A/N: Thank you GuestM, mersan123, Buckhunter, and PadrePedro for reviewing!


Chapter 3

The group made their way down to the wells, then approached them stealthily. Merlin signaled where each of the guys should take up position, and then he ventured forward to lure the Afnac from the water. But it didn't come surging up out of the well at them. Frowning, Merlin risked moving closer and peered into the depths. They were dark and still. He went to the next and the last well, but the Afnac didn't appear to be in any of them.

"Well, that's step one down," Gwaine remarked. "Drawing it away from the water."

"You didn't expect that, did you," Lancelot said to Merlin.

He pursed his mouth. "No. But given it's been disturbed twice, I suppose I should have anticipated it."

"Would it have just…left?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head. "It's a creature conjured for a purpose; it won't abandon it."

"Tracks over here," Percival announced, standing at one of the adjoining tunnels.

They all went over to look.

"Still wet," Lancelot commented, eyeing the muddy animal prints in the dust.

They set off following the trail, moving cautiously since their torches could only illuminate the darkness so far. Merlin saw the dark tracks veering down another shaft, but just as they were about to turn the corner, the Afnac leaped out at them. It plowed right into all of them, knocking them to the ground. Merlin rolled and snatched up his torch, brandishing it wildly at the creature's flank. It shrieked and darted away, giving the others a chance to get to their feet and converge on it with their torches. Merlin cast a spell to send a gust of wind at it.

The Afnac screeched again and jerked away, slamming itself into the side of the wall with a juddering impact that shook loose some silt from the ceiling. It spun with such force that it body-slammed the wall again, and this time a stream of rocks began to shower down on their heads.

"Watch out!" Gwaine yelled, and everyone scrambled out of the way of the collapsing ceiling.

Merlin dove to the side of a falling boulder and threw his arms up to shield his head. The tunnel floor shook under the impact, until the collapse settled and everything fell still and ominously silent.

Merlin coughed as he sat up. The air was hazy with disturbed dust, and he waved his arm through the grit. He heard shuffling to his left and turned to find Arthur trying to stand. Merlin went over and gave him a hand up, then frantically turned to scan the tunnel for his friends.

"Lancelot! Gwaine! Percival!"

He couldn't see them. He spotted a sputtering torch and snatched it up to wave through the haze. The muted light washed over a mound of rocks completely blocking one side of the tunnel. Merlin rushed over to it and searched the floor.

"Lancelot!" he yelled again.

"Merlin!" Lancelot's slightly muffled voice sounded from the other side of the rocks.

"Are you all right? Gwaine? Percival?"

"We're fine. You?"

"Same. Arthur's with me. The Afnac?"

"Ran off."

Merlin turned his attention to seeing if he could move some of the rocks, but they were jammed together pretty tightly. He slammed his palm against them in frustration.

"Can't you move them with magic?" Arthur asked tautly.

"Not without risking bringing down another collapse."

"What do you want us to do?" Lancelot called.

Merlin's mouth pressed into a thin line. "How's the flamethrower?"

"Intact."

He released a breath. "Alright, go after the Afnac. We'll find another way around. Be careful!"

"You too."

Merlin reluctantly stepped away from the cave-in and turned to head down the tunnel in search of an adjoining passage that would lead them back around to the wells.

"I don't suppose you brought a map," he commented to Arthur.

The prince pursed his mouth. "We weren't supposed to go past the wells."

"Well, that's lesson number one—never count on 'supposed to.'"

"You didn't anticipate this either," Arthur rejoined.

Merlin shook his head and didn't respond to that. The tunnel was dark and winding, which could either circle them back to where they needed to be or take them deeper into a labyrinth of passages beneath the castle. A whiff of less stale air came from an arched passageway, and Merlin turned toward it. But it brought them into a massive cavern and ended at a ledge that dropped off into a deep abyss.

"Dead end, good job," Arthur snarked and started to turn back.

Merlin held still. He felt a presence here. "Hello?" he called, voice echoing through the chamber.

Arthur shot him a perplexed look.

