Author's note: Here's the next chapter. I apologise for some of the mistakes in previous chapters, I keep finding bits that don't make sense. Hopefully I'll get all that sorted. This Chapter is a long one, hopefully going to focus on Morgana and Morgause in the next chapter.

Arthur laid still staring up at the stars; they were now on the other side of the mountain. They had no desire of staying on the side of the pass that overlooked the village. The fire crackled in the dead silent night, everyone was asleep apart from Arthur who was keeping watch. He sighed and laid down gazing up at the twinkling stars, he thought of home, soon this would all be behind them. He turned to face Merlin, but Merlin wasn't there. There in his place was a skeleton, it screamed and grabbed his arm. Arthur looked in horror as the skeleton was dressed as Merlin. Arthur jerked up gasping and in blind panic batting the hand off his arm. "GET OFF OF ME!" Cried Arthur.

It had taken a while for Merlin to get over the shock of being grabbed, the event played again and again in his mind; it made him shudder. Arthur had sat down next to him, patting Merlin on the shoulder the squeezed it reassuringly. After a while Merlin fell asleep, only to be woken a few hours later by Arthur who was panicking and had sat upright suddenly, jolting Merlin up with him, hitting Merlin's hand trying desperately to get Merlin to let go of his arm. Merlin let go startled by the sudden events, and dodged Arthur's blows. This had inevitably woken the knights, who were now around Arthur trying to get him to stop. After what seemed an eternity Arthur calmed down, he dug his hand into his satchel and pulled out the pendant casting it onto the ground next to him; where Merlin had been, but had now been moved by the knights for his own safety.

He gasped for a moment and looked around, seeing Merlin with Sir Durhan a small distance away. "Sorry Merlin." Called Arthur apologetically. Merlin gave a feeble smile in reply as Sir Durhan picked him up and joined the others once more.

"What happened Arthur?" asked Sir Ingleton.

"Stupid nightmare." Answered Arthur bluntly.

"Tell us about it... I know it's stupid, but my Mother always told me to tell other people of your nightmares as it tends to be something that is disturbing you in reality. Sharing it seems to help the situation, or it does usually for me." Rambled Merlin.

Arthur sighed deeply. "Okay. I was on watch, everyone was asleep. I laid down next to Merlin, I turned to him and he was one of those skeleton things. It grabbed my arm and screamed at me." Explained Arthur, he felt stupid. Like a child that was frightened of something completely ridiculous such as a shadow or a little spider.

"Well it was a traumatic experience." Muttered Sir Ingleton. All the knights nodded in agreement.

Arthur shook his head, angry with himself.

"I cannot allow myself to be scared of some walking bones!" He cried angrily.

"I find things such as nightmares are even worse if they include people who are close to you." Murmured Merlin quietly. Arthur calmed considering this for a while.

"Like Morgana's dreams?" He questioned.

"I suppose." Replied Merlin; the thought of Morgana made his skin crawl. Evil traitorous witch! Then it hit Merlin. What if Morgana intended to use the pendant, he hadn't got a good look at the object yet, not that he really wanted to. He couldn't let Arthur bring it back to Camelot! Arthur seemed to pick up on his distress.

"Merlin are you alright? Is your leg hurting?" Arthur questioned not able to read his friend's expression.

"My leg is constantly hurting." Answered Merlin dully.

"Then what's bothering you?" Arthur replied impatiently.

Merlin sighed, it wasn't really worth expressing his opinion to them, they never listened.

"I'm a little uncomfortable with the pendant being brought back to Camelot."

Arthur looked confused "why?"

Merlin looked at Arthur as if he was a complete imbecile.

"We don't know what that thing is capable of! Brad already told us that the pendant caused all sorts of problems without anyone using it. And. We have no idea what happened to the villagers, what if that thing is responsible. What if it does the same thing to the people of Camelot! Or worse!" Ranted Merlin as if it had been completely obvious.

"He has a point Sire." Spoke up one of the quietest of the knights there.

Arthur ran his hand through his long blonde hair closing his eyes and sighing deeply. Merlin was right, it was just asking for trouble.

