"You better start explaining yourself," Arthur said as he looked around for any sign of the dragon coming back. "Why didn't that dragon attack you?"
"He's my friend," Merlin stated and a look of shock covered the young man's face that was stood opposite him. "You remember that dragon I told you about? The one I managed to hit? Well it was him that I hit. I went and found him, discovered I had hurt him and decided that instead of taking him back to Camelot, I'd help him."
"You do realise you sound insane right? A dragon wouldn't just let you help it."
"This one did. I brought him food, worked on his tail and now he can fly again. It was because of him I survived when I jumped on that dragons back. He rescued me."
"Like I'm going to believe that."
"Then how do you explain how much I know about dragons? I know their weaknesses, soft spots, how to relax them so they don't attack. Being friends with a dragon has its advantages." Merlin walked over to a nearby boulder and climbed the side so he could sit on the top, watching over the ground below incase Kilgh decided to attack again.
"I still think you used your magic," Arthur commented and put his knife back into his boot.
"Well I don't care what you think," Merlin muttered and crossed his arms. He didn't want Arthur to be here. This was a place where Merlin could come to be himself without worrying about anyone seeing him, even if Arthur knew about his magic, it didn't mean that Merlin didn't want the privacy. "Now you know my secret, can you leave?"
"Tell me something, Merlin. What was going to be your excuse this time when your friends asked you where you were? This party is being held for you, everyone will notice you're not there and there are very few reasons why you wouldn't be there. You're not ill or dying, so that rules them out. Apart from that, you have nothing." There was a brief hesitation and then it dawned on Arthur, "You weren't coming back … were you?"
"What if I wasn't? The only reason any of them are paying attention to me is because I won that stupid thing that I didn't even want to do to begin with. I have no family back there. No friends. What's the point in staying somewhere where I can't even be myself?"
"What about Gaius-"
"He has Will. They'll be fine. He simply took pity on me and took me in so I had someone to look after me whilst growing up. Well, I'm all grown up now. Time to leave the nest and find a life for myself."
"You can't just leave Merlin. This island isn't very big and there's only so far you can run before you hit water."
"There are ways to get off this island," Merlin replied and got to his feet. Waving his hand in the air, it was a signal for the dragon to emerge from his hiding place and shoot over to stand by the base of the boulder. Arthur took a step towards them, as if to stop Merlin from leaving, however one glare from the dragon stopped him in his tracks.
"Just take a minute to think about this. You have no idea what's out there."
"Anywhere is better then here," he stated and leapt onto Kilgh's back. His hands gripped onto the scales at the dragon's neck and Kilgh turned away from Arthur, getting ready to fly into the air. There was but a mere second between the moment when Arthur leapt onto the dragon's back behind Merlin and when Kilgh took off.
As the dragon went higher, Arthur's grip tightened around Merlin's waist and the warlock smiled at the thought of something actually making the Prince scared. There wasn't much that could. It was only when Kilgh leveled out that Arthur lifted his head from Merlin's back and looked at the sight around them. They were above the clouds now and the moon was larger then either of them had ever seen it.
"You shouldn't have done that," Merlin said to Arthur as they fell into a comfortable silence.
"Didn't give me much of a choice. Unlike you, I can't use magic to stop you from flying off. The most I could do is order you to come back and we both now how much you dislike orders." Arthur replied and looked down at the clouds below them. "This is … amazing."
Merlin looked down at the dragon who he didn't have to see to know that he was smiling to himself. It was only because of Kilgh that they had the ability to do this. "There's nothing quite like flying through the air and knowing if you fell, you'd die." Merlin teased and got a playful punch on his thigh as Arthur loosened his arm from around his waist.
"You know what I mean," Arthur said and rested his chin on Merlin's shoulder. "I wonder how many people have done this."
"I'm taking a guess that only two people have," Merlin commented and dipped his foot so the dragon's tail changed. Kilgh dropped through the clouds slowly and gracefully so they were closer to the water below. "You're not going to tell your Father about this are you? When he gets back I mean."
"If I did, I'd have to explain why I didn't kill you both on the spot."
"And why didn't you?" Merlin asked.
Arthur fell silent and turned his head to the side, resting his cheek against Merlin's shoulder now. "I have no chance against someone with magic," he lied. They both knew Merlin could never truly hurt Arthur and that the reason why he wouldn't tell his Father wasn't because of Merlin's magic. It was because he'd have to explain why he had been chasing someone like Merlin in the first place.
"Well … thanks, for not telling." Merlin felt butterflies appear in his stomach as Arthur's lips brushed against his neck in an affectionate manner, however that was ended when out of the blue, Kilgh dropped them through the air and both boys sat up straight in shock. "Kilgh, what's going on? Why have you-"
"Be quiet. They are here."
