Merlin

Episode 4.01: The Darkest Hour re-write

Before the Dawn

Prologue: A Dream like No Other

The dim light flickered in the room as Merlin flipped the page of the book that he quite stealthily stole from the Library. Geoffrey hadn't even noticed when Merlin walked out in plain sight with one of the forbidden books on magic hidden behind another revolving book shelf. Although Merlin was wary of such secret locations (the Goblin incident still seemed to douse his curiosity somewhat), he couldn't help but be intrigued by the small room this shelf had led to. It was in this rune covered stone room that Merlin found hundreds of books – all about magic! So, naturally, Merlin was drawn to one of them, stole it from the shelf (not that Geoffrey would ever notice anyway) and sat in the middle of the night with the dimming light as his companion, reading about "The Nature of Magic and Life".

The nature of magic is intertwined with the nature of the world. As there are five elements that compose all living things, there is yet another element that gives life to the otherwise inert world. All living things have magic –

'How scandalous!' Merlin thought, sarcastically. Maybe he should show this to Uther.

– and it is the finite storage of magic that determines the lifespan and of creatures and humans, presuming they die naturally. Despite the presence of magic in all, very few have the capabilities to utilize their magic. Those who can use their magic are born with a separate store or develop one later in their lives. In this manner, one could say that not all lives are equal – some magically more enhanced than others.

The door to his room creaked open, and Merlin looked up from his reading at his mentor.

"You should be sleeping, Merlin," Gaius said, as he glanced around the room. His nose crinkled automatically as he evaluated the mess. "Either that, or cleaning your room. Look at this! It's like a pig sty! Even starting to smell like one!"

"It's not that bad, Gaius!" Merlin replied, somewhat indignantly. Risking a glance up from his book, he realized Gaius might be right. One of his shirts lay on the floor, right outside the door, covered in rotten vegetables from last week's trip to the stocks (definitely not Arthur's idea of entertainment). While the remainder of his dirty clothes lay in a pile to the corner reeking with mud and manure from the hunting trips and stable mucking. Arthur's armor floated near his bed, magically polishing itself, while the rest of the room was covered in books, random herbs and who-knows-what-else. Merlin himself was sitting on top of his unmade bed, several books around his side. Even the small table next to his bed hadn't been spared, with piles of parchment scattered on the old wood surface. It had taken Merlin hours to write Arthur's speech for tomorrow, and only now he had decided to take a break. Apparently Gaius disagreed. After all, the only clean place in his room was the broken-down wardrobe – and that was because it was empty.

But who could blame him? After Morgana's betrayal and Uther's sudden depression, Arthur had taken control of the castle in all manner but name. Still refusing to usurp his father, Arthur worked hard to bring Camelot back to – as he put it – previous glory. In the process, Merlin was overworked not only by a stressed out Crown Prince but also by Gaius, who was still attempting to erase Morgana's and Morgause's work on Camelot's people during their brief reign. As if that wasn't enough, no one from the evil magical community and anti-Pendragon club were considerate enough to give Merlin a break this past year – hell, in the past week alone, there had been several magical and non-magical assassination attempts on both the Prince and the King. And Merlin had to protect the royal family while keeping his magic secret and seemingly (since Gaius can't come up with better excuses) spending too much time in the Tavern. It was a miracle he still got most of his sleep.

Gaius eyebrows rose. "Well, tomorrow is a busy day, with the Samhain feast. I expect Arthur needs you to take care of much of the work early in the morning, which you would be unable to do if you stay up all night to read from that book of yours." Gaius turned around to leave the room.

"Yeah, well Arthur really needs to learn to dress himself." Merlin mumbled, but with a glare form Gaius, he swiped his hand, levitating the books to the floor and settled himself in the bed. Merlin smiled as he found his uncle leaving the room, and with another swipe he put out the candle, letting sleep claim him.

He stood at the edge of a cliff, gazing at the unrecognizable terrain. The wind blew his tattered brown cloak to one side, as he gripped the dark elm staff in his hands. Slowly he lifted his head, his blue eyes twinkling in the setting sun's light, a hint of pride hidden within. And then he roared - a deep roar that escaped his lips, echoing across the canyon.

As his breath let out, he stopped and waited. He didn't have to wait long. Another roar from the far end of the canyon greeted his, and it didn't stop there. Slowly gathering out of the caves below the cliffs, giant scaled beasts majestically walked out, stretching their wings, and greeted Merlin, some with roars while others merely nodded. Their colorful scales glinted off in the sunlight, as they began to fly into the open sky. Merlin gazed fondly at his kin. Not one or two, but hundreds of dragons covering the skies, their roars rising beyond the canyon.

Merlin woke with a start.

A/N: This is my first story ever! I love to read, and I love to watch TV shows. So I decided I'd try my hand in this. My first fanfic and story, so please review and let me know if I should continue or stop (which is totally understandable). Not that I would stop writing (I'm slightly disturbed by the finale, so this helps ), I just won't publish it and torture you .

Slightly boring start, but I promise I have something grand planned, so please stay tuned! Also please review! You're reviews help the story and they help me! So don't forget! :D

Disclaimer: Merlin does not belong to me. It's a great TV show (that I would love to make a couple of changes to, therefore the birth of this fanfic) that belongs to Shine and BBC.