Alaia Skyhawk: And here's the sequel to Dragon & Dragon. I hope you guys enjoy it.
And on a side note, today I treated myself to an early xmas present (which I had originally intended to get in December/January). A brand-new, compact laptop to replace my massive, heavy, malware-damaged, won't-run-off-a-battery one... And it has a WORKING SPELL-CHECKER! :D
So, I've fixed all the chapters of Brotherhood that needed spell-checking, and Dragon & Dragon. And lo behold, it will even run iPlayer which for some reason my old laptop refuses to launch even after THREE re-installations of the program. So tomorrow I will have SUBTITLES for typing up "His Father's Son". And I'll even be able to work on part 2 of that episode while on the coach back home, heeee! Ultimate way to pass 6 hours stuck on a bus, writing a Merlin fanfic :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Music: N/A
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Dragon, Dragon, & Dragonlord
It had started as a faint distracting sense in the back of his thoughts, and over the course of a day had turned into an impossible-to-ignore irritation. What had begun as almost a faint prod at his mind, had transitioned into a persistent call of 'Merlin' over and over until he couldn't take it any more.
Merlin rubbed at his eyes, resisting the desire to sleep. It was the early hours of the morning, with hunger gnawing at his stomach, and to top it off... he was also freezing his ass off riding a wyvern who at present was only just big enough for such activity.
Friou had been ecstatically eager to carry him, but taking into account her still immature age and not wanting to risk overstraining her wings, he'd restricted her speed and had made her stop to rest for five minutes every half hour. The result was that a flight that would have taken barely an hour while riding Kilgharrah, had taken the better part of three.
The warlock scowled to himself as he sent her down towards the dragon's home cliff, flying alongside the Ridge of Ascetir until at last he spotted the unmistakeable bulk of him. He then had her land at the ledge's end, so he could dismount and glare at the creature.
"Care to explain why you asked me to come here? Would it have been so hard for you to come see me?"
Kilgharrah winced at the shouted words, his tone apologetic and his manner seeming as tired as the Dragonlord before him.
"I would have, if it hadn't meant leaving Aithusa alone. He's safe here, and I'd rather not give him ideas that leaving the nest is a good idea. I'm having trouble enough keeping him inside it when he's awake as it is."
Merlin stared at him, incredulous.
"You called me here because you having trouble looking after him? What happened to your confident statement that you could do it when I gave him to you?"
Kilgharrah sighed with resignation, glancing into the circle of branches where thankfully the hatchling in question was twitching and oblivious in his dreams.
"While I have lived for more than a thousand years, never before have I been tasked with raising a youngster of my kind. I had believed the knowledge I possessed, as to the basics of such a matter, to be sufficient... But alas, you could say, I am floundering somewhat. I was hoping, since you had such success raising your wyvern companion, that you could... well."
Merlin's expression had gone as flat as his voice.
"You hoped I could give you a few pointers." He sighed, and walked along the ledge to stand beside and look into the nest. "I hate to break it to you, but the only reason I had so little trouble with Friou is because I'm a Dragonlord and I could order her to behave and stay put. The chances of me being able to do that with Aithusa are slim-to-none. Geoffrey of Monmouth found some old books for me, about stories of why Dragonlords never raised dragons themselves, when I asked him if there were any records about young dragons after I hatched Aithusa... Having read them now, I'm sure you must know those stories yourself. You can't tell me you've never heard of them, as old as you are."
The dragon groaned, realising his mistake.
"Of course I do, and should have remembered without you reminding me. Legends state that the earliest Dragonlords attempted to raise the dragons they hatched, but were forced to hand them over to their adult kin... When the hatchlings reached a size where they were simply too much to handle, due to the fact that until they were old enough to begin to speak, they could not comprehend the orders the Dragonlords gave them."
Merlin nodded, folding his arms across his chest.
"And since they couldn't comprehend the orders, they weren't bound by them for more than a few seconds. Seriously, I can't believe that it's me giving you a history lesson for a change. It's normally the other way around." He shook his head, before then setting a hand on Kilgharrah's side. "But, since I'm here anyway, I'll attempt to get him to understand that he shouldn't wander out of the nest without your permission. No guarantees, though. Wyverns are fairly dumb as far as intelligence goes, they're easy for me to dominate with my will for all that their understanding of the Old Tongue is only instinctive. But Aithusa... He's smart, and young, and probably energetic. Anything I say will likely go in one ear and out the other."
Kilgharrah allowed himself at least a little relief, despite his wincing at that statement.
