Gargoyles, statues, they were attacking Camelot. The bangs they had heard while in the woods had been bits of the castle falling and smashing into the ground, and a few houses in the lower town were just gone. There was destruction everywhere, people hurt and scared, everywhere. There was no way of knowing why this was happening, or who was doing it, but it had to be magic, that much was obvious. As soon as they had returned to Camelot, and saw the statues attacking, Arthur had run off, to change into his armor, the Knights were already fighting these beasts,but how could you win against something that couldn't be killed? As it wasn't alive in the first place. Instead of going to help Arthur change, Merlin ran toward Gaius' chambers, he had no idea if he were there, but he was the only person Merlin knew that might know what was going on. He pushed the door open, and it hit the wall, with a loud bang, as he rushed in. Gaius was there, luckily, going over many books.

"Gaius!" said Merlin loudly, nearly in a shout. Gaius dropped the book he had been holding, as if he hadn't heard the door opening, and looked up, startled for a second, and then relieved, when he saw it was only Merlin.

"Merlin, thank goodness," he said, walking over to him. "I was beginning to worry something happened to you...why are you all wet?"

Merlin paused at this, paused because he had forgotten, for a second, why he was wet and then he remembered and felt a rather deep shade of pink form on his cheeks. "It's a long story," he said, in an offhanded way, because he couldn't think about that now. "What's happening? Why are there things attacking Camelot? Everything seemed fine two hours ago..."

"I have no idea, Merlin, I am trying to figure that out myself."

"It's magic..."

"It has to be," said Gaius. "Very powerful magic, indeed."

"I have to go find Arthur, he is going to face those things," said Merlin, and he turned on his heels, to run back out. He turned back to Gaius, before he dashed off. "Tell me when you find something."

"I will," said Gaius, and gave Merlin a warm kind of smile, as he was shutting the door. "And Merlin..." he pushed the door back open a bit, feeling a little impatient, he had to get to Arthur, before anything happened to him. "Be careful..."

"Aren't I always?" he retorted, before shutting the door and running off.

"No..." he didn't hear Gaius say, as he did.

By the time Merlin had gotten back to the courtyard, from Gaius' chambers, Arthur had already joined the Knights, wearing a suit of armor now, and giving orders and whatnot. When they broke apart, Arthur turned around and saw him there, he gave him a small smile, barely a turn of lips, but Merlin still returned it anyway. And this made the thoughts he was trying to push away creep up on him again, the thoughts of the woods and how it had been Merlin's fault, Merlin who initiated it, on accident. It was an accident, he hadn't meant to. He wasn't thinking...for a second, and let it happen. He just hoped Arthur wouldn't think too hard on it, because there was no real reason to. Merlin knew his place and why he was meant to come here. His destiny did not involve kissing Arthur, but keeping him safe, and for a moment, Merlin forgot that. It wasn't something he liked to think about, or really had to think about, very often. He sort of just knew it was there, and it was alright, it could be there if it wanted to be, it wasn't very surprising, honestly. Every single thing about Merlin involved Arthur in some way, so it seemed. So, it seems only fitting that this would be the case. It hadn't always been there either, it sort of just came about, at some point, Merlin wasn't sure when, some time after Arthur had asked Merlin's Mother to stay in Camelot, it had to have been after then...or maybe it really had been there, all along, actually, and Merlin was just too dumb to see it. That was probably true, Arthur couldn't always be wrong about how dumb Merlin was, surely. But even so, it was something Merlin liked to lock away, and bury deep inside himself, because it hurt less that way...

All of a sudden, there was a loud squawking sound, like some kind of a bird, and more banging. Arthur ran off then, into the fray of dust and dirt, and was lost, out of Merlin's sight. Merlin tried to follow, until a giant gargoyle flew after him and tried to pelt Merlin in the head with rocks, and he hid, against the back side of the stone steps, to escape it. There was no way he could use magic here, now, it was too out in the open, many people ran passed him, some screaming and some crying. There were Knights and Guards everywhere. The only way Merlin would use magic is if it were to save Arthur, at a last resort, but as he couldn't even see Arthur anymore, there was no point trying. The attacks by rock from the thing stopped, after a few minutes, and Merlin walked back out, into the open, to look around, more chunks of the castle were missing. Running passed him now, down the steps, screaming, in a very deep voice, was the Future Queen, Lady Catrina, behind her, her servant followed, yelling things at her, like 'My Mistress, please..." in a trembling kind of voice, Merlin watched them go, without helping them. Because honestly, she was kind of rude to him, when no one was around, and he hardly knew how to help her anyway.

