Archie yawned and stretched. He'd just had an amazing night's sleep, and he felt great. All while they had lived in Camelot he had rarely been able to sleep soundly through the night, as Merlin always showed up to wake the boy up at dawn's first life. Douxie had tried to tell him to go back to sleep, but Merlin had disagreed. The wizard had insisted that if Douxie was going to have a familiar, then Archie needed to carry his weight, which meant helping out with chores.

Even before they'd arrived at Camelot it wasn't uncommon for Archie to wake up much earlier than he would like. When they were travelling on the road they had walked during the day, but whenever they had stayed in a town or city for an extended period of time, even if it was just for a few days, Archie had insisted that the young wizard sleep during the day and be awake and alert at night.

Evening was when the cutthroats and thieves were around. Archie didn't want Douxie to become their next victim because he was foolish enough to fall asleep in the middle of the street. As long as Douxie was awake, he could defend himself with his magic. During daylight hours, when the streets were crowded and it was less likely for someone to attack a child, that was when Douxie would sleep.

Of course, Archie had never left Douxie completely unprotected. Daytime may be safer than the evening in the towns, but that didn't mean that they could let their guard down. While Douxie slept Archie would keep an eye on him. It meant being awake during the morning, which was Archie's least favorite time of day, but it was worth it to keep his wizard familiar safe.

Archie was willing to wake up early when he needed to, but he enjoyed sleeping in. It felt really nice to relax after a midnight flight and hunt. No having to do chores. No needing to look for potential threats. Not having to keep an eye on Douxie...although…

Archie sat up and looked around. He'd been tempted to go back to sleep, but now that was the last thing on his mind. He didn't see Douxie anywhere. Not only that, but he didn't see any sign of the boy. Archie thought back to when he'd returned from his flight last night. He'd gone to bed immediately, but looking back he couldn't remember seeing the boy last night. He hadn't thought twice about it at the time, but now Archie was concerned. Douxie had wandered off yesterday afternoon. It was just a few hours shy of him having been missing for a full day.

Archie didn't think that he and Douxie needed to constantly be at each other's sides, but this was too much. He needed to find his boy. And get him out of whatever trouble he had landed himself in this time.

Archie didn't stop to think about who might be watching him. He transformed into his dragon form and took off into the air. He didn't know where to begin looking for his wizard, and a voice in his head told him that he should just wait near the ship, as that was the one place that he knew Douxie would return to.

Archie pushed that voice to the back of his head, picked a direction, and just started going. Dragons may be known for their laziness, but Archie refused to just sit and wait. Not when Douxie's safety may be on the line.

Archie remembered something that Merlin had once told to Douxie. The man didn't often give advice to the boy, much preferring to just scold and lecture, but when he gave genuine advice that came from a place of caring, both Douxie and Archie listened and remembered.

"A wizard always takes action." Merlin had said when Douxie had asked for the dozenth time why he had saved his life. "Wrongly or rightly; that is revealed later. But you should act. Believe me, little one, you should only regret inactivity, indecisiveness, hesitation. You shouldn't regret actions or decisions, even if they occasionally end in sadness and regret."

Douxie had taken that advice to heart. The young wizard in training strove to do what he thought was right. More often than not he ended up backing down because Merlin disagreed with him, yet slowly but surely Archie had seen growth. Douxie would begin to stand up to Merlin for a moment more, or offer an alternative before ultimately doing as he was told. Douxie still had a long way to go, but Archie was sure that someday he would have just as much confidence as he counterpart from the future did.

For the most part Archie had taken that advice as just more of Merlin's nonsense wisdom that didn't really mean anything, but it was running through his head now when he was going after his boy, so maybe there was something to it after all.

Archie flew high and used his dragon magic to look for the presence of other magic. If Douxie was in trouble, magic had to be involved. Either Douxie had found some of the local magical creatures and he was investigating it, or he had found himself in other trouble and was using his magic to try to get himself out of it.

