One Man, Four Babies and A Dragon
A/N: My longest story yet.
Summary: The knights are behaving a little childish.
An old woman was sweeping the floor in her house. There were muddy bootprints everywhere, and two pots lay shattered on the floor.
"Clumsy idiots." She muttered under her breath.
She had had an unexpected visit from no other than king Arthur and his knights a few hours ago. They had accused her of putting a spell on the knights' horses, but had soon - thanks to some persuasion from the king's servant - found out that she was innocent and left. But not before a clumsy knight had accidently knocked over two pots.
"Idiots." The woman muttered again. "They are like small children…"
At that thought, a smile hit her lips as she got an idea. She let go of the broom, placed a bowl on the table and stated looking through her pantry for ingredients.
A few miles away, Merlin was desperate to get home. He had known the moment they entered the old woman's cabin that she was an old Trickster, a witch who use magic to prank people, and that she was the one responsible for the spell on the knights' horses back in Camelot. The spells of a Trickster was usually harmless, but Merlin knew that if Arthur was convinced the old woman was guilty, he would arrest her, and maybe even execute her. So Merlin had convinced Arthur that they should turn back after he himself in secret had gotten the spell to reverse the trick out of her. Now he just wanted to get home.
"Did you know dragons can live for over a thousand years?" Percival suddenly said.
Merlin turned towards the big knight, a confused look on his face.
"Okay?" he said, not knowing where the knight's sudden interest in dragons came from.
"That is very cool." Percival said gleefully. "And they can breathe fire, and have sharp teeth and…"
"Nobody cares Percival." Leon suddenly said, a sigh in his voice.
Percival looked hurt, and Merlin could swear he saw tears in the big knight's eyes.
"Leon, what are you…?" He began but was interrupted by Gwaine.
"Are we there yet?" he complained.
Merlin looked confused at his friends. What was going on?
"Arthur, stop riding so close to me!" Leon yelled.
"Stop looking my way!" Arthur yelled back. "Look at your side. Merlin, tell Leon he is too close to me! And he keeps looking at my side!"
"Are we there yet?" Gwaine asked again.
"Merlin, I am hungry." Percival said, tiredness and sadness in his voice.
Merlin couldn't think. What was going on? He had to stop and figure it out.
"Okay guys." He said. "Let's stop for some food."
A short while later, after some whining and drama – I am hungry now, not soon! – all the knights finally had their bowls full and were eating happily. Until…
"This is disgusting, I don't want this!"
Merlin turned around. At Arthur's feet lay what was left of his lunch.
"It is deer meat and potatoes. You love deer meat and potatoes." Merlin said.
"No I don't!" Arthur yelled.
Merlin sighed.
"How old are you?" he muttered under his breath.
"I am eight your idiot!" Arthur yelled.
Merlin was taken aback. Eight?
"Merlin, Arthur said 'idiot'!" Percival said.
"Yeah, I heard. Wait. What?"
He looked chocked at Percival.
"Percival, how old are you?" he asked carefully.
"This many!" the giant proudly proclaimed and held up five fingers.
"This can't be happening." Merlin muttered. "Gwaine?"
"Yes?" Gwaine said, his face full of food.
"How old are you?"
Gwaine seemed to think.
"What is the number after six?" he asked.
"Seven?" Merlin said.
"Yes! That! I am that!" Gwaine said proudly.
Merlin looked at Leon.
"Don't even ask." He said. "You know how old I am."
"Definitely a teenager, maybe thirteen." Merlin muttered to himself.
"Did you know dragons eat meat?" Percival said. "But they don't cook it as Merlin do. They eat it raw!"
He was full of excitement, like this was the most important and interesting knowledge in the entire world.
"Nobody cares about some stupid dragons." Leon said, and rolled his eyes.
"They are not stupid! They are cool and strong and dangerous. Merlin, tell Leon that dragons aren't stupid."
Before Merlin could say anything, the silence broke by a scream from Gwaine. When Merlin turned around, he saw Arthur holding a stick over his head, while Gwaine tried to reach it.
"Give it back!" he screamed. "It is mine, I found it. Arthur, give it back!"
Merlin couldn't help but smile at the two adult men fighting over a stick like children. Percival seemed to have forgotten that he was mad at Leon, and had now started to run around, waving his arms and roaring like a dragon. Leon was sitting under a tree just sighing at the world like teenagers do. So while the knights were busy entertaining themselves, Merlin sat down to think over what to do next. It was clear to him that this was the work of the Trickster woman. She had obviously put a spell on his friends, turning them all to children trapped in their adult bodies. The best thing to would be to go back and force her to reverse the spell. But if he did that, Arthur would kill the woman as soon as the spell was lifted, and no matter what she had done, Merlin didn't think she deserved to die. No, there was a better way to do it. He would ask the Great Dragon for help.
They spent the rest of the day at the camp. It was the safest thing to do, and Merlin really didn't feel like traveling with a bunch of children. So instead, he patiently played a father for the rest of the day, solving conflicts, making dinner and giving comfort when the "younger" knights fell and hurt themselves. After what felt like forever, the knights finally fell asleep. All except one.
"Merlin! Merlin, look!"
