Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Chapter 51: A Not So Unhappy Reunion

Arthur, Lancelot and the unknown man were trailing behind Liana as she led them off towards the outskirts.

"Where are we going?!" Arthur called after her.

"Just shut up and keep running!" she spat out at him.

Arthur didn't think to say another word after that and just kept moving his feet with Lancelot and the other man right beside him.

The enemy leader grit his teeth as he saw the four of them running for the trees. He looked over at the nearest sorcerer to him. "Stop them!" he hissed.

The sorcerer quickly nodded before holding out his palm and chanting a quick spell. Random bits of rotted debris from around him began to slowly lift off the ground and he aimed his sights of the retreating four.

"I got them sir."

"Cut off their escape," he ordered.

Lancelot took a moment to look back and saw it. "Incoming!" he called out.

The others took a look too and gasped in surprise at the flying debris, coming at them as if it had been hurled off from a catapult. Head sized rocks and pieces of wooden plank were soaring through the air and looked they would fly right at them. Liana didn't gasp though.

"Bebeorgan," she muttered to herself.

After a small glimmer passed in her eyes, the debris seemed to fall straight to the ground, just about a few meters from them She looked and saw the three of them looked a little stunned.

"What happened?" asked the stranger.

Lancelot shook his head. "They just missed. Let's move before they can try again."

"Right," Arthur said before he yanked on the stranger's arm and pulled him to keep running with him, Lancelot and Liana.

As they ran, Lancelot moved to throw Liana a small look, which she didn't notice as she had her gaze forward as they all ran.

"What was that?!" the leader spat at the sorcerer. "Have you no sense of aim?!"

"No sir," another of the sorcerers told him. "His attack was stopped by a shield spell."

"That blonde one," he muttered to himself. "That other man shouted sire at him. If that was magic that saved them then…yes, that must be Emrys."

"Are you sure?" the sorcerer who tried to attack them with the debris asked.

Those that were with them were somewhat sharing in his skepticism. After all, the Dragon Prince Emrys had always been shrouded in a hooded cloak. No one really knew what the guy looked like, making him the greatest mystery in the Five Kingdoms.

"Who else could it be?!" he sputtered. "But stop arguing with me." He turned to look at his soldiers and saw them still in a somewhat of a disarray following the battle with those other men. "Stop flailing around and go after them!" he shouted.

Quickly, the men seemed to try to snap out of it and the ones still able began move in pursuit. Since many of them had been unhorsed by magic, a few were stuck being on foot. The leader quickly grabbed for the nearest horse and mounted it. He then flagged one of the sorcerers who hadn't run off for them yet.

"I'm leaving you in charge of the pursuit."

"Sir?"

"I must ride to Cenred and report what has happened here. You are to capture and bring the blonde and the woman back alive. They have to be questioned. Feel free to kill the spy and the other man."

The sorcerer grew nervous though. "But sir…if that one is indeed Emrys-"

"You have enchanted salted manacles, correct? Not to mention magic yourself. All of you should do fine. Now move!" He made a swipe with his sword and that seemed to move him and the rest into action and they headed off too.

The leader took a faint look towards all the mystery men that they had killed and began to ride off in the opposite direction.

Once they got to the trees, Arthur moved to point a direction to the west.

"Our horses are passed the ridge."

"No," Liana spoke out. "We won't make it."

"I must get to Camelot," said the unknown man. "I have urgent news for the king."

"That way is too open. Some are still on horseback. They'll spot us before we get close."

"So, what do we do?" asked Lancelot.

"We hide," she said as she moved off for the left.

Lancelot and the mystery man looked over at Arthur for a moment as he stared after her. He then let out a huff and ran off to follow. Lancelot was right behind him. The spy grit his teeth but then began to hear the sounds of their pursuers and quickly ran off after them.

Liana led them into some thick brushes and they managed to pull themselves behind them just in time as those men moved in. They saw that some still had their horses and they were looking around. The four silently watched, Arthur and Lancelot holding tight grips on their swords, ready to fight at a moment's notice. One of them pointed in a direction, the one Arthur had before, and they rode off, away from them.

That gave them a moment to relax and catch their breath as they stayed put in their hiding place a while longer.

"Liana," Arthur said all of a sudden, making her look straight up at him.

