Holy Crap guys. Y'all are flipping amazing. Thanks to: MugetsuPipefox, Peaceful Dragon Rose, visitor, TN Sarah, ProcrastinationIsMyCrime (4 reviews! and procrastination is mine as well -lol) for the reviews and to everyone who is still reading this. I'm glad to see that the Merlin fandom, while significantly decreased since the series finale, still lives strong.
Chapter 5 - Overcoming Pride
Thud!
"They will all pay dearly for this atrocity, this -" Thud! "-abomination" a voice muttered in a low complaint. "I should have burned these down the last time I was here; maybe I wouldn't be dealing with...umph...this!" he yelled out the last word roughly, causing the audience gathered around to laugh riotously at his embarrassing predicament. But one couldn't really blame the citizens of Camelot for their merriment if Merlin, manservant to the King, decided to land himself in the stocks again. Unfortunately (for the victim) what they didn't know was that, although the man before them looked like Merlin, it was in fact Kilgharrah, the Great Dragon, terror and destroyer of Camelot, who was reduced to this rather embarrassing state. And right now, the squelch of the ripe tomato abruptly cut Kilgharrah's thoughts short as it finally made contact with his face. Apparently Merlin's 'fans' had been storing up for this very moment - the moment when he would return to the stocks and offer the entertainment they had so desperately craved for and missed.
"I hate broccoli. It looks too much like trees!" the Great Dragon grumbled, trying to dodge the clearly rotten and soggy vegetables being flung his way but utterly failing. "Blasted chains!" he yelled which only served to make the crowds laugh louder at the strange behavior of the King's manservant much to Kilgharrah's consternation.
And of course to top it all off (and since destiny obviously was getting a kick out of this scene too), the Once and Future King (whom Kilgharrah mentally referred to as the 'Once and Future Jerk) had to make his grand appearance. Yes, it did stop the crowds from chucking more rotten food his way but the Great Dragon knew the true purpose of the King's arrival.
Kilgharrah mused on how he, at this moment, hated being right.
"Having fun yet Merlin?" Arthur taunted as he approached and then leaned on the wood binding his manservant.
"Oh yes, loads of fun Sire" Kilgharrah retorted.
"Well, if that's the case..." Arthur left the rest of the sentence hanging as a ring of keys mysteriously appeared and began twirling around in the King's hand. "...I guess I brought these for no reason then. Goodbye Merlin" and a that the King made to turn around.
"Sire...Arthur wait!"
At this, Arthur's ears perked in attention while his eyebrow attempted (with a bit of success) Gaius' own unique eyebrow technique. "Yes Merlin, I'm waiting".
Oh, I see where this is going, Kilgharrah thought with a glare sent the King's way. At first, the Great Dragon wasn't going to conceded to an apology. However, the crowd of villagers returning with baskets full of new ammunition (most likely provided by his majesty himself) made a convincing argument and weighing his choices, Kilgharrah knew which he would choose in a heartbeat. Bowing his head to remove the glare almost frozen on his face by then, he sucked up his pride, closed his eyes, kept his head down to his King and solemnly said...
"For-forgive me Sire for my impudence. I was being a lazy, disobedient servant and for that I apologize. This will not happen again".
Risking a peek at Arthur, the Great Dragon saw him with a thoughtful and sincere look on his face. Taking the keys out, the King leant down towards the chains around Kilgharrah's wrists with the full intention of opening them.
Well, at least that's what Kilgharrah thought and hoped for. However...
"Good, they're nice and secure. Can't have you staying with loose chains on, now can we?" Arthur said as he finished checking the strength of the manacles with a tug. If anything, he actually tighten them, not painfully but enough to offer no movement what-so-ever for the one imprisoned. At Kilgharrah's disbelieving expression, Arthur adopted his usual smug look again.
