Exhilarating. It was the only word to describe it. Flying, he was flying! It took all his self control not to raise his arms up and yell in joy. Gwaine wasn't quite strong enough to resist the urge, making the group laugh.
He couldn't believe how relaxed they all were considering they were flying on the back of a dragon! A dragon that looked frightfully similar to the dragon he had killed a year ago. The flight only took a few minutes and they landed on the side of a mountain near a large cave, the inside was fairly bare with one exception.
A small nest a few square meters big made of dry grass which was surrounded by a few rocks was near the centre of the room, the dragon walked its way around and laid down so that its side rested up against the edges of the strange nest. Arthur wondered if it was for eggs, though judging from the voice, this dragon was male, at least that is what he thought, he knew nothing about dragons so perhaps they all sounded male even if they were not. He certainly didn't think another dragon mate could fit in this cave comfortably. One way to find out.
"So...are you a boy or a girl dragon?" Arthur asked, the dragon snorted.
"Do I sound like a female to you young Pendragon?" He demanded, yes definitely a he.
"I was just checking, you have that nest and well, I figured only girls could lay eggs..." Arthur muttered, feeling stupid.
"That is not a nest and it is not for eggs" The dragon shook it head like it was speaking with a young child, "It is a bed"
"A bed?" Leon asked with a raised eyebrow that could make Gaius impressed.
"That's right" Gwaine smiled, he seemed fairly comfortable with the whole situation, then again he hadn't been there a year ago, "Robin said you were Merlin's dragon, so Merlin must of slept there"
"Merlin's dragon..." The beast muttered sounding slightly insulted, "He was not my master, I am not a pet"
"Not a horse either..." Robin mumbled with a slight grin on his face, the dragon gave him a look. Arthur didn't understand that, must of been some private joke between the two.
"So, um Dragon, we were told you were dead" Leon started, "Arthur killed you"
"That wound was barely a scratch" He laughed, "I left because Merlin ordered me to"
"Merlin ordered you to leave, so you just did?" Arthur gaped, he couldn't believe Merlin waited four days to do that! So many people could of lived.
"It is a complicated story young Pendragon, one best told by somebody else" He huffed sending smoke spiraling from his nostrils.
"Well, Dragon why did you bring us here?" Arthur asked finally, the dragon gave a twitch.
"His name is Kilgharrah" Robin supplied suppressing a laugh at the dragons annoyance.
"I bought you here so we would be safe from the witch" He said simply, it is a long way to Camelot, I shall fly you closer when it is dark, for now I will allow you to rest in my cave"
Robin took to this idea straight away walking over to the bed of dry grass and flopping down on it as simply as anybody else would on a normal mattress. Kilgharrah then breathed a small stream of fire onto the surrounding rocks, effectively heating the bed much to Robin's happiness.
The dragon then stretched out the wing that was closest and covered the bed with it, hiding the man from sight. It was strange, the dragon was being so...tender and caring. He had only ever seen fire and pain from a dragon, this, this was something else.
The knights spent the next hour leaning against the far wall in mostly silence before Percival spoke up.
"You came to save us today and I am thankful but, if you knew Robin was in trouble, why didn't you come to save Merlin?" He asked
"The warlock did call on me" The dragon began slowly, "However the damage had been done"
"You were his dragon, yet you seem to care about Robin just as much as I would image you cared for his brother" Leon agreed
"Many birds look the same" Kilgharrah answered mysteriously, "Sometimes the same bird can look different, depending on what light you see it in"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur asked, The dragon just tilted his head and gave the man what Arthur imagined was a smile. Sighing Arthur sat down and let his head fall onto his chest, slowly he closed his eyes. He was tired...
Would you trade him for me?
Arthur's eyes snapped open, delighted to find himself in the great white place once more, it had been so long. In a way he was sad, all these weeks and Merlin still hadn't moved on but, at least it meant he could talk to his friend again.
"What do you mean?" He said opening his eyes, smiling at his former servants face.
"Robin, if you could, would you make him and I trade places?" Merlin continued, "Even if it meant Morgana coming after you more, because she wanted to kill me?"
"I wish I could..." Arthur said honestly, "But, giving up another persons life for yours...it would be wrong, especially because its your brother, he is a good person"
"You wouldn't care about all the trouble I'd cause, being alive with magic?" Merlin asked, barely over a whisper, "Even though I kept a dragon from you?"
"Not one bit" Arthur replied, completely honestly. Merlin gave a small smile.
"Sometimes...a bird can look different, even mistaken for another, if seen in a different light..."
Arthur had been about to ask what he meant when he was shaken awake by a rough hand. Blinking his eyes focused on the face of Gwaine who still had his shoulder.
"What is it Gwaine" He grunted slightly annoyed.
"Smoke, coming from Camelot's direction, we think the city is under attack!"