A/N: Once again, thank you all for the alerts and favourites! Thanks especially to LadySarah14, Lady Willamina, serial blogger, and annonymous reviewer who took the time review and let me know what you think so far! A couple of you asked me some questions which I believe might be answered in this chapter... Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the BBC do.

Chapter 4

There was a small cluster of buildings on the other side a short wooden bridge at the far side of the village, it was the one place they had yet to search and in the absence of the possibility of immediate escape, Arthur reasoned that they might as well look for the creature. After all, if the barrier preventing them leaving was magical in nature, and this creature was magical as well, it was a fair guess that if they killed it, then the barrier would be destroyed and they could leave.

Merlin was not totally convinced by this reasoning but it wasn't like they had many choices so he let Gwaine sling his arm over his shoulders and follow the others out. As they crossed the bridge, something started to tug at him from the largest of the buildings, which was the village barn. It was not an unpleasant sensation but it was unsettling. He pulled his arm from Gwaine's shoulders and walked over to the barn, the pull of whatever was inside getting stronger with each step.

"What have you got?" Gwaine asked, following his friend.

"There's something in there," Merlin replied quietly.

"Let's have a look then," said Gwaine with his usual exuberance, pushing open the door and going in. Merlin was about to follow when the dark-haired knight burst back through the door, looking completely shaken. He stumbled a few paces away and bent over trying to take deep breaths.

"Gwaine?"

"They're...they're all in there," the knight said shakily. Merlin straightened his shoulders and put his hand on the door, he did not relish facing whatever had unnerved his normally laid-back and courageous friend, but there was still something calling to him and it could not be ignored.

"Merlin! What are you doing?" Gwaine asked suddenly. "You don't want to go in there!"

Ignoring his friend's outburst, the warlock pushed the door open and stepped in to the icy dimness of the barn. Sunlight shone through various cracks and gaps in the walls and the small windows set into the thatch, but despite the gloomy interior, the horror hidden within the barn was plain to see. It looked like every single inhabitant of the village had been stored here for a long while, judging by the thin covering of ice, and terrible wounds covered each and every one. He pulled eyes away from the monstrous sight and set about looking for whatever was creating the pull. Behind him, the door swung open again and Gwaine stepped back inside, his eyes skittering over the pile of dead villagers, as he made his way to Merlin's side.

"What are we looking for?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Merlin replied. "But I'll know it when I see it."

Taking a few hesitant steps towards the terrible mess of bodies, Merlin felt nausea rise within him as his feet started to slip slightly on the icy blood covering the floor. He was about to turn away when he saw a small ornately carved wooden box half hidden beneath a piece of familiar-looking blood-soaked cloth. Here was the rider Arthur had sent out discover the fate of the village. Carefully making his way over to the box, keeping his gaze firmly away from the bodies, he could tell this was the source of the strange tugging sensation. Grabbing the box, he made a hasty retreat from the barn and both he and Gwaine sucked in relieved lung-fulls of cold fresh air.

"What have you got?" Arthur asked, appearing next to the pair with Marcus and Oswald in tow.

"We, er, found the villagers," Gwaine responded, nodding at the barn. "Merlin's creature must have got to them."

Arthur disappeared inside the barn and returned almost immediately, seemly undisturbed by the terrible sight but Merlin could tell from the tightening of his jaw he was furious at the violence perpetrated on his own people.

"I found this in there," Merlin said, holding out the small box.

Arthur took it, turned it over a few times and handed it back. "It's a box," he decreed.

Merlin sighed to himself. Arthur was a great king and his best friend but occasionally he wished the blond had been blessed with slightly more in the brain department. It was indeed a box but there were intricate words carved into the top that were difficult to miss and even though the king couldn't be expected to understand the words, since it was the language of the Old Religion, he should have noticed them.

"Look," he said, tapping his finger against the carvings.

"Am I supposed to understand these?" Arthur asked dubiously, looking at the words more closely.

"Not unless you know the language of the Old Religion."

Arthur's hand dropped to this hilt of his sword and he took an automatic step back. "Magic?"

"Not the box itself," Merlin lied. "From what I can make out, it's a warning." That was actually a bit of an understatement. The words warned that the box contained an abominable evil from beyond the Veil and to open it would be to condemn all those close to the box to a terrible fate. But Merlin could not give that much detail without revealing he had more than a passing knowledge of the forbidden language. Although judging by the dangerous frown on the young king's face, he might have done that anyway.

"You three, go back and make sure the fire is still going." Arthur waited until the three knights were out of earshot, then turned on his servant, controlled anger in every word. "How do you know what this says?"

"I don't," Merlin said nervously, "I just recognise one or two words."

"One or two words, too many!"

"Gaius has books - "

"Those kind of books are illegal!"

