I know this is long overdue but with exams I haven't had much inspiration or time to get a word down for all my stories. After January ends you'll be getting more regular updates.

Enjoy and R&R

"Arthur wait!" Merlin called as they ran through the rain. The Prince hadn't said a word since Merlin had used magic and instead had pulled on his clothes, followed with him storming out of the door. Knowing that he couldn't leave it like this, Merlin chased after him and ignored how cold it was without a top on. "Arthur, let me explain!"

"Stop following me!"

Arthur was running faster then Merlin and due to his training, he was a lot fitter then Merlin was. So as they ran up the steep slope towards the palace, Merlin began to lag behind and he knew if he didn't reach the Prince, something bad would happen. "Wait!" Eventually they reached the palace doors and Arthur slipped inside, not before a foot was wedged in to stop the door from closing and Merlin pushed it open to see the Prince glaring at him. "Let me-"

"Explain? What is there to explain Merlin? You can do magic. Magic. Can you imagine the amount of dragons we could have defeated if you had told someone? The live stock that could have been saved? We've spent years thinking of ways to defeat the dragons and you've been able to do it all along by yourself."

"I can't-" Merlin began but Arthur kept going.

"You might as well be on the dragon's side. You're either with us or against us, and clearly your interests aren't to protect this island. Next time you decide to leap on a dragon, I suggest you don't bother coming back. You're a monster just like them." Merlin was shoved in the chest and he fell onto the ground, the sound of the large door closing the only sound you could hear over the rain. Instead of getting up to beg the Prince to listen, Merlin sat there in the rain and stared at the door.

You're a monster.

Those three words repeated over and over in his head. What if the Prince was right? It wasn't like there was anyone around here who could do what he did and he had no idea who his parents were. What if he wasn't human but something you only heard about in legends? That mere thought pushed him to his feet and he ran back down the hill, having no intention to head home. Instead he ran to his workshop where he usually worked during the day and slammed the door behind him.

If Arthur saw him as a monster, fine. Merlin had a way out of here and if it meant spending the entire night creating something he wasn't sure would work, he would. So Merlin pulled on his apron to protect his chest from anything that could cause him harm, he began to sketch out Kilgh's tail and what was needed in order to fix it.

"Merlin, go left!" Gwen yelled and he rolled to his side to avoid a jet of fire heading his way. "I meant your other left!" Well if she meant right, she should have said so. Merlin grumbled and got back onto his feet, holding his shield in one hand and his sword in the other. He had come to dragon training so he could give off the appearance nothing was unusual. The Prince treated him no differently then before and neither got within talking distance unless they could help it.

"Get out of the way," Leon said loudly and Merlin only had time to throw himself forward before Leon ran across where he'd been standing with a dragon following after him. This was utterly pointless. Most of them were running around waving their swords over their heads, whilst the others tried to defeat the dragons, except the other people got in their way. Whoever thought this would help them fight dragons was an idiot.

"Everyone stop!" Arthur yelled and pushed himself away from the wall, he then proceeded to quickly force the dragons back into their cages. "At this rate no one is going to win the final challenge."

"Final challenge?" Merlin whispered quietly to Gwen who stood at his side.

"In a few weeks the eldest of our people will decide who gets to kill their very dragon in this very arena. You have to impress her and make her think you have what it takes to complete the task. Of course it will be Leon or Lance, they've killed dragons before, it's an obvious choice. Someone like you doesn't stand a chance."

"Someone like me?"

"I don't mean you specifically, I mean someone who hasn't got much experience. The dragon would kill someone with your skills within seconds if they let it loose and didn't have anyone intervene." Gwen gave him a soft smile and got back to listening to Arthur's instructions for the next task.

Merlin on the other hand frowned. It wasn't that he didn't have the skills to defeat the dragons sent against them. It was that he didn't want to defeat them.

"Kilgh?" Merlin yelled and smiled when the dragon appeared from the water after taking a quick swim. It was the only thing he could do around here apart from walk around. "I've brought you some fish incase you were hungry." Spilling the contents onto the floor, he smiled as Kilgh leapt through the air to get there faster and dug his nose into the fish. If it wasn't for the growl he let out Merlin would have moved towards his tail. "What's the matter?"

"Get it away."

Setting down his creation, Merlin approaching the smelly pile of fish and saw a striped eel in the middle where Kilgh had revealed. Reaching down, Merlin picked it up and put it back into the basket which he set away from the other fish. "Better?" He didn't get a response, instead Kilgh dove in and began eating anything he could. "I'll take that as a yes."

Picking up what he'd set down, he slowly walked to the dragon's tail and knelt beside it. Checking to see his measurements were correct. Luckily his skill to remember things accurately came in useful and Merlin found the contraption fit. Without much effort, he clipped it on and opened it up to reveal a fan like shape that should give Kilgh the ability to fly. Pulling at it, Merlin found that it wouldn't come off easily and that if not put under too much strain, could work.

"Am I a blacksmith or am I-" Merlin began to say but suddenly found himself soaring towards the sky whilst clutching onto the dragon's tail. His eyes wide and his heart pounding fast, Merlin looked at the ground getting further and further away. "Kilgh! Take me back down!" He yelled but instead Kilgh turned on his side and Merlin gasped as the fan closed from the wind changing direction. Immediately Kilgh began to fall and he hung on for his life as the ground came up to greet them. Why did this feel awfully familiar?

