Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin


Merlin leaned in closer to the mirror, a pleased expression on his face.

"Stop admiring yourself, Merlin, and come finish summarizing these reports!" Arthur ordered pompously.

Merlin payed no attention to the prince. His eye was completely healed! It made sense, he supposed, since it had been nearly month, but still. It was nice to finally stop and see the normal skin for himself.

"Merlin! Come over here, now, or its the stocks for you!" the prince threatened. Sighing, Merlin turned and strode over to the table, plopping in the seat next to Arthur, where a giant pile of parchment waited.

Arthur was becoming spoiled, Merlin noted. Ever since he'd learned that Merlin could read and understand politics, he'd been using the manservant to cheat on his duties as prince of Camelot.

"Let's get through this fast as possible," Arthur said. "I want to train with Leon before I lead the knights in their drills today."

And there was the reason he shamelessly used Merlin complete his royal duties: combat training.

Merlin sighed, putting aside the report on potato agriculture. He'd read far too many of those lately. "If this keeps up, sire, I'll be more qualified for your job than you are."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Don't be ridiculous, Merlin. All you have to do is read the things. I'm the one who has to bring the final decision to my father."

"Which I give you half the time," Merlin retorted, shuffling through the stacks of paper.

"Do not!"

"Do to."

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Merlin smiled and settled back into his chair.

There was a tentative knock at the door. Arthur hastily grabbed the stack of reports away from Merlin. Heaven forbid anyone catch him using a servant to do his job, Merlin thought, rolling his eyes. He had an overwhelming urge to put his feet up on the desk.

"Come in!" the prince called.

The messenger entered, giving Merlin a strange look when he saw the manservant slumped in a chair by Arthur's desk.

Then he caught the prince's expectant expression and quickly bowed. "Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Sire, the king has requested your presence in the throne room, and has ordered that Merlin immediately attend to the needs of the court physician."

Arthur frowned. "Did he say why?"

The boy hesitated, as this really wasn't part of the message, and all he had heard were rumors. "There's a strange sickness going around," he finally said.

Arthur sighed, that really wasn't very specific. "Thank you. You may leave," he dismissed the boy.

"May I leave then?" Merlin asked, getting ready to stand.

Arthur snorted, "Obviously. And as soon as you get the chance, come report to me. If there's something my father misses telling me, I want to know."

Merlin rose and nodded. "As soon as I can get away," he agreed. Then added cheerfully, "If it's not contagious that is..."

"Just leave, already," the prince ordered. At least he now had an excuse to ignore the paperwork.

O o O

"How many victims have there been?" Merlin asked, looking solemnly over the bodies.

"Just these two – so far," Gaius said grimly. "No doubt there will be more."

Merlin sighed, "I know what caused it."

Gaius looked up sharply.

"It's an Afanc, Gaius," Merlin said. "I was reading about them just recently – they can only be created by the most powerful of sorcerers. This exactly the type of sickness they would bring on."

"Are you sure?" the physician asked.

"Positive," Merlin said.

"Which book were you reading?" Gaius asked, looking around at the stacks of books littering the room. "Maybe there's something in there that can help us."

"Um..." Merlin couldn't remember which book he and Gaius he'd looked through all those years ago. "The cover was brown," he said unhelpfully.

More than half the books had brown covers.

Gaius sighed in exasperation. "Well that's no use, Merlin. Try to think harder; this could be important!" the old man lectured. "Uther is already quite aware that sorcery is being used. If we can't come up with a solution fast, he's going to start arresting people!"

Merlin waved away his mentor's worries. "But what if I defeated the creature?" he asked.

"And how do to propose to go about doing such a thing?" Gaius asked, eyebrows raised. "Afancs are very powerful creatures." Sometimes he wondered if his ward was brain-dead.

"It's a creature of the elements of water and earth," Merlin explained, looking determined. "What if I used, say... fire and wind to defeat it?"

Gaius frowned suspiciously. "That would probably work, yes," he admitted after a moment of grim consideration. He sent the boy a look. "Are you sure you read this all in a book?"

"Actually I think it was more of a combination of several," Merlin admitted... and a cryptic dragon.