"I can't believe I'm saying this... But Merlin you're absolutely right!"

Merlin looking at them in surprise, they actually took notice of what he said. Then came the grin, bright and proud.

"Don't look so happy, most of the time you're a useless naive idiot!" Grumbled Arthur.

Prat! Thought Merlin but kept on grinning just to annoy Arthur.

"So. Merlin what do you suggest we do now then if we can't return to Camelot?" Asked Arthur smugly. Merlin's grin vanished, he hadn't thought about that. He thought for a while and then surprised them by saying. "We continue to head for Camelot, Arthur you return to Camelot and ask the King what he wants done with it, explaining the nature of the object and what it did to the people of Maridor. While the knights and myself stay a good distance from Camelot with the pendant. Then when the King has decided, you come back to us and we can carry out the King's wishes." Finished Merlin proudly leaving Arthur and the knights speechless.

"Anymore suggestions?" Breathed Arthur. The knights looked at each other blankly then at Arthur.

"No? Then I suppose we go with Merlin's idea. Then I can get him to Gaius, because he's acting wise, which can't be good news for someone with a grave mental illness." Smirked Arthur.

Arrogant Prat, you're so lucky you have such an important destiny or I'd kick you to the Moon, using magic of course. Thought Merlin, giving Arthur a dark look.

"I think I may have upset Merlin..." Arthur said sarcastically. The knights just grunted, they were with Merlin on this one, Arthur had taken things a step too far. Arthur looked at his knights in confusion. A while later Arthur said

"You...err... Know I was joking earlier... Right Merlin?" Asked Arthur uncertainly. Merlin just grunted watching the floor.

"I'm sorry. I took it too far, can we just forget that I ever said it?" Pleaded Arthur. Having Merlin mad at him only bothered him slightly, but having the whole party mad at him was a different matter.

"I'll let you change what you said, and forget what you said earlier." Mumbled Merlin.

Arthur groaned racking his mind for something nice to say.

"Merlin! You never cease to surprise me!" Arthur ended up settling for.

"Good enough I suppose." Merlin replied; knowing he wasn't going to get anything better from the Clotpole. Arthur sighed as Merlin broke the silence again a few minutes later.

"Can we stop for a minute!" He called embarrassingly.

"what's wrong?" Replied Arthur walking over to Sir Durhan who was carrying him.

"I need to pee." Grumbled Merlin. Arthur nodded.

"Give him here Sir Durhan." Ordered Arthur. Merlin grumbled and moaned as he was shifted onto Arthur.

"Back in a minute." He called making his way into the bushes.

"How on earth are we going to do this?" Muttered Arthur. Merlin flushed with embarrassment, he guessed he's done really well up this point by not getting himself in any embarrassing situations. He decided to keep quiet.

"Okay. I'll hold you up and you can sort yourself out." Said Arthur trying to find the right words.

He shifted Merlin off of his shoulder setting him down on his good foot, so he could turn him round. Merlin gritted his teeth as they struggled into the correct position. After a lot of struggling Merlin was finally in the right position; Arthur was carefully holding Merlin up, his arms under Merlin's. Arthur looked the other way to give Merlin some privacy. It was so humiliating for Merlin. The Crowned Prince of Camelot helping him relieve himself, Arthur would never let him live it down.

"You finished yet?" Mumbled Arthur who felt uncomfortable being present. He cringed as Merlin grunted and cursed as he sorted himself out.

"Okay. I'm good." Muttered Merlin. Arthur then had the difficult task of turning Merlin back around. After a lot more struggling, Arthur was making his way back to the others.

"You're never going to let me hear the end of this are you." Asked Merlin miserably.

"What are you going on about?" Replied Arthur.

"You helping your -mentally ill- manservant relieve himself" Muttered Merlin with slight pang of humiliation on having to say it out loud.

Arthur sighed deeply, "Do you really think I'm going to hold that against you? And stop with the mentally ill thing, that's just to get you out of ridiculous situations you somehow manage to get into." Arthur replied with a serious tone.

"So... You're not going to humiliate me?" Questioned Merlin wanting to make sure he had this correct.

