A Journey through the Night
Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of Merlin.
It was late. The only sounds to be heard throughout the castle were the occasional footsteps of the guards as they slowly made their routine rounds through the corridors. Even the town itself seemed to be extra quiet tonight, with only the faint barking of a dog coming through the window.
Prince Arthur, the young prince of Camelot, laid in his bed, straining with all his might to detect any sounds near his chambers. He held his breath for a long moment, but he finally released it once the guard had passed by the door.
Carefully, the prince slowly lowered his blankets and silently crawled out of bed. He walked over to where he had stashed a spare shirt and pair of pants earlier that day and changed into them. He then went back over to his bed and ducked down. He thrust his arm under the bed, blindly searching for the item he knew to be hidden there.
With a cry of excitement, Arthur finally latched onto the item, but quickly stopped. He hadn't meant to make any sound, and he was afraid that the servant that slept in the small room attached to his had heard him. He paused, waiting, to see if they had been disturbed. After a few long seconds, Arthur was relieved to see that he hadn't been heard. He withdrew the item from under his bed and smiled to himself.
Last week, his father had gifted him with a his first wooden practice sword for his birthday. Arthur had been ecstatic with the sword. He would finally get to begin his training that would allow him to one day be the leader of the Knights of Camelot. Even though he had only been practicing for a little over a week, Arthur thought that he was already more than capable at utilizing the weapon. If all went well, he would have a chance to really prove his abilities tonight.
As quietly as he could, Arthur made his way to the door and slowly opened it. He quickly checked the corridor, double checking that no one would see him exiting his rooms. When he saw that everything was clear, he began to move down the hallway.
His destination was the lowest parts of the castle. Very few people were even aware that it existed. Even Arthur himself, who prided himself on knowing the castle like the back of his hand, hadn't been aware of the secret's existence until earlier that morning. He had been roaming the hallways, trying to avoid his daily tutoring session, when he saw two guards talking to each other as they patrolled through the castle. Arthur had quickly ducked out of sight, and as a result, he was able to overhear a tiny bit of their conversation.
Apparently one of the guards didn't usually patrol the castle during the normal hours of the day. Instead, he usually patrolled during the night down below. This is what drew Arthur's attention. As far as he knew, there was nothing interesting down there. Why would his father specifically station guards to stand watch in an area that contained absolutely nothing of importance at all hours of the day?
As he listened, he found out that even the guard didn't quite know the reason for being stationed down there. Rumor had it that Uther kept something hidden down there; something powerful that he didn't want getting out. The guards stationed down there assumed that it had to be some sort of magical creature.
As the guards continued on past, excitement had bubbled up inside of Arthur. If a magical creature truly existed down below the castle, then Arthur had to find it for himself. He had grown up being told that anything related to magic was evil. Maybe, just maybe, Arthur could kill it and prove to his father that he was worthy of being Camelot's prince. The fact that Uther willingly chose to apparently keep a magical creature (if the rumors were true) contained below the castle never registered to Arthur.
That's how Arthur found himself silently gliding through the halls, making his way through the various corridors leading down to the lower sections of the castle. His journey was slow. He continuously had to hide himself from the various guards and servants that were out and about. Eventually, he finally reached the section of the castle he had been looking for.
The one aspect of his plan that he was unsure of was how to get past the guards that apparently patrolled this section of the castle. As Arthur approached cautiously, he suddenly realized that he had nothing to worry about. The guards stationed there that evening were all slumped against a table, snoring loudly. Arthur saw the pitchers of beer on the table and figured the guards had drank themselves to sleep. Even as young as he was, Arthur shook his head in disgust. Despite this being a convenient solution to a problem, he was disappointed in the guards for not taking their jobs more seriously. When he got older, he would make sure to never slack in any of his duties as a prince of Camelot.
With the guards sleeping behind him, he stood at the top of a staircase, staring down into the darkness that stretched out before him. He gulped nervously. Despite being a prince, he had a slight fear of the dark. This was a fear that he kept carefully hidden from everyone around him. The castle corridors had been lit by the occasional torch, helping to keep his fear at bay. Now, however, there was nothing to keep the all consuming darkness from encompassing him.
Minutes dragged by as Arthur worked up the necessary courage to descend the stairs. It was the sound of an exceptionally loud snore that finally galvanized him into action. Not wanting to be caught by a guard that had suddenly awakened, Arthur plunged down the steps, throwing a hand out against the wall to help him navigate his way down. It took a lot of effort to push his fear to the side but he managed to do so, working his way down slowly step by step.
Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, Arthur once again paused. Even though he couldn't see anything, he could tell that his new location was vastly different to the rest of the castle. The temperature was drastically cooler, and the walls he touched felt more like natural, rough rock than the smooth stone he had felt up until this point. Where was he? Even more important, how was he supposed to find out what was down here if he couldn't see anything? It was at this moment that Arthur realized he should have brought one of the torches down with him.
From out of the darkness, a faint noise reached Arthur's ears and he jumped. His hand tightened reflexively around the hilt of his wooden sword as he brought it up in front of him. The noise, slightly louder, came again. Arthur glanced around him, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything that might be causing the noise.
Arthur. With sudden clarity, Arthur was able to finally make out the noise, and it scared him to his core. Whatever was down here, it knew his name.
Arthur...Arthur...Arthur!
"Who are you?" shouted Arthur, not caring that his voice, pitched high in fright, might travel and alert the guards to his presence. "How do you know my name?"
Arthur...come to me.
Arthur stood frozen to the spot. Not only did the thing know his name, but it also wanted him to approach. He gulped.
Arthur!
At this last shout of his name, Arthur moved forward, feeling compelled to answer the being's call. Arthur was unaware of how he did it, but he was able to make his way through the dark in the direction from which he somehow knew the voice to be coming from. After a while, Arthur felt himself slow to a stop.
Suddenly, Arthur heard a great swooshing sound coming from above him. As the swooshing continued, he also heard a strange rattling sound as if the links of a chain were clinking together. Arthur listened as something landed on the floor, causing the ground to shake briefly beneath his feet.
Out of the darkness came stream of fire, aimed directly at Arthur. Seeing it coming toward him, Arthur suddenly dropped to the floor with a cry. However, the spewed flame passed over him lit a set of torches that Arthur had been unaware of behind him. In the flickering light that came from them, Arthur finally found himself in front of the creature that had called him by name, and he felt his jaw grow slack.
Before him rested the largest creature he had ever seen in his life, a creature that he had only ever heard stories about from the nurse that had looked after him when he was much younger. His eyes traveled up the great expanse of the creature's body and found himself looking into the large eyes of a dragon.
"How small you are for such a great destiny, young prince." Arthur's jaw, if possible, grew even more slack. He had just seen a dragon talk to him.
"I see that I surprise you," the dragon rumbled.
Arthur moved his mouth a few times, trying to regain his ability to speak. Finally, he managed to form a coherent sound. "Why do you call me small? Father says that I'm plenty big for my age."
In response to this, the dragon let out a deep chuckle. Despite still feeling scared, Arthur felt a little insulted.
"My apologies, Prince Arthur. I didn't mean to offend you. I simply meant that you are awful young to carry the great burden destiny has placed on your shoulders," the dragon explained.
Arthur's face scrunched in confusion. "Destiny? What destiny? If you're talking about being the king of Camelot one day, I know that I can do it!"
Instead of replying, the dragon continued to stare at Arthur. He seemed to be deep in thought about something. Arthur began to grow restless and felt uncomfortable having the dragon stare at him.
The dragon dropped his head down, moving it closer to Arthur. "You are still young and do not yet realize how important you are to the world. Perhaps that is a good thing for right now. While you won't be able to escape what destiny has in store for you, you have a while before you must confront its harsh realities."
"But I don't understand. What burden are you talking about?"
"Never mind, young one. Just know that you are part of something greater than what you can imagine." The dragon paused for a second before continuing. "I think it's time for you to be leaving before you are missed."
Before Arthur could say anything in response, the dragon extended its neck once again, bringing its mouth directly in front of Arthur's face. A warm breath was released from the mouth of the dragon, and before Arthur knew what hit him, everything went black.
Arthur awoke that morning to the sun streaming in through the windows. His servant was moving around the room, getting things ready for the day.
Arthur rubbed at his eyes, feeling groggier than normal. Something didn't feel quite right. He looked down at himself in confusion, noticing for the first time that he was not in his normal nightwear. Instead, he was dressed in one of his spare shirts and set of pants. To make matters even more confusing, he noticed his practice sword poking out from under his bed.
A few scattered thoughts ran through his head, but Arthur couldn't quite make sense of them. They were something to do with drunk guards and something else...some sort of creature. Were they part of a dream he had last night?
He shook his head, attempting to clear his mind and alleviate the lingering sleepiness. He would have to think about it later. For right now, he had breakfast to attend to.
Down below in the deepest levels of the castle, the Great Dragon let out a puff of warm breath. The visit from Arthur had been somewhat of a surprise, but not altogether unexpected. The boy was still young, but he was just starting to transition into the legendary figure the prophecies foretold he would one day become. Only time would tell how he would respond to destiny's burden. The Great Dragon would just have to wait and see what would happen.