Arthur couldn't help but think that Liana looked a little different from the last time he'd seen her. Last time they'd met, she had a simple commoner's attire and braided hair. Now, she seemed much more well-groomed than he remembered and was wearing a finely made tunic though woven to have a woman's style to it. A part of him thought she wouldn't be too out of place in a royal court.

"Arthur," Liana muttered out, giving him an apparent look over. "It's been a while." Over two years, she silently thought. "Not that I'm not happy to see you again, you too Lancelot," she said throwing the other man a small, but happy nod. "But, what are you two doing all the way out here?"

"Oh, uh, we were hunting nearby," Arthur answered. "When we saw the smoke above the trees, we decided to investigate and, well,"

"Ah." Liana let a small amused smirk loose. "And, you came all this way to hunt? There isn't any place a little closer to home?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes a bit but his own amused smirk started crawling up onto him. "What? You almost sound disappointed?"

She rolled her eyes. "Didn't I just say that I was happy to see you. Though keep that up and you'll end up changing that." Arthur rose his eyebrows at that one. "You were lost, weren't you?"

"Uh…no," he said a bit sheepishly.

"Right, so convincing," she said, sarcasm flooding in her tone. "But, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Merlin does always say you aren't too smart."

Arthur narrowed his eyes as the image of Merlin's laughing, silly face popped up in his head. "That brother of yours talks too much," he said, annoyed.

That made her snort. "Oh, I won't argue with you there." Liana then broke into a small laugh.

At the sound, Arthur found himself breaking into a small smile. He liked the sound of her laugh, and the fact that he was the one to be responsible for it a little more.

Behind them all, a small chuckle could be heard from Lancelot. Arthur's mood seemed to actually be lifting higher than it had been this entire trip. It was even easy for them to forget the danger they were all still in.

"Sire," said the newcomer, who was in shock at the kind of exchange going on with the Prince of Camelot and this girl. Or the fact that they seemed to be smiling when they were all in danger. "This isn't the time for this."

Arthur let himself remember that they were in a perilous situation right now. "Yeah, we better get out of here."

"That won't be easy," said Lancelot. "From where those men rode off to, there is a chance they are going to find where we left our horses. When they do, they'll start combing through every inch of this area until they've found us."

Arthur nodded. "We have to get under cover."

"Well, I know of a nearby cave system. We should be safe there for a while."

"Caves?" Arthur mumbled, almost to himself.

"That should help," Lancelot said appreciatively. "Where are they?"

Liana pointed over towards the mountain. "At that mountain's base. It's not far."

"Thank you," Arthur breathed out.

She nodded before she started to lead off. "Alright then, come on, let's go, and be quiet and careful."

Arthur just shook his head in amazement. It seemed that Liana hadn't changed a bit. She was as forceful and pushy as she had been when she had come to Camelot.

"You heard her," he said, before bidding for Lancelot and their new friend to follow along and they moved out of the thicket and followed right behind her.

They moved one after the other with Liana up on the front, followed by Arthur and then the newcomer with Lancelot bringing up the rear.

Merlin was sitting off in the wooded outskirts of his city, by himself, looking off as Haeland was flapping its wings, trying to help teach the younger wyvern around him how to fly. It was relaxing and he found himself easing up and even letting himself smile quite enthusiastically at the sight. He was beginning to bring himself out of the funk that he had fallen into as of late.

It was just a little over a month ago that Merlin had started to fall into this sullen funk he'd been in. After what had happened with Freya, he had started keeping more to himself, so much that everyone around him could see something was wrong. Freya's death had been hard for him to get out of his mind and he just wanted some time alone to let himself think. He didn't tell anyone about what had happened, not even Liana and his parents. Will, of course, was the only one who knew what was wrong but seemed to understand his need for space. He didn't say anything to anyone either, which Merlin appreciated. But, he was starting to let himself come out of it.

He moved to lie down on the grass, flat on his back, looking up at the sky. His father was out with Kilgharrah as they were seeing to Aithusa's development. The little white dragon was no longer a hatchling. Aithusa had now grown up to be roughly the size of a yearling horse. She had started to fly over a year ago and his father and Kilgharrah were moving to help her develop her strength to keep in the air and fly great distances. She always seemed to love it whenever Merlin or Liana were around, and he couldn't wait to see Nowe's face when he saw her again.

"Nowe," he sighed to himself. "I wonder where you are now."

There hadn't been any new word of him since he and his friends had entered that tournament in Camelot a while back. Some rumors did surface now and again but with a sudden surge in magical activity as of late, many of those proved unreliable. Merlin really missed his little brother, though, not as much as his sister often did.

