Summary: "Lancelot had always been taught to try to give others hope, even in the worst of situations. But nothing bothered him more than the agony in his chest." Lancelot and Merlin have stumbled upon the ruins of an old castle. Unsurprisingly, they get lost and things go wrong. One-shot. Lancelot lives AU.

The Warlock, the Knight, and the Labyrinth Castle

Lancelot nodded to one of the torches on the nearest wall,"Could light one of those torches?"

"Of course." His companion assured him.

With a golden flash in Merlin's eyes, one of the torches on the wall lit up, illuminating the dark corridor. The warlock removed the torch from the wall, handing it to Lancelot. They began moving again.

"Do you think we'll get back to Camelot by nightfall?" Merlin asked.

"I'm not sure." Lancelot admitted. "I was so focused on moving ahead that I'm afraid I forgot to take care to memorize the route we took to get here."

"Neither did I." The Dragonlord confessed sheepishly. Then he added,"We've been lost in worse places."

The knight nodded his agreement, though he turned around to go back the way they had come. "We should work on getting out of here. We've been here too long as it is."

The pair made their way back through the stone corridors. At some point, Lancelot hesitated, unable to recall if they had come from the right or the left at a junction. Merlin made the choice for him, heading left. After a few more twists and turns, the pair were both stumped. They both seemed to come to the conclusion that they were completely and utterly lost about the same time.

"Do you remember which way we came from?" Merlin asked.

Lancelot shook his head. "I suppose we'll find a way out eventually, if we keep wandering around like this."

The warlock frowned. His eyes lit up gold for a long moment, making the knight curious as to what his friend was trying to do. When Merlin's eyes returned to their natural color, his frown had deepened.

"What's wrong?" The knight asked.

"I should be able to see the path ahead. But I can't see anything with my magic." Merlin told him. "Something's wrong here."

As soon as the last word reached Lancelot's ears, a deep roar came from behind them. Though it was distant, for the moment, both men whipped around in horror. They weren't alone in this old castle. Something is wrong here.

"What do you think it is? The creature?" He asked.

Merlin shook his head. "I don't know."

"We can fight it, Merlin." Lancelot assured him. "It'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Though that's what he said, the knight had no clue. How could he know, after all? He had no clue what the creature was or what it might do. It was almost like the griffin all over again. They were fighting a magical creature they knew nothing about. But Lancelot had always been taught to try to give others hope, even in the worst of situations. So that's what he did.

He and Merlin pushed forward, in the opposite direction the creature was. The twisting corridors left them disoriented, however, and they eventually ended up coming into a circular room. A circular room with lots of other corridors extending off of it.

"I can't believe this is a castle." Merlin muttered.

"It feels more like a maze." Lancelot agreed.

"A maze." The warlock echoed suddenly, his tone betraying that he had realized something. "Lancelot, we should not be here."

"Why not?" The knight asked, puzzled.

"We're in the labyrinth and the creature is a minotaur."

"I'm afraid I don't know what that is."

"A minotaur is half man, half bull." Merlin told him. "And they are very dangerous."

"How do we stop it?" Lancelot questioned, suddenly feeling very bad about the situation they found themselves in.

"We can kill it, but I'm worried it'll kill us first."

"I'm sure we'll hear it coming before it gets too close."

"I hope you're right."

"Come on." The knight started down one of the many tunnels in the room. "One of these has to lead to the way we came in."

Well, we're definitely not getting back to Camelot by nightfall, He thought to himself. Though if Merlin was right, they'd be lucky to escape unscathed. He handed his companion the torch, drawing his sword to take up the rear.

Heavy, animalistic breathing gradually came audible at the end of the tunnel, where the circular room was. The knight swallowed nervously, facing that direction and walking backwards to keep up with Merlin. The minotaur let out a bellow that nearly left their ears ringing. The corridor trembled in the aftermath of the soundwave.

And then, without warning, the creature itself burst around the curve in the hallway, launching itself at them. With a gasp of surprise, Lancelot raised his sword at it. It huffed angrily, scratching a booted human foot against the stone floor.

"Merlin, get back." The knight warned, holding his free hand in front of the warlock.