Heavy dust filled the air, as more parts of the castle and other buildings had fell, and Merlin worried for Arthur, but suddenly heard his own name being called, from behind him. He turned and saw Gaius, rushing toward him. He ran, and met him half way. In his hand was a rather large, heart shaped thing that looked kind of familiar to Merlin.

"Cornelius Sigan" said Gaius, as soon as Merlin reached him. "It was his tomb," he continued, and Merlin hardly thought that was important right now. But Gaius seemed to understand that, and went on. "He was known as the most powerful sorcerer alive, in his time, he helped build Camelot itself. The King, he felt he had grown to powerful, that he would overthrow him, so he had him killed. But Sigan was none too understanding, at his execution, he cursed Camelot, he said that one day he would return and get his revenge."

"So, you think this is what...a ghost? an Angry, dead corps running around pretending to be statues?" offered Merlin, and Gaius shook his head. He lifted the heart shaped thing and offered it to Merlin.

"I do not believe he is dead," said Gaius. "I believe he has possessed another."

Merlin took the heart and looked it over. He recognized it, as a heart they had found in the Tomb, but it had used to be blue, and shine brighter than any gem he had ever seen before. "What does this mean?"

"Sigan's Tomb was broken into," Gaius continued. "I believe whoever broke in, got much more than they bargained for."

"But how could someone have broken in?" offered Merlin now, shaking his head. He handed the heart back to Gaius, and looked around, as if this dead sorcerer would just point himself out to him. "Arthur is the only one with the keys..."

Just then, in the deepest bits of dust, emerged a figure walking, somewhat slowly, toward them. Merlin frozen and Gaius took a concerned step back. It got closer and closer, until the dust settled around it, and it was only just-

"ARTHUR!" Merlin yelled, as suddenly, coursing through the dust, was a gargoyle, swooping down. Arthur didn't see it, as his back was turned to it, it had been mostly quiet, until now. Merlin rushed forward, knowing he couldn't use magic right now, even if it did bite at him, at his finger tips. Merlin jumped him, just right there, in the middle of the courtyard, at a run, jumped him. And then landed on top of him. So, that would be the second time one of them was on top of the other today. Merlin had to stop thinking about that, right now. The beast seemed to get confused and distracted by Merlin's attack on Arthur, and flew away then. Suddenly though, Merlin noticed that Arthur was smirking up at him now.

"You saved my life, Merlin...?" it was almost as if Arthur was shocked. But it wasn't the first time, it probably wasn't even the tenth time, or the twentieth, Merlin saved Arthur pretty much all the time. If only the Clotpole knew...

"A thank you would be nice..." he retorted back, and the smirk on Arthur's lips grew. But it wasn't just Arthur's normal smirk, it was mixed with something else. Something that looked a little too much like desire and it scared Merlin.

"No need to thank me, Merlin, it was my pleasure..."

Merlin got up now, because he just couldn't handle that. Instead, as he helped Arthur up, he noticed a rather large gash in Arthur's chainmail, and blood. "You'e hurt."

"Not too bad," said Arthur, and Merlin didn't care, he didn't listen. He grabbed him around the wrist, and pulled him toward Gaius. Gaius looked worried at the Prince, and eyed him, for a long moment. "There are many hurt people, I need you to see to as many as you can. Get Morgana and Gwen to help you, if you like..."

"Yes, Sire," said Gaius, still looking over Arthur. "You need to be treated too, before you think about heading anywhere."

How quickly Gaius could go from obeying to demanding, it was a trick Merlin needed to learn soon. The three of them headed into the castle, where they went to the first room on the main floor of the castle, which just so happened to be a storage room, where a bunch of tables and old benches were. They were left there for this exact reason. So, if someone was to attack Camelot and there were many injuries, there would be a place to treat them. Luckily, Gaius already had his supply bag with him, and he forced Arthur onto a bench, and pushed up his chainmail, to have a better look at his wound. It wasn't too deep, but deep enough that Arthur was losing a lot of blood.

It was growing dark outside, evening, and the attacks by gargoyle and statue had stopped, for now thankfully, but that left an eerie sort of feeling, as no one knew when they would start again. Gaius was cleaning Arthur's wound now, and pressing some sort of jell onto it. Arthur's eyes watered a little, from the pain, but he didn't say anything about it.

