A/N: Hello all! Thanks for staying tuned! Hope you enjoy!

"Merlin! Merlin, wake up!"

Merlin came to, groggily at first, and then all at once as someone slapped him.

"Sorry," Morgana whispered. "But we've got to move!"

"They've caught up already?" Merlin groaned. He pulled himself though and started walking.

"Yeah, they're about a kilometer away. I tried to give you as much time to sleep as I could."

"'S alright. Thank you." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and they continued their incessant march.

It was early morning. They had spent the night of and the day after the gala running, trying to throw off their pursuers but to no avail. Now it was early morning the next day and they were running out of options. Morgana had used her far sight and knew that their pursuers now had horses and were still using that magic detecting rod.

"You two still alive?" Arthur asked.

"Hanging in there," Merlin replied. "Where are you guys?"

"Sneaking out took longer than we thought it would," Gwen answered. "But we're getting close. We'll meet you near the main road."

"Hurry all you can," Morgana said.

As soon as they knew they wouldn't make it back to the castle that night, they had contacted the others. The four of them quickly realized that while it had been prudent, perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to send both of their magic users into danger together. They had spent all night and the next day trying to lose their pursuers, but no luck; it appeared the magic tracking rod was quite adept at what it did. And neither of them dared use magic to get back to Camelot, only to be tracked there and start a witch hunt.

Their current plan was to have Gwen and Arthur pick them up, bringing two extra horses with them, and split up, hoping to outride and confuse the hunters enough to lose them and head back to the city.

Sure enough a couple minutes later they heard hoofbeats. They veered to the left and found the edge of the road and their friends coming towards them.

"Thank goodness," Morgana breathed, hugging Gwen as she jumped off her horse.

"You alright to ride?" Arthur asked, placing a hand on Merlin's shoulder. The warlock nodded.

"Have to be. But yes, we'll be fine. We'll meet back at Aithusa's grove by noon."

"Sounds good." And without further ado, the four of them mounted up and started off at a canter, splitting up one by one onto whatever decent forest paths connected with the road, with plans of meeting up at the end.

"They're splitting up," the captain of the guard noted. The witch hunter hummed in agreement. "What should we do?"

"They'll have to meet up again at some point. Hypothetically, we track one, we find them all. What do you think, m'lord?"

Behind them came another rider, who had been keeping his distance til now.

"Have your men track them both," Agravaine said. "We capture the Dragon Knights today."

::::::::::::::::

Arthur was going to be happy to get home, though he knew the others would be even more relieved. It was nearly noon and he was approaching Aithusa's grove and suspected the others weren't far behind.

"Masks on." Morgana's command came suddenly and with enough force that he didn't even pause to ask why before he had it on.

Merlin's shout came next. "Arthur!"

Arthur pulled his horse back just in time, causing it to rear up and the arrow that was heading for him stuck in a tree instead. He didn't have time to react before another arrow came out of the woods and struck his horse in its flank. Already rearing, his horse screamed and lost its balance. Arthur just managed to throw himself to the side as his horse landed heavily on the ground. He sprinted into the forest, cursing himself for having to leave his mount, but not seeing another way out.

He spotted riders to his left, keeping pace with him. Thinking quickly, he turned on a dime and sprinted back the way he came and farther away from them at the same time. He heard the pursuit of hoofbeats and was nearly trampled as Merlin burst out of the trees in front of him.

"Get on!"

The warlock pulled him up and, shouting a command word, cast a barrier between them and the barrage of arrows that were coming towards them. Merlin turned and their horse galloped off.

"She can't go long with both of us on her," Arthur pointed out.

"I know. Get ready to jump. Here!"

The two launched themselves from the horse and rolled into the underbrush.

"Morgana? Gwen?"

"We're here," Morgana replied. "A little help though."

Arthur and Merlin exchanged a quick glance and nod before getting to their feet and running to their friends' aid. Sooner than they expected, they spotted the two girls, Morgana holding a shield between her and an attacker and Gwen clashing blades with another guard. With a shove of his hand, Merlin launched the two guards away from his friends. Morgana looked like death, pale and unstable on her feet. Merlin was sure he looked the same. They were running out of steam and options- fast.

They stood there, back to back, as soldier after soldier stepped out of the woods, leveling their crossbows at the four knights' hearts. The real heartstopping surprise came when Agraivaine stepped out of the shadows.

"It would be in your wisest interests to come quietly," Agravaine stated.

"What do we do? What do we do?" chanted Morgana.

"Go with them," Arthur replied. "We don't have much of a choice unless one of you can pull of a transportation spell for all four of us."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen right now," Merlin responded. "Though I wonder if it would be better to die trying."