If Douxie wasn't involved with magic, then he had to have found the music in France and he was so in awe that he had lost complete track of time. Archie knew his wizard well enough to know that was completely possible. He swore, if Douxie wasn't actually in trouble, Archie would kill him for scaring him like this.

Archie flew around for a long time until he felt a sudden surge of magic. It wasn't Douxie's power, but it was something. Archie changed his direction and made his way towards the magic. Douxie flew into the forest, weaving through the trees as much as he could until they became too thick and close together for him to fly through so easily. Archie had no choice but to land and start traversing by land.

Fortunately, the magic felt a lot stronger at that point. He was getting closer. Archie just hoped that Douxie was actually here. If the source of the magic was unrelated to Douxie, then Archie would have to think of a backup plan.

Archie walked along the forest floor, looking around anxiously. His ears and tail twitched with worry at every little rustle of leaves he heard. The forest was so quiet that he was hyper aware of even the smallest of noises. He didn't see any sign of living creatures, be it human, animal, or magical. Maybe the forests of France regularly lacked life, but Archie didn't think that this was normal. Something was wrong.

Archie walked for nearly twenty minutes before he sensed something new. There was another magical aura. It was nearly overwhelmed by the surge that Archie could feel surrounding the forest, but Archie could still feel it. He would recognize Douxie's magic anywhere, no matter how small the signature was.

Archie growled and bounded off the path, towards where Douxie's magic had come from. With every step he took the overbearing magic got stronger. Archie was all-but positive that when he found Douxie, he would find the source of the magic. He didn't care just what creature or wizard he would find, he would burn them to the ground if they had laid a hand on Douxie. They would learn just what happened when you got on the wrong side of a dragon.

Archie ran deeper into the woods, which grew darker as all of the trees were packed closer together. There was something odd about this darkness though, something unnatural and sinister. Something was hiding in the shadows. Archie wasn't afraid though. Between his dragon ability to breathe fire, and his cat sense of good night vision, he had no reason to fear the dark.

Eventually the magical aura was so strong that Archie felt like he could barely breathe. He forced his way through a thicket and found himself at a shadowy lake. Standing in the water was a horse as black as night. The magical aura was stronger than ever and seemed to be coming straight from the horse. Archie was much more concerned about the unconscious boy he saw draped over the horse's back.

Archie growled and leapt into the air. He flew in front of the horse, stopping it from walking any deeper into the water. "You have my wizard," Archie said with as much intimidation as he could muster. "Give him back."

The horse tilted its head at him. "This boy wandered into my territory. I do not take kindly to trespassers." It spoke to Archie telepathically. If Archie didn't already know that the horse had magic, he would recognize it just through his voice. The horse's voice echoed with magic and otherworldly power.

Archie narrowed his eyes at the horse. "Oh, yes, and I'm sure that he came here all on his own, and it wasn't at all influenced by your overwhelming magic." All magical creatures gave off a magical energy, but it really flared up when they were actively using their magic. Whatever powers this horse had, it was currently using them.

The horse's expression didn't change, but Archie heard it make a sound similar to a chuckle. Douxie grimaced in his sleep and whined in discomfort. Archie's hackles raised.

"Leave him alone." Archie growled. "What are you?"

The horse shook its head and began walking deeper into the lake, ignoring Archie's aggravated and warning hiss. "The mortals call me a cheval mallet." Archie wasn't familiar with that title, but that didn't mean that he knew nothing about this creature. He'd heard of a few supernatural horses, and the way that this cheval mallet was trying to bring Douxie into the water was far too similar to what a kelpie might do for Archie's comfort.

Archie alone wasn't large or strong enough to stop a magical horse on his own. Fortunately, he never had to do anything on his own. Archie hadn't been truly alone since he had first met Douxie. His wizard familiar may not have great control of his magic, but he had a fair amount of power. Even while Douxie was unconscious, Archie could feel his magic. It was just a matter of putting it to use.