"We need to figure out who has done this," said Arthur.

"We know...it's a sorcerer, Sigan, it's his tomb, the one they found, someone broke in and he possessed their body," said Merlin, quickly. Arthur stare at him now.

"That's impossible, there is only one way in, and I have the-" Arthur froze suddenly, grabbing at his right hip and then froze again. "Merlin, you remember the keys I had this morning?"

"Yes, I think so," Merlin nodded. "You put them on your desk, when we went back to your chambers."

"Did I have them when we left to visit your Mother?"

Merlin thought about this, for a long moment. "No...I don't think so."

Arthur's eyes widened, and he looked around, in alarm. "Anyone could have broken into my chambers and stolen them, I was meant to keep them in my sight at all times..."

"It's not your fault, Arthur," said Merlin. "We'll find them, we'll figure out who it is."

Suddenly, there was a very loud bang, much louder than the rest had been, it shook the floor, as if the Earth itself was moving, being ripped apart. Somewhere, in the castle, Merlin could hear glass breaking. The walls creaked, like they couldn't withstand the shaking, and then it stopped,as quickly as it started, but then there were screams, screams so loud that they hurt Merlin's ears, even though they were outside. Arthur pushed himself away from Gaius, and rushed to the window, Merlin followed behind him. They both looked out, into the orange and red, darkening sky, and there, as bold as the sun itself...was a dragon.

"Oh my God..." he heard Arthur say. And that was unlike Arthur, he always just fought, he didn't care how, or what, or who threatened, he just fought and he was always ready, but in that moment, he sounded scared. And Merlin was scared too, so scared. There was more screaming now, and this time it was much closer, and it was only getting closer. Suddenly, the doors to the room burst open and there was Morgana, hair a mess and her eyes ran, from tears. She rushed over to Arthur. "Morgana!" he caught her, as she fell into his arms. "What are you doing?"

"Don't face the Dragon, Arthur, please...whatever you do, you will die, I've seen it, in my dreams, you will die!" she was yelling this, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You will die!"

In the window,then, it light up, almost like day again, and for a second Merlin was confused. Did Sigan find a way to control time? But then, Merlin saw the flames, and a cold sort of fury broke over him. How could he do this? After everything he had told Merlin...?

"Clam down, Morgana," Gaius was saying now, taking her by the arms and dragging her away from Arthur, it was like dragging a child away from a leaving parent."Arthur will be fine, I promise you...calm down, My Lady..."

"NO!" Morgana screamed, and then sobbed into Gaius's shoulder. "PLEASE! HE IS GOING TO DIE!"

Gwen was rushing in now. "Merlin!" she called, and he was surprised to be called, he didn't feel like he could talk right now, his blood had run cold and he was too angry. Gwen touched his arm and it almost shocked him. "Your Mother is safe, I took her to Gaius' chambers...the...the Dragon is targeting the upper town," she said.

Arthur headed for the door then, even if he was not yet treated all the way, Merlin chased after him. But Arthur stopped and looked back at him, very seriously. "Stay here, Merlin."

"No," he said at once. "I can't let you-"

"Stay here," he said again, and it was the most demanding, yet pleading voice Merlin had ever heard before. "Help Morgana, she's upset. Tell her I'll be fine."

"And if I'm lying?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Arthur pulled a smirk at him, or at least tried to, and Merlin had to force himself not to follow, as he charged out, the very next second. It felt like he was letting half a of himself go, and honestly...he really was. Probably more than half. More injured people started pouring in now, not only victims from the statue attacks, but now burn victims, from the attacks by the Dragon. And Merlin felt venom in his blood, anger beyond anything he had ever felt before, at the Dragon. When he had first met the Great Dragon, Merlin had thought he was there to help him, to be his friend, but that was not the case at all. He couldn't stand the thought of all the horrible things he had done because of him, how he had nearly let the Druid Boy die...

"Merlin," said Gaius now, coming up to him, he had just finished sedating Morgana, leaving her to Gwen's care. As she now, looked a bit gloss-eyed and sleepy. It was for the best, but Merlin still felt bad, he knew why she had those dreams, why her chambers caught fire, she had magic...and he had promised, not only Gaius, but the Dragon he would not tell her. The Dragon had even told Merlin he should kill her...his own friend. He shook his head, and looked away from Gaius, before he even spoke. "Merlin..." Gaius said again, and as his tone dropped, to nearly a whisper, Merlin looked back at him. "You are the only one here who can stop the Great Dragon, he is a creature of magic, Arthur cannot kill him."

