Chapter 4
"… and then she turned back into a troll, but Uther was still enchanted so he didn't notice the difference; it was hilarious."
Dragoon laughed so hard he almost choked on his food. "What I would've given to see that!"
They were still laughing when an old man came through the door.
"Merlin, I'm home," he said.
Merlin stood up and hugged him. "Gaius!"
"My boy," Gaius said while hugging him back. He noticed a man standing in front of him. "Oh, I see you have a guest."
Dragoon gave him a little time before talking. "Come on Gaius, don't you recognize me?"
Gaius gave the stranger a second look. "I'm sorry, I don't."
Merlin stepped in. "Gaius, this is Dragoon the Great, the real one," he clarified.
"Merlin that can't be, he—" Gaius looked at Dragoon and froze. "That's impossible! You can't be him."
"And yet I am; do you want me to tell Merlin the story about you and the two mermaids?" Dragoon asked with a grin.
Gaius was startled. "No! That … that won't be necessary." He took a deep breath. "I can't believe it was true," he added cryptically.
Merlin saw as they shook hands. "So, is anyone going to tell me how did you two meet?" he asked.
Gaius was still looking at Dragoon with his eyes open. "I met him a long time ago in a magic academy, before the purge of course."
"Gaius, I didn't know that you used to teach magic!"
Gaius chuckled. "I didn't, he did … fifty years ago."
Merlin looked straight at Dragoon with wide eyes. "But, that would mean …"
Dragoon laughed at the look on his face. "See kid, I told you it would be funnier this way."
"You are immortal!" yelled Merlin.
"Like I already told you, no living being can be truly immortal, but I've been around a long time."
"There were rumors about you, but I always thought they were only that," said Gaius. "How's this possible?"
"Well, I did promise you a story," Dragoon said looking at Merlin, "shall we sit?"
Merlin and Gaius sat facing Dragoon. "What do you know about the dragonlords?" he asked.
Merlin and Gaius looked at each other. "Not much," lied Merlin. Dragoon already knew that he was Emrys, and he seemed nice, but Merlin wanted to keep secret the fact that he was the last dragonlord a bit longer.
"Well, Gaius must already know, but a dragonlord is basically a sorcerer that can command dragons. Before the purge there were many dragonlords and dragons in these lands, but now they are all gone."
Merlin could sense the anger in those last words.
"However," continued Dragoon, "what few people know is how the dragonlords came to exist in the first place."
"You were there!?" asked Gaius surprised.
"I'm not that old," answered Dragoon with a grin, "this is just a story I've been told.
"A long time ago the dragons realized that they were losing the ability to hatch their own eggs, they didn't know why, but after years trying to fix it most of them accepted that it was the end of their race. Nevertheless, one dragon proposed a radical idea, ¿what if they could give another race the power to hatch their eggs? Many dragons weren't happy about this, but they didn't have a choice, and after years of research they found that only one race was compatible with their powers, the humans.
"To make this possible they needed to merge part of a dragon's soul with the soul of a living man; the dragon would survive the process, but there was a problem, the time needed for the full merge of the souls was a lot longer than the human life span. So they choose a few men, seven most people thinks, and granted them the gift of the eternal life; they would never age, making it possible for them to live long enough to complete the merge. However this came with a price, for this ritual required the magic of the dragon that was giving part of his soul, and being a creature of magic, this meant death.
"The dragons fought about who should be the sacrifice, some said that it should be the weakest of them all for he brought shame to the race, others that it should be the oldest for he had lived long enough, others that it should be the youngest for he was the least wise. Finally, ashamed of his brothers' doings, the same dragon that proposed the idea volunteered himself as sacrifice, and when he died his magic filled the seven men, rendering them forever young, and marking them."
Dragoon raised his shirt showing a tattoo that went all around his arm; it was a dragon biting his own tail. Merlin could swear that he saw it move.
"This is the mark of Ouroboros," Dragoon explained, "named after the dragon that sacrificed himself so all the others could live. The mark isn't just a drawing, it's alive, it's what prevented the men from growing old, and what slowly gave them the ability to command dragons."
"So you are a dragonlord?" Merlin asked, staring at him incredulously.
"I am," answered Dragoon.
"But you told us that you weren't there, then why do you have that?"