"I'm not going to turn this into something. You were incapable of going on your own due to your injury. I'm not some sad man you seem to think I am that goes around finding every little thing that can be used to make you life miserable!" Merlin could picked up distinctively the level of hurt in Arthur's voice.

"I'm sorry. Let's just move on." Murmured Merlin. Merlin thought he knew Arthur but he now realised that the emotional side to Arthur was a complete mystery to him.

"There you two are! We were starting to get worried." Laughed Sir Peter.

Arthur replied with a friendly smile. A sudden panic washed over him. He passed Merlin over to Sir Peter and checked his satchel , it was empty.

"I don't have the pendant!" Cried Arthur in complete defeat.

"Then it's a good thing I do then isn't it." Replied Merlin calmly. Arthur looked at Merlin he checked Merlin's pockets to find the pendant safely tucked into his left trouser pocket. Relief washed over Arthur. Thank Gods for Merlin! Thought Arthur.

"Can you take it now?" Asked Merlin.

"No you keep a hold of it." Arthur said quickly.

"Let's keep moving." He added.

Great now it's worse. Now I actually have to hold the damn thing, it's burning my leg. Yet it doesn't hurt... thought Merlin curiously. They had moved deep into the forest on foot, the wall of fire had scared their borrowed horses back into the forest. The first horse they found was Midnight, he had rested up and was happily grazing in some bushes. Sir Ingleton went and retrieved Midnight, they helped Merlin onto Midnight's back. Arthur lead Midnight along the path. It was a great relief for Merlin which was sort of ironic since he wasn't that keen on riding. But with the choice of riding or being carried, Merlin knew which one he preferred. It wasn't long before they came across the rest of the horses, their natural instincts had kicked in and they had come together as a herd. The knights went and retrieved the horses, soon they were all on horseback.

The journey back to the small village seemed to be a blur to Merlin. He had yawned leant on Midnight's broad, muscular neck and fell asleep; Arthur was still leading Midnight so he didn't have to worry about guiding the horse. When he woke up, the air around him was warm. He was back in the Physician's home, in the village. The Physician was placing something on his leg, it was cold. He felt someone touch his shoulder, he turned to face Arthur.

"I swear I've had at least ten years knocked off my life." Chuckled Arthur.

"Why what happened?" Murmured Merlin trying not to fall back to sleep. Arthur patted his shoulder and looked at the Physician.

"So.. Will he be able to walk again... ever?" Asked Arthur in a more serious tone. The Physician stood and walked over to fetch some bandages.

"Yes as long as when he gets back to Camelot, he rests that leg for at least a month.

Merlin's eyes widened "A MONTH!"

Arthur suppressed a smile as he knew Merlin wouldn't be very happy at Arthur's amusement.

"That's not too bad considering, I had the option last night to have your leg removed." Replied Arthur quietly.

"Removed!?" Cried Merlin in alarm.

"Do not worry yourself, young Merlin. I was able to treat the infection with an unusual remedy." Reassured the Physician while he bandaged Merlin's leg, the effect of the salve the Physician had just placed began numbing the remaining pain.

"You should rest." Suggested the Physician, but Merlin knew all to well that really it was an order.

"I'll stay for a while longer, until he drifts off." Arthur added. Which the Physician just gave a nod and tended to some herbs.

"When we were riding back here. You were asleep we didn't really think much of but when did get here, we couldn't wake you up. I carried you in here and the Physician told us that your leg had become severely infected from it being constantly jolted and knocked." Explained Arthur quietly finally acknowledging Merlin's previous question.

"You got worse, we thought you were going to die. I was given the choice to either keep on trying with different remedies or to have your leg removed." Finished Arthur.

"So one of the remedies worked?" Merlin asked dumbly. Arthur just nodded.

The Physician sighed and turned to them. "I must tell you this." He started. Both were focused on the Physician now. "It was the pendant in Merlin's pocket that saved him."

"That... Thing!?" Replied Arthur with disgust.

"Yes." The Physician stated as a final fact.

"It's still in my pocket?" Merlin questioned, slipping a hand down to his pocket feeling the lump.

