If anyone's interested I have recently posted a new story about the re-telling of the fairy story Beauty and the Beast, but with a twist that it's in a world of discrimination and the Beast is not a monster, but a man people fear because of the colour of his skin. I'm hoping to continue a re-telling of fairy stories and publish them on the Kindle next year! So it would be a great help if you could give it a read and tell me what you think :)

Anyway, sorry about the delayed update, I hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 11

The Warning

The Great Dragon stared down at Merlin, but his eyes weren't filled with anger or hatred or disappointment. More...curiosity.

Merlin glanced around him, he was back beneath the castle of Camelot, where he had gone so many times to see the Dragon, what felt like so long ago now. He couldn't work out if he was dreaming, or had been somehow transported back to Camelot.

"Well Merlin, it's been a long time," Kilgharrah said conversationally, as if the whole incident with Morgana had never happened.

"What have you done?" Merlin almost said threateningly. Anger was bubbling up inside him at the very thought of being transported away from Morgana and his mother, all the way back to Camelot, without a choice. While he was still sleeping! And the Dragon was acting so calm about the whole thing.

But Kilgharrah seemed to know what he was talking about, and said, "Relax young Warlock, you are still at your mother's village. I'm using magic so I can talk to you while you sleep."

This was more acceptable, though Merlin wasn't sure how pleased he was to actually see the Dragon again. "What do you want?" He asked, "I'm not coming back to Camelot," he added quickly before Kilgharrah could reply.

The Dragon sighed, "No, I don't think I'll be able to persuade you to come to Camelot Merlin, so you have no fear of being asked that."

"So why am I here?" Merlin demanded.

"If you are going to continue with this mad, impossible journey of running away with the woman who is against your destiny and abandoning Arthur, I might as well warn you."

Merlin wished he knew a way to wake himself up from this dream, he really wasn't interested in what the Dragon was saying. He knew running away with Morgana over the border was dangerous, so why did he need to be warned? "Warn me about what?"

"The people you will meet."

At this point the Young Warlock lost all his patience. "You know, for once it would be nice if you could say something without sounding so cryptic. Your mystic warnings will not change anything if I do not understand them. Just tell me what you mean."

The Dragon looked a little disgruntled at this, but still he continued. "Fine. At the moment you are safe, you are with people who you can trust, but that will not last forever. You know you cannot stay in your mother's village forever, but from then on the people you meet will not be as kind and trusting as her. If you want me to put it bluntly Merlin, than I shall this - you may meet many more people on your journey with Morgana, but none of them you can trust."

There was a pause. "Why are you telling me this?" Merlin asked eventually.

"As a thanks for all you have done for Camelot so far," Kilgharrah said, Merlin wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic. "Because I don't want you completely destroying your destiny. You may have abandoned your path Merlin, but it is still there, ready to be followed again. Beware of the people you encounter from now on, because they could cast a shadow over that path so that you may never find it again. And I would warn you the same thing about Morgana, but of course I know that wouldn't make any difference. I just hope you'll be able to heed some of my words young Warlock, so you won't lead yourself into even more danger."

Merlin thought carefully about this. It was true, he wouldn't listen to anything the Dragon said about Morgana, because he knew the real Morgana, but he was worried about his other warning, about the people he would meet. Kilgharrah was quite right, he wouldn't be able to stay with his mother forever, and the world outside his village was not as safe and comforting, but where could they go if everyone else he might meet in the future be a threat to him and Morgana?

"Who am I going to meet?" Merlin asked.

But of course it would be far too easy if the Dragon answered that question. "People you should not trust." He said simply.

The Young Warlock glared at the Great Dragon, he may have come to warn him about the future, but he couldn't say what that future was. Perhaps this was just a way to scare Merlin to coming back to Camelot. He remembered the dream about fire and Dragon's roars, had Kilgharrah sent him that one too? But should Merlin really just discard these words? The Dragon had always been a guide to the dangers that lay ahead.

There was a pause, when Kilgharrah suddenly sighed and looked genuinely worried. "Good luck Merlin."

"Good luck for what?" Merlin demanded, but he barely finished his sentence when he felt an invisible force suddenly drag him away. The conversation was over, Kilgharrah did not have anything more to say, so the magic was failing.

The Dragon in his underground prison suddenly became very distant as Merlin was pulled away from Camelot by some invisible force. Before Merlin could say or do anything else he was being sucked into darkness...

Then he woke up.

At first Merlin glanced around, confused and a little scared, he couldn't remember where he was, what he was doing. For a moment he thought he was back in Camelot, but this was not his chamber.

Then he remembered he was in his mother's home, he was with Morgana, they were safe, but he was very far away from Camelot. The thought of being so far away brought a twinge of pain to Merlin's heart. He may not want to go back, but that didn't mean there were people there he didn't miss. But when he noticed that he was alone and it was daylight outside, he realised he had overslept, and quickly jumped up out of bed.

After dressing, Merlin headed outside, to find Morgana was already working out in the field. He looked around for his mother, but couldn't see her.

Morgana looked up and smiled in greeting. "Good sleep?" She said in a slightly teasing way, her eyes twinkling. She thought it was funny Merlin had overslept, but Merlin didn't, perhaps it was more because of what he dreamt as he overslept. Morgana noticed, "What's wrong?" She asked, her teasing tone replaced with concern.

"Err, nothing," Merlin said hurriedly, "I was just wondering where my mother had gone..." He glanced around, but Hunith was nowhere near.

"She had some things to collect at the market," Morgana said casually. But then she paused, "She should be back by now..."

That made Merlin all the more worried, what was the Dragon wishing him luck about? Who were the people he was going to meet? Had they found his mother?

But he convinced himself he was over reacting, Hunith had probably just met someone at the market and got chatting, like she always did. Sure enough, not long after that she returned, and said she had been talking to a few people in the market, but it was not good news. There was worry in her eyes as she went up to her son.

"There's a rumour going round that Uther has sent men into all the countries that border Camelot. No one knows why, but some say he's looking for something."

Merlin looked over at Morgana, who was now feeding some chickens a short distance away, with sadness in his eyes. "There's only one reason why he would risk sending men over the borders..." Morgana had an absent-minded smile on her face as she did her work. She enjoyed doing chores, she liked living in the village, she thought she had got away from Uther and Camelot. This wasn't fair.

"And they're coming this way Merlin," said his mother, her voice sounded strangely distant, but he knew that was what she was going to say.

No wonder the Dragon had come to him in his dreams to warn him about the people he would meet in the future, because suddenly this village was no longer a safe haven for the two of them. They couldn't stay.

Merlin had accepted the fact that they wouldn't be able to stay here forever, but he and Morgana had only been staying in the village for a week, he thought they would have more time, and he thought they wouldn't have to start running again from Uther's marching soldiers so soon. This wasn't at all fair.

"How long do we have?" He asked.

"I'll have to ask people what else they know, but I don't think you have long." Hunith said.

Merlin said nothing, there was suddenly a great weight on his heart. He continued watching Morgana, and wondered how he was going to break the news to her.