Next chapter ready! Thanks everyone for reviews and follows

Review respons:

Berrybanana05: Gosh, thank you so much! Reviews like yours really mean a lot to me, hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well! :D

SpnKs15: Haha and I thought I was the only one who liked my cliffhangers ;) Thank you very much, hope you'll like this too :)

The-Hunters-Girl: Thank you very much! Enjoy! ;)

Dudewheresmywand:

well! :)

Now enjoy... ;)

"We have to get closer." Arthur whispered to Percival and Leon without removing his eyes from the door, their way into the castle. "When they open the door we need to get in as fast as possible." If they open the door, Arthur thought to himself before quickly dismissing the thought. "We can't get caught. The less time that door is open the better."

Percival and Leon both nodded in agreement. Leon scanned the area before them. The three knights stood crouched at the edge of the forest, hidden behind trees and bushes, but between them and the castle itself was next to nothing except an open field. They weren't far away, but it would probably take them about twenty seconds to reach the door from where they were now. And Leon knew that in any other situation twenty seconds was no time at all, but this wasn't any other situation and now twenty seconds would be an eternity. Especially with a guard patrolling the wall.

"I completely agree with you, Arthur, but where will we take cover?" Leon's voice was low as he kept searching for a potential hiding place.

Arthur sighed deeply. "Do you trust me?"

Percival and Leon answered without hesitation. "Always." "Of course."

"Good, because this is going to sound crazy."

"So we just open the door and hope for the best?" Elyan asked Gwaine holding his sword in a firm grip.

"Do you have a better plan?" Gwaine replied walking forward to unlock the last lock.

They knew there was a high probability of there being two guards behind the door. Two lone guards were the only thing standing in their way of getting through the outer wall and bringing the other knights into the castle.

"I'll go frist." Elyan said. He hung the bigger key, the one presumably leading through the very last door, around his neck and readied himself.

Gwaine brought the third of the smaller keys to the last lock and with a confirming nod from Elyan he unlocked it and pushed the door open.

Elyan charged into the last chamber where one guard stood waiting for him. One? Suspicious, but he quickly ignored the thought as his sword clashed with the guard's.

"Elyan!" Gwaine's yell echoed through the narrow tunnel, but there was barely time for Elyan to react. A second guard had come out from his hiding spot behind the door and attempted to strike Elyan down from behind. In the very last second Elyan almost managed to move out of the way… but not entirely. The sword grazed his shoulder and he let out a pained grunt.

Gwaine wasn't far behind and before the second guard had managed to raise his sword once more he was on the ground.

Despite the pain and the momentarily distraction Elyan had kept up with the first of the guards. Whatever advantages the guard had didn't matter, Elyan was a much stronger swordsman and in no time the guard had joined his colleague on the ground.

As soon as the guards had fallen Gwaine turned to Elyan. He took his helmet of and threw it away. Elyan did the same.

"Your arm?" he questioned.

"Can wait." Elyan answered, catching his breath. "Now open that God damn door."

Gwaine hurried to take the key from Elyan and pushed it into the keyhole. Closing his eyes he prayed to every God that would listen that this was the right key and that this would work.

He turned the key. The lock klicked. The door opened.

A smile grew on Gwaine's lips as he pushed the door open, carefully so that no one would notice. All of the sudden the door was forcefully pulled open, three figures hurried inside and shut the door behind them.

Panting the three turned around and Gwaine felt his smile grow even more.

"Am I happy to see you, mate!" Gwaine grinned as he walked up to Arthur and seized his arm in a brotherly greeting. Arthur returned his smile.

"What took you so long? We were starting to fear the worst." The question would have sounded serious without the relieved smile and humorous tone lingering in Arthur's voice.

"You're not getting rid of us that easily, princess." Gwaine answered with a wink. Arthur rolled his eyes, but smiled non the less.

Leon and Percival had both gone to Elyan to greet him and were now seeing to his wound.

Arthur was about to let go of Gwaine's arm when Gwaine's face fell and his grip hardened.

"Arthur… Merlin, he…" Gwaine started. Arthur's smile faded and his eyes turned fearful. "We saw him."

"He is alive then?" Arthur questioned with unmasked worry.

"Yeah, he's alive…" Arthur let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "But he doesn't look good."

With the worry still visible in his every expression Arthur urged Gwaine to go on. Gwaine tightened his jaw. How the hell was he going to tell Arthur what he and Elyan had witnessed in the throne room.

"Me and Elyan were called into the throne room by Ricon. Odin made him go get 'the sorcerer' and he came back dragging Merlin in by that damned collar." Gwaine took a deep breath and continued. "I've never seen him like that, Arthur. He looked lifeless in a way I never thought he could. He was white as a sheet, in so much pain and his mind seemed to be slipping away. And Odin… that snake treated him like his property, like his slave. It was the most revolting thing I've seen in my life."

Arthur was fighting hard to keep his calm facade, but Gwaine saw his eyes harden and he knew that Arthur longed to rip Odin apart just as much as he did himself.

"You need to tell me everything." Arthur's voice was as cold as ice.

Gwaine nodded, but turned to look at the others who seemed done caring for Elyan's wound. "I think everyone needs to hear this."

