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Aithusa didn’t know what was happening.
Now, this fairly unusual occurrence, because Aithusa knew lots of things! She knew things that the big old dragon had taught her before he had flown off to find a cave to sleep in for the winter, she knew things that her lord-father had shown her through their bond during those precious few days that they were together following her hatching, and she knew things that she learned from the world around her, like that the brown fuzzy prey-creatures that live in the trees have less meat than they appear.
See! Aithusa knew lots! She was two whole seasons old, she wasn’t a tiny hatchling anymore! She flew around the forest all by herself, catching her prey like a grown-up dragon should! She had even built her very own nest out of the branches and leaves she found on the ground!
Aithusa had grown used to the forest around her, and she knew it well by now. She knew where all the best spots were for finding fuzzy-prey, and even some feathery-prey! She knew where to hide when wet-drops fell from the sky, and how to let the wind guide her as she flew over the treetops.
But Aithusa didn’t know what to make of whatever had just happened. She had been having a good morning, having caught and feasted on an extra plump feathery-prey, when there was a sudden wave of magic that had almost knocked Aithusa out of her nest. The magic wasn’t just powerful either, it felt dark and slimy and icky and wrong. Aithusa shivered at just remembering the sensation, which felt like a thousand tiny web-weavers crawling all over her scales.
Aithusa whined, instinctively calling out for her lord-father to come and protect her from whatever that dark and icky magic was that made her feel so bad. She stopped her cries quickly though when she remembered that her lord wasn’t here, he was in the big white stone mountain to the West.
Aithusa wanted so badly to see him again, to be held by him and kept warm by his lord-magic, but she couldn’t. He and the big old dragon had told her that her lord-father had an important job to do in a place humans called “Camelot”, but this Camelot was not safe for a tiny young dragon like Aithusa. She hadn’t understood it at first, but as she grew, she learned why she couldn’t be with her lord all the time.
Still, after the big old dragon had deemed her “fit enough to withstand the trials of nature” and left, Aithusa had followed the ache in her chest, the ache that never stopped crying for her lord-father, and she had seen the unnaturally shaped white mountain of Camelot from afar, her aching connection to her lord-father tugging her towards it.
She had been tempted to ignore the warnings that her lord-father and the old dragon had given her and seek out her lord-father anyways. After all, lord-father was powerful, more powerful than anything else! If there was anything scary in Camelot that would want to hurt Aithusa, lord-father could surely protect her from it!
But when Aithusa had flown nearer to the big stone hills surrounding Camelot, she had felt it. She didn’t know what it was at first, but it had felt wrong. Like something vital was missing from this place. It had taken her a while to realize that it was magic that was missing from this place.
In the forest, there was always magic all around her, growing from the earth and twirling through the air. But in this strange place, in this place they called Camelot? There was none of that familiar, comforting magic here. No, the only magic in this land that AIthusa could sense was her lord-father’s bright, comforting magic, but even that wasn’t enough to make up for the magic missing from the land itself.
It was then that Aithusa had finally understood why her lord-father had to be so far away from her: he was fixing Camelot! Surely any creature could sense how dead and wrong the land in Camelot seemed without enough magic present, so her lord-father had stepped in to save it and bring magic back! And all the humans there were surely beyond grateful that he had decided to save their land from its crippling lack of magic!
But Aithusa couldn’t stay in Camelot, not as it was. The lack of magic made her want to curl in on herself and cry at the wrongness of it, and she couldn’t understand how strong her lord-father must be to stay here every day, where the Earth itself felt so dead.
So, Aithusa found a place in the forest just outside of Camelot, where the magic from the Earth thrived and there was plenty of prey for her to catch. One day, Aithusa had decided, she would grow into a bigger and stronger dragon, and she would fly into Camelot, overcome the feeling of wrongness that always drove her away from that land, and help her lord-father save Camelot from its debilitating lack of magic!
Aithusa had spent a whole season in the forest, growing and learning and becoming a stronger dragon, when that blast of dark and icky magic hit the forest.
Aithusa curled in on herself in her nest, trembling and trying to shake away the dark, crawling feeling that the dark wave of magic had coated her with.
Despite knowing that he was too far away to hear her, Aithusa cried for her lord-father again, desperately searching for some sort of comfort against the sensation of the dark magic clinging to her scales.
As she cried out for him though, tugging on the magic that connected her to her lord-father, she felt a startling burst of magic from his end of their connection. It was warm and soft where that dark magic had been cold and sticky, and it washed away the dark magic that was still lingering on her scales. Aithusa relaxed into her nest with a sigh, finally comfortable again.
Wait. Aithusa stiffened again with panic as a realization washed over her. That wave of dark magic had come from the West, in the same direction as her lord’s magic.
Had that dark magic come from Camelot? Her lord-father might be in danger! He needed Aithusa’s help!
Filled with panic and determination, quickly scrambled to her feet and spread her wings, ready to let the winds guide her to her lord-father.
As she flew, Aithusa could feel both her lord’s magic and the dark and sickening magic, the feelings of both growing stronger as she approached the magic-barren land.
Aithusa shivered as she soared over the protective rock-hills around Camelot, the feeling of both the lack of magic in the land and the source of the dark magic made her own magic scream at her to turn around and leave, but she couldn’t, not when her beloved lord-father might be in danger from that dark magic!
While she approached the strangely shaped white mountain in the center of Camelot, Aithusa found that she was able to distract herself from the strong sense of wrongness in both the land and the dark magic by focusing on everything the humans have built around their carved mountain. There were so many sights, noises, and smells, and while all of it excited Aithusa and she wanted to see more of it, she had to find her lord-father!
She fought against the icky feeling of the dark-bad magic as she followed the pull of her lord-father’s powerful magic into the strange mountain, which was even more bizarre on the inside than it was on the outside.
Everything inside the humans’ strange carved mountain was too smooth for the inside of a cave, the rocks shaped in a way that looked like it had been molded by magic instead of nature. That wasn’t even mentioning the bizarre number of holes in the walls of the mountain, letting in far too much light for an appropriate lair. It baffled Aithusa and struck her with awe at the same time.
But Aithusa didn’t have time to stop and marvel at the strangeness of this place, she had to find her lord-father! She rushed down the odd cave’s passageways, running past the unmoving forms of humans dressed in silver scales, chasing after her lord’s scent. Her fear and desperation ratched up even more as she could sense that, as she grew closer to her lord’s magic, she was also getting closer to the source of that dark-evil magic and made her scales crawl.
She continued her frantic search through the passageways, not stopping until she could faintly hear her lord-father’s voice. Her heart leapt in her small chest as she recognized his voice, but he was speaking in the babbling tones of human-tongue, which she couldn’t understand yet. However, with their connection being stronger without the lack of physical distance between them now, Aithusa could feel things from her lord-father that she couldn’t usually feel.