Archie knew the theory behind familiars borrowing magic from each other, but it wasn't something that they did very often. Douxie had so little control of his own magic that he didn't dare try to control a dragon's power. As for Archie, while he had more control than Douxie, he just lacked the motivation and drive to really learn about the arcane. Any magic he learned was for Douxie's sake.

Well, today was as good a time as any to see if Archie's theoretical knowledge could be put to use. Archie flew around the horse and landed on the shadow horse's back, right next to Douxie. He purred and leaned his head down to bump it against his familiar's chest. Almost immediately the tension on Douxie's face fell away as he relaxed

Archie reached for Douxie's familiar magic. He grabbed onto it, and pulled it towards him. Archie felt a rush of power flow inside of him. It was far too much for him to contain. He had to let it out. Archie spread his wings, covering Douxie's eyes, before letting out his fire breath. The fire took on a color that he'd never seen it take before.

Archie's fire was normally a bright orangish red. This time it looked like a glowing, supernatural blue, the same shade as Douxie's magic. Archie could normally just let out a blast of fire, and then it did its own thing. Once it left him, it was out of his control. This blue fire, powered by Douxie's magic, went exactly where Archie wanted it to. The fire wrapped around the horse, creating a tall, hot barrier that went right down to the surface of the water. They were surrounded by the flames.

The cheval mallet neighed in alarm and instinctively reared back enough to knock them off its back. Archie was able to catch itself with his wings, but Douxie fell right into the water. Archie felt intense concern for the wizard for a moment before the boy shot up from the water, gasping and coughing. Whether it was because he had slipped out of the cheval mallet's control after he had fallen off his back, or the water had shocked him into awareness, but Douxie seemed back to himself.

"A-Arch?" Douxie sputtered from the water. Archie was relieved that his boy was okay, but he forced his attention to the horse. They weren't out of the woods yet.

"Get back to the shore," Archie commanded his boy, who looked a little startled at the sternness in his voice. "I'll take care of this creature." Archie flapped his wings and the fire just behind Douxie separated, making a gap in the flames. Douxie gave Archie an alarmed look before he stumbled past the flames, which immediately closed behind him, leaving Archie and the horse.

"You've stolen my meal." The cheval mallet growled. Its eyes were glowing red with a raw fury.

"He was my wizard familiar first," Archie stared the horse down, using every bit of intimidation as he could manage. He spread his wings out wide, bared his teeth, and raised his fur on its end. Most importantly though, he allowed his dragon fire to show in his eyes.

Archie had never been able to master the art of draconic hypnotism. His father was much better at striking fear into the hearts of people with just one gaze, but Archie hoped that this would be enough.

"Find your meal elsewhere." Archie said. "There are plenty of animals and mortals around, you can have one of them." Archie ignored Douxie's cry of alarm. "But my familiar is off limits.

The horse looked unconvinced. Archie had to play his trump card. He just hoped that his father's tales of how glorious and fierce a dragon he was before his retirement hadn't just been an exaggeration.

"Have you heard of the dragon Charlamagne?" Archie asked quietly, so that Douxie wouldn't be able to hear him. He knew he should tell his human about his father, but there never seemed to be a good time for it.

The horse's eyes widened in alarm. "Charlamagne? The great beast?"

"The very same." Archie said. He was glad that his father's draconic reign had been primarily in France before he'd left to settle down. It made it more likely for the magical creatures around here to have heard about his terrible and impressive feats.

"I was taught by Charlamagne himself." Archie said. "And right now I have a lot more to fight for than he ever did." Archie's father had mostly just spread chaos for the fun of it, or to assert his dominance. Archie was fighting for the life of his boy. There was very little that could stop him.

The horse narrowed its eyes at him. "You're bluffing."

Archie hissed and caused his fire to flare up and inch closer to the horse, singing its tail just a bit. Archie was immune to the heat of his own fire, and yet he could still feel the heat from these flames. He knew that blue fire was a lot hotter than red fire. It seemed that was still true even if the blue came from magical influence.