"Please Merlin, like an apology would actually get you out of this punishment. You're losing your touch" he said before leaving his servant to his adoring fans who were eagerly (but respectfully) waiting with baited breath for the King to finally leave. At this Kilgharrah's face turned from disbelieving to angry. "Arthur you stupid...prat! I demand you let me out THIS INSTANT!"
"Too late, you forgot to say please"
"Arghhhh! - oomph...I hate vegetables!"
Arthur obnoxiously grinned before turning around and completely ignoring the angry rants of his manservant as he made his way to the Castle. It had been awhile since he visited this part of the lower town. He missed putting Merlin in the stocks.
Hmmm...I should really do this more often, he mused to himself.
After Kilgharrah's little adventure in the stocks for the better part of the day, the King had punished him further with the task of cleaning the stables, saying something to the affect of "it'll do him some good". It'll do me good, my arse, Kilgharrah mentally complained. Not only was he reduced to completing this disgusting chore, but the horses (especially Merlin's horse whom he had previously scarred half to death) were all present to snicker, neigh, and generally make fun of him in their own tongue.
"Laugh now, but you stupid beasts of burden will all pay". Of course, the death threat wasn't intimidating when said powerful dragon was: a) trapped in the body of a skinny young man who constantly tripped over himself, b) shoveling hay and excrement and c) covered head to toe in what he was shoveling. In shorter terms, he was everything but intimidating, the exact opposite of what a dragon should be.
Eventually Kilgharrah conceded with his position and continued with the chore in silence, doing his utmost best to ignore the jibes from the horses. Just when it was becoming too unbearable (the Great Dragon was on the verge of giving in to his temptation of setting the stables on fire with the horses in it...once he figured out how to do so to begin with), a white four-legged figure barged clumsily in, scarring the horses out of their minds. After all, a dragon suddenly appearing would scare any creature, especially if said creatures were just making fun of the Great Dragon.
"Aithusa what are you doing here?"
"Grumpy Scales, I found you. Father is in trouble. Those druids returned and...sniff sniff... why do you smell like horse dung?"
"Umm...that's of no concern to you. Now, start from the beginning. What happened?"
So Aithusa did, starting from when they first encountered the rogue group of druids to the previous night when they were attacked and Merlin was captured.
"Wait, I understand that the young warlock can't fly but why didn't Merlin just shoot fire at them? That usually scares humans away".
"Father doesn't know how to"
Kilgharrah threw his hands up in frustration. "Unbelievable, a dragon who can't fly or shoot fire. My reputation is tarnished!"
"I think that already happened when you started cleaning up after horses" Aithusa said grinning at the pitchfork Kilgharrah still held on to as well as his dirty and disheveled look. She might be young but the white dragon wasn't stupid.
Panic filled the Great Dragon's eyes. "You will not speak of this to Merlin, Aithusa" Kilgharrah commanded while pointing the filthy pitchfork at the white dragon. Then a thought suddenly hit him. "How did you get passed the guards unnoticed?"
"Um...they weren't looking?"
"Aithusa" Kilgharrah said warningly.
"What, they really weren't. All they were doing was cracking jokes and playing with these small cube-like blocks and a game they called 'I Spy'. It's not my fault they're so unobservant"
Kilgharrah sighed while shaking his head, causing Merlin's raven-black mane of hair to rustle like a bush in a very strong wind. "I really need to discuss Camelot's security with the young warlock when all this is said and done. First though" he said raising his eyes to meet that of the white dragon, "let's go save our Dragonlord".
Merlin was furious. Not for the fact that these rogue druids captured him (although he did find this annoying). No, once Aithusa would bring back Kilgharrah to rescue him (what other random person could she find wandering the woods for help...Morgana?) and release him from this stupid, petty trap, the young Dragonlord knew that he would be forced to endure the never-ending sass and ridicule from his older, obnoxious magical kin. And to add fuel to the magical fire, salt to the wounds (etc...), Slagan (leader of the rogue druids) just wouldn't Shut Up!
"...and once we capture that traitor Emrys, he will pay for all he has done and..."