"Those books have saved your life a hundred times over!" Merlin shouted, shocking his master into silence. "They are words, Arthur, nothing more. I don't know the language, I just recognise some words."

Arthur stared at him for a few minutes before grasping Merlin's good arm and throwing it over his shoulders. "Come on, you idiot. It looks like I'm going to have to find you more chores when we get back home. It's the only way to keep you out of trouble."

Darkness and morale fell at approximately the same time and after dinner each of the companions settled down for the night, Marcus and Oswald taking first watch. Sleep did not come quickly or easily for any of them, except Gwaine, who having got over the initial shock of what he had seen in the barn, was back to his relaxed self. Merlin wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep at all, knowing that the creature responsible for the burning ache in his shoulder was still out there but in the end, exhaustion pulled him into a deep sleep.

He awoke sometime later, a crawling feeling worming its way from his stomach to his throat and some survival instinct told him to lie still and take in his surroundings though barely open eyes. The first thing he saw was Oswald, with an unpleasant smirk on his face, standing over Marcus, whose neck was at an unnatural angle, his eyes open and unseeing. His magic built within him ready to be unleashed on the unsuspecting knight, when suddenly it was gone.

"No, no, no, little one," the creature whispered in his ear, "that would spoil things."

In the dim light provided by the fire, he could see the grotesque features of the beast for the first time. Once it had been a man but the bones of the face had shifted and changed forming a sort of canine muzzle, the mutation causing the now leathery jet black skin to split and hang loosely and a pair of dark red eyes pierced the unnatural darkness surrounding the thing.

The creature dragged to Merlin to his feet, wrapping its arm around him, effectively trapping the young sorcerer against its body. Merlin's head throbbed painfully and his shoulder burned but he struggled futilely against his captor, desperately trying to grasp onto his magic. The deeper he searched for it though, the emptier he felt. His struggles created enough noise to wake both Arthur and Gwaine, who were on their feet weapons in hand within seconds.

Arthur growled his servant's name and took a threatening step towards the monstrous thing holding his friend.

A long, sharp talon caressed Merlin's neck. "Stop now, little morsel," hissed the creature, "or your pet here will die."

"Let him go!" ordered Arthur.

The creature just chuckled and Oswald, who had been keeping to himself in the shadow of the door, brought the hilt of his sword down sharply on the back of Gwaine's head. The dark-haired knight crumpled under the blow and Arthur swung round to face his traitorous knight.

"Oswald, what are you doing?" the king exclaimed.

The large knight said nothing, just continued to smirk and watch the creature with glazed eyes.

"Take him to the store," the creature ordered, "I'll come for him later."

Oblivious to the combined 'No!' of both Merlin and Arthur, Oswald slid his hands under the unconscious knight's armpits and heaved him over his shoulder, trudging out the door and into the dark.

"And so, here we are, little morsels," the creature said. "How I have been looking forward to this meal. A king is always a special appetiser."

Arthur brandished his sword. "I don't think so."

"No? But your little pet cannot help you, and you alone can do nothing to me," it sunk it's talon into Merlin's neck until blood welled up and it drew a deep breath as if enjoying a fine vintage. "Even now, with your power suppressed, I can smell the raw magic flowing through your blood. Once I have tasted your master, then it will be your flesh that gives me the power to shatter the bonds holding me here."

Merlin stomach lurched at the creature's words. Of all the times he had imagined Arthur finding out about his magic, he had never imagined it would be carelessly revealed by someone else. That he would be caught using it, that he would finally decide to tell Arthur the truth, perhaps, but not just dropped into conversation while he was held hostage. He met Arthur's eyes, trying to convey some sort of apology but Arthur refused to look at him, instead focusing on his captor.

"Time to be on," the creature hissed, shoving Merlin to the ground and flinging its arm at the king. The blond went flying across the room, hitting the wall with bone-crunching force and sliding to the floor. To his credit, Arthur lost neither consciousness nor his sword and frantically tried to push his way back to his feet but the creature gave him no opportunity to do so. It strode over to him and, with another careless sweep of its talons, sent him crashing through the door of the hut, which splintered and shattered under the impact.

Merlin pushed himself up painfully and grabbed a nearby sword, plunging it deep into the creature's leg. It howled with pain and anger, batting him away with its talons. They caught him across the chest and he yelled in pain as they sliced through clothes and skin, scrapping on the bone beneath. He landed heavily in the cold snow next to his dazed master but did not wait for the creature to remove the blade from its leg, pushing himself up painfully and helping Arthur to his feet.

"Run!" He gasped, shoving Arthur towards the centre of the village. Without a moment's pause, Arthur, sword still in one hand, grasped the back of his collar and together they stumbled away.