A/N: So the next chapter, I hope all of you like it. It seems that this story is coming to an end, still a few more chapters to go. Enjoy.

xxx

Gwaine stared at Balinor, his mind processing what he had just heard... Hunith was dead, that couldn't be true. 'She was one of the kindest people that I have ever met.' A shock spread through his mind when he realised that he just thought of her as a person that wasn't in this world anymore.

He let out a sigh and let himself sink next to his older friend. 'I... I'm sorry...'

The dragonlord didn't look at him. 'Her dead wasn't your fault... I should have protected her better, her and Merlin.' He fell silent and after a while he looked at the brunette. 'Are you going back to Camelot?'

Gwaine sighed, but nodded. 'Yes.'

'Than I'm going with you.'

Gwaine narrowed his eyes and tried to see what the older man thought. 'Are you sure about that... you may be recognized.'

The man's face hardened. 'I just want to get my son, I won't allow anything to happen to him.'

Eve who had been silent for the whole conversation kneeled down and looked at Balinor. 'You shouldn't do that... We need you with us. Gwaine can get him and bring him back.'

He glared at her. 'I'm going even if you don't like it...' He turned back to the brunette. 'and with or without you.'

'I'm going too... I know where he is.'

Balinor gave him an approving nod. 'Good, then I will get some provisions and we will-.'

'Balinor!' They heard someone shout and the three of them turned around to face the person. Robin, one of the druid children, ran towards them and stopped in front of Balinor and searched for his breath. 'Cornelius sa... said to tell you that...' He stopped and looked the older man desperately in the eyes. 'Alice is about to attack Camelot!'

Gwaine and Balinor looked shocked at each other. Panic rose through Gwaine's head, if Alice would attack Camelot then Merlin would be in the middle of the fight.

The older man let out an deep frustration breath and stood up, facing Eve. 'Take Robin with you back to the camp. Gwaine and I will go to Camelot and get Merlin. Tell Cornelius... tell him that we will be back soon, with my son.'

She looked at him as if she wanted to stop him, but let her head hang and sighed. 'Fine, just be careful and bring him home safely.'

'I will.' Both Eve and Robin ran off and he turned back to Gwaine. 'We have to go now! My horse is not far from here, get your own and I will meet you here again.' Gwaine didn't oppose and immediately did what he was told.

xxx

Merlin stared at the older man in front of him, both laughed while talking to each other. Merlin decided that he liked Gaius and he understood how the man and his father were once friends... no, they were still friends. Only separated by a wicked king.

'So you learned magic from your father.'

Merlin nodded. 'Yeah, but I also learned a lot from the other druids.' He sighed, while thinking about his friends and family, he missed them, but at least he knew that his father was fine, he hoped his mother was too.

Gaius looked curiously at him before asking. 'So... you know what your father is, right?'

The raven blinked and looked at him. 'You mean him being a dragonlord?'

The older man nodded. 'And you will become the same after he dies.'

Merlin laughed. 'Let's hope that that won't be soon.'

'Of course.' Gaius said to him and leaned closer to him before he opened his mouth to comment, but before they could say anything the warning bells sounded.

They stared at each other and Merlin jumped up. 'What's happening?'

Gaius narrowed his and grabbed the raven's hand. 'It are the warning bells, just stay here and let the knights handle it!'

'But...'

'There is nothing you can do without revealing your secret.'

The warlock sighed and let himself fall back into his seat. 'What do you think is happening?'

'Hmm... It's probably not something big, maybe someone escaped from the dungeons.'

'Oh, but are those people-.' The rest of his words disappeared in the sound of an explosion. Now both men jumped up and Gaius ran as fast as possible to the door, glancing once outside, before turning back and tossing the boy an cloak.

'Come with me and don't draw any attention to yourself!' The physician ordered him and went outside, soon followed by Merlin.

The whole street was filled with panicked people, trying to find a hiding place, but he didn't see anything that could be the cause of the explosion. He ran after the older man and whispered to him. 'Where are we going?'

'To the castle, if someone knows anything about what is going on than we will be able to learn it there... and of course we're safe there.'

Merlin gulped by the thought he would walk into the castle, into Uther's home. He went silent and followed his older friend.

They walked onto the square and Gaius guided him towards the stairs in front of the castle's entrance. A small smile spread over his lips when he saw Arthur walking towards them. The prince hurried with shocked eyes towards them, looking nervously at them. 'The both of you are okay?'