"Merlin! Merlin, can you hear me?!"

The sudden panicked voice almost startled him. It took him a moment to realize who it was and that it wasn't coming from anywhere in the area. He couldn't help but be amused at the timing.

"Liana?" he mentally called back. "You don't have to call out so intensely."

"Merlin," Liana said, impatiently. "Listen, something has happened."

Merlin's stiffened as he got a bad feeling all of a sudden.

The sorcerer that the captain left in charge of the capture was now riding up to where three of the men found two horses tied up in wait. He was not happy that his men found horses instead of the spy and the girl and two men that escaped the village bout.

"This is all you found?" he almost spat out. "Two horses?"

"Sorry sir. The four ran in this direction but I'm afraid we lost track of them when we hit the forest's thick brush. But-"

The soldier didn't say anymore as he was suddenly lifted into the air and flung off into a tree, impacting it so hard that his neck broke almost instantly. The sorcerer's anger was so great that it made his spell more stronger, and relentless in its execution.

"Do you two wish to waste more of my time?" he asked the remaining two, threateningly.

They had their eyes overlooking their comrade's dead body, and while somewhat shaken, seemed firm.

"Sir, there was something we thought would interest you about these animals."

"Oh, do tell," he gruffed out. "But fair warning, it better truly worth my while or you two can join your friend."

"These horses, they aren't common bred. They are groomed and shoed to the finest quality. Royal quality."

The sorcerer nodded. "Yes, I surmise so. The blond was called sire during the fighting. And magic was used to protect them. The captain believes he might be Emrys."

But the other soldier shook his head. "No, not Emrys." He then went for a satchel attached to one of the saddles. "Take a look at this."

A long red robe was pulled out. One sown with the Pendragon crest.

The sorcerer narrowed his eyes. "Now that is interesting."

Arthur was staring off ahead, right around the corner overlooking the entrance to the cave. The four of them had managed to make it there without much issue though they all knew they were far from safe. Lancelot had volunteered to scout the surrounding area, to search and alert them for any sign of those men. These caves were massive and while it would be useful should they get tracked here, they wouldn't venture deeper into them if they didn't have to. It seemed that they could easily end up getting lost in them as their pursuers would. Arthur turned to look over Liana, who was sitting off at the corner, back facing him, seeming to be in some kind of deep, silent thought.

Unknown to him, Liana was meditating. Trying to focus in sending out a telepathic message to her brother back home. This was something that Kilgharrah had been urging for the two to develop. It was an ability that dragons had with communicating with each other, even over great distances. As their kin, dragonlords also shared in having this ability. It was how dragons could come to them when they were summoned even if they were a long distance away. As future dragonlords, Merlin, Liana and Nowe were capable of calling out to not only Kilgharrah and Aithusa, but to each other as well. Merlin and Liana found that it was possible to reach out and make contact with one another, though only if they knew the general area of where the other was. Liana knew Merlin was back at Frith so she reached out for there, praying she could get to him and after some pushing, she managed to get to him.

As Arthur stared at her, he was approached by the stranger.

"Sire, I didn't get to say it before but I am happy to have gotten the chance to have met you, though I wished it would've been under better conditions."

"Yes," he said, still staring at Liana for another moment before turning to look at him. "What is your name?"

He moved to bow his head to him. "My name is Brodie, sire. I'm an informant in your father's employ, tasked in gathering news in Essitir. I had just found out some sensitive information when I was discovered and those soldiers pursued me with orders to kill me before I could inform the king."

One of his father's spies. Arthur knew that he had dispatched a few agents to gather information on the other kingdoms. In particular, the ones that hadn't joined him in support of his Purge on Magic. His father had suspicions that Balinor, Emrys and all their activities might be based in one of these lands. Though, privately, Arthur always thought that they had to be hold up in some remote locations. After all, how else do you hide a great, big dragon from being spotted so easily?

"So, those men are Cenred's," he sighed out. "What did you find out that they want to kill you this badly?"

"I'm sorry sire, but, I can not say. It is quite…sensitive."

Brodie then moved to send a glance over in Liana's direction. Arthur wondered if Brodie felt that telling him with Liana with them could put her in as much danger as himself.

"You are worried about Liana? I'm sure it would be alright. She was able to handle herself in the village."

