Merlin swivelled his head to look at Arthur. Arthur blinked, aware of Merlin's gaze but his eyes stayed firmly on the problem below. The creatures were starting to circle, knocking each other aside to get a prime position.

"What?"

"The plan, Merlin. I can't think of anything, six of us can't take those damn things on, and no one will be able to find us in time. The only one who can probably do anything about this is you."

Merlin was about to yelp 'what!' again, but his voice failed in him. He opened his mouth a few times, trying to say something but words still refused to come out.

"Huh!" was the best Merlin could eventually come up with. Arthur rolled his eyes and looked at Merlin, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Merlin's gaze then moved to the knights, stood huddled together, watching the conversation between prince and servant, even though they were trying not to be too obvious about it.

"I haven't told them anything. I have made them vow that whatever is seen and whatever happens will never be spoken of by them, to anyone."

"You can't believe they will stand by that," Merlin gasped. Arthur's face flickered with anger, not just the usual irritation that he had with Merlin, this was real anger. Merlin felt a shiver of fear as it flashed in Arthur's eyes.

"They are knights of Camelot, and they gave me their word, that means something to each and every one of us. They will be loyal to their vows."

"What if their loyalty to the King overrides that?" Merlin asked. "It probably does if they witness magic. They are duty bound to tell the king, after they've taken my head off!"

"They gave their word they would speak of it to no one, that will include the king. And I'll make sure your head stays where it is. Is there anything you can do?"

Merlin winced. "The last time I had a run in with these guys I called on Kilgharrah."

"I don't think we can add a dragon to this, Merlin. You being a sorcerer will be quite enough revelation for them. What else is there?"

Merlin turned back to look at the problem, Arthur watched him give a dry swallow. Without thinking much about it Arthur offered him the water skin he was carrying. Merlin took it and gulped some down.

"Merlin?"

"I can probably throw them out of the way of the path, set fire to some, they really didn't like that last time. Then all we can probably do is run. If we can get to the tree line there, it's doubtful they will follow."

"From this angle that looks like a hell of a distance."

"So, we'll run a lot."

Arthur slowly nodded. "It's more than I can think of. Not that I like the idea of the running part."

"What have you got against running?"

"Away from a fight, I'm not always keen on."

They fell silent again. Merlin twitched a bit.

"The thing is," he started and stopped.

"What?" Arthur asked, and then added as there was no immediate response. "Merlin?"

Merlin frowned, wondering how to explain the problem. "The thing is, I've got used to being quiet, and subtle."

"Two things I would have thought were impossible for you," Arthur drawled, feeling a little heartened when Merlin managed a brief smile.

"I'll need to be a bit less subtle, I think I can do it, but I'm not sure I'm ready for it," Merlin said.

"Get ready, we're moving out in five minutes," Arthur said. He got up, not waiting to hear any objections, and he cut them off by putting a hand on Merlin's shoulder and squeezing it. It did not reassure Merlin, as he glanced at the knights again, who responded to Arthur's call to get ready. As they did so, pulling on gauntlets and readying swords, Olwen asked, with another glance at Merlin, still sat, and Arthur pacing about surveying the scene.

"So what's going on? There's not much of a plan."

"I don't think we can have much of a plan against those things," Rupert mused, running a hand over his sword blade. Olwen looked at Merlin, who suddenly seemed very agitated and nervous. He wondered what Arthur had said and looked around at the others.

"You don't think he's planning to use Merlin as bait, do you?"

He received a few confused looks, and then Arthur strode past them again.

"Let's go!" the prince ordered, emphasizing that fact by grabbing hold of Merlin and hoisting him to his feet. The five knights exchanged concerned looks but followed Arthur and Merlin as they headed down the precarious pathway.