A sudden thwack of massive wings stirred up a gale that sputtered their torch light, and a great dragon came flying down to land on the pyramid of rocks in the middle of the cavern. Its back leg was shackled and a long chain descended down into the darkness somewhere. Merlin gaped at the creature in shock. Dragons were supposed to have been hunted to extinction during the Great Purge.

Arthur whipped out his sword and held it up frantically, eyes wide with terror. The dragon was far too large for a single sword to cause it much fear, though.

"Mm," the beast hummed. "It has been decades since I've had visitors." He sniffed the air then, and his eyes narrowed sharply on Arthur. "You are of the Pendragon line," he snarled.

Arthur swallowed hard. "I am Prince Arthur of Camelot."

The dragon growled, nostrils flaring. "I take it that means Uther is king now."

Arthur's expression furrowed. "Yes. You know my father?"

"And your grandfather," the dragon spat viciously. "Who do you think imprisoned me here?"

"I thought the dragons were all killed in the Purge," Merlin spoke up.

The dragon shifted its piercing gaze to him. "I am the last of my kind. Constantine and Uther hunted down and slew every one of my kin, and then imprisoned me as a final trophy."

"Are you saying my father knows you're down here?" Arthur asked incredulously.

The dragon bared its teeth at him. "Yes." Then he settled and considered them both curiously. "But here comes the prince and a warlock, working together it seems. Has Uther been overthrown?" he asked eagerly.

"No," Arthur exclaimed. "And we are not working together. Or, we are, but not…this is a special circumstance."

The dragon narrowed its eyes. "You are not here to free me?" he asked, voice rising in intensity.

"No," Merlin admitted, but he was very disturbed to learn about all this. "But now that I know you're here, I will do something about it."

Arthur grabbed Merlin's arm. "Are you mad?"

Merlin shrugged out of his grasp and turned back to the dragon. "We have an Afnac to hunt down and kill," he explained. "But I'll be back."

He then turned and marched back through the tunnel. Arthur hurried after him.

"You cannot seriously be thinking of setting that thing free!"

"That thing is a dragon, and yes. He's been imprisoned under here for decades!"

"Dragons are evil! They wreak nothing but destruction."

Merlin whirled on him. "Haven't you learned anything in our encounters yet? Not all creatures of magic are evil."

An animalistic screech suddenly echoed down the tunnel, drawing their attention. The Afnac.

"But that one is," Merlin continued, turning to rush down the passage toward it. They'd have to table this conversation for later.


Lancelot swung his torch at the Afnac. They'd tracked it back to the wells and were trying to prevent it from getting back in the water. Gwaine came at it from the side, thrusting his torch head at its flank. Percival took up position and aimed the flamethrower.

"Move!" he yelled.

Lancelot and Gwaine dove out of the way as Percival unleashed a geyser of flame. The Afnac screeched and reared backward, turning to retreat to the wells. Lancelot scrambled after it, hoping to head it off. Gwaine did the same, both of them planting themselves between the beast and the water. It skidded to a stop but didn't retreat, and instead swung its bulky head at them like a bludgeon, knocking them both backward into the well.

Lancelot coughed and sputtered as he flailed to climb out. Their torches had been soaked and doused, leaving only Percival with the fire needed to vanquish the Afnac. The creature looked ready to leap back into the well—right on top of Lancelot and Gwaine.

But then Merlin and Arthur arrived, and Merlin thrust his hand out with an uttered spell. His eyes flared gold, and a gust of wind and dust went swirling up around the Afnac. Arthur charged in with his torch, stabbing it into the creature's chest and driving it away from the wells. Percival moved in with the flamethrower, and the combination of the opposing elements finally brought the beast down. It melted into a glop of mud on the spot.

"Ugh," Gwaine said, climbing out of the well sopping wet. "Are we going to get sick now?"

"Destroying the Afnac will have neutralized the poison," Merlin replied. "Everyone should be fine now."

That was good, because Lancelot was sure he had swallowed some of this water going down. He was about to climb out when something at the bottom of the well caught his eye. He reached down and picked it up, pulling out some broken egg shells. There was some kind of mark on them.

"Merlin." He passed the pieces to the warlock and then finished climbing out of the water.

Merlin furrowed his brow as he fit the broken pieces together.

"What is it?" Percival asked.

