Hi! I had some great help from bedshaped3 on this chapter as well. And thanks to everyone who reviewed or put this story on alert! Responses to anonymous reviews are at the end. Hope you'll enjoy!
Chapter 2: The Madness Begins
A sudden shadow and a gust of wind alerted Merlin to the imposter and he sat up, blinking against the sun. Kilgharrah landed in the clearing, right in front of the rock.
"Shouldn't you wait for the cover of darkness?" Merlin moaned, a little agitated that Kilgharrah had interrupted his delightful nap. Nonetheless, Merlin got up so he was more or less facing the dragon at the same height.
"Storm's coming young warlock, one that will wash away Albion's future if taken lightly."
"Good morning to you too, Kilgharrah, any other bright highlights?" Merlin retorted, indifferent to the seriousness in the dragon's voice.
"This isn't a casual visit, Merlin," Kilgharrah answered, rolling his eyes with agitation. "I'm here to warn you," he continued gravely.
"I gathered that, but don't you normally help after Arthur or myself get in trouble? When I call for you?"
"Yes, but a part of your fate has hastened its arrival," the dragon replied mysteriously.
"I'm not following…" Merlin wasn't in the mood for solving riddles. This day was supposed to be uncomplicated.
"Your death, young warlock."
"Sorry?" Merlin was caught off guard. Convinced he had simply misunderstood; he waited for Kilgharrah to elaborate.
"Past and future events are set in motion and they're travelling on a collision course which is beyond my power to prevent."
There was a long silence, during which Merlin started to pace in front of the dragon's sorrowful eyes.
"So I'm going to die and there's nothing you can do about it, but now that I know I'll prevent it, right? That's why you've warned me?" Merlin asked hopefully after a while.
Kilgharrah didn't answer, but sighed wearily.
"Oh, it's like that…" Merlin sank down on the rock, looking at his feet. This wasn't happening, Merlin thought to himself, as he struggled to take in the dragon's words. I must still be sleeping. I must be…
"Who kills me?" Merlin questioned out loud, unable to stop himself swallowing hard as he said the words. They felt bitter in his mouth.
"Your destiny is written, but only you can decide its path." Kilgharrah put some emphasis on his last words, but that was of no help to Merlin.
Merlin thought he had finally gotten the hang of this, but Kilgharrah appeared to be as cryptic as usual – bloody dragon!
"Then tell me, how do I fulfil my destiny if I'm a corpse? Or does Arthur unite Albion and bring magic back within a fortnight?" Merlin jumped up again, just managing to stop himself from yelling out of frustration.
"That's something you have to figure out on your own, I'm afraid. I'm leaving across the western seas," the dragon announced.
"Oh, you've planned a vacation, that's lovely. You can't just run off after this. I could order you to stay." Merlin said defiantly, crossing his arms like a stubborn child.
"Trust me, young warlock, my presence will do you more harm than good." Kilgharrah sighed heavily once again.
"Fine, run off then." Merlin huffed finishing the sentence in his mind. See if I care…
"One last thing..." Kilgharrah said as he spread out his wings.
"Another useless, no-good warning about my inconveniently imminent death?"
"No, just good luck Merlin." The dragon said with the utmost sincerity.
Kilgharrah leapt in the air, circled around the meadow once and took off in a hurry; flying west.
Merlin watched as he slowly faded away in the distance and when Kilgharrah finally disappeared out of sight, he felt very, very alone.
"What are you thinking about?" Arthur asked. He was leaning back against the cushions, while Guinevere's head rested comfortably on top of his chest, staring in the sky. A few cotton clouds were carried along gently by the warm breeze.
"Nothing…" she answered dreamily.
"You don't have to worry about Elyan. He's doing a fine job." Arthur said as he played with a lock of her curly black hair, "I'm sure of it."
"Am I that transparent?"
"Mmm, only to me you are, my mysterious Queen."
"Prove it, what am I thinking now?"
"You're wondering why I choose Elyan for this task, out of all the fine noble men in the court?"
"Mm, very close, so what's the answer?"
"Because he can make his own judgements. I have lot of knights who obey orders, I have a few who speak their own mind. Your brother is one of them, so I trust him on his own."
