A/N: Thank you SnidgetHex, elbcw, PadrePedro, Buckhunter, Hades Lord of the Dead, Dee, 29Pieces, and Guest for reviewing!


Chapter 4

Merlin lay completely cocooned from head to toe in the vines, only his eyes and nose left uncovered. The things had come upon them with lightning precision, restraining and gagging them before they could shout a warning to Arthur. And when he had finally come back down from the trees, they'd grabbed him too.

Merlin couldn't help but whimper as the vines slowly squeezed tighter, like a python preparing its meal. He could see his friends all in a similar state. Gwaine had a vine around his throat, his face turning puce as his airway was gradually constricted. Elyan screamed into the vine gagging him as his broken arm was crushed. Lancelot and Percival were in the center of the writhing mass, and Merlin watched them completely disappear beneath it. He knew there was no time to think, no time to check he wouldn't be seen. If he didn't act now, they were all going to die.

Merlin unleashed his magic with everything he had. He felt it surge up within him and then outward with a burning force that blasted through the living vines. The ones coiled around him exploded with sizzling amber sparks, the wave cascading through the vines. The mass shrieked and thrashed in response.

Merlin dropped to the ground, free, as did Gwaine, Elyan, Leon, and Arthur. Leon was still unconscious and the vines immediately began to crawl over his body. Merlin darted forward and seized his arms, dragging him away from the center of the mass. He then snatched up Leon's sword and plunged back in, hacking at the vines wildly. Arthur, Gwaine, and even Elyan were doing the same. But the vines were everywhere and lashing out, trying to restrain them again.

Merlin hacked his way to the spot where Lancelot and Percival were and, heedless of whether anyone saw him, shot his palm out toward the vines and hissed the same spell as before, blasting the top layer of vines away. They squealed as their fibrous roots burned.

Lancelot and Percival were still bound tightly, so Merlin took his sword to the coiled mass around them. The plants or plant continued to shriek as the other knights sliced off its various appendages. They finally retreated enough that Percival and Lancelot were able to scramble out of the pit and join the fight. Even blind, all Lancelot had to do was swing wildly and some vine or other was caught in the bite of his steel.

The vines finally began to recoil, slithering back through the forest, apparently fed up with their meal that fought back too much.

"This way!" Arthur shouted.

There was no time to wait for the plants to regroup. Merlin grabbed Lancelot; Percival slung an unconscious Leon over his shoulder; and they all broke into a harried pace, lurching and stumbling through the dense woods. None of them slowed down. Lancelot tripped several times until Gwaine ducked in and slung one of Lancelot's arms over his shoulder. Together, he and Merlin kept Lancelot from falling as they ran.

The forest was so close and tight that when they finally broke free of its perilous confines, it came as a complete surprise. One minute they were hemmed in by twisted trees, the next they were stumbling into open countryside, sucking in ragged gasps of fresh air. There was no time for relief, though.

"Keep going," Arthur urged.

Right, they should probably get far away from the edge of the woods, just in case. Then they could take stock of their injuries.

There was a river up ahead, and Arthur finally determined they'd put a safe enough distance between themselves and the forest. Most of the knights collapsed in a heap, and Merlin quickly set about doing triage.

He checked Leon first. The knight was still lost to his fever, and most of the poultice Merlin had applied to his neck had rubbed off in the scuffle. He glanced at Lancelot, kneeling in the grass with a dirty bandage around his face, then at Elyan cradling his obviously broken arm and Gwaine rubbing at a bruised throat. He finally looked at Arthur and Percival.

"Either one of you hurt?" Merlin asked.

They both shook their heads. They were scratched up, but as long as they didn't have any pressing injuries, Merlin needed their hands.

He pointed at Percival. "I need two pieces of wood to re-splint Elyan's arm. Er, not from the forest."

Percival just gave him a dry glare at that.

Merlin turned to Arthur next. "And those herbs from before. See if you can find any. Actually, grab anything that looks herby; I'll make use of whatever's available. Sire," he added as an afterthought.

But Arthur was obviously too worried about his knights to quibble over Merlin giving him orders. As he and Percival set off on their tasks, Merlin went to Gwaine first. The fact that he was still standing was good, it meant his windpipe hadn't been crushed.

Merlin reached out to palpate the swollen flesh, but Gwaine batted his hands away and scowled. Merlin huffed irritably and yanked his neckerchief off instead. He knelt by the river's edge and soaked it in the cold water, then stood and handed the sodden article to his friend.

"Wrap that around your throat to help keep the swelling down. Don't argue. I don't have the time," he said tersely.

Gwaine ducked his gaze and proceeded to place the cold scarf around his neck. Satisfied, Merlin turned to Elyan next. He grimaced in sympathy; having a broken bone set twice in one day was bound to push anyone past their limit of endurance.

