I'm trying myself by writing something longer than two or three pages. Don't think I've ever done that before... Anyway, here is part 1, tell me what you think! Do you want me to post the rest?
Cheers!

Arthur raised his head, soot and dirt covering his face, pieces of debris clinging to his matted hair. His ears were ringing, but as he pushed himself up, he could hear muffled shouting. A hand roughly grasped his armored shoulder, forcefully turning him. He blinked and focused on Sir Leon, who was surveying him anxiously. He noticed his mouth was moving and tried to focus.

"...you hurt? Sire? Sire, we have to move, that was a narrow miss, don't give him time to aim, come on-"

Arthur nodded, regaining his senses. He let Sir Leon pull him to his feet, still in a protective crouch, sword drawn. The two men ran through the lower town together, staying low and using any kind of structure for a cover. They cowered behind an overturned wagon. It was still smoking, but maybe the mist would help hide them. Arthur took a deep breath.

"Have you seen the others?" Sir Leon shook his head.

"Not since Gwaine and Percival headed for the lower gate. I hope they made it-"

A diabolic, unnaturally loud cackling interrupted him.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are-" A gigantic ball of fire erupted from the northern tower and sailed through the air. Arthur braced himself, and yet his bones jarred from the impact, as the fireball hit the adjacent street. Sir Leon cursed. Arthur glanced over the wagon, already smelling the flames. Hatred, cold as ice, burned within him. He would kill that man. He would kill him, chop his head off, for mutilating and burning his town, endangering his people- he hoped there were none left within the city walls.

"Move," Arthur yelled as the flames drew closer. The knights ran, never looking back, slipping and sliding on the uneven ground. Behind them, the voice was talking again. They slipped into a narrow street, panting. But before Arthur could discern the sorcerer's words, a much softer sound alerted him. He whipped his head around, just in time to bring his sword down. He split the skull of the creature before it had a chance to bite him. That would would have been perilous, he knew too well. Many a citizen had not managed to flee before the plague of large, black and aggressive rats had infested the city. He had not yet known they were the lesser evil.

When the men finally entered the larger cottage, Arthur's hands were shaking. He saw Guinevere rush up to meet him and felt a pang of relief. She was still safe. No rats had gotten to her during his absence. He gave her a quick hug before turning towards the rest of the room. Gaius sat in a corner. Looking worried. As everyone did these days. Gwaine sat at the table, fumbling at a bandage around his biceps. Elyan, looking as sooty as Arthur felt, was standing beside him. Percival was there, as well. He heard urgent footsteps behind him and turned around to see Merlin stumble into the room, panting. Lancelot was right behind him.

"It's no use," Merlin gasped, clutching his knees as he leaned forward, trying to catch his breath. "His magic warns him whenever some approaches the citadel."

"And if he doesn't get you, his rats will", Lancelot added, his breathing easier. The knight looked tired, his eyes dark and his shoulders slumped.

Arthur sighed inwardly. He had feared their original plan wouldn't work, but he could think of only one other option. He didn't like it, but it seemed they had no other choice.

"Then we all must go at once." His men and Gwen stared at him. "We challenge Cado. All of us together. And while he is busy fending us off, two of us can sneak inside the citadel. We need to find out how to stop him. If we can't remove the rat curse from the city, then we haven't got a chance. If we succeed, we can take care of the sorcerer without having to fight on two fronts."

"We still don't know how he controls the rats, though", Elyan objected.

"Gaius?" Arthur turned the physician.

"As I said before, I cannot say what enchantment was used to magnify the rat's lethality. Or how he exercises his control over them. If I just had access to some of my books, maybe I could-"

"Merlin know the library and your chambers best", Arthur interrupted. "He will go, along with someone more skilled in not getting killed than he is."

"I'll go with him", Lancelot said, without missing a beat. Arthur didn't even bother with nodding; he had expected as much.

"Good. We rest now, and attack at dawn. I'll take the first-"

"I think we should go now", Merlin quipped. "He thinks he beat us for today, right now he's just burning the city for the fun of it. We can get to him while he is distracted. He won't be expecting two attacks in the same evening."

"It does get more perilous to stay with every passing day, Sire", Gaius added. "It's only a matter of time until he finds us."

"Or the vermin does", Gwaine remarked darkly. Arthur assessed his small group of fighters, wishing he had more men. The sorcerer's attack had scattered his knights; most had to flee the city. He knew that they weren't far, most probably in the surrounding forests. They wouldn't abandon their king, but he had seen the rats swarm around the city gates like a pack of rabid dogs. Thousands of them, maybe even millions. He felt nauseated.

"Fine. Everybody, gather your things. We're leaving in an hour. Gaius, Gwen, I don't think we will will be able to return here. If we don't succeed, we'll have to flee the city. Prepare everything."

Gaius lowered his head in agreement and the group stirred. Merlin walked over to Gwaine, examining his arm and exchanging a laugh. Percival said nothing, but drew his sword and started sharpening it with slow, methodical movements. Arthur watched him for a moment, then Gwen approached him. He felt his expression soften as he gazed upon her. She returned his smile, although it made the tired lines in her face even more pronounced.

"We'll get through this", she promised softly and discretely threaded her fingers through his. Her skin was so soft to his touch. "I know we will."

He kissed her brow gently, wishing he could just stay like this forever. Instead, he had to go to fight against a powerful magician who commanded a fleet of venomous rats. There had been better days.

He gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze, then walked over to Merlin and Lancelot, who sat by the window, conversing in low voices. "Merlin, loosen my shoulder plate for a while, something's wrong with it."

His servant complied and Arthur felt the pressure around his shoulder loosen.

"You know this is just a temporary solution", Merlin said with a final tug, then faced him. Arthur noticed how his shirt was in an abysmal state, his neckerchief askew. "Even if Lancelot and I can find the books, there's no guarantee that we'll take the right ones. Or that there will be anything useful written in any of them. And even if there is, and we figure out how to stop the plague, we'll still have to deal with a very angry sorcerer who wants to kill us all. And if-"

"I know, Merlin! But unless you have a better plan in that useless head of yours, stop your whining and do as you're told." Arthur glared at Merlin, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes, that's rich", he said with a slight twitch of his head. "Snap at the servant, will you, it's all his fault, I'm sure he deserves it." Arthur rolled his eyes, exasperated.

"Just make sure you get inside the citadel and out again, along with the books. We'll handle the sorcerer, so you got the safe and cowardly task, really. It suits you. Now, strap my armor back on."

"You just told me to take it off!"

"Well, now I've changed my mind."

"Take it off, put it on, take if off again- When you royal Highness has decided what it wants to do with itself, would Sire be kind enough notify the council? I think a celebration would be in order. We could make it annual. Well, you could, anyway."

Arthur smiled slightly as Merlin fumbled with his shoulder, still mumbling insults, the familiar banter keeping the impeding dread at bay.

Thoughts? Concrit? Favourite lines?