Locaxox: Thank you very much. I hope this update qualifies as soon...?

It was well past evening but not yet late into the night, so while the streets weren't as crowded as they would be in the middle of the day, there were still a few people out and about. One of those unfortunate people, who Gwaine recognized as the boy who delivered fresh meat from the butcher's to the tavern, was snatched up in the wyvern's talons less than six feet away from him and Freya. Her horrified gasp was drowned out by the beast's triumphant scream as it ascended sharply with a hard flap of its powerful wings, eager to make off with its prey.

Two more screeching cries answered it, and Gwaine's heart sank; his hope that the creature was hunting alone had just been dashed. "We need to get off the street," he hissed.

Freya turned blankly uncomprehending brown eyes on him; she was too distraught over the sad fate of the butcher's boy to recall any of what she had read about the monsters.

"Wyverns almost always hunt in threes," Gwaine reminded her. "That means there are two more not far behind this one." Freya's eyes widened in fear. "Follow me, stay low to the ground, and move quietly."

They half-ran, half-crawled to the nearest building, where they were finally able to stand up straight with their backs flattened against the wall. "What now?"

"We'll be safe inside the castle walls; getting there will be the hard part." As if to show the truth of Gwaine's words, the wyverns' hunting cries sounded again and were answered by a chorus of screams from the townsfolk. "Why are they coming out to gawk at the monsters? Why not stay inside where they'd be safe?"

"Most of them are uneducated. Some are simply foolish." Freya kept her eyes tightly closed, not wanting to see who would meet their end this time.

"Come on, we can't stay here." Gwaine tried to pull Freya after him, but she resisted.

"No! If we move they'll see us!"

Seeing that his female friend was terrified nearly out of her wits, Gwaine tried to make his voice calm and soothing instead of impatient. "They'll be sure to see us eventually if we stay here, but if we keep close to the buildings and freeze if one comes close, there's a chance they won't be able to pick us out from the walls. Follow me." He led Freya through the narrowest alleys in the city, cursing the fact that he didn't have his sword with him every step of the way.

"Why," he wondered aloud after they reached their destination, "are the wyverns attacking the citadel? There's livestock in the countryside that would make easier prey."

"Wyverns are cousins to the dragons," explained Freya, who was much more clearheaded now that they were relatively safe, "so they're subject to the powers of dragonlords. King Balinor has been keeping them out for years since they're less civilized than the dragons. They must be taking the opportunity to attack while he's gone." She eyed the palace walls with some trepidation, wondering how many wyverns it would take to break through them.

Gwaine voiced the obvious solution. "So he needs to be brought back-" At that moment a group of knights passed the two commoners, loudly discussing tactics for securing the lower town and staving off the foul beasts. None of them mentioned summoning the king to drive them away. "-Which doesn't seem to have occurred to those clod-heads."

"Merlin and Sir Lancelot have always been the brains behind the knights of Dagon, but I wouldn't have thought they'd be completely lost without them." Freya sighed. "I suppose you'll have to ride to Camelot and tell the king what's happened; it could be midday tomorrow before anyone else hits upon the idea. Under the circumstances, I'm sure no one will mind if you take one of the royal horses."

Gwaine quickly saddled the fastest horse in the stables while Freya gathered provisions for his trip so that he wouldn't have to lose time by stopping to hunt and retrieved the sword he had been carrying when he first arrived in Dagon. "Is there anything else you need?"

"How about a kiss for good luck?" he asked hopefully. Freya was his friend, but she was also a pretty girl and therefore not totally exempt from his attentions.

She wrinkled her nose slightly as she contemplated kissing Gwaine. He was attractive enough, she supposed, but she found his tendency to chase after anything in a skirt a bit off-putting. "Bring the king back here before those wyverns raze the city to the ground, and I'll consider kissing you."

"I'll hurry back, then." He gave her the roguish smile that had charmed women in every kingdom he had visited, swung onto the horse, and cantered away.