Arthur thought back to a brief conversation he had with Elyan right after their wedding. More accurately, he listened while his knight did the talking for once.
"Arthur, have you ever wondered why I stayed in Camelot after you banished my sister?" Elyan had asked.
"Um," was all Arthur could summon. Why did Elyan feel the need to raise this subject?
"I'll take that as a no. So I'll enlighten you. She asked me to stay; to have your back. Gwen knew there was still a traitor in the royal court after everyone conveniently forgot about it when Gaius was acquitted. She asked, actually, demanded and even yelled that I shouldn't leave Camelot. I'm telling you this so you'll never forget what an extraordinary woman you have married. King or no king, never let her go again or I'll haunt you even from beyond the grave. I am a King's knight but foremost I am the Queen's."
Arthur's first reaction was to take offense. In fact, he was about to yell and do something else rather unpleasant, but just about managed to stop himself. He clasped Elyan's shoulder instead.
"Don't worry my friend, I'll hold onto her forever this time," Arthur said, knowing he truly meant it.
Arthur congratulated himself on this brilliant idea to hold a picnic. Especially the climb, he would be happy to carry Guinevere to the top of every hill in Camelot, just as long as he could hold her tight. For a few hours, it felt like the world had paused, granting them some quiet. Still, Arthur couldn't help pondering about the kingdom, which was starting to feel more and more like it belonged to him instead of that of his father.
"A lot has changed in Camelot, I hardly recognize it anymore." Arthur broke their contented silence.
"It suits its King." Gwen remarked without hesitation.
"You like it then?" Arthur grinned playfully.
"The city is wonderful of course, compar-", Gwen broke off, giggling loudly as Arthur tickled her into submission.
"There's one change I treasure the most, you know that right?" Arthur asked and leaned in to kiss her just to prove his point.
"I know." She smiled and kissed him back.
Time seemed to stand still...
A large shadow, too dark and too fast for a cloud, dimmed their spot for a fleeting second, but it was enough to stir Arthur's gut as he looked up.
A dragon!
"Ssh, Guinevere, lie still, maybe it hasn't seen us." Arthur whispered as he shielded Gwen from a possible attack. He kept his eyes on the dragon watching it's every turn.
It swirled and landed, just in front of…
"Merlin!"
Arthur jumped up, unsheathing his sword, but there was no way he could get to his manservant in time. He was condemned to watch Merlin getting burnt to a crisp or being ripped apart. Except nothing remotely violent happened as he watched the scene unfold before him.
"What's that idiot doing?" Arthur asked, squinting to sharpen his vision. It looked suspiciously like…but that was absurd! Wasn't it?
"They're talking." Gwen voiced his own thoughts out loud as she stood next to him.
"That lying… I'm going to kill him!" Arthur cursed as he recognized the Great Dragon.
"Calm down, Arthur."
"I am calm."
Guinevere shot him a doubtful look.
"Fine, but I don't need to be calm! Merlin's talking with a dead dragon! It's fair to say I'm well beyond the point of calming down."
"I'm sure he has a good explanation, just don't do anything rash. Promise me you'll hear him out?" Gwen tried to soothe him.
"I don't need a good explanation, Guinevere, I would like the truth for once."
This is unbelievable, un-be-lievable, Merlin thought as he kicked a rock on his way back to the horses. Maybe their calming presence would quieten his racing heart.
His winged messenger of death...Why would Kilgharrah leave just like that? It didn't make sense, none of it did. His magic was restless as well; he could feel it coursing uncontrollably just below the surface of his skin. Merlin wasn't surprised when the rock smashed into a far away tree the next time he kicked it. It was quite a blow as a couple of branches fell down, causing some birds to fly off, screeching indignantly.
Merlin stood still, looking a little shocked at the tree he had apparently blasted a hole in. Calm down, he thought to himself, breathing carefully in and out. It worked. After a few minutes standing still, his heart didn't pound as loudly anymore and he felt less erratic.
Just calm down and you'll handle it, no worries, he thought as he carefully made his way along the hill towards the horses. No worries at all.
