Merlin tossed and turned in bed as his body tried to fight of a dangerously high fever. Gaius had unwillingly left the poor young man to go get some more cold, clean water from the well on the citadel.
Little did Gaius know what Merlin was unknowingly doing in his fevered state.
All Merlin could think about was her. How could he have been so unattentive to her? How had he not heard her cries of pain and suffering for the past two years? Why didn't he keep a closer eye on her? He let her fall right intobhis enemy's hands. He had to get her back.
Merlin cried out. O drakon Aithusa, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!
He repeated the call over and over again. He was determined to have her back.
An hour later, he heard the sound of wings flapping outside his window. Despite his life threatening fever, Merlin climbed out of bed and over to the window. He opened it and saw Aithusa flying in place.
Aithusa stared at him for a moment, assessing how sick he was, before blowing a healing enchantment on him. Instantly, Merlin felt better than he had since he fell ill over a week ago.
He quickly cast a speel to enlarge the window enough to allow Aithusa through. Once she was in, he shrunk the wibdow and closed it. He stared at Aithusa as if realizing she was really in front of him.
"Gaius," he called out. "Can you come in here for a moment?"
Gaius walked in, and instead of seeing Merlin lying bed, sweating to death. He saw a deformed dragon sitting on the floor nuzzling a healthy Merlin. "What did you do this time?"
Gaius knew Merlin had a tendency to use magic when he had a fever. Normally he'd make things fly around the room or cause the candles to flicker out. This was in no way as explained as the other times.
"I think I might have summoned her in my fevered state," Merlin guessed.
Gaius gave him a sarcastic look. "You don't say?"
Merlin just shrugged.
"What are we going to do with her?" Gaius asked.
"I can heal her and have Kilgharrah watch her?" Merlin suggested.
Gaius nodded. "Do it quickly."
For the next several hours, Merlin worked on repairing Aithusa's once perfect pearly white body. The only thing he could not repair was her voice. It was damaged beyond repair.
The next night, Merlin and Aithusa greeted Kilgharrah on a clearing just outside of Camelot.
"You have found Aithusa," the Great Dragon noticed.
"Yeah, no thanks to you," Merlin spat, angrily. "How could you let her fall into the hands of Morgana."
Kilgharrah opened his mouth to speak, but Merlin cut him off by shaking his head. "Nevermind. I don't want to know. The important thing is that we got her back."
"What are your plans to do with her?" Kilgharrah wondered.
"I told Gaius, that I would have her live with you," Merlin stated. "But I don't think it would be a good idea, seeing how you lost her in the first place."
Kilgharrah hung his head on shame. He should have kept a closer eye on the young dragon, but failed to go after her once he had discover she had left one night while he slept. He had figured she went in search of her dragonlord.
"I could have you magically enchant the nearby caves, so she can never get out, unless summoned by me. If the caves are explored the magic will keep her hidden. There is also a plentiful supply of wild game in the caves, she can eat," Merlin rattled off. "I'd visit her and help her as often as can."
Not wanting to make the young Dragonlord any angrier, Kilgharrah quicy agreed to the plan. He allowed Merlin and Aithusa to climb on to his neck.
A few moments later, they were at the caves Merlin spoke of. The young warlock mead Aithusa into the caves, promising he would not abandon her again and that no more harm would come to her. He assured her, that she would be safe and happy in the caves. She would have room to grow without worrying any more deformities. He told her that he would find a way to give her a voice of her own.
As Merlin talked, Kilgharrah worked on enchanting the caves. He made sure that enchantments would last for as long as Aithusa and her descendants lived. He made a silent promise that once she was big enough and old enough, he would help her create more dragon eggs for Merlin to hatch. He knew he would be able to keep the promise because he still had a good fifty years left to live.
After Merlin bid Aithusa farewell and promise to come back tomorrow, he climbed on top of Kilgharrah and headed home.
A/N: So what did you think?