Gaius nodded. 'Yes, can you tell us what's going on here?'

Arthur bit his lip. 'I'm not the sure... they say that we're under attack, but none of the patrols on the borders had reported any army marching towards Camelot.' He turned to the raven. 'Do you think this is what your father had warned me about.'

'I don't know-.' He stopped when a knight walked towards the prince.

'Sire, your father wants you in the council room.' The young knight said while eying the three of them, especially Merlin who tried to hide himself in his cape.

'I will be right there.' Arthur replied and the knight bowed quickly before rushing off. The prince turned back to them. 'Gaius, you will be probably needed in your chambers...' He eyed Merlin. 'and can you look after him?'

Merlin rolled his eyes, Arthur's words sounded as if he was a little kid. 'Arthur I will be fine, I will help Gaius.'

'We will be fine, just go to your father.' Gaius replied and he waved Arthur away, knowing the prince's place now was at his father's side. Arthur slowly nodded and looked worriedly at the two of them before disappearing from Merlin's sight.

'Let's go.' Gaius said while looking at Merlin. 'If this is as bad as I fear then there will be a lot of wounded.'

Merlin nodded while he bit his lip, he hated war, but he had to help Arthur. 'What can I do to help?'

'How much do you know about healing?' Gaius asked while they walked towards the physician's chambers.

'I guess I can't use magic.' His older friend smiled at him. '... I know a bit of it, but I'm sure that if you explain to me what I have to do I will be able to do it.'

Gaius nodded that he understood and opened the door to his chambers. He gathered two buckets from the floor and handed them to Merlin. 'Can you get some water from the square?'

The raven looked nervously from the buckets in his hand to Gaius. 'Uhmm... are you sure that is a good idea?'

'You will be fine, they won't give you much attention and otherwise just tell them that you work for me.'

'If you say so...' Merlin replied nervously and he turned back to the square. It all went as Gaius told him, the knights didn't even look at him. On his way back he stared at the large gates in the walls, he could see glimpses of the enemy on the other side. He could feel shivers run down his spine, he hoped that Camelot would win. He felt a grin spread over his face, he never thought that he would think something like that, but he cared for Arthur.

He soon returned to the physician, feeling another smile spreading over his face when he saw both Gwen and Morgana with the older man. The black haired girl noticed him and smiled. 'Merlin.' She said and pulled the boy in her arms, almost spilling the water from the buckets.

Gaius grinned at them. 'Welcome back Merlin, the lady Morgana and Gwen are here to help us. So can you boil the water?' Merlin grinned back at him and they all went back to work.

xxx

Arthur entered the council room, looking at his father sitting on his throne. The man was discussing something with his council, the anger clearly visible on his face and in his voice.

'Father?' He asked carefully not knowing what his father would do.

The king's head shot up, glaring at his son. 'What took you so long?... According to the reports the army exist of filthy sorcerers and bandits.' He stood up and walked towards his son. 'I want you to take the lead in destroying this enemy, I don't want any prisoners, no one is allowed to live!'

The blond nodded and gulped, thinking of Merlin, he couldn't let his father know anything about the raven. 'I will do that.' The prince quickly turned around and walked out of the room. Before meeting Merlin he wouldn't have hesitated to follow such an order, but now... he wasn't sure he could do that, but at the same time he couldn't go against his father... right?

He turned to the place he knew the knights were gathered. He saw how Leon hurried to him. 'What are the king's orders?'

Arthur took a deep breath and looked in his friend's eyes. 'To kill everyone.'

Leon blinked once at him, before turning around and ordering the other knights. He turned once back at his prince. 'Don't worry, these people are our enemies, they try to kill people, they are nothing like Merlin.'

Arthur looked up at his best friend, the man may be older then he was, but they had been best friends since he was little. He knew Leon wanted him to be happy. 'Thank you.'

They soon reached the gates, the enemy had already broke through it and the guards and some of the knights were defending the castle against the enemy. It was clearly hard for them, not that Arthur hadn't expected it to be like that, they couldn't do much against sorcery, not with only swords. Sometimes he didn't understand his father's law against magic, without magic they could not defend themselves against it.

He looked back to his knights, holding his sword above his head. 'For Camelot!' He shouted to them and his knights shouted the same in response. They charged towards the enemy. Arthur knew he had to protect everything he cared for, his people, the kingdom, his father, Morgana, Gwen and... Merlin.