He felt his body tense as a cold mist began to surround them as Kilgh attempted to hide them and it was only when he saw something in the corner of his eye that he realised what Kilgh meant. Turning his head sideways, he saw around a dozen dragons appear out of the mist. Looking the opposite way, even more surrounded them. Arthur's arms held him tighter and he knew that there must be more behind them. "Crouch down," he whispered quietly to Arthur and they both bent forward so they weren't so obvious.
Kilgh flew calmly amongst his kind and Merlin knew they had no option but to keep going. If they broke off now, it would rouse suspicion. Glancing sideways, he saw every dragon carrying live stock and many looked nervous. How he knew that's what they felt by a certain look, he didn't know. Merlin was no expert by any means.
Just when he thought they were safe, all the dragons dove into a hole in an upcoming cave and Merlin felt the hot air engulf them as they entered the same hole. Each dragon flew to the center to drop their live stock into a place where Merlin couldn't quite see and instead of following, Kilgh took them up to a high, secluded ledge. Both of the boys slid off the dragon and lay on the ground as they peered over the edge. Trying to see what was going on.
"Where do you think we are?" Arthur asked quietly.
"I believe this is what your Father is looking for," Merlin replied as he watched the final dragon fly into the cave to drop the final sacrifice inside the hole. Compared to what every other dragon had brought, that serving had been nothing. Apparently whatever was down in the hole agreed as a loud roar sounded through the cave and Merlin covered his ears.
The walls began to shake as something moved below and Merlin's heart stopped dead in his chest when a huge monster emerged from the hot steam covering the surface of the hole. The beast was so large that Merlin doubted he could ever imagine something that size and the dragon it now consumed was barely the size of one of its teeth. He shuffled backwards without thinking and his hand accidently cut against a rock from the movement.
As he stared down at the bleeding cut, he realised that he was being watched and as he turned his head, he met the eyes of a fire dragon that had scented the blood. "We need to go, now!" Merlin said to Arthur and they leapt onto Kilgh's back as more dragons noticed them. The dragon didn't need to be told to take off and they were quickly heading towards the exit, the large beast below bellowing in frustration and the smaller dragons now racing them to the exit in fear of the beast taking out it's wrath on them.
"Faster!" Merlin yelled as a shot of fire began to chase them and Kilgh picked up speed, now far ahead of the other dragons as they were consumed by the fire. As they broke through the clouds, Merlin felt the breath leave his body and his eyes went wide as the anger of the beast filled him. It was like he was the dragon and every cell in his body felt like it was expanding, pushing out against his skin as the sound went through his mind.
"Merlin? Are you okay? Merlin?"
The warlock's eyes turned golden and suddenly he was back in the cave, looking out through the hole in the direction of where they'd been flying. It had their scent now. You came into my home and dare think you can escape? Pray that I do not find you, young warlock. For it would be your last moments alive. The thoughts belonged to the dragon and suddenly Merlin was back in his body, two large hands holding him upright on the dragon they were currently flying.
"Merlin, what happened? Talk to me!"
He said nothing as they dropped down to the ground, Merlin didn't even realise how close to the village they were and that Kilgh hadn't thought to go back to their usual resting place. Merlin was half dragged off the dragon as he threw his legs over the side and it was only when his feet hit solid ground that his knees gave away beneath him. Arthur however had expected it and caught him, falling to his knees to soften the fall.
"What is wrong Merlin?" Kilgh asked.
"Damn it Merlin, what's going on? Are you hurt?" Arthur cupped his face as he tried to get an answer from him and Merlin shook his head, knowing this was just the after affects of the spell he unintentionally cast to enter the beasts mind. Why his body had decided that that had been a good idea, he didn't know. "Lets get you home."
Arthur picked Merlin up with ease and was about to walk away when Kilgh moved in front of him, his mouth parted to show it's sharp teeth in a threatening manner. "You're not going anywhere with him," Merlin heard the dragon say and Arthur simply stood there, having no idea what had been said. Merlin frowned at the idea that only he could understand the dragon speaking and then shoved Arthur away so he could get to his feet.
Taking a step forward, he knelt on the ground and cupped the dragons head. "I'll come see you tomorrow. Go back to the usual place to rest. He won't hurt me." Kilgh didn't need much convincing after that and soon Merlin was left alone with Arthur. "You really think you could carry me all the way home?" He asked with a teasing manner.
"I'm not a weakling like you. Carrying you home would be easy."
"That's good …" Merlin managed to get out before he fell unconscious. The events of the day catching up to him.