Author's Note: Keep da reviews comin' mah readers. :)
Arthur took a few steps closer to Merlin, feeling anxious. His instinct was to believe that dragons were dangerous and evil. But then, he had always believed that magic was evil as well, and he had been wrong about that.
Kilgharrah alighted on the ground with surprisingly little noise for such a huge creature.
"Hello, young warlock," he said. Arthur took a step back. He knew that the dragon could talk, but hearing it was something different all together. "And hello, young king of Camelot!" Kilgharrah said, looking briefly at Arthur and then back to Merlin. "Well, then. Clearly things have changed."
"Arthur knows the truth," Merlin said. "And he supports it."
Kilgharrah offered a scaly smile. "This is wonderful news." He turned to Arthur, who felt rather disconcerted to have those enormous eyes focused on him. "You have made poor decisions in the past, young man. But know that trusting Merlin is a good one."
"I do know that," Arthur said, trying to keep his voice strong so as to hide his fear.
"Why have you called for me, Merlin?" Kilgharrah asked. Merlin looked up firmly into the dragon's eyes.
"I need your help."
Merlin explained the situation while Arthur stood aside, watching the exchange with great interest. Arthur remembered the beast as a dangerous, destructive monster, but today he seemed so… civilized.
"How would a sorcerer be able to banish you? Who could be powerful enough?" Kilgharrah asked, surprised.
"Harvey – or, whoever he is – was clearly channeling his magic through something more powerful." Merlin paused. "Which is why I need your help to combat it."
Kilgharrah shifted slightly where he stood, and the earth rumbled. "Even by linking your magic to me, this will be no easy task. It should take months to combat a Banishment Spell that is already in place."
"I know," Merlin said gravely. "But I can't think of anything else. This is the only way I can survive, and come back to Camelot."
The dragon paused to think for a moment, and then his scaly eyes blinked a few times, very slowly. "Very well. Tell your king to step back."
"Arthur," Merlin said, turning to look at his friend.
"I want to stay."
"The magic is too powerful for you," Kilgharrah said sternly. "This is not open for discussion."
Arthur looked nervously at the Great Dragon, and then looked at Merlin, seemingly prepared to argue.
"Go back to the castle. I'll come as soon as we've finished," Merlin said.
Arthur hesitated, but finally nodded and began his trek back to the castle, glancing over his shoulder as he went.
Merlin stopped by Arthur's room as soon as Kilgharrah had left. He knocked, and Arthur's voice immediately granted him entrance.
Guinevere was in the room as well. The king and queen were sitting together on the edge of the bed, their hands tightly woven together.
"I can come back later," Merlin said, grinning. Gwen looked embarrassed and Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous. How did it go? Did it work?"
Merlin nodded. "Yes. According to Kilgharrah, I was right about the timeline. Once Gaius's potion wears off and I have to leave, the magic connecting me with Kilgharrah will start to take effect. Then, it should be about two months before Harvey's banishment spell is broken."
"How much longer until Gaius's potion wears off?" Gwen asked nervously. Merlin walked forward into the room and sat down heavily in a chair.
"Two days, at the most." Merlin made eye contact with Arthur. The king's eyebrows were pulled together. "Which brings me to something else I wanted to talk with you about, Arthur."
"What now?" Arthur asked, somewhat nervously.
"I'm going to lose my mind if I can't know what's going on here for two full months," Merlin began bluntly. "If something happens and I can't be here… well then I'm damn sure going to need some sort of assurance that you haven't gone and gotten yourself killed in my absence."
Arthur glared, but Merlin cut him off before he could respond. "I'm going to place a charm on two stones. I take one, you take the other. It's fairly rudimentary magic but we can send each other signals if something goes wrong."
Gwen smiled widely "That certainly makes me feel better," she said.
"How does it work?" Arthur asked.
"Basically, I charm the two rocks, and we keep them near us at all times. I'll teach you how to activate it and send me a signal once I've found the rocks."
"I'd have to… what, use magic?" Arthur said, a hint of a smile forming on his face. "That's ridiculous."
Merlin sighed deeply. "People have this silly notion about magic. What you all don't seem to understand is that it's just… part of nature. It's a part of the earth and the sea and the wind. It's a part of everyone."
"You mean… I can do magic," Gwen said, disbelieving.
"Well, you'd have to study at it for a long time, and even then you probably wouldn't be able to do anything beyond the basics, but yes."
"But then how did you get to be so powerful?" Arthur asked. He looked at Merlin and then down at his own hands, as if nervous he might levitate something without meaning to.
"It depends on how connected you are with nature. People like Gaius and other healers have an easier time tapping in to the source of magic. Most people are born without much ability at all. If you wanted to do magic, Arthur, it would take a great deal of energy and time for even the simplest of spells. And then sometimes, people are born with an extremely strong affinity and connection to magic."
"Like Morgana," Arthur said.
"Morgana's strong, yes. I'm even stronger."
Gwen was narrowing her eyes. "I want to try."
"Gwen!" Arthur spluttered indignantly.
"What? I want to try. It sounds exciting!"
Merlin laughed out loud at the look on Arthur's face. "I'll tell you what, Gwen," Merlin said as he stood and began backing out of the room. "Once I'm back and this whole banishment spell thing has been sorted, I'll teach you a thing or two."
He left the room, closing the door just before the goblet that Arthur had just thrown hit the wood.
Author's Note: So I've heard many explanations for the magic in Merlin. This is just the interpretation I'm going with. By no means is this the "official" reality of the situation. What do you think?