Isle of Berk

"Merlin!" The shout snapped the Warlock out of his daze and he shot the King of Camelot a disgruntled look.

"I am trying to concentrate, you prat!" He responded back from his place on the floor, choosing to ignore the snicker from the knights that were somewhere to his right.

"You have been sitting there for over an hour, mate," Gwaine's voice carried over and Merlin blinked in shock as the words slowly registered.

"What?" He squeaked before clearing his throat in embarrassment and pointedly ignoring the amused look on Arthur's face. Before he could stand, a hand was thrust in front of his face and he quickly let Arthur pull him to his feet. They had only just arrived in their small loggings when Arthur had asked (demanded was a better word) that Merlin do his 'magical seeing trick' and search around the village. Disgruntled and a little insulted at his magic being called a 'trick' he had sat down on the floor without another word and lost himself in the power he released. Standing now, he was finally able to take a look around their small abode. Gwaine was sitting on a wooden chair, his feet propped up onto the simple table that took up most of the small room and a gleaming red apple in hand. Percival was leaning against the back wall and Leon and Elyan were seated at the table with Gwaine. The house they were in was simple by many standards but a family in the village had been gracious enough to stay at another home in order to give the Camelot party their privacy and comfort.

"Well?" Arthur's patience had finally run out as he watched Merlin look around. Merlin, in response, fought to keep the amusement off his own face but the scowl Arthur wore was a good indication that Merlin had failed in his task.

"I can sense the presence of many dragons but I cannot tell where they are. It's as if something is masking them."

"Do you suspect magic?" Merlin thought for a moment before shaking his head at Leon who promptly raised an eyebrow in question.

"I haven't felt a single magical presence here. The old religion is not strong."

"What does that mean?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms in irritation.

"It means, Sire, that there are no real magic users here. I have no idea what is masking them from me."

"Keep trying." The King commanded. "We need to find the dragons. If you can command them, we can have a force that can stand against the Saxons." Arthur said. If anyone noticed Merlin's lack of response, they did not comment on it which he was thankful for. He felt sick at the idea of asking, let alone commanding, his Kin to kill and risk their own lives; however, he understood the power and strength they would gain from it and so had said nothing yet about his own internal debate. "We need to be careful; I still cannot discern their current stance on Dragons. My original order stands, Merlin. No Magic." Merlin rolled his eyes but nodded his head in understanding. "We will discuss this further in the morning before the meeting with the village elders." Arthur then looked pointedly at Merlin before turning and going into the biggest bed room. Sighing, Merlin said goodnight to the Knights before following Arthur into the room. Their belongings had already been brought up, all thanks to the few servants they had brought with them from Camelot, and Arthur was rummaging in one of the chests as Merlin closed the door. The room had two simple, uncomfortable wooden beds that were only covered in thin blankets. He, of course, was used to it from his time as a peasant; however, he hid a grimace as he thought about the coming morning when Arthur woke up after an uncomfortable night's sleep. He sat down on one of the beds and watched Arthur for a moment before finally taking note of his King's mood.

"I'm sure Gwen is doing just fine back home." He said softly and watched Arthur pause and tense for a moment before finally sagging. "The entire army is at her beck and call and your remaining best Knights are all on her personal guard," Merlin continued on before grinning, "besides, if anyone with Magic tries to get into the Citadel, I will know."

"You can sense the wards from this far away?" Arthur turned in surprise. Merlin thought he saw a hint of awe in his friend's eyes but realized he was probably imagining it.

"Of course. I've only been putting power into them for over five years." He said sarcastically. Though the connection was weakened with the distance, he could still reach out and sense them. A sharp nod from Arthur was all the thanks Merlin needed to know the man felt comforted. Merlin watched for a moment as Arthur began to remove his chainmail shirt. After a moment of watching the man struggle, Merlin finally stood and, swatting his hands away, began to pull the chainmail over his head. He heard a grumbled 'shut up, Merlin,' which was barely muffled by the clinking metal.

"What were you and the Chief's son talking about after the feast?" Arthur asked as they settled down in their respective beds. Stoick and Hiccup had personally shown the Camelot party to their loggings after the feast and Merlin had found himself in conversation with Hiccup for the majority of the walk.

"The Chief's name is Stoick and his son is Hiccup. You may want to actually try to commit that to memory before we see them tomorrow morning." He said mockingly only to hear Arthur huff in annoyance on the other side of the room. "He was actually asking me questions about how the chainmail you lot wear was made." Arthur sent him a perplexed look. "He is apparently a blacksmith apprentice." The confusion immediately turned to understanding.

