This has been really really fun to write. So I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Also, I've been working on a joint project with an awesome writer, so if you like any of my other stuff, go check it out. s/8642265/1/King-and-Lionheart

He was trying really, really hard not to choose a side in this damn war.

But when he had been captured by Imperials, shackled, and tossed into the back of a carriage under charges of suspicion (for what, exactly?), it became really, really hard to not choose the side of the man who was bound beside him.

He didn't actually know who this man was, just that he was a man accused of murder. That's all he knew. He was hardened from the wars he had faced; his expression was stony and unmoving.

His head was on the chopping block when the dragon attacked.

He had never seen a dragon before, all black scales and spikes decorating its body with giant wings. He might have been a bit amazed, had the creature not been raining fire down upon them all. The execution party was dismissed as everyone fled for their lives. A man whose name he didn't catch released the thick rope that had cut deeply into his wrists and tossed him his dagger so he could defend himself.

He was actually quite useless with weapons.

In the end, after running and hiding and trying to stay away from blasts of hot hot fire, he was safe and free. They had rushed through a cave, and finally found a way out into the crisp bright sunlight and fresh air. He wasn't going to let himself get caught again, and he was still going to try to avoid choosing a side. Then again, who would trust the men who had bound him with the intent to take his life?

Merlin made his way to the river, dipping his hands into the cool stream and wiping the ash off his face. The man went with him, relishing in the cold water and the chance at freedom once more. He still kept the dagger in his belt, it was better than having nothing. At least, it was better than having nothing but magic that didn't want to work for him.

Magic ran through him thicker than his own blood, he just didn't know how to control it yet.

Merlin lived with his mother just outside of Skyrim. She was a kind woman, always happy to lend a bed to a weary traveller. She told Merlin to go to Skyrim – a country at war with itself would always provide wealth to any with the means to help. There was also the college, where Merlin could practise and perfect his magic. And if he got good at using his magic, he could become a sell sword. Many people couldn't go and do everything they needed to do themselves, and were happy to pay another to do it for them. His own mother had hired a lovely young woman to seek out his late father's ring when he had been a child.

So, Merlin supposed, his first trip could be to the college. Which was an awful long way away from where he was.

Oh, and there were dragons now. The man led him to Riverwood, which was only a short walk down a path. They gave him a nice hot meal, alongside the others that had escaped. The man who had been bound beside him was gone, and he wondered if he was okay, and more specifically he wondered who he was. After an afternoon of sharing stories, introducing each other, he was asked to deliver the message of the dragon's attack to Whiterun. He supposed it made sense for them to ask him – Merlin didn't really have a home and these people lived in Riverwood. They needed to prepare their defences if that dragon attacked again.

Not that he was happy about it. He wasn't a messenger boy, and had no intention of becoming one. He was fond of the idea of being a sell sword, but not a messenger boy. And not until he was perfectly capable of controlling his wild magic. But seeing the man reunite with his family made his heart swell – okay, maybe he would go to Whiterun. He'd need to get there anyways, it was on the way to the college and he would need to stop for supplies. So he left the next morning, laden with his small handful of gold, some food, and that dagger he had been given.

A dagger really didn't do much to a wolf attacking him out of nowhere, much less two of them. Which happened only around the corner down the path after leaving the village. One of them grabbed hold of his rope bitten wrist and the other came charging. Merlin cried out, there was a flash of fire, and the two beasts dropped dead on the path. He breathed a sigh of relief, at least his magic wasn't completely useless sometimes.

Tying a strip of fabric around his wrist (and then one around the other wrist, the marks were looking raw and every brush of his clothing hurt), he placed the dagger back into his belt. His shirt was missing two long strips of fabric, but that didn't matter too much right now, it felt better to have a little bit of pressure on his sore skin. He tried to make a ball of fire burn merrily in his palm as he walked. If he could do that, he could definitely learn to control it.

Merlin singed his eyebrows a little bit, but he could hold a happy little ball of fire in his palm without it exploding after a few tries. Merlin's magic was really good at moving things around, or just doing. It acted with his instincts, he didn't know how many times he had actually slowed time for just long enough to catch something that was falling through the air. Casting spells, not so much. His mother told him it was because he had a lot of power so in order to use it he had to learn how to use only a little bit of it at a time.

He never wanted to try it in his house, for fear of burning it down, or having it backfire – killing him, his mother, and anyone else in the area in the process.

