Chapter Text
After Arthur, his manservant, Merlin and Princess Hilde had left the dinner table only the three Counts from Austrasia and the king of Camelot remained.
The darkness outside matched the mood of the room and the king’s expression, who had even failed to entertain his own guests.
“The prince seemed rather pale. I hope his health would return to him soon.” Rathar broke the silence and motioned to the servant who stood close by to fill his cup with the delicious wine that could only be found in this kingdom.
“Yes.” Uther replied and his brow furrowed. “I believe it will. The sorcerer who caused this would be executed tomorrow at first light.”
“So he confessed? What had he hoped to achieve by this lurid deed?” Bertram seemed to be equally horrified and intrigued.
“We had no time to time to question him, but he was caught murmuring spells at the monster, we know he’s a sorcerer. He broke the law, that is more than enough to put him to death. No further evidence is necessary.” Uther had reached his decision hours ago, and now that he had said it out loud he was convinced that the series of tragic events that had befallen the realm would soon be over.
“Marvellous!” Count Sichar exclaimed as he brought his cup to his lips. “I myself couldn’t have said it better.”
The king looked at him in confusion, but welcomed the unexpected remark.
“Very interesting. I thought your kingdom embraces the practice of sorcery.”
“Indeed, Your Highness! But that doesn’t mean that everyone shares our king’s views on magic.” The blond man sighed and put down his cup. “Our king is wise but he is biased. After the mother of his children, our beloved queen had passed away – may the gods grant eternal peace to her soul -, he fell in love with a sorceress. Honestly, no one could have blamed him, that woman had been an exquisite beauty.”
When he saw the two other men nod, Uther suddenly seemed keen to know more about his guests.
“As I understood, you are the chief advisor to the king.”
“I am proud to say, I am. It is a great honour to serve a man like Klogard. That does not mean that I have to share his views on everything though. On the contrary, he likes to hear different opinions. He wouldn’t benefit much from an advice of someone who agrees with his every thought.” Sichar laughed.
Uther definitely wanted to hear his opinion about this sorcerer they had caught. He knew that the three men must have great knowledge in magic, their advice could prove invaluable in such matters. Originally he hadn’t wanted to bring up the subject for fear that the topic might offend his guests, but now his worries were gone.
“So you agree that executing the sorcerer would be the solution to our problems?"
“It depends on what you want to achieve.” the Count said and fingered the edge of his cup lazily. “If your goal is a dead sorcerer, then sure, it would be.”
The disdain in that remark was not lost on the king but he decided to hold his temper. He grabbed the edge of the table and leaned closer to the man.
“I see. And what would your advice be if you would be my advisor?”
Sichar also leaned closer conspiratorially and lowered his voice.
“I would question him. As I gathered the creature only attacked people in the lower town and hasn’t stopped since. That means that someone is still controlling it. I think the sorcerer wasn’t working alone, and his accomplice is still doing a fine job attacking your subjects and making them sick. And you’re letting him. Or them.” He seemed to finish his speech and considered his job done. He got up to excuse himself of the table.
He already had his back to the king, when Uther also got up.
“What do you think I should do about it?” He tried to suppress his desperation but it was in his voice nonetheless. Sichar smirked at Rathar who sat just a few feet away from him and turned to look up, as if asking if they should follow him, then he turned back to Uther.
“Everyone is suspicious. You send your knights to the lower town and have everyone questioned. Offer a prize for any useful information. And have the captured sorcerer questioned also. Find someone who has a knowledge in such matters, someone who knows exactly what to ask. You must break him.” he spat forcefully. “Now if you excuse me…”
“No one has such knowledge in magic in Camelot at the moment. It would take days to get a witch finder or a bounty hunter.”
At Uther’s words Sichar stopped to look back at the king and contemplated what he heard.
“That is a big problem. Your people will go on dying if you don’t act now. Your son will go on dying. Only the sorcerer has the cure and he won’t give it to you easily. Threats of executing him won’t do you much good.”
“Maybe you could help us.” The king was clearly getting more and more desperate. The only person in Camelot with magical knowledge was Gaius, and he knew that the old physician had a soft heart. He would be useless for such a task.
“Me?” The Count seemed genuinely surprised. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it would be appropriate. We’re only guest here, and foreigners at that.”
“I would be… Camelot would be in your debt.”
Sichar smiled and bowed to the king.
“You honour me, Your Highness. I will start questioning him in the morning shortly after the sun rises. I would need two guards to escort the prisoner and a room. I’d rather not do it in the dungeons.”
“You will get everything you need, I’ll make sure of that. In the meantime I will send my knights to the lower town.” Uther felt relieved. Finally there was a man who seemed to know what he was doing and who was willing to help out in this situation where his advisers were of little use.
The other two men excused themselves from the table and followed the blond one.
The king sat back and sighed. He didn’t want to think about Arthur and the sickness that threatened to take his son away from him forever.
