Sir Darian was still alive, but only barely, when Arthur and his father found him lying wounded in the eastern forest. He managed to tell them, that four swordsmen sneaked upon him and lady Morgana and Kia, and that Morgana was taken. Gaius left there with another knight to do what he could for the wounded knight.

After the days of rain it wasn't too hard to track the slave traders down. Arthur, Uther and two knights followed their trails. It took a few hours to reach the gang, but when they found them, it wasn't the way they expected it to be. Eight men were tied up onto a long rope, and they were walking in line. Two very determined horses were pulling them strongly forward to a harbor city of Meridian which located in Cenred's kingdom.

Arthur and Leon tried to make the enchanted draught horses to stop, but then decided to cut the rope that those beasts were pulling. The gang of eight was relieved and cried their thanks to the Pendragon's group without knowing who they really were. They soon were going to find it out.

Arthur was first to drop off from his saddle and ran to that oddly tied up gang to question them.
"We are looking for a woman. She was captured by slave traders. Have you seen her?" Arthur asked strongly. He gazed through the gang members. They did not look like slaves to him. In fact they could be slave traders themselves.

"Untie us and we talk, good man," bearded leader offered.

Uther walked slowly closer and raised his hand to his son, to not to do anything yet. He stopped when he saw a man with scratched face that looked like someone had tried to dig his eyes out. Uther had taught to his daughter the weak spots of men, and one of them was one's eyes.
"Where is my daughter?" he asked staring at that man, and draw his short sword out of his sheath.

The man felt uneasy and gazed at to his leader.
"My good lord, surely we can make a deal here. You let us free, and we tell you everything you wanna know," leader said. He was sure that nobles would not dirt their hands by killing he's kind. Little did he know he was talking to Uther Pendragon, a man who had killed over hundred men during his wars.

Without another word, Uther plunged his blade into a stomach of the scarred man. Then he slowly twisted it causing gruesome pain to his victim, who was screaming in agony. The rest of the gang was terrified as they were forced to listen to the cries of their fellow man.

"Father…?" Arthur gasped quietly. He had not seen this side of his father before.

Uther pulled the bloody blade out from the man's stomach, and the man dropped on his knees and felt down on the ground dead. Others were pulled by the rope on his force when he collapsed down.
"Only one of you will walk out of this alive, and that depends of what you are telling me… If you have touched her, I swear to you, I will cut you in pieces limb by limb. Now, where is my daughter?"

The senior Pendragon had the most effective way to motivate those he hated. The horrified slave traders started to shout their information out in simultaneously. Every single one of them wished to keep his head.

Uther stopped the huge shouting and shoved his bloody blade in front of a face of the dark-skinned young man.

"Camelot! They took her to Camelot. Three men beat and tied us. One of them had magic. They called him a prince… Merlin… Please, sir. It is the truth. We left her untouched. I swear on my mother's grave, it is the truth," the young man cried tears falling down on his cheek.

Uther turned away facing somewhere far ahead, and spoke to his knights: "Kill them all."

Arthur ran to his father and stopped the two knights.
"We cannot do this, father. No matter what they did, we cannot slaughterer them like cattle."

"Arthur, they took you sister, and now she is taken by someone with magic. All we know, she could be dead by now."

"If we kill them… and if that what he just told was a lie, we will never know. You promised to spare one. They know what those three men looks like."

"They are jus thieves and cut-throats. They left sir Darian to die…"

"You taught me to be better than this. You taught me nobility…"

"This is war, my son. It is something you luckily don't know anything about. Do not ever again question my word in front of my men. Go on then, pick one. Then get rid of the rest of them," Uther said without compassion. He went to his steed and grabbed a water-skin from the saddle and had a drink of water.

Arthur was left with the hardest decision of his life. He had to choose the one man to save, and others to damn to dead. He chose the one who told them about his sister's capturers.
"Leon, take this one with us," he said to his friend. Leon nodded and released the dark-skinned man from the rope just to tie him with another. Then he took the man to Uther's company.

Arthur shook his head not able to look the gang members into to their eyes. He grabbed his short sword.
"Take them into the woods… we cannot left them lying on the road, after…" he said feeling already sick of it what he should to do them.

Two knights dragged the resisting group deeper into the forest, and Arthur followed taking a one more gaze at his father.


"Leave," Arthur told to the knights, after they got the six remaining gang members on their knees. The seventh was already dead by Uther's hand.

The older knight raised his eye-browns gazing the young lord.
"Are you sure, my lord?" he asked silently. He knew it wasn't easy to kill an unarmed man on one's knees. Then again; it was the easiest thing in the world, the moral part of it was the tricky one. It could leave a man with nightmares for the rest of his life.

Arthur was pale and sweating in the same time holding his sword. "Just go…" he whispered.

