Chapter 10
Weeks had passed since Merlin's adventure with Arthur and Mordred, but he was far from rested. Dragoon was putting him through a training that felt awfully close to torture. Run there. Lift this. Cut that. And the worst was that he wasn't allowed to use magic for most of it, so he 'learned to value of what he had'.
There was one good part though, every night Merlin got to ask one question about whatever he wanted and Dragoon would answer it. I won't lie; he did spend the first question in the spell to instantly clean Arthur's armor, but the nights after that he learned a lot about the world of magic.
And yet there was one question that he didn't dare to ask, for it would reveal more that he wanted to let Dragoon know. But the time passed, his trust in Dragoon grew, and his curiosity grew even more. Tonight was the night.
Merlin was standing in one side of a table and Dragoon in the other. Between them rested a set of wooden cups facing down, and inside one of them there was a tiny ball. The point of the game was to Merlin to find out in which.
"Are you looking closely enough kid?" asked Dragoon at the same time he lifted one cup to show Merlin where the ball was.
Merlin didn't answer; he just kept looking at that cup.
Dragoon started to slide the cups around, slowly at first, but the speed increased more and more as time passed.
The first time they had played this game, Merlin had felt very good with himself when he had guessed where the ball had been. However, as everything that involves Dragoon, the game wasn't that easy. Every time he guessed right, a new cup appeared in the table and, if that wasn't enough, some of them even moved for themselves. Right now Merlin was staring at seven cups moving all around the table at the same time.
Suddenly all the cups stopped.
"So, where is it?" Dragoon asked.
Merlin thought for a second and then pointed to the third from the left.
"Are you sure? You can still choose another one."
Merlin rolled his eyes. Dragoon had asked that every single time.
"I'm sure," he answered.
Dragoon smiled and picked up the cup, revealing absolutely nothing.
This was the fifth time in a row that Merlin lost and he was getting a bit frustrated.
"Can you tell me why I am doing this?" he asked.
"Come on kid, I've already told you, this will help you concentrate when casting spells," Dragoon replied.
"Yeah, but would it be easier to practice how to cast spells by, I don't know, casting spells?"
"Look," Dragoon started as he sat down, "the spells I want to teach you are no joke, failing to cast them may have unpleasant consequences."
"How unpleasant?" asked Merlin.
"Very," Dragoon answered sharply.
"So… no pressure?"
"Actually a lot of pressure; that's why you are practicing," said Dragoon, giving Merlin the empty cup.
Merlin looked at the rest of the cups and sighed.
"Where was it then?" he asked.
Dragoon didn't answer, he just pointed beneath the table.
Merlin didn't understand, but when he leaned over he saw a cup impossibly resting "face up" beneath the table. When he touched it, the cup started to behave as cups are supposed to behave, and he could see that there was a little white ball inside.
"Oh, come on! That's not fair!" Merlin protested.
Dragoon shrugged his shoulders. "The ball was in the cup, the cup was touching the table; it's not my fault if you didn't think of looking there," he said.
Merlin thought about replying, but knowing Dragoon he knew that it would be wasting his time. Besides, this lesson wasn't about just finding the ball. There was a message behind what Dragoon did, and Merlin heard it loud and clear: 'Think outside the box'.
Dragoon waited for a time before sitting down and Merlin followed. A hand wave was all it took him to make the cups disappear in thin air, indicating that they were done for now.
"So… do you have a question for today?" he asked.
Merlin knew he shouldn't hesitate. He looked right at Dragoon.
"Can you change the past?" Merlin asked.
Dragoon pounded the table with excitement, which startled Merlin.
"Now that's a question!" Dragoon said. "Sadly, the answer is no."
Merlin's face reflected his disappointment. "There is no way? Are you sure?" he asked.
"Look kid, I can't assure that a spell such as that doesn't exist, but I can tell you that if it does it's very well hidden."
"You looked for it," Merlin said. It wasn't a question.
Dragoon nodded. "Yes, and for a long time. I followed many leads and went to many places looking for people who claimed to be able to do that, and yet, nothing. After some years I just gave up and kept on living."
"What did you want to change?" Merlin asked.
