Hello dears!

Sorry I have taken so long to continue posting exisiting chapters, my focused zeroed on my roleplaying for a while. This chapter, like the next two I'm going to post soon, are ones that I had written and posted on AO3. I plan to work soon on chapter 7, so hopefully I will write it soon.

Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, background Gwen/Lancelot.
Warnings: None for this chapter.


The Divine Battle

Chapter 4: Danger is lurking.

Once Merlin explained briefly what the two Gods had said-that Will suggested he called God and Goddess-the Warlock sadly affirmed it was better if Lancelot and he left now. He would have like to spend more time with them; though as Balinor said as he offered his son a hug, they had met more than once in the past-at the Isle-and would do so in the future too. Will and Freya hugged Merlin then, wishing him good luck. Merlin nodded, waving as both he and Lancelot mounted back on their horses.

"Don't forget to talk to your dragons!" Will called out before they vanished inside Avalon.

Merlin blinked then groaned. How could he have forgotten? Kilgharrah would pester him for weeks if his Dragonlord dared not inform him of something like this!

Lancelot chuckled, then snapped his mouth shut at Merlin's half-glare. "Well, at least we will see Aithusa again." He commented.

Merlin's glare turned to a smile. He nodded, and then took the lead. He knew Lancelot had only seen once or twice the baby dragon, as it wasn't easy for him to leave in the middle of the night-especially since he married Gwen.

Merlin, for his part, had been luckier. Since Aithusa hatched, he had found a bit of time at least once a week to meet the dragons. Needless to say, it had helped greatly the bond he shared with Kilgharrah. They had their up and down in the past; but now both had forgiven the mistakes.

They were kin-brothers-and wanted to enjoy the little family they made.

Merlin snapped out of his thought when they arrived at the clearing he often called Kilgharrah. He and Lancelot got down, tying the horses before going in the centre. Throwing his head back, Merlin allowed the Dragonlord to voice itself.

"O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!"

Then, he glanced back at his friend with a smile-both waiting. However, a minute or two after, they heard the beats of the dragon's wings. Merlin looked up, surprised to see Kilgharrah here so soon. It meant he had been circling in the sky. Had he been waiting Merlin?

Kilgharrah landed, bending his head to let Aithusa jump down. The tiny white dragon rushed at Merlin, hugging his leg a bit before crawling up his body until he could curl around his neck.

Merlin chuckled and scratched the dragon's body. He glanced at Kilgharrah, bowing his head slightly-the Great Dragon returning the gesture.

"You came quickly."

Kilgharrah snorted. "Young Warlock, did you think I could miss the great power coming from Avalon? You are lucky such power can only be felt by powerful creatures like Dragons; or you would have alerted Morgana." He chided slightly.

Merlin blushed and winced. "Well, Morgana is the one who started this."

Kilgharrah turned serious. "I felt the Witch calling a dark power. What happened? Even I couldn't sense what it was."

And once again, Merlin launched into the explanation of what happened and what he knew since this morning.


"Ah... I'm quite happy that they contacted you. I fear even I wouldn't have been able to help you, Merlin." Kilgharrah thumped his tail on the ground, clearly concerned.

Merlin smiled faintly at his draconic friend. "It'll be fine, old friend."

The two large golden eyes glanced down at Merlin, the rare display of fondness into the dragon's gaze making Merlin's cheek redden. He truly felt like receiving the look of an older brother.

"I have every faith in what you can do, young Warlock. Just... Be careful."

"I promise."

They stared at each other, a silent conversation of well wishing and concern. Eventually, Aithusa chirped, jumping down from Lancelot and nudging Merlin's foot with his nuzzle. Merlin bent down, allowing the white dragon to lick Merlin's fingers

"Don't worry little one." Merlin murmured, knowing instinctively what Aithusa meant.

He might not talk yet, but he understood. He cuddled his head with Merlin's palm, then allowed himself to be carried to Kilgharrah's massive head by Merlin.

With a last bow to both Merlin and Lancelot, Kilgharrah opened his wings and left. The two friends watched him go until they couldn't see him.

Only then did they go back to their horse. "A bit of sleep sounds good now." Lancelot admitted.

Merlin was going to answer, when God's voice surprised him. So these are the last dragons!

Naturally, Merlin startled. He tilted sideway with his surprise. A second, and a yelp, later he found himself in the grass.

... Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.

"It's fine." Merlin groaned out loud.

Lancelot, for his part; only chuckled. "You really need to get used to them, Merlin."

