I do not own Merlin.

Chapter 5 - The Light

While he was cautioned, by Gaius, against teaming up with Julius Borden, Merlin felt it was his duty as a Dragonlord to at least try to retrieve the dragon's egg. He had summoned Kilgharrah for the second time that night, and Merlin's never seen him so delighted to hear his news.

He made a promise to do everything he could to rescue the egg, and he will. Even if it meant working with sketchy people.

Except things took a wrong turn when he did. He had given Borden access to the vaults only for the man to try to frame him for theft and run off to the tomb by himself. It didn't take long before Uther found out about the stolen relic, and had Arthur take a trip to the tomb to make sure another dragon wouldn't be born.

Before Merlin left for the trip, he wanted to make a quick stop to see how Morgana was doing after her head injury. As he made his way through the familiar halls, he saw Gwen exiting Morgana's chambers with her breakfast tray. He waved at her, and she smiled in return. Once he reached her doors, he knocked twice. "Who is it?"

Merlin knew if he told her who he really was, she wouldn't want him to come in. Instead, he tentatively opened the door and peeked through. He heard her take a sharp intake of breath so before she could deny him entrance, he stepped through and closed the door. "Don't be frightened."

"I don't want you here." She stood up beside her bed. She had an unreadable expression on her face, unlike the fearful one he saw yesterday.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I swear." He took a hesitant step towards her. "I wanted to see if you were okay."

"You've been saying that a lot lately."

Merlin didn't know if telling her would have been the right thing to do, not now at least. Not while she was still under the spell. He promised himself that he wouldn't keep anything from her anymore. That once he's figured out how to cure her, he'll tell her everything. No more secrets.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm worried about you." She cast her eyes away from him. "I'm going on a trip, and I wanted to make sure you were alright before I left. That's all." Awkwardly, he made a step to head out the door while she continued to look down. "I'll be on my way."

"Wait." He snapped his head back to look at her, but she avoided his gaze again. "My head." Before Merlin could rush to her side, she held up a hand. "It's alright, but it feels a bit fuzzy." He could sense that there was something different about her, and hearing her speak to him like this sparked a bit of hope in his heart.

"Would you like me to take a look?"

She shook her head. "No, you should go on your trip."

"It'll only take a second-"

She took a step back when he tried to walk towards her so he halted his movements. "I'll be okay. Honestly, I don't know why I told you. I'm fine. It's fuzzy, that's all."

By the time they were able to catch up to Borden by a few hours, it was getting dark and there was no sign telling them where to go next. They stopped to make camp in the woods for the night. It was a small party of four including Merlin, Daegal, Arthur, and Leon.

Merlin had the first watch considering the other three had all passed out after dinner. He let his eyes rest for a minute when he heard a voice in his mind. "Emrys." His bright blue eyes opened wide, he stood up from the tree he was leaning on and looked around. "Emrys."

He follows the voice through the woods until he sees an area of the woods filled with people wearing hoods. He realizes that he's coming across a Druid camp. One of them, presumably the man who has been calling him, lowers his hood to face him.

"My name is Iseldir." Merlin warily stepped closer to him. "Do not be afraid. We know your quest."

He narrowed his eyes at the man. "How?"

"The man you are looking for has also stole from us. He traveled through these woods three hours before you," he informed him. "He's heading east, but be warned Emrys. There is a legend of the tomb that only the druids know."

Merlin relaxed his shoulders. "What do they say?"

"Ashkanar knew that one day men would come seeking to disturb his rest," he told him. "The Triskelion is not only a key. It is also a trap."

"A trap," he asked. "What kind of trap?"

Iseldir gave him an apologetic look. "We do not know, but the legend is very clear. You must be careful." Merlin nodded, slowly stepping away from the group of hooded druids.

"Thank you," he said as he walked back to the camp.

The next day, the boys found another one of Borden's recently abandoned camps. Merlin sighed, having been so close to finding the man.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked when he noticed Merlin walking away.

"He's heading east." He pointed at the barely visible horse tracks heading that direction. The knights and Daegal followed him all the way to a cave that was all too familiar to Merlin. He stopped for a second to breathe, and Daegal patted his shoulder.

"You alright?" He asked quietly and gave him a knowing look. This was the cave that his father lived in. It has only been a year, and Merlin barely had any time to fully cope with the sudden loss. He thought only he and Gaius knew about Balinor, but Daegal also figured out who the man was to Merlin.

Merlin blinked. "You knew," he whispered.

