Alright, of the several reviews I got, the results are:
Rescue-by-Arthur- 0
Resue-by-Kilgarrah- 5
Thank you so much to those who reviewed!
Also, to Mirrors: I just now got your review and I must say, it made me smile! Yeah, when I re-read through the story and found that, I got pretty annoyed with it too. I had been thinking 'brown eyes with unique depth' and instead typed 'blue eyes unique to two'. Sorry about that! I would go back and change it, but I'm afraid of completely screwing this up, so I'll do this instead…
ATTENTION READERS: Yes, I know I've been saying Hunith has brown eyes, and I'm sure some of you may be wondering why I gave her blue eyes a few chapters in, but it was a mess-up. She really has brown eyes, very unique ones that she's easily identified by. Sorry for any confusion.
To Mirrors, continued: I'm very glad that you're enjoying this story so far, and I hope I meet your expectations!
Disclaimer: See all previous chapters.
Never Quite Lost: Mighty
Various plans flitted through his head, and he hurriedly dismissed many to narrow it down to something that would work. He brightened and his pupils seemed to constrict as he came to a conclusion.
Finally, he cupped his restrained hands to his mouth and shrieked as loudly and as wildly as his quickly filling lungs would allow.
Merlin roared at the sky, savagely, uncontrollably. All surrounding creatures paused their activities in surprise.
"O drakon, fthengomai au se kalon su katerkheo deuro!" He cried in dragon-speak. Even with a gap in his teeth and a relentless lisp, the words came out untainted by his uncoordinated tongue in perfect enunciation. Grimm, belatedly, realized what on earth the child was doing and tried to stop him-in vain- before he finished the summons. His eyes glowed pure golden and he no longer needed his hands to help amplify his voice; it echoed throughout the land.
By the time the tottering old man made it back to where the warlock was chained, the boy had fallen unconscious, blood gushing from his raw, butchered wrists and a pile of scar tissue on the ground, where he had coughed it up. But Grimm was too late; the dragon was on its way.
~oOo~
Kilgarrah's head snapped up, ears swiveling. A dragonlord's call had summoned him forth, something he felt the need, the burning need, to obey. With surprising, sinewy grace, he leapt up, took to the sky and soared to where Emrys had called him. His heart felt whole again, the summons having repaired his severed bond. In joy, although knowing his Lord was calling him to battle, he roared fiercely to the passing clouds, splitting the skies with his agile, serpentine movements. His cry bounced off the ground and trees far below and sprang right back to him.
A clearing approached to the right and he made a sharp turn, turning up piles of grass and chunks of dirt as his claws dug into the solid earth. He brought his mighty head up, sniffing the air and snorting in satisfaction at the fear he sensed. His advanced hearing- thousands of times more evolved than humans'- picked up every twitch made, heard every muscle sliding against another. He heard the thump-thump, thump-thump of one heart, one calm heart, and three hearts in various degrees of thumpthumpthumpthumpthump. He heard the strangled respiration of a puny man, struggling against strong magical bondage, the sobs of a child and the fearful shouts of an elderly man. Distractedly, he stuck out a single claw and plucked at the enchanted rope, slicing it easily and sending the strangled human to the ground, gasping for breath and verging on unconsciousness. When the druid attempted to attack him with a rather weak spell, he placed his giant, scaly tail on the fat man and knocked him down, his appendage used to pin the sorcerer in place.
Merlin, where are you? He sent out through their bond. He gained no reply from his Dragonlord. He crept closer, eying the humans up and down until his gaze settled upon a young raven-haired toddler, unconscious, and chained to a tree. His heart trilled when he realized that this was Merlin, and he was alive.
And… what he had said, all those years ago, had come to pass.
Why hadn't he thought about that? Why had he spent almost three years mourning and wailing his soliloquy to the skies when he himself had reassured a young mother not too long ago- to a dragon at least- of this very circumstance? Maybe… maybe he had more emotional attachment to the boy than he sometimes claimed. Maybe emotions can control even a being as powerful as himself?
Anger flared within him as he saw the enchanted chains threatening to slice the child's hands right off; summoning help must have taken a lot of courage- and pain. Lots of pain.