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Archie asked coldly. The cheval mallet hesitated, which was a good sign. Even if it didn't completely believe him, that small bit of uncertainty was enough to work with.

The horse flicked its head in irritation, and suddenly vanished from the water. The forest seemed to brighten right away, and Archie couldn't feel its magical presence. The creature was gone. Now they just needed to get out of this forest before it decided to come back.

Archie sighed and let the flames fall. He flew to the shore where Douxie was watching him in awe. Archie flew right into his boy's arms, nuzzling close to him. He just allowed himself to appreciate that his wizard was safe for a moment. Once Archie was convinced that Douxie wasn't going to just disappear from him, he bit the boy's hand as hard as he could.

"Ow!" Douxie yanked his arm back. His grip on Archie slipped, but the dragon just started flying. He glared at the young wizard, who was cradling his slightly bleeding hand against his chest. "What was that for?"

"You almost got yourself killed by a horse," Archie snapped. "What were you thinking? How did you let this happen?"

"I didn't know Roach was magical." Douxie pouted as he rubbed his hand. "I thought he was just lost and needed help to find his master." Douxie frowned at the place where the horse had stood. "Although, the black coat was new. I could have sworn that he was pure white before."

"It was a magical horse." Archie said irritably. "Are you really surprised that it can change the color of its coat?" He swore to keep in mind the name cheval mallet. He wanted to know exactly what kind of danger Douxie had been in, and to be better prepared for next time they may run into this kind of creature.

"Now you're sounding like Merlin," Douxie crossed his arms. He looked genuinely hurt. "I didn't try to get lured in by Roach. I just let my guard down. It won't happen again."

"It had better not." Archie felt like he should back off, but he was too scared for his wizard's safety to do so. "You need to get better at sensing magic. I could feel that creature's power from miles away. Any decent being of magic should be able to sense that kind of power from another creature."

Douxie flinched and he gave Archie a wounded look before his expression became closed off. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm not decent enough at magic."

Archie sighed and tried to land on Douxie's shoulders to comfort him, but the boy scowled and pushed him away. Archie stared at Douxie in shock and regret. He had insulted Douxie's magical capabilities again. It wasn't exactly what he had meant, but what else was he supposed to say? He wasn't wrong. If Douxie was more in tune with his magic then he would be more aware of the magical creatures around him.

"Can you just not lecture me today?" Douxie asked. His voice cracked. He sounded tired and vulnerable, like he did on some of his word days in Camelot, when Merlin was being especially cruel. I hurt that Archie was the one to hurt his wizard like this.

"Okay," Archie said quietly. He landed on the ground and walked a few feet behind his wizard, who was tense and clearly distressed. They walked for several long minutes before Douxie sighed.

"Why did you tell Roach that he could eat other humans?" Douxie asked. "He shouldn't eat anybody."

"I agree." Archie said. He didn't like the thought of creatures eating humans, or for humans to be eating magical creatures. It was all so barbaric. "But if it's between protecting you and defending humans that I don't know at all, I'll choose you every time."

"And I would choose everybody else." Douxie said quietly. "I-I can't stand the thought that my safety comes at the cost of someone else's. It-it's not worth it."

"It is to me." Archie said as he felt a rush of fear in his chest. He hated when Douxie talked like this. His boy was the most incredible person he knew, and yet he seemed to think that his own importance was beneath other people. Archie admired Douxie's selflessness, but not when it led to self-sacrifice or self-degradation.

Douxie wrapped his arms around himself, like he was looking for a hug. "I know it is." Archie had tried to be reassuring, but Douxie seemed even more distressed. Archie wanted to talk more about this, but he thought that right now was not the best time to tackle it. Douxie was tired and vulnerable, and Archie was still on edge from his confrontation with the cheval mallet. They were both far too tense to address the issue in a mature way.

So even though Archie hated to see his boy suffer, he kept quiet and gave him his space. Hopefully, with a little bit of time, they would be ready to talk. Until then, Archie would try to think of how to get through to his boy without insulting his magic capabilities.