Merlin knelt next to him on the ground and gently extricated the limb from the knight's protective hold. "The good news is I don't think there's a new break, just the first one needs to be set again."

Elyan's face looked bloodless with how hard he was clenching his jaw.

Percival returned with some sticks for splints, and Merlin quickly pulled the bones back into place, then set the braces against both sides and used a few more tattered strips of their already ruined cloaks to secure them.

Then Arthur returned, thankfully with some herbs. Merlin parsed them out, wanting to make a paste for Gwaine's throat as well as for Leon.

"How is he?" Arthur asked.

"Hanging in there."

"What the hell happened back there?" Arthur asked next, not to Merlin specifically, but the warlock kept his head down and busied himself with mixing up the poultice.

"No idea," Gwaine said, voice hoarse.

"Kind of looked like magic, didn't it?" Elyan spoke up nervously.

"That whole forest was magic," Percival put in. "But I don't care what it was; it got us out of there."

They fell silent after that, Percival's comment apparently putting an end to the speculation. Merlin focused on applying the poultice to Leon's neck, then bullying Gwaine into letting him put some on his throat as well. Arthur helped by simply ordering the knight to do it.

Merlin went to check Lancelot last, the poor knight unable to do anything but sit on the ground while the others meandered around him. "You okay?" Merlin asked in concern.

"No worse," he replied. "You?"

"Fine. But next time I have a bad feeling about one of Arthur's shortcuts, back me up?" His lips quirked with a small smile, which he wished his friend could see.

Lancelot's mouth tugged slightly in response, and he shifted his hand until it bumped against Merlin's, then wrapped his fingers around his wrist with a subtle squeeze. "Thanks."

Merlin squeezed back. Lancelot knew what magic had saved them.

They were all exhausted from the ordeal, but they still needed to get Leon to Gaius as quickly as possible, so Arthur and Percival set to constructing a litter while Merlin and Gwaine refilled their waterskins in the river. Then they began the long slog toward Camelot.

But fortune finally smiled upon them and they were met with a troop of knights in red when they reached the road.

"Your Highness!" the leader exclaimed.

Arthur blinked in surprise at them. "Sir Baern. What are you doing here?"

"Your horses returned without you. We were of course concerned and rode out immediately."

They all visibly sagged in relief. Not only had they been found by friends, but they now had a ride home.

.o.0.o.

A few days after their return to Camelot, Arthur made his way to Gaius's chambers to check on his injured knights. Most of them were going to be just fine, but it was close for a bit with Sir Leon. And then of course there was Lancelot's sight… Arthur would never forgive himself if those two didn't recover, and he would have lost two of the finest knights he'd ever known.

But when he knocked on the door and cracked it open to peek inside, he found Leon awake and propped up in the corner with a bunch of pillows. Though pale and wan, he seemed alert as Arthur made his way over.

"Sir Leon. It's good to see you awake."

Leon nodded back. "Sire," he replied, voice threadbare but steady.

"His fever broke last night," Gaius said, bringing over a bowl of broth for him.

Arthur felt a measure of relief at that. He already knew Elyan would heal, and he glanced at Gwaine next, the nasty bruise on his throat standing out starkly against his white shirt.

"I've advised Sir Gwaine not to speak for a few more days until that's healed," Gaius went on before said knight could say anything at Arthur's questioning look.

"That'll be an improvement, actually," Merlin teased.

Gwaine shot him a surly glower, but Elyan and Percival snickered.

Arthur took a breath and finally turned to the cot Lancelot was sitting on, his face wrapped in clean bandages. Gaius had put some kind of medicine directly on his eyes the moment they'd returned and then wrapped them again with the caution that they needed time to heal. Now, however, was the moment of truth, and thus why they'd all crowded into Gaius's chambers.

Lancelot held himself rigidly as Gaius walked over and sat on the bench in front of him. The old physician unwound the bandage, revealing skin that had indeed healed from the mottled spray of red it'd been before. Lancelot sat stiffly, his eyes remaining firmly closed. No one rushed him; this was a tense moment for them all.

Lancelot inhaled shakily, then opened his eyes. He squinted against the light that must have been harsh after so long in darkness. Arthur held his breath as Lancelot slowly roved his gaze around the room. Then he smiled, the tension melting from his shoulders in an instant.

"Things are a little fuzzy, but I can see you all."

They all exchanged elated grins at that.

"Excellent," Gaius proclaimed. "I'm confident that the rest of your sight will return after a little more time." He gave Lancelot a pat on the knee and stood up.

Arthur moved closer and reached out to clap Lancelot on the shoulder, giving him a fervent nod. Lancelot nodded back, no words needed. Arthur may have led his friends into danger, but he'd gotten them all home.

They'd gotten each other home.


A/N: And that's the end. ^_^ I'm glad you all enjoyed this little whump romp. Next up I have a 10-chapter angst fest that I'll start posting Sunday.