The morning after Gaius's treatment of his ankle found Arthur standing in front of the door to his father's chambers. He loudly but politely knocked on the large wooden door, awaiting his father's call for him to enter. The injured prince was leaning heavily on his new smooth-handled walking stick in his left hand while clutching Gaius's magical creature's book in his right.
Arthur glanced up and down the hallway. The walk up to the king's chambers had been embarrassing; at least no one had been awake the night before to see him awkwardly stumbling down the hall with a walking stick. The halls never seemed as busy as they were that morning. Thankfully, his father called Arthur to enter and he walked in with as much dignity as he could muster up at the moment.
The king's room was slightly larger, slightly more extravagant than Arthur's but it looked generally the same. Both shared the four-poster bed and the Pendragon-red color scheme. Another shared aspect of the rooms was the large window that allowed you to look over the kingdom. The ruler of this kingdom was sitting in front of said window, enjoying a rare moment of peace in the busy life that Arthur would later inherit. Uther stood at seeing his only son walk through his door.
"Arthur" The king started "I was informed that your hunt didn't exactly go as planned. I went to visit Gaius this morning and he told me of your sprained ankle. He also told me that you had seen something in the forest? Come, sit with me." Arthur walked over to the small table the king was motioning to and sat with his father. He explained the events of the night before, choosing to exclude the detail of meeting the dungeon escapee. Arthur showed his father the Hydra page in The Complete Index of Magical Creatures, politelyignoring his father's scowl at the mention of magic. It wasn't that Arthur didn't believe his father of the evilness that magic could cause, but it was hard to despise something you had never even experienced, not like Uther did. "Anything possessing magic, beast or human, needs to be eliminated before it kills us." Uther spat.
Uther seemed to come to the same conclusion as Arthur. He would send a party of knights to find and eliminate the beast at first light. If it was active at nighttime, maybe they could catch it at a weak time.
"I would like to lead that party, father. My ankle will be healed by then and I am the only one who has seen the creature in person." Arthur stated. Uther paused for a second, thinking over Arthur's proposal.
"Very well. If you are healed by tomorrow, you may lead the knights." Uther replied. Arthur thanked his father and left, taking Gaius's book with him. If he was to rest all day, he could at least learn something about these creatures.
Arthur skimmed the table of contents, wondering where to start reading the oversized book. He sat upright on his feathered mattress with his left leg propped up on a stack of pillows and the heavy book resting on his lap.
Gaius had re-examined his ankle earlier that morning and stated that if he continued resting, he may be walking again by midday tomorrow. Arthur ignored the fact that he was supposed to be leading a party of knights that morning… he could rest on his horse.
Logically, he should start at the beginning of the book and work his way though, but as he glanced down the chapter titles, the one titled "Dragons and Creatures of Similar Visage" caught his eye once again. Besides, he wouldn't be able to focus on the first chapter, "The Troll Family", when he could be reading about the ferocity of the legendary dragons. Arthur flipped though the aging book until he saw the dragon page.
The picture in the upper right-hand corner of the first page of the section on dragons drew his eye away from the text. The dragon in the drawing wasn't exactly extraordinary, it was just sitting down with its wings partly outstretched, but the drawing itself was beautifully done. There was so much carefully put detail placed into the small dragon that it looked as if it would be able to climb right off the page – cliché as that sounds.
Even the dragon's eyes seemed to glow a familiar eternal gold that Arthur could not place where he had seen it before. Arthur shook off the strange feeling that came with the drawing and started reading.
It is hard to differentiate fact from fiction when writing of dragons; the creatures themselves are so entwined with the legends that they seem to cease being legends. Many stories surround dragons, the most prominent being the return of Albion.
Dragons are colossal creatures. It is said that long ago, dragons measured a wingspan of over 300 feet. As time progressed, dragons grew smaller and began to sort into different species. An example of this is the wyvern, a dragon with only a single pair of legs. Information on the wyvern can be found later in this chapter.
Each individual dragon varies on multiple points, but all dragons share the ability to breathe fire. As a result of this, dragons are largely immune to fire. All dragons have magic coursing through their veins, although the amount of controllable magic varies from dragon to dragon. The life span of a dragon is unknown and may not exist. It is unknown that time can weary these creatures, although it is widely believed that once a dragon's purpose has been accomplished it will seek solace in death.
One of the rarest types of dragon is a white dragon. White dragons are symbols of hope among people and are said to foreshadow great things. It is said that only the greatest of dragon-lords will hatch white dragons and that it is a white dragon that will help bring about the return of Albion.
Dragons have a very high level of intelligence. They seem to have their own language which can only be understood by dragons and dragon-lords. The lives of dragons and their dragon-lords are closely entwined. Dragon-lords are said to be kin to the dragons and have the ability to command the dragons to their will, but no dragon-lord has taken advantage of that rite to date. A dragon-lord can converse and interact with many dragons, yet they share a lifelong bond only with dragons that they have hatched.
Each dragon egg varies in colors and size, not unlike dragons themselves. To hatch a dragon, it is only needed that a dragon-lord gives it a name. A dragon-lord can hatch multiple dragons, yet each dragon is attached to its dragon-lord uniquely. Some dragons spend their lives with their lords while others separate shortly after
hatching, yet the bond is never broken. It is said that a dragon-lord can hear its dragon's cry from distances unimaginable and vice versa. A dragon-lord would sacrifice his life for his dragon, as his dragon would do the same for him. Further information on dragon-lords can be found under the chapter titled "Magical Races of Humans".
Arthur turned to that chapter.
A/N: Do you like my book excerpts? I'm not sure if I like them and if you guys don't then I won't write the dragon-lord one. Speaking of book excerpts, I got my dragon info from a mix of Merlin, A Game of Thrones, and my own imagination. I have no idea how I'm going to start the next chapter, maybe with some Merlin. You all are Merlin deprived, I know, it's been two chapters. I'll fix that, I promise. So... comments? things you liked? things you disliked? maybe something you would like to see? I could probably fit it in, unless it completely clashes with what I want to do. Thanks to all my reviewers so far!
