A/N: Is this a fast enough update? ^_^

Albion's New Age

Chapter Ten

Kneeling next to Merlin, Arthur lifted his head up so that he could ask Kilgharrah what he'd done to him when he noticed that something was happening to the dragon too. His scales had become several shades lighter and the dragon himself seemed to be fading away. Alarmed by the sight, Arthur asked him:

"What's wrong?"

Kilgharrah looked at him with an indescribable emotion in those huge yellow eyes.

"Tell Merlin to remember Aithusa."

The dragon's voice sounded distant as if he was no longer there. Arthur was divided between trying to figure out what had happened to Merlin and to do something to help the dragon for it was now clear the poor thing was in deep trouble. He opted for a compromise and, shaking Merlin, he tried to wake him up.

It was useless.

Merlin didn't wake and, what was worse, Kilgharrah's whole body appeared now translucent. The eyes, formerly a vivid yellow, looked dull and tired. Arthur didn't know what else to do so he settled for just watching as the dragon pushed himself up in the air flapping the huge wings once, twice, thrice until they became a glittery blur that merged with the silvery glow coming from Kilgharrah's body.

Arthur and the soldiers observed in some sort of trance as the light condensed into a single spot of incredibly bright light and then, it just shot down crashing into the earth, lifting up a massive cloud of dust. The King feared it would leave a gigantic crater on the ground but when the dirt settled, they all saw it:

It was the most magnificent oak Arthur had ever seen.

"Oh wow," one of the soldiers gasped in amazement.

"What was…" another one started.

Arthur quieted them with a gesture of his hand and for a moment, he decided to remain there in silence.

Somehow, he felt this was the right thing to do.

"Goodbye, Kilgharrah," the King said after a while.

Returning his attention to Merlin, he realised that it was pointless to wait until he woke up so, with the help of a couple of the soldiers, they got him onto his horse, securing him so he could make it to Ealdor. Arthur was acutely aware that showing up at Hunith's doorstep with her son, who was supposed to be dead, knocked out because of a dragon's magic had not been the plan but it was the only thing he could do.

The party of eight arrived at the quiet village just before midday. Thankfully, the villagers were very familiar with Arthur for the King had visited them twice after Merlin's death, both having been futile attempts at trying to persuade Hunith to move to Camelot so that she could receive the care she deserved. The woman, of course, was as stubborn as Merlin and had very politely refused both offers.

"Good mor…" one of them said but then, he saw Merlin's unconscious form and shrieked loudly.

"Please," Arthur almost begged, "where may I find Hunith?"

"S…she's at home, My Lord," the man said stuttering badly.

"Thank you," Arthur replied.

Hurrying to the cottage where Hunith had always lived, he ordered his soldiers to get Merlin down from the horse but also instructed them to wait outside so that he could try to explain to Hunith what had happened.

Knocking on the door, he waited for Merlin's mother to invite him in.

"Good morning, Hunith," he said.

"Arthur," the woman said with a patient tone of voice, "I appreciate your concern…"

"I'm not here to ask you to come with us to Camelot," Arthur interrupted her, "I…er…well, I'm here with sort of good news." The King noticed her confusion so he added, "a few days ago, something extraordinary happened: we found…we found Merlin."

Understandably, Hunith needed to sit on her bench.

"Somehow he was alive…still is," he hurried to correct himself, "but something else happened on our way here and, well, he's not hurt but he's unconscious and I thought we'd bring him here until he wakes up."

"Of course," Hunith finally reacted, "where is he?"

"Just outside," Arthur replied. He knew the situation called for a more sober expression but, seeing Merlin's mother looking so happy made him smile. He now only hoped Merlin would regain consciousness soon.

After placing him carefully on Hunith's bed, the only one she owned, Arthur decided to step outside for a bit so that he could give her some space to be with her son. He could understand the poor woman, he was still in shock that Merlin was alive and he'd had quite a while to get used to the idea.

While they waited, some villagers offered them some food. Arthur didn't have the heart to decline and, after trying to eat the porridge he had been offered, he decided to keep himself busy by checking on their gear.

Meanwhile, Hunith was sitting by Merlin's side caressing his face with just her fingertips. She was so afraid she'd hurt him that she didn't feel confident enough to use her whole hand. The poor woman had always been used to hardship, having lost the love of her life to the crazed fears of a tyrant. She had then found herself unmarried and with child in a village well known for milking all sorts of gossip.

She'd been lucky that she'd had a few precious allies, both within and outside Ealdor. Thanks to that, she'd managed to bring up Merlin as well as she could. But his magic had always been a problem and much sooner than she hoped, she'd had to send him away to Camelot. She knew that it was the only thing she could do to keep him safe.

