A/N: I said in an earlier chapter that I thought this fic would end up being about 18 chapters long, but I think it'll be more like 22+ or so now, but not really sure. Have a plan for the ending but it's taking me a while to get there. And I hope you like this chapter – it's shorter than most that I post but it's probably my favourite, you'll see why **grins evilly**.

Early morning, and Merlin woke to a hand pressing over his mouth.

A low voice near his ear. "It's me."

Merlin nodded his understanding and Arthur took his hand away. Merlin sat up and looked around, Lancelot and Gwaine were crouched just back from the still burning campfire, their swords drawn in the dim morning light. He couldn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary and reached out with his magical senses. Nothing there either. He whispered, "What is it?"

The horses were prancing nervously, Lancelot went across to them to calm them.

Merlin tried again. "Arthur?"

The prince shook his head. "Don't know. But all the sounds in the forest have died out, can't you tell? There's something out there."

Then Merlin noticed it, the heavy sound of an ominous silence. The back of his neck prickled, he reached out again, searching with his mind, but found nothing.

"I can't sense anything, Arthur."

The prince turned to him but whatever he was about to say was lost when screech after screech split the air. Three of them knew that sound.

"Wyvern!" Gwaine yelled across the clearing. The horses were going crazy. "Sounds like at least three or more. Merlin, help Lancelot with the horses, get them under the trees. Hurry! You stay back there with them, wyvern are damn hard to fight when they're coming at you from the air but we've got your shields on, so we'll stand a chance."

Merlin shouted, "Gwaine, Arthur, no! You've got to get back!" Another screech from above and Merlin looked up, the wyverns were coming now, and there were four of them.

Gwaine was still yelling. "Merlin, they're creatures of magic. You won't be able to do anything, they're impervious to magical attack, you can't fight them! They might've been attracted by the fire, but now they're probably after the horses, if they've caught their scent they won't back off. They're vicious hunters. Move, now!"

At Gwaine's words, Arthur's arm was hard across Merlin's chest, he began to drag him backwards to the tree line, gripping him over the chest with one arm while holding his sword in the other hand, hissing threats about orders and obeying or else, then the first wyvern began to swoop, it was all happening too fast.

Merlin didn't have time to try and explain. He pushed around Arthur, opened his mouth and the power roared out of him, a dragon's roar that shattered the sky. The first and second wyverns were blown back in the air by the force, crashing into the two flying behind them. They regrouped and recovered again to begin their attack but it had bought Merlin enough time.

Arthur hadn't let go but he wasn't holding him quite so tightly now, Merlin pulled out of his grip and yelled over at Gwaine. "Remember they're related to dragons, Gwaine, now get out of the way and let me take care of it. And don't try to harm them!"

He didn't have time to make sure they were obeying him, the wyverns were coming, he pushed Arthur behind him and ran to the centre of the clearing, near the fire. The words roared out of him, strong and commanding, and broking no possibility of disobedience, "Stille níeten dracans! Ic bebodræden ðu to stille! ðu níedhæs mín gewill, ðu béo under mín ríce, wyrmes."

The wyvern soaring down to Gwaine pulled back from him instantly, almost backfipping in its haste, then they all landed in a neat row in front of Merlin. All four bowed their heads, their claws scratching the earth. Their red eyes glowed as they looked around, long sharp teeth glistening in the early morning light. The horses stamped nervously and whinnied, Gwaine hurried to help Lancelot with them.

Merlin tapped a finger on his mouth, thinking. Wyverns were creatures of magic, he hadn't been able to sense them. And that meant, if he kept one with them then Morgana would not be able to scry them either. He smiled.

He turned to the three wyverns closest to him, pointing into the air, his tone still commanding. "Edcierr to sé Précne Élandes, sweree to edcierr sele ic i ábene."

The three took to the sky, leaving one remaining. Merlin studied it properly for the first time. It was smaller than the others, he wondered if it was a young one. Maybe he should have kept one of the bigger ones, but it was a bit late for that now. He reached his hand out to touch it and it shrank down and hissed, a growl of sorts rumbling in its throat.