After a long couple hours of walking, he finally made it to Whiterun, and walked wearily to the gates, quite ready to find a nice inn and sleep for a few hours. He was worn down to the bone.

"Look" He growled to the guard who refused to let him into the gates. "A dragon just attacked Helgen, I barely made it out here alive, though I'd be dead anyways if the dragon hadn't attacked, I'm tired, my feet are killing me, and I just want to deliver my damn message so I can sleep. Okay? Just let me in, unless you want to be personally responsible for the death of an entire town."

The guard stared at him for the longest time, his expression hidden behind the helmet he wore, then nodded and let him inside.

He could smell roasted meat coming from the market ahead of him. His mouth watered and he forgot what he was supposed to be doing here as he made his way towards it. Well, until he ran right into a pretty Redguard woman with long dark hair and an armful of leather. She dropped everything she was carrying and ushered a rushed apology.

"Don't worry, I've been walking for a day, I haven't noticed where I was going. It's all my fault, I should be worry" He said as he helped gather the items from the ground.

"Oh, thank you. You're new around here, aren't you? Are you an elf?"

Merlin flushed slightly. "Half." He said. "My father was one." He was always a little shy about his appearances. His eyes were bright blue, but tinged with the red of a wood elf, his cheekbones were high and his skin was very very pale, along with the dark black of his hair and large ears (not entirely pointed, thankfully, just large and a bit obvious). "I only just got here. I'm supposed to deliver a message to the Jarl."

The female frowned. "You look exhausted. Come inside, I'll get you something to eat. The Jarl can wait."

The Jarl probably shouldn't wait, seeing as he was delivering a message about a dragon attack, but he was entirely too hungry for his own good. He followed the strange woman into her house, "I'm Guinevere, by the way" She said, "You can just call me Gwen, though."

"I'm Merlin. And thank you."

Dinner was delicious. He hadn't eaten anything so good in far too long. It had been all berries and herbs he found along the side of the road, coupled with the bits of food he carried from Riverwood. While the berries and herbs were useful for his battered wrists, they were not very filling. There wasn't much that would keep as he walked around, so he didn't have anything really substantial. He decided he really liked Gwen. She was friendly, kind, excellent at cooking, and a blacksmith. She insisted on crafting him a bit of armour and a better weapon out of the pure goodness in her heart.

He took the offer gladly, even though he tried to tell her that she had done enough for him already. "Nonsense" She stated. "You're a traveller. And by the looks of you you're going to find a lot of really cool things. So if you find anything really neat, just bring it back to me okay? Rare metals, fancy swords, enchanted bows.." She trailed off, lost in thought. She never had the opportunity to leave, did she? She was stuck here, working at the smith with her father. She was one of the ones that sell-swords catered to. If she needed something, she'd pay someone to get it for her. After her marvellous treatment of him, he was sure he'd go into the depths of the world to find something pretty for her.

She even gave him a place to stay for the night.

By morning, he felt well rested, well fed, and happier than he had been in a while. "I'll walk with you to the market; I need to pick up a few things." She said. "Will you come back after you speak to the Jarl?" She asked. Merlin readily agreed, he didn't really want to leave his new friend anyways.

He walked up to Dragonsreach with his fingers tracing over the design on the handle of the sword he carried. It was a spare, she said if he brought her the items she needed she would craft him a better one. Not that he knew where to get anything like that.

He climbed the stairs and went through the doors, eyeing the area around him.

"I have news" He started when he was near the Jarl. "From Riverwood." When the Jarl gave him his attention, he continued. "They are worried about a dragon's attack. They sent me to ask you If you could send help." One of the guards glared at him for speaking so frankly.

There were a lot of 'you were at the dragon's attack?' and 'how did you get away?' and 'a real dragon?' questions that he endured, and finally he was given a sack of gold coins as a reward for bringing the information to him, and began addressing guards to send a group to Riverwood.

Then he was told to talk to the court wizard. The prospect made him a little bit happy, actually. He had never spoken to a real wizard, one that knew how to preform spells without them backfiring and one that could just maybe teach him. So this time, with a pocket full of coins, he went gladly on his next mission.

This one was easy, but the wizard was a bit of an ass, but curious about the dragons. He was curious as well, he had never seen a dragon before, and was studying them. His name was Farengar, and he only agreed to help Merlin learn magic if he went into a bloody bandit hideout and retrieved a stone. As Merlin left, he weighed his options.

