Five and One – The Magic Reveal (1/5)

Dragons, Drakes, and Wyverns, Oh My!

By CastielLovesDean

Summary: Five ways Merlin didn't reveal his magic to Arthur, and one way he did.

A/N: Basically 6 ways Merlin could reveal his magic to Arthur that I'd love to see in the show, the 6th being my favorite. Most of them involve him saving the day. To those of you familiar with my SPN fics, sorry, not much slash today.

Just inside the end of a tunnel, Merlin, King Arthur, and the Knights of Camelot hid for protection, desperately trying to figure out how to safely proceed. You see, just outside the tunnel and past the base of the mountain was a plain that extended to an ancient castle on the horizon. Under normal circumstances, it might have been an easy three-day walk for the group, but today, the tall grass crawled with thousands of migrating wyverns that would look upon their group as a tasty snack. Merlin wanted to use his Dragonlord powers to safely guide them to the castle, but he knew there was no way to keep the wyverns at bay for several days without being caught. Arthur and his Knights were discussing the situation.

"Giving up is not an option," Arthur declared grimly. "We must make it to that castle and find the artifact; the future of Camelot is depending on us. I really wish there was another choice, but it looks like we're just going to have to try and fight our way through those wyverns."

"Sounds like fun," Gwaine joked.

"I realize this is a suicide mission, so I won't order anyone to do this. Anyone who does not wish to accompany me should wait here for me for one week. If I have not returned by then, assume I'm dead."

"And let you have all the glory?" Gwaine demanded with a laugh. "Just like a noble to hog it all for himself. Not this time, Princess; I'm coming with you." The other knights chimed in their agreements.

"Not you, Elyan," Arthur commanded. "I need you to wait here so that in the likely event that we all die, you can tell Gwen what happened."

"Why me?" Elyan asked, visibly offended.

"Because you're Gwen's brother, and I cannot bear the thought of making her lose both of us in one day."

Elyan was still obviously upset at being singled out to be left behind, but said nothing further. Everyone else started solemnly getting their gear in order in preparation for the epic hopeless battle of their lives.

Gwaine, who was neutral to the use of magic and never hid his dislike of Arthur's father pointed out, "Just look at it this way, Sire: if your father hadn't exterminated the Dragonlords in his irrational hatred of all things magic, we'd probably survive the week! I love the irony, don't you?"

Merlin expected Arthur to defend his father or maybe not respond at all, so he was shocked to hear him softly agree, "Yeah. What I wouldn't give for a Dragonlord right about now."

Merlin perked up. "Would you legalize magic?"

Arthur frowned. "What?"

"Would you legalize magic? If a Dragonlord walked by right now and helped us safely get past the wyverns, would you legalize magic?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

"Maybe? The guy just saved us from a toothy, bloody death, not to mention the very future of your kingdom, and all he asks is that he be able to live without being hunted because of how he was born."

Arthur scoffed at the ludicrous hypothetical scenario. "Fine," he acquiesced condescendingly. "If a Dragonlord appears right now and helps us survive the wyverns, I'll legalize magic." He added sarcastically, "You have my word as King of Camelot."

Merlin smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that."

"Why? What's it matter to you?"

"Well, it's partly because I like knowing that you'd do anything for your people, but mostly it's because I'm the last Dragonlord." As Merlin ran out of the tunnel toward the wyverns, he could hear Arthur shouting frantically for him to return. Apparently, the young King didn't believe him. Well, he'd just have to prove it. He bellowed in Dragonspeak as forcefully as he could that these humans were not to be harmed.

He heard Arthur and the Knights come charging up behind him, swords drawn and prepared for the worst. It never came. Merlin's friends watched in awe as the wyverns parted, clearing a path that led all the way to the castle on the horizon.

A smaller wyvern calmly sauntered up to Merlin and trilled at him, bowing its head. Merlin laughed and petted the wyvern's head, cooing in Dragonspeak, "Hey, buddy. Aren't you sweet?"

"Oh, my God," Leon breathed behind him. "It's true."

"Merlin's a Dragonlord?" Elyan whispered.

Merlin turned around to face Arthur. "Go on, then."

Arthur blinked. "I'm sorry?"

Gwaine smirked, sharing in Merlin's triumph. "You have to legalize magic now. You gave your word as Queen."

Arthur sputtered. "Uh... fine. You can use magic. The official announcement is going to have to wait until we return to Camelot."

Merlin smiled until his face hurt and suppressed the urge to start dancing.

Arthur gave him an indiscernible look and started the long trudge toward their destination. After three steps he spun on his heel and asked, "You're a Dragonlord?"

Merlin stopped abruptly. "Um... yeah?"

"Well, when that dragon attacked Camelot a few years ago, why didn't you just tell it to go away?" Arthur put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Well, first of all, I wasn't a Dragonlord until my father died. You remember Balinor?"

"Balinor was your father?"

"Yeah. It's not like he had the opportunity to tell me how to command a dragon or anything. I wasn't even sure I could do it. But after we came back and faced Kilgharrah-"

"Who?"

"Kilgharrah? The dragon. Anyway, after he knocked you out, I did send him away. It's not like he would have killed you, though – he's always going on about how you're going to be the greatest King Camelot's ever known."

Arthur seemed truly disturbed by that. "Your... dragon... likes me?"

"Yes, well, I guess there's no accounting for taste." When Arthur failed to come back with a retort, Merlin said, "So, your majesty, after you... unless you'd rather fly."

A/N: I'd love to see Arthur and Merlin fly a dragon or large wyvern together. It'd be so cute.