"Elyan and he should get along perfectly then," Arthur said with a smirk as they both just imagined the two men talking about all manner of metal and forging. They lay in companionable silence for a few moments as Merlin waited for the inevitable command to go and extinguish the lights. Without shifting, Merlin simply flicked his wrist and the candles in the room quickly snuffed out. He easily imagined the irritated look Arthur wore at the unnecessary use of Magic.

"By the way, Merlin," said Arthur cheerfully after a moment, the tone of voice causing Merlin to shift uneasily.

"…Yes?"

"If you make me look bad in front of the Chief again…" he trailed off for a moment, letting his seemingly calm tone fill the quiet room. "…I'm sure your fans back home would love to see you again in the lower town." It took Merlin a moment to realize what Arthur was insinuating.

"You would throw me in the stocks when an army is about to march on Camelot?" he asked incredulously. The quiet snicker from across the room was all the answer he needed and his indignation quickly fled. Silence reigned again, both men lost in their contemplation's until Arthur broke the silence again.

"Now I expect…" Arthur continued on and Merlin immediately smirked into the darkness before deciding to rudely cut Arthur off.

"And you complain that I prattle on…" a hard leather Vambrace suddenly made contact with the side of his body and he made a mental note to keep those further out of reach next time.


Many people were within the Great Hall breaking their morning fast when the Camelot party entered. Their entrance immediately caused all conversations to halt as everyone stopped to look. Merlin couldn't help but fidget under the stares while he noticed with a jealous eye how his friends around him seemed either unaware or were just unaffected.

"King Arthur!" Stoick spoke into the growing silence as he stood from his own seat at the furthest table to welcome the party. The other tables immediately went back to their meals and conversations as Arthur led the group to the table. Merlin noted how similar their reception today had been to when they had first arrived. Despite how much he teased the man for his arrogance, he couldn't help but be proud of how Arthur had handled himself when they had first arrived.

Breakfast was a fast affair and the Great Hall quickly emptied until only the high council and the party from Camelot remained standing around what, the men noted with shock, was a large rounded table built around a burning fire. Merlin matched Gwaine's huge grin with one of his own.

"Before we begin these talks," Stoick began after all had taken their positions. Arthur stood immediately opposite Stoick at the round table with Merlin naturally on his right. "I would first like to give my condolences on the passing of your father. He was a good man and helped us quite a bit back in the day. I apologize for having not sent my condolences before as we had not heard any news until just recently." Merlin quickly translated and Arthur simply nodded to acknowledge the man's words. Stoick threaded his fingers together onto the hard table surface. "Now, your letters were quite vague but I believe the words 'Saxons' made the intent of these talks quite clear."

"The Saxons are amassing an army and intend to take the entire region for themselves." Merlin quickly directed to Stoick.

"We have had very little dealings with them over the past few decades. They have left us relatively alone," Spitlout said from beside Stoick. "Why should we enter into a war in which we have no part?" Silence reigned for a moment and Merlin turned to Arthur who looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Merlin did not need to use telepathy to read the question in his King's gaze nor did he need to vocalize his agreement to the question asked. He quickly returned his gaze back to the Vikings, slowly translating for their audience as Arthur began to speak.

"They are being led by the sorceress, Morgana, she is extremely powerful and cares not for others. Her only desire is to take Camelot and destroy her Allies. Our two peoples have had long standing agreements on peace. Morgana will try to utilize that to her advantage…." Here Arthur stopped and Merlin could see that he had tensed slightly; though you wouldn't see it unless you truly knew the man.

Merlin hesitated before continuing, "…The sorceress has a white dragon at her side," he began and Merlin noticed with interest that a few of the Vikings all tensed as well. "We are aware that you and Arthur's father were once united in the fight against Dragons." Merlin could tell Arthur was simply baiting for information. "We have not had a Dragon in Albion in years and so any help in vanquishing it would be of high importance." There was a long pause in which the Vikings seemed to have a silent conversation of their own until Stoick turned back to Arthur and gave a large smile.

"If that is all you need of us, then we have quite a bit of practice in killing dragons!" Merlin's stomach fell as the conversation continued. They spoke about how the village had a few captured dragons that they used to train new recruits.

"Would we be able to be shown this arena?" Leon said to Merlin after a moment of drawn out silence. He repeated the question to Stoick who stroked his beard in thought for a moment before nodding slowly in agreement.