"So, you knew about him then?" asked Merlin, a bit off the point, but he had figured all the rest out already, he was only biding his time, a few more minutes, to let Arthur think he had obeyed him, and then he would go and find him, and just make up an excuse, as always. Gaius nodded, at his question.

"I was there when Uther imprisoned him," said Gaius. "All those years ago."

"And did you know...did you know I used to speak to him?"

"Yes," Gaius nodded. "You are kin, you are as bound to him, as you are your destiny, Merlin."

"I would never be kin with anyone like him," spat Merlin, angry and hurt, honestly very hurt. How dare he attack Camelot! "He is nothing but cruel and evil..."

"He is getting his revenge, Merlin," said Gaius. "Uther betrayed him, imprisoned him..."

"And Uther could kill me any day, at any moment, and you don't see me-" but Merlin stopped, because he was getting a bit loud, he eyed the room, Morgana just sat there, idle, Gwen fussed over her. Everyone else did not seem to notice him at all. Good, that's how he liked it. "I have to go find Arthur!"

He didn't wait around, didn't wait for Gaius to reply, he just ran, ran out of the doors and outside. The smell of something burning was thick in the air, and it made it hard to breathe, as he ran. There was barely any light anymore, almost completely dark, only a small line of the sun could still be seen. So, it was a wonder how Merlin manged to spot Arthur, climbing stairs up to the barricades, that was where he was, the Dragon...looming near there.

Merlin rushed after him, taking the stairs two at a time. Merlin had to remember, the attacks of the statues were still taking place, along with the burning of the castle and the town. Beyond the Dragon, the one who let the Dragon escape, Sigan, and they still had no idea who it was, because it could be anyone. Defeat the Dragon first, deal with the Undead Sorcerer later, was Merlin's thought. He reached the top of the stairs, just in time to see Arthur facing the Dragon.

Arthur was brandishing his sword and taking stabs at the Dragon, but he didn't seem to care, Arthur had even slashed him, in one of the legs, Merlin saw it. But it left no lasting mark, nothing. No mortal blade could kill him. He was magic. The Great Dragon seemed to get tired of Arthur's foolish attempts now, because he pulled back, flew a bit higher into the air, and Merlin knew what was going to happen, he had to act before the Dragon did.

And right between Arthur and the fire that blasted toward him, a shield grew, without even a spell, Merlin had barely lifted his hand. His intentions were strong enough, his will was strong enough, he didn't need words. The shied was so powerful that it repelled some of the dragon fire, right back at the Dragon, and threw Arthur back, so hard, he slammed into the castle wall behind him, and hit his head. Merlin rushed forward, as the Dragon began to laugh, Merlin stood in front of Arthur. And the Dragon stopped laughing, to glare at him.

"Why are you doing this?!" shouted Merlin. "After all this about destiny, and you would kill him?"

"You betray me, Merlin," said the Dragon, and his voice, whining and aged, made Merlin want to scream and throw something. He was starting to behave like Arthur when Merlin did something annoying.

"You betrayed me first," retorted Merlin. "You knew that if I saved Arthur from the Questing Beast it would be my Mother's life, you knew...and you let me do it, you didn't care, as long as one day you would be free..."

"I asked you, if you were prepared to give up everything for your destiny, it is not my fault you were not," retorted the Dragon. "And then you kill Nimueh, would she not have been a help to you? Would she not have been able to help rid this world of Uther Pendragon? To bring Magic and balance once more?"

"Magic will one day be free in Camelot, but it will not be by murdering and lying, and...evil!"

"Neither one of us were ever evil, Young Warlock, we were betrayed by our King," retorted the Dragon. "Perhaps you have lived in Camelot too long, some of Uther's ideals have rubbed off on you."

"No," he retorted back. "I just know the difference between what is right and what is wrong...and you, you are so wrong!"

"Then enemies, we shall be..."

And the Dragon went to fly away, went to leave, and Merlin couldn't have that, he had to stop him, for Arthur...for Camelot. He felt the magic grow inside of him, build, until and he lifted his hand, and clouds, thunderous clouds, formed, almost at once and a strike of lightening came down, zapping the Dragon, where he fly. He jolted, for only a second, looking almost stunned, but then his golden eyes narrowed at Merlin.

"Do not imagine that your petty magic can harm me!"

