Percival

I do not meet the eyes of the other knights of Camelot who have joined in our march for Ealdor. Only a handful of the men fought back against the village before being knocked unconscious. And after only a half hour of listening to the heated conversations of the men who came, I already know that none of them are going to protect Merlin.

The thought makes me sick. These men know Merlin. He was kind to all of them, lending a hand and putting a smile on all of our faces. And now they look on with hard faces, muttering about betrayal and dark magic.

I don't know how long we've been walking now, but I suppose at least a couple of hours. As I make it to the top of a hill, my heart twists in concern as my eyes land on the small village before us.

"What if he is no longer there?" I ask Asher, who has been walking beside me, no doubt keeping a suspicious eye on my every move.

"We'll turn the whole place over to find the magic scum, and if he's moved on, we march on until we find him!" The man shouts over the crowd around us. Cheers erupt, and arms raise high in agreement. I join in, even though it sends a pang of guilt through me.

I run with the men down the hill, adding to the angry shouts all around, and drawing my sword as the others pull out their own weapons.

Just get in, find Merlin and Gwaine, and get out.

Merlin

Screams of terror join in with the angry shouting of our attackers from outside, the sound making my skin crawl. I look desperately to Gwaine, who is anxiously running his hands through his hair.

"Gwaine, what do we do?"

"They may just want you mate," My friend says hurriedly, peeking out of the small window of my old home. "And if that's the case, we have to get you out of here,"

"But I don't understand," Mother intones frantically. "Arthur is your friend. Why would he do this?"

"He's not like I thought he was," I reply, looking to the floor. "His mistrust against magic won over our friendship. He was crushed when he found out..."

"We need to leave," Gwaine interrupts, grabbing my arm and looking me straight in the eyes. "All of us. If the princess really has led this cowardly attack, then you're not safe either, Hunith. He knows Merlin came here, and so he'll know we visited you."

"Right," Mother nods in understanding. "Mary, none of this has to concern you. They need never know you were involved."

"I don't want to leave you alone -"

"I'm not alone; I'll have Merlin and Gwaine. I'm in good hands. You stay here and keep safe."

"Mary," I interrupt, mindful of the time we're wasting. "You have a responsibility to this village, and I couldn't live with myself if I knew I put you in danger."

The woman looks at me for a moment, before simply nodding her head and hurrying to the back door. She turns back, hesitates for a second longer, and says quietly, "Best of luck. Goodness knows all of you have been through too much already."

"So have you. Now go," Mother ushers her friend out the door, peering outside to ensure Mary makes it out safely.

"Bloody, cowardly traitor," Gwaine hisses in anger, closing his eyes at the sound of chaos outside. "I should cut him myself -"

"Gwaine!" I bark angrily as the familiar wave of protectiveness for Arthur comes at my friend's words. "I'm as resentful towards Arthur as you are, but he's still my best friend and my king, and no matter what he does to me, I'd still gladly die for him. Nothing will change that. It's my destiny to protect him, and I'll always hold to that."

"Why haven't they found us yet? Arthur knows where I live..." Mother cuts in before Gwaine gets the chance to reply.

"No need to test luck," The knight says hurriedly, giving Mother and I a push towards the back door before drawing his sword and following behind. "We need to get far away from Ealdor."

I grab my bag along with Gwaine's rucksack and sneak out through the door. To my relief, there are no enemies waiting for us. Gwaine gives me another small nudge, encouraging me to move.

The three of us rush out and around the hut, and what I see makes me skip a breath.

The small village is in pandemonium. The townspeople have banded together to try to fight off the attackers, not hesitating to protect their village and children. The ones fighting Camelot knights clearly stand no chance, desperately attempting to beat their enemies with dulled swords and fire pokers; while others are battling against the people of Florin with brooms or anything else they could get their hands on. Fortunately for us, the men and few women from Florin seem to have little to no experience for a situation such as this.

Just then my eyes land on little Hunter, who must only be six by this point. Instantly I remember how much pain his parents have already gone through with two miscarriages and another eight-year-old daughter who died in a bandit attack. And there, just a few feet in front of me, is this child, staring wide eyed with fear at the death around him. He quickly leaves my sight again as the mass of fighting swirls between us.

In a split second, my decision is made, and I dart out for him, managing to slip deftly through a good bit of the small battle raging in the village.

A strong hand catches my arm, wrenching me back in my haste to get the boy, and knocking me to the ground. Before I know it, a body follows, falling onto my stomach, sending the air from my lungs and pinning my arms down despite my struggles.

I buck and try to wrench my arms out from under my attacker's, but they are much stronger than me, and my exertion only results in claiming more of my already receding energy. I look up; ready to plead with the man on top of me, but my breath catches in my throat.

This is Sir Geredick, a trusted and highly ranked knight of Camelot. We have shared laughs before, and when Gwaine got him drunk once, we even managed to make him insult Arthur. I do not want to hurt this man, who I had come to know as a kind acquaintance. But he is looking at me angrily, kicking me in the leg when I attempt to twist out from under him.

"Please," I beg as he uses one hand to keep both of my wrists still, the other reaching for his sword, which I managed to dislodge from his grip in my fall. "Don't do this!"

Sir Geredick answers by pressing his blade against my throat, making me sink as far into the ground as I can, trying to avoid the sharp metal. "You are guilty of treason, and you know full well that crime is punishable by death."

"I don't want to hurt you -"

"I thought you were a wholesome man, Merlin," the Knight falters a bit at this. "So for your sake I'll make this quick." His sword draws back a bit, giving him more leverage to slit my throat.

Heart constricting in regret, my eyes burn gold. "Áweorpan wierp!" Sir Geredick blasts backwards, eyes wide in surprise as he slams back into the fighting all around and crashing onto the ground.

It feels like time slows down as the fighting ceases and everyone looks in the direction the flying knight came from. Everyone stares at me in silence and surprise for just a moment before cries of "There he is! It's the sorcerer!" Ring out, and knights and village people of Florin both rush forward, forgetting the people of Ealdor that they had been interrogating for my whereabouts.

I scramble back to my feet, stretching my arms out in front of me in a warning. "I swear I didn't mean to do Florin any harm!" I shout at them as they halt, warily eyeing my hands, anticipating magic to come from them at any moment. "It was all an awful, horrific accident, and I feel terrible about it. Now please, I don't want to hurt any of you!" My eyes lock onto the towering frame of Percival, stuck at the back of the crowd and staring at fear. To see my friend here hurts more than I would like. I haven't seen Arthur anywhere yet, but I have no doubt that he led the attack. Why else would all of these Camelot knights be here?

"Merlin!" I whip around to see my mother jump in front of me, where I hadn't been paying attention, as I had been facing away and preoccupied with the previous crowd, not realizing that the battle was behind me as well.

I feel as though I am in some awful dream as I watch in horror, unable to move fast enough to stop the arrow that is only an inch from my mother's heart.

And then it lands, making an awful sound that joins in with her scream of agony as her body crumples to the ground, only stopped by my trembling arms as I catch her, blood already pooling from her chest where the arrow struck.

The village is dead silent for only a moment before Gwaine's feet thud against the dirt road as he quickly comes to our aid.

I feel something inside of me break. A sharp, agonizing pain as my breath is taken from me and my mind whirls, thoughts flying everywhere but without any of them finding a place to land. This arrow was meant for me; meant to lodge into my back as I was distracted.

My eyes flash a vibrant gold as I let out a scream, even louder than the one I let loose when my father died. The sky roars above us, the ground shaking, screams joining in with my wordless magic.

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