"It will be enough that you have tried. You will still have my gratitude, and my apologies for calling you here for what may be a waste of your time." He sighed. "And I do not deny that your assessment of him is accurate. He is certainly energetic."
He helped Merlin into the nest and watched him settle down to sleep the remainder of the time until dawn. There was little point in waking the infant dragon up, when the precious little thing would be waking them come sunrise.
Sure enough it happened, Friou's squawk of indignation at the racket second only to Merlin's swearing when he got an earful of hungry creeling at point-blank range... What with his head being only about two feet away from Aithusa. He'd jolted upright, frowned at the hatchling, and scolded him.
"Stille."
The little white dragon blinked, ceasing his shrieking at the command to 'hush' and eyeing Merlin in apparent surprise at seeing him. He then proceeded to continue his demands for food, pausing each time the Dragonlord repeated the command, and then promptly resuming his vocal activity within three seconds. He only shut up when Kilgharrah dropped a chunk of meat in front of him, the older dragon looking to Merlin with a resigned expression.
"And I think that answers that."
Merlin stood up within the nest, aware that Friou had stuck her head over the side of it and was intently watching Aithusa, clearly intrigued. He then folded his arms across his chest, thinking.
"Well he clearly understands the Old Tongue on at least an instinctive level, even if he's too young for my commands to work. So there's still a chance I could get him to understand that to stay safe he needs to stay inside."
He waited until the hatchling had finished his food, knowledgeably wrestling the resulting food-fueled hyperactive young dragon the way he'd used to wear out Geleaffriou when she was little. He had the added advantage in that he could create magical illusions for the youngster to chase while he took a breather, and that in itself gave him an idea.
He looked to Kilgharrah.
"I know that magic doesn't do much against Dragons, but would you like me to try ward the nest and the ledge so it's impossible for Aithusa to fall off. I can't guarantee it would do more than slow him down, but I think it's worth a try."
The adult dragon stared at him for several seconds, before groaning and shaking his head at his own stupidity.
"Warding... I should have remembered." He grimaced in anticipation of Merlin's reaction to this. "There is a lullaby that dragons croon to the young. I had thought it just a means to soothe them, but if I were to consider it in the sense of a spell."
Merlin was now glaring at him.
"Are you saying you have a dragon enchantment you could have used for this?" He let out a long sigh. "Fine, try it."
He climbed out of the nest, cancelling his illusion of butterflies so that Kilgharrah could get Aithusa's attention. And once he had, having firmly used the tip of his nose to nudge the infant to the middle of the cradle of branches, he started to murmur in a soft and haunting coo.
"Haele, hleowstede, an nead ic bytle dol thu. Lytling, seo ait ure eardlufe. Abidan widhinnan thys ctadol, swa ic iii agenbewende aet thu. Min aeledfyr amundae thu, hwiiithu swifest."
He looked down into the nest, Aithusa peering up at him only to seem to lose interest and start to crawl up the side of it. True, both Dragonlord and adult dragon were all set to groan at the failure, when the little white fellow then surprisingly stopped just below the nest rim and settled down with his head and neck over the top of it so he could watch Merlin with a tilted regard.
He then chirped and grumbled, clearly wanting the warlock to play with him again, and yet refusing to leave the circle of branches to seek him.
Merlin stared.
"That actually worked?" He glanced at Kilgharrah, slapping him on the scales with a hand and speaking with some sarcasm. "Congratulations, you can officially keep him inside the nest. Of course, how long that will last is debatable."
In response to that taunt, the dragon unceremoniously picked Merlin up and dropped him into the nest, to be immediately tackled by an excited hatchling.
"And for that you can keep him entertained for a few hours while I sleep. Enjoy it while you can, for it may be some time before you get to see him again."
Kilgharrah then stalked to the other end of the ledge, curled up, and stuck his head under his wing, Merlin smiling to himself over the wriggling mass of white scales head-butting his his midriff. He hadn't really minded coming here, not when it meant seeing Aithusa, but he wasn't about to let Kilgharrah know that.
And as for how long he'd stay... Well it wouldn't hurt for Arthur to get used to his new second manservant, Bel. It had been a while since his Court Sorcerer had truly had a proper day off.
He picked Aithusa up, cradling him in his arms and scratching him under the chin.
"Besides, I have an excuse. Arthur will never argue about me taking the day off to come check on you."
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: Oh how the tables have turned. Instead of Kilgharrah poking at Merlin for his ignorance, it's completely the other way around XD
As for what the lullaby means, here it is.
"Safe, warm, the nest I built for you. Little one, this place is your home. Remain within this cradle, so I may return to you. My fire to protect you, while you sleep."