Merlin needed to do something to end this. To rid himself of all his guilt and pain. He needed to see Arthur! And he knew how to do it. He had watched Arthur use the Horn of Cathbhadh when he was stricken with the same grief over his father. But Merlin would not do things in the same way that Arthur had! He hurried to ready himself for his journey.
He rode hard the whole way until he reached the Great Stones of Nemeton where he would be able to contact Arthur. He pulled out the horn and blew. A light appeared and he walked into it. Then he waited. He had no idea what to expect after this point because the last time he had not gone into the world of the dead with Arthur. He waited for what felt like a long time, with nothing but fog as far as he could see. He called for Arthur. He walked around. But no one came.
Not for a long time. Then Arthur appeared before him… and punched him in the face! Merlin stumbled backwards. "Well, hello to you too," he said as he wiped at the blood that had started to trickle from his nose.
"What the hell do you think you are doing here," Arthur demanded. "You are mere minutes away from the veil closing and you being trapped here forever!"
"Maybe you should have come sooner then," Merlin said defiantly.
"Maybe I didn't want to see you after I saw you in bed this morning with my wife!"
"Ex-wife," Merlin felt the need to point out. "And I think you might have gotten the wrong idea about that…"
Arthur didn't care to hear anything more. He yelled out and rushed towards Merlin. Merlin simply held up his hand which threw Arthur backwards with a blast of magic. Arthur stood and rushed at Merlin again, which resulted with him back on the ground. He stood and glared at Merlin.
"This is stupid," Arthur said. "It doesn't really matter. You have to go now, or you won't be able to."
Merlin stood his ground. Tears welled in his eyes. He had a resolved look on his face.
Realization dawned on Arthur. "You weren't planning on leaving," he said slowly.
Merlin didn't answer.
Arthur strode up to stand beside him. "Of all the stupidest things you have ever done that is by far the stupidest I have heard yet!"
Merlin's face contorted with pain.
"Merlin… you have to go back. You know you have to go back." Arthur reached out and jerked Merlin into a hug. Merlin let out a sob. Arthur pulled away to look him dead in the face. His hands clasped Merlin's shoulders painfully to illustrate his words. "You need to go. Now."
Merlin knew he was right. He nodded his head in defeat. Arthur shoved him a little to start him walking towards the way back. Merlin walked slowly. His feet felt like they were ten times too big for his body. He looked back to say… he wasn't quite sure what? He wanted to say something profound.
Arthur looked angry. He threw his hands onto his head and started to yell at Merlin. "Why did you look back!? You know what happened with my father! What were you thinking?!"
Merlin began to yell also. "Perhaps I wasn't thinking! It has been really hard without you these past few months! I just wanted to come and see you and then you ignore me until the very last moments! Maybe I am feeling a little sad!" Merlin wanted to say more but something out of the corner of his eye stopped the words on his tongue. All he had been able to see this whole time had been the dull fog and a light shining from the way he had entered. But the fog had started to clear and he could see himself, lying on the ground. "Arthur…"
Arthur turned to see what he was staring at. "Oh no. Merlin, quick…" But even as Arthur said the words and turned back towards light, he knew it was too late. All he saw were the surrounding valleys and the great stones. The fog was gone. Everything was back to normal. At least as normal as it could be for a dead man. "Merlin, I am so sorry…"
As much as he had been contemplating death only minutes ago, Merlin was not pleased to find that he had gotten his wish. Then something very strange happened. His lifeless body that lay on the ground began to move. "Arthur, look! What's happening?"
Arthur shook his head. "I don't know."
The Merlin that lay on the ground, stood and dusted off his clothes. Then he yelled out a single word, "Aithusa!"
The Merlin beside Arthur gasped.
"What does that mean," Arthur asked.
Merlin remained silent as he tried to process what he had seen. Before he had a chance to reply a white dragon landed beside the other Merlin, and that Merlin stroked the dragon's neck fondly before climbing on it's back and flying off.
"Oh no, this is bad," Merlin said. "There is only one other person I know of who knows about that dragon. Who loves that dragon. Morgana."