He was so preoccupied with pushing back his nerves that he didn't notice he had company until he caught sight of the horses. Arthur was pacing in a rather agitated fashion, while Gwen was obviously trying to calm him down.
There goes the marital bliss, he groaned as he braced himself for the argument between the pair.
"How was your picnic?" Merlin asked casually, or at least he hoped it sounded that way.
He didn't receive an answer, only a nervous glance from Gwen and a angry glare from Arthur as the latter continued his pacing.
That's very encouraging...
"If it's about the bandits, I honestly thought they went away if..." Merlin trailed off as Arthur only intensified his glare.
"Merlin", Arthur finally broke the uncomfortable silence, "Do you remember how a couple of hours ago we were standing on top of that hill and I told you how delighted Guinevere would be because of the exquisite view?"
"Yes…" Merlin nodded confused and uncertain where Arthur was heading with this. And then the penny dropped.
"OH!"
Arthur saw Kilgharrah!
"I, I can explain..." and Merlin bolted.
He only managed to run for a few paces before Arthur tackled him. Merlin went down with a yell. They rolled through the grass for a few moments until Arthur managed to pin Merlin on top of him, safely securing him in a strangling hold.
"Arthur Pendragon, you will release him this instant!" Gwen shouted concerned.
"If he stops squirming!" Arthur yelled, for Merlin had one of his arms free and was jabbing him relentlessly with his elbow.
"Merlin?"
"Okay, okay!" He barely managed to cry out. Arthur released his iron-tight grip and pushed Merlin off him.
"You tried to kill me!" Merlin huffed as he managed to sit up and rubbed his neck.
"What? No! That … that was just an overenthusiastic embrace."
"Yeah…right." Merlin said unconvinced while straightening his neckerchief. The three of them were sitting down just opposite one and other.
"Why am I justifying myself? You were seen consorting with a dragon, a formerly presumed dead dragon to be precise." Arthur snapped back.
"What do you want me to say? Sorry you saw that?" Merlin replied irritably. He didn't need this, Kilgharrah had ruined everything. First he shows up at a time when Arthur is able to see him – apparently Guinevere wasn't enough of a distraction – then, as if that wasn't enough, it's to announce Merlin's death!
"Can you try telling us what happened?" Gwen asked quickly when she saw Arthur opening his mouth once again.
"He tried to eat me, but I'm too skinny for his taste." Merlin quipped.
"Try again." Arthur said darkly.
"You're not going to like this," Merlin sighed, knowing he couldn't escape this interrogation.
"I figured as much."
"You didn't kill the dragon all those years ago… OUCH!" Merlin stopped abruptly as Arthur punched him in the arm.
"Stop telling me things I already know." Arthur scolded.
"Alright, alright, I was coming to that. So the dragon lived and flew away…"
"Arthur." Gwen warned when she noticed him raising his arm to hit Merlin again
"You know, we might get somewhere if you'll stop physically harassing me. Kilgharrah, that's his name, left because I told him to."
"What?" Arthur exclaimed.
"Geez, I go too slow, I go too fast…You're a very hard man to please." Merlin answered annoyed.
"Probably because you're not making sense," Arthur answered defensively. "You can't talk to a dragon, only-"
"Dragonlords can. Yep, that's me."
"How is that even possible?" Arthur was really confused now, trying to wrap his mind around Merlin's absurd and impossible claim. "We searched for a dragonlord a few years ago, when your friend burnt half of Camelot to the ground. And now you tell me you were one? You could have saved us a journey!"
"Don't be so dramatic Arthur, it was hardly half of Camelot... And we had to make that journey, because-" Merlin swallowed hard, "Because the powers of a dragonlord are passed from father to son through d-death."
Gwen was suddenly sitting next to him, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. She had tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Merlin, you should have told us," she said while pulling him in an embrace, one he gladly accepted.
"The man we sought, he was your father." Arthur said blankly after a few moments.
"Give the man a biscuit.", Merlin said entangling himself from Gwen's hug as he unconsciously wiped away a single tear, "He was and I only got to spent two days in his company."
"Did you know he was your father?" Gwen asked.
"Yes, Gaius told me just before we left. I always thought he left us because he didn't care, but he did it because he cared."
