This is going to be a two-part fic I think (could be three, but there are definitely going to be at least two).

Again, do not own. Mistakes are mine - I'm crazy cause I don't have a beta! But I've never really gotten any reviews saying that I've made a mistake somewhere, so I guess I might not need one - yet :D

Anyway, here's the next one :)

Merlin was riding near the back of the group, while Arthur rode at the front. Usually Merlin would be right beside Arthur the entire trip, annoying Arthur more than the Prince thought possible. But today Merlin felt like he needed to distance himself. Another attack, only a couple of days ago, of the magical kind had made Merlin start thinking that maybe Arthur would never accept him for who he was. Uther had finally died, after long months of sitting in his chambers almost a dead shell, another magical attack on Camelot had ended in the Kind losing his life. The Dragon had been right. Losing his father to magic had definitely hardened his heart when it came to magic.

When Merlin had spoken to Arthur after the whole event, he could have sworn that Arthur was almost channelling Uther. He had now lost both his parents to magic. He declared his complete hatred of anything magical, that he would never let magic harm another person again. Merlin felt as if all his hope had been destroyed, Arthur's words had cut like a knife. He had said the words with such hatred and disgust in his voice.

Merlin was still thinking over what Arthur had said, he couldn't help it. But it had kept him distracted the entire journey. All they were doing was going hunting, but Arthur had seen that something was bothering Merlin. But because Merlin was keeping to the back of the group, Arthur hadn't had a chance to question him about it. Merlin knew that Arthur had noticed and had purposely migrated to the back, searching out silently with his magic for any magical threat.

Merlin suddenly froze in his seat, his horse coming to a stop. Lancelot and Gwaine – who were riding beside him, had stopped realizing that something was up. Arthur, Elyan, Percival and Leon were riding a little further in front, and hadn't realized.

Merlin knew that something was wrong. And true to his instincts, a few seconds later, men ran out of the trees and towards them.

He saw Arthur immediately jump down from his horse, grabbing his sword and defending himself against the first one that reached him. The other knights soon followed him, fighting back against the bandits.

Merlin got off his horse, and headed to where Arthur would be – his horse running off in the other direction.

Then he realized that there was something different about these bandits. Looking around, he saw two of them wave their hands in Elyan and Leon's direction, muttering a few words. A moment later and they were flying through the air and landing back on the ground with a thud, leaving them unconscious.

This had suddenly gotten serious. Arthur and the knights could easily take care of bandits, but sorcerers?

Arthur was now fighting two men at the same time, while Lancelot, Gwaine and Percival were attempting to push back at least five others. Thankfully, the two that had attacked Leon and Elyan had left them unconscious, not bothering to finish them off, but now they were helping the others attack the rest of the knights.

When one of the men raised his palm in Arthur's direction, Merlin was about to call out his name to warn him, but he was too late. Arthur was thrown backwards and starting rolling down the hill that was on the other side of the road.

"ARTHUR!"

Without thinking, Merlin ran forward, after the two men that were now heading down the small hill, following the Prince. The others had noticed what had happened, but had no chance to do anything, they were still fighting off the others.

Merlin ran down the hill, and saw Arthur trying to stand up again. One of the sorcerers forced him back to the ground with magic, while the other raised his sword, ready to let it fall straight into the Prince.

Arthur heard Merlin call his name, but had no chance to look around to find his friend. He saw the gold shimmer in the bandits' eyes, and felt himself being lifted off the ground. Coming back to earth, he stopped rolling at the bottom of the hill, and saw that the two men had followed him down. They weren't going to stop until they had killed him.

He had lost his sword in the fall, and as he looked around for it, he spotted it six feet away from him. He tried to get back up, he needed to get his sword, but found himself being forced back. They were using magic to hold him in place. He saw the sword of the second man start to swing downwards, towards his neck. Suddenly it wasn't just the magic freezing him in place.

"NO!" he heard someone yell.

Before he could see who it was that was yelling, the thug's sword flew to the other side of the small clearing and the two men were being sent forcefully backwards into the trees, knocking them unconscious. It was magic, but he had heard no incantations, just the rush of the wind as it picked them up and threw them away from him, saving his life.

As he sat up, using his elbow's for balance, he looked around and saw Merlin standing at the bottom of the hill. His arm was outstretched. It was quick, but he had seen it - the gold in Merlin's eyes. Merlin had used magic.

'Impossible' Arthur thought his mouth opening in shock, and his eyes wide. He saw Merlin standing silent, he wasn't even going to deny it, he couldn't.

Merlin had used magic.

eek! don't kill me! I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, but the next part should be up real soon!

In the mean time, what did you think?

Xx