Except this time they wouldn't survive the fall.

"Windscofl butan," Merlin yelled over the rushing wind and the spell caused the fan to spread out. He did it just in time so that Kilgh could slow them down and just about land gracefully in their 'take off' location. Still clinging onto the dragon, Merlin breathed deeply and tried to stop his head from spinning as the dragon lay down on the ground. "Next time, tell me if you're going to do that!"

"It then tore my right foot off because it was so mad!" Leon finished his story and all the recruits looked in amazement as he showed them his fake foot. "It came back for the other one but I killed him instead. Shows him who's boss eh!"

Merlin rolled his eyes and took a bite out of the chicken breast he had. He didn't even remember how he got here. One moment they'd been at dragon training, the next they were sat around a fire in the late evening talking about dragon attacks. Leon had joined them in sharing stories and started talking about his younger teenage years when he'd been out in the streets fighting dragons. Merlin had heard it all before. Gaius often told him of the injuries he had seen whilst offering out weapons.

"Good for you Leon, it's not everyday someone can say they defeated a dragon that wanted to eat them." Gwen complimented him and Merlin smirked as he saw Lancelot shift in his seat. It was obvious the guy liked her and yet he made no attempt to ask her out sometime. Surely if you liked someone you should just act on it?

As he thought this, his gaze drifted over to Arthur who was talking to Gwaine, obviously sharing battle wounds as one of them lifted up their sleeve to reveal a scar. It had been days since they last talked, Arthur didn't even bother to tell him off or give him guidance in dragon training, he just let Merlin get on with it. Each day Merlin was beginning to feel more and more like a ghost. At least this way, when he did leave, no one would notice his absence.

Seeing as nobody was paying attention to him, he left the remains of the meat he'd been nibbling on and slipped off the platform to slowly make his way down the stairs. There was no point spending time there when he could be out with Kilgh, he was making improvements to his new tail every day and soon they would be ready to test it out in the sky.

"Merlin," a voice broke his thoughts and he stopped in his tracks so he could turn and look up at Arthur who stood numerous steps above him. It seemed distance meant the Prince felt safe around Merlin. Not that he'd actually harm the Prince but the way he was being treated, it was awfully tempting.

"Can I help you Sire?"

"Aren't you going to stay for the rest of the meal? I hear Morgause made us a nice dessert to all share." Merlin raised an eyebrow at the subtle invitation to stay and crossed his arms as he leant back against one of the beams holding the platform up above them.

"I'm surprised you'd want to by anywhere near a monster Sire, let alone share a meal."

"Look when I said that … I was angry, alright? You didn't give me a chance to process what I'd just learnt and all I-"

"It doesn't matter. You meant what you said, you just didn't mean to say it out loud, I get that." Both of them fell silent and Merlin looked out at Camelot below where people were turning in for the night. "You better head back, someone will notice your missing."

"You're not coming?"

"I think it's best if I leave," Merlin smiled sadly and began walking down the stairs. He tried to ignore the feel of Arthur watching him go as he got further away.

Why was it that dragon training always ended up with him lying on the ground and listening to other people yell as they tried to fight off the dragons? It was like the ground enjoyed his body pressed up against it. This was meant to be easy training as well. There was one fire dragon against all six of them. Not exactly hard to work out who should be winning.

Yet as he got to his feet and looked out at the view, he smirked. It was absolute chaos. Even Arthur was running around, telling people what to do and how to defend themselves.

Glancing back at his bag, Merlin smiled and walked slowly over to it. Making sure not to grab anyones attention as he reached inside for the eel he had brought along. It was time for an experiment. Trying not to think what it felt like, Merlin slipped it into his inner pocket of his jacket and made sure it was hidden as he approached the creature.

"Merlin, what are you doing?" Arthur yelled as he saw Merlin had left his weapon back where he'd fallen over. Holding up his shield, Merlin took a step closer to the dragon and it's body tensed as it looked in his direction.

"That's right, time to calm down and go back into your cage." Moving forward, he used his free hand to pull his jacket open a little and give the dragon a view of what he had. The creature didn't have to look twice to know what it was and was quickly shuffling away from Merlin. "Be afraid, be very afraid," Merlin whispered teasingly and felt a wave of triumph hit him as he got the dragon fully in the cage. Slipping the eel out of his pocket, he threw it in to make sure the dragon didn't decide to attack anyway and with the door now shut, he bolted it up.

Turning around, Merlin was faced with six people who stared at him in shock. Including Arthur. None of them knew how he'd done it, how he'd gotten away with no bruises and he didn't even have a weapon on him. "That's it for today right?" Merlin asked and Arthur nodded absentmindedly. "Great. I'll see you lot tomorrow then."

He grabbed his bag from the side of the arena and set the shield down, getting out of there as quickly as he could. Technically he hadn't cheated. There was nowhere that it stated he couldn't use another creature to get the dragon to back off. If anything, he was abiding by the rules by using any weapon available to defend one's self.

As he left the arena he smiled. Having a dragon as a friend came in useful and maybe he could learn a few more things off Kilgh.