CHAPTER 1

It was a bright morning in Camelot, Prince Arthur and his dark haired manservant were out on an early hunt. They rode through the forest chasing a deer that jolted through the trees. Suddenly the horses came to a halt and reared up, letting the deer escape in the process. When the horses settled Arthur and Merlin descended their horses and calmed them before finding the cause of the problem. When they turned around they noticed a girl laying on the ground near the simmering embers of a once light fire. Her clothes were tattered and revealed much of her skin. When both men saw this their faces first became a bright red and then they assumed that the worst had happened to this girl.

Arthur cleared his throat and turned to Merlin, "P-perhaps you should go and see if she is alright." He suggested, still a bit flustered.

Merlin shot Arthur a look of shock, "Why do I have to see if she is alright?! She's a maiden of your kingdom, if she thinks you did anything at least being a prince will make it better!"

"Merlin you are a physician in training, if she is hurt SURELY you can be of more help than I." Arthur explained while pushing his servant toward the girl.

Merlin knelt down next to her and glanced over her, checking for any wounds or other signs of a fight. When his eyes laid on part of her open back he noticed two fairly recent wounds near her shoulder blades, but those were the only ones he would see. Merlin found it very odd that with such tattered clothing, the only wounds were on the back. He began to rise and turn towards Arthur when suddenly his ankle was grabbed.

You began to stir, mumbling incoherent words as your hand grabbed the ankle in front of you, the man who it belonged to pulled away fast in fear. You leaned up letting your long h/c hair fall in front of your face, your tattered dress hung low but still covered your breasts. When you finally realized that there were two men standing in front of you you turned bright red and tried to make yourself more decent.

The dark haired one approached you and knelt down to your level. You backed away slightly as he reached for your forehead. He slowly traced a finger over the two wounds on your forehead, very similar to the ones on your back. "These wounds are very strange" he mumbled to himself. When he looked down he saw the terror in your eyes and backed away. "I'm Merlin." He said extending his hand. You cautiously took it.

"Y/N" you responded hoarsely

"I'd like to bring you back to Camelot and fix up your wounds, if you'd like that?" Merlin spoke softly to you, not wanting to frighten you more.

At the mention of Camelot you tensed up a bit. However, you really had no choice but to go with him; your clothes were in shambles, you had no provisions, and really nowhere else to go. You nodded your head in agreement and Merlin helped you to your feet. You rode back to Camelot together on Merlin's horse, with Arthur leading the way.

When you arrived you were lead to the physicians chambers while Arthur went to Morgana to see about borrowing a dress for you. Gaius examined your wounds and found them just as strange as Merlin did. He took Merlin aside to discuss the matter further.

"Something is very strange about those specific wounds." Gaius spoke with hushed tones.

"I thought the same thing. I mean, her clothes are in tatters but all she has are four cuts?"

"I believe it to be more than that,Merlin. It looks as if these wounds have been reopened after healing several times before."

"How is it possible that she would receive the same wounds so often?"

" I don't know, I will have to consult my books."

Arthur walked through the door with a F/C dress from Morgana. Alongside Arthur was Morganas servant, Gwen. You were ushered into Merlin's room and Gwen helped you change into the beautiful dress.

After you were dressed, Gwen led you to Morganas chambers to get you set up with a maid position. As you left the physicians chambers you didn't notice Merlin staring at you in awe of how pretty you looked.

For the next month you worked alongside Gwen in helping Morgana, while being lent to visiting nobles.

As the phases of the moon changed your worries began grow. Merlin and Gaius had read through books, trying to figure out your strange wound patterns but had since given up. You were torn in what you wanted; Merlin and Gaius could find out about your curse and try to help you, or they could find out and have you killed and you weren't quite sure if you wanted help or not. You had spoken with Merlin almost every day since he found you, he was so nice to check up on you and make sure you were still alright. You had grown fond of him, despite your attempts to not get too close with anyone. Still, you weren't sure how much you could trust him.

The moon was supposed to be full tonight and you were completely on edge. You couldn't help but worry that something might set you off and you'd expose your secret to everyone.

While you did Morganas laundry Merlin entered to begin Arthur's. He could tell that something was upsetting you but didn't know what. "Good morning Y/N" he said cheerfully, in some attempt to relieve your worry.

"Good morning Merlin." You replied rather glumly.

Both of you then stood in silence for a while, working on your respective piles of laundry, until Merlin finally spoke again. "Something is bothering you isn't it?" he asked getting straight to the point.

You stopped working, closed your eyes and grasped tightly to the dress you were about to put into the wash. Merlin noticed that you were visibly shaking and he wanted to help you, he just didn't know how. Merlin put down Arthurs laundry and moved towards you, but when you stepped away he backed off.

You held your breath in some attempt to settle your emotions. "I'm sorry Merlin. You're right to think something is bothering me but..." you paused. Should you tell Merlin about your curse? No, you shouldn't get him involved, it's for the best if nobody is involved. You thought to yourself before finishing your sentence. "But it's really none of your business." You said coldly. While you knew that it would hurt to push Merlin away it had to be done, if anyone did find out about you than Merlin could stay out of trouble.

