And without further ado...

The evening after the unearthly battle the four men, two druids, two knights, sit in loose circle around the campfire, united in their enthusiastic appreciation for Iseldir's rabbit stew. Without actually saying anything they agree to just enjoy supper, one of the few things that has not become insanely complicated and world changing, without spoiling it with conversation.

Merlin, Arthur thinks, should take lessons with Iseldir. He's pretty sure, if this is anything to go by, that the Druid could make rat stew fit for a king. This is heavenly. He breaks the silence to say so and earns a smile from the cook in return.

But once the last bite is eaten and the pot and bowls scrubbed cleaned the oppressive weight they'd been ignoring settles once again.

Arthur decides to stop beating around the bush. He's pretty sure magic can't be as evil as he'd believed but that doesn't mean he'll be satisfied with vague assurances that destiny will take care of things. Based on past experience he places no faith in the concept that things 'will just work out'. The epic battle that morning between titanic forces straight out of myth and legend had only reinforced his conviction. The outcome of his own life may be largely out of his control. He may be a mere tool, or vessel as Emrys had called him, for beings far beyond his comprehension but that doesn't mean that all of history is already carved in stone.

"Iseldir." Arthur waits until he has the druid's attention and then addresses the group as a whole. "I don't know about you druids, but I have been magically kidnapped by a being that did so by stealing my free will, ridden to exhaustion, and in general been used as a pawn for what apparently has been my entire life. I want to know what you know, now, and I want a plan to rescue Merlin. I don't know what part he has to play in all this but I'm not leaving him in the hands of that sorcerer."

Iseldir and Mordred look up in alarm. "What sorcerer?"

Gwaine looks to Arthur for permission to talk. "Our mate Merlin was betrayed by this guy he met in a tavern. We think they knew each other before, Merlin seemed to trust him anyway, but the slimy git led Merlin straight into an ambush. We didn't realize it was him at the time, or-" Gwaine looks away from his audience in shame, "I'm pretty sure I did know it was him but I didn't want to believe it-"

"What happened to Em-Merlin?"

"He was swallowed up by this shadow creature and disappeared into a black cleft. And then this sorcerer came out and made out how he was going to rule the world, the usual spiel, and we, I, didn't do anything and-"

Iseldir cuts the knight's increasingly self incriminating words off with a gentle, "If the shadow creature you describe is what I believe it to be then you could have done nothing but be taken yourself."

Gwaine snorts disparagingly. "Doesn't make me feel any better. I didn't know that."

Arthur takes up the narrative. "I didn't realize this at the time either, but in the last seconds before M- Merlin was taken, Emrys, for whatever reason, attached itself to me. Mordred said that he was not supposed to be this Emrys. Who was? And why was Emrys in that clearing?"

To Arthur's confusion Gwaine gapes for a moment before sinking even deeper into silence.

Iseldir exchanges a long glance with the subdued knight. "I believe, Arthur, that your unwillingness to be hurt blinds you to the truth. It is son of the last Dragonlord who is pointed to in prophesy as being the fabled Emrys. That man-"

Arthur doesn't hear the rest of what Iseldir says. It doesn't matter. He already knows the rest. The neat script in his own hand jumps out at him from memory.

1 Merlin's Father died four years ago last month.

2 He died several days after Merlin met him.

3 He saved Merlin's life during the bandit attack that killed him.

4 Four years ago last month the Great Dragon attacked Camelot.

5 Merlin was not noticeably absent for any length of time at any point during the attacks.

6 The only group of bandits known to reside near Camelot at the time attacked Merlin, the Dragonlord and I.

And the last question; the one he'd stricken through.