Merlin just threw him a dark look before mounting again, and finally trotting toward Camelot. He looked forward to some sleep. Not only did he have to attend to his King; but he knew Morgana could threaten Camelot at any time.

Merlin just felt glad he didn't need to face the Triple Goddess yet.


Merlin groaned as he heard Gaius calling for breakfast. It felt like he had gone to sleep only some minutes ago-though he knew rationally that he had slept for two or three hours. Merlin stretched and yawned.

Good morning, Merlin came the calm voice of Goddess.

Morning

Merlin then left his bed, going into Gaius' workroom and sitting at the table. Gaius watched the dark circles under his ward's eyes, and sighed.

"You do realize they won't stop worrying for you, right?"

Merlin winced. "I know. I can always say I had trouble sleeping." He shrugged.

Gaius raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure it will make your friends less worried."

Merlin smiled sheepishly. "At least it gives them a reason why I was out of it yesterday?"

Gaius shook his head fondly; while Merlin heard God snicker. The ocean eyed man hoped his excuse would work.


"Merlin, why do you look like death warmed over?"

Merlin stared back at Arthur, mentally groaning. No such luck; as soon as Merlin had woke his King up, the sky blue eyes had zeroed onto his face and Arthur had scowled.

"I had trouble sleeping. I'm sure it will pass." Merlin bit his lips as Arthur's eyebrows shot up.

"Trouble sleeping? Yesterday too?" He questioned with disbelief.

Merlin shrugged. "Gaius says it can happen; random insomnia."

Arthur stared some more, frowning in concern. Merlin smiled faintly, then raised a bit the tray he had in his hands. "Breakfast?"

Arthur sighed, resigned. He could feel Merlin hid something; but he hoped it wasn't too important. He could see how the raven-haired tried to quell his worry, but the blond couldn't help it. He threw a glanced at Merlin as he passed by him, searching.

Merlin grinned innocently at Arthur, but returned the glance with an apologetic one. He didn't like to hide so blatantly from Arthur, yet it was necessary. He couldn't really say what was happening.

As Arthur sat down, Merlin went to put the tray in front of him.

So this is the King that holds your heart?

Startled by God's teasing voice; Merlin jumped as he felt his cheeks heat up. And of course, the tray lost its balance and emptied onto Arthur.

... Oops...

Arthur yelled as he jumped up, moaning as he hit his legs on the table. He looked down at himself, then at Merlin. The Warlock stared back at Arthur with wide eyes.

"... Sorry?"

Arthur glared then, crossing his arms as Merlin put the empty tray on the table. The younger man glanced between the mess on the ground and Arthur, debating what to clean first.

"I really hope you will sleep soon, Merlin." Arthur drawled. "Or else I will tie you down to protect you from yourself."

Merlin pretended he didn't feel the heavy hotness of his face at the mental image.


After that, the day passed without further accident. The two Gods-especially the man-were careful enough not to startle him; and Merlin got used to their presence.

However, when he met Gwen at the start of the afternoon, he knew he couldn't escape her again. Her eyes shone with fierceness and worry; and Merlin felt clear that she would not allow him to once again avoid the questioning.

"Merlin, let me walk with you."

And Merlin couldn't refuse. He only placed the tray from lunch closer, like a shield. "How is your day?" He asked pleasantly.

Gwen gave him a look. "My day is fine. However, I'd like to know why Lancelot came back in the middle of the night, and why you look like you didn't sleep much more than him."

Merlin winced. He knew he had been a matter of time until Gwen caught Lancelot's secret nightly ventures. Merlin felt like the only thing that prevented her to realize sooner was how Merlin actually avoided seeking Lancelot too much-which annoyed Lancelot deeply. The knight wanted to help Merlin; and when he noticed Merlin had been up to something he always berated his friend.

As he said yesterday night, Merlin needed to get used to allow others to help.

"Ah... Well, it's... You see..." Merlin paused, scowling. Why did his mouth and brain have to betray him when he needed to lie-and fast?

Gwen watched him closely until she sighed. "You're hiding something, Merlin. I saw it yesterday, and I see it now." She stopped him, putting a hand on his arm. "Why aren't you telling anyone?" Then she frowned. "Though, Lancelot knows, right?"

Merlin looked down. "It's... complicated, Gwen. I don't want to involve anyone until necessary. Lancelot happened to give me no choice." He looked up, smiling faintly. "I'm sorry. I can handle that; I didn't mean to worry anyone."

Gwen watched him silently before returning his smile with a gentle one. "Promise you will seek me, Arthur, or the knights if you need?"

Merlin nodded. "I will."

