Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

Aithusa [2]

They'd gotten an early start by the time the sun rose in the sky next morning. And while she wouldn't say it out loud to anyone, Arwen had to admit, she'd had a much better night and slept easier on the forest ground than she had the night before this in the royal chambers within the palace. It was what made it so easy to stay alert as their large group moved through the forest, as quiet as possible, as they snuck up on the location to which they'd managed to track Borden.

However, as they pushed through the trees, surrounding what had once been a small campfire, all were disappointed to find the area empty, eyes looking around in hopes of still catching their target but to no avail. "He must've left in the night." Arthur was the first to say what was on all of their minds once they were sure Borden was long gone by now.

"No horse tracks." Gwaine joined the King's side after doing a quick scan of the area for possible clues.

"He's covered them." Leon concluded with ease, knowing it is what any of them would have done in his position. There was no denying the disappointment which passed over the group in a short moment of silence.

One which was soon broken by Merlin's aggravated tone. "We had him. We were so close." He exclaimed in disbelief, shaking his head before turning away from the group and continuing on in what seemed to be a pointless direction to most.

"Where are you going?" Arthur questioned. "We don't even know which way he went."

But while he claimed one thing, Merlin was entirely convinced of another. "He's heading east." His words made Arwen share a knowing look with her own people. All of them had seen the map and knew Merlin was right.

"How do you know that?" Arthur questioned, the tone of his voice making it clear how little he believed Merlin's suspicions. And from the look on her brother's face as he tried to think on his feet, Arwen easily guessed that the explanation for his knowledge wasn't one which he could easily share.

"Because I can sense it." And the excuse which he finally managed to come up with a few moments later wasn't working in his favour much either.

"Sense is not a word I associate with you, Merlin." Arthur pointed out with a shake of his head, his eyes already returning down to the ground dismissively as he himself began searching for some kind of clue.

"Well, it's good enough for me." Arwen decided though. Knowing her brother was right, no matter how he got the answer, she was more than willing to follow his hunch rather than sticking around here aimlessly.

"Me too." Edmund sounded off as well. He, Mycah, and Atlas were soon walking along with Arwen who went over to join her brother's side, all five of them ready to keep going in the chosen direction.

"So now we're following Merlin's... Guessing?" Arthur called after them with furrowed brows, making Arwen turn back to him with an innocent look on her face.

"You can go in whichever direction you like, Arthur." She pointed out. Even though she doubted he'd do it, she could certainly see the perk of him and his stubbornness going off in the opposite, and wrong, direction, thus leaving Borden and the egg to her group to deal with. "I'm going east."

"Alright-" Arthur gave out a small sigh, speaking in hopes of convincing everyone to hold on for a second before heading off blindly. However, before he could even begin, the sound of Elyan's voice interrupted.

"Hang on!" The knight called out, making eyes turn to where he was standing further away, having come upon a pile of horse dung down on the ground. "Merlin's right." He pointed out, noting the trail of horse tracks which started not long after, and were heading east.

"He can't be." Arthur muttered out in a stunned voice, starting to approach Elyan's position so that he could check on the tracks himself.

"Well done, Merlin." Leon complemented with a smile on his face as now all of them began heading in the same direction again.