Get the stone, nearly kill himself in the process, probably lose a limb or something, and learn magic and more about dragons – or he could walk away now, let the dragons terrorize the world and continue about his merry little way until it bites him later.

Put that way, he didn't have much of a choice. And Farengar agreed to teach him magic in return. So, aside from his life or maybe one of his limbs, he didn't have much to lose.

So he stopped at Gwen's house, and told her what he had to do. Her brother, Elyan, had listened to his story and offered to join him.

"I couldn't ask you to do anything like that." Merlin protested, though he wished he could bite his tongue and accept the help without trying to be so bloody selfless. He needed the help.

"I'm a guard Merlin, the most exciting part of my day is when someone gets drunk and starts brawling. I could really use the distraction. I'd be happy to go with you."

"I don't have anything to offer you in return."

"We're going to Bleak Falls Barrow, only bandits have been living there for a long time. You know what bandits do, right? We'll search every chest and split what we find. That's payment enough, I promise you."

Merlin agreed, in the end, and Gwen sent them off with food and (she had taken one of her more prized swords off of the sale shelf to give to Merlin) a few well wishes.

They set off, walking because Merlin didn't have a horse, down the path. Elyan knew the way better than he did; Merlin only had the map and a dim idea of where everything was. He'd probably get lost on the way out of Whiterun if he wasn't careful. The way turned out to be easy enough though, Elyan was skilled as a hunter and fighter and map-reader, he killed an elk for dinner with a single well-shot arrow. Elyan led the way, drawing little markers on the map to help Merlin remember certian landmarks with a crumpled looking quill from his pocket.

They got up to the barrow by nightfall, sneaking through the snow as Elyan aimed an arrow at a bandit leisurely enjoying a bottle of mead. "Uh, I'm not really good with a sword." Merlin started quietly.

"It's okay, I'll cover you. You're a magic user, right?"

"Er. Not quite. I can't really control it. It usually blows up in my face."

Elyan nodded, trying to hide the near disappointed concern on his face. Merlin knew that he wasn't exactly the best travelling companion. "Everyone has to start somewhere." He said eventually, his expression hard. "You're no different. You'll get better. Stick with me."

"I can move things around." He offered unhelpfully.

"How's your aim?"

"I'm not sure."

"Then take this" He thrust his bow and a quiver of arrows over to him. "I don't have time to show you how it's done. Arrows arc, depending on how far back you pull it, that's how far it'll go before it falls. If they're far away, aim a bit higher. Watch the wind." His lesson probably wouldn't do Merlin much good, but it meant he might have a fighting chance. "Try not to get too close to anyone, I really don't want to see you hurt." And don't accidentally hit Elyan, that much was left unspoken between them, but more than a little obvious.

Turns out Merlin didn't do that badly. The bandits weren't even that hard tp take down, they were clumsy and slow and probably half frost-bitten. Then he was even able to produce a fireball at some undead thing they ran into when they got deeper into what was quickly turning out to be a crypt. He shouted with happiness, then another one crept out of its spot on the wall and Merlin fumbled with the arrow. Elyan took care of it easily.

They found the damn dragonstone, at least. It was heavy, but they managed. That was until Merlin noticed the strange curved wall they were standing near. The stone was decorated with strange markings, writing of some sort. He walked towards it. As he did, his vision began to darken, white light filled the centre of his eyes and the sound of rushing wind roared in his ears, a word he didn't recognize was balanced on his tongue, he didn't know what it meant, or why it even happened.

After his vision cleared, he staggered backwards. Elyan caught him, speaking to him but his ears were still rushing with the noise of whatever that was.

Then the lid of a coffin broke open behind them and another creature emerged(they were draugr, he learned later). Merlin staggered to his feet, looking at the curved wall for as long as he dared before trying an experimental blast of magic. Which actually worked, again, and they didn't end up burned to a crisp like Merlin expected them to. Elyan seemed happy, he had found a couple nice weapons and a couple handfuls of gold.

Merlin found a few spell books (which, as he read them as they walked back, looked like they contained what he needed to learn) and an enchanted amulet that let him breathe underwater. Maybe he could get used to this whole sell-sword thing if he was going to find neat little treasures like this all the time.

They stopped in to see Gwen, Merlin gave her a sword he had found (which was enchanted and made with better materials than the one that she had given him) as thanks for her help. As well as all the gold he had found up there. He was definitely liking this life, even if there was a chance he could die. His opinion had definitely changed. He'd gladly give Gwen anything he found that she might like in exchange for her letting him sleep here. Except the amulet, that's something he was keeping for himself.

