Conan stood before the assembled coven of vampires, the same anger bubbling through his veins as had settled in Merlin's stomach. "Foxhole." He said it with a low and gruff voice, struggling to contain the anger in his voice. "It is time. When we settled here, Yaxley spike of a dark time. That time is upon us now." As if on que, a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. "We must fight to protect ourselves!" Conan's voice rose to a shout. "We must protect what is right about our race! We must not let them win!" He paused as another rumble of thunder sounded, closer this time. "We do not know who Jared will return with or how many he will bring. We do know we will have to fight and we must be prepared!"

A ripple of murmurs ran through the coven, and a few shouts of agreement rose. Conan rose a hand and silenced the group, before gesturing towards Arthur and Merlin. "We are blessed, however, to have the presence of the crowned king of Camelot and his manservant with us, both of whom are experienced swordsmen."

Arthur stepped forward. "I, Arthur Pendragon, will teach you to fight. I have seen the damage this Jared has done to my friend and I do not wish to see it again. To make this work, we must be organised and work as a team. I will tutor and train basic combat skills, whilst my manservant will teach basic healing techniques and herbal remedies. We must all sort ourselves into fields of excellence."

"I'll forge weapons; the old ones will be useless!" A voice sounded from the group and a tall, russet haired man stepped out. "Connor at your service." He bowed to Arthur and smiled. "My son, Jack will provide bowmaking services."

"Thank you." Arthur smiled and nodded as the two vampires disappeared into the woods in the direction of the forge and armoury. Arthur turned back to the group.

"I can round up horses for us to right upon; there are many roaming this area and they are very easy to tame." A young girl stepped forward with long light brown hair and pointed ears. She carried a bag strapped across her shoulders and wore a pendant of an engraved wolf's tooth. She nodded to Merlin and dipped her head in a bow to Arthur. "They call me Muro."

"Well, Muro, your contribution is well accepted."

"I used to be a saddle maker" Another man, this time with short blonde hair, emerged from the group. "I'm sure, if Muro does her work well, I could make decent tack for the steeds."

As the hours passed, they wasted no time. Those who had allocated themselves jobs were busy doing them. Arthur held a small weapons lesson in the courtyard, whilst Merlin searched the surrounding forest for the various herbs and plants he would need. Wynter had given him Luke's bag, made from the skin of an otter, which he treated with great respect. On the way back to the hamlet, Merlin found himself passing Yaxley, who regarded him for a minute before laughing hoarsely.

"You're doomed, boy."

Merlin turned to face him. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"He'll know." He nodded to Arthur. "He'll know your secret."

"I'll keep it hidden."

Yaxley laughed again. "You won't be able to hide it." He reached over and snapped a branch off of a nearby tree. He waved it at Merlin. "You'll meet your demise, just like Luke. Your prince wouldn't be so eager to help you if he knew what you were." Yaxley spat at him. "Scum, you are. I'd say he'd be fighting on Jared's side if he knew."

"He would never."

"Oh but he would, and you know it." Yaxley laughed again at Merlin's obvious discomfort. "He would despise you, he would hate you, he would have you perish at his father's hands" he said in a singsong voice, his words starting to circle Merlin's mind, to seep in like poison. Like the poison he gave Arthur.

"No" Merlin turned to leave. "Look at you; you're just a crazy old man!"

"Don't you badmouth Yaxley" The vampire got to his feet and tried to leap at Merlin. "Don't you say that!" He snarled. "He'll kill you!" He shouted after the retreating warlock. "Don't you forget!"

"Merlin, are you alright?" Arthur put a hand on his manservant's shoulder.

"Wha-?" Merlin jumped and looked up into Arthur's eyes, finding comfort in their deep blue colour. "No…I mean, yes. Just…thinking."

"It will be okay" Arthur sat down next to Merlin and handed him the rusty sword he had been using to teach with. "Here, let's teach you some sword technique; I'd say you're a bit rusty since you last used one."

Merlin smiled and got to hiss feet. "Let's see what I can do."

"Up a bit, make sure you block! Good, good, turn, turn!" Arthur's sword gently knocked Arthur's chest. "If this were real, I'd have you dead by now!"

Yaxley's words suddenly filled Merlin's head again 'he'll have you dead' they sang 'he'll have you perish'

"Merlin!" Arthur's voice brought him back to reality.

"Sorry!" Merlin swung his sword up and blocked Arthur's blow, feigned a move to the left before thrusting his sword forwards, stopping it short of Arthur's chest.

"Good; you're improving!" Arthur smiled. "You're not too bad a swordsman, for a manservant!"

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Merlin laughed and started another spar, feeling himself become one with the sword as he sliced it through the air, blocking blow after blow from Arthur's sword. Hours passed and there was a tense atmosphere around the hamlet. The fire glowed in the centre of the courtyard, illuminating the buildings in orange light that made the shadows dance playfully. Merlin drank from a wooden cup, Arthur knowing of its contents but not saying a word, Merlin needed it to survive.

"You're scared." Arthur sat close to Merlin, taking comfort from his manservant's presence.

"I don't get scared." Merlin looked into the fire, and then at Arthur and smiled. "You said that to me once, remember?"

Arthur chuckled, "yeah, I remember. You were a strange boy back then. You still are."

"Oh, thank you."

"A pleasure."

Merlin snorted. "Arthur, if…if I die in this battle-"

"You won't."

"But if I do, please, take me back to Aealdor." Merlin looked into his prince's eyes. "And don't forget me."

"Merlin, how could anyone possibly forget you?" Arthur took Merlin's hand and looked into his eyes.

"Promise me…"

"I promise."

Merlin looked at the stars. "Look, look at the stars." Arthur looked up to see the thousands of glittering dots shining defiantly in a velvet black sky. "They shine even when times are dark."

Dawn broke bright, and the coven was once again assembled in the courtyard, preparing their various jobs for the day. "So, are we all ready?" Arthur watched as Connor dealt out the newly forged swords to each member, who thanked him and admired their new weapons.

"It is coming!" Scarlette came running from the forest, feet pounding and arms flailing. "There is an army!"

"Scarlette" Merlin turned to the panicked girl. "Scarlette, what army?"

"Jared!" She cried, "he has an army!"

"Scarlette-"

"I'm not mad!" She turned to the rest of the group "please! I'm not mad! Please!" Her voice broke.

"Scarlette" Merlin took her wrist and looked into her panicked eyes. "Who told you this?"

"I saw it." She looked into his eyes, "Lee showed me."

"He showed you?"

"Please, you have to believe me!" She turned and addressed the rest of the coven. "You don't believe me, do you? Please!" She turned to Conan. "They're coming, from the east! They are coming in a day!"

Merlin looked at her. "From where?"

"The east."

"Did you see them?"

"Lee showed me." She looked into Merlin's eyes.

"Tell me what you saw."

"They're coming, from the east, from the kingdom of Escetia!"

Merlin nodded. "Thank you."

"You believe me?"

Merlin nodded. "I believe you."

Scarlette got up and flung her arms around the warlock before running into one of the huts.

Merlin, you believe her?" Conan's eyes didn't leave the hut Scarlette had gone into.

"Yes. The kingdom of Escetia I know well. The king rules there with an iron fist."

Arthur stood up. "Escetia is Cenred's kingdom." He looked at Merlin and they shared the panic in their eyes. "We're vastly outnumbered."