Gaius rubbed his temples, suddenly wondering if his age was finally catching up to him. "Even if we do have a way to defeat this creature – and that alone will be very dangerous – how are we supposed to locate it?" he questioned. He had a funny idea that his ward probably already had an answer for this.

And he did.

"It's in the water supply," Merlin replied instantly. "The disease obviously isn't transmitted by touch or air, since the two people infected were never that close in contact with one another. The only thing they really share is their water."

Brilliant, Gaius commended inside his head, and it made him suspicious – it was almost too brilliant. No student of his had ever deduced the cause and means of transmission so quickly. Then again, Merlin was no ordinary student.

"While I go defeat the Afanc," Merlin continued, "you can give any further patients a fake remedy so Uther isn't suspicious when everyone miraculously recovers."

Merlin held his breath. He needed Gaius's support in this if his plan was going to work.

"What about the sorcerer who caused it?" Gaius reminded. "Uther will continue to search, even if the plague is stopped."

Merlin tapped his fingers with a nervous energy while he thought. His brow creased as he tried to remember the reason Uther had stopped the search the last time. He found, to his dismay, that he either didn't know or couldn't remember.

"I'll come up with something?" he suggested lamely, unable to think of an instant solution for the matter.

Gaius's lips met in a thin line.

Merlin straightened and declared, before his mentor could say anything adverse about his plan, "Well, I'll get on it, right away. If Arthur comes in, tell him I'm picking herbs for you – that usually works."

Gaius frowned. As far as he knew, he'd never actually used that excuse before.

"Merlin," he said, watching the boy head for the door. "You aren't going after it by yourself, are you?"

"Of course. It's not like it's going to be that difficult," he scoffed, opening the door.

"Don't be so confident! Afancs are very dangerous creatures!" Gaius said, almost angrily. He'd promised Merlin's mother that he'd watch over the boy. Letting him go gallivanting after monsters certainly wasn't the right way to go about protecting the overconfident lad, but it looked as though Merlin wasn't going to let the physician stop him.

"What about the keys?" Gaius yelled after the boy, as one last ploy to get him to see reason. "You need them to unlock..." Merlin was already gone.

Gaius frowned even more deeply.

That boy was going to get himself killed. Should he send Arthur after him? No – that would probably lead to an execution.

He turned back to look at the victims laid out on the hastily cleared table. They could wait. They were dead. Steeling himself, Gaius prepared to go after his ward.

"Gaius!"

Gaius slowly closed his eyes and reopened them.

It was Arthur.

"I'm sorry, Gaius," the prince said, using lower tones, looking apologetic. There were two knights trailing behind him. "Father's just ordered me to do a search for the sorcerer."

So much for following Merlin. Gaius prayed that the boy would be careful.

"Of course, sire. Come in," he said, bowing as Arthur entered. "You will be pleased to know that I've come close to finding a cure. I've sent Merlin on an errand."

Let's hope this works.

O o O

The guards stiffened and watched Merlin suspiciously as he reentered the city.

Continuing with his emphatic humming, Merlin grinned broadly and saluted them as he passed, very aware of how odd he looked. Still, he was feeling very pleased with himself. Even though the battle had gotten a bit sticky in the middle, the Afanc had been defeated – and all in time for supper.

Merlin's scalp was beginning to itch as the mud caking his hair slowly dried. Apparently Afancs had a slight level of control over the elements they were made up of... who would've guessed? That giant wave it had sent at Merlin had sure been a surprise. As he tried to ignore the stares from various villagers, Merlin made a mental note to never again battle an Afanc when near a large source of water. Every time he'd summoned a breath of flames, a sheet of water had blocked his attack. Eventually he'd been required to bring on such an intense firestorm that any water the creature brought up evaporated instantly.

Merlin grinned to himself. That had been fun to do.

Reminiscing over the relief of finally being able to release a large amount of magic (and on purpose, too), Merlin missed seeing the prince walk out of a house. He completely bowled him over.

Hearing the angry shouts of their prince, the knights quickly rushed outside, only to see Arthur shoving away what appeared to be a mud golem. They drew their swords with lightning-quick reflexes, prepared to attack the being – then they spotted the neckerchief and realized that it was Merlin being dumb again.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, looking down at his freshly dirtied clothes. "You had better have a good explanation for this!" he hissed.

