Wow- so many Alerts building up. Thanks so much guys, especially those of you who have reviewed- they really help me to get in a writing mood. I'll tell you a secret at the end of this chapter, so look out for that :)

Well, hope you enjoy this chapter... although I guess enjoy isn't really the word considering what's in it... Hmmmm...

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin

Chapter 3

They walked in silence through the remains of the village, leading their horses. Bodies lay strewn throughout the streets, some ripped into several pieces. Charred corpses could be seen collapsed in crumbled houses, some still in their beds. Scorch marks ran the length of every pathway, and the last dying sparks of fires were visible smouldering amongst the rubble.

Merlin and Arthur found themselves staring at the burnt form of a tiny baby, clutched in it's dead mother's arms. Merlin felt sick, the carnage providing unwelcome memories of the Dragon's attack on Camelot. None of the bodies seemed to be bandits or soldiers from another land, and there was a faint tinge of magic in the air. Was this what he had felt last night?

After what seemed like an endless age, but was in fact just a few short seconds, Arthur tore his gaze from the dead babe, instead looking round at his Knights' horrified expressions. His words caught for a moment in his throat, and when they finally came out they sounded almost strangled.

"Search for survivors."

They immediately went into action, picking carefully through the rubble. No-one spoke, overcome as they were by the scale and viciousness of the destruction, instead working in sombre silence.

It wasn't until they had searched through almost the entire village that an urgent shout rose up from Sir Vidor.

"Over here! I found someone!"

As one, the group ran from their respective positions, hastening to clear away the piles of stones which were pinning the survivor's left arm and leg. He was unconscious. But he was alive.

Three of the Knights went to finish the search through the one remaining area, the rest standing nervously in a loose circle around the rescued man while Merlin hurried to tend to the man's wounds as best he could. His wounds were severe- blood was trickling from his broken arm, his leg was partially crushed, and burns were running along the entire left side of his body. But he seemed strong, and the young warlock had no doubt that if they got him to Gaius fast enough then he would survive.

After patching the man up as best he could, Merlin turned his face towards Arthur's. The Prince stared back, concern evident in his expression. This man seemed to be the only survivor- none of those gathered around felt like they could forgive themselves if they let him die.

"Will he be alright?" The Prince's voice was strained, tense.

Merlin nodded. Just once. "He should be. We need to get him to Gaius as fast as we can, and I doubt he'll ever be rid of some of these scars, but he should live."

There was a collective sigh around the circle, many of the Knights bowing their heads in relief. There were brief mutterings of "Thank God" and "I'm glad" before Arthur interrupted them once more.

"We need a cart- it may be dangerous to put him on a horse unless absolutely necessary. Sir Vidor, Sir Mordon- I trust I can leave that to you?"

The two Knights nodded, rushing to search for a usable cart. After a few minutes they returned, pulling a travois.

"This is the best we could find sire," said Sir Mordon, "anything else was too damaged."

The Prince passed an appraising eye over the small wooden structure. "It'll have to do. Put him on it. We ride for Camelot immediately."

It was while they were securing the man to the travois that his eyes flickered slowly open. One of the Knights noticed as he began to stir.

"Sire!"

Arthur was immediately at the man's side, Merlin hovering at his master's shoulder.

"Wha- Who are you?"

"I'm Prince Arthur. What's your name?"

The man blinked confusedly, his eyes out of focus. "My name? My name is… is Amyas."

"That's good. Amyas, listen to me. Can you tell me what happened here?"

"What do you-?" Amyas' eyes grew wide, realisation dawning, and he began to fight against the bonds tying him to the travois. "No. No! Where's Ysabel? Where's Ysabel? I need to-!"

Arthur grabbed his shoulders, forcing Amyas to face him. "Calm down. I need you to tell me what happened."

He blinked. "I don't… I don't know. One second everything was fine, and the next the whole village was on fire. I was outside, so I ran into the house. I had to find Ysabel- my wife. I had to. The last thing I remember was the sound of stone cracking, and then…" He stopped, staring pleadingly up into Arthur's face. "Where's Ysabel? Did she make it out? Please- please tell me she's alright. Please…"

There was silence, the Knights staring round hopelessly. Merlin looked on, close to tears, as Arthur's face sank forward.

"I'm sorry."

Amyas just stared at them for several seconds before leaning his head backwards, tears welling in his eyes. "No…" he whispered, "no, it can't be… she can't…"

"I'm so sorry."

The group backed away, leaving Amyas for some moments alone with his grief while they prepared for the journey back to Camelot. The last thing to be done was securing the travois to one of the horses. The man stayed silent throughout, and no-one dared to speak to him. What was there to say?