"Yes of course. Spitlout," he said and the man straightened beside him. "Go and fetch Hiccup and the others," Spitlout, his face drawn into a half scowl, half smile that was hard to read, quickly left through the large wooden doors. Before Merlin could turn to Arthur and ask what they hoped to gain from seeing the place they kill dragons at, Spitlout returned through the door with a grumbling Hiccup, Astrid, and another teen that they had yet to be introduced to following in his wake. "Ah, good! Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs." Stoick said in way of greeting and introduction. Merlin had to congratulate himself on not reacting to the unusual Viking names anymore. He hid a chuckle though as he saw Gwaine trying and failing to not laugh at the man with the unfortunate name of 'Fishlegs.' Arthur, Leon, and Percival fared far better, though the twitch of their lips were still visible to the Court Adviser.

"Astrid is not very fluent in your language, but Fishlegs is quite knowledgable." Stoick quickly relayed to Merlin before turning to the teens, "Show the King and his men our other guests," he commanded and, after receiving an unreadable look from Hiccup, the brown haired man turned towards the Camelot party, a large grin forming on his face.

"Killing dragons? Great! This way then!" He said brightly and indicated for the party to follow him. Merlin watched as Astrid shot the man a disgruntled look before shooting the party a large smile of her own. She then turned, and almost manhandled a fidgeting Fishlegs out of the room after their friend. Giving each other varying looks of disbelief and confusion, Arthur finally rolled his eyes and followed the strange group of Berkians.

The walk across the village was long and relatively silent as the bustle of the village made up for any lack of conversations. The fact that Gwaine kept quiet the entire time still baffled Merlin; though, he did catch the roguish man stealing glances around at the passing women. Merlin sped up and, passing Fishlegs, took a position at Hiccup's side.

"Your village is beautiful," Merlin began after a moment, his eyes moving over the landscape as they walked.

"I'm sure it's nothing compared to Camelot," Astrid said from Hiccup's other side.

"Camelot is a magnificent place," he said with a nod, then paused to direct his gaze towards the ocean. He felt Hiccup and Astrid's gazes on him as he began again, "but we certainly don't have this kind of a view. Plus, it kind of reminds me of home," he grinned at the confused looks.

"Our meager homes and facilities remind you of Camelot?" Hiccup asked and raised an eyebrow when Merlin laughed.

"I am not originally from Camelot. I came from a small village on the border of Camelot and Essetir."

"Then how did you…?" Fishlegs, who walked just behind them, trailed off, as if certain he was being offensive.

"End up in Camelot? And as the King's adviser?" he asked, glancing back in order to prompt a nod from the larger man. "That is a very long story. The short version, I suppose, is that I went to Camelot in search of a better place to belong and instead ran into what I thought was an arrogant, pompous, inconsiderate…" he began to ramble and so did not notice that he had switched from Norse to English. He only stopped when a voice, closer than he had thought it should have been, broke his stream of words.

"Merlin." he saw that Hiccup and Astrid had tensed up beside him at the unconcealed anger they detected in the man's voice. Merlin instead kept the pace they were all walking.

"Yes, sire?"

"I had a strange thought that I was possibly being insulted."

"Oh, well that is not good."

"What is not good?"

"You were thinking. Albiet, it was a singular thought so we should be okay as long as…" he cut off in order to duck his head, the warm air against the back of his neck was the only indication that he had indeed avoided the slap.

"Shut up, Merlin," the irritation was clear in his voice.

"Your Majesty," Hiccup began, his accent thicker than Stoicks but still easy enough to understand.

"Arthur, please."

"Arthur," Hiccup smiled briefly before looking at Merlin.

"Lord Merlin was…"

"Merlin," Merlin abruptly cut him off as well and Hiccup blinked in shock for a moment before seeming to remember the previous night as realization dawned anew on his face. He sheepishly gave Merlin a smile before continuing.

"Merlin was telling us a story about his time before he arrived in Camelot."

"Was he now," Arthur said, his arms crossing over his chest though his hard gaze never left Merlin's.

"He was." Astrid chimed in, her accent even thicker than Hiccups and much harder to discern her words because of. She quickly turned the way that they had been heading. "Shall we?" There was a slight edge to her voice and Merlin was impressed to see the woman's strength as he watched Arthur's eyes widen marginally at her tone. After a moment, the King nodded his acquiescence and the party continued on. Merlin found himself again walking beside the Berkian guides and after a few moments of silence he looked to Hiccup.

"You did not have to do that."

"You seemed like you were in trouble," Hiccup said only to give Merlin a confused look as he openly laughed.

"I can assure you I was in no danger from Arthur."