"How do you mean?"
"Uther hunted him, even across the borders of Camelot. He left to keep my mother save. He didn't even know she was pregnant. He didn't know about me," Merlin added sadly.
"My father hunted him...?"
"He did. And when we obeyed his order to find Balinor, it got him killed." Merlin said bitterly.
The three of them were silent now. Arthur couldn't believe how much Merlin had suffered directly from his father's orders. Actually he could believe that. He just wondered why Merlin hadn't tried to kill Uther for it. Arthur would've tried it; in fact he had once. He instantly gained more respect for his servant. Arthur knew that sometimes it took a lot more courage to back away from a fight that to pursue it. He may even ask why one day, but perhaps not now. He still needed to be angry at Merlin for lying to him.
Gwen felt for her friend. She knew what it felt like, to lose a father to a king. In hindsight she was lucky. She had many happy memories on which she could fall back on if the pain of that loss overwhelmed her. Merlin only had two days to draw from, and possibly not more than a few stolen moments. She couldn't imagine what was worse. Losing a father who was there every day, or losing a father without ever having the chance to know him better?
"Why didn't you kill the dragon when you had the chance?" Gwen cleared her throat. She needed to know his reasons if she was ever going to understand.
"He was the very last of his kind. In that moment I felt his pain, his loss. I was alone and felt akin to him," Merlin tried to explain. He needed them to understand how it felt to have such a powerful creature at his mercy and why for this very reason he couldn't do it. "Dragons are a lot like humans; their feelings are just as complex. They are able to carry grudges, act on them, kill even," he elaborated. "But they also have it in them to forgive. Kilgharrah left then because I ordered him to, but even if he had the choice he wouldn't attack Camelot again, not while you're king."
"Why?" Arthur couldn't help himself, he was curious about the dragon's thoughts.
"He believes in you. Besides, killing him would be our loss. He is helpful on occasion, from time to time he has given advice and he even attacked our pursuers when we ran from Ealdor."
"What did the dragon say now? He must have had a good reason to risk contacting you with us around," Gwen asked.
"He did." Merlin said and gave them a very selective summary.
"A storm is coming?" Arthur repeated, puzzled.
"Well assuming he wasn't warning me about the weather, metaphorically speaking, storms are bad."
"That isn't very helpful," Gwen hesitantly pointed out. "Does he always say things so-"
"Cryptic? Yes, I blame it on the time he was locked below the castle all by himself. He probably made up riddles for his own amusement." Merlin replied ruefully.
"Couldn't you ask him to explain it a bit better?" Arthur informed. He was still trying to fully comprehend the details of this absurd notion. However, if all Merlin said was the truth, then Arthur just needed to trust him, like he always had.
"He's gone," Merlin replied despondently.
"Why would he-"
"I don't know, okay!" Merlin almost cried out. He felt so frustrated.
"This is all rather surprising. The Great Dragon lives and gives advice… Anything else I should know of?" Arthur asked curiously.
Oh yeah, tons actually. I've saved your life numerous times and lost count after just one year. I do it right in front of you too, but you're too thick to notice. How? I'm a sorcerer. Scratch that, I'm a warlock, born with magic, destined to help you unite Albion, set magic free and guess what? I'm also about to die.
He was going to say that, honestly, but somewhere along the way it turned into this:
"No, nothing else."
Merlin mentally slapped himself.
"So, let me get this straight, you're a dragonlord, the last dragonlord, with the power to command dragons, to lord over dragons."
"Yes Arthur, that's kind of implied in the title."
Arthur couldn't suppress a chuckle.
"You know what's really pathetic, Merlin?" Arthur said grinning from ear to ear.
"What?"
"You're finally good for something, but then the last dragon flew away. That's just sad."
"If that were only so…" Merlin mumbled.
And so it kicks off…
arnia: I loved writing them, so I'm glad you liked the bandits!
Clairepenndragon: Fun to know you had a laugh :)
asdf: You're completely right, I haven't planned it, but I'll keep it in mind. The way I see it is that Gwen doesn't want to intrude too much on the bromance, as it worked wonders for Arthur. If that explains anything?