And then he was gone, gone like Merlin had done nothing, could do nothing, and he couldn't. The worry and fear that pitted in Merlin's stomach then, almost over took him entirely, there was nothing he could do, that was strong magic he had used, it didn't do anything...they were doomed. All of these thoughts were drawn out, by the sound of someone grumbling behind him. He turned around, and Arthur was trying to stand. Merlin rushed toward him, and helped him up. His head lolled a bit, as his eyes barely opened, their lids kept trying to shut on them. Arthur look over at Merlin still though, and leaned into him, as Merlin was supporting most of his weight, his lazy eyes were narrowing at him.

"I told you to stay in the castle," he said.

"And if I had, you would've been dead, so probably best I didn't listen to you..."

Arthur only huffed at this, he couldn't argue with that and he knew it. And Merlin didn't want to argue now, he had too many things on his mind. He helped Arthur, all the way back to the castle, inside, and back to Gaius. Gwen nearly screamed when she saw Arthur, and left Morgana's side, who was now sitting with Uther, of all people. Gwen helped Merlin get Arthur onto a bench and she held his head up, by two of her fingers, so he didn't fall or crack his head off the table. Merlin knew, other than being a little drowsy, Arthur was fine, and he pulled Gaius to the side.

"I can't stop him," he admitted, all at once, because he was lost and not sure what he was supposed to do now. "My magic doesn't affect him, I hit him with lightening and nothing happened..."

"Is that what that sound was?" said Gaius, he sounded light hearted, but Merlin could see in his grey eyes, he was just as worried as he was. "You did your best, Merlin, perhaps it is not time yet..."

"For what?" asked Merlin, but now Uther was striding over to them, and surprisingly, he placed a hand on Merlin's back, in a nice sort of way. Merlin huffed, yet again, conflicted by this. He wanted to like Uther sometimes, he really did...but all of this, and honestly, all of it, every single thing, was his fault. Not to mention, the small fact that if he were to find out what Merlin really was, his nice attitude, just because he thought his son fancied him, would be long over and Merlin would be dead.

"Gaius," said Uther. "Camelot will fall, if we do not think of something, something to stop...these beasts," Gaius nodded, looking down at the ground and shrugged. "There must be something we can do, something to stop the Dragon?"

"There is one thing, Sire...one person," said Gaius. "I believe you know who he is."

"No," said Uther, and his hand slipped from Merlin's back, he stood tall and looked a little mad, all of a sudden. "No, we will not resort to such lows!"

"I am afraid there is no one else, Arthur cannot kill the Dragon, My Lord, you know this," said Gaius. "You know what it was like to only restrain him."

"I do, I remember..." muttered Uther, shaking his head and looking up, to the ceiling, as if he were looking for answers there. "How do we know where to find him?"

"I believe I might know where he is," said Gaius. Uther looked back down, and stare at Gaius, as if he were sick to his stomach, at the very idea.

"Then we must go to him...we must get him to help us," said Uther. "For Camelot..."

"For Camelot," Gaius nodded, and then Uther dashed off, not back to Morgana though, out of the room completely. Now, Merlin was feeling rather confused by this. Who was this person, clearly someone magical, if Uther looked that displeased about it. But that begged the question, if they did have magic, why would they ever want to help Camelot?

"What was that?" Merlin asked now. "There is someone who can defeat the Dragon? Who are they?"

"A Dragonlord," said Gaius, pointedly, all of a sudden. "I cannot explain now, who he is, but I will...later, and you must promise me, Merlin, you will not get angry."

"What is a Dragonlord, and why would I be angry?" asked Merlin, even more confused than before. Gaius looked up at him, and the fondness he felt for Merlin overpowered his pointed glare. He took a long moment, before answering.

"Because, Merlin," he said, slowly, and rather quiet. "The man we need to find...is your Father."

(A/N: I am offering a little Merlin POV in this. Because it is always nice to catch up with Merlin, see where his head is at and what he's been thinking lately. Also, there are just some important moments that leave too much of the story out, if they're in Arthur's POV. Also, again, one more thing...this chapter was very hard to edit, it was very long, and I think I have had chapters about the same word count before, but this chapter in itself is just a lot, there is a lot happening all at once. So, that leads me to say, if you see any grammar or spelling errors let me know, and please forgive them. I have been doing school work for seven hours straight today, (I am in college,) and now this, so my head hurts. Not to make excuses though. But yeah, I hope you enjoyed it!)