Brodie quickly took Arthur and moved him a little more towards the cave's entrance, further away from Liana, before dropping his voice a bit. "There were more than just my pursuers in the ruined village as well. When I arrived, those other people were already there and I'd say had been there for a while. It's clear that they weren't simple travelers. Most of them were armed. And not just with swords and bows. A handful had magic, I saw it."

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you implying Brodie?"

The man quickly held his hands up in a calming fashion. "I mean no disrespect sire but you can't do my sort of work and survive very long if you aren't wary of people, even if they do seemingly offer aid."

"What are you trying to say?"

"The girl…I don't think she can't be trusted sire. For all we know, she-"

"Arthur-"

They looked over and saw that Lancelot had come back.

"What news?" he asked.

"They are definitely still searching for us. They've set up search parties but in small groups. I was able to slip by at least two of them though it doesn't seem like they are considering taking their search over here."

"Because not a lot of people know about these caves," Liana said, suddenly.

"Then how do you know?" Brodie said, suspicion clear in his tone.

"My mother…"

She then moved to stand up before she turned and looked over at the three of them. Arthur noticed that her eyes were a little red and there were glistening spots below her eyelids and cheeks, as if she had been crying.

"Are you okay Liana?" he asked, concerned.

Liana moved her hand to wipe off the traces of tears that were on her face. As she and Merlin talked, she filled him in on what happened. He was worried about their mother like she was. That, and she also was upset when she thought about all their men that died before her very eyes, fighting for her. She had known some of them for a while, and their families. Merlin told her that he would be on the way and they would collect their bodies…to let their families give them funerals.

"Sorry," she said as she steadied herself. "My mother was with me, and I'm worried about her."

"Your mother? I didn't see another woman around," Arthur said, shaking his head.

"She and a few others managed to get away when those soldiers started coming. The rest of our…those other men," she quickly corrected. She couldn't necessarily call them their guard. As far as Arthur was concerned, she was just a common village girl.

"And it was your mother that told you about these caves?" asked Lancelot, sensing that Liana was grieving.

She nodded. "When she was my age, she lived here, before it was destroyed when Camelot and Essitir started the war."

"You mean before that sorcerer Balinor and his dragon destroyed it," inserted Brodie.

Liana narrowed her eyes. "That's what Uther says. Not exactly the most reliable source."

Arthur rose his eyes slightly at that jab against his father. "What do you mean? That is what happened."

"My mother told me and my brothers everything. She was there that day and saw it all. Uther tried to sneak his army into Essitir's land to capture Balinor who was starting to settle in. When he found him, he planned his army to burn the village and kill everyone hoping to make it look like rogue bandits were responsible."

"What?" Arthur gasped.

Arthur didn't want to believe his father would do something like this. True, his father could have a ruthless streak but he didn't think he would go so far as to punish a whole innocent village in such a cowardly way.

Lancelot though, he didn't have as much doubt as Arthur did about his father. While Uther was not a truly evil man, he wasn't exactly a good one either. Especially when it came to his crusade against magic. This didn't seem too out of character for the king.

"My mother and I came here because she wanted to visit and leave some flowers for some of the people that died that day. She was lucky enough to escape."

Brodie then stepped in. "Sire, don't listen to this woman! Everyone knows that Balinor and his sorcerers destroyed the village. His dragon burned it all to the ground and sparked the war between Camelot and Essitir."

"Balinor only fought to defend himself. Uther and his army had no right to be there. The war started all because he wanted to try and fix his own pride."

Brodie was growing livid. "How dare you disrespect the king!" he barked at her. "In front of the prince no less."

"He isn't my king," she said, not backing down.

"Oh, and just who is?" he said back, pointedly in accusation.

"Alright, that's enough!" Lancelot spoke out.

"Sire, are you just going to let that woman-"

"I believe he said, that's enough." Arthur made a point to deepen his voice harshly at the last word. Brodie stood down. "We have better things to do than argue. We need to focus on getting to safety."

"Well, those men are still scouring the area. And they must've found the horses by now. Which means," Lancelot took a moment to look over at Arthur. "They now know who we are."

"What do you mean?" Liana asked.

"My armor and robe, they were left with them," Arthur explained. "So, they are going to be even more determined to find us."

"So, what are we going to do?" Brodie asked.

Arthur froze for a moment before he looked out towards the opening of the cave, where the sunlight was still pouring in. "We're safe here for the time being. This cave isn't easy to spot from a distance."

