"Nick?"
Nick looked up at Morgana from the table.
"Nick what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
When there was just silence, and Morgana's stare, Nick knew she wasn't buying it.
"Wedge." Was all he would say. Morgana looked downwards and approached him.
"I am glad you didn't kill her."
"… I could not. Sometimes I wish things were like they used to be. But never mind, I cannot. No doubt she has fled. I told her what life has been like for me, as she had no idea."
Morgana placed her hand on Nick's shoulder.
"The past is awful. But it's made us. And sometimes we do have to let it go and focus on the now. Not always, but this time I think you do."
"You think I should just let her go?"
"Will your life be better? I mean you were happy, and at peace, before she showed up. After all she has done, maybe the better punishment is the pain she causes herself…and her isolation. You said it yourself, she was better off alone."
"No, I said everyone else was better off when she was alone."
"Even better. Arthur and Merlin are with her, so it won't be long until they are in pain. So all in all, I'm pleased. Let them run."

Nick smiled at her and took her hand. He hugged her goodnight, and left for his chambers adjacent to hers. He still looked out the window, and wondered where she was. Deep down he wanted her to care about him again. He remembered flying, the thrill of riding a dragon. The crisp air, the rushing landscape… it didn't seem too long ago. But he quickly remembered what she did. He remembered the pain, the ambush, the curse. The ignorance, uncaring… it was too much to relive. He looked out again, this time with a scowl on his face.
"You deserve it." He uttered. He left the window, and went to bed.

Far across the land, upon a frozen mountaintop, a white dragon looked to the sky back at Camelot.
I'm sorry.
-

Wedge opened her eyes. It was quiet. She unfurled her head from the tight ball she had slept in, and looked out towards the dawn scenery, shaking the settled snow off herself. The wind had died down to a gentle breeze, and the snow was fluttering downwards. She moved her wing carefully flipping the snow behind her to prevent it falling upon the two men snuggled up against her. She nosed them to wake.
"Guys, we have to get moving now."
Wedge then stood, causing them to fall to the ground in a heap.
"'s goin' on?" Arthur muffled.
"The wind has amazingly died down enough to fly out of here."
During the harsh storm, Arthur had conceded that he preferred flying. He nodded, and began to climb aboard. He froze, and returned to drag Merlin up to his feet. Merlin woke groggily. It was warm in the pocket of air Wedge created for them, and was realising that the frozen air around him was bitterly chilly.
"You're up front." Arthur ordered, and pulled him up to Wedge. Merlin sleepily climbed aboard, followed by Arthur. Wedge hastily spread her wings and sprung off, beating her wings quickly to rise above the air current that passed through the mountain ridge. Arthur didn't enjoy it, but didn't complain…merely grasped a hold of Merlin tightly.

For most the journey, Arthur had his eyes shut. He found it more tolerable, as the speeds Wedge was travelling at were not even closely reached previously.
We'll arrive to the ocean's edge soon. Then it's only a few hours flight from this height.
Thank god.
Wedge knew that she should have just done this in the first instance. Well, really she shouldn't be taking them at all. She didn't even know if humans could go back in time…there hadn't been a documented case of it that she knew of. Then again, most uses of the Tae'meil crystal were through an application to a council of temporal experts and then conducted by specialist forces. Their records weren't available to all dragons. But Arthur wouldn't take no for an answer, even if she told him to stay. And Merlin would follow Arthur to the end of time itself.

Wedge was exhausted by the time they landed. They had reached the Isle of Dragon, flying over numerous other Isles in the process. It was large, with a mountain in the centre. The whole land appeared to rise upwards to this central point. The shore was entirely cliff, which sunk downwards in parts before rising upwards to become the base of the mountain. Upon looking, it seemed that stone structures were carved into the mountain, and built around it to create a fusion of nature and city. There were pools of fresh water scattered about, streams running down from the snow-capped mountain and forest littered the base of the mountain to the rocky shore.
"It's beautiful." Merlin spoke, taking in the sights as they walked through a lower town leading upwards to the main city in the mountain.
"And lost." Wedge said sorrowfully. It was true; despite the incorporation of flora into the city, it was becoming overrun with foliage. The gardens and trees hadn't been cared for and were beginning to run wild over the stonework. Ivy snaked its way along the tiles and the pillars, giving the look of a lost city in the jungle. They weren't quite ruins, as most structures were still intact, but still ancient and abandoned looking. Wedge looked about mournfully.

They reached the entrance to the main city, a long corridor that was illuminated by the sunshine on the outside of the mountain and strangely, on the inside as well. Looking closely as they walked through, their footsteps echoing down the hall, Merlin and Arthur noticed that mirrors were used to beam the sunlight along the corridor. The foliage clasping the white stone pillars died down until it was just beautifully carved rock surfaces in sight. They passed many corridors leading away from the main hallway, each looking just as intricately decorated and sadly abandoned.

