A/N: I can't believe I haven't updated in over a year. I'm done with high school now. I can hardly believe it. I've had this chapter done since last April but I totally forgot about it. I'm hoping the posting this chapter will motivate me to continue writing this again. So please don't hate me for my super long hiatus.

Chapter 7

A dead calm settled around them like heavy storm clouds in a cool autumn evening. There were no sounds of birds, or bugs, or small animals roaming around. It was a bit unnerving to hear nothing but the crunch of footfalls on dead leaves. Merlin might not be a huntsmen but he recognized an unnatural silence when he heard one. He tried to remain vigilant and look for signs of living, breathing creatures. But his eyes kept straying to the living, breathing creature beside him. Freya.

While Merlin's attention was otherwise preoccupied, Arthur's was working to decipher the unexpected connection between the two. Despite their current situation and his worry for his wife, his curiosity was piqued. He still didn't trust Freya, but for Guinevere's sake he was giving her the benefit of doubt—for now. Leon, his right hand man and childhood friend strode up to his side.

"What do you make of her sire?" He asked discretely, so not to warrant Gwen's attention. Arthur frowned.

"I'm more worried about Merlin's— err—acquaintanceship with her. He knows the rules. I cannot understand why he'd break them for this girl. Hell, I was under the impression that Merlin was afraid of magic. He was always hiding behind rocks and trees when we faced sorcerers—or bandits, slave traders, Saxons and enemy knights…" Arthur trailed off with a frown.

Leon snorted, Merlin was the greatest contradiction he ever had the pleasure of knowing. One moment the boy was inexplicably brave—diving head first into reckless situations where the chance of coming out alive had been exceedingly low—next he was, as Arthur put it, hiding behind bushes and trees in the face of minor hindrances like the mountain bandits. But Merlin was loyal to Camelot and by extension Arthur through and through. It didn't make sense that he'd associate himself with magic. But he didn't dismiss the idea that there was more to this situation then they were aware of.

"I suppose sire, that if anyone, Gwaine would probably know the nature of their acquaintanceship. They're best-mates or something," Leon commented off handedly. Arthur felt momentarily put off, how would Gwaine know something about Merlin that he did not? When Arthur was able to get Gwaine's attention, he gestured for the boorish knight to come closer.

"You're not gonna ask me to hold your hand while you tinkle, are you princess?" Gwaine asked with as usual no decorum whatsoever.

"Shut up Gwaine." Arthur flushed but refused to be baited. "Did Merlin ever mention this Freya to you?"

"No he didn't. He was with you the longest princess, if you don't know…" Gwaine frowned. He too didn't know how felt about the sorceresses' sudden appearance. Sure he didn't have as strong of prejudices against magic as his king did but his experiences in Camelot were enough to make him cautious. But this was Merlin they were talking about. "I trust Merlin though. And if he trusts her, least we can do is watch things play out." Gwaine shrugged.

"T-that was actually thoughtful of you Gwaine." Leon murmured under his breath.

"What do you mean actually?" Gwaine growled. Arthur chuckled; he supposed that for now he'd just have to be satisfied with Gwaine's answer.

Meanwhile, Merlin was trying to figure out what to say to Freya. He had an endless number of questions. How are you alive? Are you real? What has she done these past five years? But the words were trapped in his mouth and he found that didn't particularly care for the answers. Freya was here right now—at the moment that was more than enough for him. Now if only someone would break this goddamn silence. It was going to drive Merlin insane!

Elyan was the first to break the silence.

"Did you hear that?" Elyan asked sharply, his hand twitched towards his sword as he scanned his surroundings. This immediately put the knights on high alert; they unconsciously drifted closer to Gwen.

"I didn't hear thing mate. What did you hear?" Percival frowned. He was the closest to the mocha colored knight.

"It sounded like slither. It happened so fast, I can't even be sure I heard it." Elyan shook his head. His sword arm relaxed but the disbelief remained on his face. Arthur didn't look entirely convinced either.

"Tighten the circle, and do not break focus. It is only matter of time before the sorceress strikes." Arthur ordered cautiously. The knights did as they were told, making sure Gwen remained in the center. Merlin began gravitating towards his queen when he felt a tiny tug on his sleeve. It was Freya.

Did you sense anything? She asked worriedly. Merlin responded with a slight shake of his head. She pursed her lips, and worriedly eyed the trees. He saw the gold swirl in her eyes and quickly caught onto what she was doing. Stealing a quick look at Arthur, Merlin focused the magic to his eyes as well. He scanned the trees for any sight of movement. Something is about to happen. I feel her magic gathering.

He was examining the trail of magic, faint as a strand of hair, in the leaves when he heard a scream. It was Leon. He turned around in time to see the vines come to life and curl around Leon's ankle and pull him twenty feet into the air.

"Shit!" Leon cried. His swords and knives fell loose and landed below him.

"Magic."Arthur hissed. What was that thing? Merlin could hardly believe his own eyes as Leon was being strung at his ankle by…a vine? It continued to curl around his body, hiking him into the cover of the trees. "Percival cut him down!" Arthur quickly ordered.

