Arthur could remember only little about their flight from the citadel; he remembered only shouted instructions at his knights, running wildly through the city, more rats on their heels than he had ever seen before. Then, Guinevere and Gaius waiting with the horses and a desperate ride in the darkness, out in the country. Towards the woods.

Finally, they stopped. There was nothing to be heard except the horses and their rider's fast breathing. Finally, Lancelot spoke.

"We need to make a fire. Come on, Gwaine, we'll get some firewood. Someone else tend to the horses, Percival, will you do that-"

"I'll help", Gwen spoke out of the darkness.

"Good. Leon, would you stand guard while we-"

"Sire", Gaius interrupted him. "Where is Merlin?" Silence fell again.

"Get the fire going", Arthur commanded, glad Gaius couldn't see his face. He averted his gaze anyway.

"Sire, what-"

"I said, get the fire going!" Arthur barked. His men moved to action, but Arthur could still see Gaius silhouette outlined in the moonlight. It had not moved.

The flames of a small fire crackled and licked at the moist wood. Arthur stared into the flames. No one had spoken a word since his earlier outburst. Gwen, nervously glancing from one man to the other, spoke up.

"What happened?" Nobody dared answer her question.

"Merlin fought the sorcerers", Gwaine finally said, disbelief in his voice. "Merlin fought them, with magic and he bloody nearly won, I think, he had blasted that maggot Cado right off his feet and had Morgana down to her knees-"

"Morgana?", Gwen opened her mouth in shock.

"-but he got hit and there was this light and he was gone."

"Wait, are you saying Merlin had magic? No, I can't believe it, he never-"

"We all saw it, Guinevere", Lancelot said gently. "There's no denying it."

Arthur threw a loose twig into the flames. "I think someone should explain to me what is going on right now." He glanced at the others, his gaze finally fixing on Gaius. The old man looked him in the eyes, silent. "Did any one of you know about this?"

"I did." Exclamations of surprise rippled through the group. Lancelot looked around, his expression solemn, shadows and light playing along his features. "On our very first adventure together, he killed the griffin. It wasn't me; he enchanted my spear, since the griffin could only be killed by magic. I knew since then, even though he tried to deny it. He destroyed Cendred's immortal army, too, you know. It was him who broke the spell."

"Merlin?" Leon asked incredulously. "Our clumsy Merlin?"

"I think", Gaius spoke for the first time, his voice low and very tired, "that we'll better start from the beginning."

The patrol cam riding back into the camp, looking weary. They posed a sorry sight: their armour was dirty and dulled, the horses as tired and ragged as the men themselves. Arthur stood from his place by the fire and walked to greet them. He took the empty bags from them as they dismounted.

"So?"

"We distributed as much as we could, Sire. It still wasn't enough. The only good news is that all people that could have moved on. The only ones who remain are the ones who have nowhere to go. There are still reports of thievery in the nearby farming estates, though. The people are hungry, Sire." The young man, Galahad, fell silent. Behind him, Leon nodded in agreement. Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded.

"Thank you, Galahad. Well done, all of you. Get some rest." The knights sighed gratefully and scattered, while a boy, no older than a twelve or thirteen, hastily ran from one to the other, trying to take care of all three horses at once. Arthur watched for a moment, amused. The boy's uncoordinated and hurried gait reminded him of Merlin. A familiar mixture of pain, remorse and longing filled his chest, but he pushed it away. There was no time for that. His first duty was to his people, everything else came second.

There was not much to be done, though. He had sent out the few knights that had remained out to collect what food the surrounding farmers of his realm could spare. It was never much. All the people that had relatives or any kind of hope of starting anew had moved away. Only those whose complete livelihood had remained in Camelot stayed. Still, there was not enough food for everyone. Arthur had gone so far as to send the remaining troops and knights away- he could not support them. He was a king without a realm. He had nowhere to go to. Only a few knights had remained with him, including the ones he had knighted himself. It seemed such a long time ago. Gaius had refused to go- he lived in the same camp, in the big tent that was now serving as the infirmary. A few children were in charge of running from camp to camp, carrying messages for him, collecting herbs and even treating the wounded- it filled Arthur with a sick kind of pride when he saw small children unwind bandages around bites left by wild beasts, smear pastes on cuts and bruises and comfort weeping men who had decades on them.

