Merlin

Everything faded to grey around him. One moment he had felt the relief that Elyan was healed and the next his legs gave way. Merlin's body felt a lancing pain at his lower abdomen and he knew that the wound had reopened. Merlin had felt Gwaine grab hold of him the moment he lost balance. He was about to thank the man when the door suddenly swung open. More company?

There was a moment where Merlin chided himself on not adding some sort of spell on the door itself, like not letting it open without notifying its occupants. Thankfully, however, the uninvited guests were the very people Merlin had hoped to see.

Sir Lucas entered, followed by a very weary Gaius. Merlin couldn't but feel utter relief seeing his mentor whole and unhurt.

"My boy, what happened?!" Gaius exclaimed when he saw Merlin's condition. The physician rushed over to his side, eyes scanning him fearfully.

"Oh lots happened while you were gone," he said, though Gaius didn't seem to understand him. Instead the older man looked even more alarmed. "Gwaine, what in names happened to him?!"

Why are you shouting? Wondered Merlin. And why aren't you talking to me? I'm trying to explain... Oh.. he realized why. His words were likely probably obscured by the blood trickling from his mouth. Perhaps trickling was understating it.

Gaius had taken out his handkerchief and was rapidly wiping blood from that fell from Merlin's lips. "Sorry," he said feeling terrible for greeting his mentor in such a state. At the corner of Merlin's eyes, he could see the shock on the other knight's faces.

Gaius had moved on from to examining Merlin's true injury, the gaping wound on his abdomen that bled far too freely.

"Why is Merlin bleeding? Gwaine?"

"Long story, Gaius, but we need to get him to Kilgharrah," said Gwaine apologetically.

Merlin could see a beat of a pause in Gaius as he digested the fact Gwaine must have known his secret. Sorry, Merlin apologized in his mind, couldn't keep the secret. In fact Merlin was pretty sure everyone in the room, aside from Sir Lucas, knew he had magic.

"Can you carry him?"

"Was already on it," said Gwaine, and lifted Merlin like a ragdoll in his arms. The knights moved aside as Gwaine rushed past them, but not before he said, "Sir Dominic is bringing the armour here, make sure you don't hand it over to Arthur! Lucas, explain to them."

"Merlin," said Gaius as he followed in near equal pace to Gwaine through corridors, "You must stay awake to call Kilgharrah, understand? I cannot command his presence, only you can." Merlin did his best to nod. He didn't have the energy to speak anymore.

"We must hurry, Gwaine." The knight nodded and Merlin felt himself fly through the corridors. Merlin was quite proud of Gwaine, he had remembered the more isolated route from the castle to the outside. The rushing movement, however, had made Merlin feel so dizzy and nauseous he couldn't help but shut his eyes. It felt good to close them. The haze of pain he had felt earlier began to diminish. He was again back at the lake of Avalon, though there was no Freya to greet him this time. He was alone, floating gently on the isolated lake, the calm cool water embracing him, submerging him. The sounds around him started to muffle, until it was but soft echoes. It was very peaceful. Merlin liked where he was. No pain. No worries. Just silence.

But then there was a tap and then a loud cry. Or was it a scream? Whatever it was, it disturbed the momentary peace Merlin was feeling. He really wanted the noise to go away. There was a feeling on his cheek. A tap? Yes. Again. Tap. Tap. Tap. A shake. More shaking. Oh. The burning sensation returned and a wave of pain washed over him. Suddenly the lake seemed to drain beneath him, and he was lying on solid ground, dirt and grass at his fingertips.

Merlin opened his eyes slowly to see stars gazing back down on him. Oh that's Draco. So sparkly. Something about the constellation was telling him it was important.

"Merlin, Merlin!" The garbled sounds earlier became actual words now that he recognized. A face came into view. Scruffy fella. Dark brown hair that fell over a rather chiseled face. Merlin knew this person. Hmm. "Merlin!" Now why was this man so upset, he couldn't comprehend. "Merlin, come out of it. You have to call Kilgharrah. You have to call the dragon now."

Another face came into view. This one was an older man, white hair that fell over his shoulders. He looked so sad and terribly upset. Why are you so sad? Wondered Merlin. Don't be upset. He wanted to reach out to the old man, but couldn't find the energy to. The old man was wiping something away from his lips and getting more upset. A flash of gold came across his eyes as he spoke. The scruffy man beside him looked surprised for a moment, but then he went back to check on him, again with the name, "Merlin."

"Merlin. Come on. Come out of it. Please. We need you to stay with us. Arthur. Arthur needs you! Camelot needs you. We need you. Merlin!"