Inside the main chamber, there was a large expanse of what appeared to be a desk. To the left and right, a smaller (but still huge) path lead out and around a curve.
"How far along do they go?"
"Those halls circle the mountain. The city is circular around the heat centre of the mountain. There are sections on the outside, of course, but most was made underground. There are mirrors and such for lighting, but we just used lightoil for most lighting since fire isn't really a problem for us. The higher levels near the peak were for the more official members of society… the wisest, smartest, most skilled dragons. The main areas were down here."
Wedge began walking to the right. She didn't seem to want to talk about her city too much.
"So did you live up there?" Arthur asked.
"Ha… hardly. That was for the best of the best. I've been up there, but I didn't live there. I was more of a solitary dragon. I didn't fit in well. I had friends, of course, and I did what I had to when asked by the Elders, but …look it doesn't matter. That was a long time ago."
Arthur dropped the subject. He turned to Merlin, who gave him an 'oh well' look. They hadn't walked long until they noticed that the hall had a warm glow in it. A very warm glow. It was a volcano.
It's a volcano?
Yes. Don't worry it's not going to hurt you. We use the heat and light of the magma.

Wedge didn't elaborate further. Merlin didn't ask. Wedge stopped out the front of one of the doors they had encountered. She lay herself onto the ground.
"You can stay here. This was one of the chambers for the Dragonlords. It hasn't been used in a long time, but it should suffice."
Merlin slid off, and reached his hand out to help Arthur. Smiling, Arthur took it and hopped off. Wedge opened the door, and inside was a reasonably sized room built into the stone. It had a large bed sitting across from a fireplace. The roof caved upwards into a vent that opened to outside. It also had mirrors in it, allowing some daylight to fall upon the rear wall where a small garden once was. There were only dead plants there now. Wedge reached her neck upwards and gently blew a stream of fire out into a ledge that worked around the room. The flames travelled all the way along the trench which was filled with a flammable liquid. The flames were soft and gave a candlelight-like glow to the room.
Merlin and Arthur walked in and went over to the two chairs that were facing the fire on opposing sides of a floor rug.
"If you open the tap over there, you will get a flow of fresh water. I'll bring you some food at dinner time." Wedge indicated over to the wall with a spout with a twist handle sticking out of it above a sink. Near it was a small table.
"Don't touch too much… or wander off too far… this place can be dangerous."
"Where are you going to stay?"
"Not here. I… I need to be alone for a while." Wedge spoke sadly, and moved backwards to leave the room. She looked at them with sad eyes and walked on, closing the door behind her. Merlin looked at Arthur before moving back to the doorway and peering out of it. He saw Wedge padding along the rock hallway, head hung low. Looking down, he saw the saddle had been placed to the side of the doorway.
It must be hard for her, being here. Merlin thought to himself (for once). He quietly closed the door again.

Wedge took flight and left the underground tunnels – the inside of the volcano was hollow, except for the magma at the bottom of the pit – but that was covered up and a long way down. The spout at the top had been opened, so that dragons could go in and out as they pleased. The hallways opened up to reveal carved windows all along the inside. It was beautiful – a waterfall crashed downwards from the back which landed in the collection pool at the bottom, and then was released outside into the forest streams. From where she took off, she could see the other side of the level she was on and the level that was above her. Then, right at the top, was the A-level. She flew past it as she exited the mountain. She vividly remembered the last time she had landed there.

Now out into the open air, she flew around a bit. Sure, she had just been flying all day, but she needed to stretch the muscles that hadn't been used in that flight. So after a few acrobatic stunts and an extreme drop, she landed and decided to walk the majority of the way to her destination.

Approaching quietly, she walked through the tree line out into the open field.
"Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long."
There was no response, but she wasn't expecting there to be. She had said it out into the field of stones. She padded her way along the isles until coming to rest at a group of ones in particular.
"It's been a long time. Much as happened."
The graves didn't respond. There was just silence.
"I miss you. All of you."
Silence again. She pressed her nose into the stone that was directly ahead of her, and then returned to her seated position to look at the group before her.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." She said. She'd said it many times before, but there was no solace.
"I'm lost. I wish you were here to help me."
She lovingly stroked the white stone.
"If I do nothing, they are hurt. If I help, they are hurt… I don't know what to do. I wasn't there for you and I lost you. And now I fear that in helping Arthur and Merlin… I'm going to hurt them too. It seems that just knowing me is enough to get hurt…."
Wedge broke into tears. They fell upon the green soil with soft patters, audible over the immense silence. She sniffed and looked up into the sky, where the light was piercing through the clouds in a glorious fashion. She held back the tears from continuing to fall.

"Is it nice there?"
She waited for a response that never came. She looked back at the gravestones.
"I don't want to be alone. I hope you'll forgive me enough to let me be with you once more."
Wedge looked up at the mountain.
"I can't leave them. I… I fear what is to come, but only for them. My time here is ending. I know that. It's the way it should be. I don't belong here anymore. I tried to hide from that fact, on my rock, but coming back just made me realise it more. The dragon age is over, and man doesn't want me in their world. But now as with then, my isolation, I still have my punishment – Nick is still out there. I'll not be at peace until he is."