Merlin rolled his golden eyes so far back that he could've sworn he saw the texture of Kilgharrah scaly sockets. If he got a gold coin for every hurt, vengeful, 'I-will-destroy-the-Pendragons-for-fill in the blank-they've-done sorcerer...well, let's just say Merlin would be Gwaine's new drinking buddy and Arthur would be jealous of the amount he would have stored.
The captured warlock/dragon sighed. The stars gleamed outside in a midnight sky as Merlin lay bound, watching trapped from inside the cave. Life really wasn't fair to him. More like destiny, the warlock mused. Only he, Emrys - the last Dragonlord, wielder over the power of life and death, protector of Camelot and of the Once and Future King - could wind up in this mess. Just when he began to review his disdain of Camelot-attacking sorcerers, a loud rustling noise from the dense forest outside the cave was heard. At this Slagan immediately became alert, a blessing for Merlin since the sound ultimately stopped the idiot's incessant monologue. With an evil grin he whispered "Emrys" from a slightly dramatic half-crouched position, his hands splayed out as a signal to the others to be still and quiet. The second rustle got Merlin's complete attention. Trying to crane his neck to see what the source of the not-so-inconspicuous sound was, he barely managed to glimpse the forest when his chain was painfully and annoyingly tugged back to the cave floor.
"Oh no you don't dragon. You're not going nowhere until your cowardly master comes to save your scaly hide" Slagan hissed. Again, Merlin found his eyes rolling, one to the ineffective threat and two to the fact that 'not going nowhere' meant he would, in fact, be going somewhere. Back to the situation, of course the trapped warlock knew who it was. These idiotic druids were just too...well, idiotic to see.
Rustle, rustle.
Another out-of-the-blue wind wisped through the trees. Now every sorcerer was on high alert and it wasn't until after the fourth gust of wind that prompted Slagan to finally speak up.
"Is that you Emrys?" the leader asked to which Merlin sarcastically thought, "Yes, he's really going to answer you back"
Of course, no-one answered. "We have captured your dragon". ("No foolin'") "Turn yourself in and we might free him" he finished to which Merlin huffed a breath of air with a muttered, "Like he's actually going to do that". Moments later, his thoughts were interrupted when fire balls began catapulting from the darkness of the forest. Panicking, the sorcerers were at a lost as to what to do and began frantically running around the cave, trying to avoid the fire that was not even hitting their camp site.
"You idiots!" Slagan yelled, "Everyone, abandon your positions and go after Emrys". At this, Merlin furrowed his scaly brow before his eyes widened. No...,he mused, are they really?...
"Wait", a sudden pause, "you" the leader said, pointing to a random half-asleep rogue druid standing next to the captive. "Stay here and guard the Great Dragon. No use getting rid of all our forces. This could be a trap"
"Excellent idea Slagan. Your wisdom never ceases to astound us" his second-in-command said. As everyone (minus the one druid) was leaving, Merlin couldn't help but think sourly, "Now I just feel insulted". Sure enough, he was left alone, still bound in the cave. "Oh wait, they left one guy here to guard me", he bemused. "I can't believe I let these morons capture me. I must be the worst Dragonlord in the history of Dragonlords".
"Congratulations Merlin, you've finally admitted it"
Eyes snapping open at the aged voice, Merlin was greeted to the sight of himself smugly looking down, the random guard slumped unconscious on the ground with a rather large Percival-fist-sized stone by his head. Grabbing the keys from the druid guard, Kilgharrah began attempting to figure out which key would unlock the chains that bound his kin.
"It took you long enough Kilgharrah"
"Really Merlin" the Great Dragon stated in a frustrated tone from his crouched position, still going through the multiple keys that the druid for whatever reason possessed, "you could not escape these meager chains. The enchantment on them is mediocre at best. My dragon fire is more than powerful enough to incinerate these in an instant. The steam from it would, at the very least, weaken the chains to make it possible to break through them let alone melt them...oh wait that's right, you haven't figured out how to breath fire in the first place".
