Wow, over 100 follows! Thank you to everyone, reviewers/favourites/followers your support is appreciated!

Enjoy!

Chapter Seven (Merlin's POV):

His neckerchief was almost strangling him as it whipped against his skin, and he flapped his arms madly in a moment of terror, seeing the expanse of land below him grow larger.

Arthur, a bigger weight in his armour, shot past him, his mouth open in mute horror.

Seeing this expression on a man who never liked to show weakness, Merlin collected his thoughts together as best he could, and racked his brains for the spell he needed.

He couldn't fly. No sorcerer, no matter how powerful, could do that.

He supposed he could slow their descent, like he'd done with Gaius so long ago?

But from this height, they'd be falling a very long time.

He'd have to wait for the perfect moment. A risky move.

"Merlin!" He glanced down towards Arthur and saw that he had somehow twisted round to face him. "Can't you...you know!"

Merlin frowned, despite himself, and called down "So you want me to save you, using magic, once again?"

Arthur looked like he couldn't believe they were having this conversation 1000 or so metres above the ground, and falling. "Just do something!"

Merlin belatedly realised they were much nearer to the point than he would have liked.

Focusing on Arthur, he raised his outstretched arms and emptied his mind of all thoughts but the spell.

Now came the hardest part: Closing his eyes.

He knew it was crucial to only have the one spell, and only that, in his mind, but when the land was racing up to meet you, it was hard to not constantly calculate how many seconds you had until impact.

Which was less than 30.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes.

"Merlin?" He heard Arthur call. "Merlin, now is not the time to faint!"

Merlin blocked his irritating friend's shrill voice out of his head, kept his arms stretched toward Arthur, and chanted "Na pesies siya. Na peseis siya."

"MERLIN?!"

The more than a little tremor of fear in Arthur's voice made Merlin open his eyes, worried it hadn't worked.

It turned out that the spell had worked. For Arthur.

He had been so scared for Arthur, Merlin realised he'd forgotten to stop his own descent!

"Na pesw siya! Na pesw siya!" He shouted, verging on hysterics when he stopped centimetres above the ground.

Mentally releasing himself, he slumped to the ground and rolled over to watch as Arthur slowly descended, as if floating, through the air.

As he alighted onto the ground, he staggered and almost fell over.

But from some sort of reserves of strength, Merlin was amazed as he saw Arthur right himself and hurry over to him, regardless of the pain.

"Merlin! You weren't slowing down! Are you okay?"

Merlin watched with wide eyes as Arthur knelt down next to him and nervously scanned his body for any broken bones.

So he DOES still care...

He managed to sit up, but was still trembling from the after effects of maintaining two spells of that magnitude at the same time.

"I'm fine."

Seemingly suddenly aware of his sudden interest in a sorcerer's welfare, Arthur averted his eyes, choosing to look up at the sky and quickly change the topic. "What happened?"

Merlin scanned the sky for any sign of the thing that had hit Kilgarrah, but there was nothing.

He had an inkling of what it had been, but he kept the thought to himself.

Speaking of, where was Kilgarrah?

Merlin rose quickly and used his inner mind to travel the area. He caught a faint flutter of the great dragon's mind, but it was exhausted, and Merlin knew he could not go on.

So silently thanking the dragon for all his help, Merlin shut off his mind, so as not to be susceptible to outside forces, most likely enemy.

Reaching towards Arthur, he was mildly surprised when the other let him put his arm around his shoulder.

"Come on, we're nearly there."

"But - what about your dragon?"

Merlin gazed at Arthur with a little sorrow. "He was only able to make one last journey."

Realisation dawned in Arthur's eyes. "So he made it for me..." His voice contained guilt.

Merlin smiled faintly and nodded. "You are the king."

Arthur lowered his eyes, self-loathing clear. "I am a king. There will doubtless be plenty more after me."

"Hey..." Merlin pressed his hand to Arthur's chest. "You are my king. And it's what's in here that marks you out to be the finest. Your life is worth a dragon's last ride. Your life is worth my last breath."

Arthur's eyes shone, but all he said was "Let's get to this lake then."

(Arthur's POV):

Amidst all the guilt, the fear, the pain, Merlin's fervour was the one constant.

They were so near, and yet Arthur felt that he would have died sooner if it wasn't for the young sorcerer next to him, encouraging him every step of the way.

Certainly he wouldn't have survived that insane fall if not for the boy.

Arthur cast his mind back. The far of his fall had been immense.

Was dying by the sword not enough? Did the Fates have to throw in another surprise ending for him?

Though it seemed that that was nothing compared to the fear of seeing Merlin carry on past him, with his eyes closed, as if bracing for inevitable impact.

He'd thought...Arthur shook his head roughly. Now was not the time.

After a short while, with the sun rising higher, and the pain resonating through each bone, they cleared a copse of trees, and there before them was the lake of Avalon.

Arthur could feel Merlin almost vibrating with joy, while he just shuddered with repressed exhaustion.

By now, Merlin was almost dragging him along. "Just a few more steps, Arthur, you can do it."

Arthur gazed up at his friend - and that was what he was.

His friend.

Through the hard times and the prosperous ones, Merlin - only Merlin - had been at his side.

He couldn't even say that for his wife, who had betrayed him with a former knight and friend.

Being a born sorcerer was not betrayal.

Being so close to death, Arthur felt an enormous burden on his shoulders that needed to be lifted. He willed himself the strength to say this. "Merlin, I need to tell you - "

"Hello boys."

Arthur stopped, mid-speech.

He had known that voice since his childhood.

Please review :)

A/N: I know, I know, the dreaded suspense! The next chapter's going to be action packed though and I promise you all, there are many chapters to come - so don't be too sure of what will happen next ;)