A/N: Yay! Chapter 20 at last! And a long one at that. I know it's been a while, but here it is. :)
The second the piercing screams began, resounding over the treetops and rattling the castle windows, Arthur knew something was wrong, and somehow, he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Merlin was at the center of it. Hadn't Morgana just sent him out to gather herbs a quarter of an hour ago? His face drained of color. "That idiot."
Without explaining to anyone where he was going, Arthur shoved his way out the door to the courtyard, tore down the stairs, and sprinted through the portcullis, ignoring the cries of shock and warning from the others, his feet pounding on the flagstones. He had to get to Merlin before that… thing did. He wasn't about to let that boy die on his watch; not after he had saved Arthur's twice now.
The paving ended, giving way to the rough forest floor, but Arthur didn't slow. The high-pitched screeching came to an abrupt halt, and Arthur frantically redoubled his pace.
"Merlin!" he called frantically. "Where are you?"
He burst through the trees into a clearing and sagged in relief as he saw Merlin's familiar lanky figure in the very center. "What's going on?" he exclaimed. "We heard the screeching, and-"
Merlin wasn't alone. He drew his sword in one fluid motion, angling it directly at the chest of the other tribute. "Explain," he demanded curtly.
Merlin stared back at him with wide eyes. "He saved my life, Arthur."
The swordpoint wavered slightly. "Why is he here in the first place?"
The other boy cleared his throat and extended his hand. "My name is Lancelot. District Seven. I've been running from that griffon for hours now…"
Arthur's stomach churned with guilt as he remembered Lancelot's former district partner, Helen, whose life he'd made abject hell in training. But Merlin had been the one to kill her, so why was Lancelot saving him from random mutations? Unless he hadn't seen the whole episode at the Bloodbath… Arthur made a split-second decision.
"Arthur Pendragon," he replied coolly, stabbing his sword point-first into the dirt and stepping forward to accept Lancelot's hand. "You should come back to the citadel with us… in case that… thing… comes back," he offered awkwardly.
Lancelot grinned warmly. "Thank you."
Arthur retrieved his sword and wearily scanned the sky. "Then welcome to the Career Pack. Now we'd better hurry back to the others."
A familiar screech echoed through the trees, and they took one last glance at each other before taking off in a dead sprint back the way they had come.
They didn't make it back to the castle. A mere hundred meters from the edge of the forest, the griffon swooped in front of the desperately fleeing boys, cutting off their escape path with an ear-splitting screech and a blur of talons and feathers. Merlin slammed into Arthur, tumbling off the path, but Lancelot and Arthur immediately drew their swords and appeared to be holding their own. Until Arthur struck what should have been a fatal blow only to have his sword bounce jarringly off the creature's feathered chest. Caught off guard, he couldn't bring his blade back up in time to block the glancing blow that sent him sprawling to the ground, out cold.
"Arthur!" shouted Lancelot in alarm, backing up warily and eying Arthur's prone form in concern. But the griffon wasn't about to let Lancelot escape quite so easily. With a triumphant screech, the beast lunged after the olive-skinned boy, knocking him to the ground and digging its talons into his shoulders.
His blood pounding deafeningly in his ears, Merlin pulled himself to his feet and cast about desperately for something nearby he could use to his advantage or for some spell that could miraculously get them out of this mess. Lancelot let out a cry of pain, and Merlin shook his head. He was out of time.
"Lancelot," he called out, "Do you trust me?"
The other boy glanced up from where he was busy grappling with the griffon, arms trembling with the effort as he tried to keep the snapping talons away from his exposed throat. "Yes?! A little help here?"
"On the count of three, I need you to do whatever it takes to stab the griffon in the chest with your sword. It'll work this time, I promise."
Tremors wracked Lancelot's body with the exertion, but he nodded curtly. "Hurry!"
"One… two… three!"
Lancelot groaned with the effort, but managed to pull his sword arm out from the beast's taloned clutches and plunge it towards the griffon's unprotected underside as Merlin's eyes flashed gold. Cobalt flames danced up and down the length of Lancelot's sword as it punctured the feathered hide, and with a dying screech, the griffon went limp. Merlin hurriedly pulled the creature's dead weight off the curly-haired boy, wincing as he caught sight of Lancelot's wide-eyed expression.
Merlin sighed. There was no way Lancelot hadn't seen that. "Erm… I c-can explain…" he stuttered, but the Lancelot simply shook his head, grinning.
"I suppose my thanks are in order," he replied simply. "Without your magic, we all would have been goners."
Merlin gazed guiltily over at the blond-haired prone form sprawled awkwardly across the clearing and swallowed. "I'm sorry I wasn't faster."
Lancelot followed his gaze, clasping Merlin reassuringly on the shoulder. "It's not your fault, so don't go beating yourself over the head about it. We're alive; for now that's all that matters."
Looking down, Merlin realized abruptly that the other boy's upper arm was bleeding heavily from the ordeal. Mentally berating himself, Merlin wrapped an arm around Lancelot's shoulders to keep him upright as the other boy's face paled suddenly, his body belatedly registering the blood loss.
"I need to get you both back to the citadel," he muttered. He and Lancelot limped their way over to where Arthur lay, and Merlin noted in concern how Lancelot's eyes had taken on a glazed expression on their short journey to the opposite side of the clearing. However, as they arrived, Arthur began to stir, pulling himself wearily to a sitting position.
"Thank goodness you've returned to the land of the living, Arthur. I didn't fancy carrying both you and Lancelot back to the castle," Merlin remarked in relief.
Arthur shook his head, obviously disoriented. "Where am I?... Where's the… griffon thing?"
"Lancelot killed it," proclaimed Merlin, sending Lancelot a warning glare when the other boy opened his mouth to protest. He and Arthur were apparently too dazed to contest his assertion, and Merlin allowed himself a silent sigh of relief. He would have to have a serious conversation with Lancelot later, but at least Arthur My-father-hates-sorcery Pendragon hadn't found out about his magic yet. And Lancelot hadn't seemed too concerned in the first place. Merlin reckoned that he had been extraordinarily lucky this time.
It was several minutes before Merlin could coax both of his companions to their feet, but they eventually set off towards the castle; Merlin in the center, trying his best to steady the heavier boys on either side. He could only thank his lucky stars that neither Arthur not Lancelot were wearing chainmail.
Once they were within eyeshot of the parapets, a cry sounded over the castle walls, and within moments, Leon, Morgana, and Elyan were rushing toward them. Merlin gratefully handed Arthur off to Leon and Lancelot off to Elyan, suddenly realizing just how tired he was. Morgana brushed a hand against his forehead, fingertips coming away crimson, and Merlin realized blearily through a haze of exhaustion that he must have been cut.
Morgana's lips were moving, and belatedly he realized that she was speaking to him. "-what?" he managed.
"Are you alright?" she repeated in concern. Merlin nodded, immediately regretting it as his vision swam dizzyingly. "Who's that?" she asked, motioning to Lancelot's slumped figure. Merlin tried to answer, but the words stuck in his throat.
Luckily Arthur had overheard her query. "He's a friend," he murmured weakly. By some miracle, they all made it back inside the castle gates, but it was hours before Gwen, and eventually Merlin were done tending to everyone's wounds.
There were no faces in the sky that night, and Merlin shivered uneasily as he stood in the courtyard alone, face to the sky. Footsteps approached him from behind, and Merlin turned to find Lancelot slowly making his way over to him.
"Lancelot," he greeted wearily.
Lancelot nodded in reply. "Merlin."
"Look, about earlier, with the griffon… Don't tell Arthur, alright?"
Lancelot hesitated before nodding again. "Your secret's safe with me."