"Nice to see you too" Merlin grumbled dryly.
"Aithusa briefly explained the situation to me already but I must hear it from you; however did you get yourself caught in the first place?" Kilgharrah was clearly having too much fun, despite his frustration with the blasted keys.
"Where's Aithusa anyway?"
"She's distracting the druids with the fire. Don't change the subject, my question still stands"
"Well...I..."
"Failed to survive a few days as a dragon"
"..."
"What, no response Merlin"
"...um..."
"I'm waiting" the Great Dragon said smugly and by this time, he finally found the right key but stopped in order to focus on a more important task, that being the taunting of his Dragonlord.
"Just release me already Kilgharrah!" Merlin yelled.
"Not until you answer the question"
"Kilgharrah, I'm the Dragonlord! Now release me this instant!" When nothing happened, a wider and more devious grin appeared on Kilgharrah's face.
"Not for now, you're not. In my body, your Dragonlord powers have no affect on me. Hah! Who's the Dragonlord now Merlin!?" Kilgharrah shouted.
*Cough cough*
At the sudden, silence-breaking sound, both dragon and Dragonlord broke from their glaring contest to find themselves surrounded by every druid that had left to search and destroy Emrys. Oh right, we have idiot rogue druids to deal with...
"Well, well, well", Slagan started while forcefully pushing himself through the crowd (no doubt trying to impose his 'overpowering' persona on his targets with a direct face-to-face confrontation...and a speech that was sure to follow), "the great Emrys has finally arrived. Finally we, who have been wronged by both the Pendragon family and Emrys - the traitorous...er, traitor - will now claim are justified revenge on them for their heinous crimes against our kind". Then turning to face the druid group, Slagan continued, "Long have we desired this moment my brothers and sisters and now..."
"Father, Kilgharrah, the druids are returning to the cave!", Aithusa mentally warned them.
"A little too late Aithusa", Merlin mentally chided while Kilgharrah lowly mumbled, "Thanks for telling us now!"
"...and they who have wronged us, all of them will burn like our brethren before have. They will be destroyed like the cowards they are. How dare Emrys hide..." Slagan continued (a recounting that will be spared lest the halls of Camelot's library be filled to overflowing).
"Does he ever shut up young warlock?", the Great Dragon asked in a low voice.
"Nope" the still chained warlock responded.
"In this case, I do feel bad for you Merlin"
"Yeah, so can you get me out now?" Both snuck another glance at the still yapping Slagan who's followers were now sitting pretzel-legged on the cave floor, not paying any attention to the two (technically-speaking) victims/captives. Apparently, Slagan was now giving a litany of 'the evils of the Pendragons' with very often side notes of 'death to the traitor' (which was assumed to be Merlin by now). While the idiocy of these rogue druids was both equally amusing and irritating, Kilgharrah and Merlin were pretty sure they didn't want to stay and listen...or deal with the aftermath.
"Sure" and with that the Great Dragon began fiddling with the key in the lock. However, thumbs were still foreign to the human-turned-dragon (why humans needed this appendage, he would never know) and he wasn't about to try Merlin's magic again (he still couldn't figure out how to control it properly) since it would show the owner of said magic how much he truly failed at using it. For the Great Dragon, he still couldn't fully control it.
Just as Kilgharrah finished with unlocking the last of Merlin's bonds, it happened. All it took was one druid, ironically the nameless druid who Slagan commissioned as guard and whom Kilgharrah had knocked out (whom everyone else forgot about), to wake up and - before being distracted by his leader's apparently enchanting voice (for lack of a better term) - catch the two trying to escape.
"Emrys is releasing the Great Dragon!" nameless druid yelled, his voice like an attack on Camelot's library with an explosion of fire balls reigning from the heavens with battle cries on both side as it broke the silence that the two captives were trying to maintain.