"Now is not the time for cowardice, Merlin," Arthur said. "And I'm sure my father will have some leniency," but he didn't sound so sure.

"We'll go with you," Gwen announced. Agravaine gave them a tight smile.

"How kind. Let's move out!"

::::::::::::::

The court was in a huge commotion. The Dragon Knights had been captured and were being brought back to Camelot for trial. The streets were crowded with townsfolk and nobles alike, all itching for a glance of the renowned heroes.

The vigilantes were marched up the street and into the castle. Everyone expected them to be looking around in awe or in fear, but their masks hid any emotion they might have had and they stared forward bravely. Some of the nobles hissed and booed, but the townsfolk drowned them out with their cheers.

The noise of the crowds were silenced as the doors to the Great Hall slammed shut. Uther stood at the front of the room on the dias, every line in his body tensed. It appeared the whole court was assembled as the guards led the prisoners to the foot of the throne and shoved them to their knees.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "And what right have you to use magic and attack my knights."

"Who's talking?" Gwen asked.

"Who says we're gonna talk," Merlin replied.

"We are the Dragon Knights," proclaimed Arthur. "We are simply trying to defend those that you cannot."

"Or will not," added Morgana. Arthur shot her a glare.

"You realize that magic is against the law," Uther replied. "Punishable by death." None of them answered. "Remove their masks," he commanded one of the guards.

Arthur felt pity for the poor guy. He looked like he had barely graduated from training. He nervously approached Gwen, probably thinking that she was the least scary one, and attempted to remove the mask. It didn't budge.

"It won't come off sire," stuttered the poor guard.

"What?" Uther hissed. "Someone else." Different guards tried each one of them, but none of the masks would come off.

"Works like a charm," Merlin said smugly, but his fingers were twitching nervously.

"Gaius!" Uther bellowed. "See what you can make of it." Gaius swept over the floor towards the blue masked one and gently knelt down as he felt around the mask.

"My boy what have you gotten yourself into?" he breathed. Merlin didn't reply, but felt his heart drop to his stomach. Gaius stood.

"The masks appear to be magic my lord. If I had to guess, I would say that only the wearers could remove them."

"I command you to remove your masks this instant," Uther told them.

"Nobody do that," Arthur and Merlin said at the same time.

"I said, remove your masks or face the consequences." When they didn't move, Uther nodded to one of the guards. In a flash he had Morgana by the hair and a sword at her throat.

"Now. Take off your masks or your friend dies here and now."

They all waited for Arthur's word.

"We take them off and come what may. On 3."

In sync they took their masks off. Cries and gasps filled the room. Chaos reigned and it took quite a while for everyone to quiet down. Amidst all the confusion though, Uther stood frozen with shock, a mix of horror and surprise on his face.

"Arthur?" he breathed, once the room was silent.

"Hello Father."

"And Morgana. And your servants. This is. This is… I don't even know what to say. What have you to say for yourselves?" he finally asked, at a loss for words.

"Like I said Father, we want to protect those you cannot or will not."

"You mean those filthy magic users? Those… peasants?" he spat.

"I happen to be one of those filthy magic users," Morgana said vehemently. "And they deserve every right that a normal person does."

"Magic is evil as you should well know."

"Magic is not evil!" Merlin all but yelled. "It's a force or tool just like any other; it's the user who decides what to do with it! And you have corrupted everyone with your poisoned prejudices." Uther's eyes locked on Merlin's and he knew he had made a mistake. Uther whirled to Gaius.

"Did you know?" he demanded.

"Sire, I had no idea, I swear."

"Gaius is innocent Father. He had no idea. We did this by ourselves."

"By yourselves," Uther scoffed. "I'm sure. I know who is at fault for this. Take them to the dungeons," he commanded the guards. "Magic restraining cuffs for those two. And him," he snarled, looking directly at Merlin who glared back with the resolution of the sun; it would rise it would set, no matter what anyone said or did, and, like the sun, Merlin would not yield. "Let the witch hunter work on him until we get a confession. And prepare a pyre. Tomorrow at dawn we'll have an execution. Court dismissed."

The court erupted into chaos once more. Arthur was yelling after his father, saying he couldn't do this. Morgana looked like she wanted to rage, her hair floating up around her, but a standby guard snapped a pair of cuffs around her wrists and she fell to the ground. Gwen was crying, trying to get to the others but was held back and pulled to her feet and out the door.

And Merlin was looking at Gaius. Soft, quiet tears streamed down his face and that broke Merlin's heart above all.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed. A moment later, a pair of magic restraining cuffs were around his wrists as well, feeling like the weight of the world. He too was marched out and the doors clanged shut with the sound of finality.