Chapter Text
Legs pounding against uneven ground. Tree branches grabbing at sleeves. Breath coming out quickly, both from the pain and the panic building inside him. Tears streamed down his face. He ran as fast as he could but he knew he needed to run faster. He poured more magic into his legs to keep himself upright despite the large wound covering most of his leg. He didn’t know how long he ran for, close to passing out the whole time, magic the only thing keeping him going. But finally he couldn’t go any further. He collapsed against a tree breathing deeply, trying his hardest to calm down. He needed to keep going but he could already feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. He just had to hope that he had got far enough away from Arthur to be safe while he rested.
*•+•*
“Merlin!” Arthur yelled out into the forest. He’d lost sight of his servant an hour ago but he refused to give up.
He pointedly refused to think of all the reasons he should be giving up.
Magic being the biggest one.
He was furious, don't get him wrong but he still cared for Merlin and Merlin was lost and injured.
“MERLIN!” He practically screamed out into the slowly dimming forest.
No response of course because why would he respond?
Arthur ran a hand over his face and sighed. He should probably make camp before it gets too dark for him to see anything.
*•+•*
Merlin woke up to light filtering through the leaves of a silent forest. No one in sight. He sighed in relief.