Just as a note – this chapter starts with a flashback… thought you might want to know how Arthur escaped. :) Hope you like it!

Chapter 10

Arthur slowly came around; feeling the burning in his back. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten that way. In a rush, the memories returned – Merlin yelling as the whip came down on his back. They had whipped him. Bastards. Arthur opened his eyes, seeing that he was alone in the cell. Merlin was gone. Not again. This had gone on for too long. Arthur bit his lip, as he stood up and endured the pain. The air touching the wound was even painful and he had nothing to cover up with. His shoulder was throbbing as every little movement. He'd have to be careful. Arthur moved towards the door, examining the hinges and seeing if he could remove them. The door suddenly opened and he backed up. The knight was holding chains in one hand and his naked blade in the other. He wasn't as strong as Arthur, but more or less resembled a slightly more muscular Merlin. His frame was light. Arthur gasped, kneeling down. It worked like a charm. The enemy lowered his sword and approached the prince. Arthur waited until he was close enough before slamming his good elbow into the man's exposed face.

"Arrgh!" he yelled, falling back as blood gushed from his nose and he dropped his sword to the floor.

"Clot pole," Arthur sneered.

He picked up the knight's sword and slowly walked out of the cell. It was hard to breathe through the pain. Arthur focused as a guard noticed him and tried to fight the prince. Not a chance. Arthur quickly cut him down. His shoulder protested loudly.

"Where are you Merlin?" he asked aloud.

Arthur paused for a moment to catch his breath before moving up the stairs and to the main level. He hadn't seen where they had taken Merlin and didn't know which room to search. He needed a sign. Arthur hid around a corner as he heard someone approaching. It was the knight called Haran. He was headed towards one of the hallways, carrying a thin chain. The man was probably going to see Merlin! Arthur snuck down the hallway after him and paused.

"Think you are being quiet, Prince Arthur?" Haran called, stopping outside of one of the rooms.

"Where's Merlin?" Arthur demanded.

"What does it matter to you, your highness?"

"I will ask you one more time. Where's Merlin?"

Haran laughed once. "Your friend is going to pay for what he's done, attacking the king. He's more powerful than we thought or ever dreamed. Camelot is doomed once Emrys is on our side."

"Merlin would never join you."

"He has no choice! I've been ordered to kill you if he resists and the prince's servant won't let his master die. I look forward to killing you."

It was Arthur's turn to laugh this time. "You think you can kill me?"

"You're wounded, beaten and bleeding. It would be like killing a child."

The prince couldn't stand it any longer. He lifted the sword and attacked the knight. His blade went back and forth, clanging against the knight's sword. Haran's sword was above Arthur's and he shoved him backwards. Arthur bit down on his lip, drawing a little bit of blood to keep from yelling and drawing more knights to him. He stood up, desperate to kill the man that was keeping Merlin from him. His ears picked up the sound of Merlin's voice, deep and shouting something that he couldn't understand. Merlin was behind the door that Haran was blocking.

"Time to end this," the prince stated.

Arthur ignored the pain as he swung the sword around, catching Haran off guard at the intensity. The blade flew out of the knight's hand, and Arthur pushed him to the ground, poising the blade at his neck, ready to kill him.

"Don't… trust him," Haran gasped.

"Merlin wouldn't hurt anyone."

"You haven't… seen what I've seen."

Arthur sighed. "You know… there's a difference between you and me. I'd never kill a child, but I will kill you for hurting Merlin."

The prince lifted his blade and stabbed it into Haran's chest as the man gasped and his head fell back. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as his eyes stared up into the nothingness. Arthur pulled the sword back and got to his feet. Black spots were forming in his vision. He was losing too much blood and it was affecting him. His hand was shaking as he grabbed the handle to the room. The door was locked. Arthur stumbled back to Haran and pulled the key off of his belt, returning to the door and sticking it inside. He opened the door, holding up the sword in case someone else was waiting inside. Merlin was sitting on the bed with his hand out. Arthur quickly noticed that his face was deathly pale; the king must have done something to him. Warm moisture fell from Arthur's hands… blood. The sword dropped from his hand, clanging loudly. He stumbled. Merlin was suddenly standing next to him, holding his arm.

"How did you escape?" he asked.

Merlin's voice sounded like it was coming from down a long tunnel and the room was spinning. Arthur tried to focus on his breathing and what was happening.

"Always… the tone of surprise… I am Camelot's champion."