And right now, she could feel that her lord-father wasn’t hurt, but he was angry and scared and it made Aithusa also feel bad, so she scrambled through the cave as fast as she could.
Still, she gave a small squawk of excitement as she drew closer, anxious to see him again and to see that he was safe from whatever that terrible dark magic was. Despite the angry-fear feeling pounding in her chest that she knew was from her lord-father, she could feel her own excitement to see him again growing. Hopefully he would be proud to see how big Aithusa had gotten and how good she was at catching her own prey!
As Aithusa scrambled around the final corner separating her from her lord-father, her heart leapt in her chest. There he was, right in front of her!
He had his back turned to her though, so Aithusa had to get his attention. While she opened her mouth to let out an excited squeak though, the human laying on the floor in front of lord-father, the one holding all of his attention, let out a furious scream. The human’s eyes flash magic-gold, and a blast of rotten-dark magic, the same magic she had felt from the forest, erupted from the black-cloth-wearing human, collapsing the stone passageway right behind her lord-father and cutting her off from him!
Aithusa let out another squeak, this time filled with panic and terror, as she ran forward and clawed uselessly at the unmoving wall of stone blocking her from her lord-father. When the rocks refused to budge even under all the strength Aithusa could muster, throwing her whole body against the collapsed rocks, she let out a frustrated and fearful cry. Her lord-father was trapped, stuck with the human who wielded that dark-evil magic!
Aithusa kept clawing desperately and the stones and crying out, hoping that her lord-father would hear her and emerge from the rocks unharmed, but that hope slowly drained from her as she could sense her lord-father’s magic growing further and further away from her.
Exhausted and aching from exertion, Aithusa collapsed to the floor with tears in her eyes. She had come so close to her lord-father again, but now he was in danger and Aithusa couldn’t get past this stupid rock wall to help him!
Aithusa didn’t know how long she spent curled up alone on the stone floor, crying with frustration and fear. After some time though, she heard something echoing off of the cave walls. Footsteps!
Aithusa perked up, believing for a split second that it was her lord-father coming back for her, victorious over the dark magic user. However, she soon realized that she couldn’t sense his magic nearby. No, this wasn’t her lord-father, this was some other human!
Aithusa quickly stood up and went into her best threatening position with a growl ready in her throat, hoping to scare away the approaching human. She had never met any humans before (besides her lord-father of course), but both the big old dragon and her lord-father had warned her to stay away from them!
Aithusa let out a low growl in warning, but the footsteps only came faster, and Aithusa could see the human’s shadow along the wall, getting closer. Panicking now, Aithusa gathered what little of her inner flame that she could, hoping that a sudden, if small, burst of fire would scare the unfamiliar human away.
The human skidded around the corner, practically hurling themself into the collapsed stone wall before Aithusa even had the chance to react. The human started pounding their fist against the unmoving wall, screaming out something in human-tongue in a tone that Aithusa recognized as fear.
This was Aithusa’s chance to escape! The human hadn’t even noticed her, curled up on the floor in front of the wall, too focused ramming herself into the wall in an unsuccessful attempt to break through it, just as Aithusa had been moments prior.
The thought gave Aithusa pause as she started silently slinking away from the wall, back towards where the human came from. She had to find another way to her lord-father after all.
But this human, they were trying to do what Aithusa had failed to accomplish. While the stone wall didn’t budge for them either, they kept trying, until the fake-skin that they were wearing tore apart, and the true skin underneath was cut on the jagged rocks.
Aithusa almost flinched back at the sudden smell of human-blood. Why was this human so determined to break through the wall, to the point that they were bleeding and still ramming against the barrier with their body?
Aithusa crept closer to the human, her curiosity growing. Something told her that this human was important, somehow. That there was a reason that Aithusa was meeting them…
Suddenly, the human let out another frustrated scream, this one tinged with frantic sorrow and tears.
“Merlin!”
Aithusa jolted in shock. She didn’t know any human-tongue, but she knew her lord-father’s human name! This human was calling for Aithusa’s lord-father!
Aithusa crept closer, still slightly wary of the new human. If they were calling out for lord-father, they must be an ally of his, right? Maybe they were like Aithusa, under his protection, and now they were crying for him for comfort?
Keeping her steps light such that her claws didn’t make any noise as she stepped even closer, she could finally smell something on the human, beneath the sharp tang of human-blood. The human smelled like fire, like soot. And beneath that, the human smelled like magic, like lord-father’s magic!
Aithusa let out a happy chirp in surprise. Now that she was close enough, she could smell lord-father’s scent all over this human, and could even sense his protective magic surrounding their body! They were like Aithusa!
The human turned around at the unexpected sound, looking startled at their sudden company in the form of a baby dragon, and subsequently tripped backwards in their shock, landing roughly on the ground.
Aithusa let out a trilling whine in apology. She hadn’t meant to scare her new friend! She just wanted to meet them!
The human’s eyes went wide at the sight of Aithusa. They probably weren’t used to seeing such a magnificent creature of magic every day!
Aithusa happily bounded forward towards the human-that-smelled-like-lord-father, eager to meet her new friend. However, Aithusa's good mood was cut short when the human scrambled backwards until their back hit the wall, letting out a pain-noise and clutching at their bloodied shoulder.
Aithusa let out a concerned trill and focused on her nice-breath. The old dragon had taught her how to use it when he had been teaching her how to use her inner flame. Aithusa took a deep breath in, focused on cooling her flame for a moment and infusing it with light-magic, and breathed out, aiming it at her human-friend’s hurt shoulder.
Her new human-friend flinched back at her nice-breath, but they relaxed under it after a couple seconds, when they realized that Aithusa was helping them.
When Aithusa couldn’t see any more injured-flesh on her new human-friend, she closed her mouth and watched as her human-friend looked at their newly-healed shoulder in amazement. Aithusa stood up on her hind legs, puffing herself up with pride, as her human-friend turned back to look at her with awe.
After a few seconds of being stared at by her human-friend, Aithusa decided to properly meet them and scurried up next to where they were leaning against the wall. Aithusa pressed her head up against her human-friend’s healed shoulder and gave a joyful chirp. To her delight, her new human-friend put her hand on Aithusa’s head and began to pet her, just like lord-father had!
Aithusa started purring with joy as her human-friend petted her head and started speaking to her in unintelligible human-tongue. Yes, Aithusa decided, she was fated to meet this human! Now they could find lord-father together!
Gwen didn’t know what was happening.
One moment, she was desperately slamming against a collapsed wall of rock, trying to break through and get to the other side, where Merlin was trapped with Morgana! But, no matter how hard Gwen tried, she couldn’t even get the barrier to budge. Merlin was in danger, he was counting on her!
