Hello dear readers,

Here's an another update for you.

I hope you will like it and thanks again for the lovely reviews.

I will say it again, I don't own Merlin, but if I had…..

Now to continue with our story,

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Yours sincerely,

Bluewryter

Merlin headed off the road as soon as he heard the slavers and was now running through a particular thick patch of the forest. He hoped he was heading in the right direction. He recognized some parts of the forest but sometimes when took a sharp turn, trying to lose the slavers on his tail, he got lost and he had to slow down in order to find his path again. He knew he had to be close to the border, but he had no idea of how long it would take to get him into safety. He was frantically searching for some sign to signal he had crossed the damn thing already, but so far no luck.

He'd slow down again after a long run and he was in dire need of some rest, but he didn't dare to stop and look for a hiding place. He couldn't hear the slavers anymore so that was a good sign. He was now walking on an animal trail, probably a deer's, when he found himself on a road again. He stopped, perplexed, he was sure that he was far away from any road and looked around him hoping he would recognize it. But there were no road marks so he decided to follow it, hoping it was the fastest way straight towards Camelot's border.

After a while he started looking for a hiding place, noticing by the sun that it was late afternoon and that he needed to rest soon. He still hadn't made it to the border. He hoped he hadn't been running in circles all day, he should have reached the damn border already.

Well nothing to do about it now. He just thought he had found a safe spot for the night when something tackled him from behind. He fell on his knees and hands. Before he had turned to look at the stupid thing that had hit him he got grabbed by his ankle with sharp teeth and was dragged backwards. One of those vicious dogs then, he concluded. He surged for purchase on the ground with his hands, but it only ended up with his hands and nails scratched. Then yes! He'd found a thick branch. He turned around and hit the dog with all his strength. The dog yelped when he got it and backed off. Merlin got up on his feet again and started to swirl the branch around him, trying to fend the dog off.

The beast was huge and was currently swinging his head back and forth, still a bit dazed from the hit. But it was quickly in getting his senses back and starting to growl. The dog was at least the size of a small pony and black as night with big yellow eyes. All with all it was definitely a creature created out of your worst nightmare. Damn it! His leg hurts like hell, but he didn't dare to take his eyes away from the dog. Merlin slowly started to back down, hoping he got a chance to land a quick hit and run away before it recovered. The dog followed his movements with his eyes, slowly creeping forward. Merlin swirled the branch around one more time, hoping to create more distance between him and the big mutt. The beast started to circle around him, trying to keep his prey from moving so that his owner could come and fetch him. Merlin slowly started to get desperate. He needed to get out from here. In one last attempt to break free from the dog he hurled the branch at it, hoping he'd hit him, and started to run away from the scene as fast as he could.

It seemed that luck was with him this time as he heard a yelp behind him when he started to run. He limped slightly due to his leg, but the adrenaline kept him going. He managed to put a safe distance between him and it when suddenly something big and heavy slammed into him.

Really? He finally got away from one threat to just run into a next one? Why did it seem that luck would always abandon him on the worst moments?

Merlin fell down with a heavy grunt, said big lump falling on top of him. He looked up to see who his attacker was, when he suddenly recognized the armour, scruffy hair and beard, the lingering smell of dust and alcohol and… "Gwaine?!" Merlin asked.

"Ow!" Gwaine was rubbing his head were he knocked it against the ground, when he finally looked down at the one he'd assaulted.

"Merlin, aren't you a sight for sore eyes! Just the person I was looking for." Gwaine said to him excited and almost casually.

Merlin just looked at him in puzzlement, starting to wonder if he passed out from the fall and that he was currently dreaming or if this really was happening, when he finally asked: "Will you get off me?"

"Oh yeah. Here you go" Gwaine said happily when he got up and extended a hand towards Merlin.

While Merlin stood up he heard someone shouting.

"Gwaine, where the hell are you? Did you find a trace of –Merlin?!" Arthur exclaimed before rushing towards them, rest of the knights following him. Merlin all just looked at them in bewilderment, not really understanding what was happening yet.

"What are you all doing here?" Merlin asked them.

"Rescuing you of course, what else." Leon said

"How in the world did you find him?" Arthur ignored them and asked Gwaine.

"Oh that was easy, I just bumped into him" Gwaine shrugged.

"You escaped? How did you manage that?" Arthur finally rounded on Merlin. He started to look Merlin up and down checking for any injuries, but before he had time to do anything Merlin interrupted him.

"I'd love to tell you all about it, but we really don't have time for this guys!" Merlin answered anxiously, looking behind him.

"Why –?" But before Percival got to finish his sentence, noises of the hunting slavers and their dogs where to be heard. And by the sound of it they were heading towards them fast.

They all looked at each other in alarm.

"We really should start to run" Elyan commented dryly.

"You just had to escape before we got to you with a well thought through plan, didn't you?" Arthur asked Merlin exasperated while they all started to run away.