###

Gwaine saw two more wyverns circling overhead after he left the city, but neither seemed inclined to bother themselves with a lone horse and rider. The horse, sensing the presence of predatory creatures, rolled its eyes and snorted uneasily. Gwaine urged him to go faster. "Easy, boy. Let's just get out of here before they change their minds about ignoring us, yeah?" The horse lowered his head and ran on at even greater speed than before.

By riding at an almost constant gallop, pacing himself only as much as he needed to keep the horse from collapsing, stopping only when it needed water, Gwaine was able to reach Camelot in half the time such a journey would usually take. When at last he clattered into the courtyard of the Pendragons' palace and dismounted, the exhausted horse nearly collapsed. Gwaine tied him up, then looked for someone who could tell him where he might find Merlin and Balinor.

The guards stationed outside the castle's front entrance straightened up as he approached and, seeing that he was armed, reached for the hilts of their own swords. "Who goes there?" the older of the two demanded.

"I have an urgent message for Prince Merlin. Do you know where I can find him?"

They looked him over suspiciously. "You don't look like a courier from the court of Dagon. What kind of message do you have for King Uther's guest?"

"An urgent one," Gwaine reiterated. His patience was waning fast; there was no telling how much damage the wyverns had wreaked on his new home - for all he knew they could be devouring Freya at this very moment - and these idiots were standing in his way. It was so tempting to simply fight his way past them, but if he did that he would still lose time searching the castle for Merlin - and fighting any other guards who questioned his purpose in being there, of course. "D'you know where Merlin is or not?"

The guards looked at one another, silently debating whether he might actually have something to say that the prince would want to hear. Most royals would resent having their daily activities disrupted for a mere peasant, but this man spoke as if he knew the prince of Dagon personally, dropping his title once he was sure the guards knew who he was talking about. If he really did have an important message, and they stopped him from delivering it . . .

"I do," a new, feminine voice piped up. The speaker was a dark-skinned, curly-haired girl in a lavender dress. Gwaine guessed she must be the personal maid of some high-born lady, and his guess was confirmed when the girl went on, "He's having lunch with my mistress. I can show you where, if you'd like . . .?"

"Lead the way."

###

Merlin, Morgana, and Arthur were enjoying lunch together in Arthur's chambers when Gwen entered and announced that a man had arrived from Dagon and asked to speak with Merlin - or rather, she tried to. The visitor barged in before she had finished speaking, went straight to Merlin, ushered him away from the table, and they commenced talking in low undertones.

Morgana wasn't able to make out what was said, but she observed Merlin's expression changing from pleased surprise at seeing the man to deep anxiety. She twisted her napkin in her hands and wished she could hear them; whatever news the man had brought, it was clearly upsetting Merlin. At last he rejoined her and Arthur, but only for the second it took him to excuse himself; then he left without another word.

The newcomer gave them a smile that was at once friendly and cocky. "Sorry to interrupt your meal, my lord-" he smiled a bit more broadly at Morgana "-and lovely lady. Carry on." Then he too left, presumably following Merlin.

Morgana and Arthur glanced at each other and then, by unspoken mutual agreement, rose and pursued the two men. Something was obviously amiss, and they wanted to find out what it was.

Cedric returned moments later with a fresh bowl of Morgana's favorite fruit to find the room deserted. "Sire?" he called out. "Lady Morgana? Prince Merlin?" No one answered. He shrugged, sat down at the table, and helped himself to the abandoned plates. It would be a shame to let perfectly good food go to waste.

###

"Your new friends are following us," Gwaine informed Merlin as they moved at a brisk walk through the maze of corridors inside the royal palace of Camelot.

"I expected they would; I'm sure they're curious."

"You mean they like to stick their noses in where they don't belong, like you?"

Merlin grinned. "Exactly."

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked as he and Morgana finally caught up.

"Gwaine's brought some news from home that I must pass on to my father immediately."

"Your father's rooms lie in the other direction," Morgana pointed out.

