Chapter 2

Merlin walked slowly through the wood, enjoying the cool breeze gently ruffle his hair and the brief glimpses of sun through the trees were warm and welcoming. When he finally had some spare time and no one was bossing him around, when Gaius wasn't making him do any chores, this was how he wanted to spend it. Alone in the peace and quiet with just his thoughts for company.

Though he had a very strong feeling that he was not alone.

Someone, or something, was following him.

He first realised this when he heard a few snappings of twigs, at first he thought of it as nothing but a bird in the tree or a deer, but the sounds that were coming from behind him seemed to be always just behind him. Merlin had never been to this part of the forest before, and as another shiver of fear crept up him he realised why, every time he turned around, he was sure he saw something duck behind a tree. Trying to convince himself that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, he carried on walking and for a few moments the sounds of snapping twigs and rustling leaves died away.

But then the thing behind him began to pick up speed.

Panicking, Merlin too began to pick up speed, running through the forest, his heart pounding in his ears. All he could hear was the rushing of the wind in his ears and the padding footsteps behind him.

Suddenly, the footsteps behind him died away, and Merlin hafted, panting in a clearing surrounded by trees. Had the thing that was chasing him gone? Was there anything chasing him at all?

When Merlin got his breath back and stopped panicking, he started tofeel a bit foolish that he had turned and ran at the faintest of noises. Like a coward. He tried to tell himself that running away was probably a good thing, it could have been anything. Who knows what was hiding out in the unexplored forests, pondering over their dark and evil thoughts...

Something jumped out the trees from just behind him, and almost landed on his back. Merlin cried out in fear and tried to fight off the thing that was clinging onto his shoulders. He heard laughter from just behind his ear, and turned to find himself face to face with his attacker.

"Arthur!" He almost yelled in annoyance, "that wasn't funny!"

"I disagree!" Arthur could bearly reply because he was so full of laughter. "Your face Merlin, it was brilliant! I would pay to see that again!"

His face was so full of joy, which Merlin thought was perhaps a rare thing, Arthur was under so much pressure of being a Prince and trying to please everyone and the prospect of being a King one day it was probably hard to find time to have fun. As the laughter echoed through the trees, even he began to grin, even though he felt he had suffered a major heart attack.

"It's surprisingly hard to track you Merlin, you have very good hearing, and panic very easily, but you won't be able to escape from me! I caught up with you eventually." Arthur said after he had finally calmed down enough to speak properly. "So what's my favourite manservant doing out here all on his own?"

"I'm your only manservant." Merlin said still smiling. "And I was going to ask you the same question."

"I just felt like following you, finding out what you get up to on your own, you can never trust anyone you know." Arthur replied, ruffling Merlin's hair playfully, which he knew always annoyed him.

"Well I was trying to savour my spare time and avoid people bossing me around, like you!" Merlin said irritated, looking around at the trees as he attempted to get his hair the way it was before, and failing. "Why did you come alone? I thought your father didn't like that."

"He doesn't." Said Arthur, who had finally stopped walking and began to stroll through the forest.

"So why did you come alone?" Merlin asked, jogging to catch up with him.

"Because we can do this," Arthur grinned, slipping his hand subtly into Merlin's.

"Oh yeah," Merlin grinned back, giving Arthur's hand a small squeeze.

They walked along together, hand in hand, for quite sometime, each in deep thought. They had first realised their true feelings for one another when the hatred they felt for each other and burnt out, and all was left was a realisation that one would do anything for the other, even if it meant death. Arthur that it would be best to keep what they had to themselves and not let anyone else know. At first Merlin was annoyed at the idea, but he had got used to keeping secrets, and he wasn't sure whether their relationship together actually meant something to Arthur or was just doing it for fun. On a number of occasions he tried to talk about with Arthur, but he always replied the same way:

"I care about you Merlin, and for now that's all that matters." This gave Merlin a horrible feeling that Arthur was lying to him, or he also did not really know the answer to the question.