"As I said the mark is alive, it can move from one person to another when its host commands it… or when he dies."
"So how did you get it?" asked Merlin in an accusing tone.
"Come on kid! Have some faith in me; before I got this," said Dragoon pointing at the mark, "I was a simple man trying to get by. One day I was returning home and I saw an old man being attacked by a small group of what I thought were bandits. I managed to defeat them all, but in the process I suffered enough wounds to kill a man twice. I blacked out and the next thing I remember is waking up in the old man's house with this mark in my arm.
"He told me that those men were assassins trying to kill him and take the mark for themselves, he told me the story I just told you, and that giving me the mark was the only way to prevent my death. According to him, the first encounter between the mark and a new body causes a magic reaction that heals you of any wound or affliction, but after that the power of the magic is only enough to prevent you from aging."
"Wait," Merlin said, "how is possible for him to be an old man if he had the mark?"
"Good question, I asked him the same thing, he told me that while it can prevent you from aging past a point, it can't make you any younger that you already were when you got it.
"So, anyway, I was a simple man and suddenly I was going to live forever, the life I had wouldn't work anymore. Luckily I lived alone at that time so I just left everything behind and stayed with the old man as his apprentice. He was a sorcerer, as most mark's bearers are, and so he taught me the basics of magic. However he was old and a few years later he passed away. Since that day I've been traveling around the world learning new things, visiting new places and meeting new people."
"Amazing …" thought Merlin aloud.
"It is, but it gets a bit lonely after some time."
The three of them stayed there in silence for a while.
"So that's how you know so much about magic …" realized Merlin.
Dragoon smiled. "You know what they say, 'dragons know more from being old than from being dragons'." His eyes went to Gaius and back to Merlin. "Kid, do you mind letting us alone for a while? I actually wanted to catch up with him."
Merlin looked at Gaius as asking if he was fine with that and saw him nod. He just smiled and walked out the door.
"So, what are you doing here?" asked Gaius, "Camelot isn't the best place for a sorcerer like you."
"And is it for Emrys?" Dragoon asked and he saw the shock in Gaius' face. "Don't worry, his secret is safe with me; actually he is the reason I'm here, I came looking for the man that was pretending to be me, only to find that he didn't even know who I was. Why didn't you tell him that he was using the name of another sorcerer?"
"Well, when I learned that he was using your name it was already too late to change it, and since I thought you had died of old age I didn't bring it up." He paused for a second. " You know, it's … difficult for me to talk about those times after everything that happened."
"I understand, sometimes good memories just remind us of all we've lost," Dragoon said, giving him a sympathetic smile. "So, let's talk about Merlin …"
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He still couldn't believe it; he wasn't the last dragonlord after all; and if that wasn't enough it also turned out that Dragoon was immortal. It was a lot to take. He turned around when he heard a familiar female voice calling his name.
"Merlin! I'm so glad to find you," she said.
"Gwen! Is everything all right?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"Yes, yes, don't worry; it's just that I was walking around the castle when I saw a servant trip and spill wine all over sir Leon, which instantly made me think of you," Gwen said showing a smile. "It's been a long time since we talked like we used to."
"Well, my lady, that's one of the side effects of becoming queen."
"That's exactly what I mean! I want to be the old Gwen for a little while." Gwen looked away as if remembering something, and then she looked back at Merlin. "You know, It's been a long time since I visited my father, and with Elyan always in some mission I keep postponing it; I was wondering if you would like to come with me, just the two of us."
Merlin looked down like he was disappointed. "So, I'm the second choice…"
"Come on Merlin, you know that isn't true!"
He grinned at her. "Relax Gwen, I'm joking, I would love to go, but are you sure we shouldn't bring some knights?"
"That would ruin the purpose of the trip, and besides, I know you are a lot stronger than you let people know; if anything should happen you would protect me."
"My lady, are you flirting with me?"
Gwen hit him in the shoulder. "Shut up Merlin," she said, trying to mimic Arthur's voice.
Merlin started laughing and she joined him. "So, when do you want to leave?"
"Now?" she asked, a smile on her face.