"I know that. He isn't in there."

"How can you-?"

Gwaine tapped Morgana on the arm to get her attention. "I wouldn't argue with him. Merlin has an uncanny knack for knowing where certain people are."

Merlin's instincts proved correct when they found Balinor in the yard behind the castle, feeding scraps of meat to a dog. He took in the worried frown on Merlin's face and asked, "What's the matter, son?"

"Gwaine's just told me that our kingdom has been attacked by wyverns, Father."

Morgana nudged Arthur and whispered, "Do you know what a wyvern is?"

"No idea," he whispered back, "but it's clearly something bad." Clearing his throat to catch the others' attention, he addressed Balinor. "Since you're now an ally of Camelot, I feel honor-bound to offer my assistance in defending your homeland, should you require it."

"I don't believe that'll be necessary. I am a dragonlord after all."

"Wyverns are related to dragons," Merlin explained, noticing Arthur's look of confusion. "Listen, we-" he indicated himself, Balinor, and Gwaine "-need to return home at once. If you want to help, you can tell King Uther what's happened."

"Give him our regrets for departing ahead of schedule," Balinor added.

"I'll see to it," Arthur promised, and rushed off to find Uther.

Balinor ordered Merlin to summon Lancelot, which Merlin did by magically touching the knight's mind and telling him to assemble their men and meet him at the stables, which was where Balinor had told him they were going first. Everyone seemed to have forgotten Morgana, at least until she went after them and grabbed Merlin's arm. "I was supposed to go with you when your party returned to Dagon at the end of the week-"

"Well, it looks like the plans have changed, princess," Gwaine told her, not unkindly. There was no malice and very little sarcasm in his tone; he was merely stating a fact.

Morgana ignored him and kept her eyes on Merlin's. "Am I to take it you no longer wish me to accompany you?"

"The situation's a little different now; I assumed you wouldn't want to leave two days early or risk being eaten by a monster. Was I wrong?"

"I-" Morgana bit her lip, which would earn her a scolding from Gwen if the maidservant were present. She had resigned herself to leaving her home and everyone she knew there (apart from Gwen and Arthur, who would be leaving with her), but the idea of trading her safe, familiar world for an unknown land where, she had learned from Merlin's servant Will, she might be quite unwelcome still unsettled her - she refused to say it frightened her, even to herself - more than she cared to admit. At the same time, the thought of Merlin leaving her behind also distressed her. She realized that she had begun to think journeying into the unknown wouldn't be so bad with him by her side, only now it seemed that wasn't to be the case.

"It's all right, my lady - I understand perfectly." Merlin gave her a reassuring pat on the hand, then tripped over a cobblestone.

Gwaine caught him. "You really should watch where you're going, sire," he admonished, "instead of watching girls."

"Funny advice from you, Gwaine," Merlin retorted. "Still, you're right." He pulled his arm out of Morgana's slackened grip. "Please excuse me, my lady."

"Of course, my lord." She nodded to him and left, recognizing a dismissal when she heard one.

###

"You just left? You didn't even say goodbye to him?" Gwen turned from the window and faced her mistress, one hand on her hip. "What is wrong with you, Morgana?"

The lady reluctantly raised her eyes from her jewelry box, where she was pretending to rearrange her rings. "What should I have said, Gwen? That I wanted to go with him? But I am not certain that I did. That I did not want him to go? That's true, but he has to defend his kingdom - it's not as if he has a choice."

"Well, you shouldn't have let him go with no sign that you cared at all! Fortunately for you he hasn't gone yet; he's just saddling his horse now. You can still speak to him before he goes if you hurry."

"Much good that would do me. There are many things I might say to Prince Merlin, yet I can't seem to put any of them into words."

Gwen sighed. "I shall go to him then, and tell him the Lady Morgana wishes him luck in fighting the . . . wyverns?"

