Chapter 11: Light of the Dragonlord

He had the spell ready in his mind. If he could just catch his breath, he would be able to say the word…

Then another familiar voice boomed into his ears.

"I wouldn't do that, Morgause."

Arthur, Merlin thought instantly.

As he cranked his neck, he saw that the king wasn't alone. All of his knights rode beside the king, swords in hand. Behind them, two dozen armed guards were aiming their bows at Morgause and her men.

"Brave words!" the witch bellowed from the top of the stone wall.

"It's more than words, Morgause. One citizen of Camelot alone has more courage than all of your thugs put together."

"None of that will save you now, Pendragon!" the witch cried out.

A dark shadow swept over their heads, obliterating the light of the stars. Merlin glanced upwards and saw the many outlines of the dragon shades, each of them as impressive as the next. The dragons were circling above the city like vultures. Angry roars filled the air. They were ready to attack. Merlin's entire body tensed as he felt again the dark cloud filling his mind, making it hard for him to think and to move. Somehow, he had to break free of that dark spell.

Thankfully, Arthur seemed determined to keep the conversation going.

"You're trapped, Morgause," he said with an extra amount of self-arrogance. "You took a city that you can no longer escape." He glanced at the trench that Merlin had made with the look of child who has just received a new toy. "The people of Camelot have flown," he continued. "You have no claim on the throne. What do you hope to accomplish now? Come forth and you can offer terms for yourself and for your men."

Merlin couldn't help but glance back at Arthur and throw him a look that had you've-got-to-be-joking written all over it.

"Terms? How dare you?" spat Morgause. "Maybe your eyes are not wide enough to see that this is not the end. It is only the beginning."

She turned her eyes upwards towards the herd of dragon shades. The dark creatures were more agitated than ever, slashing their long tails and flashing their enormous teeth at the people gathered below. These monsters were predators. There was only one thing keeping them from committing mass slaughter: a dragonlord's will. But not any dragonlord. One dragonlord. LeNoir.

But where is he? Merlin thought to himself.

He felt the imposing presence before he saw even saw him. Borden – who wasn't Borden anymore – had appeared besides Morgause. His face was concealed under a black hood, but Merlin did not need to see his face to know who he was. The dark cloud pushed even further into his mind, making it painful just to keep his eyes open. It was dark magic, darker than he had ever felt. He was paralyzed. He couldn't even get up.

"I'm here, brother. You have this one last chance to accept my offer and I urge you to take it," cried out a cavernous voice.

There was a kind of compelling force in his voice and it made Merlin cover his ears in an attempt to shut it out of his mind. It seemed to be speaking outside and inside of him all at once.

"We will create a world where the likes of us will rule. It will be a better world, I promise you. You do not need to suffer. You can become one of us. You are one of us."

"He will never join you," snorted Morgause, before anyone else could reply. Her arrogant grin turned into a hateful snarl. "But he will die. Most painfully. And right after, I will pluck his soul from the Afterlife and make him suffer again and again until he tells me where he hid my sister."

At those last words, she leaned forward and Merlin saw the fury in her eyes. The dragon shades roared even louder and the young sorcerer braced himself for the worst.

Morgause's hand shot upwards and a bolt of lightening pierced the night sky, causing the dragons to scatter. She was gathering dark magic to herself. The next bolt would hit him for sure.

"Galahad! Get him out of there!" yelled Arthur's voice behind his back.

But Merlin's eyes had caught something else through the black smoke above the city. Kilgharrah was flying in circles above his head. This may be my last chance, he thought resolutely.

The sight of his old friend seemed to have given him an outburst of self-confidence. He wheeled around to face Galahad who was riding Nuada in his direction. Quickly, he raised his hand in warning. Before Galahad could even react, Nuada had pulled to a stop. The steed stamped its hooves nervously.

"Wait! I need to try this," said Merlin, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Do you think you can outmatch me?" laughed a cruel voice. From the top of the stone wall, the other dragonlord, LeNoir, was peering at him as though he was nothing but an insect to be squashed.

Merlin refused to answer to the taunt. What he was preparing himself to do was similar to voluntarily stepping through raging fire. Gathering his will, he reached down into his soul, to the part where he would find the voice of the dragonlord. He could feel LeNoir's influence, like a black veil on his powers, but the blackness had not completely covered everything. There was still a tiny speck of the dragonlord's sacred gift in there, and without hesitation Merlin took hold of it.

Hear me! Dragons of the Ancient Times! Brothers! he bellowed with the cavernous voice and speaking in the Ancient Tongue. This is not your realm. It is nothing but a prison. Be free of that evil hand! Return to the Afterlife from where you came! Be at peace!

Then the tiny speck was gone, completely obliterated by LeNoir's dark powers. The dark cloud had forced itself entirely into Merlin's mind. The dragons roared. Had they heard him? Would they rebel against their master? Merlin felt so weak now that he could hardly lift his head.

"Pitiful!" LeNoir cried out from the stone wall though his voice reached much further. "You'll have to do better than that. Then again, you are just a Brittanicus. You inherited those powers merely by chance. You'll never be worthy of the true gift…"

He did not finish his sentence. Gathering what was left of his strength, the young sorcerer did the only thing that he could against such dark magic. He had done it before to free Morgana from Morgause's influence. He had done it again in Aria's Cradle to destroy the Shadow that was hiding in the Black Lake and free the valley of a terrible curse. This time, however, he was going to free himself.

Calling up the image of a pure white light in his mind, he pushed it forward; not towards LeNoir, but towards the mass of dragon shades that were flying over his head. He didn't even know why he was doing it, but it seemed natural that he should send his most powerful magic against the darkest force out there. Like before, the surge shook his whole body. The light came out of his open palm, illuminating all around him, making him feel like he wasn't quite a man anymore but a creature of pure magic.

Morgause and her men disappeared behind the stone wall with muffled cries of terror. The outline of LeNoir lingered a while longer, but finally dropped out of sight. There was a great rush of wind and smoke as the dragons retreated as well. Last to leave was Kilgharrah whose mighty wings brushed the ground next to where Merlin was standing.

Do not loose hope, young warlock, said the Great Dragon. You are more powerful than you think.

Merlin was still pondering on the meaning of Kilgharrah's words when he felt someone grab him by the shoulders and hoist him up on a horse's back. He felt so weak that his head immediately fell on the stallion's muscular neck.

The dragon is right, you know, said a voice in his head.

"I can hear you speak," Merlin muttered under his breath.

But then his eyesight became blurry, his body became heavy and limp, and he slipped rapidly out of consciousness.