"And what do we do if they spot us?" said Brodie.

"Well, this cave gives us an advantage. They can't bring their horses in here. And from the looks of it, some of the passages are quite narrow. It would give us an advantage."

"But those men were sorcerers sire."

"Not all," said Liana. "I'd say just about four of them were. And from the looks of it, I'd say only one was strong. The others are just basically skilled, at best."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked her.

The three men looked at her and Liana resisted the urge to hit herself over the head. She was too comfortable talking about magical dynamics whenever the topic always came up. But, that was usually when it was safe with other people who were interested or in training back in Frith.

"Oh, well-"

Lancelot spoke up. "She must mean the magic they use, they must've just started learning so they haven't had time to build any power." Lancelot then brought out his sword. "One of them threw some kind of fireball at me but I managed to hit it back at them with my sword. When has that happened with magic used by Balinor or Emrys?"

Liana nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean," she said, a little slowly, letting her gaze linger on him.

Arthur took a moment to think back on his previous encounters with Emrys and his fellow sorcerers. "Yes, if they were strong enough, they probably would've stopped us from getting away in the first place. Perhaps we can handle them. Still, I think it's best we avoid it if we can. We'll wait for nightfall and try slip passed them under the cover of night."

"That's actually a good idea," Liana quickly said.

It was one that Liana fully supported. After all, if it was dark, it would be easier to use her magic to help them all get away without any of them seeing her.

"For now, we have to conserve our strength."

At that, Arthur's stomach grumbled. He then remembered that he hadn't had a chance to eat yet. And the provisions he and Lancelot brought, they had left with their horses. Liana giggled before she opened the satchel she was carrying with her. Inside, there were small rolls of bread and berries.

"Anyone hungry?" she asked them.

Arthur smiled. "Thank you," he said to her. He saw Lancelot smile too but when his gaze fell on Brodie, the man was still glaring a bit at her. "Brodie, what news do you have to report to my father?"

"Sire, I told you it's sensitive information." He took another look at Liana, and then at Lancelot before looking back at the prince. "I think it's best if you and I are alone before-."

But Arthur cut him off. "Both Lancelot and Liana are in as much danger as you and I are. Danger that you've brought upon them. It's only fair that they know why."

Brodie cast them another look before he sighed in defeat. "Of course sire. Recently, there have been some rumors going around that Cenred has been trying to build up his army with new recruits from all over his kingdom. He's even started bringing in sorcerers as well as some kind of secret personal division of his."

Arthur nodded though he didn't think that was all too secret. After all, he heard that Cenred had one in his court during the war. Nimel or Nimueh, or something like that, but she left as per the conditions of a treaty he made with his father at the end of the war. Though, there still were rumors about Cenred still having sorcerers in his service for years.

Brodie continued. "I tried to gain access to his castle to find out more when I stumbled upon whispers of a plot against Camelot."

"What plot?"

"A kidnapping. I was seen before I could hear who was target but I do know it's supposed to be an attempted during the Solstice Festival."

'That's a week from now,' Liana thought to herself.

"The solstice?" Arthur breathed. For Arthur, there was only one person that could be important enough to warrant someone wanting to stop Brodie from delivering this news this badly. "Princess Mithian."

The Essitirian soldiers were all gathered together where the horses were found. Horses that belong to Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot. The man in charge knew that if they captured the prince, they would be greatly rewarded by King Cenred. Especially when there was already a plan to take his soon to be bride as well.

"Sir," one of the soldiers said to him. "They've returned."

Four soldiers then rode in, and two of them presented a small sack. One had herbs while the other contained a dead hawk. The other two had a big bundle which they set down and revealed it to be a body of one of their soldiers.

"It's about time," he spat at them.

"Finding some of the items you requested wasn't easy, sir," one of them complained.

Quickly, the sorcerer pulled out a dagger from his belt and flung it right at the man, striking right at the man's throat. He then collapsed back, off his horse but the others hardly reacted. They just moved to watch as he began to work his spell. One that they were told would help them find who they were looking for.

End of Chapter 51

A/N: Yes, I know it's been a long time from my last update. I'm sorry. I've been wrapped up with my other stories and my inspiration to write for this story has been a little lacking. But, with the recent messages from readers, it pushed me to put this up.

Next up Liana gets some private time with Arthur and Lancelot also has some things to speak to her about. But, their time together gets cut short in the worst way.

I hope everyone is doing okay and being safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.