"I didn't mean to, but I overheard you when you were talking to him last year," he said. "I'm here if you need to talk." Merlin nodded, relieved to have a friend around who truly knows him.

They heard Arthur groan by the cave opening. "It's a dead end," he sighed. "We should go back."

"What about the cave?" Merlin asked as he and Daegal headed towards the opening.

Before Arthur could argue, Leon pointed at the footprints ahead of them. "Arthur," he called out to show the prince. They drew their swords and hiked through the cave cautiously. Merlin, however, was not so careful. Instead, he paced quickly until he reached the waterfall at the end.

Arthur exhaled at his recklessness. Borden could have been anywhere. Merlin swipes his hand through the water to check if it was clear to go through. When it was, he walked through and motioned for the others to follow.

On the other side, the four notice the giant tower and can only assume that it was the tomb of Ashkanar. Except when they took another step to their destination, Arthur saw an arrow sweep past his head. "Take cover!" He shouts and they duck under the trench walls leading to the tomb. "Are any of you hurt?" He quickly observes them. Thankfully, none of them were shot nor injured.

Merlin looks through the woods to find him loading up his crossbow. "Arthur." He lightly hits Arthur's shoulder in order to point him towards Borden's position. The prince silently motions to him and Leon so they know his plan to take him out. They nod, and run to Borden's current position while he was still unaware.

However, Merlin did not follow through Arthur's plan. Instead, he quietly mumbled a spell to rip the crossbow out of his hands and smash it against a tree. He couldn't risk him getting away again, but Julius ran before Arthur and Leon could get to him. Merlin hurriedly caught up to the two of them, but Borden was nowhere to be found.

"Where'd he go?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shrugged. "Maybe he ran out of arrows." He made to walk to the tomb, but Arthur stopped him.

"We don't know where he's gone. It could be a trap," he said. "He's probably waiting for us." Merlin groaned as Arthur let go of him. "We'll make camp, and continue in the morning."

While Daegal was cooking supper, Merlin kept watch to see if Borden was around. Though while he wasn't looking, Julius shot a poultice into the soup. When Merlin turned around, he saw the three of them passed out by the pot.

The warlock rolled his eyes at the three. He grabbed the ladle to serve himself some soup, but scrunched his face in confusion when he removed a poultice from the pot. He put his bowl down, and looked at the three again. When he noticed Arthur start to choke in his sleep, he palms his chest and whispers a spell to return his breathing to normal. He saved Daegal and Leon next.

Since they were all passed out, Merlin grabbed his satchel and decided to run to the tower on his own.

It was probably for the best. He didn't know how he could steal a dragon's egg while Leon and Arthur was with him. Especially since the dragon's egg is what the whole trip was about.

In the end, Merlin is able to rescue the egg. By the time he escaped the tomb, it crumbled into a heaping pile of rubble with Borden inside. Arthur, Leon, and Daegal had just reached the tomb when he exited.

Once they got home, he went off to show Gaius the egg. The old man was beyond relieved to see that his nephew had came back in one piece. Merlin apologized to him as he realized why Gaius was so harsh with him earlier. He had disturbed Ashkanar's peace, and the egg was almost destroyed because of it.

Merlin looked to the egg as a sign of hope. Kilgharrah would no longer be the last living dragon.

After he finished speaking with Gaius, he ran up to Morgana's chambers to show her the egg. He didn't know why he wanted to show her. He would have a lot to explain, but he went up to see her anyway.

"Come in," she said after he knocked on the door.

He peeked through the door to see her getting ready to go to bed. He walked in quietly so she could see who it is. "Hi."

She narrowed her eyes. "What now?" When she saw him lock the door, she raised her hand as if about to cast a spell.

"Relax," he raised his hands. "I wanted to show you something. It won't harm you, I promise."

She didn't know why, but she found herself slowly lowering her hand. She clutched her bed sheets nervously as he opened his satchel and took the egg out. She narrowed her eyes at it, confused. "What is it?"

"It's a dragon's egg." She widened her eyes. "No, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to hatch it yet."

"Yet?!" She cried. "Are you mad? Why hatch it at all!" She widened her eyes, backing up. "You're going to-"

"No!" He put the egg down gently. "No," he repeated in a quieter tone. "I'm not going to hurt you." He waited for her breathing to calm down before he continued to speak. "I'm a dragonlord," he revealed and her eyes widened again. "I'll explain later, but I was going to bring this egg back to the last remaining dragon. Maybe even hatch it," he continued. "I was wondering if you would like to come with me?"

