Hi everybody! Sorry for the long wait. I had to finish some work for Uni :-/ Thanks for you reviews.

So here we go!

Chapter 10: On the run

The lower town was burnt to the ground by Morgana and her alliance of evil. Her timing was ingenious. Nobody was prepared for an attack; the knights and Arthur were not even wearing their armour. The citadel didn't even stand a chance. The attackers were inside Camelot's walls in no time. Camelot was lost. Again. And again Merlin had not been able to stop it from happening. Changing the future was far more difficult than he had imagined. Or at least changing it the way he wanted. Merlin remembered how he had had to resort to rather unorthodox methods to get Arthur to safety. This part was much easier this time. And of course, Gwen was the reason for that.

"Arthur, you need to go. Now! If Morgana finds you... Your people need you alive. There's nothing you can do now."

Merlin could see that he was struggling but eventually his desire to get Gwen into safety got the better of him. Merlin seriously hadn't expected as much.

"You're right. We need to go."

"We'll use the posting gate" Sir Percival nodded.

"Go, Sire. I'll keep them off your back for as long as I can. Now run!" Gwaine said while unsheathing his sword.

Arthur looked surprised, but then he grasped Gwaine's arm: "Thank you, Gwaine."

"Sire, we need to hurry" Lancelot said while he and Gwen were already leaving. Arthur, Elyan and Percival followed closely. Only Merlin lingered a bit. He knew what Gaius was about to do next.

"You go, Merlin. I'll just slow you down."

Merlin closed his eyes; he knew he wouldn't change Gaius's mind and he didn't have the time either.

"You must know it's for the best" Gaius continued.

Merlin hugged his guardian briefly before Gwaine shoved him towards the exit.

"We'll come back for you, I promise!" Merlin shouted before he too left the doomed citadel.

The small group of survivors stopped at a clearing.

"Where now?" Lancelot asked.

"They know Arthur's still alive, so they'll be after us" Percival said.

"Then we have to make it across the border, find sanctuary anywhere we can. King Rodor of Nemeth would help us, I'm sure of it" Gwen proposed.

"No, we can't drag his kingdom into this as well. Besides, Morgana would find us there. She would suspect that we'd turn to him for help" Arthur replied.

Though Merlin didn't want to bring Morgana's men anywhere near his hometown, he felt that somehow that was where they had to go.

"I know a place. Ealdor."

"Morgana knows that this is your village, Merlin. Don't you think she'd figure out that you would go there?"

"Probably, but that way we could divert her attention from the Forest of Essetir."

"It would be an element of surprise, Sire" Lancelot said.

"All right then. We head for Ealdor to gain time."

Just then, they heard hoof beats approaching quickly.

"Run!" Percival yelled.

Just as Morgana, Agravaine, and the Southrons reached the clearing, the fugitives rushed away into the wood.

"After them!" Morgana was furious.

"We need to split up, create a distraction" Lancelot shouted. Elyan and Percival nodded and together they turned left while Arthur and Merlin continued to the right. Gwen was about to follow when Morgana came in sight and casted as spell that caused a large tree to fall between them. Lancelot just managed to drag her out of the way before she was hit.

"Guinevere!" Arthur wanted to follow her but Merlin grabbed his arm and pulled him along.

"She'll be fine, Arthur. We need to get you away from here!"

Hesitantly he nodded and turned. They kept running with the Southrons pursuing them on foot. As they reached a gorge, Merlin fell back a little to be out of earshot of Arthur before he sent the gorge crumbling down with a spell. Then he rushed to catch up with him. They continued running until Arthur stopped and held his hand up.

"We've shaken them off. I think we're safe for now" Arthur said.

"Yes but for how long? They'll still follow us. We need to keep going."

"What about Gwen and the others? We can't just leave them."

"We can't go back either. They'll manage."

"I hope your right."

They camped for the night. They couldn't risk putting on a fire so they just sat there with their backs against the trunk of a very old tree each of them lost in their thoughts.

Suddenly Arthur broke the silence: "Why?"

Merlin knew what he meant. It was the second time within two years that Camelot had been taken by Morgana. And both times someone whom Arthur would have trusted with his life had betrayed him.

"Arthur..." he didn't finish that sentence

Someone put a sword at his back. Merlin looked up and found himself eye to eye with a tall blonde woman with sparkling blue eyes wearing black leather trousers and a top. Isolde, Merlin remembered. With her a dozen men, Tristan of course among them, had entered the clearing as well and surrounded their camp. Arthur was on his feet and had unsheathed his sword ready to fight them off in no time.

"Put down your sword. Slowly and don't try anything or I'll run him through" Isolde said to Arthur.

"We were just passing through. We don't want any trouble" Arthur said while laying down his sword.

"No horses, no supplies, nothing? Where are you going?" Tristan asked.

"North over the border."

"Lot's kingdom. He doesn't take kindly to strangers, I can tell you. Likes to decorate his fortress with their heads."

"We'll probably go somewhere else then. Thanks for letting us know."

"You're not going anywhere, sunshine. I recognise a knight of Camelot when I see one. You'll come with us until we can be sure you'll not run to your king. Our business is no concern of his."

"You're smugglers!" Arthur

"We prefer to think of it as free trade" Isolde smiled and Tristan chuckled. Then he shrugged his chin towards Merlin and Arthur. Two of his men walked over and tied their hands together at their backs.

"Now after you, Sir Knight."

So only a short chapter. I'll update as soon as possible, I'll have more time next week, so probably Tuesday :-)