"I do!" Merlin defended.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping Gaius?" the prince asked, trying futilely to rub the mud off of his hands.

Merlin grinned. "I was!" he exclaimed, then he held up what he'd been clutching behind his back.

Arthur examined the object with an upraised eyebrow. "Is that an... egg?" he questioned, giving Merlin a look that clearly said, "You are an idiot."

Merlin forced himself not to roll his eyes. Oh, Arthur was hard young.

"It's a magical egg," he said in a conspiratorial tone, tapping his fingers on the markings. Because Merlin's muddy hand prints covered most of the egg, Arthur had to bend closely to see the ancient symbols. Once he did, there was no denying it.

Arthur stiffened.

"Magic, you say?" he asked hoarsely. The knights behind him tensed.

"Yep," Merlin said, trying very hard not to laugh at the shadow of seriousness that seemed to befall everyone within hearing range. He'd probably better explain. "Gaius and I discovered that the source of the plague must be in the water. So while Gaius helped with the victims, he sent me to the underground springs to have a look."

He hoped Gaius hadn't given Arthur the excuse he'd told the physician to use – the one about picking herbs. That would just make things awkward.

"And this was in there?" Arthur asked, pointing at the egg with his sword. Merlin sighed in relief: apparently the herb-picking excuse hadn't been used. Either that or Arthur didn't care.

Merlin tried to look grave. "Yes. Since it's been removed, hopefully the enchantment has lifted." But it's mostly because of my amazing magic skills.

Arthur took a deep breath. "We should show this to my father. It may help us find the sorcerer," he said gravely. Then, looking regal, he turned on his heels and beckoned for a mud-encased Merlin and his knights to follow him.

"Ah, sire?" Merlin began, skipping after Arthur (it was hard not to skip in this younger body of his). "Sire?"

"Sire?" he asked again, getting no response. The prince seemed to be in deep thought (not that Merlin believed he actually was).

Merlin tried coughing.

Nothing.

"Erm... Arthur?"

"What?" came the harsh reply.

"Are you sure it would be wise to... ahem, present myself to the king looking like this?" Merlin inquired, tugging at his hardening clothes.

"We need to inform him of the situation immediately," Arthur said. Then he added with a slight smirk, "Besides, it's not like you have a reputation to uphold."

Merlin frowned.

Arthur turned to him. "How on earth did you end up like that anyway?" he asked, looking perplexed.

"It was under the water," Merlin said, joggling the egg for emphasis. "When I leaned over the edge I fell in."

"But you're all muddy," Arthur pointed out, "not just wet."

That had been caused when Merlin had been thrown back by the Afanc's wave. When he'd hit the dirt floor, it had already been turned into a sloppy, brown mess.

"Erm... I tripped coming 'round to the gate," Merlin said. "And I rolled down the hill. All the way." Let's see if he falls for it...

Arthur snorted. "Really, Merlin. I think you're the clumsiest person I know," he laughed, slapping his manservant on the shoulder, only to realize that Merlin's shoulder was just as dirty as the rest of him. He looked at his muddy hand in disgust.

"But what about you, sire?" Merlin asked innocently. "You're covered in mud as well."

"And who's to blame for that?" Arthur asked dangerously.

"You. You didn't look both directions before- OW!" Merlin yelled, rubbing the spot on his arm where Arthur had punched him.

Feeling slightly better, the prince continued his strict pace. "My appearance doesn't matter, Merlin. My father needs to hear this, no matter how much I'd prefer it if I hadn't run into you," he said. "Besides, I already have the perfect punishment."

Merlin sighed.

"The stables?" he asked, grimacing.

Arthur smiled. "The stables, Merlin," he affirmed.

O o O

"Boy! Run and fetch Gaius," Uther ordered, glaring at Merlin's disheveled form. "We'll see if he knows anything of this... abomination." All eyes roamed to the broken egg sitting in the center of the floor.

"Yes, sire," Merlin said with a slight bow, before turning on his heels and walking out of the throne room. Technically, he was supposed to back out, but he didn't really think anyone would care.

He hurried down the hallways, not particularly caring to spend an hour in the stocks because he kept royalty waiting.

