AN: It's been really really busy, but I punched out a short chapter to keep things going. Gingeraffealene, I like badass Mina! And Merlin too. :-)

CHAPTER 17: Onward

This time, the trail was unmistakable. The mass of kobolds was large enough to trample a path as they went, and they made no effort to hide the signs of their passage. They moved faster than you might think, however. The tired travelers rode hard, but still didn't catch up. As dusk threatened, they began to find a different way to mark the path.

"What killed them?" Merlin asked uneasily. Arthur and Gwaine were looking at a kobold carcass. It was one of maybe two dozen they'd seen, and Arthur decided they should investigate.

"Yeah, it would be good to know what's tryin' to kill us too," Gwaine had agreed.

"No injuries," mused Arthur. He prodded it with its sword, turning it over. "This thing is emaciated."

Gwaine scratched at him beard. "It's like it just dropped dead of hunger." He looked at a few more. "They're all that skinny."

Merlin shivered. "It's like they were so focused on what they were doing that they never stopped to eat. What could make something act like that? A whole bunch of somethings?" Or who? With what kind of magic? he thought. Who could be that cruel?

From time to time, Merlin called out in his mind, Mina? Can you hear me? All he got back was a sort of confused static. He interpreted that to mean she was out there, she was alive, and she was trying, but she couldn't answer. Maybe she was tired or too far away, he didn't know. But he kept trying.

They rode in near silence until the stars rose, finding more and more of the bodies. Merlin felt a cloying sense of sadness. The kobolds weren't in control at all, and whoever was driving them to act was doing so without the slightest care about their well-being. He found himself trying to, for lack of a better word, scent the magic being used. Sometimes, he could get a sense of who or what was behind a big spell. He could get a feel of the intent behind it, too. It didn't often work very well, though Gaius told him that there were some practitioners who were very good at it. But all he got was a dark, loamy kind of feel, like turned earth, and a sense of malevolence. It seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"You with us, Merlin?" interrupted Gwaine's voice.

"Yeah, sorry. Just tired." He remembered Gwaine's wound and immediately felt a little guilty. "How are you? Does your wound hurt? Fighting couldn't have helped it."

"It feels great." Arthur gave Gwaine a disbelieving glance.

"You need to tell us if we're pushing too hard, Gwaine. I'll not have your recovery set back."

"Aw, are you worried about me, Arthur?" There was a familiar, teasing tone in Gwaine's voice, but there wasn't pain or fatigue. He chuckled at Arthur's wry expression. "Seriously, Arthur, it feels wonderful. I don't know what Gaius did, but it feels like an injury that's weeks old. It pulls a little, but it doesn't hurt. Don' worry. I can still watch your back and protect your royal backside."

"Merlin, why did you invite him along?"

"I didn't. He just kind of shows up like a sad puppy and it's too hard to say no." Merlin leaned back against his bedroll and smiled at the comfortable camaraderie.

"More like something stuck to the bottom of your boot that you just can't scrape off."

"Oi! You were happy enough to have me watch your back earlier! And what would you know about cleaning boots, anyway. Merlin not only cleans your boots, he probably sprays them with perfume so nobody knows the king's feet smell like a dead badger."

Their bickering faded as a quiet voice spoke into Merlin's mind. "Merlin?"

"Mina! Are you okay? Do you know where you are?"

I sent back an image of the cave entrance where I'd been dragged, then a picture of the hideous creature that I'd been brought to, gnarled skin where her eyes should have been and yellow, unnaturally sharp teeth. I could hardly get the pictures to Merlin before I felt the connection begin to fade.

"We're coming. Hang in th – " Then the connection was gone. Merlin tried over and over to re-establish the contact, but he couldn't. Revulsion rose in his throat at the thought of the dochraid. It was a creature of the earth, of a primitive magic. It delighted in its own power and cared nothing for lives. The image of its eyeless face in his mind, Merlin didn't sleep well that night.

By unspoken consent, the three were up and moving by the time the sun was up.

The woods soon gave way to craggy, black-stone hills that arched up from the ground like giant spines. Merlin strained his eyes as they went, looking for an aperture that looked like the opening Mina had showed him. Soon, it was too steep for the horses to continue. Over one rise, there were about two dozen kobolds, not dead, but simply standing and lying around. Arthur and Gwaine pulled their swords, but Merlin called, "wait!" He ran over to one that was just lying on its side, panting. "They aren't doing anything. It's like they are waiting for something."

"Like what?" asked Arthur, striding around the immediate area with his sword still drawn. Gwaine looked at Merlin, who tried to gesture with his eyes. Though the knight could be incredibly tone deaf to hints sometimes, this time he got it right away.

"Hey, princess, look over here." Gwaine walked down the side of the ridge just out of sight, and Arthur followed. As soon as they were out of sight, Merlin whispered a spell to break the binding he guessed was on the kobolds. His last word still hung in the air when they all stood – though wearily – and went out of sight.

"Hey guys, all the kobolds are suddenly leaving," called Merlin, as if surprised. They came running back, but there was nothing to find. Soon, they were walking again. Merlin watched closely, but Arthur didn't show any signs of suspicion. So on they traveled.

"And the whole toe got like purple and black, and I thought it was going to fall off..." Gwaine was saying, ignoring the disgusted look on Arthur's face. "The top cracked and this pus started – "

"Shut up, Gwaine!" interrupted Arthur.

"No, but the skin broke and – "

"GWAINE!"

Then the ground broke beneath them and they all fell down, down, down into the earth.