A/N Please review, cookies for reviewers, Thank you all who have reviewed! I am not known for my skill with names, just as a forewarning.

Part 10

And Arthur ran, not as some might say in fear, but to get the knights and to warn the people. Arthur was not stupid, he could not take the eight beasts out on his own, if he tried he would die and the others in the castle would be unprepared for the attack. They would be killed like rabbits in a trap.

The warning bells rang, the creatures breached the castle doors, the battle had begun.

xxXxx

Arthur ran fast through the hallways of Camelot, he'd already stationed his knights outside of the throne room, the chosen 'safe zone' due to its thick doors, but the battle was going badly. Three knights had already fallen to the creatures. They just wouldn't die, he would know, he'd stuck his sword right through one and it'd still gotten back up and walked away without so much as a flinch.

Arthur's blade flashed in the light as he plunged it into the creatures chest, he looked up to see one of the creatures leaping from the floor, claws tearing straight through Sir James's armour, blood spurting out through the jagged holes in the metal. The knight didn't even have time to scream before he died.

Arthur pulled his sword free of the creature, anger filling him as he charged towards the one that had struck down his friend. It turned slowly towards him, sniffing the air and huffing out a warning, another knight stumbled past too close, his helmet lost in the fray, and the monster turned on him sinking it's teeth into his throat.

And then a growl sounded from behind Arthur who spun round to see the one he was so certain he had killed drag itself back onto all fours and ready itself to attack Sir Luke. Arthur shouted to him in warning, but the knight was too slow, spinning round only to find the creatures claws tearing into his face leaving a raw bloody wound of gauged out flesh in its place.

Arthur had turned and shouted an order to secure the hall to the knights , told them to warn anyone they saw of the threat, and then turned and ran down the corridor as fast as he could in heavy armour.

He was warning as many of the people of the danger as possible, his footsteps echoing through the castle walkways with every step, he needed to get back quickly, to help his knights but he couldn't leave people unprepared. He almost ran straight into a shaken looking Morgana, stumbling to a halt in front of her.

"Morgana!" His relief was almost visible. She was okay.

"Arthur, what on earth is going on?" She was worried, terrified, everyone in the castle was running about in panic and she had no idea why.

"Get to the main hall, quickly, there are...creatures, they're already in the castle. If you see anyone else on your way warn them, but don't stop, just run as fast as you can and don't stop for anyone." Arthur paused to take a breath. "But don't worry, we will beat them."

And then he was running again as fast as he could, whilst Morgana took off in the opposite direction, on her way to the hall she found herself a sword.

xxXxx

Merlin stumbled out into the corridor, tripping over his own feet in his rush. He and Gaius had heard shouts of panic, and despite Gaius's warnings that he should rest; Merlin needed to see what was happening, he could be able to help after all.

He walked straight into Arthur, sending them both sprawling across the floor. It just wasn't his day was it (or two days maybe, he felt like he'd slept for weeks)? He groaned, pulling himself to his feet, and only then did he see the look on Arthurs face.

"Merlin? You're awake." Arthur looked shocked for a second, but then shock seemed to turn into something else; it turned into distrust. Arthur got to his feet taking a cautious step back from his servant.

"Gaius found a cure, I...is something wrong?" He paused, taking in Arthur's appearance; the man's face was stained with blood and his armour was battered, he'd clearly been in a fight. Merlin's chest tightened with a sick sort of worry. "What's going on...?"

This seemed to kick Arthur back into action, pulling him away from his thoughts. Was the man in the cloak right? Was Merlin evil? Did he deserve to die? They were questions to answer after all of this was over.

"Get Gaius and get to the main hall, there are monsters in the castle, I need to speak to you but there's no time. And Merlin..." Arthur disappeared back down the steps throwing the word "Hurry!" Over his shoulder.

Merlin stood there for a second, registering Arthurs words, and then he went straight back to Gaius's study to tell him what they had to do.

xxXxx

The people waited quietly in the hall, they could hear the knights' yells and the inhuman screaming of the beasts, Merlin could pick out Arthur's shouts from the chaos that was just outside the door and found himself itching to be by the prince's side. He wanted to help. It didn't sound like the battle was going well, there was the occasional scream, and sometimes you knew the knight was dead after that, other times it was impossible to tell. The horror of it was always the same.

He wanted so much to go out of those doors and use his magic to destroy the monsters tearing apart Camelot's people. Whilst he knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that they too had been human once, before they'd gotten caught out in the rain, he knew they weren't anymore, they were nothing but savage beasts.

But he couldn't help, not without exposing himself, not that that would have stopped him if it meant saving people's lives, no what stopped him was the thought that, if he opened those doors, one of the creatures might get in. His eyes darted to the corner of the room where a mother and her two children sat huddled together, both the children were crying, the mother was trying her best to comfort them but there were tears in her eyes also. No, he couldn't risk it.

The fighting had reached the doors about 10 minutes ago, since then no-one had been able get in or out of the hall. Uther was fighting now too, he'd been the last person to join the battle after one of the maids had called him a coward, she was still here but Merlin knew the second this was all over Uther would probably have her put in the stocks for her words - if Uther survived.

The noises of battle raged on for what seemed like forever. Merlin was starting to think they would never stop when the quiet came. The sudden silence filtered into the room like a tidal wave, like the calm before the storm, and Merlin found himself holding his breath. Something hit the doors, hard, causing them to shake, he heard the lock splinter, A few people in the room screamed.

Another thump and Arthur came flying through the doors into the hall.

He'd obviously been thrown with great force, and he hit the floor at full speed, fresh blood slowly trickling down his face, Merlin couldn't tell if he was breathing. He was by Arthur's side in a second, eyes wide with panic, there was a lot of blood – too much blood.

Beyond them, the creatures followed, leaping into the hall, attacking the nearest people and ripping them to shreds. One of the beasts scaled the wall, one was crawling across the ceiling, the people were trapped, and Arthur wasn't moving.

A/N Moar Monsters = More fun. Some Merlin/Arthur coming up so I hope you enjoyed!

Please review. I will give you cookies.