Percival was sitting on a rock, small puffs of smoke coming out of his mouth as he breathed out. Merlin had tried to put Percival to sleep for hours, with no luck, and was now waiting for him to fall asleep by himself.
"Look Merlin, I am a dragon!" He breathed out, more smoke coming out of his mouth.
Merlin couldn't help it. He smiled.
"I see. What kind of dragon are you?"
"A white one!"
"A white one? That is a great choice. The white dragons are very strong and intelligent."
"How do you know that?" Percival asked, his eyes full of wonder.
"I read a book about them once." Merlin said with a secret smile.
Then he decided that he couldn't wait anymore for Percival to fall asleep.
"Percival, come with me. I want to show you something."
"Where are we going?"
"We are going on an adventure. It will be fun, I promise."
Percival flew off the stone, a big grin on his face. He looked smug.
"Just promise me you won't tell the others." Merlin said.
Percival's smile got a little smaller at that, but he nodded.
The walk through the woods took twice as long as it should have had if Merlin had been on his own. It was like Percival had decided to pick up every stick he could find or fall over every root on the ground. Finally, they reached a clearing, and Merlin turned to Percival.
"What you will see now may be a bit scary," He said. "but it is very important that you stay with me and don't run away. Okay?"
Percival nodded.
"Good. Stay here."
Merlin went further into the clearing, and started shouting a long line of weird words. Percival thought on of the words sounded like ´dragon´. After only a minute, something huge landed in the clearing.
"Merlin, that is a dragon." Percival whispered and pointed at the creature.
Merlin smiled.
"Come." He said. "Let's go and say hi."
Merlin went over to the dragon, and Percival slowly followed. Merlin bowed before the dragon, and Percival did the same.
"Thank you for coming." Merlin said.
"Who is your friend?" The dragon asked.
"He talked!" Percival said his child voice high in the night.
Merlin smiled.
"This is Percival." He said to the dragon. "Percival, this is my friend Kilgharrah, the Great Dragon."
Percival looked at Kilgharrah with big eyes, his knees trembling a little.
"It is alright." Merlin said calmly.
The dragon looked curiously at Percival.
"Merlin, what is going on?" he asked.
"We ran into some trouble on our way home."
Merlin explained everything, earning some laughs from Kilgharrah and some squeaks from Percival at the sound of the dragon's laughs.
"So, is there anything I can do?" Merlin finally asked.
"Are you sure you want to?" Kilgharrah teased.
"YES!"
"Alright, alright. There is a spell. It is pretty harmless and Arthur and the knights won't remember a thing afterwards."
Kilgharrah told Merlin about the spell while Percival stood and stared at the dragon.
"Thank you, old friend." Merlin said.
He turned to Percival, ready to leave, but then thought about something and turned back to the dragon.
"One more thing." Merlin said. "Five-year-old Percival really likes dragons. Do you mind if he asks you some questions? He won't remember it, but it will make him very happy for the rest of the night."
The dragon chuckled.
"That will be a new experience, even for me. But no, I don't mind."
"Thank you." Merlin said, and put a hand on the knight's shoulder. "It is okay." He said to Percival. "He won't hurt you."
Percival managed to look at Kilgharrah, even though his knees were trembling.
"Hi Dragon." He said quietly.
"Hello young knight." Kilgharrah answered.
"You are very big." Percival said.
"I am." Kilgharrah said. "But once upon a time there were dragons that was bigger than I am. They were called The King Dragons."
"Cool." Percival said.
The dragon laughed.
"If this is just one of the knights, I guess you had your hands full the whole day." The dragon teased Merlin.
Merlin just rolled his eyes.
"Why did you come when Merlin called you?" Percival asked.
The dragon looked over at Merlin who nodded in approval.
"Merlin is a Dragonlord. And when a Dragonlord calls on a dragon, the dragon must answer."
Percival looked over at Merlin with a look that told Merlin that Percival now saw him as the most awesome person in the entire world.
"How old are you?" Percival asked the dragon.
"I am a little over a thousand years old."
Percival didn't register the answer. Instead he studied Kilgharrah's wings.
"Can you really fly?" He asked.
Now it was Merlin's turn to laugh.
The next morning, Merlin woke with a startle when a water bag hit his head.
"Oh look." Arthur said. "The girl is finally awake. It is time to go Merlin."
Merlin could barely keep his eyes open. He had casted the spell as soon as Percival had fallen asleep the night before, but by then the sun had started rising. Merlin guessed he only had gotten about two hours of sleep.
"Now Merlin." Arthur said.
At least there was no doubt that the spell had worked.
"I heard you Clotpole." Merlin muttered.
He went over to his horse and started packing the saddle bags when Percival joined him.
"Thank you." Percival said.
"What for?" Merlin wondered.
"For letting me say hi to the dragon."
Merlin froze in shock.
"Wha… What?"
"Don't worry, I won't tell the others that you are a Dragonlord unless you want to. But…"
"But what?" Merlin asked.
"Can you please tell me everything there is to know about dragons? Because they are pretty awesome!"
A/N: And there we have it! It didn't turn out quite as I wished, but I liked it anyway. Thank you so much for reading and for following the story so far. And thank you to all that have reviewed the story. Your kind words mean so much!
Thank you so much again for reading, and have a great night/morning/day.