After a meal of meat and cheese, he made his way back up to Dragonsreach to deliver the stone. Which led to news of a dragon attacking a watchtower outside of the city – a rush of excitement filled him as they asked him to go along too. He dropped off the stone and gathered up Gwen's sword and Elyan's bow, wondering if he could get his magic working enough to try out one of the spells he had been reading about. He joined the group of guards making their way out to the

The dragon was a dull brownish colour, spiky but not nearly as deadly looking as the larger black dragon he had seen before. It circled around the sky, swooping down to shoot fire at the ground below. He didn't know what to do, really, but rushed to the watch tower to shoot arrows at it. Which didn't really help, and he missed most of the time. Hopefully he didn't hit any guards.

So he prepared himself, standing with his feet in line with his shoulders, holding out his hand and drawing up some power. Electricity cracked through his fingers, and when he released it, it shot through the air at the dragon. The creature roared and landed, shaking its large head and shaking the earth as it stepped and rumbled towards the tower. He didn't have time to feel elated that he had performed a new spell without any negative consequences before the tower shook as the dragon latched itself onto it and breathed fire again.

He ducked, the heat of the fire prickling his skin. He had probably damaged the beasts wings, or else it would be flying again. So he nearly threw himself down the stairs and tried to call on the magic again, he tried electricity but it cackled dangerously through his arm, so he settled with fire. Good old fire – sort of.

When the dragon collapsed to the ground, dead, Merlin could scarcely believe it. He killed a dragon. Well, he helped kill a dragon.

That's when it happened again. The loud rush in his ears as the dragon's scales started to burn away to the bone. Power began to fill him, something he could barely contain, but this time he didn't fall over. He stood there as it filled him, and when it was gone the dragon was left to just bones and dust in the breeze. He stood there, and the guards around him watched in awe.

"Dragonborn!" One of the guards shouted, removing his helmet to let dark shaggy hair flow free. "Are the legends true?"

"You absorbed its soul" Another guard added.

"Impossible!"

"Then what was that?"

Merlin was still reeling, a dragon's soul? He had absorbed a dragon's soul? He had no idea what that meant, he had never heard of the phrase 'dragonborn' before. He shook his head to clear it, a woman scoffed. "Report back to the Jarl. I have business to attend to here."

Merlin swallowed thickly and nodded, and began to walk.

The guard who had removed his helmet jogged to catch up with him. "You're definitely Dragonborn" He stated proudly.

"I doubt that."

"But you absorbed a dragon's soul, right? That's what that was. Can you shout? Like the Greybeards?"

"Shout?"

"Yeah. Something about you sharing a voice with a dragon or something. I don't know, the Greybeards could tell you more. Try it! See if you can shout like a dragon!"

The guard was excited, grinning at him cheerily and stopping in front of Merlin. "Come on, try it."

Merlin sighed, he had a feeling this guard wasn't going to stop until Merlin actually tried.

Of course, he had no idea how to do such a thing. Shout like a dragon? He wasn't even aware dragons could speak. He closed his eyes and tried to picture the dragon he had just fought, trying to think about the way it breathed fire. He made the connection quite quickly, the dragon didn't just breathe fire, it had actually spoken. And, that word hanging on the tip of his tongue inside the crypt, was that possibly..?

Letting out a breath, relaxing his body, he opened his mouth and the word came to him, the same one that had been dangling there standing in front of that wall. It echoed from his lips and he felt the air leave him for a brief moment. The guard was stumbling backwards, a childlike look of excitement on his face. He was laughing and rushed towards him to clap Merlin on the shoulder. "Alright Dragonborn." He stated proudly. "I'll walk you to Dragonsreach. Try shouting again, that was awesome!"

As they walked, Merlin figured out that this guy was named Gwaine, and he was a guard because he promised his mother he would try to be safe and not get himself killed in a way. Guard duty in Whiterun was awfully boring, and apparently the guards all had a tavern underground that they went to when they wanted to kill some time(guards only, Gwaine lamented, because a group of armoured men wasn't the most fun time to drink). He liked Gwaine. He liked that he seemed really excited about this whole dragon nonsense, Merlin had been excited too. Dragons! The magical beasts of legend flying around the sky, it was a child's dream to see one, but he had never been given a chance to be excited. He had been running for his life, then trying to be sombre because a small town needed help to be safe from them. He was grinning ear to ear as he and Gwaine walked.