"Merlin!"

Merlin grimaced. That was the fifth time he'd heard Kilgharrah's voice since he'd destroyed the Afanc. Due to the dragon's rather irritated tone, Merlin was slightly nervous to answer, since it probably meant that he had done something wrong.

The dragon was one of the only beings who could still make Lord Merlin Emrys feel like a child.

Resolving to see Kilgharrah as soon as he could, Merlin pushed his way into Gaius's chambers. The dead bodies had been taken away for burial. In their places, lain out on the tables and floors, were seven more victims.

"Merlin!" Gaius exclaimed, rushing over to his ward. "You're all right! And a downright mess, if I may say so."

"I'd agree," Merlin said, patting his matted hair. "When did they start recovering?" He nodded towards the sleeping people. Their skin was more pale than blue, and their sleep seemed to be natural, rather than potion-induced.

"About a half hour ago,"Gaius said.

"Good, it worked then," Merlin said.

"How battling the Afanc go? Looks like you took quite a hit at some point," Gaius said, chuckling.

"I'll have to tell you later, Gaius," Merlin said, beckoning for the physician to follow him. "Uther wants you in the throne room to identify the Afanc's capsule, or egg, is what they're calling it."

Gaius stopped in mid-step. "Merlin, I can't go telling Uther it was an Afanc causing the sickness. Then we'd have to explain what happened to it!"

"Just follow me, and I'll explain how this is going to work," Merlin assured the old man. He smiled encouragingly. "Believe me, I've planned this all out."

Gaius clicked his tongue. "Merlin, you have a devious side to you that I doubt few will ever be privileged to see."

"Or cursed," Merlin agreed, strutting slightly as he walked down the hall. To the servants who never got to see his compassionate and caring side, Merlin appeared to be a very arrogant young man. They always turned their noses at him, jabbing him with their thoughts of 'Just because you're Prince Arthur's manservant doesn't mean you own the place'. He could hardly help it though. He'd lived in Camelot for the majority of his life now, knew every nook and cranny of the city, and had sacrificed so much for its safety, that it was hard not to walk around like he owned it.

"So, what's this amazing plan of yours?" Gaius asked quietly.

"We don't tell Uther about the Afanc," Merlin said, in an equally low voice. "We simply tell him that the egg was the cause. Once it was taken out of the water, the victims who weren't dead were cured."

"Then why did you make me come up with a fake remedy?" Gaius asked, snapping slightly. He might have been able to go after Merlin if he hadn't had to keep the pretense of administering medicine to his patients.

"Well, I didn't know I was going to find anything to blame the plague on," Merlin defended. "That was my back-up plan."

"How thoughtful," the physician said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I know it was," Merlin said, with a grin. Then he continued on with his plan, words pouring out of his mouth in a waterfall. "Now, I know that the sorcerer who conjured the Afanc has put their mark somewhere on the egg. You may be able to recognize whose it is since there can't be many powerful magic users left in Albion – myself aside of course."

"Of course," Gaius replied blandly. He was struggling to keep up to pace with the energetic youth.

"And even if you don't know who it is, you can simply tell Uther that whoever it is must have fled the kingdom already, once their plan was discovered. That way, the king will have to call off the search – if we're lucky that is. We'll just have to hope the king isn't feeling particularly grumpy today."

Gaius looked over at Merlin, who was smiling airily.

"You know, my boy," he said as they neared the throne room, "you amaze me sometimes. I'm still not even sure how you managed to kill off that Afanc."

Merlin grinned.

"When your mother finds out, she may just come to Camelot and kill us both," Gaius remarked.

Before Merlin could reply, their presences were announced and they walked into the throne room.

"Merlin!" Kilgharrah's voice roared telepathically.

Merlin sighed. It looked like supper and a bath were going to have to wait.

O o O

The dragon was already waiting for him on the rocky island when Merlin came out of the tunnel. The explanation Gaius fed Uther worked really well. Even when Uther had inquired as to the broken state of the shell, Gaius had immediately replied that it was due to the magic 'forcing itself into the water'. And the old man had called Merlin devious...

"Merlin," the dragon said loudly. "I want you to explain to me the large amounts of magic that were released earlier this day."

