Archive of Our Own ^beta

Merlin stretched, his back aching.

He was finished with his chores for the day, and the sun was set yet again. He hummed a tune as he pulled on a long, worn cloak, carefully sneaking out of the castle. He jumped on his horse, riding to the woods.

Even though he had been to the place before, it never failed to take his breath away.

A clearing, hidden in the forest, with a small lake and enough room for a dragon to roam. During the night, the moon reflected beautifully on the surface of the water, surrounded by the lightning bugs that glowed faintly in the dark.

Merlin inhaled deeply, then let it out, taking off his cloak and walking down to the water. He took off his shirt and shoes, leaving them on the banks, then silently glided into the lake.

Under the water, he focused, removing the mental dam in his mind, and letting his magic flow free.

The effect was instantaneous;

All his senses sharpened, the details sharp, overwhelming him for a second.

A rush of adrenaline hit him, and his eyes glowed gold. He looked up, the light of the moon refracting through the water, and swam towards the surface. The splash was small as he broke the surface, the water running off his deep purple scales. His wings swung, propelling him into the sky, until he could see Camelot.

His wings tucked around him,

And

He fell.

The ground rushed up to meet him

At the last second,

His wings snapped out, and he soared, gliding, barely skimming the surface of the earth, enjoying the rush of the wind under him.

For an hour, Merlin enjoyed himself, entrapped in the bliss of flying, and his happier memories.

‘Papa! I did it!’

The King turned to see a tiny dragon stumbling towards him. A deep violet color, with thin wings and gold accents. Two nubs of horns sat on the top of his head, his ears twitching.

Balinor smiled, cooing over his son. “Wonderful, Merlin! I’m so proud!”

It wasn’t long after that that they had been attacked. An attack from the inside, a betrayal. Anti-magic stones had been put in their food, making them unable to defend themselves with magic when the attack happened.

Only a small handful of people had made it out alive.

“Will, no! I won’t leave you, Papa! I want to fight!”

“Merlin Acyrenous! You must stay safe! William, take him to your aunt’s, in Elandor. And for the love of the Dragons, do NOT let him return!”

Balinor turned his attention back to his son. “I will find you, I promise. Now go!”

He sighed, angling his wings to take him back down to the water. He rinsed himself in the lake, taking care to scratch the dirt out of his scales.

A branch snapped.

Immediately, Merlin was on the lookout, wary of anything that could be a threat.

A human stood, frozen, by the edge of the forest. Eyes blown wide in astonishment, and blond hair a mess.

“No way….” the Heir to the Pendragon throne whispered. “A dragon…? I thought you were all wiped out…” he took a step closer, as if in a trance.

Merlin snarled quietly, backing up.

No no no no no, not Arthur! He chanted mentally.

Arthur seemed to notice his mistake.

“No nono! Don’t go! I promise I’m not going to hurt you!!”

Oh

Well that was new

Merlin stopped growling, but didn’t come closer.

Arthur scanned the area, then took a few steps forward, brushing off the dingy-looking cloak he was wearing.

….

That was also new

Or old?? It couldn't have been new, the fabric was worn and looked like it was barely holding itself together

Where did he get that?? And more importantly, where did he put it so that Merlin wouldn’t find it?! He literally cleaned the clotpole’s room every day.

“I promise I won’t hurt you, ok? See look-” he took off his cloak, slowly dropping it aside, and put his hands up.

He had no weapons, no armour on him.

“I am unarmed, and I bet you could do more damage to me than I can do to you at the moment,” he chuckled.

Merlin crept a little bit closer, sniffing for any traces of metal on him- the distinct smell of sword iron was not there.

“See?”

Merlin still eyed him warily.

Arthur looked over his shoulder again, then back at the dragon.

“Ok, I’m not sure if you can understand my words or my body language, but either way; if this gets back to my father, I could end up dead, so… don’t tattle on me?”

Ok

Now Merlin was thoroughly confused.

Arthur cupped his hands and a light appeared. Just a tiny speck of light floating unnaturally in the air, nearly drawing Merlin’s attention away from the flash of gold in the prince’s eyes.

Merlin stood frozen in shock for a minute, as Arthur stood there, waiting for some sort of response, and getting panickier each second.

“Uh, surprise?” the blond said lamely.

Merlin wasn’t exactly sure why he did what he did next. Looking back, he wrote it off as shock, and relief. Or Pure Idiocracy.

He shook out of his stupor, running at Arthur while shifting back at the same time.

In 6 steps, he was right in Arthur’s face, mostly human again, his own eyes shining golden.

“Arthur?!? Since when do you have magic?! Who taught you?! Don’t you know how dangerous that is?! Especially for you?! You utter clotpole!”

“Merlin?!” Arthur sputtered, taking a half step back to avoid being completely run over by the dragon-turned-manservant. “What?! Since when are you a dragon?!”

“I asked first!”

“Well I asked second!”

“Which means you go second!”

“I am a prince, Merlin!”

“Yeah, well, so was I!”

“...What?!”

“What”

After a minute of intense staring, Arthur broke the silence.

“So, uh,” he gestured vaguely to Merlin’s head. “What’s up with the horns?”

Merlin snatched his hands up to his head, and, sure enough, he had forgotten to shift his dragon horns away. He cursed, then his eyes glowed gold, and they shrank away into nothingness. “Are they gone now?”

Arthur nodded.

Satisfied, Merlin started his interrogation. “Since when do you, you of all people, have magic?!”

Arthur shrugged. “I’ve had it ever since I could remember. Being the King’s son, I couldn’t be openly pro-magic, so I tried to help those with magic by ignoring it. What about you? When did you start practicing, Merlin?”

Merlin chuckled. “Well, given my lineage, it’s kind of a no-brainer that I have magic, I mean, all dragonlords are born with it. Plus both my parents had very strong magic. It was destined to be.”