed had settled itself in his stomach. He turned forward, shaking his head. He was just being paranoid.

"Merlin, take the horses and make sure they're fed, watered and secured." Arthur slid off his horse in the courtyard, slinging the bag of gifts over his shoulder and shoving the reigns of the horse into Merlin's hand. Merlin nodded and took the reigns of the other horses, still feeling watched as he led them to the stables. The horses seemed jittery too, whinnying and snorting, and ears swivelling constantly. Merlin led them into their stalls and bolted them in after removing their tack, feeding and watering them, and giving them each a good rub-down to prevent tendon damage.

Merlin made sure the stable door was bolted shut and began to cross the courtyard towards Gaius' chambers at a quick pace, still feeling followed.

Suddenly something blurred in front of him and melted into the shadows. Merlin stopped and looked around, the uneasiness growing. The air was tense now, and thick. Merlin picked up speed. In his periphery, he picked up movement once more. Again something streaked past, only in Merlin's field of vision for a second before disappearing back into the shadows on the other side. A low laugh sounded from the darkness, low and menacing. Once more something streaked behind him, the wind generated by the movement ruffling Merlin's hair. "Who's there?" Merlin was scared now, he new something dark was hunting, and he was the prey. He broke into a run towards the door, but before he could make it, something slammed into him, and pushed him to the ground. He squirmed and tried to fight it off, but it was too strong. It pushed him into the ground, a clammy cold hand clamped around his throat and choking him. He found himself being dragged towards the centre of the courtyard, still fighting. Merlin felt something cold brush the back of his neck, making every hair stand on end. That low, menacing laugh sounded again before a sharp pain jolted just below his left ear. Merlin screamed as burning pain stretched through his body, rippling through every nerve ending. Merlin screamed as he felt the life being sucked from him.

Arthur sat up. Someone was screaming in the courtyard, and as he listened, he recognised the scream as Merlin's. He immediately got up, and raced towards the source of the sound to see a dark figure bent over Merlin. "Hey!" He shouted, running quickly over.

The figure looked up, a dark hood hiding its face in shadow. It hissed and disappeared in a flash, blending away into the darkness. Arthur focused his attention on Merlin, who had stopped screaming and now lay unmoving and silent on the cold floor, sticky crimson blood still oozing from a small tear in his neck. "Merlin!" Arthur ran over and scooped his manservant into his arms. "Merlin?"

"Arthur?" Merlin was deathly pale, and his eyes seemed dull. "Help…me."

"Merlin, stay with me, you hear? Stay with me!" He broke into a run and was soon in Gaius' chambers.

"Gaius! Help him!" Arthur gently set Merlin down on the narrow table, supporting his head.

Gaius immediately rushed over. "What happened?"

"He was attacked…by this…this thing." Arthur was shaking, the image of that thing drinking Merlin's blood still fresh in his mind, ingrained onto his very retinas. He shook the image from his head and concentrated on keeping Merlin supported.

"He's losing a lot of blood; I need to fix that cut." Gaius went to get a needle and some thread to suture the wound closed, and Arthur let out a small sob.

"Don't die, Merlin, please." He ran a hand through Merlin's thick dark hair.

Gaius returned with the needle and thread, and gave Arthur a weak smile. "I'll do all I can, but I don't think he'll make it."

Arthur nodded and gulped back a second sob; he knew Merlin was going to die, it was inevitable.