And then, out of seemingly nowhere, a tiny white dragon appeared from the shadows and, instead of trying to attack her, healed her shoulder, which had become bloodied and bruised with all of her efforts to break through the wall.
And now that same tiny dragon was nuzzling up against her, purring! Gwen certainly hadn’t known that dragons could purr.
Maybe… maybe this dragon was nice? It was certainly a baby, judging by its size relative to the gigantic Great Dragon, so maybe it hadn’t grown into its ferocious instincts yet?
Gwen hesitantly brought her hand up to the little dragon’s head and stroked across its smooth pale scales. Its scales felt a bit like glass, Gwen noted in a bit of disbelief that she was actually petting a dragon.
“What are you doing here, little one?” Gwen murmured softly to it, her mind still racing with shock at the dragon’s appearance and urgency to save Merlin.
The dragon, of course, did not respond, but it did shift underneath her arm so that it could look directly into her eyes. Its eyes were a clear, striking blue, almost the same shade as Merlin’s. Her heart lurched again with panic at the thought of her friend, who was still trapped with Morgana and in danger. Still, she kept her voice soothing, so that she wouldn’t spook the little dragon.
“Thank you for healing me, little one. Could you help me one more time? My friend, Merlin, was behind those rocks when they fell. He’s stuck with a dangerous sorceress right now, and I need to find a way to save him. Can you find some way around this wall?”
But the little dragon just looked at her with wide, glassy eyes. Gwen sighed, letting her head fall backwards until it hit the wall behind her. She had to find some way around the wall, but how? Gwen knew her way around the castle, and the only way to get around to that hallway would be to go through the courtyard, which was currently a battlefield!
Gwen felt frustrated tears well up in her eyes as she felt hopelessness bear down on her. The little dragon whined and pressed its head closer to Gwen’s neck, like it was trying to comfort her, but Gwen couldn’t muster up the energy to respond.
Gwen was jolted out of her despairing thoughts when the little dragon suddenly made a rough sound, like an aggravated bird’s call. She glanced down at it, trying to figure out what it was doing.
The little dragon was moving its jaw, looking uncomfortable, like it didn’t quite know what it was doing. If it was possible, the little creature looked frustrated at the noises coming out of its mouth.
“Errruh… Muh… Merrr… Merrrk… Merrluh… Merrlee...”
Gwen let out a shocked gasp as she recognized what the dragon was trying to say. She met the creature’s eyes with a shocked expression, a tentative hope blooming in her chest. “Merlin? Are you trying to say Merlin, little one? Do you know where he is? Could you lead me to him?”
The baby dragon gave an excited chirp at the mention of Merlin’s name, and Gwen’s heart leapt in her chest. Suddenly, the little dragon jumped out of her lap and spread its wings, gliding through the hallway, away from the blocked path. Gwen only spared a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes before standing up and running after the little dragon, with her sword at the ready to defend her friend.
The baby dragon flew through the castle, thankfully avoiding any surviving enemy soldiers. Based on what she saw around the castle, it looked as if the battle was nearly over, with Camelot as the decisive victor. Still, the little dragon didn’t stop its flight, taking her down into the lower levels of the palace and through the underground siege tunnels.
Gwen had to grab a torch off of the walls to light her way as the baby dragon led her deeper into the tunnels. As they went further, Gwen’s concern grew. If Merlin truly was down here, why would he be here of all places? Had Morgana taken him hostage and hidden him down in these tunnels?!
Gwen gripped her sword and the torch tighter, breathing through the waves of panic that swept through her. Merlin would be fine, he had to be. Besides, he had survived far worse odds before, right?
Gwen nearly tripped over her own feet when the little dragon abruptly let out a shrieking cry, one that sounded like panic and anguish, and beat its wings as hard as it could, rushing to get over to… something.
Her heart stuttered as she got closer and the light from the torch revealed that the something that the dragon had been rushing toward was actually Merlin, slumped over against the wall and bleeding heavily from a stab wound in his side. Gwen sprinted over to him, dropping the torch in her haste, but she barely registered that in her all-consuming panic for her friend.
“Merlin!”
She called to him with a wet voice as she cradled his face, trying to get any reaction out of him, but his too-pale face stayed slack, giving no sign that he had heard her. At his uninjured side, the baby dragon let out a similar cry, nudging him with its head and letting out heartbreaking cries when it received no response.
When she heard the dragon’s cries, however, Gwen suddenly gasped as an idea formed, an idea that might just be her only chance to save her friend. The dragon had healed her, could it heal Merlin as well?
Gwen turned to the little dragon, which had hidden its head in the folds on Merlin's ever-present neckerchief.
“Can you heal him?! You healed my shoulder, could you do the same for him?”
But the little dragon just looked at her with teary eyes, not understanding what Gwen was trying to say to it. Still, despite its inability to understand her, the dragon seemed like it knew what to do already. Gwen watched with bated breath as the little dragon crawled its way over Merlin’s lap, until it could reach the injury on the other side of his body.
The baby dragon gave a pained whine as it sniffed at his injury, as if Merlin’s pain also hurt it. Then, it opened its tiny mouth and breathed a strange blue mist over his wound, which began to close up by itself before her eyes.
Gwen let out a laugh of joy and relief when Merlin’s wound closed fully and color returned to his face. He would be alright after all!
Gwen turned back towards the little dragon, which was balancing itself on its hind legs as it nuzzled Merlin’s hair with its small snout.
“Thank you, little one.”
Gwen spoke to it in a low voice, as calm as she could manage after the panic that she had just experienced. The little dragon briefly chirped in response before resuming with its cuddling. Gwen, amused by the sight, wondered how Merlin would respond if he woke up to find a baby dragon clinging onto him. It would give him quite the fright, Gwen thought with a small smile.
That thought, however, gave Gwen pause. What was a dragon, even a young, friendly one, doing in Camelot in the first place?
Carefully, Gwen started petting the little creature again, which let out small, happy noises at the motion.
“Why are you here, little one?” Gwen cooed at it, but the dragon gave no reply.
“Do you have a name, I wonder? You know Merlin’s name, do you know your own?”
The little dragon looked at her blankly again, and Gwen gestured towards Merlin.
“See, that’s Merlin. Mer-lin. You said his name earlier, when I was calling out for him. I’m Gwen,” she said, pointing to herself.
“You see? Merlin and Gwen. What are you called?” she pointed at the little dragon that time, hoping that it would understand. The creature was obviously intelligent, if it could understand Merlin’s name and then lead her to him, so perhaps it had a name of its own?
“Ahh… Ayee… Aituh… Aithuhh… Aeeethusssaa!”
The little dragon let out a pleased chirp at the end, looking proud of itself. Gwen couldn’t stop a smile from growing on her face at the adorable sight.
