Chapter 10

There was a loud thud as the book that had been resting on Merlin's chest fell to the floor as he sat bolt upright, heart pounding, Arthur's cry still ringing in his ears. He sat there with the same look of intense shock that Arthur had seen still on his face, clutching the bed tightly, and taking a moment to collect his thoughts and for his mind to clear. He knew that he'd been dreaming, but unlike Arthur, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that what he'd seen was utterly real.

Gaius looked up suddenly as the bedroom door was flung open and Merlin came leaping down the steps and ran over towards him.

"Merlin – what is it?"

Merlin spoke urgently and quickly. "Gaius – it's Arthur. He's still alive."

Gaius looked sadly at his young friend, thinking that he must be deluding himself in his grief.

"Merlin, I know how much you miss Arthur but…."

He was cut short by Merlin who spoke more insistently this time.

"I saw him and he called out to me."

The physician reached up and laid a hand on his forehead, "Are you sure your fever hasn't returned? You must have been dreaming"

Merlin was beginning to lose patience and answered with exasperation in his voice. "Yes, I know I was dreaming! But that's how I saw him! Gaius - he's alive! I am as sure of it as I am that you are in front of me now. I wasn't expecting him to be alive any more than you were!"

Gaius gave him a look that told Merlin that he wasn't ready to believe him yet.

"But the body in the tomb…..?"

"You told me yourself, Gaius, it was too badly burned to be identified. It could be anyone, but whoever it is, it's not Arthur!"

Merlin began to speak more quickly, as the urgency of the situation settled on him. "Arthur is alive, but he's in a very dark place. He's in pain and a terrible fear is gripping him – and I know what it is that he's afraid of. We haven't much time!"

"But where is he?"

"I don't know….. but I know where I might be able to find out."

And with that, Merlin ran towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

But Merlin simply shouted over his shoulder as he ran out of the room, "There isn't time!"

He ran across the square and across the drawbridge, as fast as he could, and then down through the streets of the lower town, trying as best he could not to collide with anyone or anything along the way, and even as he entered fields just outside Camelot, he was already shouting out the words that would summon the great dragon. And much to his surprise, even as the last word was still on his lips, the dragon was landing on the ground in front of him and it was Kilgarrah who was the first to speak.

"I have been waiting many days for you, young warlock."

"You knew that Arthur was still alive?"

"What I have known is no matter. But you would have known for yourself if you had not doubted your destiny!"

Merlin fell silent and was suddenly filled with a terrible sense of guilt. Now that it all seemed so clear to him, he couldn't believe he had accepted Arthur's death so readily. He paused and then asked the question that he felt he must ask. "And could I have saved Arthur from suffering if I had not doubted?"

The dragon cocked his head and looked at him intently. "That, young warlock, is not the question for you to be asking. For all is not lost, and there is still time. The question for you to be asking is where the young Pendragon is held, and that is a question that you will have to find the answer to for yourself."

Merlin tone of exasperation quickly resurfaced. "So why on earth am I wasting my time having this conversation?"

Kilgarrah laughed. "So many questions, with so few answers!"

Merlin's exasperation took on a more urgent tone, and he almost shouted his next words at the dragon, "For once, just please tell me what I need to know!"

"I do not know where Arthur is held but that does not mean I cannot help."

"Finally! We're getting somewhere!"

"Your impatience will serve you well this time, young warlock. The Crystal of Neahtid in your hands will yield the information that you need to know, but do not delay for I too sense that Arthur's strength is failing and that he needs you urgently, and I fear that it is only hours that you have left to save him. Now go, and be who you are destined to be."

And with that the dragon stood on it's hind legs, stretched out it's wings and rose up into the night sky.

Merlin looked up and shouted out "Thank you!" as Kilgarrah disappeared into the darkness.