Dragoon gave him a sad smile. "I wanted to right some wrongs," he said, "isn't that what everyone wants from time travel? How about you? What do you regret?"
"Too much," Merlin said with a lost gaze.
"Care to share a little more?"
For a second Merlin wanted to start talking, but the words got stuck on his threat.
"Why?" Merlin asked as he stood up and walked away from the table. "What's the point of telling you if I can't change any of that?"
"I know that kid, but telling someone usually helps, and it's not like you can talk to just anyone about it. Besides, letting my stupid jokes aside, I happen to be a very good listener."
Merlin looked at Dragoon. He didn't want to tell him about all that had happened; talking about it just made it real. But the words were pushing. They wanted to get out. They wanted to be free. Powerful words. Words that had been imprisoned for far too long.
"It's all…" He cleared his throat. "It's all my fault."
"What do you mean?" asked Dragoon.
"These years, since I came to Camelot, many, many people had died because of me." Merlin sat down with his back to Dragoon. "There was this girl, Freya, who was… important to me, but she was cursed to become a Bastet every night and kill people, so Arthur had no other choice than to kill her. Will, my best friend as a child, was killed for saving my life and keeping my secret. My father, Balinor, was killed for the same reason not one day after I first met him." Merlin asked himself why was he telling him all this, but he just couldn't stop. "Lancelot, a Knight of Camelot who knew what I was and still called me friend, sacrificed himself to close a tear in the veil between worlds; and if that isn't enough there are hundreds if not thousands of people who died because the attacks on Camelot, and it's all my fault."
It took a while for Dragoon to find the right words.
"But kid," he said, "not one of those are your fault. It's true, some of they died protecting you, but that was their choice to make, and they made it because they loved you, because they knew that without you all Camelot is destined to fall."
"I should have saved them! What's the point of being the most powerful sorcerer alive if I can't save the ones I love?" Merlin asked.
Dragoon could swear that he felt a small tremor.
"You can't save everyone kid. It's a horrible lesson that took me years to learn. I'm really, really sorry that you had to learn it at such young age, but it's true, no matter how powerful you are."
"But why do things turn out so wrong? I try and try to do the right thing, to protect Camelot, to make peace between those who have magic and those who hasn't, but in the end I only make things worse."
Dragoon placed one hand on Merlin's shoulder.
"Kid, I know how you feel, but—"
"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Merlin yelled as he moved away from Dragoon. "I release him, I tried to kill her; it's all my fault." He was trying to wipe the tears that fell from his eyes. "I've kill them. I've kill all of them."
The tremor came back tenfold. A jar just flew to the wall and smash into pieces. A crack appeared in the table and grew until it was split in two. The fireplace lit with a dangerously big flame. The entire room was moving.
Dragoon grabbed Merlin by both shoulders.
"Kid, look at me! I need you to calm down," he said firmly. "Take a deep breath," he waited until Merlin had done so, "and again…, and one more…, good."
The room was back to normal and so was Merlin.
"What was that?" he asked.
Dragoon smiled sympathetically. "It was magic," Dragoon said. "Just plain, raw, magic."
Merlin went where the table once was.
"Are you saying I did that?" Merlin asked, with a hint of fear in his voice.
"Who else? Magic is part of you; when you get angry, it gets angry too," Dragoon explained.
Merlin gave another look to the broken table.
"This makes no sense," he said, "I've got angry plenty of times before, believe me, and this has never happened."
"Actually it probably did, but it was too small for you to notice. The more powerful you are, the more powerful these outbursts become."
"And why didn't you tell me about this? It seems rather important!" Merlin said, pointing at the mess around them.
"Honestly? I didn't think you would have to worry about this for at least another twenty years. I mean… I knew you were powerful, but this…" Dragoon let out a small laugh and then shook his head. "This is way beyond what I expected."
"I'm glad that you are impressed," said Merlin, "but what should I do?"
"Don't worry, in time you'll learn to control it, and in the meantime I suggest you stay away from really stressful situations."
Merlin raised his eyebrows. "Have you met me?"he asked.
Dragoon answered that with a smile.
"This won't happen in your usual 'skeletons want to kill us' situations," he said in a reassuring voice, "it has to be a much more powerful feeling. Right now you were reliving the loss of friends, of people you love, and if that wasn't enough, you blame yourself, wrongly, for that."
