ROYAL SAPPHIRES - LAVENDER BLUE - MIDNIGHT SKY
Screaming. Everywhere, everyone is screaming.
The dragon with the hot venom in his breath circles the sky above the flaming city. As Uther punished and tortured innocent people of His kind in revenge against One in the wrong, so does the Dragon hurt and kill innocents and destroy their homes in order to see Uther suffer as the people of the Old Religion did. The Dragon watches while they suffer, just like their King did twenty years ago.
On the streets of Camelot the future King is fighting for his people - honourable and noble, just like the prophecy that the Dragon once heard predicted. If only he was not fighting for his father as well… This young man is different from the one that the young warlock was speaking off not 2 years past. Something changed him while the Dragon was rotting in that cave, something or someone showed him a glimpse of his future. The Dragon sees something lavender flicker on the streets. No women are anywhere near the castle, or if they are they are running for their lives. No women, but her.
She is the one.
The one that will keep the Witch, Morgana, away from Arthur, and in revenge the Witch will taint the memory people will have of Her; future writers and storytellers will blame Her - the One that saved the King, for his fall. The Ultimate revenge, indeed.
She is the one that keeps the young Prince from turning against his father. The young warlock already made the hard choice and compromised his beliefs by poisoning the Witch, but this One would not.
The Dragon dives into the mist of smoke above the burning Camelot. The King needs her, both of them, the present and the future. They need her to keep them alive. And she will heal the true King's heart, she will be returned, but she cannot be allowed to stay in the present. Her place is in the future by his side.
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Guinevere ran through the streets, in the opposite direction of the horrified crowd of people of Camelot. Right now Arthur and his knights were fighting the flaming flying beast, with Merlin by Arthur's side. But she had to fight for the people and their homes. What would they do upon their return? Their homes will be burned to the ground; there will be no food and no water. She had to save as much as she could.
The well was close and even though it was in an open space, and it would be easy for the dragon to burn her alive she had to do it. She was too stubborn not to.
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Arthur saw the archers follow his orders, shooting burning arrows from the walls of Camelot, fighting fire with fire. His knights were by his side and even Merlin was there with them, in the middle of the battle.
Arthur would never admit it, but whenever Merlin or … she… were with him, he felt a power stream going through his body, knowing that people he lo… were with him, believing in him. Believing in him, Arthur, not some image of him – Prince the hero, which the rest of the city saw.
Something lavender flickered in the open and evacuated space of the Town Square.
Guinevere.
Always too stubborn for her own good.
Something black flickered in the midnight sky, something closing in from behind the smoke.
The dragon.
With his flaming breath.
Arthur's eyes widened and he felt horror going through his body.
- "Guinevere!!!" She turned around, startled by the sound of her name and his voice. Her eyes met his and then rose to the sky where she saw the beast already closing in. The feeling of danger and shock prevented Gwen from screaming. She was stunned and her eyes were wide with fear.
Without even thinking about the risk of somebody witnessing the Crown Prince of Camelot deserting his knights to save a servant, Arthur ran.
Gwen began to back away, spilling the water in the bucket and abandoning it altogether. She went faster, but still could neither turn around nor utter a sound, or scream for help.
- "Guinevere, no!" Merlin's focus on the spell was broken when he heard Arthur's voice. The young sorcerer turned around and saw the whole scene as in a slow motion.
A terrified Gwen, backing away faster and faster, stumbling, but not able to turn around and avert her gaze form the Great Dragon. And Arthur leaving his fellow knights and people behind him. Merlin saw the Prince running to the aid of the woman that somehow turned the prat into a man, without even realising it.
And then, before Arthur could reach the object of his affection, the beast swept Guinevere of her feet and clenched his claws around one of her arms.
Merlin tried to think of something, anything that could both overpower the dragon and do it without harming Merlin's best and oldest friend, currently swaying above the ground.
Guinevere felt hot tears in her eyes as she saw Arthur running up the steps to the top of the great walls of Camelot in order to reach her. She felt the strong grip around her arm, and the claws burying into her skin. Blood drops dripped down from her arm and landed on the lavender blue fabric of her gown. She tried to fight, do something; she didn't want to be some damsel in distress, but the terror, the shocking feeling of being dragged through the sky with no ground beneath her feet was too much. She dropped one of her shoes and it fell down towards the ground, but she couldn't even see where it landed. And they were lifting higher and higher.
One of the arrows hit the dragon and the grip around the maid's arm loosened.
Arthur's eyes widened when he saw that he would not be able to catch her and that she was falling faster and faster. Falling down to the stone ground beneath.
"NO!!!"
The Dragon roared and dove once again to capture the future Queen of Camelot. He knew how important she would be to the people of Albien. To history. However, he also knew that Prince Arthur would go to the end of the World for her, and when he did, Uther would be defenceless…
Merlin saw how the Great Dragon once again captured Gwen but this time gripped her around the waist. The wave of burning arrows increased and sooner or later one would hit and most probably kill Guinevere.
Arthur rushed to the side of the high walls of Camelot:
"Cease-fire! NOW!"
The archers turned their heads and saw their commander and future king give direct orders. The ray of flaming arrows stopped and soon Merlin was by his friend's side.
"He will get away!"
"What would you have me do?! Huh! Do you want me to order them to keep shooting and in the meantime if not hit then burn Guinevere alive?"
"No! But…"
"But! But what?! She is not going to die! I will not let her! I am supposed to … to…"
But what Merlin saw, Arthur saw as well.
The dragon flew higher and higher up into the midnight blue sky. Arthur could not see her face but somehow he knew that she was staring down at him, into his sapphire blue irises. She was saying goodbye. Always the rational and down to earth Guinevere, was now up in the sky accepting her death and letting him go.
"No! I will not let her! I am the Prince of Camelot, and nobody leaves without my saying so! She is disobeying the rules!" He was still staring at the now empty sky and shaking his head.
"Sire?" Merlin did not understand. Gwen was just abducted by the last existing dragon and on the verge of death, and instead of mourning Arthur was rambling something about her not being dismissed. "Arthur?" But he kept on rambling. "Have you gone mad?! Gwen is…"
Suddenly the prince rushed towards the stairs pushing his men out of his way.
"Saddle my horse!" Merlin and the stable boy looked at each other.
"Sire! Arthur, what are you doing… we do not know where she has been taken!"
"We will ride to the dragon slayer and he will tell us. I will find her and I will bring her back!"
There. There was the man again. The man Arthur was inside. What Gwen saw all along, now Merlin saw as clear as day, though it was in the middle of the night. The young warlock felt honoured to stand by this man's side, but then Merlin remembered that this version of the Prince would cease to exist if Guinevere did not return. And even if Arthur somehow managed to remain his noble mature self without her by his side, Merlin knew that Arthur would be dead inside and Merlin himself would not be able to stand by the Prince without the everlasting faith that Guinevere had in the both of them.
"No." Merlin held onto Arthur's shoulder. "We will find her, and we will bring her back!"
THE END
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AN: tell me what you think… this was my first Merlin fic, but I felt so inspired and I wanted to share with you how I wish this season would have ended.