"Why on earth would I want to do that?"

Honestly, Merlin didn't know why he'd even ask her given the situation they were currently in. But it felt right. It was a leap for sure, but he couldn't help it. Especially since this morning, when she spoke to him without fear or disdain.

"I know you don't trust me," he began. "but this could be the last dragon to ever be born. And we might be able to witness it hatch tonight."

"How do I know this isn't some trick?"

Merlin thought about it. "You won't know," he answered. "You can only trust that I won't hurt you." Her eyes wandered down to her feet. "You could hold the egg," he suggested. "as insurance."

Morgana looked completely hesitant, but he heard her mumble her decision.

On his way to the clearing in the woods, he ran into Daegal who wanted to see the egg hatch. While Daegal was used to hearing Merlin speak in dragon tongue, Morgana was completely new to it. She clutched the egg nervously when Kilgharrah landed in front of them.

The dragon narrowed his eyes at Merlin. "What a crowd you have assembled, young warlock." Morgana gasped when she heard it speak. He turned his scrutinizing gaze to the woman, thinking about how he could roast her right then and there.

As if reading his thoughts, Merlin stood in front of her, shielding her from him. But Kilgharrah wouldn't have done it, he knew how much the witch meant to him. Besides, she was carrying possibly the last dragon egg in existence. So he moved his snout away from her.

Daegal tilted his head up to the beast. "Is it still alive?" They all turned to watch the egg as Morgana set it down on a nearby tree stump.

"It can live for more than a thousand years." The dragon made sure to keep an eye on the witch who stood behind Merlin.

Merlin smiled at the beast. "You are no longer the last of your kind." Morgana didn't know how she felt about the close interactions between Merlin and the dragon.

"It would seem not," he chuckled. Merlin grinned at the sound. That was something he didn't hear everyday. It really was a joyous occasion.

"When will it hatch?"

"Young dragons are summoned into the earth by the dragonlords," he informed him. "Only they were given the power to do so. As the last dragonlord, this solemn duty falls to you." Merlin looked up questioningly at the dragon. "To summon a dragon, you must give it a name."

Merlin took a deep breath as he thought about what to name it. He closed his eyes and allowed his magic to course through him. "Aithusa."

As the egg cracked open, Morgana unconsciously grabbed Merlin's forearm. It was an action that did not go unnoticed by Kilgharrah, or Daegal for that matter. In fact the younger boy smirked to himself.

When the egg was completely cracked, a beautiful baby dragon popped his head out and spread it's wings.

The four of them looked at the miracle baby in awe. Morgana didn't understand why she started to walk towards the little dragon. Though she was a bit nervous, she held her finger out to pet the dragon. Aithusa cooed at the woman, rubbing her tiny head against her palm.

"A white dragon is a rare thing. The name you gave her is quite fitting," Kilgharrah decided to say. "For in the dragon tongue, you named him after the light of the sun."

Merlin widened his eyes at Kilgharrah's words, and watched Morgana interact with Aithusa. He noticed Aithusa pick his head up, and blow magical air into Morgana's face. Acting quickly, he rushed to her side in time to catch her from passing out.

"Morgana!"

AN: Aww baby Aithusa! I know there's another 180 turn in Morgana's behavior, but it'll be explained next chapter. Thank you so much for reading and following, favoriting, and reviewing! It's awesome to know you guys like this story so thank you! :)

Meri Ley: I'm not sure Merlin would display his powerful magic in later chapters, not to the full extent. I don't think he would need to in upcoming chapters, but there would definitely be a Merlin/Morgause confrontation. lol I think he's got a few words to say to her. Thanks for the review :)

Garrek: Oh good! Thank you for letting me know. I was a little worried that it wasn't completely correct so thank you for letting me know. :) I was going to have Morgana go to the pond, but it was Arthur/Gwen's place. And in the show, Aithusa heals Morgana and dragons are like Mergana's thing lol.

Guest: Haha, Morgause is one of my favorite villains in the show so she's gotta live up to her title.

currageously: Morgana will be able to explain next chapter most of what happened to her, and this chapter probably answered your question about Aithusa. lol the happy Mergana reunion will be next chapter, I promise! :) Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Kumioko: Thank you for reading! :) I hope this chapter answers some of your questions lol. And Mordred probably won't return, but he could. He's one of my favorite characters so I might incorporate him in here. It'll be a while before Uther dies, especially since Morgana isn't evil and doesn't betray Uther in the worst possible way here. So I'm not sure how to answer that. Thank you for reviewing!