“AIthusa? Is that your name?”
The little dragon didn’t give any reply, too busy nuzzling its face against Merlin’s hair, and Gwen, despite the disastrous circumstances, couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
However, as quickly as the little moment of tranquility came, it was gone even quicker, as Gwen heard the faint echo of boots coming from further within the cave. She instantly tensed, her heart pounding with terror, and even Aithusa shrunk with apprehension. She couldn’t afford to be caught by Morgana’s men, and she certainly couldn’t leave Merlin here, lest Morgana return to finish what she had started. From what she had seen in the castle, the tide of the battle had clearly turned in Arthur’s favor, but she needed to get Merlin out of these tunnels now.
With panic at the threat of being discovered by Morgana flooding her veins, Gwen grabbed ahold of Merlin’s shoulders and hauled her unresponsive friend upright. She could feel Aithusa scrambling up her arm and perching herself on Gwen’s shoulder, but all of Gwen’s focus was on maneuvering Merlin’s body in her arms. After a couple seconds, she had a good enough grip on his back and knees to haul him up into both of her arms, the same way that knights typically carry maidens and the same way that Gwen had carried heavy bags full of metal for years while helping her father in the forge.
Gwen, had her mind not been running even faster than her feet, probably would have had a good chuckle over the sight that she had made at that moment: an armed maid dressed in battle furs sprinting through the halls of the castle with an unconscious injured man in her arms and a dragon on her shoulder. It sounded like something straight out of Gwaine’s unbelievable stories!
Luckily, Gwen didn’t encounter anyone during her mad dash through the castle, hidden by the use of the narrow servant’s tunnels that connected the different parts of the citadel, and she was able to reach the physician’s chambers without any interruptions (besides the occasional squawk or squeak from Aithusa).
Gwen kicked the door open and was thankful to find that the chambers within were empty, especially seeing as how she still didn’t have a good explanation for why there was a baby dragon hitching a ride on her shoulder. She hurried over to an empty patient’s cot, where she gently laid Merlin, still unconscious, down.
Gingerly, Gwen pulled up Merlin’s shirt, near-frantically examining the area near his ribs where the injury had been, looking for any remaining sign of the wound. While the area was covered in dried blood, the skin itself was now unbroken, not even a scar left behind! Gwen turned to look at Aithusa, still perched on her shoulder, in amazement, and the little dragon preened under her attention. The little dragon’s appearance had been a miracle after all!
But, a baby dragon saving Merlin from the brink of death was a miracle that not everyone would accept. Certainly not in Camelot of all places.
Kind dragon or not, Aithusa wasn’t safe in Camelot.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Gwen tore herself away from Merlin’s side and walked over to the open window in Merlin’s room. Aithusa gave what sounded like an inquisitive chirp from Gwen’s shoulder, but didn’t move as Gwen picked her up and set her on the window’s ledge.
“I’m sorry, but you have to leave now. I truly thank you for healing my friend, and you have my eternal gratitude Aithusa, but it isn’t safe for you here. Please, for your own sake, you must leave!”
Gwen pointed out of the window and nudged Aithusa further towards the outer edge, hoping that the little dragon would understand what Gwen was saying.
Aithusa turned to look at Gwen, chirping sadly and slowly crawling towards the window’s outer ledge. Gwen gave the little dragon a sad smile and bid the little creature farewell.
“I hope that you find a home that is kinder to you than Camelot would be, little Aithusa. Maybe we’ll see each other again one day, but for now, this has to be goodbye.”
Aithusa chirped again, despondently, and spread her wings. Gwen watched as the little dragon took flight, soaring far above the castle and, eventually, out of sight.
Gwen sighed, her heart surprisingly heavy at Aithusa’s departure. She had only known the little dragon for such a short amount of time, but Aithusa had proven herself to be something that Gwen had thought to be impossible: a kind creature of magic.
But what did this mean? Was Aithusa simply some abnormality amongst magical beasts, or… were they wrong all this time? Were magical creatures capable of having goodness in their hearts this entire time?
Were sorcerers capable of having goodness in their hearts this entire time?
Gwen shook her head, even as her heart plummeted with guilt. No, magic corrupted, she knew for certain that it did. After all, she had witnessed the horrors of magic twisting Morgana’s soul with her own eyes. If anyone could have resisted magic’s corrupting influence, it would have been Morgana.
If her former lady did not have any goodness left in her heart, then there certainly wasn’t any left in any sorcerer.
Perhaps dragons were different, then? Maybe their magic was a different type, separate from the rest? It made sense, especially considering the special powers surrounding the dragonlords.
Gwen’s musings on the implications of Aithusa’s kindness were interrupted by the sound of cloth rusting, coming from the main chambers. Gwen quickly turned around, away from the open window, and hurried into the main chamber, where she smiled in relief at the sight of Merlin opening his eyes.
Merlin didn’t know what was happening.
One moment, he was fighting Morgana, desperately trying to find any way out of her clutches that didn’t involve revealing his magic, and the next, he was fading in and out of consciousness with a burning pain in his side. He must have been hallucinating a bit too, because for a moment, he could have sworn that he saw Aithusa in front of him!
He slipped unconscious again soon after that, and when he awoke once more, this time in Gaius’s chambers without any memory of moving himself there.
Merlin lifted himself off of the patient’s cot with a groan, rubbing his head and trying to figure out how he even got to Gaius’s chambers to begin with. And gods, his ribs felt like Arthur had just used him as a practice dummy on the training field!
As he tried to sit up, Merlin could feel gentle hands holding his shoulders steady, keeping him upright. He knew these hands, and he knew on instinct that whoever was in the room with him was friendly, so he relaxed into their hold. As his vision slowly cleared and the room came into focus, he could see that it was Gwen supporting him, and he gave her a thankful smile.
“Careful, Merlin. Don’t move too quickly.”
Gwen’s steady hands guided Merlin as he slowly sat up at the edge of the cot, wincing as the movement jostled tender muscles in his side.
“Gwen, do you know what happened? What’s going on? I remember being taken into the tunnels and getting attacked by Morgana, but I can’t remember anything afterwards.”
This question seemed to unexpectedly make Gwen pause before she gave an explanation.
“Well, after Morgana made the hallway collapse, I found another way around that led me into the tunnels, where I found you knocked out. She must have hit you over the head quite hard! She might have hit you in the side as well, judging by your movements, so you should take it slow for a while. Arthur and the knights have all but finished the battle, and Morgana has fled.”
Merlin nodded along, relaxing into Gwen’s supportive hands as she explained the situation, up until she mentioned Arthur. At the sound of Arthur’s name, Merlin jolted and attempted to stand, panic and desperation flooding through him. Oh gods, he had been so focused on fighting Morgana that he had lost sight of Arthur in the middle of a battle!