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They were both standing next to Tom's grave. No one that looked at that grave would even begin to guess that it belonged to the queen's father; it was a simple grave, just a pile of rocks in the middle of a clearing. After they got married Arthur had asked Gwen if she wanted to move his father to a "better" grave, but she said no. That place had a special meaning for her family. She still remembered when her father used to bring her and her brother to that clearing and they spend the whole day just having fun; there was no better place for her father to rest in peace.
"He was a good man," Merlin said.
"He was a great father," added Gwen. She tried to say something but the words got stuck in her throat. She tried again. "Sometimes …, sometimes I wonder if he would hate me for marrying the son of the man that got him killed," she managed to get out and then burst into tears.
Merlin rushed over to her and hugged her. "Gwen, don't you ever think that! Arthur is nothing like his father, you know that, he knows that," said Merlin pointing at the grave. "And besides, he is your father, the thing he wants the most is for you to be happy, are you happy Gwen?"
"You know I am," she said, nodding.
"Then your father is too," Merlin told her in a reassuring voice.
"Thank you Merlin," she said returning the hug.
"What do we have here?" said a voice behind them.
They both turned around and saw a bandit standing there. Give me a break, thought Merlin. At least it was just one man. He drew his sword. "We have no quarrel with you, just keep walking."
The bandit looked past them. "Boys!, did you hear that?, he has no quarrel with us!"
Merlin turned again to see other four men coming from the other side of the clearing, they were trapped; he thought how Arthur could probably beat them all with a sword, but he was no Arthur, if they were going to get out alive of there he would have to use magic, and waiting for Gwen to fall unconscious wasn't a very solid plan. He held Gwen's hand and looked at her.
"Gwen, you are my friend, and I love you, no matter what, you know that, right?" he asked.
To Gwen, Merlin's words sounded like a final goodbye, Gwen squeezed his hand. "I love you too," she said and tears started to pour out of her eyes.
Merlin smiled at her, let her hand go and faced the four men.
"Forþ fleoge!" he yelled, throwing the bandits into the air. He turned to face the leader and he raised his sword just in time to block his attack. He tried to create some distance between them to cast a spell but the bandit didn't gave him any rest; Merlin changed plans and started attacking with his sword. Dragoon was right about one thing, he could see everything happen in slow motion; it wasn't long until his sword was piercing the bandit's chest.
He pulled out his sword and turned around to see if Gwen was all right. She was gone.
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This can't be true. It's all an illusion. I'm just having a nightmare. The second Gwen saw Merlin using magic she started to run. She didn't know where she was going, but it didn't matter, she just had to get away from there. She could hear him yelling her name behind her, but she just kept running, that wasn't Merlin, magic had stolen him from her as it did with Morgana. It wasn't until the trees stopped moving that she realized she had tripped and fell. She heard her name again, he was getting closer, she had to get out of there, but when she tried to stand up, she felt a searing pain in her ankle and fell back to the ground.
"Gwen!" he said reaching for her.
"Get away from me!"
Merlin could see fear in her face, "Gwen, please, it's me, it's just me."
"Why Merlin, why did you betray us like that?" tears falling down her face.
Merlin froze for an instant at that question. "I didn't betray you!"
"You've learned magic! After seeing all it had done to us!"
"I didn't learn magic, I was born with it, but even if I wasn't I would have loved to learn it" He crouched next to her. "Gwen, magic isn't evil in itself, at least no more than a sword is, I've been using my magic for good since the day we met, I've saved yours and Arthur's lives countless times, I've even saved Uther's! Please Gwen, you have to believe me, you have to …" he said with pleading in his voice.
Gwen didn't know what to think. Can someone really be born with magic? All she knew was that Merlin was crying in front of her and she had to control the urge to hug him; she didn't see a sorcerer in front of her, she saw a friend who had helped her through the years. Something popped in mind.
"Wait …, Arthur once told me that when I was in prison for allegedly using sorcery to heal my father you actually stood in front of the king and told him that it had been you, was that true?"
Great, now I'm not just a sorcerer, I'm a sorcerer that almost got her killed.
"Yes, it was; I'm sorry about that, I just wanted to help and ended putting you through hell; I don't blame you if you hate me," he said, looking away.
Merlin almost jumped when Gwen embraced him. "Merlin, you saved my father! How could I hate you?"
Merlin was speechless. He just hugged her back and once the hugged ended he gave her one of his goofy smiles.
"So, you said you saved our lives countless times, give me an example."