The one who smells of overflowing vacuoles is not our ally.*
Kilgarrah started, leaning closer and finally noticing the milky white dragon under the cover of the trees, clawing furiously at the chains around the second human child, trying to free him without harming the child himself. She snorted in frustration as he continued to scream and avoid her.
It has been a while, Young One. He said, internally grinning at her deliberate word choices. But the time for joking was later. Why do you not free Merlin? He inquired, rather worriedly.
She continued trying to corner the boy to hold him down, mentally swearing and groaning.
Gah! Stupid meat-hatchling!** … Emrys ordered me to free young Caleb first, and only THEN could I free young Dragonlord himself. Ag! Damned devolved, wingless, fr-
Aithusa, slice through the length of the chain, not the segment around the boy's body. I shall deal with the large one, you continue your task.
Aithusa muttered another curse and continued frustratedly. Kilgarrah turned his neck, settling his large head on the ground next to the squirming druid. He snorted right on him, a large, moist huff of warm air that rattled him further. He reminded the old dragon of a beetle stuck upon its back.
"Why must you cause my young Master trouble, you miserable oaf?" He asked, almost tiredly. The man froze in fear. Kilgarrah could hear his heart triple its speed.
Before the man could answer with his vile, viperous lips, the Great Dragon inched forward and almost nonchalantly encased the tiny upper body in his great jaws, quickly chomping down and immediately tasting warm, coppery blood. The several pints' worth barely wet his tongue, yet it made him shiver anyway. Spitting out the top half of the man's body, he raised his head once more. The Law of the Drakon has been upheld.
Not once glancing back, he walked up to where his young niece was still struggling with the ordinary chains and sighed. Kilgarrah took one talon, sliced through the first chain in one swift movement, and used his teeth to remove the enchanted ones from his Lord. Aithusa huffed.
Young Merlin has lost too much blood. I must return him to Camelot. You guard these two until the father wakes up and can take his son home; they are both in good health. With few parting words, Kilgarrah gently scooped the tiny boy into his claws and transferred him to the base of his long neck, where he lay carefully wedged between two of the dragon's spines. He then took to the sky, navigating his way to the mighty kingdom of Camelot.
~oOo~
P'ease… 'top… Merlin suddenly asked, using one weak and bloody arm to limply point to the forest floor below. Kilgarrah, craning his neck to see, obliged, and landed with a swoop in the nearest clearing, sniffing the air. They had flown for almost half an hour.
His keen ears picked up voices a few feet away. He recognized the smell of the man who had ridden once on his back, inches from death, to be later saved by his warlock companion.
"Greetings, King Arthur. I come with good intention." He boomed to the figures hiding amongst the trees. There was a gasp of recognition and the sound of a sword being sheathed. The blonde king himself walked quickly out into the clearing, covered in sweat and dirt. The rest of his knights stood close by, but were much warier of the scaly beast.
"You are Kilgarrah, the Great Dragon, are you not?" Arthur confirmed. Kilgarrah bowed his head once. "And Merlin is your Dragonlord, correct?" A grunt of agreement. "… Do you know where we may find him? He has been gone almost a fortnight, and we have searched relentlessly. Can you track him somehow?" He almost sounded of complete desperation. The dragon shook his head, pitying the now crestfallen king.
"I cannot track him down for you, because I can do the next best thing." He said in his favored cryptic way. Arthur curiously looked up at him, urging him with his eyes to continue. Kilgarrah hunched his back and laid out his wing in a twisting formation, placing his foot at the bottom. And, to the mens' astonishment, a tiny, robed body came tumbling down the leathery slide, landing right in the gentle hand(?) and lying still. The dragon offered him to his father, who- in his utter shock- dropped his shield and ran forward, shouting the child's name many times as he took him in his arms. He almost laughed in hysterical happiness.
"He is unconscious, but that is due to bloodloss. He should recover well enough if he gets medical attention right away. Come, get on my back and I shall take you back to Camelot." He explained, offering his wing to help them mount him. Arthur looked hesitant while the others looked plain mortified.
When the boy- who had fallen unconscious shortly after his sudden finding of Arthur- let out a pained whimper, Arthur's face set in determination.
"You men shall ride the horses back to the city. I must get Merlin home swiftly." And with a nod to each knight, he quickly scaled the beast's wing and adjusted his son to lay in his arms, securely.