"You two seem to have a strange relationship…" Astrid hedged.

"You wouldn't be the first to say that. By all extents, he is my brother in all but blood. As I was saying before he interrupted me, I thought I met a man who was like any other noble, uncaring for others and arrogant. It didn't take long to instead find a man who was truly none of those things." He looked over to see both Hiccup and Astrid watching him closely as they took in his words. He then grinned, "Besides, who do you think keeps him humble?" he said in English, slightly louder than he had originally been talking and skipped ahead to avoid another slap, the laughter from the three Berkians following in his wake.

After that, the walk was relatively quiet until they came to a sudden wall of stone, they watched as Hiccup and his friends began to walk up a wooden staircase leading up the side of the rock face. Following behind, they came to the top of the rock only to look out at a large drop into the water below. Tensing at the dangerous environment, Merlin kept his eyes on Arthur as they began to cross the long wooden bridge that connected their side to the other. The large structure, covered with a metal roof was visible from the bridge; however, as they hit the half way mark, Merlin felt himself hit a sudden wall. The jolt to his senses was intense and he felt his stomach churn in disgust as the dark magic in the air assaulted him. He felt himself stumble slightly, a fact that would have freaked him out ordinarily since he was on a rickety wooden bridge; however, his magic had stirred the moment he felt the disturbance in the air and all outside factors were whipped from his awareness. Before he could fully will his magic to fight off the pervading darkness, a voice broke through the fog.

"Merlin?" looking up, Merlin met blue eyes. Blinking for a moment to focus his gaze, he nodded slowly. Before he could respond, Arthur's hand descended on his head, forcing him to look at the ground. Wanting to shove the man off, it took a moment for him to realize why. He could feel the heat behind his eyes. The tell-tale sign that his eyes were in fact glowing.

"You okay?" he heard Hiccup ask from somewhere behind Arthur Merlin quickly shoved his magic back down, the heat slowly diminishing.

"Don't mind this clumsy idiot. He can't walk on even ground without falling flat on his face," Arthur said in his usual mocking tone as his hand moved from Merlin's head to his shoulder. Merlin just barely sensed the concern in his voice. After a moment, Merlin finally brought his head up after being sure his eyes were no longer gold. Hiccup stood behind Arthur, his green eyes filled with concern. Merlin smiled as widely as he could.

"Actually, I prefer to call it my own personal aversion to being near one of such high pratiness," he said with nonchalance.

"That is not even a real word, Merlin," Arthur complained, the exasperation in his voice clear and the smile on Merlin's face immediately turned into a full on grin.

"Fine, then you are a vitskertr (1)," He said quickly in Norse and smirked when Hiccup and Astrid tried to hide a building smile while Fishlegs fidgeted uncomfortably.

"and what, may I ask, does that mean?" the hand on his shoulder tightened its hold to an almost painful grip.

"Of course it means courageous, Sire," his innocent façade was broken by the building laughter that was escaping from his Viking guides as Hiccup translated the unknown words to Astrid. The smile on Hiccup's face split into a large grin as he nodded to Merlin before turning and continuing on. The others following at a slower pace. The hand on his shoulder kept him back and he and Arthur fell to the back of the group with Leon moving forward to speak with Hiccup.

"What was that?" the words were said softly so as not to let the wind carry them. Now that Merlin was focused on the outside force again, he could not help the grunt of pain that escaped him as they continued walking further into the dense magic. "Merlin?"

"There is heavy magic here," he said simply, almost forcing the words through his lips. "The air is filled with death. The rest of the village had a slight presence but it was so small I didn't pay it much mind. But here…" He could not stop the shudder from moving through his body as the sense of wrongness filled him.

"What do you mean?" He turned his head to look at Arthur before realizing how poor a choice it was as his foot caught in the wood of the bridge and he nearly went down again.

"I mean," he said in irritation as Arthur helped to steady him and he waved off the people up ahead, "that the dragons that were killed here in the past left behind their magic and now the magic in the air has been corrupted. My magic is recoiling against it…" he said, unable to keep the disgust out of his voice as another wave hit him and he had to physically keep himself from reacting.

"Can you hold it together?" He wanted to argue and say that his magic was acting instinctually and it was not his doing; however, he held his tongue instead and simply nodded. The rest of the walk was done in silence. Merlin took strength from the man that walked beside him as the feeling of despair in the air was almost too much to bear. He tried to compare the feeling to when they had stumbled upon the druid shrine in the woods and Elyan had upset a spirit. While the feeling was similar, it was far more powerful this time around. The beings that were slaughtered were more than just his kin but were creatures of the Old Religion. Merlin could sense the magic of the earth and, unlike with the shrine in which the ground had been healed by ancient druid rituals, death and pain lingered in the air.