As they neared the gates, a voice shook the ground they walked on, the word cracked across the sky like thunder, and he glanced to the sky to make sure it hadn't broken the sky apart. His whole body shook, he shivered, and looked at Gwaine.

"Greybeards" The man said promptly, as if he actually did know everything. "Come on, let's go."

Gwaine did most of the talking when they got there, and even made Merlin demonstrate the shout (which felt good to use, it was as though he was expelling excess power, he was surprised when plates went flying off of the table) just to prove that he really was Dragonborn. This was getting a little ridiculous.

"I can assume you heard the Greybeard's summon?" The Jarl asked, lazily spread over his chair. "You should go to them. They do not summon anyone very often, it is an honour to be called."

Merlin could hardly believe it, but he nodded anyways, his jaw set. He gave the man a quick bow of his head and turned to leave. Before he could actually turn to leave, the man continued to speak "Before you leave, I need to thank you for your services. I name you Thane of Whiterun, and I give you a weapon of your choice from my personal collection. You have done us a great service today." And the man lowered his head briefly to him.

His head was spinning as he and Gwaine made their way to Gwen's house. He could hardly believe it, really. When they got there he told her all that had happened, she looked shocked but pleased, and kissed Merlin's cheek. "Let's head to the Bannered Mare! To celebrate."

So Merlin agreed, and Gwen and Gwaine came along too. They sat around the fire and chatted and drank and listened to Mikael sing songs. Merlin bought him a drink every couple of verses, and flushed every time he sang 'The Dragonborn Comes' with Gwaine singing along – badly.

He was quite drunk by the time Gwaine was wrapping his arm around his waist, they stumbled down the steps to Gwen's girlish giggles and Elyan's more reserved snickers. Merlin had started singing along to the stupid song and the two of them made an awful lot of noise on the way back to Gwen's house.

Merlin woke up in the morning with a throbbing head, his mouth seemed to be filled with sand, and he coughed himself awake, which only caused the throb in his head to get worse. Gwaine groaned from beside him on the bed they had flopped down on, and pulled the blankets over his head. Merlin chuckled, and got up slowly so he wouldn't wake him again.

Gwen had a tonic mixed for him, and fed it to him with a bit of bread and a sweet roll for breakfast. She looked a bit more tired than usual, and sheepishly asked him how he felt. She had not consumed as much ale as he and Gwaine had.

Later he sat with Gwen as she tanned leather, "My father's out fighting in the war." She said gently, "He's sided with Uther. He thinks he would make a good High King. He wants to see him change everything. "

Merlin didn't know much about Uther. "I hope he comes home soon. I'd love to meet him."

She smiled gently. "You can't stay here, Merlin. You were meant for great things. The Greybeards summoned you, they don't do that for just anyone. You're important, you have to see what they want."

He liked it here. He was a Thane, which meant that the guards looked the other way when he passed. Not that he did anything shifty, but it was nice to be so trusted so fast. It was an honour to be here. He didn't want to leave, but Gwen was right. He should go to the Greybeards (it was going to be a long journey, though) and find out what they wanted. Learn more about dragons.

In all the excitement, he had forgotten to ask Farengar to teach him magic. Idly he held a small ball of fire in his hand. This was easy enough, he practised it often. But he could still tell that it took effort to control how much force he put into it. He switched to electricity, which was a lot more unstable. He let the miniature bolts flit around his fingers, listening to the dull cracking noises they made as they did. He could teach himself magic until he got to the college, he wouldn't worry about it anymore.

Gwaine returned later that evening, patting Merlin's back and giving him advice about traveling alone through the trails in Skyrim. And to be careful not to do anything stupid, which made Merlin laugh even though it was completely true. He wasn't going to get himself captured by Imperials again (or by the Pendragon army, for that matter).

He left the next day, carrying his small collection of gold, the long and thin sword that the Jarl had given him, and the map he was going to use to get to where he was going. He kissed Gwen's hand and thanked her for everything, promising he would be back here soon. He left in the watery sunlit morning, down the path to the road markers. Gwaine had given him brief directions, and so he began walking, wishing he had enough gold to afford a horse.

My biggest question is, do you want to see more? If you do, please please please let me know. This is a bit of a test to see if anyone likes this enough to keep going. Thanks 3