Had he spoken? What was happening? Someone was screaming in the distance, but he couldn't place it. Not even knowing if it was a woman or a man screaming. It felt like when someone had hit him on the head, which happened far too often. Arthur was losing consciousness. His breathing sounded so loud in his ears. Arthur didn't even grasp that his eyes were closing. He felt a soft material being wrapped around his body and it took him a moment to realize that it was the blanket from the bed. The prince tried to get his knees to obey, but they wouldn't listen as they gave out. Merlin grabbed him and after a minute he felt his legs moving, but he couldn't stay alert any longer. The darkness pulled him under.

Arthur woke up in such pain that he just wanted to slip back under. He opened his eyes, confused at the sight of the night sky and stars above him and the feel of stone beneath him. How did they get outside? The last thing he remembered was being in Alined's castle, rescuing Merlin. Wait… where was Merlin? Arthur quickly sat up, regretting it instantly as he jarred his collarbone. He yelled. Arthur almost passed out at what he saw. The Great Dragon was kneeling before him, clearly not dead and not attacking him. He was just sitting there and watching…

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed.

A little of the color had returned to his skin, but his servant was still too pale and not moving. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Merlin's chest was rising and falling in an even rhythm. He was alive at least. Arthur didn't see any visible wound on his friend. King Alined must have given him some kind of potion. The prince wished that he had a weapon as he slowly got to his feet. The Great Dragon was following his movements with a slight movement of his head. Arthur kept him in the corner of his eye as he knelt down next to Merlin, touching his shoulder and feeling the heat of his fever. He shivered; feeling exposed in the open elements and pulled the blanket a little tighter around his shoulder.

"Ouch…" Merlin mumbled, moving his head a little.

He slowly opened his eyes and Arthur smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Merlin's eyes were glazed over with fever and he was breathing shallowly. Not that he felt much better. Arthur felt as if he could fall over at any second. His back was searing and he wished that it would just go numb. His servant tried to lift his head, peering over Arthur's shoulder at the Great Dragon. For some odd reason, Merlin didn't seem surprised at the sight of huge and deadly beast. He moaned and Arthur helped him lay his head back against the stone. Merlin shivered once, closing his eyes again. Arthur wished that he had something to cover him up with, but they only had the one blanket. The prince glanced over at the Dragon, but quickly looked away. He would not help them. Before he could say Merlin's beard, if Merlin could even grow facial hair, the Dragon blew fire onto the pile of rocks directly behind Arthur. He jumped, hissing in discomfort. The rocks glowed orangey red and he could feel the heat radiating off of them. Arthur turned back to Merlin and using his good arm, he dragged him closer to the rocks.

"King Alined poisoned him," the dragon's voice was soft but deep. "I've given him an enchantment to heal him, but he will need rest."

Arthur jolted.

"You can talk?" he declared.

"I can do many things, Arthur Pendragon. You will never understand them all."

The prince was shocked. Why did the Dragon never speak to them when he was destroying Camelot and murdering innocent people? Maybe they could have made some kind of verbal deal or treaty to stop his massacre of Camelot.

"What do you want?" Arthur demanded, not trusting him at all.

"I want many things, but I have to wait for them to come to pass. Sometimes, I fear that you will not be the wise king that Albion deserves."

Arthur stood up in protest. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ar…thur…" Merlin whispered, getting the prince's attention.

He knelt beside his friend, taking his hand and trying to rub some warmth back into the skin. Arthur couldn't go on much longer. His stomach flip-flopped from all of his movements and he sat down heavily. Moving around had reopened a few of the gashes.

"I'm right here, Merlin. Just rest." Arthur returned his attention to the Great Dragon. "You said that you gave him an enchantment, why?"

"It is not his time to die yet," he simply stated.

"You have no right to use magic on him!" the prince yelled.

Laughter; the Great Dragon began to laugh at the prince and shake his head. "Arthur Pendragon, you have a lot to learn." He lifted his wings and took flight.

"What does that mean?" Arthur called after him.

He watched as the dragon disappeared into the clouds at the edge of the mountain range. The prince groaned, not really understanding what had just occurred. Another voice mirrored his groan.

"Merlin?"

Sorry for the cliff-hanger again! They are quite fun to write. :)

I was overwhelmed by the response to the last chapter. Thank you for all of your reviews! I gave you a chapter early because of it. Special thanks to the anonymous reviewers that I can't answer! I hope that you liked this chapter. And just in case you want a laugh, you should go to youtube and there's actually a video with Bradley commented how many times Arthur gets hit on the head. :) Very funny. And Colin and Bradley also do a hilarious lip-sync of "You're the Voice". Amazing! Hopefully that will keep you distracted while you wait for me to update again.

You guys are awesome!

Please review!

Emma