Percival reached for the dagger in boot. Another vine wove around his wrists and yanked him to the dirt floor. Elyan cried out as he was yanked back into the foliage. Arthur was quick to pull his sword, his arm protectively covering Guinevere. The vines came at him with vigor. Arthur slashed out instinctively every time one got too close. Merlin was at Arthur's side in seconds; he pulled out his spare sword and chopped the vine heads off.

The attacks were vicious and rapid. Merlin knew that if he broke his concentration for even a split second, he'd get hurt. The vines that he cut down kept coming back for a second strike. The knights were facing a similar problem, no matter how much they hacked, the vines revived and continued their assault. Expect for the ones that Arthur had struck…They shriveled gray and crumbled to dust. How? How was Arthur doing it? His eyes went to Arthur's sword—a sword that was burnished by a dragon's breathe. Of course, Kilgarrah's magic must be overcoming the vines!

Merlin closed his eyes. He needed two spells in order to pull this off. One to destroy the vines and the other to conceal with visible effects of the first spell—most likely a glamour spell. He heard rustling beside him and sounds of sword slicing through the air with a heavy hand. Damn it, Arthur was too close to him for Merlin to say the spells aloud. Could he do it? Could he cast both spells wordlessly?

"Merlin! This is no time to be sleeping!" Arthur shouted in his ear. Merlin cringed. He'd been still for too long.

"Shut up! I'm trying to cover for you, you prat!" Merlin shot back without hesitation. Arthur smirked and Merlin ducked just in time as the prat slashed off a vine above his head. "You almost cut my head off!" Merlin cried indignantly.

"I knew you'd dodge," Arthur snorted. Behind the pair, Guinevere was rolling her eyes. Merlin eyed his comrades. He could see their weapons visibly held out in front of them. Good, now Merlin could aim the spell without having to guess where the blades were. He took a deep breath, he could feel his magic gathering within him, now he just needed to mold to the image in his mind. 'Bregfan anweald gleddyf,' just as Lancelot's spear had blazed with blue flames when he was charging at the hippogriff, five swords blazed hotly for a split second before Merlin cast the glamour. 'Cuddio y mae'n rhaid eu cuddio'

His eyes flickered open. He could feel the magic shimmering around his own sword. Only one way to test it. Merlin struck out at a vine aiming to catch Guinevere and watched in satisfaction as it crumbled to dust as it had with Arthur. The knights as well suddenly found their vines crumbling.

"What's happening?" Elyan cried.

"Maybe if we strike them enough they turn to ash." Percy quickly answered in speculation. Merlin deadpanned. His luck truly knew no bounds.

That was amazing Merlin, Freya whispered to him, smiling a knowing smile. Merlin flushed warmly; he should have known spell wouldn't escape Freya's attention. She was fine, surprisingly, Gwaine had rushed to Freya's side when Merlin had gone to Arthur's. He watched Freya hold the vines back with a misdirection spell which gave Gwaine enough time to strike the vines. Elyan finally managed to get Leon down, and the two along with Percy were fighting back to back.

"MERLIN!" Freya's cry shattered his attention. Freya had the look of absolute horror in her eyes. Her hand was outstretched, pointing at being that Merlin could not see. "Serkets…" She whispered.

Merlin felt his heart sink faster than a sinking rock. Just hearing that word again was enough to make his back twinge with pain. He focused his magic in his eyes. The Serkets were closing in on them fast and they were heading right for…

"Gwaine look out!" Merlin shouted. It was too late. The giant scorpion like creature launched itself into their clearing with its tail poised high to strike. It was moving too fast for Gwaine to move out of the way. He would get stung!

Gwaine turned his head in time to see large beady like eyes preying on him like fresh game. The beast was huge, almost half of Gwaine's size. Its body hovered over him horrendously, emitting a sense of danger that rendered Gwaine frozen and helpless. It was a feeling like nothing he'd ever experienced before, and Gwaine had been in his fair share of magical beast attacks. It bore its pinchers as though it was intending to take an arm or leg before thrusting its long stinger for the finishing blow. In that moment Gwaine also felt another emotion he hadn't experienced since he'd been under Morgana's wrath—fear, blood chilling fear, all his training and practicing rendered useless in the face of magic. Was this it?

"Sir Gwaine!" Freya cried out and tackled him to the ground. Never in his life had Gwaine felt so relieved to be pinned down by a woman! He felt a sharp cutting sensation and shouted in pain. One of those bloody scorpions had clamped onto his leg! God, it hurt like hell, Gwaine thought through the haze of the pain.

Freya quickly sat up and yelled, "Ic bé wibdrífe." A powerful force struck the beast head on and Gwaine watched in astonishment as it flew deep into the foliage.

"Thanks…" Gwaine managed to breath and cracked his trademark 'I meant for that to happen' grin.