It was too much to take. Another thing that he couldn't control. Another thing that makes magic dangerous. Another thing that he had to hide from everyone. He was tired of all that.
"What now?" asked Merlin.
"Now, we talk a little more," said Dragoon, sitting back down.
"Are you kidding me? Do you want me to blow up all of Camelot? You should be teaching me how to control it, not talking about my feelings!"
Dragoon just stared at him.
"And besides," continued Merlin, "we have no time to talk; Gaius will come back any moment now and I have to clean all this mess before he does."
"What mess?" asked Dragoon.
Merlin thought that Dragoon had finally gone crazy.
"What mess!? What do y—" Merlin turned around and there it was. The room looked just as if nothing of this had happened. As if everything had been a dream. And in the middle of it was a smiling not-so-crazy warlock. "You really need to teach me how to do that!" Merlin exclaimed.
"Maybe later," Dragoon said, "now I have a few things I want to ask you."
Dragoon sat in the new table and Merlin followed.
"Ask me? What?" he asked.
"Just two things: Who is him? Who is her?" said Dragoon as he raised one finger at a time.
That was the first time Merlin realized what he had said.
"I'm sorry... I don't know what you mean."
"And here I thought we had left the lying behind us. You just said that you had released him and had tried to kill her, and since the whole room almost explodes after that, I think they are someone we need to talk about."
Merlin tried to come up with an explaining that didn't contain a dragon or a seer, but his best idea at the time involved an evil Gwen, which was utterly ridiculous, so he decided not to use that.
"Alright, you caught me, but I still don't want to talk about them," Merlin said
"It's not about what you want kid, it's about what you need." Dragoon waited for a little but Merlin didn't speak. "I tell you what; I'll help you a little bit… I think him is a very large individual whose name starts with 'K' and ends with… 'ilgharrah', am I getting close?"
Merlin was a little bit surprised he wasn't surprised at all.
"You know, the fact you seem to know everything about everything is getting kind of tiresome."
"No it's not," Dragoon pointed out.
"Alright then, how do you know about him?" Merlin asked, knowing that Dragoon was waiting for him to do so.
"I'll tell you, since you asked so nicely. While you and your blonde friend kept getting into trouble, I've been talking with some villagers, listening to their stories. A lot of them told me about a dragon attack that happened in Camelot a few years back, and taking in account that there aren't many dragons in these lands, it was a fair guess. What I don't know, and yes, there are things I don't know, is what is your relationship with him?"
"Well, basically we had a deal," Merlin said. "He had helped me save Camelot many times, and the only thing he asked in return was to be released from his bonds. I never thought, not for a second, that he would attack Camelot as he did… I just didn't."
"Kid, I know that this may be a little late for tell you this, but I knew Kilgharrah at the time of the Great Purge. He was filled with rage, and it blinded him to a point where he saw enemies everywhere; I don't think that twenty years chained to a rock has changed that. He is dangerous," Dragoon said.
"You are right; it's a little bit late for that," Merlin said.
After that the room stayed silent for a while, and a tactful man would know that the conversation was over. Unfortunately for Merlin, tact was never one of Dragoon's traits.
"So who is her?" Dragoon asked.
Merlin needed a few seconds before speaking.
"Don't you want to guess?" Merlin asked.
"Well, if you make me, I would say… Lady Morgana."
Merlin laughed. "This is getting really annoying," he said.
"Cheer up; I'm saving you precious time. So, you told me that you regret trying to kill her, but isn't that acceptable with her attacking the kingdom and trying to kill everyone?" Dragoon asked.
"No, you don't understand; this was before all that. This was the reason she became what she is now. There was this sleep spell bound to her… I thought she knew… now I'm not sure… now it doesn't matter."
"Did anyone ever try to kill you?"
"Of course," Merlin said.
"Have you ever killed an innocent because of that?"
Merlin shook his head.
"Exactly," Dragoon said. "Don't fool yourself kid, she chose her own path."
"I know, I know…" Merlin said, his gaze lost.
Dragoon knew that look a little too well.
"And yet you still care about her, don't you?" he asked.