Swearing under his breath (no doubt what he picked up from Gwaine...and surprisingly Gwen), Kilgharrah climbed on top of the dragon's head as Merlin quickly struggled through the rest of his bonds and both made a break for the exit in the back of the cave. If the situation wasn't dire, the young warlock would have found their predicament quite amusing. A dragon riding on top of his Dragonlord chased by a group of forty to fifty druid sorcerers. And to make matters worse, said sorcerers were attacking them as they ran.
"Kilgharrah, you have to stop them!" Merlin yelled to the weight sitting/kneeling on his head.
"Your magic doesn't seem to work with spells!"
"Yes it does, now do something!"
"I've only ever used your magic - whoa!", he suddenly exclaimed as he ducked under a lightning bolt that came too close to comfort for his liking, "-accidentally".
"How can a dragon not use magic, especially my magic?" A fire ball skimmed past his right shoulder barely leaving a mark due to the dragon's protective skin. "We're kin for goodness sake!"
"As if you should talk Merlin. Need I remind you-"
"Shut up Kilgharrah!"
With all the running/shouting, both Kilgharrah and Merlin didn't realize they came to an exit until the light of the full moon and the cool, night air suddenly hit them. Quickly glancing ahead, Merlin dug his claws into the ground and came to a rather abrupt and screeching halt, almost throwing Kilgharrah (who was looking behind them to see the progress of their adversaries) off in the process.
"Why, in all of magic, did we st-oh!"Kilgharrah finished. 'Oh' was right, for they had somehow reached the edge of cliff with a rather large, deep, bottomless pit. "Merlin, you're going to have to fly"
"No way" Merlin said while violently shaking his head. "Not going to happen!", another look over the sheer drop had the young warlock turning around to leave only to be met with the shouts of the rogue druids quickly approaching.
"Well, we obviously can't go back" Kilgharrah retorted, motioning his hand back to the cave.
"I can't fly Kilgharrah. I've tried already and can't even make it off the ground. What makes you think I'm going to do it now?!"
"Merlin, we can't face all of them in our current conditions"
"We have you now!" Slagan said as the group arrived, "There's no where you can run"
"Merlin" Kilgharrah said warningly.
"No"
"I know you can do it Merlin. Trust me" the Great Dragon said before quickly scurrying up the scaled head. Turning around and taking a deep breath, Merlin closed his eyes, unfolded his wings, and jumped off.
The cold night air rushed by, skimming his scaled face as he fell...
And fell...
And continued to fall...
Seeing no end to his gradual descent, Merlin did what anyone in his situation would have done and the most logical thing he could think to do at a time like this...scream his head off.
"Kilgharrah, we're gonna die!"
Kilgharrah in the meantime was keeping his cool as he clenched tightly to the horns on his scaled-kin's head. So used to flying, he had forgotten what free-falling did to a creature (as he remembered back in his early days as a hatchling) and not wanting to separate himself from his rather distressed Dragonlord, he felt obligated to hold on for dear life. "Merlin, you have to fly now. Concentrate!"
"We're gonna die!"
"Merlin. You are a Dragonlord. Flying in is your blood. Now close your eyes and concentrate!"
Time seemed to come to a halt. The leaves whisked by as the world seemed to stop. Both Dragon and Dragonlord, brothers in blood, took a united breath together as they focused on each other for once, one for raw, elemental magic and the other for the freedom of flight and fire. Simultaneously making that connection, magic poured forth from their now-opened eyes, both lit with golden amber, the tell-tale sign of the release of the most ancient power on earth. Spreading his wings and controlling his flailing limbs, Merlin fully embraced the pure form of Kilgharrah's magic -his very being- which was so like his own.
Time resumed and moments before hitting the cold, hardened earth the dragon-turned warlock finally took flight.