It was Merlin who decided to break the silence fist and say something. He was glad that Arthur had followed him through the forest, it was a lot better than spending time with his own thoughts alone, but now another thought came into his mind, which worried him greatly;

"Arthur?"

"Hmm?" Said Arthur, snapping out of his daydream.

"Where are we?"

"Ah, good question."

Neither seemed to have realised that the trees had got closer together, blocking out the sunlight more and more, and that they had no idea where they had come from and which way they had been walking. Arthur was the first to grown with annoyance:

"Great, we're lost!" He broke free from Merlin's hand; "this is all your fault you know."

"How is it my fault?" Merlin asked. "Look it can't be that bad, we'll find our way back somehow."

"What do you suggest we do? Ask directions from a rabbit?"

"If we keep on going we might get out of the forest, and then we'll be able to work out where we are."

"Yes but we could turn up anywhere." Arthur pointed out

"Oh yes of course because this is a magical forest!" Merlin said sarcastically.

"That's not funny Merlin," Arthur glared at him. "Let's just try and head back, we might be able to recognise where we went."

"Really? All the trees look the same to me."

"Do you want to get back to Camelot or would you rather camp out here for the night?" Arthur asked, irritated.

"No," Merlin sighed. He looked around, it did seem to be getting darker, he didn't know how long he had been out in the forest, but soon it would become night and he didn't want to stay out in this forest after the sun had set.

The two turned back and began to walk through the forest with Arthur leading the way. Merlin hoped that Arthur knew where he was going, but he had a strong feeling that he was depending on pure guesswork.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Merlin asked, after what seemed like a lifetime walking through the forest.

"Yes."

"Oh, it just seems like we're walking around in circles."

"I know which way we're going," said Arthur.

"Oh, so how far is it to Camelot then?"

"I don't know."

"I thought you just said you knew which way we were going."

"Shut up Merlin!" Arthur snapped, which was his usual reply when he could think of nothing else to say.

For once Merlin did shut up, and by the time he spoke again it had defiantly gone dark and every now and then he thought he saw glimpses of the moon and stars staring at them through the trees, which still looked all the same to him. Merlin could barely see ten feet in front of him, and he mainly guessed where Arthur was by the sound of snapping twigs, and grunts as he almost walked into a tree.

All day, Merlin thought that they were the only people in this forest, but now he saw something else, flickering between the trees just ahead of them.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing at the light, not realising how loud and far his voice would carry through the forest at night.

"Shh!" Said Arthur hurriedly, "I don't know."

"Looks like a fire," Merlin whispered back.

"And would you care to explain how a fire got itself here in the first place?" Arthur hissed back.

Merlin shrugged, "other people? Which means we're definitely going the wrong way, I don't remember seeing any people before."

"Yes alright Merlin we're still lost, let it go for now."

"Well why don't we go and find out who they are, maybe they're from Camelot and could help us get back."

"Or maybe not," Arthur growled, unsheathing his sword, which Merlin had not realised had been hanging on his belt all the time.

They crept closer towards the flickering fire, everything was slowly getting brighter, the trees were drenched with a yellow colour, and Merlin could once again see Arthur's face clearly. He also began to see a campsite alongside the fire. There were three tents, and he was sure he could hear some voices close by.

It seemed like an age before they reached the campsite, Merlin could tell Arthur was worried about what they might encounter when they reached it, but when they did, there didn't seem to be anything there.

The fire burned brightly, Merlin began to feel warm again, with all that had been happening throughout the day, he hadn't realised how cold it had become. Surrounding the fire was a collection of cooking pots, and three white tents that he had seen before. What was more worrying was the spell book that sat beside the fire, and the fact there were three tents, but only one person sitting beside the fire. The man beside the fire hadn't seemed to notice them yet, it was only until they were right on top of him that he looked out.