Merlin didn't respond; he didn't know the answer.
Dragoon sighed.
"Do you know where she is now?" he asked.
"The last thing I knew is that she was hiding somewhere in the mountains with Aithusa."
"Aithusa?"
"A baby white dragon who apparently likes crazy evil women."
"Interesting…" Dragoon said and pondered for a bit. "Where did she get a baby dragon from?"
Merlin was starting to answer when he remembered he hadn't told Dragoon about him being dragonlord.
"There is something I haven't told you..." Merlin said.
"You are a dragonlord."
"I'm are a dragonlord... wait, what? Seriously, stop that!"
"Plase kid, did you really think I didn't know?" Dragoon asked. "I can sense those things."
"Do you happen to know how to bring back magic to Camelot peacefuly? Because if you do I would be very greatful."
"Sorry kid, that one I don't know."
Merlin took a deep breath.
"Anyway, I found the egg in the tomb of Ashkanar and helped it hatch. Again, it's my fault that Morgana now has one of the last two dragons in existence."
"That's a bit self-centered, don't you think? There are other places besides Camelot," Dragoon said.
"What do you mean?" asked Merlin, confused.
Dragoon thought Merlin was exaggerating, but his face told a different story.
"They are not the last two dragons," Dragoon said, "not even close; why would you think… Kilgharrah told you that, didn't he?"
Merlin couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So, there are more dragons who survived the purge?" he asked.
Dragoon smiled.
"Kid, do you even know how big is this world? There are hundreds dragons who don't even know about the purge."
Merlin didn't know what to say. In his mind he was imagining a sky full of dragons. Red, green, blue, black, golden, silver, white; all those colors covering the sky, moving, dancing.
"Alright, I think this is enough talk for one night," said Dragoon as he stood up.
Merlin just nodded.
.
.
.
He was finally getting far enough from Camelot. Dragoon stopped in a clearing that had just the right amount of trees; they would be able to fit there, but at the same time would be hidden by some random traveler. Also, it was far enough that no one would hear them fight, just in case the meeting went the wrong way... Who was he kidding? They were going to fight; he hoped at least they would do some talk in between blows.
Dragoon looked at the sky and yelled something in dragon-tongue which translated roughly as, "I know you can hear me, come over here or I will find you and kick your tail."
For a while nothing happened, which was exactly what Dragoon expected. Even if he had heard him and had decided to come it would take some time for him to reach that place. There was time to kill, and so he looked at the sky and started to speak. It was a game he had learned long ago. A game which consisted in naming every star and constellation he could see. A game he liked, for the sky was one of the few things that time didn't change. A game that almost made him miss the giant fireball that was flying towards where he stood.
He thought about dodging it, but it was already too late for that. A shield spell in the last second did the trick. Almost. One of his sleeves was on fire and he would have to get a new cloak, but at least he wasn't a pile of ashes, so he had that going for him. In the sky, two more fireballs were heading towards where he stood, but now he was ready. He stretched his arms and chanted a spell which made two walls of ice appear in front of him. The fireballs collided and after the smoke cleared he was staring at two puddles of water with an angry dragon between them.
"Nice entrance!" exclaimed Dragoon.
The dragon gave a loud roar, showing his sharp teeth.
"I don't need your compliments foolish human! How dare you summon me like that?"
"Your pride is way too big Kilgharrah, you should check that, might be contagious," said Dragoon as he quenched the last fires on his clothes.
"You and your petty jokes… Tell me Dragoon, what am I doing here? Have you called me to ask for my forgiveness?"
"Don't flatter yourself lizard, what you have done is your fault and yours alone, I'm not here for that."
"So what then? Don't tell me that the great Dragoon needs my help?" asked Kilgharrah with a mocking voice.
Dragoon just smiled.
"I'm here because of Merlin."
There was a moment of silence before Kilgharrah spoke.
"Ah, so you know," he said.
"Yes, I know. He was the one who would bring magical and non magical people together, and you manipulated him so you could get your stupid revenge!" said Dragoon.
"Don't fool yourself, without my help Merlin wouldn't be alive today. All I ever did was for our own kind, when are you going to see that?" said Kilgharrah.
"Even attacking Camelot?"