“Arthur! He was fighting Morgana’s general, I need to see him! He might be injured! Gwen, please, you have to take me to him!”
Gwen firmly pressed Merlin back down onto the cot, despite his unbalanced attempts at walking to the door. Merlin winced as she shot him a withering glare that was eerily similar to the look Gaius gave unruly patients. Clearly, Gwen had picked up on a few things from the elderly physician.
“You don’t need to see Arthur right now Merlin, you need to lay down and rest! I can go check on Arthur for you if that would ease your concerns, but Arthur is a capable fighter. I’m certain that he’s alright, Merlin, there’s no need to worry.”
Slowly, as his desperation and blind panic wore off, Merlin laid back down onto the cot and nodded at Gwen.
“Thank you, Gwen. If you could see Arthur for me and let me know of his condition, other than being a royal prat, I would greatly appreciate it.”
Gwen nodded back at him, agreeing to his request, before taking one of Merlin’s hands in her own. They looked at each other and smiled fondly, united in their care for a particular clotpole.
“I know how much you worry over him, Merlin. I worry too, but I know that no matter what we face, all of us will be alright in the end. Besides, haven’t we faced worse threats than one battle before? We beat an immortal, undying army just last year!”
Merlin sighed deeply. He saw Gwen’s point, he truly did, but after everything that had happened during his time in Camelot protecting Arthur, Merlin didn’t think that there was anything that could ever make him worry less about Arthur’s safety. It felt like every time Merlin took his eyes off of the king for one second, the prat somehow managed to find the most dangerous threat nearby and piss it off into a murderous rage!
With one last smile and a reassuring squeeze of his hand, Gwen stood up and made her way out of the room, leaving to go check on their friends while Merlin was stuck in Gaius’s chambers, trying to ride out the lingering nausea from his head injury.
After a few minutes, the room finally looked like it wasn’t spinning anymore, so Merlin slowly stood up, trying to walk up to his room. He was sure that he had read about a spell that lessened nausea in the spellbook Gaius had given him, but he needed to get to his room without tripping over his own feet first.
Finally, after what might have been a few seconds or a couple minutes, Merlin was able to steadily walk up to his room and kneel down next to his bed, his hand prying up the loose floorboard to reveal the hidden and very illegal spellbook underneath.
However, as Merlin lifted the spellbook out of its hiding place, there was a sudden noise in the room, which made him freeze with fear. Merlin whipped his head around the room, but there was no one else here, and his shoulders relaxed just a bit. Still, just to be certain, Merlin reached out with his magic, attempting to sense if there was anything in the room with him.
He wasn’t expecting to sense anything with his magic, it was just a precaution after all, which was the reason why Merlin yelled with alarm and fell backwards at the bright presence that his magic registered in the room with him. What on earth could possibly be–
Just as Merlin was about to scramble to his feet, he watched as a small white head popped out from beneath his bed, chirping with excitement at the sight of him. Merlin’s tension leaked out of him as he realized that there was no threat, Aithusa had just managed to sneak into his room.
“What are you doing here, little light? It isn’t safe for you in Camelot, you know this.”
Merlin continued murmuring empty reprimands at the little dragon as she crawled into his lap and settled there, snorting contently. Slowly, he began stroking the top of Aithusa’s head, tenderly petting the scales there.
Through their bond, which had become much stronger with the decreased distance between them, Merlin could sense Aithusa’s concern for him. She had felt that he was in danger, and she wanted to help.
“So you’re the reason I don’t have any wounds! Thank you, my little Aithusa, but you’re very lucky that Gwen didn’t see you. If anyone catches you here, it would be disastrous! It isn’t safe for you here in Camelot, you must leave before someone sees you!”
Aithusa chirped sadly at him, apparently sensing his intent to send her away again. Merlin could feel her refusal through the bond, along with her determination to stay here with him. Merlin sighed, pinching his brow in frustration, but Aithusa didn’t let up, sending wave after wave of let me stay! let me stay! through their bond.
Merlin opened his mouth to refuse, to listen to logic and good sense and to order Aithusa away to safety, but when he did, Aithusa let out a pleading whine, and Merlin’s will was broken.
Merlin’s tension melted as he cuddled Aithusa close, giving in to the little dragon’s demands.
“Alright, I suppose you can stay here in Camelot for a while. But, you must stay hidden and out of sight. Nobody can see you, understand?”
Merlin tried to convey this message through their bond, hoping that the baby dragon could understand his intent. Aithusa gave a happy yelp at Merlin’s assent to her request, and she seemed to comprehend what Merlin had told her. He could see that Aithusa at least understood the basic principle: if you see a human, hide.
Merlin hugged Aithusa close as the little dragon nuzzled into his hair, nearly purring with joy. Everything would be alright in the end, as Gwen said. Merlin had hope.
Aithusa didn’t know exactly what was happening.
Granted, she understood some of what she saw, but not everything. The humans were strange, Aithusa had decided.
They did some things that made sense and were familiar to Aithusa, like when the humans with red not-wings and silver fake-scales play fought with their shiny metal fangs and went out into the forest to hunt.
That made sense to Aithusa, they were clearly honing their skills in an attempt to mimic the greatness of dragons! Why else would they wear an imitation of scales and strike at their prey with fake fangs?
But other things the humans did were very confusing. Why would they light fires in their own lairs? Even dragons knew that fires could damage their own homes!
And why would anyone put their food above a fire?! They were clearly ruining all the prey that they had just caught!
Many things in the white mountain, which was apparently called a castle according to lord-father, confused Aithusa, so she was thankful that her lord-father made so much sense. Maybe he could teach the humans how to act.
Aithusa, much to lord-father’s dismay, had taken to sneaking around the castle, trying to explore all that she could and to figure out all of the humans’ strange ways.
Luckily, there were plenty of dark corners and small tunnels throughout the castle for Aithusa to hide in! She spent her days scurrying through the darkened passageways and observing everything around her.
And, to Aithusa’s delight, it didn’t take her long to find her human-friend! She found friend-Gwen on her first day sneaking around the castle, in a big room with a covering high enough that the mean old dragon could fit inside!
Aithusa had been confused about the room at first, not understanding why this one was so much bigger than all the others that she had seen. However, Aithusa was very smart! She figured out what this room was all by herself!
She had seen the two big sitting-places at the front of the room, and there was always a large crowd of humans looking at and talking to the two humans in the sitting-places: friend-Gwen and a human who had head-fur made of gold. Aithusa was nearly entranced the first time she saw that human, staring at his golden head-fur in wonder and resisting the urge to yank a clawful of it out for her own hoard.
The human’s fur was perfect though! It was gold! But also soft! This was an amazing discovery to Aithusa.