The man looked as if he was in his thirties, though it was hard to tell, he had dark brown hair that stopped just above his shoulders, and he had bright blue eyes. The man's clothes reminded Merlin a bit of the druids that he had encountered before, but he knew that it certainly wasn't one. When the man stood up to face them, Merlin was shocked to realise how tall he was, he towered over the two of them, but this didn't stop Arthur.

"We mean you no harm," he said slowly and clearly, as if he thought the man didn't speak English. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The man didn't reply, he simply gave Arthur a horrible, cruel smile, showing sharp white teeth that would belong to a big cat rather than a human, though Merlin didn't seem to notice this;

"Arthur," he whispered in his ear as he looked up at the trees.

"Not now Merlin." Arthur snapped back, he was getting slightly uneasy with the look the man was giving him.

"But there's no wind."

"Why is that so important?"

"Because there's no wind, but the trees are moving."

Arthur looked up, Merlin was right. There definitely was no breeze, but the trees just above the campsite were moving, as if some large animal was jumping from branch to branch.

"We should go," Merlin said hurriedly, but Arthur didn't move.

"Don't worry Merlin, nothing here can hurt us."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Arthur Pendragon," the man with the sharp teeth suddenly hissed.

There were two loud thuds, as something fell out of the trees and landed beside the stranger. At first Merlin thought that they were some sort of creatures, snakes that had fallen out the trees and now lay coiled on either side of the stranger. But then they stood up, and they were not snakes, they were men. What was most unnerving however was the fact that the three men now standing in front of him and Arthur looked exactly the same, even their clothes were the same. All apart from their eyes, one had brown eyes and the other had green eyes.

"Right, now that you're all here, I'm going to repeat the question." Said Arthur, trying to hide the fear in his voice, "who are you and what are you doing here? And how do you know my name?"

"So many questions, so little time." Said the one with green eyes.

"Arthur," Merlin hissed.

"What now?" Arthur said, annoyed that Merlin was distracting him.

"They all look the same!"

"Yes Merlin I can see that!"

"What do you think we should do with them brothers?" Said the man with blue eyes to his fellows; all three had the same cruel smile on their faces.

"Can you believe it? The two great legends-to-be lost in the forest, trying to hide their fear, but you can see it in their eyes." The man with brown eyes replied.

"Arthur, I really think we should go now." Merlin murmured, slowly backing away, knowing what all three of the men were thinking even before they said it:

"Kill them." Said the one with green eyes.

The three men all drew out long, sharp daggers, one in each hand. And pounced.

Arthur reacted quickly, raising his sword to protect himself from two of the men leaped on him, daggers raised. Despite the dark, he managed to keep them both at bay. He kicked the man with blue eyes in the chest, who stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet, the daggers flying out his hands.

"Get out of here Merlin!" He cried as he narrowly missed a dagger slicing his face.

Merlin however, had no way of getting out, before he realised what was going on, he found the man with bright blue eyes lounging at him. His heart skipped a beat as he just managed to dive out the way of a flying dagger, which imbedded itself into a tree just behind him. Calmly, the man went over to the dagger and pulled it out of the tree, before advancing on Merlin again.

As the fear and adrenaline pumped through his veins, Merlin found he could simply do nothing but back away slowly, trying to think of a way to get out of the mess that had been created. If he turned and ran he would simply be stabbed in the back, if he stood there and did nothing he would probably have his throat cut, if he tried to fight back, well there was no way of fighting back, he was utterly defenceless.

While he thought of something he could do, the man took his chance. With a sharp and surprisingly powerful kick in the shin, Merlin found himself flying onto his back, the dead leaves on the forest floor cushioning his fall. The man with blue eyes stood over him, his teeth and daggers shining in the moonlight. At that moment Merlin knew what he had to do.

He could hear Arthur fighting off the other two; the sound seemed to be coming from a long way away. Would Arthur notice what he was about to do? Or was he too busy? Could Merlin really risk everything? As the man stood firmly on his chest, preventing him from getting him, and crushing all the air out of him, Merlin knew he had no choice.

There was only one way out.