Merlin frowned. Surely Kilgharrah already knew the reason? Still he answered, "The witch, Nimueh, put an Afanc in Camelot's waters. I just destroyed it."

The dragon snaked his head so he was looking in Merlin's eyes.

"Now tell me young warlock," he said in that annoying voice, "how exactly does this defer from the last time you went through this?"

Merlin, still frowning, answered, "Last time it took Gaius and I longer to figure out, I suppose. Plus, Arthur and Morgana came with me last time to destroy the monster."

"The Afanc causes a terrible illness, does it not?" the dragon asked.

Merlin still couldn't see what the whole point of this conversation was.

"Yes," he said. "Which is why I destroyed it immediately, so there would be fewer victims."

"Ah!" the dragon rumbled. The air shook at his exclamation. "So how many people would you guess you have saved from this curse, Merlin, because you are from the future?"

"Over fifty, I think," Merlin said.

There was a moment of silence.

Merlin's eyes widened.

"Oh," he said quietly.

"'Oh', indeed," Kilgharrah snapped. "Do you realize the unrest you could have caused? The damage you could have done? Now we can be certain that this is the shadow universe, or else time itself would be in chaos. Your memories would be changing and in all likelihood, a paradox would be formed."

Merlin was smacking his forehead over and over again.

"I don't know much about time magic," the dragon said, "but I do know that there are very few creatures in this universe – let alone planet Earth – who can safely travel through time without being very diligent to keep in place certain set events. Event the simple removal of a loaf of bread from its intended place can cause irreparable damages if it is significant enough."

Merlin set his jaw and said quietly, but firmly, "Kilgharrah, I know this will be hard for you to understand. Even in the future, after you know me better, it will be hard for you to understand. Yes, I wasn't thinking, and for that I apologize."

He took a deep breath. "But to be so powerful and with the ability to help so many people, then to turn against those same people in their time of need? I could not do it. I will not."

Kilgharrah growled.

Then he roared, hot air blasting some of the mud out of Merlin's hair. "Young warlock! You would have doomed us all! So much more would have been at stake than the mere lives of fifty mortals."

"Mere?" Merlin roared back.

But the dragon was not finished.

"You are handling a power you do not understand!" Kilgharrah almost sounded resentful at this. "Do not presume to put the lives of a mere few over so many."

Merlin fell back onto the ground, and just sat there, contemplating the great beast looming before him. A silence fell between them.

Finally Merlin sighed. "You are right about one thing. I do not understand my power. I doubt I will, even after I live to be a thousand," he said, his voice cracking.

Kilgharrah almost looked pitying for a moment.

"So you are aware then?" he asked.

"That my life is tied to that of magic's? Yes. That I will outlive everyone I have grown to know and love? Yes," Merlin's voice turned bitter. "I couldn't help but figure it out after I turned forty.

"I still looked like I was in my twenties. Everyone else was gaining weight, and wrinkles, and graying hairs. They made fun of me, even envied me slightly, but they all think I was just lucky."

"Did you tell the young Pendragon?" Kilgharrah breathed, almost gently.

"No," Merlin said sadly. "I put my body under an aging spell – one that you gave me, actually. Once Arthur is gone, it will wear off. It is strange to see my hair back to black again. I suppose this is what it will be like when the time comes."

Merlin sighed.

"Your path will be a lonely one," Kilgharrah agreed. "But I do not think you should despair so fully."

"I try not to think about it, honestly," Merlin said. "One day, I'll have to face the facts. But not now."

Kilgharrah nodded.

Merlin smiled slightly.

Then he said, unable to help himself, "I just got you off-topic. Did you see that? I'm declaring that a definite victory."

Kilgharrah frowned, but he didn't look angry.

"Even though you are in the beginning of your twilight years as a human, young warlock, you still retain the maturity of a hatchling," the dragon snorted.

"Compliment noted," Merlin said. "I have the rest of my life to gain maturity. I'm already wise – or so Arthur tells me when he's not calling me an idiot – so why add maturity to the list?"

"Interesting philosophy," the dragon said dully. "I almost fear for this world."

"Came up with it during a prank war couple years back," Merlin said, grinning. "I won."