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He didn’t even hear the light whirring of big wings as Kilgharrah landed in front of him. The dragon looked at him in silence for a few moments before addressing him.
“You summoned me, young warlock.”
Merlin looked up and smiled when he realized that he wasn’t alone anymore.
“I didn’t think you would come.” He swayed a bit and stayed on the ground. He didn’t have the strength to stand although he didn’t want to seem as week as he felt, but he didn’t have the stamina to pretend.
“I have told you that our paths will cross again.” He had known that the day would come when he could repay the sorcerer for the mercy he had shown him, though he hadn’t expected it to come this soon.
“There is a dragon in Camelot…” Merlin started but the wise creature immediately interrupted him firmly.
“No, there isn’t.”
“I have seen it with my own eyes, but I have no power over it.”
“That’s because what you’ve seen is only an illusion of a dragon. I am the last of my kind, Merlin. We both know that.” Kilgharrah’s words echoed with conviction but they did nothing to ease his mind. In fact the answer made him uneasy.
“Do you know what is it?”
“It is called an Ajatar, a female demon that lives far away in the woods up north. I have no idea how she wandered so far from home.”
The warlock pondered over the words, and tried to think about something to say. He knew he had wanted to ask an important question but he couldn’t for the life of him remember what it had been. His mind had slowed down, his thoughts went around in circles.
“Is it the one spreading this disease?” It came out as a statement.
Merlin swayed again, even just sitting on his heels and staying awake took an enormous effort. His whole body pulsed with a level of pain he had never experienced before and he was wondering if his magic was making it easier and Arthur was going through even worse.
“Yes, one look at it will infect even the strongest of men.” The Great Dragon narrowed his eyes. He could see that the young man in front of him was fighting hard and losing. He hoped that the dragonlord would be able to ask the right questions. There were rules to this game they both had to abide by.
“How do I defeat it?”
“You cannot.”
“There has to be a way to…” Merlin put his right arm on the ground to steady himself.
“It is not your destiny to defeat it.”
“Then whose destiny it is?” The youth’s voice broke and he felt like crying in that moment. He felt useless and his world crumbled around him. His powers, his fate were meaningless now, Camelot’s future was out of his hands. He steeled himself for the answer and swore to himself that he wouldn’t give up, no matter what would come next. He wouldn’t just sit around and watch his friends die one by one.
“That I cannot know. I don’t see everything, young warlock. To my knowledge no Ajatar has ever been killed before.” The dragon’s words rang with a finality that made Merlin’s blood run cold. “Legend has it” he continued “that they are mortal in their true forms, but invincible when they assume the illusion of a dragon or a snake. When someone gives them what they ask for they must return to their normal forms.”
“What could it want?” Merlin’s voice was no more than a hoarse whisper, his vocal chords refused to cooperate anymore. His mind was still fighting, but his physical body was starting to give up battling for consciousness.
“That I do not know. You must have to find that out for yourself.” The Dragon waited for a long moment, thinking about how to help, but for once even he himself was out of ideas. “Perhaps they all want different things. They are not communicating with people in any way.” he added pensively, not sure about what else to say.
Merlin was not capable of coherent thoughts anymore, and wasn’t able to ask further questions. Kilgharrah watched him and understood that their conversation had come to an end. He could only think of one way to help the warlock at this point. Not with words but with his ancient power.
He lowered his head to be on the same level as Merlin and looked into his eyes. He felt a swelling of sympathy in his heart that he hadn’t felt for a human being in decades.
“I am sorry that I cannot give you the answers you seek, but I can stop the disease in your body from spreading further.” He waited for something, but he could see that the dragonlord was beyond asking anything or even nodding at this point, so he simply did what his heart told him to do.
Kilgharrah opened his mouth.
Cool breath embraced Merlin which barely registered in his foggy mind. Pure magic enveloped him and the almost unbearable pain left his body, leaving only an overwhelming but inviting drowsiness behind. He lay down on the ground and looked up with gratitude; that was all he could manage.
The wise creature looked down at him sadly; even his great powers weren’t enough this time.
“I cannot fully heal you. While the Ajatar is close by, its connection with its victims is too strong. Your only hope is to break that link.”
Merlin closed his eyes and let go of his worries. He let unconsciousness take him on its wings to carry him away from the problems of this world for a while.
“Perhaps it will ease your mind to know that the time of Camelot’s fall had not yet come. Arthur is still yet to build Albion with you by his side, helping him. I am sure of that. There are difficult times ahead of you, young warlock. Don’t lose your fate.” Kilgharrah whispered to him and scooted closer in an attempt to keep him warm against the chilly night air.
He stayed as long as he could; when the first light of dawn appeared on the sky over Camelot he flew away leaving Merlin sound asleep on the clearing just outside the city gates, sending a prayer to the gods of the old religion that his words would prove to be true.