Merlin rounded the corner he'd seen Arthur disappear around a few minutes earlier and found the King backed up against a wall. He couldn't see the creature but he could definitely tell where it was. It's hot breath ruffling Arthur's hair and large drops of saliva dripping on the ground near his feet. It's breath was rancid and Arthur was doing his best to keep calm. He hadn't noticed Merlin yet and he was lost as to how he was going to get out of this one.

There was a flash and suddenly the beast was on fire and the two men could see it's body as it was engulfed in the flames. It was larger than either Merlin or Arthur would have guessed. It was loud as well. The high pitched howl that came from the monster was unlike anything either of them had heard before. The smell of burning flesh saturated the area and both men covered their noses in hopes of blocking the scent.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur gasped after the creature was dead.

"That's what I'd like to know. What did you do?" Merlin was furious now that the concern for his friend had worn off.

"What did I do? I didn't do anything. I was just enjoying a nice afternoon at the park."

"You must have done something. Giant, invisible, monsters don't just attack people in parks for no reason." Merlin shouted, drawing the attention of a passerby. "Never mind we'll talk about it when we get home." He whispered and gestured to the curious onlooker. Arthur, understanding his meaning, nodded in agreement and quickly climbed into the car. The ride home was tense with Merlin's silent fuming.

"Thank you." Arthur said finally. He knew the best way to start asking for forgiveness was by thanking Merlin for saving his life, again.

Merlin sighed and turned off the car. "Well I couldn't just leave you out there, with no weapon or armor, to face that thing."

"I'm sorry for leaving the flat. I just couldn't take being inside all day and I honestly didn't think anything bad would happen if I went to the park for a few hours." Arthur grumbled.

"No, there's nothing to be sorry for. I understand the need to get out and I should have been more accommodating. I know this wasn't completely your fault. In fact I've been expecting something for quite some time now I just didn't know what it would be or when it would happen."

"What do you mean?"

"Well after you . . . um after you . . ."

"Died?"

"Yeah after that, the uh, the dragon told me that 'when Albion's need is greatest' you would rise again. So I figured since you've come back that must mean that Albion is in need."

Arthur pondered this new information for a few minutes. "So you think that monster has something to do with why I'm here?"

"I don't know but it seems like too much of a coincidence for that thing to show up just weeks after you've come back from the dead. Don't you think? And the fact that it singled you out has to mean something. Was there anything going on before it showed up? Any strange people? Odd sounds? Anything out of the ordinary?" Merlin asked

"Not that I know of, I don't go out much Merlin and I've been dead for the past fifteen hundred years how am I supposed to know what normal is?

"Your right those were stupid questions." Merlin sighed. He wasn't going to get much helpful information out of Arthur.

. . . . . . . .

The rest of the week was fairly normal for the warlock and king. Merlin continued to search through his books, with Arthur's help this time. Neither of them could find anything about giant, invisible beasts.

"This is useless." Arthur said as he shoved the large book away. He was getting discouraged.

"I think we should be done for tonight. We're never going to find anything in this state of mind. Why don't we go out, get some food, and regroup. Well start fresh tomorrow." Merlin said as he closed his own book.

"Really? We're going out?" Arthur was suddenly in a much better mood. He hadn't been outside since the incident and was more than willing to leave the flat for a few hours. In fact he wouldn't mind if he never saw the flat again. He started thinking of ways he could talk Merlin into moving. He didn't care if they just moved to the building across the street as long as he didn't have to live in this flat any longer.

They decided to go to a restaurant not too far from home. Arthur enjoyed the experience far too much but he didn't care. Even when a woman at the table next to them commented on what a lovely couple they were. Merlin was floundering trying to explain that they were just friends but Arthur just waved it off. He had been a little startled a few weeks earlier when Merlin explained that in this day and age same sex couples were quite common. But he'd also become more open minded since his return to the living and he didn't see anything wrong with it. He didn't personally find Merlin, or any other man, attractive but he didn't feel the need to correct the woman. Let them believe what they want, was his new motto. After a second Merlin decided to let it go as well.

Not long after their awkward conversation there was a loud ruckus coming from the kitchen. Every one turned to see what was causing the noise and suddenly a large goose came barreling out of the kitchen with several of the staff chasing after it. The entire restaurant broke out in hysterics as the animal ran wild between and under the tables and chairs. A woman screamed when it ran past her which only helped in frightening the creature further, all the while her dinner companion was clutching his stomach and laughing loudly.

Arthur jumped up to help wrangle the animal and Merlin scrambled to his feet to stop the king. They really shouldn't draw attention to themselves. Arthur was faster though and was off after the goose before Merlin could catch him. It didn't take Arthur long to restrain the creature and the owner of the establishment thanked him greatly, offering him and his date a free meal.

"Well that was interesting." Arthur said as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen that much chaos." Merlin mumbled. Suddenly a thought hit him and he wondered why he hadn't thought about it earlier.

"Why was there a goose in the restaurant in the first place?" He voiced out loud. Keeping live animals in the kitchen had to be against some sort of food law code didn't it?

"They were probably going to cook it." Arthur said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, really?" Merlin said sarcastically. "but why was it still alive? Normally they have people who kill and skin, or pluck, the animals before they're taken to the restaurants."

"I don't know Merlin why is it so-" Arthur stopped speaking and just stared across the street. Merlin turned to see what had caught Arthur's attention. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Just a few people, some parked cars, a few shops, nothing that explained the kings behavior.

"Arthur what is it?" Merlin asked as he turned back to his friend. Arthur wasn't there anymore. The warlock panicked and looked around. He hadn't heard Arthur move it was almost as if the man had just disappeared. Then he felt a tug at his sleeve and he looked down to find a small boy in clothes that were way too large.

A/N: Dudes I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted. Midterms came out of nowhere last week and I had a class presentation, two papers and a test plus a bunch of other stuff. Also there was a small case of writers block and I wasn't sure where I was going with this story but it's better now. I'll try to get the next chapter posted sometime this week because it's fall break and I don't have classes till Monday. Might as well use the time to work on this right?