As they flew, Kilgarrah explained everything to Arthur, including Aithusa's account of Merlin's weeks in captivity and how he was rescued. He was reassured that Caleb and his father would be fine. He was calmed from his anger when he learned what had happened to Grimm in consequence of his actions. He even came close to vomiting a few times.
"Can you not heal Merlin yourself?" He asked out of the blue. Kilgarrah shook his head sadly, navigating his way through a thick cluster of low-hanging clouds.
"No, because those wounds were inflicted by a cursed chain. I cannot assist in that manner." Arthur paused for a moment, pulling the tiny toddler close to him, cherishing the feeling of the little body against his chest once more; he fit in his arms perfectly.
"Thank you, mighty Kilgarrah. You have made my family whole once more."
Kilgarrah smiled, though the king couldn't see it.
Yes, your grace, and my family has been restored as well. He thought with a lightened heart.
~oOo~
"Merlin!" Gwen shouted as she saw her husband slide down the dragon's wing with a bundle in his arms; the dragon and Arthur exchanged nods and the giant beast flew away. She ran forward, embracing the man with the baby held between them. He briefly outlined what was going on, and she nodded, teary-eyed. She planted a kiss on his pale, cold forehead and hugged them both close, knowing that if they ever separated again, her heart might break.
~oOo~
"Mamaí! Ní chreideann tú an eachtra a bhí agam! Rinne mé cara Dragon ainmnithe Afusa agus rinne mé cara daonna ainmnithe Khalil agus a kid ainmnithe Caleb cé Caleb aosta ná mé, agus muid riamh a labhair i ndáiríre ach sin ceart go leor toisc nach bhfuil go leor de mo chairde a fhios agam gur tháinig maith agus ansin Kagrah agus shábháil dom agus rode mé a dhroim agus flied muid, díreach cosúil le éin! Agus fuair Arfur chun marcaíocht freisin, agus bhí sé spraoi (cé go raibh mé i mo chodladh ar a lán de) agus Gaius thug dom bindealáin agus mo leigheas (Oh, agus mé nach riamh ag iarraidh a riamh é a chur arís, mar is gá liom é a lán) agus anois is féidir liom a thabhairt duit mo squeeze mór! Chaill mé tú mam! Tá mé ceart go leor! Grá agat!" Merlin babbled on and on as he was scooped into Hunith's waiting arms and hugged desperately. He planted a big kiss on her lip and wrapped his long arms around her neck, squeezing tightly in his own special hug. She sobbed tears of sweet joy, holding her baby so close, breathing in his familiar scent and rubbing a hand on his back, promising herself to always protect him, even if it killed her.
To think, she had almost lost this cheerful little ray of golden sunlight for the second time in her life.
Yaaassss! Happy ending! Sorry it was so rushed, I literally spent over two hours typing this out, and it is currently very late at night, so I needed to wrap it up. I hope it still meets your standards, and I promise more cuteness is ahead.
*I just had a biology test, so this was a kind of nonsensical joke about cell structure. The vacuoles of our cells are the storage centers, keeping water and other needed materials for whenever they're needed. Overflowing vacuoles, as in he has too much whatever in him. She was basically saying, in modern-day speak: kill the fatty.
**I know, I know, dragons are hatchlings and are made of meat too. What I meant is that dragons hatch from eggs while humans 'hatch' from flesh, sorta.
(?) I have no idea what the hell to call his hand-feet-claw thingies. I mean, he uses them as hands, but they're also his feet, but they also have long, talon-y nails. Confuzzling.
Translation: Mommy! You won't believe the adventure I had! I made a dragon friend named Afusa and I made a human friend named Khalil and his kid named Caleb though Caleb's older than me and we never actually talked but that's okay because lots of my friends don't know me that good and then Kagrah came and saved me and I rode his back and we flied, just like birds! And Arfur got to ride too, and it was fun (though I was asleep for a lot of it) and Gaius gave me bandages and my medicine (oh, and I never don't want to never take it again, because I need it a lot) and now I can give you my big squeeze! I missed you mommy! I'm okay! Love you!
Daw! He's so cute, even to me, the one who writes him like that! (Is that patting myself on the back, or what?)
Also, please please PLEASE vote on my poll, I am closing it by next Friday and I really would appreciate your input!
Thank you all so much for your patience!
-Violet