Merlin paused to think for a second, "Do you remember when you were accused of using sorcery for the second time to enchant Arthur?"
"Of course I remember Merlin," she answered. How could she forget?
"Didn't' you find it strange that the sorcerer just happened to make him fall for the one person in all Camelot that he already loved? And that he was conveniently caught red-handed clearing you of all charges?"
"Honestly at the time I didn't think much about that, I was just happy to be free. Was he a friend of yours?" she asked surprised.
Merlin grinned. "Try again," he said.
Gwen knew that grin; it was his 'I just did something naughty' grin, which in this case could only mean one thing.
"You!?"
Merlin nodded, his eyebrows raised.
"How is that possible? Arthur told me he was an old man."
"Magic …" he answered, smiling.
"Oh, right." She felt dumb for asking that. "So, why did you enchant us?"
At that Merlin burst into laughter. "Gwen, there wasn't any enchantment."
Gwen was trying to put two and two together. "Then who placed the poultice under my pillow?"
"Who do you think?" Merlin asked with a sad tone in his voice.
"Morgana…" she realized out loud. It took some time before she talked again. "Merlin, what happened to her? I thought magic had corrupted her, but here you are proving me wrong; why did she do all those horrible things?"
"That's a question I ask myself all too often; imagine being Uther's ward and suddenly realizing that you had magic, she was afraid and that fear drove her to make some bad decisions. It was all downward from there, I tried to help her, but I couldn't tell her about my magic; I still wonder what would have happened if I did."
"Why couldn't you?" she inquired.
"I was warned against it by Gaius and… one other." Merlin couldn't tell her about the Great Dragon, not after he attacked Camelot, maybe someday in the future.
Gwen saw the look in Merlin's face. "You can't blame yourself for what she did Merlin, she made her own decisions."
"I know, but even so, I wished I trusted her a bit more, I owed her that much." Merlin couldn't bear to keep talking about that. "Well, come on then, time to go back to Camelot before Arthur sends an army after us."
Gwen tried to stand up but the pain reminded her about her ankle.
Merlin caught her right before she hit the ground. "Gwen, are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm sorry; with all the talk I forgot I had twisted my ankle."
"May I?" asked Merlin pointing at her ankle.
She had a moment of doubt but then she nodded. Merlin placed her slowly on the ground and pointed his palms to her ankle. Gwen could hear some strange words coming out of his mouth and after that the pain was gone.
"Merlin that's incredible!" she said while standing up.
"It's nice to have someone appreciate what I do for a change."
Gwen realized how difficult had to be for Merlin to live hiding his magic from everyone.
"Who else know about you?"
"Of the people you know just Gaius and my mother of course." He made a pause. "Lancelot did too."
Merlin could see her face reacting to the name. "Did you have something to do with bringing him back?" she asked.
Merlin grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry Gwen, but that wasn't the same Lancelot; it's a long story, come on, I'll tell you everything in the way back."
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He told her everything about that Lancelot, how he had been a shade, how he had worked for Morgana, how he suspected that somehow had enchanted her, how he had become the old Lancelot for a second before dying.
Gwen was crying for a long time now. "Morgana really hates us, doesn't she?"
Merlin didn't know how to answer that. "I'm sorry Gwen."
For a while the only sound was the hooves of horses on the ground.
"Gwen," said Merlin, breaking the silence, "I need to ask you a big favor."
Gwen already guessed what he would ask. "Don't tell Arthur?"
"Yes. I'm sorry Gwen, I don't want to put you in this position, but I can only protect him if he is not trying to run me with his sword," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
"I'll keep your secret Merlin, for a while, but do you really think that Arthur would do that?"
"I hope not, but right now I can't take that chance."
Gwen gave him one of her 'I understand' smiles. "Alright then powerful sorcerer, let's see if you can beat me back to Camelot," she said, challenging him, and her horse started galloping away.
"Hey, that's cheating!" he yelled, before he started following and they both disappeared into the horizon.
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A/N: I hope you liked it!
Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter, favs and follows =D.
Dragoon's story (but not all of it, muahahaha) and magic reveal in the same chapter! I need to put more fillers XD
Thank you and happy holidays!
SPELLS:
Forþ fleoge! = Fly forth!
EDIT: Changed the format a bit.