Arthur looked over at Merlin. They had been riding for many leagues, Camelot just a few short hours away, and the boy had barely said a word in all that time. It was obvious he was upset- they were all relatively subdued, and none of them wanted to be too loud for fear of interrupting their passenger's mourning- but there was something more to this. And Arthur had a feeling he knew what was wrong.

He gestured for Merlin to join him a short distance ahead of the others

"I want to talk to you." He shifted his eyes towards the other riders, hoping Merlin would understand what he was trying to say. "In private."

The manservant appeared to pay him almost no heed, but after a short while he nodded glumly and began to utter some words in the ancient language. Once his friend had stopped speaking, and his eyes flashed the now-familiar shade of gold, Arthur spoke.

"What's wrong Merlin?"

The young manservant simply gulped, clenching his eyes shut for a second. "Nothing."

"Merlin. You can tell me."

"It's noth-"

"Merlin."

They rode forward several paces before, finally, the warlock relented. "It's my fault Arthur. I felt that magic- I should have gone immediately to see what it was. If I had, then maybe a lot more lives would have been saved."

"Merlin- you heard Amyas. The attack came out of nowhere- even if we had ridden as fast as we could, we would never have made it on time." He sighed. "Besides- how would we have explained to the Knights why we were suddenly riding off in a random direction in the middle of the night? We couldn't very well say that you had sensed some magic, could we?"

"But I-"

"Merlin. It was not your fault. There was nothing you could have done. There was nothing any of us could have done. You should just be glad that we managed to save even one man."

Merlin looked like he was going to protest, but quickly closed his mouth again, nodding dejectedly.

"Sometimes I get so sick of it Arthur. So many people have suffered. So many people have died. A lot of them because of my own mistakes- my own failures. And I can't even do all I could to help, because if anyone else found out, I'd be dead within a matter of days."

It really hurt Arthur to hear his friend talking like this. For so many years Merlin had been so alone, protecting Arthur without anyone but his mother, Lancelot and Gaius knowing even in part who he truly was- and only Gaius had been near him for most of the last few years. For one even younger than Arthur himself, Merlin had seen and suffered through so much.

"I know it's hard Merlin, but I promise you that when I'm King it will not be so- you'll be able to be completely open."

Merlin looked at him, a stray tear rolling down one cheek.

"I know that Arthur. But none of us can know when that day will come. How many more innocent lives will be lost before then? I have made so many mistakes Arthur. How many more will I make in the future?"

Arthur paused for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"We all make mistakes Merlin. I myself have made my fair share. I have also caused suffering to the people, such as that time I slew the Unicorn. The difference between us is that I had you, Gaius and several others to talk to about my mistakes, while you so often had to bear the burden yourself. I know that much of what you have told me are things you never even told Gaius." He looked earnestly at his friend. "But you don't need to suffer alone any more. I'm here. I know what it feels like to hurt those you want to protect. And now that I know your secret, we can help each-other so that we don't make so many wrong decisions in the future. We can learn from the past, but we must not dwell on it. Instead, we should focus on what is yet to come."

The pair continued in silence for a few minutes, both painfully aware that the time they had left before the spell wore off was growing short. Eventually, Merlin turned once again to face Arthur and, while he still seemed sad, there was no longer an oppressive air of guilt surrounding him.

"You're right. Thank you Arthur."

The Prince tried to hide an embarrassed grin. "It was no problem. Anything to stop you moping-you're about as entertaining as my old Nanny when you're upset, and she could have bored even old Bertram from the council half to death."

Merlin gave a quick snort. He opened his mouth to retort, but a tingling feeling in his forehead warned him that his spell was about to run out. "Oops- looks like we're out of time I'm afraid." He looked towards Arthur, growing serious once more. "I mean it- thanks."

The two grinned at each-other, Merlin shaking his head to clear it as the last vestiges of the spell released their hold. It always felt rather like a moth flapping around inside his head when this particular spell ended- something he was fairly certain he would never get used to.

Aww. Poor Merlin, feeling all guilty.

Well, I promised you a secret, and here it is: With all of the ideas I have for this story floating around inside my head, it looks like I may well need to write a third part after this one- a whole 'nother sequel! (You'll see why later on). Just think of it as though it's a series of three episodes. Or something. Whatever works for you :)

So please give me lots of reviews- whether they're just to say what you think, or to point out something I'm doing wrong. All are welcome, as I want to make my writing as good as I can, so that you can enjoy it all the more.

Thanks for reading. Yuo'll be getting a few hints about the sorcerers tomorrow, so stay tuned :D