Satisfied, Gwen nodded; and they both finished their walk to the kitchen. As soon as Merlin put the tray down, he waved at Gwen; and they parted. The Lady-lady since her marriage-watched Merlin go, biting her lips.

Gwen knew the knights-Gwaine, Leon, Percival and Elyan-as well as Arthur would soon find her; as they had been the ones to hint that she should try to know what was happening with Merlin.

Gwen sighed fondly as she turned and left in the opposite direction. Ah, men.


"So, Merlin, anything complicated in your life?"

Merlin winced at Arthur, smiling sheepishly. Of course, he should have known Arthur would seek their common friend-Gwen. And the King obviously would question him again-waiting for their shared dinner. On one side, he felt a warm tingle in his chest that Arthur cared so much; but on the other it didn't help the matter.

As for Arthur, he really couldn't help raise the subject again. Merlin had assured him the very first time Arthur noticed something wrong that it was alright; and the King had stopped giving him the eyes once he realized he made Merlin uncomfortable.

But this morning, Merlin had been clearly not well, and Gwen had managed to have information. Arthur didn't know what was happening, but Merlin had trouble. The blond just knew it. It made his heart beat painfully fast and his breath hitch, to know this, and the same time not knowing what this was. He felt helpless, and fearful of what could happen to Merlin.

Arthur didn't dwell too much on why he felt so afraid of the thought-now wasn't the time.

"Nothing I can't handle." Merlin reassured quickly.

Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Why aren't you telling me?"

Merlin almost bit his lips, but Goddess warned him against it. It was a sure way to show he hide something. "Because it's not as important as you seem to think."

The Warlock didn't like lying so blatantly, but what could he do? He had made the mistake to show openly his worry yesterday, and now he couldn't offer anything good enough to explain. Nothing more than his insomnia excuses. But of course, he knew Gwen, Arthur and everyone else didn't really believe it anymore.

"Really?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, a bit angry. "You think I don't care?"

Merlin widened his eyes. "No! That's not that! I... It's..." He wanted to curse at his treacherous heart, clenching at the thought of the man he secretly loved had believed-even for one second-that Merlin would dismiss his care; because for the second time today he couldn't find a lie.

Arthur's eyes softened a bit. He wanted answer, yet at the same time he refused to be the one that made Merlin looked this way. Panicked, but also pained. He couldn't understand what Merlin could possibly hide, but shouldn't he trust that maybe, just maybe Merlin really believed he didn't need to confess it to another?

The thought hurt, that Merlin couldn't share whatever bothered him with Arthur. The King knew he was free to act as himself with Merlin; but did Merlin not have this freedom with him? Why?

Arthur sighed. "I won't force you to say anything if you don't want. I just wish you could tell me."

The admittance hurt Merlin as much as it hurt Arthur. "I'm sorry, Arthur." He mumbled. "I just think... it's too soon."

And Merlin wasn't talking only about the Gods.

Arthur scowled down at his plate, but smoothed his features once Merlin glanced back up. The ocean eyes gave him a look so hopeful that his own sky blue could only warm over. "But you will tell me? One day?" He whispered.

Merlin smiled shyly, glad that Arthur trusted him enough to let him this freedom. "Yes."

Arthur sighed, shaking his head fondly. "Just make sure to do it before anything serious happen."

Merlin nodded silently, wondering what he would be able to say to respect this promise.


The answer came the morning after. Merlin and Arthur shared a worried glanced as they strolled toward the throne room. Some patrols had apparently rushed back to Camelot, and if the urgent demand of the King was anything, they had bad news.

"Your Highness." The knight leading one of the patrols started. "Mercenaries are flowing into Camelot as we speak. We first thought of bandits, but they seemed well armed-too much. We found it suspect, and so we rode back to report. We met up with other patrols, and we all witnessed the same thing, all around Camelot's borders: Mercenaries are infesting the lands."

Arthur crossed his arms, furious. "Why now? And who could send them?" A small choked sound attracted his eyes, and he saw Merlin as pale as sheet. His mind worked quickly, and realization hit. But he needed to be sure. "How long did this start?"

"It started yesterday, Sire."

Yesterday, the same day Merlin had clearly few sleep. The same day Gwen told him Merlin and Lancelot had been outside Camelot during the night.

"Thank you. You are dismissed." His eyes flew to Merlin as he finished with, "Everyone but The Round Table."

Arthur frowned as Merlin froze in his almost rush. He noticed Gaius glancing at Merlin with slight concern. A quick look and he confirmed that Lancelot had first glance at Merlin too.

So the King was right. This was what Merlin had been hiding.

To be continued...