Morgana nodded, affirming that wyverns were indeed the creatures Merlin was leaving to fight. On impulse, she picked out a monogrammed silk handkerchief and pressed it into the maid's hand. "Give him this as well - just to keep me on his mind until we meet again." She and Gwen shared conspiratorial smirks.

"I will do as you ask, my lady."

Gwen ran down to the courtyard, arriving at the same moment as Arthur and Uther. The latter said, "Arthur has informed me of the situation at your home, and that your immediate presence is required to deal with it. It is unfortunate that you must take your leave so soon."

"It is," Balinor agreed.

"If you are amenable, I shall send the Lady Morgana to you on the day originally scheduled for your departure."

"That will be fine. I've ordered Sir Lancelot and the rest of our men to remain here and see that she reaches Dagon safely."

Unnoticed by either of the two kings, Gwen slipped over to where Merlin was checking his horse's girth strap. "Excuse me, my lord . . ." She placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, causing him to start slightly.

"Gwen? What are you doing here?" He looked around and was somewhat disappointed to see that the maid was alone. He had hoped he might see her mistress one more time before he left Camelot.

Guessing what, or rather who, he was searching for, Gwen smiled and said, "The Lady Morgana dislikes farewells. She did ask me to give you this." She offered the handkerchief, which he didn't take right away.

"For luck? I don't think I'll need much of that."

"It's not just for luck." Gwen glanced over her shoulder to make certain that Morgana hadn't changed her mind and come down - the lady would not be pleased if she heard what Gwen was about to tell Merlin. "My lady also hopes that you will think of her while you're apart."

"I'm sure I will." He finally held out his arm and allowed Gwen to tie Morgana's favor around his wrist like a silken bracelet. "Tell Lady Morgana-"

Balinor's loud voice drowned out whatever he had been about to say. "Merlin! Come along, son; we haven't got all day."

"Yes, Father." Merlin swung up onto his horse, paused and glanced down at Gwen. "You may want to stand back."

She obediently took a few backward paces, confused because Merlin, Balinor, Gwaine, and Will weren't kicking their horses into a gallop - she didn't seem to be in any danger of getting trampled. Then she saw Merlin's lips move as he murmured something too low for her to make out; his eyes flashed gold, and he and his three companions disappeared in a sudden gust of powerful wind and a flash of, not light exactly, but more properly its absence, as if a hole had been torn in the fabric of the world.

Gwen cried out in alarm and leapt away from the strange disturbance, came down with one foot on the hem of her dress, lost her balance, and crashed into Arthur, who automatically wrapped an arm around her waist to save her from falling. "Did you see-?" she gasped, unable to tear her eyes from the spot where the four men and their horses had vanished.

"I saw," Arthur replied, equally riveted. Then he came back to himself and realized that he was holding Morgana's maidservant in a rather inappropriate manner. He quickly set Gwen back on her feet and shuffled away from her, hoping his father hadn't noticed. Fortunately Uther was distracted by his guests' magical departure; he turned and went back inside the castle without a word.

Flustered, Gwen tugged pointlessly at her dress, convinced that it needed straightening. "Thank you, sire," she said sheepishly, staring intently at Arthur's boots.

"It wasn't your fault, Guinevere - you fell, and I happened to be standing there. It's nothing. I've had girls fall over me before."

Arthur's attempt to smooth over the awkwardness with humor backfired; Gwen misinterpreted it as cockiness and suddenly remembered why she couldn't stand him. She stomped off, pausing only to throw him a disgusted look.

What's the matter with her? Arthur wondered. Was it something I said?

###

Morgana had seen everything from her window, and decided she was not at all sorry she hadn't gone with Merlin. She enjoyed his company, but she thought his mode of travel might not agree with her.

So here we are with another chapter completed, and Arthur has accidentally made a prat of himself again. Now we have to ask ourselves, will there be enough chapters in this story for him to improve? I know I said it would be long, but this is Arthur we're talking about, so his improvement could take a while. Also, apologies to everyone who wanted to see Merlin and Morgana road-tripping together, or wanted Freya to kiss Gwaine.