Slagan and company rushed to meet the dragon and Dragonlord head on, already knowing he and his followers would succeed in destroying this opponents. With an air of confidence and arrogance, he led the rest of the druids to victory...that is until the Great Dragon, with Emrys on top, fell off the cliff. At this, the leader found himself caught between contentment and anger - contentment for sending both to their doom and anger for not being the one to actually kill them. Just as he and the druids reached the edge of the cliff to view the destruction...
Woosh! A shadow shot passed them up into the night sky causing those on the cliff the fall hard on their backsides. Merlin flew higher and higher, taking in and relying on the adrenaline pumping through his veins along with his magic while Kilgharrah (with the aid of the warlock's magic) stood powerfully rigid on the top of Merlin's head. Circling around, the Dragonlord hovered above and faced the renegade druids. Both his and Kilgharrah's eyes were alight with golden fury as, with joined minds, they spoke at the same time.
"Slagan", both their voices thundered as the deep voice of the dragon fused with the higher toned voice of the warlock, "you have underestimated our power far too long. You want to feel the power of Emrys and the Great Dragon united. Well, here it is". Without a word uttered, Kilgharrah slowly raised his left hand above his head and brought it down diagonally across, unleashing a fierce blade of piercing wind that was sent towards the druids. While not deadly, it changed shaped and wrapped around the entire group, engulfing them in a tornado of sharp wind. By the time it settled, a quarter of the group had run off while the rest took a few steps back, allowing Merlin enough room to land on the cliff's edge.
By no means were our heroes cornered now.
"You don't sc..scare us Em..Emrys" Slagan called out with as much confidence as he could muster (which wasn't much) but still backing up ever so slightly. At this, Merlin blew a blast of fire their way, in-advertently scarring away another quarter of the group. It was at this moment that Aithusa finally decided to join the party and landed on top of Merlin's head in front of Kilgharrah. All of them, the two dragons and their Dragonlord stood menacing silhouetted by the moon's light, making their eyes shine dangerously in the dark.
"I'm...I'm warning you" the leader tried, stuttering with a trembling hand poised to strike but constantly forgetting the words to whatever spell he thought would work against these creatures of magic. He looked behind for support from his followers only to see that, at this point, everyone else had taken off after the second dragon joined the equation.
"Looks like you're missing a few people" Kilgharrah said after jumping off the warlock's head. The white dragon joined him on the ground.
"Should we wait for them?" asked Aithusa innocently yet mockingly.
"Nah" Merlin answered, white, pointed teeth gleaming as he bore them. 'Three's a crowd. Four's a feast and I am hungry. Besides, where's the fun in that?"
At this point, there was only one sane thing for Slagan to do...Never had the dragon seen a person high tail as fast as the renegade druid had out of the cave. Once all the druids had dispersed for good, the dragons and their Dragonlord let out a long, held-in breath and looking at one another, they all began to laugh.
"Really Merlin, I think you took that threat too far" Kilgharrah gently chided.
"What? I was serious when I said I was hungry. I haven't eaten anything for days!" Merlin replied.
"Well, I don't think we'll being seeing those guys soon anyway...lest the all mighty Emrys and the Great Dragon unleash their vengeance upon them once more"
"And me as well!" Aithusa chirped.
"Yes, you too Aithusa. And I'm glad that's over" Merlin replied.
A short moment's silence, and then, "Hmm" Aithusa thought out loud, "didn't Slagan know he could've just teleported himself away, right? It would have been easier than running like a rabbit with its head cut off"
Looking blankly at each other, Kilgharrah and Merlin never laughed so hard at the foolishness of their 'enemy'...and of their own actions as well.
It wasn't until their eyes rolled into the back of their heads and they passed out that the laughter stopped. Alarmed at the sudden collapse of her kin, Aithusa went to make sure they were okay but stopped when she noticed their expressions.
Kilgharrah and Merlin had both welcomed consciousness with smiles on their faces.
So that's chapter 5. The last chapter is already written (I just need to proof read it and tweak it a bit) and should be up later this week. Please review, they mean a lot to me and I will try to reply to each of them. :)
Until later,
-STL13