Stepping off the bridge, they followed Hiccup through the only visible entrance before coming to stand in the center of the arena.

"Alright," Hiccup said, clapping his hands together as everyone formed an irregular shaped circle. "So these dragons are extremely dangerous. Best to stay over here." Instead of waiting for some sort of response, he turned abruptly and went to a lever that sat on the back wall. Pulling it, the internal gates began to slowly rise and Merlin could not help the widening of his eyes as he stared upon the Dragons before him. He could not determine if he was more shocked by them being caged or by the appearance of the dragons themselves. Completely focused on the dragons, Merlin almost missed the words being spoken around him by the gathered men.

"I have never seen such beasts before," Arthur said cautiously. The dragon they stood before, though nowhere near the size of Kilgharrah, certainly made them feel insignificant. The creature was a massive beast with a bright red body and an enormous under bite with teeth protruding up from its bottom jaw. The dragon had been laying down within its cage and, picking up its head when the light shown into its space, its large yellow eyes quickly scanned the gathered men. As the eyes moved over Merlin, he found himself holding his breathe only for them to pass right over him. He heaved a sigh of relief before he suddenly found the eyes back on him and he found he couldn't look away from the bright gaze.

"How dangerous are they?" Merlin heard Leon ask somewhere around him and forced himself to break the eye contact though he continued to feel it. He turned his head and saw Hiccup perk up at the question. Looking at the man, he thought he saw a strange glint in his eyes before it was gone.

"This particular dragon is known as a Monstrous Nightmare," Hiccup began and Merlin could not help but bristle at the unflattering name. "But, if you want more details about them, our dragon expert here would be the best person to ask," he said, walking up to Fishlegs who he clapped on the back in a friendly gesture. Fishlegs, who was wringing his hands, looked up in shock.

"M…Me? I mean, sure, I have studied the dragon book, but you are the dragon master…" he suddenly stopped talking as Hiccup, in a very unsubtle manner, jabbed him in the stomach with his elbow. Fishlegs seemed to spook for a moment and covered his mouth with his hands.

"You know I can't stand that title, Fishlegs," Hiccup said quickly, his tone had an edge to it as if we were angry, though the emotion did not seem to fit with the unusual expression that graced the man's face as if he was simply uncomfortable. "I much prefer dragon slayer, better ring to it," his speech had quickened and he turned away from the group in order to look at the rest of the dragons. "So shall we continue the tour?" He began towards a gate that held a large green two headed dragon whose heads kept banging against each other in order to have a better look at the group. Once the group had moved in front of the cage, Merlin could not help but fidget as, though it was not obvious, he knew instinctively that the two heads began to fight over who was able to have better access at staring at him.

"This is a Zippleback," Hiccup began as Merlin began to hedge himself slowly to the back of the group. He effectively managed to subtly place himself somewhat behind Percival though his large shield did not prevent the dragons from trying to stare at him. Percival turned to look at the Warlock with a raised eyebrow and Merlin could only shrug his shoulders in answer. Merlin then glared at Gwaine who snorted in amusement before turning back to the conversation.

"This kind of dragon breathes a green gas with its right head and ignites it with a spark from its left head. The explosion is often lethal," Fishlegs had taken over at this point and his excitement was unusual to say the least for a group who were supposedly filled with hatred towards said beasts. The tour continued around the ring as each dragon was examined and explained but as time grew on, Merlin began to feel the weight of the darkness and did not realize how breathless he felt until after they had finally made their way from the ring and were back over the bridge.

"You alright there, mate?" Gwaine had taken position next to him during their trek back by some unspoken agreement between Gwaine and the King. Merlin had glared at Arthur for his fuss but had relented to have the Knight tag along beside him as they slowly brought up the rear.

"I will be," he said after a moment, knowing that lying never seemed to work anymore.

"So what do you think?" Gwaine suddenly dropped his voice into a whisper and Merlin turned his head to see his uncharacteristically serious gaze before looking ahead again.

"Dragons are supposed to remain free," he said just as softly.

"Guess we have some work to do then," Gwaine said with a sudden grin and Merlin could only nod in agreement


(1) Merlin effectively called him a shortwit in Old Norse. I do not speak Old Norse, so the internet is my friend in this instance.

Note: I also updated chapter 1. Let me know what you think!