Merlin was a bit taken back by how strange you seemed to be acting. In the past you had been kind, even if a bit shy, but never had he heard you speak so coldly to him.

You both finished your work in silence, you left the laundry chambers and headed back to Morgana to see if there was any more work to be done. When you entered her chambers you saw Gwen finishing up cleaning. As though both Morgana and Gwen could sense your unease, Morgana asked you to take the rest of the day off.

You didn't know what to do with your newfound free time so you ended up wandering the halls of the palace for a bit before running into Gaius.

"I'm glad I found you Y/N, there's something I'd like to discuss with you" he said while leading you back to this chambers. The walk there seemed eternal as you could only imagine what Gaius wanted to talk about, the whole time leaving you more anxious with every step.

Gaius sat you down at the table. "Merlin mentioned to me that you were acting strange earlier. Is there anything you wish to tell me?" He sounded very concerned.

You let out a sigh of relief. "I'm fine Gaius. I'm sorry that I caused such worry but it's really nothing"

Suddenly Gaius' face seemed a lot more serious. "When you first arrived here you had several distinct wounds that caused Merlin and I to have some suspicions. I consulted many books and could come up with no answer. But when Merlin told me of your strange behavior it dawned on me that I was looking for the wrong answers. So tell me Y/N, is this sudden shift in personality due to tonight's full moon?"

Gaius' sudden accusation left you stunned, all of your anxiety returned and you were sure that you would soon end up on the pyre. The tears filled your eyes, you wanted to speak but were unable. Gaius took your hands to try and calm you.

"My dear, I do not ask you that to harm you, I only wish to help. Your condition is a work of sorcery and I can assure you that Merlin and I will help you find a cure"

To this statement you leap out of your chair to hug Gaius, you could hardly stop saying thank you to the poor old man.

As night drew near you left Camelot and entered the nearby forest, when you were far enough away from the town you began to undress so as to not ruin another gown. The full moon loomed overhead, it's power seeming to control you. Your eyes grew bright gold and you lurched forward in pain. You felt two horns push out of your forehead, leaving blood to trickle down your face. You fell into all fours as your spine twisted and your body grew, a long tail stretched behind you. You arched your back as a pair of beautiful wings broke free near your shoulder blades. You let out a cry of pain that sounded more like a dragons roar as your body began to fixate itself to the form of a dragon. With the final motions of your transformation you grew scales up your entire body and your face stretched into a reptilian form. You stretched your new wings and took flight into the sky and away from Camelot.

Back in the castle Merlin heard the roar of a dragon, unfortunately it seemed like he wasn't the only one. Merlin had been serving Arthur his dinner when they heard the mighty roar. Both men exchanged a look, Arthur had thought that he had slain the last dragon and Merlin knew that Kilgharrah would not come back to harm Camelot. They both waited but no attack seemed to come, in fact when they looked out the window they could see no dragon in the skies at all. After finishing with helping Arthur, Merlin returned to Gaius to see if he had any idea of what was going on.

"Gaius, did you hear a dragon earlier?" Merlin asked as he entered the physicians chambers.

"Yes I did, and I have a theory about why" Gaius replied while waving Merlin to where he was sitting. "Have a look at this." Merlin looked down at the book in front of Gaius to see a page on curses, specifically ones that are affected by the phases of the moon.

"You think it was some sort of were...dragon?" Merlin asked in confusion.

"Yes I do. And I think that our weredragon is-"

"Y/N" Merlin finished Gaius' sentence before turning to exit the room.

"And where are you heading off to?" Gaius questioned.

"I'm going to go find her." Merlin stated before running off.

Merlin entered the forest and ran as fast as he could. He shouted into the sky, commanding in the tongue of the old religion for any dragons to come to him. As Merlin arrived in a clearing in the forest Kilgharrah flew down and landed in front of him.

"Young warlock, why have you called me here?" He roared

"I wasn't exactly calling for you." Merlin admitted

"If not me, than who?"

As Kilgharrah asked you swooped down and landed beside him. You were quite a small dragon compared him, you were barely reached the bottom of his neck when you stood tall.

Your glowing yellow eyes flared at Merlin, but he stared up at you in amazement.

"Y/N, is that you?" He asked.

You bowed your head to him, unlike Kilgharrah you were unable to speak due to the effects of the curse.

"You are amazing." Merlin said

"Truly extraordinary indeed." Kilgharrah agreed.

You felt much differently than them, you stood back on your hind legs and roared into the sky in anger. Merlin took a step back in response. Kilgharrah only began to laugh.

"What are you laughing about?" Merlin asked.

"We may think that she is amazing but I believe that she just wishes to be normal."

You turned to Kilgharrah and nodded your head.

"I will find a way to help lift this curse Y/N, I promise." You bowed your head to Merlin in appreciation and he laid his forehead against yours.