He breathed in deeply and returned to his task at hand. His stomach grumbled, but he ignored it. There would be nothing to eat for him till morning. He studied his notes for the umpteenth time. Nothing new came out of it. They had finally discovered the magician's source of control of the rat-like-beasts. A small flute that hung around the sorcerer's neck at all times. Morgana and him lived a lovely life in the halls of Camelot, being waited on those desperate enough to serve them. The pressed taxes out of the surrounding villages, no one dared oppose them. They did not need any troops. Cado alone seemed powerful enough to bring down an entire army.

Arthur rubbed his face as his thoughts ran along the same lines they had for over a month now. His birthday had passed. No one had even taken notice, not even Gaius. That alone showed how much had changed. He heaved himself upright and walked over to the place were a new, stronger construct was being built: It was to be the new infirmary, more and more sick people were being brought in to see Gaius with every day. Disease was spreading faster as his people grew weaker. Without saying another word, he picked up a bramble and started threading it into what would become a wall. He had learned many new things during his camp life. One was that it didn't matter who made the roof as long as it didn't leak.

As the night came, the knights of Camelot convened around the fire. It had become a ritual since the first evening. Gwen and Gaius also attended. The sat and talked and sometimes even laughed. Especially Gwaine, with his dark humour, surprised everyone by being able to lift the mood and be cheery even without the aid of mead. However, it always came down to the same topic.

"I don't see how we can defeat him, Sire," Gaius said wearily. "He is powerful enough to stop us, we have no army and since you declined the help of the other kingdoms-"

"I will not see their soldiers die for our sake", Arthur interrupted him. They had had this argument quite a few times, but Arthur had stayed firm.

"That may be as it is, Sire, but I do not see any alternative. We have no resources, no power, no money-"

"Or we could afford some decent food," Gwaine murmured.

"-whereas they have magic. The odds are against us, Sire." Silence. The same dead end each night.

"We could go to the druids." Arthur looked at Lancelot, baffled. Lancelot returned his gaze.

"Think about it. Merlin was something special to them, Gaius has told us as much, and maybe they can help us! They don't profit from the evil Morgana brought to the land and, as a peaceful people, the cannot look upon their reign with favour!" Arthur didn't say a word. He waited.

"And maybe- maybe they could provide us with some magical assistance." He looked at each knight in turn. Gwaine was listening, thinking, Leon was looking doubtful. Gaius was observing Arthur, who was staring at the flames Guinevere was sitting beside Elyan, who had an arm around her and Percival looked like- well, Percival.

"You just said yourself, they are a peaceful people", Leon pointed out. "Why should they interfere, and then for our sakes?"

"We just have to convince them", Lancelot insisted, with a desperate air. "Just imagine if we had a warlock on our side, one powerful enough to crush Cado- maybe they can bring Merlin back!"

Arthur shut his eyes. There it was. That's where it always lead to- Lancelot was desperate to believe Merlin was still alive. So was Gaius. Gwaine refused to give up hope as well.

"If Merlin is really gone-" he had said on occasion, "then what do I have left to live for?" And he had laughed. In secret, probably all the knights thought Merlin was out there, somewhere. Gwen thought she knew it, too. Arthur wished he could share their hopes.

"Merlin is gone, Lancelot." He felt so tired. Another argument they had had only to often. Lancelot refused to see sense. "He won't be coming back."

"Fine"; Lancelot replied irritably. "Believe as you wish, but my other arguments still stand. We need magic to defeat Cado, there is no other way." The audience's attention turned back to Arthur. He felt a spark of anger at Lancelot's challenging tone.

"The druids hate us. My father has hunted them like animals. Why should they help us?"

"You won't know until you try." Arthur stood up and let that statement hang in the air. Without another word he left for his tent. He didn't like talking about Merlin.