But what made the golden furred human even better was that he smelled identical to lord-father! Just like friend-Gwen, this golden human was drenched in lord-father’s scent and protective magic to the point that Aithusa couldn’t even smell his natural scent underneath it all.
When Aithusa realized this, she finally figured out what this room was for: it was obviously lord-father’s treasure room!
It made perfect sense! Aithusa knew that her lord-father didn’t hoard gold or jewels, but these two humans were clearly his treasures based on the scent and magic that he left all over them! And they were obviously placed in this room on the sitting-places so that everyone in Camelot could come and marvel at lord-father’s great treasures! Of course, there were very many humans armed with metal fangs standing around the room, no doubt serving her great lord-father by loyally protecting his prized hoard.
Once Aithusa had seen lord-father’s hoard, everything made much more sense! And lord-father was such a good hoard guardian, protecting and providing for his treasures! Based on her lord-father’s actions, it seemed like the golden furred one required much attention. The poor human couldn’t groom himself, gather food, or even put on his fake-fur in the morning without lord-father’s assistance! Luckily, the golden human seemed to at least be able to stay obediently in his sitting-place, where lord-father left him in order to take care of important dragonlord matters.
Friend-Gwen seemed to require a bit less attention from lord-father to function, but lord-father also gathered food for her and helped her with her more complicated fake-furs. Still, lord-father’s magic shone just as bright on friend-Gwen as it did on the golden human!
Aithusa soon made it a habit to follow friend-Gwen or the golden human, whom lord-father called by many different names, but mostly Arthur, for a portion of the day. Friend-Gwen and treasure-Arthur stayed close together throughout the day, which they must do so that lord-father could look after the two of them easier!
One thing that Aithusa still couldn’t figure out, though, was why her lord-father did not sleep in the luxurious and grand hoard-nest that his treasures slept in. Surely he knew that a proper dragon slept atop their hoard, right? But he still spent his nights alone with only the old healer for company in the tall tower room, and Aithusa couldn’t figure out why.
When her attempts to ask lord-father about it through their bond failed, since he had thought that she was asking to sleep in the treasure nest and refused the presumed request, Aithusa decided that she had to get answers another way.
However, simply observing lord-father and his treasures didn’t reveal any helpful information. It only revealed that treasure-Arthur could not even leave the soft treasure-nest without lord-father helping him, that poor helpless human! It was no wonder lord-father graciously took him under his protection and cared for him!
So, with no other options available, Aithusa decided to get answers from the only source left: friend-Gwen. She already knew about Aithusa anyway, so lord-father surely wouldn’t mind Aithusa visiting her new friend, right?
Arthur didn’t know what was happening.
He had been having a rather ordinary day thus far. He had been rudely awakened and dragged out of bed by Merlin, ate breakfast with Guinevere, and had met briefly with the council to discuss the upcoming harvest. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, which in hindsight should have been Arthur’s warning that something was about to go awry that day.
Perhaps Arthur should have knocked on the doors to the royal chambers before he had entered. Maybe then he would have been spared the impossible sight that he was greeted with the moment he opened the door to his and Guinevere’s shared chambers.
Then again, Arthur was the king. And kings didn’t knock on doors to ask for permission to enter a room in their own castle, that would be ridiculous.
Regardless, if Arthur had knocked, perhaps he wouldn’t have entered his own room only to be met with the sight of his wife, sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace and holding a tiny dragon in her lap, cooing at and even petting the beast!
A familiar instinctive panic at the sight of a creature of magic, which had been drilled into Arthur at a young age, pushed Arthur’s limbs to act before his mind had even processed the unbelievable sight. In the blink of an eye, Arthur had unsheathed the sword at his hip and had leapt in front of Guinevere, pointing his blade at the small monster curled up in her lap.
“Arthur! What are you-”
“Lower your voice,” He whispered to her as urgently as he could. “We cannot let the dragon awaken. I’m not sure how it got here, but you’ve done a great job in subduing it. Now, hold still, and I shall put an end to it before it can do either of us harm.”
Arthur raised his blade, measuring the precise strike that he would need in order to slay the tiny monster but not hurt his beloved wife.
“Arthur, please, let me explain! I’ve met this dragon before, and she’s friendly, I promise. And I can prove it too!”
Guinevere’s sudden, frantic movements as she held out her hands to block Arthur’s sword jostled the small dragon, rousing it from its slumber, much to Arthur’s horror. His heart plummeted as he watched the tiny monster slowly blink open its eyes.
“Guinevere, get back! The beast is awake!”
“Please, calm down! She saved Merlin’s life during Morgana’s invasion, and she hasn’t done anything to threaten me. She’s perfectly safe, I assure you.”
Arthur looked at his wife with stunned disbelief.
“You mean to tell me that a dragon is harmless? And what do you mean that it saved Merlin?”
Arthur watched with trepidation as Gwen took a moment to calm down the dragon still sitting in her lap, which had become agitated by their raising voices. Arthur’s grip tightened on the hilt of his sword at the sight, his eyes trained on the beast for any sign of attack. After a few seconds, Guinevere leaned back with a sigh.
“During the battle, Merlin had been injured by Morgana and was bleeding heavily from a wound in his side.”
Arthur twitched in surprise at this news, and a terrible dread washed over him.
“What?! Why didn’t either of you tell me this?! I must go see him at once! Knowing him, that idiot is probably risking his life to do the laundry right now!”
“Arthur, wait! Merlin doesn’t even know that he was injured that badly, and you mustn’t tell him!”
Arthur hesitated, unsure of what to make of Guinevere’s words.
“You mean to tell me that Merlin sustained a critical, life-threatening wound last week, and he never noticed it? He is the most oblivious man I’ve ever met, but that’s quite unbelievable, even for him.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. He was wounded, but Aithusa healed him while he was unconscious! She breathed some mist over his injury, and it just disappeared, like some miracle!”
“Aithusa?”
Guinevere paused, looking down at the little monster with what looked like affection. Oh no, Arthur did not like where this was going.
“You named the horrid beast? What were you thinking?!”
“I did not name her. She told me her name herself! She can even say my name, along with Merlin’s! Go on little one, say ‘Gwen”!”
Arthur looked on in disbelief as the tiny dragon yawned, showing off its miniscule, yet sharp, fangs. He shuddered at the thought of what those fangs would be capable of in just a few years’ time.
… How quickly did dragons grow, anyways? He didn’t think that he had ever seen any record on that.
Arthur was shocked out of his musings when the little dragon made an odd sound that was similar to a chirp and then, after a few more tries, chirped out “Wen! Wen! Wen!”
Arthur’s eyebrows shot up in shock at the infant dragon’s surprisingly close imitation of human speech, and Guinevere cheered for the little beast, which gave a happy chirp at all of the attention it was receiving.