Merlin did as told, backing off a little ways. Lancelot grabbed a hold of his red cloak, swishing it under one arm to gain the minotaur's attention. It let out a snort and charged. Unfortunately, the knight was not quick enough to whirl out of the way and his cloak was torn off by the creature's horns. He himself was not hit, but the jerking of his cloak was enough to knock him to the stone floor with a clatter. A wall shook violently as the creature made contact with it. Dust fell from the ceiling.

Though his breath had been knocked out of him, Lancelot climbed to his feet rather quickly. At the same time, the minotaur pulled its horns from the wall it had slammed into with a roar of frustration. It spun around to face him, this time charging with reckless abandon. The knight poised his sword at the creature's head, prepared to stab it between the horns.

Things did not work out as he had planned.

The blade never pierced the minotaur's skull, but instead, a horn pierced the chainmail armor and dug into Lancelot's chest. He cried out against his will as he was thrown to the ground and trampled.

"Lancelot!" Merlin shouted.

The knight gasped as he struggled to regain his breath, looking up to where the minotaur had run into a wall. It shook its head angrily and turned around, this time to go for the young warlock. But a whisper of words from behind the fallen knight had a section of the corridor cave in, right before the creature could charge. Lancelot felt some of the stone rubble crush the tips of his boots as it settled, but nothing bothered him more than the agony in his chest.

Merlin hurried over and settled down beside him, looking rather distressed, as he held a hand to the wound. "Lancelot…"

"Merlin." The knight gasped back. "The creature-"

"Don't worry about the minotaur right now, Lancelot." The warlock told him. "We need to find a way to get you out of here."

"Merlin-"

"Don't try to talk."

"Merlin." Lancelot insisted weakly.

"What?" The warlock nearly snapped.

"I can't breathe." He informed him between breaths.

For a long moment, Merlin did nothing. Lancelot watched through blurred vision as his friend merely stared at him in horror. The knight began to worry that his friend wasn't going to do anything, that he was going to die. Then he reminded himself that he shouldn't be scared. He'd nearly walked into the veil for both Arthur and Merlin, back when they faced the Cailleach; nearly given up his life for them. Why should he be scared to die now?

He felt relief rush through him when Merlin whispered an incantation, pressing his hand to his friend's wound. Nothing happened. The warlock tried again, his voice louder- intimidating, even. All of a sudden, air rushed back into Lancelot's chest and he coughed, taking deep breaths to steady his breathing.

Merlin laughed lightly, moist tears of joy in his eyes.

"Well done, Merlin." Lancelot couldn't help but to return the smile.

"Are you alright?" The warlock asked.

"I-I think so." The knight assured him, his breathing not quite evened out yet. "Though I think we ought to try to stop the bleeding before I go anywhere. It's deep."

Merlin nodded, whispering another spell. "That should slow the bleeding enough to get to Gaius."

"If we can get out of here." Lancelot pointed out, reminding him that they were still lost in a labyrinth castle with a minotaur.

"We will. I promise."

The warlock helped his friend to his feet, supporting him as they set off again. They had to leave the torch behind, however, so Merlin used a spell to make a light appear beside them, following their path through the labyrinth. It was more effective than the torch anyway, Lancelot noted. The angry bellow of the minotaur reached them from the other side of the collapsed corridor, sending shivers up their spines.

"Try seeing the path ahead again." The knight suggested, trying to sound strong.

"This is the most magic I've ever used in one day." Merlin muttered, though his companion couldn't tell if he sounded happy about it or not.

They came to a halt. Lancelot glanced at the warlock, who's eyes lit up gold. To his surprise and great relief, a grin lit up Merlin's face.

When Merlin's eyes turned back to their natural color, they resumed their course at a faster pace. Though Lancelot struggled to keep up with it, he didn't let it bother him too much. They were leaving and that's what counted.

Not long later, they finally emerged back into fresh air. The sun was setting, silhouetting their horses, where they were tied to a tree at the edge of the woods. Once they were a safe distance from the castle, the warlock whispered an incantation that collapsed the castle entrance. They climbed back atop their horses- Lancelot with help- and set off home.

No, they wouldn't reach Camelot by the time it was dark, but they would make it. And that's all that mattered in the end.