"I want to start out by saying that I didn't intend for this to happen," says Merlin.

"Shut up before I kill you," seethes Arthur.

Merlin shuts up, appropriately guilty, and Arthur basks in the accomplishment. He doesn't even feel bad about it because he really does want to twist Merlin's head off. He's the only reason Arthur is trapped in an underground cave in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, possibly with a dwindling supply of air. Merlin seems generally unconcerned about that last bit but Arthur hasn't put much stock in Merlin's confidence ever since learning that Merlin is an all-powerful warlock. What he does do, however, is poke Merlin in the leg with his sheathed sword after an awkward silence.

"What?" asks Merlin.

"Do something!" says Arthur.

"You just told me to shut up!"

"You can cast spells without talking—I've seen you do it before!"

"Oh, so now you're completely reliant on my spells?" demands Merlin. "You know, it's my duty to guide you to become a great King but now I see that I've just spoiled you! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

"Merlin," says Arthur, "we are stuck in a cave pit farther away from civilization than I thought was possible. The stone is too slippery for us to climb and too hard for me to wedge a sword into and, even if we could get up, the opening is closed with a boulder. But, of course, I apologize for asking the great and powerful warlock for a little bit of help!" He pokes Merlin with his sheathed sword yet again, but this time with enough force that Merlin yelps.

"Fine," Merlin grumbles. "Just give me a second—my instinctual magic is a bit too imprecise for this situation. If I could just remember a good spell…"

Arthur, satisfied, backs away and lets Merlin think. What starts out as patience quickly turns to ire as the silence stretches out longer and longer and Merlin grows increasingly pale. "What's on with you?"

"Uh," says Merlin, practically swaying where he stands, "I just remembered that the runes on the stone mentioned this."

"And what did they say?

"That you're in this alone."

And then Merlin passes out. In a cave. In the middle of nowhere.

Arthur barely catches him before his head hits the ground, which would have surely ended his life (and Arthur's sanity), and he takes a moment to very vividly fantasize about just telling his father that Merlin has magic and laughing as Merlin burns at the stake. But, alas, Merlin would probably come back to haunt him by poorly doing his laundry…not to mention the whole bit about how Merlin is actually quite a good person who doesn't deserve to die and wait fuck is he even breathing?

Merlin is still breathing. In fact, he's snoring. From where his fingertips brush against the stone, golden spirals of a language Arthur doesn't know spread out rapidly, covering the entire surface of the cave. They look vaguely similar to the glowing tablet that the Triple Goddess presented him with, though, so Arthur figures this is important.

He recognizes a few of the runes from Merlin's mutterings, which has left him with a few syllables of context, but everything else doesn't ring a bell. With frustration, he says, "I can't even read this!"

Then the very Earth seems to pause and consider his words before the runes scrawled on the cave shudder and transform before his very eyes into a language that he is perfectly capable of reading. Merlin snorts in his sleep and turns to his side and Arthur lets him, too stunned to even react. The words are chaotic and without any spaces between them but Arthur squints and puts every bit of his royal education into it. Eventually, he manages to decode the message that's repeating over and over again: Accept us.

"Merlin," Arthur says reproachfully, "you couldn't have warned me beforehand?" Merlin does not respond.

Switching tactics, Arthur yells at the cave, "I accept you, I guess! To be honest, though, I don't even know what that means—you didn't explain yourself very well."

The cave considers this again, and the writing changes to Accept magic.

"I accept magic! My manservant is a bloody warlock!"

Yet you still fear it.

"Well, the only real interactions I've had with magic so far have been decidedly negative—or they were brought on by Merlin." He glances over to make sure that Merlin is soundly asleep before adding, "And Merlin is a bit terrifying, isn't he?"

True, but still.

"Well, come on then—you're being a very bad sport! Only give criticism if you're willing to be constructive about it! Don't just say 'be accepting of magic', you have to explain how I can become accepting! It's not like I have a wealth of learning resources right now!" In fact, his two learning resources are Merlin—who is asleep—and Gaius—who is a two-day's journey away.

Fine, says the cave, it's writing jagged and irritated. Use magic.

"How am I supposed to use magic when the only person who could teach it to me right now is asleep?"

You carry another way.

Arthur is going to kill this cave. It doesn't sound plausible, but he'll do it—perhaps he'll set it on fire or fill it with rocks or make Merlin unleash a dragon on it—

The dragon! Summoning it must count as magic! Arthur scrambles to pull the necklace Merlin had given him out from under his clothes, holding it close to his mouth. Then, very carefully, he says, "O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes." To be quite honest, he wasn't expecting it to work, but he hears the magic as his voice filters through the necklace. There are a few moments of silence before the ground begins to tremble and a great roar echoes through the vicinity.

The cave says, That doesn't count!

Arthur says, "Too fucking bad—we're leaving."

The boulder is moved out of the way and Arthur waves up at the slightly terrifying yellow eye that's staring down at him.

"Ah," says the dragon (because apparently the dragon can talk now?), "the Princeling has summoned me."

"I used Merlin's magic," says Arthur. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," says the dragon. Then, curious, it asks, "Is the warlock dead?"

Arthur's eyes widen as he looks back at Merlin, only to relax when he realizes Merlin is still sound asleep. "No, he just got knocked out by the magic cave."

The magic cave says, You're awful, you know that? Arthur ignores it. There will be consequences, Arthur Pendragon! He ignores it again.

The dragon seems to shrug. A few minutes later, Arthur is holding Merlin secure on the dragon's back and chatting with it idly.

"So, your name is Kilgharrah?"

"It is."

"And you're the dragon that attacked Camelot?'

"I am."

"Why don't you hate me?"

"Because you're the Once and Future King."

"Oh. The druids called me that once."

"Yes, they would." The dragon sounds amused.

Arthur stares into the distance. "Do you, like, need a treat after this?"

"What? No, I'm not a dog—"

Arthur interrupts him, kind of desperate. "No, listen, I have these three chickens…"

Somewhere in Camelot, three chickens squawk in terror.

A/N: lol this was fun to write 3

i hope you liked it and if it was then please FAVORITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW