Enjoy,

"They went back for them?" Tom asked, surprised by this twist in the knights behaviour.

"Yes... Looks like not all humans can fall into one category, hhhm?" Merlin said smugly. Death shot him an ice-cold glare. Merlin stood his ground and kept his smug smile plastered on his face. Death stood his ground.

"Why?" Tom asked like a child.

"Why what?"

"Why did they go back for Arthur, Gwaine and Lancelot?"

Merlin had to think for a moment about the Grim Reaper's words. What was a sensible answer that Death wouldn't laugh at? The answer to that is nothing. He'd laugh at every answer you could give. Therefore, Merlin decided to go with the truth.

"For the loyalty they have for their King and the unbreakable bond they have between themselves," Merlin explained. Death picked up a book and began to read, flicking through the pages.

"I've heard lots about the thing called 'loyalty'. Few humans... feel it. What is it?"

"Ask a knight," Merlin shot.

"Please?" Death insisted, eager to learn. Sighing, Merlin racked his brain for a definition.

"To have strong faith in another and to never go against their will," Merlin said, nodding and agreeing with his own words as he said them. He looked at Death for his reaction. The Grim Reaper nodded then slammed his book shut and sat ready for the rest of the story.

"Let's see how that loyalty goes then."

They walked out of the tunnel and ended up back at the place they had once been. Leon looked around at the area where Arthur almost killed Merlin. He breathed in sharply, almost as if he was afraid of the area.

"Remind me why we are doing this again?" Leon asked, starting at the tunnel's mouth. Percival silently walked up behind him, carrying Merlin's lifeless body with him.

"For Merlin"

Leon and Elyan nodded at his words. Percival then walked towards the tunnel and turned round "You'll have to go first, I can't hold a sword whilst holding Merlin."

"Why not leave him out here?" Elyan questioned, drawing his sword and walking in front of his friend. Leon did the same action as they all walked into the tunnel.

"Because he's the only thing left of the loyalty we share... He hasn't done anything that's not him," Percival explained, treading slowly.

"He's been asleep, how could he?" Elyan asked as they were losing the light from the mouth of the cave.

The cave's floor was rough and jagged, but slippery and Percival was trying not to fall. If he fell, he could injure Merlin, not just himself. He stepped carefully and stayed near Leon and Elyan as they walked slowly through the tunnel. A drop of water took its time in falling down upon Elyan's head. He took a moment to wipe his hair then resumed his focused movements.

One of the knights accidently kicked a rock and it rolled down a dip in the tunnel nosily. The small rock smacked against the ground, causing a loud echo to follow it. The knights all froze as sounds from other tunnels echoed back.

The knights jumped down into the dip. The dip was six meters by seven, with five other tunnels leading away from it. The sound of Wildren came from every tunnel, even the one the knights had come from. They were surrounded. Scratching and snorts, crumbling rocks and animal cries came from one tunnel after the other. The knights swirled round, trying to work out which Wildren would show itself first.

Suddenly a Wildren popped is head out of a tunnel and the knights darted backwards. Elyan stumbled through a crack in the wall that was just big enough to fit them through. Without thinking twice, they all darted into the hidden cavern area, to be safe and protected from the Wildren, but were greeted by sword point. Stepping back slightly so his personal space wasn't invade by a death tool, Leon was able to focus and see the savage that pointed a sword at him. Eyes widening, he realised who it was.

"What the... Arthur!" he declared in shock, shaking his head as he saw the others. "Gwaine! Lancelot! Great Lord!" Elyan and Percival took a moment to calm themselves and saw what their friend meant.

Arthur had lost part of his armour and his clothes were ripped and torn as if a wild animal had decided to make him their dinner. His once red clothes looked a mixture between a deep, dark red and a dark muddy brown. His chain mail hung loosely from him, blood on the tip of it. His face was covered in a red purple colour along with dark patches of dirt, his hair nothing more than a messy heap of blond horse muck. His eyes studied them like daggers, darting across their bodies, shocked at how clean they could look, compared to himself and his two knights that had journeyed into this hellhole with him.

"Sir Leon, Sir Elyan, Sir Percival... Merlin," he said fully addressing them. Still in shock, no one was able to speak after Arthur's words. The silence was acceptable at first, but then turned awkward, slightly annoying. Gwaine cleared his throat, breaking the silence and sat down against a rocky wall.

"Took your time in coming," Lancelot commented, and Elyan frowned.

"What do you mean? We've been separated for only nearly an hour," he said, progressing into their small nest.

"It's been days," Lancelot expressed angrily. "Whenever we leave this hiding place, we cannot find our way back. It's a maze, it's impossible!" he threw his sword and it clattered against the wall, falling and then landing only a few centimetres from Gwaine.

"Nothing's impossible-"

"We can go together, we'll make it out. We'll fight any Wildren that's out there," Leon said enthusiastically, but with his face blank.

"Damnit Leon! Don't you get it? There's no way of finding the way out of here! It's impossible!" Arthur screamed and they were all able to hear the Wildren outside their hiding place.

"We've tried!" Lancelot shouted angrily, standing up and glaring. "Don't you think we haven't?"

"Not hard enough!" Elyan sneered back and Arthur and Lancelot snarled back at him like wild dogs.

"It's impossible!" Arthur snarled back at Leon.

"Nothing's impossible if you put your mind to it," Percival shouted into their verbal fight and the mood of the argument changed suddenly, it calmed and they stared at him in wonder, as if he had just spoken an alien like language. "We are able to get out, if we really want to. As my mother used to say before she died: If there's a will, there's a way," he explained. "Merlin would want us to work together to get out of here," he added. The silence roamed over them again as they looked down at the mention of their injured friend, ashamed.