Guinevere then turned to Arthur, looking at him with a happy, but expectant look.
“Please Arthur, you cannot harm her! She’s saved Merlin, and she has done no wrong.”
Arthur sighed deeply, unable to begrudge his wife for her kind heart. He stepped closer to her, finally lowering his blade and putting his hand on her shoulder, steadfastly refusing to look down at the tiny beast in between them.
“I understand that the dragon has not committed any wrongs yet, but it is still a young dragon. It will inevitably grow into a dangerous beast that will reign terror on this land. We must kill it now, before it can grow into a threat.”
His wife looked at him pleadingly, clearly distressed at his determination to kill the little dragon. Arthur sighed again. Surely she could see his reasoning here! It was a dragon for god’s sake!
“But what if… what if it didn’t grow into a threat?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if we raised Aithusa here, in Camelot? She clearly doesn’t have any aggressive tendencies as of yet, so surely we could train her to be an asset to the kingdom, instead of a threat? If we take good care of her and train her to be friendly around humans, we could make her into a great ally!”
“... You’re not going to give up on this, are you?”
“Sorry, but I’m not.”
“Alright, we can attempt to raise the dragon to be friendly, but if it shows any signs of aggression, we must put an end to it. Do we have an agreement?”
“Yes, we do. I have a feeling that you’ll grow to enjoy Aithusa’s company though. You are a Pendragon, are you not?”
Arthur gave his wife an unimpressed look at her joke, but he couldn’t stop the smile that was growing on his face. The little dragon was kind of cute, in an odd way. Like Merlin’s ears.
Maybe he would get used to its presence, eventually.
But if the little dragon– Aithusa– was going to be living with them…
“Guinevere, what are we going to tell Merlin? He and Leon were the only two who rode out to face the Great Dragon’s savagery who survived alongside me, and I know for certain that the memory of that night still haunts him. I can see the way fearful Merlin acts when he gets too close to fire, and I know he has nightmares about burning in the dragon’s flame. We cannot let him know that there is another dragon in Camelot, even a tiny one. Who knows how he would react?”
Guinevere frowned pensively, deep in thought. Arthur took a moment to lean down and press a soft kiss to her brow, making her chuckle fondly.
“I agree, Merlin cannot know about her. We must hide her. I don’t know how though, since Merlin cleans our chambers almost every day. There’s nowhere here where he cannot discover her.”
Arthur’s eyes scanned around the room, searching for any ideas on where one could hide a baby dragon from a manservant who was prone to snooping around. Finally, his eyes landed on a barely-used door, and an idea formed.
Merlin didn’t know what was happening.
He had thought that, after they retook Camelot from Morgana and Gwen had been crowned as queen, he had been growing closer to Arthur and Gwen.
And they had been growing closer for the first few weeks after the coronation. There wasn’t much there, but there was… something. Lingering touches from both of them. Their eyes staying on him for longer than usual. Casual dinners with them in their chambers. It all seemed like it was leading to something.
But then, all of a sudden, they had pulled back almost overnight. Touches had been replaced by nervous grins. Heated gazes had been replaced by nervous glances. And the casual dinners stopped almost immediately.
And Merlin, for the life of him, could not understand why. Why had they pulled back?! He wasn’t entirely sure what those little signs had meant, but he wasn’t… opposed to what they could potentially lead to.
Then, on top of their little gestures of affection disappearing, Arthur and Gwen started acting almost suspicious. They whispered to each other where Merlin couldn’t hear, cut off their conversations as soon as he entered the same room, and they had even locked the door to the antechamber that they used for storage!
There was no doubt in Merlin’s mind that they were up to something, but he couldn’t figure it out!
And if his mind whispered his greatest fears to him late at night, that they had discovered his magic, they knew, they were disgusted, that he was about to be thrown out, then that was his business and his business alone.
At the very least, he had one bright spot in the rough patch that the last couple of months had been. Aithusa’s presence in Camelot had improved his mood greatly, and the little dragon seemed to have gotten quite skilled at staying out of trouble, which put many of Merlin's worries at ease.
Slowly, Merlin adjusted to his new dynamic with Arthur and Gwen, giving them some time and space to figure out whatever they were so adamant about keeping hidden from him. Figuring out how they were going to execute him.
However, other than Aithusa’s presence and the newfound distance between the royal couple and Merlin, not much else had changed. So, Merlin went about his life in Camelot as he always did: serving Arthur (and now Gwen) by day, and protecting all of Camelot at night.
And, as per usual, a significant amount of that “protecting” took the form of finding and defeating whatever assassin, curse, or monster Morgana had sent their way this week. Really, it was almost like clockwork at this point.
However, one thing that all of the threats Morgana set loose upon Camelot had in common was that they struck at night, when Merlin could sneak away from or around the castle to take care of it.
So, with that being said, what Merlin was most certainly not expecting was for a group of Morgana’s sorcerers to teleport themselves into the throne room in broad daylight while court was in session!
Chaos immediately broke out in the crowd, which gave Merlin enough cover to slip away from the side of Arthur’s throne and to hide behind a pillar. Before Merlin could even cast a simple shielding spell around Arthur and Gwen, the sorcerers were firing spells into the crowd and towards the thrones.
Merlin tried to focus on being subtle and picking them off one by one with less noticeable spells but there were too many of them and they’re targeting Arthur and Gwen and he can’t lose them but he can’t defeat them without–
It was an astonishingly simple conclusion to come to, even if it threatened to tear Merlin’s whole world apart. He can’t protect them without revealing his magic.
It was never even a choice in Merlin’s mind. Arthur and Gwen would always be worth it, no matter the cost.
Merlin stepped around the pillar, his magic flowy freely through him and ready to end this threat with one decisive blow. He raises his hands to direct his magic towards the dark-robed sorcerers wreaking havoc on Camelot’s knights, secrets be damned.
Arthur and Gwen could throw him on a pyre after this if they really wanted to, but he needed to do this first. They need to be safe, and that’s all that matters.
Merlin opens his mouth to speak the incantation, his magic practically vibrating with power underneath his skin, waiting to be released. He inhales, and–
And he’s promptly interrupted by the sound of a furious juvenile dragon screeching at the top of her lungs.
Oh gods no. Please no.
Merlin watched in horror, with his heart in his throat, as Aithusa swooped down from the rafters, roaring in rage and spewing fire onto the robed sorcerers with deadly accuracy.
Cries of alarm, fright, and pain filled the air as the sorcerers’ concentration was broken and their stream of spells stopped for long enough that the knights were able to close in on them, cutting them down as their group descended into chaos.