"Looks like you better keep a hold of it." Arthur murmured.

Arthur crept out quietly after Merlin had fallen asleep. He decided to change the plan slightly, they would return to Camelot with the pendant; as they were going to before. Arthur had rejoined the Village Leader and his knights.

"How is he?" Asked the leader quietly.

"He'll be fine." Arthur replied dully. The leader looked at him with confusion.

"Then what's wrong?"

"That pendant that we all believed to be evil. Was actually what saved Merlin." Arthur said he was so confused.

"I just don't understand..." Added Arthur leaning his head on his hands, his elbows digging into his knees.

He continued "A magic object that destroyed crops, created magic storms, reduced a village to a army of skeletons. Why would it help heal Merlin?"

They thought for a while Arthur then broke the silence "Unless..." he started lifting his head from his hands. They looked at him urging him to continue.

"Unless, that wasn't the pendant's doing. That peasant could have made up the story of it creating chaos, so he could get money. And.. We know that the sorcerer Caddoc was after the pendant, he could have killed the villagers and then killed himself when he realised it was worthless. I mean, he did it with the corpse of that peasant." Arthur explained.

The group nodded in agreement, "So the pendant could just be an old relic of when magic was used in healing?" Questioned Sir Durhan.

"Exactly." Replied Arthur. Arthur then added, "We set off for Camelot in the morning."

The village leader then piped in "If you don't fancy climbing those large mountains again, we have a map that can guide you through the tunnels that run through the mountains..."

Arthur looked at him as if he was some sort of miracle maker. "That would be fantastic!" Arthur finally answered his sky blue eyes shining; things were finally looking up.

The next morning the party set off equipped with their copy of the map, Merlin drugged into oblivion so it was unlikely that he would wake until they reached the other side of the mountains. It took them a full day of walking to reach the mountain range, they were keen to get back to Camelot so it took them less time to get to the mountains. Soon they had reached the entrance to the caves.

"Well here we go!" Said Arthur enthusiastically.

The caves were stuffy and the pressure made their ears pop as they reached the centre of the caves directly below a large mountain. They continued on their way when Arthur stopped.

"What is it?" Whispered Sir Peter.

"Wilddeoren." Whispered Arthur, the torches were quickly put out. This was when Merlin had decided to wake up.

"MMWhatttt'ssss gooing oon?" Slurred Merlin as he came round.

Arthur closed his eyes and felt like hitting it against a wall. He carefully pulled Merlin from the position he had been carrying him in so he was cradling him.

"AARRFFFA" Slurred Merlin in confusion. Arthur put his hand over Merlin's mouth and leaned towards one of his large ears "SHHH!" Arthur said desperately the wilddeoren were all around them now.

"MMWMM" Merlin once again made a noise. Arthur gritted his teeth as they slowly moved around watching the black silhouettes carefully.

All had made it past apart from the youngest of the knights, Sir Edwards. As Arthur did a count his heart jumped Sir Edwards he thought, suddenly they heard the young knight scream as the Wilddeoren tore him apart; Sir Goel raced to his brother's aid (As in Knight brotherhood) before Arthur could stop him, soon his screams could be heard Arthur winced and felt the urge to throw up. Merlin who was now fully awake could hear Arthur gagging,

"I'm so sorry Arthur." Whispered Merlin who felt around for a couple of seconds trying to find his friend's shoulder.

"We've got to keep moving." Arthur responded numbly, as he stood and put Merlin back into position. They wander carefully around the rest of the tunnels until they emerged on the other side. Arthur did another count, he swallowed hard.

"It's not fair." Stated Arthur. "They survive Hell just to die on the return journey." Merlin knew it Arthur felt the loss of every one of his knights, he wondered what Arthur would do if he died; he secretly hoped Arthur would be devastated, but somehow he thought he knew Arthur wouldn't be. They moved a short distance back to the horses. Arthur winced at the three spare horses. They were gathered up and them Arthur ordered who would be taking the spare horses back to Camelot.

He turned to Merlin who was leant up against a tree. He walked over and crouched down next him. "Ready?" He said as he pulled out a phial and took the stopper out holding it out to Merlin.