Arthur raced through the dense forest, his sword drawn. He was running out of time; Gaius had also found that once Merlin's spirit had faded, Merlin would be gone forever; meaning Arthur would have kill his friend. It won't come to that, you'll save that idiot. Arthur repeated over and over in his mind.

Gwen was a little way ahead of Arthur. She didn't want him to face Merlin alone, but Arthur had already left. She had tried to follow him, but had taken a different route. Caddoc was now tired of his game with the knights had now moved on, looking for his next unfortunate victim. Caddoc's eyes cast upon the alone, worried maid, a cruel smile played on his lips. "Flin areact acom uncon eay..." He whispered. Before Gwen stood a spectral of what seemed to be Merlin. Gwen stared in disbelief at the blue spirit.

"Merlin!?" She gasped.

Caddoc chuckled to himself, this was going to be easier than he thought.

The spectral gazed sadly at the ground and replied,

"Yes Gwen, we don't have much time. Caddoc will kill Arthur unless we can stop him, if Arthur reaches him... sigh... Then Camelot will cease to exist. Caddoc only needs one more soul, he'll take Arthur's and then destroy Camelot."

Gwen looked stunned trying to process the information.

"But, I don't know where he is." She cried in despair.

The spectral smiled kindly, in a true Merlin way.

"Do not panic, dear Guinevere I will light the way just follow the blue trail at your feet." With that the spectral disappeared and a blue trail appeared in front of her which led off into the forest.

Perfect! Thought Caddoc with cheer.

"You...You can't d...do this!" Cried Merlin weakly.

"You my little friend are very persistent. I would have thought you'd have faded by now, but no matter. You are merely an annoyance. After today, I'm sure you'll be gone." Thought Caddoc and then went to lie in wait for an unfortunate Gwen.

Arthur was frozen in place, all he could so was stared at the ground, there laid his men. Arthur wanted to throw up, it was obvious their deaths and been dragged out and performed in the most painful of ways possible. Only one man remained alive, but the sorcerer had not spared the him. He was leader of the group. Caddoc had killed the man's horse and merged him with parts of it. His upper body was human and the lower part was his horse. He was propped up against a tree his breathing was heavy and laboured. Arthur -despite his gut churning- approached his fellow knight and laid a hand on his shoulder. The weary mutilated knight slowly awoke and cast his glassy eyes upon his Prince.

"Sire." He wheezed.

Arthur sighed he knew the position was not good for the man and spoke gently to the knight,

"You need to get up or at least into another position, your crushing your lungs."

The Knight smiled weakly at the Prince.

"You know that there is no hope for me Sire. For the King would never except me back in this state. No. I would rather stay here and die with honour, and... and be remembered for what I did not what I became, Sire." Wheezed the knight.

Arthur shook his head in frustration, there had to be something he could do. He looked at the knight uncertainly, squeezing his shoulder giving the knight reassurance.

"I'm sure Gaius could do something for you. You stay here, change your position. I'll take out that sorcerer and then come back for you I give you my word, Sir Robert." Planned Arthur, smiling to himself as the plan came together.

"Yes Sire. Thank you, you are good man, and shall be a great King." Expressed Sir Robert gratefully.

"And you shall be at my side." Added Arthur as he began to walk away from him, to continue his search for Merlin, now more determined than ever.

The trail of blue light stopped short in a large clearing. Gwen suddenly felt very alone. She hadn't noticed the forest become denser around her.

"Merlin!?" She called hoping for the blue spectral to reappear and give her reassurance.

Caddoc emerged from the dark plantation.

"Oh dear, oh dear. What have we got here? Hmm... You seemed to have strayed into my territory... What could you have been possibly looking for?" Toyed Caddoc as he circled the young maid as a predator would it's prey.

"What have you done with Arthur." Gwen questioned boldly.

Caddoc stopped circling, and scratched the side of his head as if trying to think. Then he clicked his fingers, as if he had remembered. Again this was all part of his cruel game and Gwen knew it.

"I think I may have turned him into a frog." Chuckled Caddoc.

Gwen sighed and tried a different question,

"What's happened to Merlin?"

Caddoc rolled his eyes in what seemed to be genuine frustration.

"He's still in here." He sighed, adding sourly "Unfortunately..."

This relieved Gwen slightly, there was still time to save Merlin. She just hoped Arthur would find them soon...

*Sorry it's taken so long. I've had the dreaded writer's block! Also I've had lots of horrible exams to prepare for. So hope you enjoy this chapter. The next chapter will be the last and hopefully the best! R&R please, love feedback, so drop a review if you can. Thankyou!*