All in all, the whole affair was finished just as abruptly as it had started. When the last of the sorcerers fell, the whole room went silent, and everyone’s eyes were stuck on the form of the white dragon sitting in the middle of the wrecked throne room, looking oddly pleased with herself.
No one dared move, most probably tense out of a fear of setting off the dragon. However, after a couple seconds had passed, Merlin suddenly ran out to the middle of the room, planting himself firmly in front of the dragon as shouts of alarm went up from the crowd of knights.
Merlin put his back to Aithusa, who nudged his back in an attempt to get his attention, but Merlin’s focus was solely on the two figures at the front of the room, looking at him, rather than the dragon, with shocked expressions.
“You can’t hurt her! She was helping! She saved us from those sorcerers, you saw it for yourselves!”
Knights all around the room shifted nervously and gripped their weapons, but Arthur and Gwen only stepped forward. To Merlin’s surprise though, they didn’t look scared and enraged. Instead, they just looked surprised. And was that a hint of amusement he saw on Gwen’s face?
As the two royals got closer, Aithusa started to purr, confusing Merlin even more. What was happening?!
When Arthur and Gwen had finally gotten close enough, Aithusa darted out around Merlin and, before he could stop her, jumped up into Gwen's arms. Merlin’s heart felt like it stopped beating for a moment because he knew that Arthur and the guards would see this as an attack and they would hurt Aithusa and he–
And now Gwen’s cradling Aithusa in her arms and smiling at her.
What?
“I know that this may come as a shock to you, but we have already met this dragon. She’s proven herself to be very kind.”
Merlin’s head whipped around to where Arthur was standing next to him, smiling at the sight of his wife cooing down at a dragon.
“Wait, you knew about her?!”
Arthur nodded, while Merlin just looked at him, slack-jawed. When he whirled around to see Aithusa, she looked very proud of herself and radiated contentment through their bond.
While Merlin was staring at the small dragon that had apparently gotten into more trouble than he had known, Arthur cleared his throat and addressed the small army of knights still standing in the room, eyeing the dragon in their queen’s arms with nervousness.
“I thank you all for your valiant service today. Our enemies have been vanquished, and the knights of Camelot once again emerge victorious over Morgana’s schemes!”
One younger knight, still staring at Aithusa with wide eyes, finally spoke up.
“But sire, what about the–”
“Don’t worry about her, she’s harmless. I’ll be making an announcement pertaining to her appearance later on today. For now though, you’re all dismissed.”
Ever so slowly, the knight began trickling out of the room, their eyes still locked onto the dragon with either terror or disbelief. Finally, when the last of the knights had left and the doors had closed behind them, Arthur and Gwen turned to face Merlin again, who was still staring at the two in utter shock.
The three of them just stared at each other for a few moments, each of them unsure of what to make of the events of the last hour. After a while, Gwen breaks the thick silence that had settled between them.
“We’re so sorry that we hid this from you, Merlin. We know that you’ve struggled with the scars that the Great Dragon’s attack left in your mind, and we didn’t want to bring up any of those memories again. So, we thought it best to hide Aithusa from you, but I can see now that you’re perhaps more comfortable around her than any of us would have anticipated.”
Gwen gave Merlin a small smile as she adjusted Aithusa in her arms and she stepped closer. Merlin could do nothing but gawk at Aithusa nuzzling into her hold, while Arthur clasped a hand on his shoulder and spoke again.
“If you truly do not want to have a dragon in close proximity to you, we understand. However, we ask that you at least give Aithusa a chance. I know that the Great Dragon still haunts you, but Aithusa has been living with us for these past months, and she has been nothing but kind and good-hearted. She has shown Guinevere and I that not all creatures of magic are terrible beasts, and I’m sure that you would see that too if you gave her the chance.”
Merlin stared at Arthur, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull as he tried to comprehend what Arthur was telling him.
Was… was Arthur Pendragon really arguing on behalf of creatures of magic? Was he begging Merlin to see their goodness?
And, perhaps more importantly, was Merlin dreaming right now? Because this was a scenario that seemed so far removed from reality that it could only have been conjured by Merlin’s own wishful thinking.
However, a quick pinch to his hand revealed that no, he was not dreaming and yes, this was actually happening. Arthur and Gwen not only knew about Aithusa, but had apparently also accepted her and become attached to her.
Merlin couldn’t really blame them for becoming attached though, Aithusa was rather cute. It was easy to get attached to such an adorable little dragon, Merlin would know.
“Well,” Arthur started, shifting on his feet almost nervously. “What do you say? Would you like to meet Aithusa?”
Merlin grinned at Arthur and Gwen, a years-old fear ever so slowly lifting from his shoulders. He suddenly felt much, much lighter without it weighing him down, as it had from the day he set foot in Camelot.
“I would love to. Thank you, both of you.”
Arthur and Gwen both sighed with relief, and their faces lit up with bright smiles that set Merlin’s heart fluttering.
Gwen stepped closer until she was right in front of Merlin, with Aithusa in her arms only an arm’s length away from Merlin.
“Well, I suppose we should introduce you two! Merlin, this is Aithusa. Aithusa, this is our dear friend Merlin. I’m sure that you’ll grow as fond of him as you are of us.”
Merlin leaned forward and extended his arm, gently petting Aithusa where she lay in Gwens arms. Joy, contentment, amusement, and love radiated from both sides of their bond.
“Hello Aithusa,” Merlin said with an almost watery voice, holding back all of the emotions that had welled up in his chest, nearly overwhelming him.
“It’s very nice to meet you.”
Aithusa knew exactly what was happening.
She crawled out of her nest-room, which was adjacent to lord-father’s treasure-nest room, on silent claws. After all, she could sense just how tired her lord-father was. He needed his rest, and every dragon knew that there was no better rest than sleeping atop one’s treasure hoard.
Using all of the stealth that she had honed over her time hunting in the forest, Aithusa crept along the floor of the treasure-nest room, until she reached the nest itself, which was drenched in lord-father’s scent even more potently than usual.
There, in the middle of the soft nest, lord-father finally rested, holding both of his treasures close even in his sleep. Aithusa puffed out her chest, taking pride in her accomplishment of getting lord-father to sleep with his hoard at last.
As swiftly as she could, Aithusa crawled up the side of the nest and scampered over to lord-father, taking care not to step on any of the humans’ limbs sprawled across the nest. Once she reached lord-father’s sleeping form, she curled up atop his chest and nuzzled her head against his.
Yes, Aithusa decided as lord-father’s treasures cuddled in closer, lord-father had a very nice hoard indeed.
(And if Aithusa one day became too big to cuddle with her lord-father and his treasures in their nest, then she could still wrap herself around their thrones, snuggling up to them throughout the day.
And if, one day, there were three thrones at the front of the room instead of two, then Aithusa would know exactly what was happening.)