Gwaine picked up his sword, stood up and examined it.

"I'm up for that," he breathed, "anyone else?" he asked looking at everyone one by one. Arthur looked at Percival who was still holding Merlin, like a guardian angel protecting his injured friend.

"Let's go then," Arthur said, walking towards the exit of their small hideout. He crawled out first, followed by Gwaine, then Leon, Lancelot, Elyan and Percival last.

It was looked different. Percival remembered there were six tunnels including the one they had come from and now there were three. He looked around, the floor was covered in sand and the ceiling looked finer. He jogged after his friends down one of the tunnels. They walked slowly, everyone with a sword in their hand but Percival, who carried Merlin.

They walked silently until they came to an opening. They noticed the crack in the wall – their hiding place – and took one of the seven tunnels.

Percival wondered if they would ever get back to Camelot together. He was beginning to doubt his faith in the loyalty they shared. They were like family. Every family had their troubles and fights, but this wasn't any ordinary family. They were related in bond not blood. He looked down at Merlin, probably the youngest of them all. He was so innocent and full of secrets. Percival truly thought that the boy was destined for something more. However, no one ever looked twice at him and thought for a second that he was anything more than an idiotic servant.

They came to another opening with three tunnels leading off. However, for once they could not find the crack in the wall where their hiding place was. Suddenly, a noise erupted from one of the tunnels. Noises echoed back from the other two. Panicking, the knights pushed themselves up against the bare wall where there was no tunnel. Lancelot dug into his pocket and threw Elyan, Leon and Percival some berries. They rubbed them on their faces quickly and Percival put some on Merlin, who had clearly been forgotten.

A Wildren popped its head through the tunnel. All the knights held their breath in unison, all sharing the same breath. The Wildren waddled into the opening and sniffed around, trying to smell them. It came closer and closer and the Percival realised what it smelt.

Merlin's dried blood... they hadn't been able to clean Merlin's wound!

The Wildren started to sniff at Merlin's still body. As if he had planned this, Merlin coughed, letting the Wildren know that something different was in front of it. The Wildren sniffed along Merlin's body until it got to Merlin's wound... And started to lick it. The knights eyes widened in shock and horror. That's disgusting!

Percival stayed as still as he possibly could. The Wildren's snot and saliva covered over Merlin's open wound and seeped into his blood stream. Merlin started to kick and fidget in Percival's arms and the knight found it hard to hold the boy still. Then all of a sudden, the Wildren screamed a high-pitched noise that almost burst the knights eardrums and then fell sideways to the floor. Percival looked at the dead Wildren then at the knight next to him. Gwaine shrugged as if to say sorry. Arthur cursed as more Wildren started to come from other tunnels. The knights ran. Nothing more they could do, they couldn't kill every Wildren in the tunnels. How many Wildren was there in those tunnels? Hundreds? Thousands? The knights came to another opening, this time there was only one other tunnel to go down. A Wildren stepped out of the tunnel, blocking their way. They couldn't go back, they couldn't go forward. Lancelot sighed.

If you're going to do something, now's the time Merlin, he thought, almost praying. Suddenly, a sharp rock from the ceiling broke away and fell, going through the Wildren's body. The creature's body slummed to the ground, dead.

Frowning, Arthur set off, the others slowly walking round the Wildren's body in wonder. Lancelot smiled. Damn that boy was good.

They ran through the tunnel, the sound of screaming Wildren chasing after them. For a second, everything seemed fine. It was as if the dark times that they had recently been through never happened. They were a true family, there for one another and running together to escape... Together. Suddenly, light appeared up ahead. Percival started to laugh as he knew they had made it out. If there's a will, there's a way. They had the will and they had found a way.

They ran into the sunlight and didn't stop. They ran straight for the other tunnel and carried on running.

Moreover, they didn't stop until they got to the other end of the other tunnel.

"That was lame," Tom said, sulking again. "When's the gore gonna come in? When you gonna die? Loyalty's boring."

"Patience Tom! It gets good."

Night claimed the great sky. The fire from the knights camp lit up the where they were resting. Percival threw the bones of the rabbit into the fire and coughed. The knights sat in silence, thinking about the horrors that had happened, and what might come in the future. Merlin stirred in his sleep. Lancelot checked Merlin's leg. He frowned and then put his hand over the boy's forehead.

"What's wrong?" Arthur questioned, not taking his eyes off the fire. Lancelot smiled.

"He's getting better," he declared. The knights all shared a look and then raced over to Merlin's side. The wound on his leg was healing and his temperature was gone.

"The Wildren saliva must be healing him," Gwaine said, as it was the only thing he could think of. Merlin stirred again and his eyes opened just, for the first time in days.

"Hey mate, how you feeling," Lancelot asked, happily. Merlin muttered something under his breath and then rolled back in sleep. The knights all smiled, happy that there friend was getting better. Everyone smiled but Percival. He had heard what Merlin had said, and he knew that things would only get worse as Merlin healed.

Night rolled on and the knights all lay down to get some sleep. Gwaine snored loudly as the others slept peacefully under the mood's gaze. However, Percival lay awake. He couldn't sleep, not when Merlin's words echoed around and around his head.

"Go to hell you damn pigs," is what Merlin had said, and Percival knew that the evils of the forest were claiming the young boy too.

Who wants to know the name of the next chapter? Ask in a review.