The knights left a young lord to complete his duty on his own. The dead sentenced men begged for their lives, they were praying and cursing their gods, some of them were crying. Arthur thought their lament was just the most terrible noise he had ever heard from men. And, it probably was going to follow him till the end of his days. He was standing behind them, and just wished that they would be quiet. He felt so sick of the voices, and that thought what they had done to his sister, he clubbed one of them on the back of his head with the sword's handle. The man felt down on the ground in unconscious. Arthur gasped and gazed at the next one on the line. Then he came up with an idea.


The dark-skinned, captured young man stared at the forest. He shivered every time the silent lament of his fellow men became thinner and thinner until it ended completely. It took some time before the blond man came out from the woods. He had washed his face and hands in a small pond on the way back.

Leon ran to Arthur and met him in the halfway on the road.
"Arthur, are you alright?" he asked softly and concerned even he knew it was the stupidest question right then.

Arthur said nothing and looked no one in their eyes. Leon knew it was better to leave him like that for a while. Leon had fought by Arthur's side several times when they were protecting their homes, and he has saw Arthur killing men in a battle. But taking men's lives like an executioner would always leave its mark on a man.

Leon followed his friend silently back to their horses. Arthur gazed the young captive as he walked passed him, making the young man felt like he was marked to be the next.

Uther was surprised yet proud in some twisted way by his son's actions. He would have not guessed that Arthur would have had guts to do it. Uther climbed back on his horse's saddle.
"Sir Olef, go back to the house and get every men who can carry a sword. Meet me at the Darkling Forrest. You do remember that old weapon stash in there?"

Sir Olef grabbed from the bridle of Uther's horse stopping him for leaving.
"My Lord, you know you can't go to Camelot. They will kill you," he said worried.

"I will not leave my daughter to them…"

"I have known you for 25 years. I know how much you daughter means to you, but this are not a time to be stubborn, my old friend. Our best choice is to take a handful of men, and sneak in to free Lady Morgana. Too big group only draws attention. In a strait combat we face not chance against their magic…"

Arthur listened to their talk and had a sip from his water-skin.
"I'll go. My face is not known in Camelot."

"Arthur, no…" Uther refused his proposal.

"Father no offense, but you are just a bunch of old men. I am the best warrior you got, and I know Morgana better than anyone. You cannot walk to Camelot without being killed," Arthur said with a straight face. Usually, when he had been calling his father an old man, he had been making jokes. Now he looked more serious than ever.

Leon stepped next to Arthur. "Arthur, where ever you might get yourself into, you will find me by your side. I'll come with you."

"I was sort of hoping you would say that, Leon."

Leon gave a brotherly pat onto Arthur's shoulder with a smile.

Arthur looked at the captured young man and gave him his water-skin. "What is your name?"

The man drank some of the water, because he felt like his tongue and whole mouth was dry.
"I am Elyan, my Lord," young man responded, and kept his head down.

"You saw the faces of those men who took my sister. For the exchange of your life, you will help us find to her, Elyan."

"You spared my life. I will serve you, my Lord," Elyan vowed.


When they were heading back, two riders came across. It was Gaius and another knight.

"We lost sir Darian, I am sorry. Have you found any trace of Lady Morgana?" Gaius asked when they met.

"We believe she was taken to Camelot. We are sending a search party to find her," Uther replayed.

"Surely you are not going there yourself, My Lord?"

"No his is not. I am, with Leon," Arthur stated from his saddle glancing at his father.

After they told everything they knew about Morgana's disappearance, old physician took a time to think and frowned at the young men: "Would you have a use for an old man, who knows the city and its people?"

"Gaius, thank you, but…"

"I must remind you that I was ones a court physician in Camelot. I had many connections in those days, and if I could find even only one of them, it could prove to be very valuable on this quest. You could use my assistance if she or one of you gets hurt. Besides, I know the palace and a few secret passages if they still remain," Gaius told.

Arthur shook his head, but had to admit to himself that they could use any help they could get.
"Fine, but we are leaving right now."

Uther guided his horse next to Arthur's and looked his boy into eyes concerned.
"Arthur, you can not in any situation reveal to anyone that you are my son… You can't tell anyone you are a Pendragon. If they would know…" worried father said. That was something he wouldn't ever thought he was going to say. Uther had always been proud of whom he was, and his family name had always been among the most nobles of Camelot, even in the land of Albion. Now that name was merely outlawed in his former beloved kingdom, and Uther worried that the same fate would wait his son, if anyone would know Arthur's true bloodline.

"We'll be careful. Don't you worry, father. We'll bring her back," Arthur said and shook hands with his father for goodbyes.

Uther stopped Gaius as they were leaving and looked troublesome.
"Gaius, my old friend… Thank you for doing this. I want you to know that I would approve any means necessary to help my daughter. Any means at all to get her back home safely," he said quietly.

Gaius nodded at him, and realized that Uther abandoned his prime principle just to save his daughter. Uther had just given his blessings to Gaius of using magic on this quest.