"It's too early to thank me yet." Freya answered with an easy smile and held a hand out to Gwaine. However, despite the brute force behind Freya's spell the serket merely bounced off a tree and scrambled back to its forelegs. She pursed her lips in worry, if brute force wasn't enough to stop the Serket she needed to find a spell that did.

"Freya! Gwaine! Are you alright?" Merlin asked rushing to their sides. He took one look at Gwaine's torn up leg and paled considerably.

"Peachy mate." Gwaine grinned. Merlin somehow managed to roll his eyes and placed his arms around Gwaine's waist to support most of his weight.

"We need to get to Arthur and the others." Merlin hastily instructed. Freya nodded and the two of them helped the knight limp closer to the others. Leon and Percival quickly flanked to their sides and Elyan, Arthur and Gwen came in towards the rear. Once more the lot found themselves in a protective circle. Behind them, vines were suddenly coming to life and trying to strangle them and in front were Serkets.

"If this isn't hell, I'd much rather be in the real thing." Gwaine muttered humorlessly. Merlin snorted.

"We just might end up there if we can't get past the serkets."

"The what?"

"The serkets. Those scorpion looking things right in front of you!" Merlin answered exasperatedly.

"Force isn't enough to drive them away Merlin. I can't think of another way to stop them and I can't hold a stunning spell over all of them at once!" Freya informed him with haste.

"Fire. The only thing they fear is fire." He replied without hesitation. You'll need a really powerful fire spell.

My magic still hasn't recovered from breaking Queen Mab's prison; Freya sent him an apologetic look.

"Merlin, don't just stand there making faces!" Arthur shouted from the other side of the circle. Merlin looked up in time to see a long stinger aiming for his head. Gwaine was quick to raise his sword to deflect the stinger, and Freya followed up with another stunning spell.

"Thanks," He muttered breathlessly, and was rewarded with two easy grins. He couldn't let this continue. He had to do something about the Serkets himself.

Freya, I'll cast the spell, but it needs to look like you're the one casting it, Merlin bit his lip. This was the only solution he could think of. He felt Freya slip her hand into his and nod without hesitation. She held her palm forward and closed her eyes.

We'll protect them Merlin, she whispered the thoughts that had been circling his own mind.

"Astrice" Astrice, their two voices called out at once. The effect was instantaneous, beautiful; adrenaline mixed with the rush of magic and exhilarated Merlin's heart three fold. He could feel her magic, so warm, so lively, and buzzing with energy. Behind his closed lids all he could see was endless sunshine. That's what Freya's magic felt like to him—sunshine. He'd felt this earlier when they combined their spells to break Mab's fiery prison but the rush was just as thrilling as it was the first time. Somewhere in the deepest part of his mind Merlin recognized that this was the way it was supposed to be.

He opened his eyes in time to see fire come to burst from the palm of her hand with a strength that rivaled a rampaging Kilgarrah. For a moment, Merlin was frozen in awe, watching the flames they created not only blaze hot red and orange, but the swirling gold and silver in the flames as well. Then another phenomenon occurred. The Serkets and the magic imbued vines burnt to a crisp without a chance of struggle, but the rest of the forest was relatively unharmed. Merlin was damn sure this spell would have burned half the forest down. But it didn't make sense.

How? Merlin had unconsciously whispered in his mind, and his hand tightened around Freya's.

It's called Intention, Merlin. She answered his unconscious question. He shot her a questioning look, curiosity burning in his cobalt blue eyes. Around them, the Serkets that had gotten too close to the flames had shriveled to ashes exuding a shrill screechy cry as they burned. Their cries were unbearable and grated the inside of Merlin's mind. Arthur, Gwen, and the Knights were similarly clutching covering their ears with a tormented expression on their face. Merlin's insides felt convoluted and he had flashbacks to the time he had destroyed the mandrake root under Uther's bed.

The attacks ceased and the noise stopped. The knights remained poised for a few moments longer, and then dropped their battle stance.

"Is it over?" Elyan asked breathlessly. Merlin scanned his surroundings. The ground was singed where the serkets burned, tiny billows of smoke arose from those spots, but other than that there was no other movement. He didn't sense any imminent magic either.

"I think so." Merlin answered uneasily. "We should find shelter soon."

"I give the orders here Merlin!" Arthur snorted indignantly, and then turned to the knights. "It's as the idiot says, let's find shelter."

"Why am I always the idiot?" Merlin mumbled, pouting. He heard Freya giggle beside him. He smiled wryly, grabbed her hand and pulled her forward all while listening to Gwaine's complaints of how he was "dying" dramatically.

Bregfan anweald gleddyf- Move the powerful sword; used by Merlin to enchant Lancelot's spear, except the ending was changed from javelin to sword.

Cuddio y mae'n rhaid eu cuddio- Hide that which must be hidden; translated into welsh

Ic bé wibdrífe- I drive thee off; used by Merlin against Jonas in season 2 The Beauty and the Beast

Concept 7: Silent spells. I wish the show had explained these a bit more or in general showed Merlin practicing his magic. After the first episode, they just skipped all the training stuff and went right to using magic practically.

Review, review, review!

Kiki1770