"YES!" Kilgharrah said, and the ground shook. "Camelot is our enemy, they don't deserve our pity."
"So we kill them? And then what? Do you think that the other kingdoms would just be fine with it? They are going to attack us. Everywhere, magical and non magical people will be at war. Thousands will die. Is that what you want?" Dragoon asked.
"You never understood how the world works… You and Merlin are alike that way. Tell me then, if they are not our enemy, why is Merlin hiding who he is? Why are you?" Dragoon didn't say anything, so Kilgharrah continued, "I'll tell you why, because the second they know about you they are going to kill you. They are going to kill all of us! It will be the purge all over again!"
"It's different now Kilgharrah, this time we have Emrys, and he will never let that happen. He has chosen a better way to deal with the problem than just killing everybody. Merlin is trying to change their minds, to show them that magic isn't evil, so that one day Camelot will embrace it once more."
"And how is that going exactly?" asked Kilgharrah, showing a grin.
Dragoon sighed. "It could be better," he said.
Kilgharrah's eyes opened and let out a small chuckle.
"Well, at least we agree in something."
"Which I think lead us to the real question," said Dragoon, as he looked right at Kilgharrah's eyes. "Why am I here?"
Kilgharrah looked confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. "You summoned me."
"Come on Kilgharrah! Before I arrived to Camelot, Merlin didn't know who I was or that I even existed, and still he chose my name as his alias. Do you know what are the chances of that happening? And then there is you, who just happen to have telepathic abilities and a history of using others like puppets."
For a moment they both look at each other, neither of them saying a word.
"You were always a sharp one Dragoon; however you did take your time getting here."
Dragoon shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? I'm a busy man."
Kilgharrah just kept staring at Dragoon. You could almost hear him thinking.
"Well?" asked Dragoon.
"I see that there is no point in playing games with you," Kilgharrah said. "What I want is simple: I need you to help Merlin to fulfill his destiny."
Dragoon laughed. "You are a little late," he said, "I've been training him since the first day I arrived here."
"And as usual Dragoon, you don't understand," Kilgharrah said with contempt in his voice. "He has already more than enough power. You are here to do the one thing he can't." Kilgharrah got closer to Dragoon until their heads were almost touching. "You have to kill the witch Morgana."
"And why is that exactly?" Dragoon asked. "Wait, let me guess, you had a vision of her doing terrible things and so you must stop her, am I right?"
Kilgharrah snorted and fire came out of his nostrils.
"You should know better than to mock my visions, human."
"And you should know better than to blindly follow them, lizard."
A big roar came out of Kilgharrah's mouth.
"You were always too short sighted Dragoon, prioritizing the now over the future, never realizing they are one and the same." He took a deep breath. "Nevertheless, my visions don't matter in this case; Morgana has killed many people in her attempts to take over Camelot, that's a fact, and I very much expect her to try again. Are you really going to let more innocents die just because Merlin can't do what he has to?"
"You know?" asked Dragoon, "it's interesting how much you seem to care about the innocent people taking into account how you were attacking Camelot not so long ago."
Kilgharrah grinned. "I don't care about them Dragoon, but you do, so just tell me, are you going to kill her or not?"
"Right now I have no reason to kill her," Dragoon said, "and if I'm honest with you, the fact that you want her dead makes me want to kill her even less; however, since I see from your face that you are about to breath fire all over me, I will tell you that I also won't let her hurt anyone else. Happy?"
"And how are you going to accomplish that exactly? Asking her nicely?" Kilgharrah said in a mocking tone.
"I might actually try that."
"Alright then Dragoon, let it be your way for now… Just don't come begging me for help when you realize what you have done," and with that Kilgharrah flew away.
.
.
.
There was another dragon in Camelot. She was resting in her cave, near to the fire which kept her worm, but more importantly, near the one she had to protect. Aithusa looked up and found her looking back. 'Morgana', that was her name. She was her mother and her best friend. Her teacher and her caretaker. She was her everything, and Aithusa would make sure that nothing bad ever happens to her.
That's why the instant the man entered their cave she jumped into an attack stance. It was no one she had seen before, but she spent more of her time hidden, so that was no surprise. The man kept approaching, so she let out a small flame which made him stop.