Arthur followed his gaze and nodded. "Is it safe to speak down here? Or do we need to move?"

"Odin is ordering the bigger part of his troops to the center of the building, so we should be okay here." Gwaine said. "But we still need to move soon Arthur, not for our own sake, but for Merlin's. I'm not sure how long he will survive in that collar and I'm not prepared to take any chances."

Arthur's expression turned grim. If Merlin didn't make it out of here he would never forgive himself.

Arthur and Gwaine joined the others. Leon, Elyan and Percival quieted down and everyone's eyes fell on Arthur.

"My friends, my brothers," Arthur started. "Once again we stand before what to many would seem an impossible task, but what others think impossible has never stopped us before. We are only halfway, but we will see this through. We will save Merlin, not only because each and every one of us owes it to him, but because he too is our brother."

Every one of the knights bore a resolute expression on their face.

"As we agreed before, any questions or complications will be resolved after we get Merlin out of here."

"Actually Arthur," Gwaine cut in, "I think we can answer some questions now."

So, with a nod from Arthur, Gwaine told them. He told them how Ricon had dragged Merlin into the throne room by his collar. He told them of Merlin's sarcastic remarks and the punishments he received for them. He told them of Odin's plan and what he had said about Arthur. And then he told them what Merlin had said about Arthur.

"Merlin was pretty clear with where his loyalty lies, Arthur, and it's with you. He told Odin that he would rather be your servant than rule himself, not because of destiny, but because he believes in the world you'll build and because you're his friend. He said that he didn't care if he had to live all his life in the shadows or if you never found out how many times he has saved you. He said that he would give his life for yours in a heartbeat."

Gwaine's eyes bore into Arthurs, getting the message through clearly.

If you hurt him after this…

Arthur, who's expressionless facade had begun to crack, met Gwaine's eyes calmly. I know, I won't. No one will ever hurt him on my watch again.

Gwaine at last told them how Merlin had went limp in his chains and how Odin had lost his temper. He told them them how Odin had beat Merlin and how he had threatened him to his life.

"He said that if Merlin wouldn't serve him he would make sure he died the most gruesome death imaginable, that he wouldn't rest before he'd found a way to make Merlin's power his and then he started ordering us around. He told Ricon to chain Merlin to the fot of his throne and then he told all the guards to start patrolling the corridors close to the castle's center. So Merlin will be in the throne room, there will be loads of guards patrolling the area and we will be heavily outnumbered… so what's our plan?"

Gwaine turned Arthur and the others did the same. Arthur glanced at the fallen guards lying before them.

"I think I have an idea." He said.

A few minutes later Leon, Percival and Arthur were wearing the guards' uniforms as well. They locked the outer door, but Arthur kept the key, it might very well be their only way out.

The guards were put in a pile in a corner in the inner chamber and the first door was closed, but not locked. Hopefully no one would come down here for now.

"Remember," Arthur said as they stared moving through the corridors, "our number one priority is freeing Merlin from the collar. Did you find the key?"

"Yes," Elyan answered, "If he hasn't move it since we saw him last it's in the right pocket on his coat. If he has moved it it's most likely hanging in a chain around his neck."

"Good. Gwaine and Elyan will lead the way to the throne room. When we get there, try to get to Odin. With him as hostage we might be able to get out of here, there is nothing he values more than his own life, he'd rather let us go than lose his own head. We keep up the pretense as long as possible."

Everyone nodded.

"Good luck, men."

And then they walked in silence. They traveled through the slim corridors and made their way to the center.

If this works it'll be a miracle, Leon thought as they walked. From what he had heard about Merlin's deeds this far he could only presume that a bit of magic often had a small role in their impossible escapes from the past. Now here they where, without any magical aid, trying to free a high priority prisoner from right under the nose of a power crazed king who would murder Arthur on the first chance he got. Impossible seemed to be an understatement, but he was pretty sure Arthur knew that.

And Arthur did. As they walked the lump in Arthur's stomach seemed to only grow bigger. This was a suicide mission, because getting in was one thing, but getting out was something else entirely. He tried to convince himself that this was for the good of Camelot, if he died he would bring Odin down with him and eliminate the threat. But deep down he knew that even though part of this was for the safety of his kingdom, the one he really did this for was none other than his manservant. Because he knew Merlin would have done the exact same thing if their positions had been reversed. And he probably had done already, only without Arthur knowing it.

Of course this had been a shock to him. It's not every day you find out that your servant and friend is some sort of all-powerful warlock and Arthur had doubted him and his intentions at first, mostly because he had constantly been told that magic was solely a force of evil. He was hurt that Merlin hadn't trusted him, but he understood.

He was pretty sure that he already had known what Gwaine had told him about Merlin's loyalty, but still it awoke feelings like pride and protectiveness to really hear it. He would get Merlin out of here if it was the last thing he did. They protect each other, that's what brothers do.

And there we are! They're in the castle, on the move... things are just about to get exiting, so hang in there!

I'll be a bit preoccupied the next few days, so I think that I'll post the next chapter on the fifth, but if I get 20 reviews on this chapter I think I can manage to post the next on the fourth ;)

Happy new year to everyone, 2017 on the way!

Yours truly,

summergirl404