Sorry for the longest wait ever, but I'm back! Be ready for a roller coaster of emotions. Please don't kill me, just read on and all your questions will be answered. This is an edited version.

As always, this is chapter 2 of Free Falling, you are now tuned in to the Merlin channel of Magic!

Water droplets fell from the sky and reflected the last light of the day as they travelled down. They fell through the clouds and hit the forest floor next to a very still figure who wore a crown of blood around the mop of midnight black hair. The origin of the salty water droplets hung from a branch where his eyes glistened with the tears of grief and sadness. His stifled sobs had caught the attention of his loyal knights and now they themselves where trying to catch his attention, but to no avail.

In the end, they had been able to grab hold of Arthur's hand and hoist him up and over the edge of the precipice from which he had dangled from earlier. The knights, especially Gwaine, had tried to bring him out of the trance, from which he suffered, but it wasn't until Percival stood before the kneeling King, and spoke a single name, did he get a response.

"Arthur, where's Merlin." Gwaine watched from behind Percival, having been wanting to ask that very same question, but feared the outcome of saying that important man's name.

Arthurs' reaction was almost instantaneous, and sadly tragic if one must recall the events that occurred after the question was asked. A huge sob escaped Arthur's lips before he leaned forward slightly and spoke in a hushed tone. No longer was he crying openly, but a few tears still managed to break through his forces and trail down his face.

"He's gone...just gone." Percival placed one knee on the ground, and brought a hand to rest on Arthurs shoulder as a sign on comfort. The other knights had come to gather round the two, and listened intently to the Kings tale of how they had gotten to where they were.

"We had intended to travel to a neighboring village and speak with them about their harvest and the decreases in the taxes paid from their village. Merlin, from the beginning of the trip, started saying that something felt off, Gods, I should have paid attention." Arthur stopped and took a breath. "We continued on, despite Merlin constantly telling me that we should head back; that something felt off, and that he had a 'bad' feeling about the expedition. I ignored him, and told him to stop being such a girl's petticoat. I thought he was just being Merlin. The same old Merlin that hated seeing things killed, and that complained about the poor rabbits. Gods, if I had just listened, if I had turned back!" Percival squeezed Arthurs shoulder as the king stopped, sucked in a shuddering breathe, and continued.

"I had just killed a boar when Merlin heard the footsteps. He called to me, to warn me, but when I had turned around, it was already too late. The bandits, two of them, had grabbed on to Merlin, and another held his sword to my back…"

FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Arthur!" Merlin managed to call out that one name before a burly hand clamped over his mouth and pulled him to the floor. He felt hands on his waist and chest, which pinned him to the forest floor. Merlin could feel as the two men shifted their hands, and held him down by his shoulders as well as by his hips .Merlin kicked and wriggled, as he tried to free himself from the hands that held him so tight that he was sure there would be bruises left. His heals dug into the dirt, and made crevices in the floor as he tried to push himself up and away from the bandits. He could feel as one of the men's hands loosened and was relieved to feel as the pressure was lessened seconds later. Merlin brought his feet under himself as he tried to propel himself backwards. He was able to get a step forward before he felt a hand on his ankle, and then the world seemed to lopsided as he fell forward. One of the bandits climbed on top of him, and grabbed onto his hands which were flailing wildly. He pinned Merlin's hands above his head and held him there with one hand while the other reared back and swing at Merlin's face. Three blows were delivered before Arthur could be heard from behind the third bandit.

"Leave him alone!" The dagger at his throat nicked the skin, and a single droplet of blood travelled down, and was absorbed into the collar fabric.

"Shut the hell up." The third bandit told Arthur.

"Hold the lil bastard down!" The third bandit yelled without looking at the two.

"We tryin boss! He stronger than he look." The third bandit sighed and kept his gaze steady, and didn't turn around.

"Grab the rope and tie him up." The other two bandits grabbed the rope, and tied a given up and dazed Merlin.

"Just let him go, he has nothing to do with this." Arthur tried again.

"I thought I told you to shut up. Bring the kid here." The two other bandits, whom Arthur had dubbed Tall and Short, came towards them. He tensed as he saw Merlin struggle on his feet and then be dragged forth.

When they were within arm's length, the third bandit, who Arthur had named Jackal, told them to stop and drop Merlin; which they did. He then told them to come up behind Arthur, and he felt as Tall and Short grabbed onto his arms, and tied his hands together with some rope. He was taken back, roughly about four feet; so he could see when Jackal sheathed his sword and bent down to level with Merlin who was on his knees. The two goons stood next to him, side by side as they watched on. Jackal pulled out a dagger, which was worn at the hilt, but had a polished and sharpened blade. He brought it up to Merlin's face and placed it right under his chin. Merlin looked up, and Jackal made sure that the blade followed every motion.

"Now," Jackal began, "You're going to tell me exactly who he is, and who you are." The blade travelled to the side of his neck and landed directly above his beating blue vein. Arthur, who still had his weapon, stood stock still. He didn't respond, out of fear, or he was mentally processing on how tokill the man with the dagger, either way he did not move an inch. Except for his hands that moved up and down as he successfully cut off the majority of the rope that tied his hands.

Jackal continued, "Or I'm going to have to slit his throat and the wealthy one over here is going to learn the true meaning of pain. So, whadda ya say gentlemen? Do we have a deal?" Arthur nodded stiffly, and Jackal relaxed his grip on the dagger slightly. There was still tension in the air; the heaviness of it all could be felt physically as it wafted like a strong scent among them.

