Arthur waited until night had fallen over Camelot and most of its residents were sleeping before he went to speak with the dragon. After running into the younger youth today, his day hadn't become any better.

Uther had called his son and ward to have dinner with him. This consisted of Uther telling them of the evils of magic, and its followers, and talking about honour. To be fair, some of the things the King was saying was true- sorcerers could commit evil feats but, as a saying about books and covers suggested, it wasn't right to judge a whole group of individuals because of the actions of the minority. Uther, of course, didn't particularly care for their opinions so the teens had agreed half-heartedly with him.

The look on Morgana's face whenever Uther wasn't looking at her could kill- of that Arthur had no doubt. He felt the same, but years of hiding his true feelings on many subjects helped enormously on his behalf, and wished that his father's bitterness would ease.

It was only a hope. A hope that would never happen unless a miracle was to happen and miracles don't come cheap.

Arthur shook his head, focusing on the matter at hand. He had to keep his mind sharp or he would never understand what that flying annoyance was on about.

The guards were, once again, not fulfilling their duties as guards. While Arthur couldn't blame them for being bored during the night shift of the dungeons, they were supposed to guarding the dungeons not playing dice. Rolling his eyes, Arthur threw a stone down one of the corridors, effectively distracting the pair and leading them in the direction of the sound.

Idiots.

The prince hurried down the steps, lighting a torch as he went, and into the cavern that held the mighty beast his father had chained beneath his castle only sixteen years before.

To his surprise, the dragon wasn't on his ledge like he normally was. Slightly disappointed, Arthur turned to return to his bed when a humongous noise sounded from behind him.

"Where do you think you're going, young prince?" the dragon asked.

"Well, you weren't here so I thought I'd leave," Arthur said with a small shrug.

"My life, restricted that it is, doesn't resolve around you or your problems," the dragon snarled, sending the hair on the back of Arthur's neck to stand on end. The dragon chuckled at the scared look on the princes' face. He knew that the prince had always been frightened of him, yet he never let this fear take him over. It was interesting to see the boy truly afraid. "Now, what is it that you wish to ask me?"

Arthur blinked and swallowed, drawing up his courage as he started to speak. "Is Emrys still alive?" The dragon seemed to raise an eyebrow, not understanding what he was trying to get at (of maybe he did but lived to make his life a misery…) "The knights sent out to collect a young boy came back empty, saying that the boy they were sent after had died of natural causes but about the same time a complete fool appeared and, from what I can tell, is living with Gaius. Is he Emrys?"

The dragon smirked- or did a very good impression of a smirk. "Right, you are, young prince. Emrys has not passed from this world to another for he hasn't yet helped you unite all of Albion. You and Emrys are two halves of the same coin," Arthur rolled his eyes. Trust the lizard with wings to bring that little phrase into their conversation.

"Yes, yes, yes, two halves, one coin, blah, blah but you haven't answered my other question?"

The dragon lowered his head so it was closer to Arthur. "I believe I answered the first one while I already answered the second not long ago. You will know him when you see him," he asked cryptically.

Arthur's mouth mimicked that of a fish- opening and closing like he was gasping for air. "But… But he's an idiot with absolutely no respect for the hierarchy. He openly insulted me in front of several knights and acted as if nothing was wrong with it," he said once he had remembered how to control his mouth and tongue to make words.

The dragon made a noise that echoed in the cave- he was laughing.

"I hope you realise that you hinder me more than you help me," Arthur said, completely unamused with the dragons 'helpful' advice. Why was it that the most cryptic and annoying dragon was trapped here rather than a happy to help one?

The dragon stopped laughing at the question. "Young prince, I am so because your path has been written for hundreds of years, before even I existed. What you don't realise is, what you call hindering is actually all I can do to help you choose the right path. You, and only you Arthur, are the only one that can choose, if all your questions were answered, life would be much to dull for you. Now, as for your earlier question, if you believe that this so called idiot is Emrys, than maybe he has more to do on his end of destiny that what was originally predicted." With that, the dragon opened his wings and disappeared into the roof of the caverns, leaving Arthur standing on the ledge, thinking about what had been said.

Sighing to himself, Arthur crept back to his chambers, only realising that the dragon had called him by his name rather than his title just before he feel into the dark abyss called sleep.

Kilgharrah frowned to no-one in the caverns, other than the rodents that co-existed with him. Fate was moving much faster than destiny could keep up with. And, as nice as it was to know that he was fulfilling his part, he couldn't help but feel like it was helping the wrong person with their struggles.

He half wished his Dragon Lord were here to act as a buffer in this matter, but, sadly, knew this was not possible due to many factors. Kilgharrah knew Balinor was not dead and also knew that there was another to carry on the line: Merlin. Merlin was the child's name and Kilgharrah had no doubt that this was the boy the prince had been speaking of.

The dragon sighed, curling its tail around him. This problem would just have to wait until tomorrow.

A/N: Haven't started writing the next chapter and have absolutely no idea when I'm going to get the chance to. I have just had my first day in my 5th year of secondary school and in the first 3 periods, I was given two pieces of homework which both had to be finished for the next day. Sigh... Why do I torture myself?

Anyway, on a happier note- this story has 100 followers! I was quite happy with twenty or so but I am glad that 100 people have decided that this story is good enough to follow. Thank you for your continued support and patience- I really appreciate it.

Hope you guys liked this chapter.

Roxanne