Greetings Readers! Here's a new Merlin story. I hope you enjoy it!

Warning: post-season 4, post-magic reveal, OC

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any of its characters.

Despite the advanced age of the man in the clearing, evident in the wrinkles of his face, the long, white beard, and his slightly stooped shoulders, he stood straight and unmoved against the gusts of wind created as the great dragon landed in front of him. The dragon dropped his head in a respectful bow. "You summoned me, dragonlord?"

Merlin leaned a bit against the staff he was holding, and shook his head, smiling. "No need to be formal, Kilgharrah. We've known each other for far too long."

"I prefer to use your title." Kilgharrah maintained. "It shows propriety and respect."

Merlin arched an eyebrow and grinned cheekily, an expression that seemed to transform him into the young man Kilgharrah had first met. "Since when have I cared about that?"

"Very well," Kilgharrah let lose with one of his rare rumbles that passed for laughter. "Merlin, it is." His face grew serious. "For what have you summoned me?"

Taking a deep breath, Merlin leaned more heavily on the staff, suddenly seeming much older. "It's time." He said, "Earlier than I had expected, but it's time."

The dragon's eyes grew solemn. "Merlin…"

The dragonlord waved his hand. "It's true – but don't worry." His eyes glinted with a look both mischievous and somber. "I have an idea that just might work."

~.~

After the incident that happened in the council meeting two days prior, the Court Warlock had not been seen leaving his chambers, and naturally, speculations and rumors abounded. Some even claimed that he had been hit with the sorcerer's curse before casting the shield about himself, and was now suffering from its effects.

It had been during a normal council meeting. The king was sitting at the head of the table (he had been in favor of using the round table his own father had established, but it was currently being repaired) with his son sitting at his right. Arthur, who had stepped down as king of Albion shortly after his first grandson, Eadgar, was born, sat down to the left of his son in his usual advisory position. It was normal for Merlin to sit beside Arthur, but he had been running late.

Arthur had just been making a gruff apology for the warlock's lateness when the doors to the council room had burst open, gleaming with a strange blue-black light. A strange sorcerer had strode confidently into the room, sending the rapidly approaching guards into the walls and pinning them there with an almost flamboyant wave of his arm.

"Now for you, son of Arthur," the sorcerer boomed in a manner that was clearly meant to be impressive as he strode toward the king. "You will pay for the sins of your –"

The sorcerer was cut off in the middle of his sentence as he himself was lifted into the air, his arms brought behind him and a glow stretching across his mouth, gagging him.

"No originality anymore, is there?" A wry older voice asked as Merlin made his way into the throne room, his eyes glowing and his hand outstretched toward the rogue sorcerer. "Every time one of you lot come in here to revolt against the king, it is the same thing."

Somehow managing to work the magical gag off, the sorcerer began to bellow and wriggle against the bonds. "The sins against magic must be avenged!"

Merlin shook his head and came closer. "The sins you mention have been long gone for years – magic has been legal since before you were born." His eyes glowed with indignation and authority. "You use a false banner of revolting against tyranny to cover your own aspirations of greed. I have no desire to hurt one of my kin, so I give you one chance to leave now and not return."

The sorcerer stared Merlin in the eyes for a long moment before hanging his head in apparent defeat. Merlin regarded him carefully before his eyes flashed and the sorcerer was lowered to the floor. The sorcerer appeared totally complacent until Merlin began to turn, and then he whirled about and brandished his arm at the royal family, shouting some curse. Merlin, who seemed to have been anticipating the action, quickly turned and set up a shield. The spell ricocheted off the golden shield and nearly hit the two warlocks. The rogue sorcerer rocked on his feet and fell backwards onto the floor, and Merlin only just managed to keep upright although he wobbled severely before fully regaining his balance.

Clearly having significantly more magic than common sense, the rogue sorcerer tried one more time to strike a blow. That time Merlin flung out an arm and sent the sorcerer into a wall, knocking him unconscious. The guards immediately rushed forward to take the unconscious man to the dungeons and Merlin suddenly wavered and nearly fell to the floor. One of the remaining guards managed to support the court warlock before he fell, and ushered him into a chair.

It had been amusing for Eadgar, and his father although he wouldn't admit it, that his grandfather, although considerably less spry than most in the room, had made it to Merlin before everyone else. Merlin merely brushed off his concern and laughed that old age must have been getting to him. However, none of the royal family missed the sudden awkward gait that Merlin had acquired, and the court warlock had been more secluded ever since, staying in his chambers most of the time.

It was that memory of the old man slouching away from the throne room that filled Prince Eadgar's mind as he made his way quickly and curiously down the corridor to the former physician's chambers that were now the court warlock's and where he tended to patients and his magic. He knocked quietly on the door before pushing it open and looking inside. "Grandpa Merlin?"

Looking up from his magic book and the collection of ingredients gathered around him, the man whom Eadgar considered his grandfather in all but blood, looked up and smiled. As always, Eadgar could see the amusement in Merlin's eyes at the title. Sometimes the prince's mother would half-heartedly scold her son for using the familiar name rather than the man's official title – but she would always be told by Merlin that he didn't mind.