The man smiled and looked past her.
"Hello Morgana," he said.
He knew her, but that didn't mean anything, he could still mean harm. Aithusa stood ground and looked back and forth between the man and Morgana, who looked shocked for some reason.
She was ready to attack when Morgana spoke.
"Alvarr!" she said, "is that really you?"
"It's me, my lady."
Morgana walked until he was next to the man, 'Alvarr'. Apparently she knew him too. Morgana raised her hand and slapped him across his face, which made Aithusa let out a growl.
"Where the hell have you been all this time?" she asked." Do you know all the things that I've been through? I could have used your help!"
"It's nice to see you too," Alvarr answered, rubbing his face. "I'm sorry Morgana, I wanted to help you, but I was a wanted man; I couldn't stay anywhere near Camelot."
"And what about when I was queen? Why didn't you show up then?"
"You had already conquered Camelot, why did you need me for?"
Aithusa could understand some of what they were saying, but they were talking about thing that happened before, when she wasn't. Was he friend or foe?
Morgana ended the silence.
"So, what are you doing here?" she asked.
Alvarr showed a charming smile. "I'm actually here to give you a gift," he said.
"A gift? Do you think some stupid trinket would make me forgive you?" she asked.
"It's not that kind of gift," he said. "I bring you the news you have longed for."
Morgana took a step back and almost tripped over a pile of wood. Luckly for her, Aithusa was watching closely and she catched her with her tail before she fell.
Morgana pet Aithusa's head, cleared her throat and looked back at the man called Alvarr.
"Arthur's death?" she asked.
Alvarr shook his head. "The key to it," he said.
"Tell me!" she demanded.
"There is someone you have been searching for, someone that has always eluded you."
"Emrys."
Aithusa looked up. That was one word she knew well. The evil sorcerer who almost killed Morgana. The one who made them hide in that cave and the source of Morgana's nightmares. Aithusa looked at the man standing in front of her. Was that Emrys? Wasn't he named Alvarr? It was all very confusing.
"I know where he is," the man said.
"Where?" Morgana asked.
"Camelot. And I have his true identity." Alvarr looked at Morgana and smiled. "It is Merlin's uncle."
Morgana looked to the ground, thinking, planning, getting ready what undoubtedly would be a fitting punishment to get revenge for all th—
"Wait…" said Morgana as she raised both hands, "did you say Merlin? Are you actually telling me that Merlin, the boy who cleans the stables, is the nephew of the most powerful sorcerer who has ever lived?"
Alvarr nodded. "That appears to be the case. My informants tell me that he calls himself Drake, but that his true name is Dragoon the Great."
"That's the name he used when I first met him!" Morgana started to walk back and forth. "This is unbelievable, I didn't even know that Merlin had an uncle, but this explains so much! How he knew all those things, how he always survived against impossible odds; he has always had Emrys' help!"
"Do you think he is a sorcerer too?" Alvarr asked.
Morgana looked at him for a second and then burst in laughter.
"Are you serious? Have you even met him? No, he's obviously just his uncle's inside man."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Alvarr asked.
Morgana turned around showing a big grin.
"What do you think? I'm going to kill Dragoon the Great."
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A/N: I hope you liked it!
Thanks Cel140, CHARLES CHUKU, mersan123, Patiku and Guest (?) for the reviews =D
As an astronomy fact, stars do change over time (contrary to what Dragoon said), but they do it VERY slowly, even for a guy who has lived as long as him.
mersan123: Thanks for the support disliking Merlin's finale XD! Let's hope you like this one better! As for the update frequency, I said once per week since I don't want to lie, but I think that once in a while (every 3 weeks?) I will be posting two chapters, maybe one on Wednesday and other over the weekend.
Patiku: Thanks for the review! OOC is something I try to avoid, but sometimes it happens. However, you have to take in account that for many characters their lives are completly different of what they were in Season 4, since they went through a year that wasn't necessary the same as they did between Season 4 and 5 (for example, Morgana wasn't captured), so I could argue that that year changed them the way I wrote them XD (that's cheating!). Morgana just appeared in this chapter, and she's pissed off as usual, but with any luck she won't kill everyone. We'll have to wait and see...