So, I decided, after watching 5x13 (and bawling my eyes out in the process), to rewrite the ending because I'm a sucker for a happy ending :3
xoxoxox
Kilgharrah the Great Dragon soared through the darkened skies of Albion, his back bearing the weight of Emrys and the Once and Future King. Or his body. Merlin had one arm around Arthur's waist, the other clinging onto a sharp beige spine and tears rolling down his pale cheeks. Arthur was gone. To Merlin, he hadn't just been his king, his master, but his best friend. And now he was dead, mortally wounded in battle by Mordred and his enchanted sword. As soon as the deed was done, Merlin knew there was nothing he could do. Mordred had stabbed him with a sword forged in the dragon's breath. No mortal could survive.
This is exactly what Merlin was thinking, when he heard a voice. And it wasn't that of Kilgharrah.
"M-Merlin... Why are we on a dragon?"
Merlin's eyes widened tenfold. He must have been hallucinating. There was no way Arthur had survived. The She were their only hope, and they hadn't reached the lake in time. Well, they almost had.
"Merlin?"
Realising that what he was experiencing was anything but a dream, Merlin felt pure, unadulterated euphoria surge through him. He hadn't failed Arthur. He had another chance to fulfill his destiny. He didn't know how Arthur had been saved. Maybe the She had visited when he wasn't looking. Whatever happened, he was eternally grateful it had.
Merlin felt Arthur's gloved hand rest on top of his, the one he was using to grasp Arthur tightly around the waist.
"Merlin?" Arthur said, his voice still sounding pained.
"Yes, Arthur?" Merlin replied, allowing a mile-wide smile to dominate his pale, drawn features and tears of ecstasy to flow freely from his cerulean eyes.
"Whatever you do, don't let go."
"I won't. Clotpole."