He blocked a sword from his side, before slashing towards his attacker and changing opponents. Luckily for Camelot most of the swordsman were mere bandits or farmers, not trained men. But what was difficult were the magic users, they couldn't do much against those attacks, only making sure to stop them before they could release their magic.

Arthur turned around and blocked an sword, but when he locked eyes with his attacker he felt coldness spread over him. He looked deep in Alice's cold eyes, the woman wearing a dark grin on her face.

'Hello little boy.'

The prince's eyes grew wide and he jumped away, creating a distance between him and the woman. 'Alice.' He growled.

'I'm glad that you remember me.' She walked forward. 'So where is he?' She looked up at the large castle. 'You have brought him here, to Camelot? Are you an idiot? Bringing a sorcerer to the evil king's lair?' She lifted her eyebrow when she looked at him.

He growled again at her. 'I won't allow you to hurt him. You almost killed him with that drug you used on him!'

Alice looked amused at him. 'We could have handled that ourselves. He is better off with his own kind than in a place that would kill him if they knew who he really was.'

'I will protect him!'

'As if you can do that from the world of the dead. Today Camelot will fall and the Pendragon family will end.'

Arthur tightened his grip on his sword and charged towards her, anger rising in his heart. He aimed for her heart, but she blocked his sword and slashed in response back at him. He let himself fall to the ground, but she was able to cut his arm. He hissed while he reached for the wound, he could feel his blood dripping through it. She held her sword above his head, but was forced to back away when another sword almost cut ran through her stomach.

Arthur quickly glanced to the side, relieved when he saw that it was Leon that protected him for the moment. He quickly got on his feet and readied himself to give her another blow.

But before anyone could do anything they heard a large shout, they all turned around. Arthur gasped in shock, the sorcerers had broken through Camelot's defenses.

A wide dark grin spread over the woman's face and she turned back to the blond. 'It seems you will live somewhat longer, first I will deal with that worthless king of yours.' Without any other word she ran away, towards the opening.

'Go after her, I will handle things here!' Leon yelled at him and he gave the knight a quick nod. He quickly ran after her, but was forced to stop when a large muscular man blocked his way.

Arthur glared at the man, immediately recognizing him as one of the guys that captured Merlin. The man just laughed at him. 'Seems like I will finally be able to get my revenge on you, you shouldn't have taken Emrys from us.'

'He didn't want to be with you guys!'

Anton let out another laugh. 'As if... we're his kind, you will never understand what we feel and think.'

Arthur narrowed his eyes, he was sure that Merlin didn't want to be with them, but was he himself selfish that he wanted to keep Merlin close to him? He knew that the boy could never have a life in Camelot, his father wouldn't allow it... But like the dragon had said the two of them were bound together, they had to be together... Guilt rose in the prince's heart. Did he even know if the raven wanted that, he wasn't even sure if the boy liked him, he was the son of the man that killed so many of his kind.

The prince took a deep breath and roared. Even if that was true then he wouldn't allow them to get their hands on Merlin, not again, he would protect the boy with his life. He lifted his sword and ran to the man, dodging the large hammer that almost hit him on the head. Anton moved away, faster than Arthur had expected from a man as large as that, but at the same time was he still able to cut open the man's side.

Anton yelled from the pain and growled angry at him. 'Oh, you will pay for that.'

The man quickly swung his hammer towards the prince, Arthur was barely able to dodge it by jumping to the side, but immediately after he felt an pain spread from his hip. He reached with his fingers to his side, while looking at it. His eyes grew when he felt and saw the red liquid flow around his fingers. His eyes turned back to the large druid, seeing how he held an blood stained dagger in his hand. He took a deep breath to calm himself, he knew that the wound wouldn't kill him, but that didn't mena it didn't hurt.

'How does the pain feel, little prince? It is just a part of what my murdered brothers have felt when they were brutally murdered by your father.'

'I know that my father has done much wrong, but... by killing more innocent people you won't return them to live!... I will stop you even if that means I have to sin myself!' With that he once again trusted his sword forward, but now he could feel the flesh around his sword, he pulled it out of Anton's body, seeing how the man sank to the ground.

Arthur turned his eyes away, he had killed so many people before, but this one seemed more personal, maybe it was because he knew the man.

He took a deep breath, it was all to make sure Merlin would be save. He looked up towards the castle and to where his father and the raven were. He would make sure that he stopped Alice and protect everything that was dear to him.