Well, by popular request, I guess this story of randomness is continuing XD Yay! Hopefully, all reasoning behind Arthur being a goat will be explained in time (unfortunately, it ended up not being done this chapter), but I hope you can bear with me until then.

I shan't keep you much longer. Please enjoy XD

(Oh, and in reply to 'Narg,' the 1000 words thing for the first chapter wasn't actually planned, but a rather delightful coincidence. Being slightly OCD about numbers, I was extraordinarily pleased when, after posting, I realised what I'd accidentally done. Rest assured, I would never deliberately alter a chapter just to match a certain word length.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin (and I suppose you can all guess why that is)

As Arthur glared in annoyance (and how a goat could manage to perfect such an annoyed expression would be anyone's guess), Merlin shuffled somewhat uncomfortably. Arthur couldn't bring himself to feel the least bit bad- Merlin deserved to feel uncomfortable, getting himself turned into a- well, what he had- while he, the King, was stuck as a Goat.

Eventually, Merlin seemed to decide that enough was enough, and looked down at himself. There was silence in the room, before the manservant eventually turned his face once more to his master.

"Ummm... Arthur?" He asked, apprehension leaking through his tone.

"What?" Arthur snapped.

"Am I, by any chance, a Dragon right now?"

"Yes, Merlin, you idiot. Yes you are a Dragon right now."

The Dragon blinked, sapphire eyes disappearing momentarily behind opaque lids. When they opened again, Arthur was entitled to an image few men had been privy to, even before the purge had begun. He'd never imagined a confused Dragon with a furrowed brow could still somehow manage to look majestic.

It was most irritating.

"But," started Merlin, "but that can't be right. I mean, I'm nothing like a Dragon. Dragons are constantly speaking in riddles, or finding ways to dodge questions they don't want to answer. They're always hiding things. And they're never there when you want them." The young manservant was off in his own world by now, pacing back and forth, his scaled tail sweeping across the floor. "And then, when you finally think they're good for something, they disappear off to who-knows where, and you don't see them again for ages! They're like a huge, great big mess of contradictions! Always seeming like they'll say or do one thing, and then doing the complete opposite! And they're so secretive! How on Earth am I anything like that?"

No doubt the rant would have gone on longer, but at this final question Merlin just happened to snort. And, being an untrained Dragon at the time, a snort could never have proved itself a good thing. It was a good thing for Arthur that, even as a goat, he had good reflexes, or he would never have managed to stop his eye-rolling (did Merlin actually realise that he was effectively describing himself?) in time to dodge the small ball of fire the idiot let loose in his direction.

"Well, Merlin," intoned the King. "Moving on, the more important point right now is-"

"-Just how to solve this issue."

Jumping around to rebuke old man whatever-his-name-was for interrupting, Arthur once again felt his bearded jaw drop. For there, occupying the seats of the various council members, was a multitude of the same creature. Just what that creature was he had no idea, but here was, in his mind, solid proof that the council members were about as different to each-other as the wings of a single butterfly.

Each of the fuddy-duddies was now coated in dull brown fur, lightly interspersed with cream streaks, and a darker brown ring around each eye. Their facial features had drawn closer together, atop elongated necks, giving each one a slightly squashed, yet somehow almost lazy appearance, and each had sprouted a small, round lump of a tail. Arms had become disproportionately longer than legs, and at the end of each limb had erupted three pointed nails, in the place of fingers and toes.

All in all, they looked distinctly odd.

One of the creatures- likely lord Aloysius, taking the seating arrangement into consideration- yawned widely, then took hold of the arm of his chair, arranging himself so that he was clinging to it from below.

"Really," he continued (as it appeared he had been the one to speak before), "we should arrange a council meeting. We need to discuss this.

Arthur blinked. "But we're already in a council meeting."

Aloysius yawned once more, quickly followed by several others around the table. "Yes," he started, "but this meeting is to discuss taxes sire. We can't just go changing the agenda at the drop of a hat. It's not how things are done. There is protocol to consider, after all."

"I concur!" Stated a voice from the other end of the table. Arthur couldn't figure out who it was, but he didn't really care- each of the men were just as dull and old-fashioned as each-other. "We'll need time to think on this- I say we finish this meeting here, and reconvene tomorrow."

Arthur stared.

And then had a brainwave.

"What an excellent idea!" He exclaimed, keeping the sarcasm to a level nobody of the council's age range (except perhaps Gaius) would ever be able to detect. "We shall meet tomorrow at noon, then, to see what can be done."

And with that, he hastened to exit the room, Dragon Merlin following close behind (taking extra care not to snort).

"But Arthur," Merlin whispered, "the sorcerer said that the spell only lasts for today. Having a meeting tomorrow is pointless."

"I know that. Anything to get away from that bunch, though, and talk to someone who knows what they're talking about."

"I take it we're going to see Gaius then?"

"Got it in one."

Somehow, with a few pushes from Merlin, the pair managed to make their way out of the room (past a stoat and a sheep- presumably the guards), and had walked along about three corridors when a large, rotund man in a bright red, fur-lined suit (complete with floppy hat), black boots and a belt with a giant golden buckle came jogging towards them, puffing hard and lugging a full sack (with a rocking horse poking out of the top).

"Wah!" The man yelled upon seeing them. "Who are you, then?"

For the third time in the space of just a few minutes, a certain goat-king's jaw dropped. He knew that voice.

"Percival?"

Ja-jan!

What did you think? Is it still worth continuing? I'm working hard to think of suitable creatures for everyone, so I hope you like this so far.

Also, I'm thinking of awarding prizes to those who can guess any creatures I don't name directly, as is the case for the council members and Percival. I'll be sure to tell you directly at the beginning of next chapter either way, but if you want to guess, please go right ahead ^_^

(ps. Do you guys want longer chapters? I'm kind of going with the flow, but I'm willing to try to make them longer if that's what you want.)