Oh no, he'd been too harsh earlier, he'd gone and scared it.

He crouched down at eye level with the creature and said in a milder voice, coaxing, "Wúscbearn lígdracan. ðu gewill fullgenge mec and ðu gewill geondscéawe nánuht tó ege. Ic mæne ðu no bealu." He stretched his hand out again, this time the wyvern allowed him to touch its head with some reluctance.

Merlin decided that would do for now. He turned back to the others, pleased with his plan, but he was met with three appalled faces.

Arthur spoke for them all. "No, Merlin! No, no, no! Please don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me. That thing, is not coming with us!"

Merlin looked back at the wyvern. It was lying on the ground now, hissing to itself, and snuffling around the edge of the campfire. Maybe it could smell the remains of their meal from last night.

"Well ..."

"Merlin, you've got to be kidding me! No way! It's a wyvern!"

"Yes, but Arthur, it's totally under my control! It won't hurt you, well, not unless I die unexpectedly, and then I really couldn't say what it'd do! But look at it, I think it's just a young one, do you want to pat it?"

"Merlin!"

Merlin put his hands in the air, appealing. "I want to take it with us. It's a creature of magic, I couldn't sense it coming, so I'm sure it will block Morgana if she's trying to scry us. And she might be, for a flock of wyvern to turn up like that near Camelot can't be normal, can it?"

Gwaine supported that argument, or at least some of it. "Merlin's right. Wyvern have never been known to be found anywhere outside the Perilous Lands, or at least not far past their close boundaries. This is bad country for them, they can't hunt well in forests, they need open ground. Someone must have sent them our way, maybe not to us directly but to cause trouble in Camelot."

Merlin nodded. "And that would take powerful magic, for someone to get them to do anything at all. Only a dragonlord can control them properly, and as far as I know I'm the only one now. But a powerful sorcerer may be able to encourage them to fly our way." He stopped and thought. "I wonder if Morgause is more recovered than Morgana led us to believe. But even if she was, I can't see why she'd do it, it would have taken far too much magical strength, it would have taken her ages to recover from that without any guarantee she'd be able to send them to us."

Lancelot spoke up. "I don't know about this, Merlin. What about the horses? They're terrified of it."

"Ah, yes." Merlin hadn't thought of that. He looked at the five horses doubtfully, they still had the one the bandits had left. "I suppose I could try and give them an enchantment to calm them down." He wasn't sure how to do it, he hadn't tried to do such a thing to a horse. "Or maybe we should leave them here and go on foot, what do you think? The forest is getting thicker, we might have to leave the horses soon anyway and get them on the way back."

Arthur sighed. "Let's leave the horses and walk. And you can carry my pack."

Oh yes? But Merlin hadn't finished yet. He pondered an idea, and left the wyvern near the fire and walked across to the three men, careful to not go too close to Arthur. He schooled his expression to one of serious contemplation, and said innocently, to Arthur, "Um, maybe I should have kept them all. We could have ridden them, instead of the horses. I could call them back?" He looked hopeful.

Arthur's face was priceless. "What the hell! You ...! Are you a complete idiot, Merlin? There is no way, no way, ... you ... you idiot!"

Merlin turned away from Arthur and didn't try to hide his satisfied grin from Lancelot and Gwaine. This was really too much fun. He said solemnly, "Yeah, Arthur, you're probably right. They're nowhere near as big as Kilgharrah. They're probably too little to ride." A muffled snigger escaped him, Arthur spun round and stalked towards him menacingly, but Merlin didn't care, he backed away towards Gwaine and Lancelot without trying to hide the mirth on his face.

Arthur growled and made a grab for him, but stopped in shock when a loud screech split the air.

They all turned to face the wyvern, it was standing up now, swishing its tail back and forth, red eyes fixed on Arthur and Merlin.

Gwaine said faintly, "Uh, Arthur, you'd better not do that. Someone over there likes Merlin." The wyvern flapped its wings. "Quick, give him a hug."