Arthur. The name sounded familiar. Arthur. A memory of a golden haired man, in full armour, blade in hand, rushing to battle... laughter, with knights around a fire... then himself dressed in a silly costume… There again was the golden haired man, laughing with him, rolling his eyes. Arthur. He seemed like a friend.

Beside him stood a taller, sterner man with a crown of gold. A King. he was cold, untouchable. And a beautiful woman, dressed in an elegant green gown, brown hair that flowed past her shoulders. She had a pale face, piercing eyes... cold eyes. Evil. She felt different from the blonde man. Arthur was his friend. Why that thought kept coming back to him, he wasn't sure, but he knew that to be true. But then there was a blade in this Arthur's hand. Why was the man he thought to be a friend wielding such an item. The woman was beside the man named Arthur now. A smile, oh such a calculated smile she had. Arthur was weeping now. There was blood on his hands. The elegantly dressed woman stood smirking, drinking in the blonde man's pain. Suddenly, he was looking down at the scene before him, in a birdseye view. Oh. That was why the man was weeping. Someone was dying. A pool of blood was spanning, colouring the perfect marbled floor. The person dying looked familiar though.

"Merlin!"

Ah. Merlin, that was him! Oh. Dying. That person dying was him. Was he dying now? Why recall dying to only to die again? Things were not making much sense to Merlin, none whatsoever.

"Merlin, call the dragon. I beg of you." It was the elderly man that was pleading him.

Dragon. Ah, I know one, and he's up there in the sky! I guess I'll call one if you need it, nice old man. And Merlin called out for the dragon in the stars.

"O drakon, fthengomai au se kalon su katerkheo deuro!"

It sounded rather soft to Merlin's ears, but he supposed he did a good job because the two men stopped shouting at him.

Good. Now I can rest. He thought as he closed his eyes.

Nope, rest wasn't going to come. Merlin could hear something land heavily on the ground. Why of course, I summoned a dragon, obviously one would come! But I called for a constellation? Since when did stars come to life?

"What has happened to the young warlock? Did I not ask you, knight of Camelot to watch over him?" Oh the dragon sounded cross indeed, thought Merlin. I would not like to be in that man's shoes.

"And why are you, traitor and aider of Uther Pendragon during the purge, here?"

"Alright, Kilgharrah, you can roast us later," said Gwaine quickly, "but help Merlin first?"

There was a grunt of acknowledgement before Merlin felt something cool flow over him and suddenly the pain and haziness that clouded his mind vanished. And with it his consciousness as a cool darkness wrapped around him and Merlin was enveloped in its sweet serenity.

Gwaine

Gwaine didn't know what he was expecting, but it didn't involve seeing his friend go completely slack on the forest floor. Were we too late? Thought Gwaine with a sinking feeling. Immediately he knelt down beside the unconscious young man, fear in his eyes.

No. Merlin was definitely alive, there was a small rise and fall of the younger man's chest. But why wasn't he awaking?

"He needs to rest to recover. My magic is losing its effects against the cursed dagger," spoke Kilgharrah as if reading his mind. Are dragon's psychic? Wondered Gwaine suddenly.

"However," the dragon eyes seemed to glare at Gwaine, "The spell I had casted earlier should have kept him well longer than this. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything… Merlin, he saved a friend with a healing spell."

"Was it the King?"

"No, one of the Knights," said Gwaine unsure with what the dragon was getting at.

"Then you should have let him die."

At the frank tone of the dragon's words, Gwaine could understand Merlin's earlier remorse for releasing the dragon. The creature had goodness in him, but there was a deep bitterness towards all that dwelled within Camelot. How indeed had Merlin convinced a creature of this magnitude to do anything other than what it set out to do?

Gwaine swallowed uncomfortably and asked the question that was on his mind, "You said that in order break the spell, the one that stabbed him must die?"

The dragon snorted, "I am doubtful that our young warlock could think to kill Arthur."

"So you know?" asked Gwaine in confirmation. His guess had been correct, the two had been chatting telepathically previously.

"I do." And the dragon curled downwards and his face came closer towards Gwaine. It was uncomfortably close, given that Gwaine could see its scales and teeth. Do dragons eat humans? How did you not feel intimidated by such a creature, Merlin?

"What can we do? We can't kill Arthur," said Gwaine looking at the dragon for an answer.

Kilgharrah, however, didn't respond. Instead, he was leaning closer towards Merlin, it's large head suddenly set down beside Merlin's sleeping form. His large yellow eyes were open and watchful over the sorcerer's prone figure. It reminded Gwaine of how a cat would lazily eye its master to catch his attention.

Except this was no feline. It was a giant scaly dragon with very sharp teeth, able to breathe fire and cast magic. A very scary pet indeed.

