A/N: Hey everyone, here's the next chapter. Dialogue has been adapted from the episode "Labyrinth of Gedref," so no spoilers, and I do not own anything :P Here's to hoping that I can finish this segment asap and post another couple of chapters before my life gets crazy at the end of the school year. Enjoy!

Merlin sprinted through the thick undergrowth after the others, guided by excited whoops and calls that echoed through the brisk air as the career pack encircled its quarry and trapped it in the center, drawing the loop tighter and tighter until there was no escape. He rolled his eyes. At least it wasn't some hapless tribute they were hunting.

He caught up with the others surrounding a clearing with a roughly-formed cave off to the left side, stepping over to Arthur's side and whispering in accordance with the sudden hush that had fallen over the group.

"So what is it?"

Arthur's brow furrowed. "I don't know…" He scanned the clearing, and his lips twitched upwards into a slight smirk. He clapped Merlin on the shoulder. "I want you to flush it out while we still have it surrounded."

Merlin scoffed incredulously. "You just said that you have no idea what we're dealing with here. It could be dangerous."

Arthur hefted his spear. "Let's hope so. Go on."

Merlin reluctantly drew his knife and padded silently over to the darkened alcove, muttering obscenities under his breath. He could feel Arthur, Elyan, Gwaine, and Lancelot's eyes on his back as he slowly edged towards the side of the shadowy opening, but suddenly there was no more need for secrecy. The entire forest at large seemed to hold its breath as a silvery-white silhouette ghosted out from its hiding place.

The age-weathered pages of Gaius's magic book flashed before Merlin's eyes, and he recognized the beast they had been hunting and its implications immediately. A unicorn. But Merlin was also aware of the predatory gleam in Arthur's eyes; time unfroze, and Merlin barely had the opportunity to blink before Arthur's spear was across the expanse and buried deep in the unicorn's chest.

It fell soundlessly, a single stream of crimson marring the stark ivory coat, and Merlin blanched as its pure, magical aura was suddenly sucked from existence. It felt like his legs had been knocked out from under him and all the air simultaneously sucked from his lungs, but he ran blindly over to the unicorn's side, across the clearing before he could fully register what was happening. Several seconds later, Arthur was at his side, and they both stood staring into the glassy eyes of a once-magnificent beast lying prone in the dust for a moment before Merlin could pull enough oxygen into his body again to speak.

"What have you done?" me murmured raspily.

"Don't be such a girl, Merlin," came Arthur's automatic response, but it sounded shaken, somehow lacking its usual arrogant confidence.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Elyan, and Merlin tore his gaze away from the corpse at his feet to find a grey-cloaked man standing beneath a tree several feet away. His face was concealed by the gloom thrown by his deep hood, and he seemed to grow in stature as they each noticed them, drawing strength from their fear. Arthur drew his sword with a steely rasp, and Gwaine and Elyan were quick to follow, footsteps pounding against the forest floor as they came. But then the man was gone as suddenly as he had come, vanishing into thin air.

Arthur allowed his sword to fall to his side, face pale, and Merlin knelt down and reverently closed the unicorn's dead eyes, a sick knot in the pit of his stomach.

Gwaine gestured towards the corpse without looking at it, swallowing before speaking. "What should we do with it?"

Arthur roused himself from his reverie, a haughty mask falling comfortably over his features to conceal the unease and doubt that Merlin had seen flicker there. "We take its horn back to the castle as a prize of conquest," he declared. The others nodded and followed his lead, but Merlin sank down on a log off to the side and put his head in his hands, allowing the nausea at what had just happened- at what Arthur had done- to wash over him. If the others noticed, they didn't mention it, and Merlin hastily jumped to his feet as the others made to return home.

They made their way back to the citadel in somber silence, unicorn horn clasped loosely in Arthur's bloodstained hand. Merlin couldn't bear to look at it, so he trailed behind, fixing his gaze on Gwaine's back and trying to ignore the disgust and horror swirling through his head. Lancelot fell into step next to him, and they slowed until the rest of the group was out of earshot.

"Merlin, was that as bad as I think it was?" he questioned uneasily.

Merlin shook his head. "It might just be superstition," he muttered.

Lancelot looked at him askance. "You did see the mysterious man appear out of thin air, didn't you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did," Merlin grimaced, pausing to reorder his thoughts. "It's just… unicorns are rumored to be extremely rare and powerful mystical creatures… And they say that bad fortune will plague anyone who slays one."

"Like Arthur?"

Merlin nodded, mouth set into a grim line. "I don't understand how he could do it."

Lancelot looked at the ground as they walked. "How he could kill it? I don't know. It was one of the most beautiful creatures that I have ever seen."

"Try telling that to Arthur," Merlin replied, voice full of a bitterness he couldn't make himself feel as the castle gates came into view. Arthur had done what was instinctive to him. He was right about that much; he had killed just as he had been raised to since birth. But how was such a child meant to grow into anything greater than a glorified murderer?