"Probably the mark of whoever conjured the Afnac," he replied. "I don't recognize it, though."

"Can we get out of here now?" Gwaine groused.

"Not yet," Merlin said.

"Don't you dare," Arthur finally spoke up sharply. "I appreciate your help with this Afnac, but you have no business meddling in Camelot's affairs."

"And it's Camelot's business to keep a dragon locked up under the castle?" Merlin retorted.

"There's a what now?" Gwaine said.

"There's a dragon down here," Merlin explained. "We stumbled upon it while trying to get back here. The last dragon in existence."

Lancelot's brows rose sharply. A dragon…they were supposed to be extinct. And it was clear Merlin wanted to free it, but that was something they really shouldn't rush into, not with the whole body of Camelot's knights above their heads and the prince standing right there.

So Lancelot gave his friend a meaningful look. Merlin's mouth tightened, but then he sighed.

"We should make sure the sick have recovered."

They headed back up into the castle and first went to report their success to Uther.

"The Afnac is vanquished," Lancelot told him, aware he and Gwaine were dripping all over the floor. "And we found this." He gestured for Merlin to present the egg shells to the king, showing him the mark on them.

Uther's face drained of color, and Lancelot and Merlin shared a look. Maybe he recognized whose mark it was. A great many sorcerers had been persecuted under his and Constantine's rule and could want revenge.

"Do you know what the mark means?" Arthur asked, having noticed as well.

Uther straightened stiffly. "It's just a mark of sorcery," he said dismissively. "Thank you for your service in ridding us of this evil," he said to the hunters, then turned to Alice, who was standing off to the side with Gaius. "What of the sick?"

"I'll check on them, Sire," she said and bowed before leaving. Gaius went with her.

Merlin would have to stay with Gaius to maintain his cover, while the hunters would have to leave before Uther changed his mind about the griffin incident. Lancelot caught Merlin's eye to signal he walk them out. At the castle gate, they pulled their warlock friend aside.

"Don't do anything without us," Lancelot said seriously.

"I can't just ignore this," Merlin replied.

"Do you plan on waltzing back down there and releasing it right this moment?" Gwaine challenged.

"Maybe."

"I've read dragons are sentient creatures," Lancelot said, changing tact.

Merlin nodded.

"So what do you imagine it will do once released? Just fly away? Or might it have built up some years of resentment toward the ones who hunted down every last one of its kind?"

Merlin's mouth thinned. "That doesn't mean he deserves to remain down there."

"No, but we need a plan first," Lancelot said. "And not a half-assed one you come up with on the spot."

Merlin heaved a heavy sigh. "You're right. I won't do anything right now. Gaius and I will wrap up this problem and then return to the Sanctuary where we'll starting making plans."

Lancelot nodded, satisfied their friend wouldn't do anything rash.


Gaius accompanied Alice on all her patient rounds, and they were relieved to find that all the sick people had recovered. Which meant it was time to leave.

"Gaius," Merlin said, drawing him aside for a moment. "About Alice…"

He frowned. "What about her?"

"I can tell you're conflicted about something. About choosing, maybe?"

Gaius sighed. "That was a lifetime ago."

"There are such things as second chances," Merlin said, his expression both kind and sad. "I can't imagine my life without you, Gaius. You've always been there for me. But I also want you to be happy, even if that means staying here with Alice."

Gaius smiled fondly at him. "I appreciate that, Merlin, but I can't imagine abandoning my work with you either."

Merlin looked relieved. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure. I'll meet you at the gate."

Merlin nodded and left him to go say his farewell to Alice privately.

He made his way to her chambers, knocking to announce himself as he poked his head through the open door.

She looked over with a bright smile. "Thank you for your help, Gaius. I don't know what would have become of everyone without it."

"Merlin did more than I did."

"You did plenty." She paused, pressing her lips together. "You're leaving?"

He nodded. "I don't suppose…you'd like to come with me?"

Her expression pinched. "I can't."

"I understand," he said. Just like he couldn't stay. "We'll keep in touch."

Alice nodded with a smile and stepped closer, then kissed him on the cheek. Gaius reveled in the brief moment, then squeezed her hand and departed. They'd always have their letters.