Okay, this chapter wasn't what I had originally planned, but I like it. This is for everyone who wanted a revel chapter. You guys deserve this chapter and I really hope it's not terrible. And if it is, well I did try my best. Oh, and I borrowed some creatures from Skyrim. And The Talk is the next chapter.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited last chapter. I cannot thank you enough.

So, thanks for reading, drop me a comment if you can, and I don't own 'em.

See ya!

Something felt off about the cave, but Merlin couldn't tell if it was dark magic or something worse. A massive part of him wished it was just his paranoia showing, but he learned a long time ago that ignoring his instincts ended with someone dying, so he kept his magic at the ready, just in case.

The shortcut through the cave had been Gwaine's idea. He swore, up and down, that he had used it several times, back when he used to smuggle 'certain' items over the five kingdoms' borders

"Was any of it legal?" Arthur asked curiously, glancing back at the brown haired night.

"What was that mate?" Gwaine gave Arthur an innocent look, barely holding a smirk at bay, and then looked away.

"I'm going to take that as a no," Merlin muttered to Percival and the friendly giant chuckled.

The group continued on in silence, Arthur in the lead while Elyan flanked them. The deeper they got, the colder it became, just as most caves do, but Merlin didn't recall most caves reeking of death. He could tell he wasn't the only one who smelled it, Percival's nose crinkling at the odor.

"What's that stench?" Arthur questioned in disgust, looking around, his hand tightening around his sword.

"It wasn't me," Gwaine jested half-heartedly, his hand hovering near his sword's hilt.

"It smells of death, sire," Leon commented scanning the area. "Perhaps we should turn around, try the longer route." Merlin opened his mouth to whole-heartedly agree, but the words caught in his throat when the cave walls began crumbling. At first, he actually thought the place was going to fall down around them, but a skeleton-like creature surprised him by bursting free.

"What the ever loving hell is that thing?" Gwaine exclaimed yanking his sword from its scabbard.

"I don't know," Leon and Elyan answered, removing their own swords just as three more of those skeleton-things joined the first.

Percival shoved Merlin behind him, pulling his sword free, and swung at the nearest creature. It met his attack head on, swinging its own, dark blade up. The two swords collided, sending sparks flying, and Percival had to duck his head to avoid taking any to the eyes.

Around him, Merlin's friends fought the skeleton-things, three more having joined the others, as Merlin tried to figure out what they were dealing with. He swore he had read about these things in one of Gaius' books, but for the life of him he could not remember.

His brain wracking was put on hold when he spotted one of those skeleton-things trying to sneak up on Arthur. Magic at the ready, Merlin sent it backwards, straight into a wall, sending rocks and dirt tumbling down on it. As if nothing happened, the thing dragged itself to its feet and continued towards its intended target, but Merlin noticed it walked a bit slower. Magic seemed to harm these things.

Magic and apparently Excalibur. Arthur seemed to have killed two of the skeleton-things, a far better success rate than the other knights. Between him and Merlin, they could easily kill these things. Merlin was just going to have to be careful which spells he used.

Cautiously, Merlin used a bit more magic to keep the skeleton-things from stabbing his friends in the back. A few times, he actually thought Arthur spotted him, but if he did, the blond didn't say anything, and Merlin made a mental note to be more careful.

His mental note became obsolete when the skeleton-things began multiplying quicker than even Arthur could handle. They were going to die, in this cave, with these difficult to kill things, unless Merlin did something absolutely stupid.

"Arthur," Merlin called briefly catching the blonde's attention. "I'm sorry!"

Arthur was confused, Merlin could tell, but he didn't take long to dwell on it. He accepted his fate, whatever it may be, and conjured up the strongest spell he knew. He concentrated on the skeleton-things, wanting to avoid attacking his friends, and slammed his hand into the ground. He felt a whoosh of magic leave him, watching as the skeleton-things were blasted away from his friends, incinerating against the wall, leaving behind scorch marks.

He felt the cave shake around them and rocks began falling from the ceiling. He felt a hand grab his arm, Arthur's voice in his ear saying, "We've got to go." He began dragging Merlin back the way they came, the knights hot on their heels. Twice, Merlin actually thought Arthur was going to stab him (maybe leave him behind), but the king surprised him by continuing to pull him along the collapsing corridors.

He probably wants to wait until we're outside to kill me, Merlin thought wondering how far he could get if he tried one of those transporting spells. He had never been particularly good at them, only slightly better than his healing spells, but he figured it couldn't hurt. Saving Arthur from afar had to be better than death.

However, before Merlin could even attempt the spell, a wall caved in, collapsing on top of him and Arthur, and everything went dark.