There was a movement and Gwaine realized it was Gaius. In the commotion he had forgotten the physician was there. The older man was beside Merlin, gently placing his hand over the young man's forehead. Gwaine could see how much Gaius cared for Merlin, like a father to a son.

Gwaine saw the daggers in the dragon's eyes as he looked at Gaius. Oh there was definitely history between the creature and the old physician. Gaius on the other hand clearly did not care about the dragon's displeasure at his presence.

"When will he wake?" The old physician asked without even glancing at Kilgarrah.

The dragon looked as if he did not want to answer, but relented at the end.

"Perhaps in two or three days," Kilgarrah rumbled out. "I would recommend you leave him in my care, traitor. There is little you can do."

"Tell me what cursed dagger it is. I can see if there is something in the old history texts that can help him." Gaius turned to look at the dragon then, and Gwaine could see a fearlessness in the old man's eyes.

"Of course you would think you know more than I," said the dragon looking decidedly angry.

"I am only considering other alternatives. Merlin cannot kill the king –"

"Of course, it is always about the King. You care not for your ward. Just as you were so loyal to your King Uther, you turned your back on your own kind," snapped the dragon half rising out of anger.

Gwaine couldn't help but shift slightly back, but he noticed Gaius stayed where he was. There was challenge in the old man's eyes and he was not backing away.

"I can only regret the past, Kilgharrah. I cannot change what was done."

"Regret," snorted the creature. "You know not of that word." Suddenly the creature seemed done with their company and rose up again and moved to lift Merlin with one of its front claws.

The creature was going to leave.

No, Gwaine still needed to tell him what they had discovered.

"Wait," he said in a rush, "there's more that has happened since we last saw you."

The dragon stopped and looked at Gwaine, "Speak then."

Kilgharrah's eyes, if it were possible, narrowed as Gwaine updated him on all that they had discovered. When Gwaine finished, he prayed the dragon would have a magical solution to their problems.

The Kilgharrah remained silent a long moment, as if digesting everything Gwaine said and then he remarked, "Merlin has been busy indeed."

Gwaine had to agree with the dragon's conclusion as well. Merlin has been too busy. So now at least he was resting. Gwaine, however, would have preferred a less dire circumstance to allow his friend to recover.

"Do you have the spell on you?" Asked Kilgharrah.

Gwaine nodded and took out the sheet of paper he had scrunched in his pocket.

The dragon looked at the spell and again silence fell over them. Gwaine looked over to Gaius who was still by Merlin's side but his attention was on Kilgharrah. There were clear lines of worry that creased the older man's face as he watched the dragon.

"The witch powers have risen further than I imagined," stated Kilgharrah angrily.

Oh this was not good, thought Gwaine.

"The young warlock was correct to be concerned. Your King Arthur is indeed dying, albeit slowly."

"What can we do to stop her?"

"You will do as you had planned. First with the glamoured items to deceive Morgana. And then you will use the incantation you said Merlin found, the dreamcatcher. You however, will need to delay the news of the knights returning with the enchanted armour. Merlin is not yet able to use his magic until he is recovered."

"And also, as long as the armour stays out of reach to Morgana, we buy time for your King. Because once she has it, she will finish the spell in order to complete the bargain for Morgause's soul. I say this to emphasize the importance of the delay. If you wish to save your King, follow this plan well."

Gwaine nodded. "I can make sure the news is delayed."

"See that you do," said the dragon, "and this time, see that Merlin does not attempt to do anymore healing spells. At least until the curse on him is broken."

"About that curse -,"

"Just do as I said, knight of camelot. No more questions."

Patient fellow aren't you? Thought Gwaine unhappily. At least it was a plan he and Merlin had talked about. He definitely trusted his friend more than this impatient creature that towered over him.

"How do we know when Merlin is back? Do we come back here?"

"When Merlin is well, he will simply make his way to Camelot," replied the dragon shortly. If a dragon could roll its eyes, Gwaine felt like he witnessed it.

Well, no timeline, okay. Two or three days, at least there was an estimate. Oh crap. Right, Arthur's orders. Gwaine had forgotten all about it. He had to leave Camelot for that... but that Gwaine would just have to think of a way to get around it.

Kilgharrah decided the conversation was over then, and with one last look at him, and then a glare at Gaius, he lifted Merlin's unconscious form up with his front claws and flew upwards into the starry night. Even though Gwaine had seen it already once that day, it was still quite a sight. Such a creature indeed.

Gwaine looked to Gaius for a moment and then the older man nodded, "We should get back, now. And tell me what happened to Merlin while I was sent away."

Gwaine swallowed thickly wanting to spare the physician the details. But he knew not telling the older man would be a greater folly than to share the tale. And so as they headed back to Camelot the second night in a row, Gwaine recounted everything that transpired to Gaius, leaving nothing out.