4 Is Merlin's Father the Dragonlord?

Arthur laughs, the strangled sound of it drawing looks of concern from the others. Of course he is. Of course. Blind? Yes. He had been blind. Blind and stupid. An idiot of truly massive proportions. Merlin's father. Dead in a bandit attack. No man is worth your tears. O God. Had he really said that? And Merlin had never told him about any of this. Or, he had, hadn't he? Not in so many words, but all those little bouts of wisdom- 'there are times when you display a certain….it's not wisdom', 'have you been at the cider?', 'It is your fate to be the greatest king Camelot has ever known'. And he'd wondered how Merlin could be at his most incomprehensible both when trying to explain where he got his wisdom and where he was when Arthur insisted he was at the tavern. Well there was his answer. Merlin wouldn't have been at the tavern, not nearly as often as he'd thought anyway. That was his excuse. For whenever he was off doing whatever it was he was off doing that involved magic and destinies. 'I read it in a book.' Another excuse. Because apparently Merlin knows all about destinies and their tendency to be troublesome things. His more than slightly manic laughter continues until he realizes that the others are clearly wondering if he's gone mad. Even Gwaine has risen out of his funk to look at him with a gaze that's clearly wondering if he's been broken. Well he probably has. No helping that. They can't just dump this on him and expect him to just take it without breaking one way or another. And since he refuses to break his affection for Merlin...

Finally he he gathers enough control over himself to ask the one of the biggest questions looming over him. "So if I've got this Brenin King entity inside of me… does that mean I'm capable magic as well?"

He's really hoping that the answer is no and is therefore shocked when something actually goes his way for once.

"I don't believe so. What we witnessed earlier was the manifestation of the figures of destiny themselves. Like the manifestation of a soul, it is closely related to, but ultimately is not, magic."

The unspoken, 'I think', at the end of Iseldir's sentence does little to dampen Arthur's sudden surge of good spirits. If his world's going to hell in a hand basket at least he doesn't have to worry about learning sorcerery. Small comfort but he'll take what he can get.

OoO

It takes all of that night and most of the morning but Iseldir tells them what little he will of the prophesies and all of what little he knows of the wraiths. They discuss strategy and take breaks to collect more food and firewood. All four gradually become more comfortable with each other, reminding each other through the small actions in-between the heavy words of 'destiny' and 'magic' and 'impossible' that they're all human.

OoO

"Is there a way for Emrys to return to Merlin?" Mordred's question catches them all off guard. Hesitantly, he explains. "I think I understand now why Merlin did not trust me; why he did not wish to save me. Emrys hates Medraut with a blindness to rival Uther's. But if there is some way to return Emrys to his rightful place and prevent Medraut from returning to me…" He last words are small as if he almost doesn't want to ask for the favor, "I would like it if I did could walk away from destiny."

Arthur and Gwaine exchange a glance. Don't they all?

"And I do not wish to kill you sire."

That brings Arthur up short. He'd forgotten that Medraut was, up until Emrys had forced him out, part and parcel with the druid whose life he'd saved. That, if things had gone differently, Mordred would have eventually killed him. Would have been destined to kill him.

Arthur takes to his feet and paces; talking out loud as he thinks it through. "I don't really give a care what happens to Emrys. If I had my wish all of these forces for destiny would fly off and never return, but, in lieu of that I want Merlin back and I don't see how we're going to do that without Emrys."

Arthur looks up from the fire and meets Mordred's eyes for the first time since waking.

"I know how it feels to have an inescapable destiny. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, least of all my friend. But. But I know Merlin would want you to have this choice as well. He'd want you to be free even if that meant taking it upon himself, selfless idiot that he is. So. If you can convince Emrys to leave you, and if Emrys can ensure that you can't be used for destiny anymore, I'll try to get Emrys back to Merlin. Do we have a deal?"

The way the boy's face lights up, as if all of the good things in the world have been laid at his feet with the instruction that he is to take whatever he likes, is Arthur's answer. In that moment, he swears that he will help the boy in any way he can, be it granting him lands or even knighthood. Because nothing, nothing he can do in return, will ever repay this debt.

There you go. There's still a few things Arthur doesn't know yet, like the current state of liveliness of a certain Great Dragon, but this is about as revealed as it gets! Comments? Critiques? Questions? Suggestions? Tell Me!