Arthur's mouth dropped. "What, the wyvern?"

"No, princess! Merlin! Show it you're friendly with him."

Arthur looked from Merlin to the wyvern to and back again. Merlin shrugged, it was probably a good idea. He put his arm around Arthur's shoulder and tugged him forwards. "Come on Arthur, come and meet him ... or her, I have no idea. He won't hurt any of you, but you'll all need to meet him. I really need him to come with us."

He took Arthur across to the wyvern, when they were close he pushed the prince behind him and placed his hand on its head, between its eyes. He spoke to it gently in the old language, words of gibberish that Arthur couldn't understand.

The wyvern stopped its tail swishing and settled down again. Still keeping Arthur behind him, Merlin grabbed the prince's wrist and placed it on the wyvern's head, beside his own. The wyvern didn't react but Merlin said in a totally different tone, with a slight snarl to his words, "Gif unc bealu þes mann, þás sé git, ic dóm ábradwe unc!"

The wyvern bowed its head again and and then flattened itself in abject submission on the ground.

"Alright, that's all cleared up now." Merlin decided to stretch the truth somewhat. "As long as none of you yell at me, or try to harm me, our little friend here will be fine." He smiled to himself, it was a lovely day.

Arthur found their journey through the forest, now with a hissing wyvern added to their party, was not quite as enjoyable as the previous day. They'd left the horses behind, and he'd let Merlin lead, after all, he was the one able to follow Morgana's trail. And the wyvern followed directly behind Merlin, today Arthur didn't feel inclined to argue about any particular pecking order.

Arthur stayed well back from the swishing tail, swinging his sword around and wishing he could poke the wyvern with it. He was torn between exasperation and amusement with Merlin. Merlin paid as much attention to the wyvern as he would a horse, he'd even looped Arthur's pack over the spikes running across the creature's back; that had been Merlin's cheeky answer to Arthur's insistence that he had to carry Arthur's bag. Arthur wished he hadn't pushed that issue now, he was feeling thirsty but not at all keen to try and remove his pack from the wyvern himself to get his water flask, or even worse, to ask Merlin to get it for him. Merlin had certainly won that round.

As the scrub became thicker, Merlin stopped and turned around. The wyvern pushed up against him and butted its head against his hand in a quest for attention, Merlin patted it absently.

"Arthur, grab your pack. I'm going to have to tell the wyvern to fly for a while, the scrub is getting too dense for it to get through, it might get caught up in the bushes, it could hurt its wings."

Arthur stuck his sword in the ground. "I'm not going near that thing. You get the pack." He crossed his arms, if that snort from Gwaine was laughter he wasn't going to be responsible for his actions.

Merlin gave him a quick look and his eyes widened, taking in his mood. He blinked. "Err, yes, Arthur." Obediently, he stepped around and reached up past the creature's spikes to tug Arthur's pack off its back. The wyvern twisted around, rubbing the side of its head against Merlin's back.

Arthur stared at it, both repulsed and strangely fascinated. "Is the thing purring?"

Merlin scratched his head and looked at the wyvern. It was. "Yeah, that's what it sounds like, a growly kind of purr. I didn't know they could do that. I suppose it's happy. Have you heard of that, Gwaine?"

Gwaine pushed through the scrub to stand beside Arthur, Lancelot followed. "No, mate. Never, ever heard of a purring wyvern. All I know of them is that they're aggressive predators."

Merlin patted it again and the purring increased. "Must be the dragonlord thing. It's more animal-like than Kilgharrah. It certainly can't speak, but it seems to generally understand me. About the same amount of intelligence as a dog, I think." He glanced furtively at the wyvern then at Arthur, and the prince rolled his eyes.

"I'll do your thinking for you, Merlin. No, you can't keep the wyvern as a pet. No, you can't bring it back to Camelot. It will eat the cattle, the horses and my subjects, and destroy the houses. Not to mention, if you did, someone just might possibly assume you have magic or dragonlord powers."