Yet, it was that act that put Merlin in danger and, when Arthur had shown up a little over a month ago, to inform her about Merlin's death, she had wanted to give everything up and just die. Her son was gone, and her heart had no reason to go on. That night, she was ready to do the unthinkable when she heard Balinor's voice telling her to hold on, that Merlin wasn't lost forever. To have faith in him.

And so she did.

"My boy," she muttered moving her hand from his face to his hand, "I knew you'd come back."

Carefully, she lifted his hand up and bent down to kiss it. She was rising again when she noticed his eyes.

They were wide open and were staring at her in confusion.

"Merlin!" she exclaimed happily.

"Mother?" he asked her, he glanced around clearly recognising the cottage, "what am I doing here?"

Hunith was going to reply when, pushing the door open with vehemence, Arthur stormed into the place.

"Merlin!" he shouted.

He started walking towards the bed when something in the way Merlin was looking at him made him stop.

"A…" the younger man tried, he then cleared his throat and, sitting up on the bed, he screamed, "Arthur!"

"Merlin," the King called again, "you…you…"

He couldn't finish the sentence for, right at that instant Merlin jumped up from the bed and wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck, hugging him like his very life depended on it. Arthur tried to find it in himself to protest but his arms had already draped themselves around Merlin's waist, tightening the embrace even further.

Merlin's mother chose that moment to leave them alone.

But neither of them noticed her departure and it wasn't until a full two minutes later that they decided to release each other; obviously not quite ready to break contact, Arthur remained with his hand firmly grasping Merlin's forearm. Looking up, the King saw Merlin's teary eyes boring into his face, as if he were trying to carve in his mind each and every single detail of it. Arthur found that very endearing and that made him say:

"Idiot, stop crying, I'm not going anywhere."

Merlin just started babbling inelegantly.

"Seriously," Arthur said, "I am NOT going anywhere, okay?"

Merlin nodded and, this time, he managed to say:

"I thought I would never see you again."

"I know the feeling," Arthur said darkly, "by the way, I order you not to do something as stupid as that ever again."

"What?" Merlin asked, "giving my life for yours?" he added rather cheekily.

"Yes," Arthur replied sounding dead serious.

"I can't make any promises," Merlin said matching his tone.

Arthur looked at his best friend and, shaking his head, he smiled again and said:

"It's good to have you…I mean, all of you back."

"It's good to be back too," Merlin said then, he frowned and said, "speaking of, how did I manage that?"

Arthur looked horrified and forced himself to ask:

"Just how much do you remember of the past few days?"

Merlin thought about it and said, "not a lot."

The King had an odd sense of déjà-vu and, sitting down on the bed, he invited Merlin to do the same and spent the following hour giving a condensed version of what had happened ever since he'd been found in the Lake of Avalon. Of course, just in case, he decided to skip the conversation they'd had the previous night.

"…it's a pity you couldn't see it," Arthur said as he finished talking about Kilgharrah, "it was quite beautiful."

Only then he noticed Merlin looked rather distraught at the news, almost as if he'd been informed of a relative's death and that made Arthur imagine he still had a lot to learn about the art of the dragonlords.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Hunith said poking her head through the door.

"Oh please, come in," Arthur replied finding it strange he was inviting the woman into her own house.

"I just remembered this," Hunith said, "a courier brought it with him a couple of days ago."

She gave Arthur a piece of parchment addressed to him. It was sealed by the Camelot Royal Seal.

"Thank you," the King said breaking the seal open.

"Who would write to you here?" Merlin asked him.

"It's from Guinevere," Arthur said lifting his eyes for a moment, then he finished reading the missive: whatever it said, Hunith and Merlin both understood that it wasn't good news, "we've got to go."

"Okay," Merlin agreed without giving it a second thought.

"I'm really sorry Hunith," Arthur said glancing at Merlin, "I really wish you could spend more time with him…"

"It's fine," the woman said, "you do have a country to run and you need him by your side."

"That, I do," Arthur wasn't ashamed to admit. He grinned a little seeing Merlin's shocked expression but then, remembering the contents of the letter made him get serious again, "Merlin," he said, "I can only give you a few minutes. We're leaving as soon as the horses are ready."

"Of course," Merlin hurried to say.

Arthur stepped out of the room leaving Merlin alone with his mother.

"I'm sorry about this," he said, "after what you've been through…"

"Don't worry about me," Hunith said bravely, "I told you once and I'm telling you again, you need each other."

Merlin just nodded and, bending down, he hugged her petite frame hoping he'd see her again very soon.

"I love you, Mother," he muttered.

"I love you, too," she replied.

With this, the young warlock stepped out of the cottage, joining Arthur who was busy securing his bags on the horse. When the King saw him he signalled for him to get closer and, lowering his tone to a whisper said:

"Merlin, I meant it when I said I will need you, now more than ever."

"What's happened?" Merlin asked.

"A sorcerer has invaded King Odin's lands and disposed of the King, Guinevere said that Camelot's next."

To be continued…