"So, speak. One of you tell me." Merlin caught Arthurs gaze and mouthed the words 'no' repeatedly. Arthur understood, but the movement of his eyes as they shifted from Merlin to the perpetrator holding the dagger was caught by Jackal. Arthur he saw the flash of something glint in the fading sunlight, and only managed to catch the quick motion of the dagger embedding the tip and then some into Merlin's left arm. Arthur visibly stiffened as Merlin cried out in pain and leaned forward, as if trying to hide from the pain that emanated from the gash that now bled red onto the blue tunic.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Arthur lunged forward, his arms snapping the rope, and wrapping themselves around the man's torso in a bear hug. They both fell to the floor, and the dagger that had remained in Merlin's arm, now slipped out of the Jackals grip, and fell to the forest floor; causing the gash to widen slightly. The bloodied blade fell near Merlin, and the young warlock took the opportunity to grab onto the bloodied dagger with his bound hands, and stand. The world tilted slightly and his stomach refused to contain the contents of his last meal; but Merlin forced the climbing bile back, and pushed himself up on shaky legs.

He hobbled over to a nearby by tree and turned around to assess the situation. Merlin watched as Arthur achieved the upper hand and managed to pin Jackal underneath him. His fists came up repeatedly and flew down towards Jackal's face repeatedly until a bright red liquid began to stain Arthur's knuckles. The Jackal, who had fought back with vigor before, now seemed sluggish, and it was only minutes later that Merlin noted that Jackal had stopped moving entirely.

"Arthur." The strained voice was all that could penetrate the wall of rage that Arthur had built. But it began to fall, and soon, as the rage crumbled to the ground, Arthur could see the devastation that had happened in those short minutes. He looked around, and saw Merlin leaning against a tree,his hands now free thanks to the blade that he held in one hand.

A small puddle of blood lay beside him, and his arm was now dyed a dark red. Arthur looked away and searched for the two others, but Tall and Short were nowhere to be found. Then, Arthur looked down. There lay a very much dead Jackal, whose features could not be identified as a human face. He sprang up, disgusted at what he had done, but deep down, to his horror, he felt an odd sort of satisfaction at having killed the man.

Arthur dusted himself off and went to see to Merlin, who by a glance, could be seen having difficulty breathing. He seemed alert, which was a miracle, given that the amount of blood on the floor was accumulating by the second.

"Hey," Arthur said as he approached Merlin and lightly grabbed his arm. "Let's see here. It's just a scratch, nothing that can't be fixed." Merlin took a shaky breathe before responding.

"Doesn't feel like it."

"Stop being such a girl Merlin." Arthur forced a smile, "We'll be back in Camelot before you know it. Don't you dare think you can get out of cleaning my clothes so easily."

"We'll if that's the case, then I'd rather die right here thank you very much." Both men chuckled, but the glee was gone the instant Merlin's chuckle transformed into a hacking cough.

Arthur got up without a word and walked over to one of the horses that were still tied to a nearby tree. They had planned on camping there for the night, so the horses had been tied and fed. He walked up to Merlin's horse, and was about to reach into one of the sacks that held large strips of cloth, when he felt the sharp breeze, and heard the distinguishable thunk of arrow hitting wood. Arthur turned sharply, and could see Tall and Short, along with about twenty other bandits coming towards them. His hand flew towards the hilt of his sword, but he did not draw it; instead, he ran towards a very confused Merlin, grabbed him, and ran in the opposite direction.

"C'mon Merlin, no time to rest." Merlin stumbled to his feet, and began to run along with Arthur, completely confused and scared.

"What? Why are we running?" He tried to catch up with Arthur, but his legs were failing him. Thankfully, Arthur noticed, and grabbed hold og Merlin's uninjured arm, pulling him forward.

"It seems our friends decided to pay us a visit."

They could hear the footsteps of the many bandits that had run after them, and he could feel the various arrows that were hurtled towards them. Merlin began to stumble and trip as the chase went o. He fell to his knees once, and Arthur was right behind him, picking him up, and pushing him on.

"C'mon Merlin, I'm not letting either of us die today!" They had been running for a few minutes now, and just when Arthur thought that they would be caught, he felt the world beneath him fall away. Both men fell and rolled down the slope that had remained hidden underneath leaves and snow throughout the years. Both men rolled in opposite directions, and soon, Arthur was stopped by a jutted out platform. Arthur moaned in pain as the world came back. He could hear the bandits overhead before he could see them, and as he turned his view to see where he Merlin was, he caught sight of his unconcious servant as he continued to roll down, and towards the cliff.

The king jumped to his feet, disregarding his own safety and ran towards his companion as fast as he could. He kept his eyes on Merlin as he covered ground quickly, but he wasn't fast enough, and Arthur continued to run as Merlin neared the edge, and disappeared over it.

Given the split second, Arthur made a dangerous decision and threw himself managed to grab onto Merlin's hand and hold it, but the force of his body colliding with the shaky ground caused the cliff to crumble slightly and soon give away under Arthur. Arthur's free hand groped desperately for anything to hold on to, and soon found a thick root. He grabbed on with an iron grip, and didn't let go.

It was here, as he dangled over a precipace; his only life line being a tree root, that he promised himself, that he would get them home. No matter the situation, no matter the time, he would bring them home.

He promised himself, now, as Merlin began to wake from unconsciousness. He promised that Gauis would be able to hug a lively Merlin once more.

Never did he imagine that he would be proven wrong.

END FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, there will be another chapter up, but it will be after New Years. I am very busy with finals, and I want to graduate on time, so, the next chapter will come next year, but the New Year is around the corner, so you guys wont have to wait long.

As always, thank you for reading, and post and comments concerns or constructive criticisms Below. Love all of you, Buh-Bye!