Merlin looked at it a bit longingly. "Maybe some day ... later." He sighed. "But you're right. Kilgharrah might be cross with me, if I did. Oh well." He tossed Arthur his pack, it hit the wyvern's tail and bounced off, the creature squawked and stopped purring, and then rubbed its head back against Merlin, nearly pushing him over.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, that wouldn't have hurt you anyway." He bent down beside the wyvern and spoke some words in the old language, pointing up in the air. The creature squawked again then took off, brushing through the tree branches into the sky, staying not far from them and circling overhead.

By mutual and unspoken agreement, that night, when they made camp, Arthur, Lancelot and Gwaine set their bedrolls up on the far side of the campfire, well away from Merlin and his new friend.

Once they'd eaten, Merlin settled down quickly for the night, the sound of his heavy breathing and the wyvern's muted snorts and hisses the only sounds to be heard. Arthur, Lancelot and Gwaine stayed awake much longer, not talking at all, watching the campfire, Merlin and the wyvern – but mainly Merlin and the wyvern. Once Merlin had gone to sleep, the wyvern seemed to take it for granted that it was allowed to move closer, and it did, inching up slowly beside the sleeping figure, creeping quietly and noiselessly until its head was hanging over Merlin's face. The red eyes disappeared, Arthur wondered if it was going to sleep. Merlin didn't stir.

They all watched, equally drawn and repelled by the sight.

Lancelot said in a low voice, "Do you think it'll hurt him?"

"It won't." Arthur was sure it wouldn't, if he'd had any doubts he would have had his sword through it in an instant. He watched and said softly, "What must it be like, to have abilities like that? To be unafraid of such a creature, to command its loyalty with such ease? The thing actually likes him."

Lancelot, ever Merlin's champion, said quietly, "Merlin is very special."

And Arthur knew it was true, his throat was suddenly tight, he couldn't imagine a life without the idiot by his side. When did Merlin sneak under his guard and become so important to him? He knew if he was truthful with himself it was years ago, but it had taken him a long while for him to recognise it.

They didn't speak again for some time, then Gwaine whispered, "Is it drooling on him?"

They all leaned forwards. It certainly appeared that way. The wyvern's long, grey tongue was poking out through a row of sharp teeth, and a glistening strand of clear liquid was trickling in an ever-growing pool onto the back of Merlin's head, running down down the side of his neck, under his neckerchief. Merlin didn't even move.

Lancelot asked, "Should we wake him?"

Arthur smiled for the first time all day, and settled down comfortably on his bedroll, linking his hands behind his head. "No. And that's an order."

A/N: It's my birthday today so I thought I'd give Merlin a present – a new friend **wicked grin**. Anyone want their own pet wyvern? That was a fun chapter to write. I could just imagine Merlin treating the wyvern with the same casual familiarity as he would a puppy, without realising how horrified Arthur, Lancelot and Gwaine are by the bloodthirsty creature. I hope it wasn't too OTT?

Reviews are better than birthday presents, honest. And thank you so much to everyone who's left one/some, it's beyond exciting to have them pop up in my email.

Translations:

"Stille níeten dracans! Ic bebodræden ðu to stille! ðu níedhæs mín gewill, ðu béo under mín ríce, wyrmes.": STOP, SMALL DRAGONS! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP! YOU MUST OBEY MY WILL, YOU ARE UNDER MY POWER, WYVERN.

"Edcierr to sé Précne Élandes, sweree to edcierr sele ic i ábene.": RETURN TO THE PERILOUS LANDS, NEVER TO RETURN UNLESS I CALL YOU.

"Wúscbearn lígdracan. ðu gewill fullgenge mec and ðu gewill geondscéawe nánuht tó ege. Ic mæne ðu no bealu.": OH LITTLE DRAGON. YOU WILL OBEY ME AND YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR. I MEAN YOU NO HARM.

"Gif unc bealu þes mann, þás sé git, ic dóm ábradwe unc!": IF YOU HARM THIS MAN, OR THE OTHER TWO, I WILL KILL YOU!