"At least he doesn't call me Gramps," the old man would laugh, "one person is bad enough." Gwen, who had been visiting her old friend at the time, had to stifle her laugh behind her hand. Only Sir Gwaine's grandson, who swaggered everywhere with the same good humor and cockiness that was clearly directly inherited from his grandfather, had the gumption to call Merlin that. And give the roars of laughter from both Merlin and Gwaine when they heard it, its use was unlikely to stop anytime soon.

"Eadgar," Merlin said, "Come on in." With a casual flick of his hand, a bookmark placed itself in the book, and book and ingredients were swept gracefully into a cupboard.

"Is everything all right?" Eadgar asked, walking over to the bench opposite Merlin and sitting down, observing the old man closely. Despite the man's urgent summons, he seemed to be fine, which was a relief. He leaned forward, a clearly guilty look in his eyes. "I'm sorry that I didn't come to see if you were all right before."

Merlin's grin grew. "It's a good thing you take after your father and grandmother. Your prat of a grandfather would never have taken the time to check on me – only to yell at me for not getting better earlier." He shook his head. "And then ask me to get on with cleaning his armor or something equally pointless."

Eadgar only just managed to keep from rolling his eyes. He'd grown used to the insults that both older men threw at each other on a regular basis, and according to his grandmother, it had been the same if not worse when they were younger. He did give his honorary grandfather an almost reprimanding look that made the older man laugh loudly.

"Everything's fine," Merlin answered, smiling as he stretched his shoulders. "Well, I ache. All over." His eyes twinkled. "But when you are as old as I, you'll likely be the same."

Eadgar grinned. "Then what did you need me for?"

"Well, Eadgar," Merlin began, his eyes suddenly much more serious, "I have a great favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

"There's something I need to show you," Merlin continued, "Would you come with me to the clearing outside Camelot after dinner tonight?"

"Of course." Eadgar frowned. "But why not show me now?"

The twinkle was back in Merlin's eyes. "Well, he tends to cause a bit of a stir in the daylight."

~.~

"Who is it that you want me to meet?" Eadgar asked as the two men walked out of Camelot. It was all the young prince could do to keep from grabbing the old man's elbow and supporting him like an invalid. The hobbling nature of the warlock's walk had become even more pronounced, and Eadgar was beginning to regret agreeing to not bring some of his knights with them. At least one of them would have been able to rush back for assistance should the older man need it.

"Have you heard of Kilgharrah?" Merlin asked by way of answering the question. Eadgar only looked more puzzled. "He is the Great Dragon."

"Oh," Eadgar said, "No, I haven't heard much of him." His brows narrowed in thought. "Just that he's helped us occasionally when the kingdom's been under siege. And that," he glanced curiously at the other man, "he'd put it under siege himself before he began helping us?"

Merlin nodded. It didn't surprise him that Eadgar didn't know much else about the dragon – it was a sore subject with his grandfather. When the truth about Merlin's magic had come out, the issue about the dragon and more importantly that Merlin had released him, it had been a very loud and angry part of their discussion. It was hard for Arthur to accept the deaths of all those people, even though Merlin had only released Kilgharrah because of a promise made to save Camelot, and the fact that he had not in fact dealt a mortal blow. Interestingly, it had then become one of the more quiet, empathetic parts of the conversation, as Arthur had then learned exactly how Merlin had become a dragonlord and felt painfully guilty for so flippantly dismissing the death of Merlin's father.

Arthur had not been able to ignore Kilgharrah's help and so grudgingly acknowledged what he'd done and also had conferred with the dragon through Merlin for help whenever Camelot needed it. Eadgar's father, being very similar to Arthur in both being influenced by the ways of his father but not letting it dictate his actions completely, also kept his distance from the dragon, although he was considerably more respectful than his father when interacting directly with the dragon or speaking about him.

"Do you know why he helped Camelot?" Merlin asked.

"Because you asked him to." Eadgar looked at him. "You're a dragonlord."

"Yes," Merlin nodded. "And Kilgharrah will be coming here tonight because I will be calling on him again."

"Why"" Eadgar suddenly got worried. "Is Camelot in trouble?"

Merlin waved a hand reassuringly. "No, I just wanted you two to meet. I think it will be important in future for you to know each other."

At that point, the two men had reached the clearing and Merlin stepped a bit ahead of Eadgar. He looked over his shoulder at the younger man and shot him a cheeky grin that made him look much younger than his years. "You might want to cover your ears."

And then the old man reared back and roared.

Taken aback, Eadgar didn't have the time to cover his ears, instead watching in confusion and amazement as the very trees seemed to shake with the enormity of the roar, which seemed impossibly large to be issuing from the older man.

However, the shout wasn't any longer than the Great Dragon as he landed onto the ground in front of them. The thought flitted across Eadgar's mind that the dragon must have been nearby to have answered the call so quickly, but it was soon swept away in order to comprehend just what was in front of him.

A/N: And that's the first chapter! I hope you liked it!

Thanks for reading and please review! I like to know what you think, and they make me happy!