The Golden Effect

teh witch's quickening

Hey! Sorry for the late update, but I was extremely busy this week...Hopefully I did okay with this chapter:)

Thank you to all those people who have reviewed, favourited and story-alerted, it means so much to me.

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The Great Dragon, in Merlynn's opinion, was much wiser than any gave him credit for. As a creature of the Old Religion, he had witnessed and done many things of the past. He knew all, the past, present and future, even when dwelling in the cavern since the Purge.

She was glad to have him on her side, despite his slight altercations in what she should do. "I need your help," were the first words which escaped her mouth when she stepped on the platform in front of the Great Dragon.

"I'm sure you do, young warlock, but first you must honour your promise," he returned, golden eyes shining down upon her, pointed and dark.

Merlynn shut her eyes for a moment, then nodded. She was always one to keep her promises. "I said I would set you free, and I will," she said.

He was acting like an impatient little child. "When?" he barked.

"When I know that Camelot is safe," Merlynn told him. "Will you please trust me?" Her voice was filled with a resigned sigh.

"Why should I?" he retorted heatedly.

She pursed her lips angrily. "Because you don't have a choice," she reminded him.

For a few moments, he just kept his hard golden orbs on hers, teeth bared toward her, then he said submissively, "What is it that you wish to know?"

"What is the Crystal of Neahtid?" she called up to him.

The Great Dragon quirked a brow. "To those who know how to use it, the Crystal holds great knowledge."

"What kind of knowledge?" she asked.

"The knowledge of what is, what has been, and what is yet to come," he told her, and Merlynn's eyes widened in realisation.

She almost dropped the torch in her hands, out of astonishment and worry. "Do you mean it can show you the future?" she asked, bewildered.

"Amongst other things, yes," he replied.

Merlynn almost didn't tell him but she had found that hiding things from the oversized dragon was a decidedly unscrupulous thing to do. "The Crystal has been stolen," she stated hesitantly.

"By who?" he questioned, eyes glinting dangerously. His eyes were his most outstanding and terrifying features, so old and wise, but dark and wicked at the same time.

"Morgana," she answered with a twist of the mouth.

His reply was an outlandish, deep chuckle that reverberated through the room like a resounding harmony. "That Witch does not have the power to wield the Crystal," he laughed.

Merlynn cocked her head curiously. "Does the druid boy?"

"Mordred? It is possible," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I heard him directing someone to Morgana's room, and the next day the Crystal was stolen. So, I believe that they're involved in this together," she rabbled on.

Impossibly, the dragon's eyes narrowed done upon her, shaking her body to the core. She ducked her head to stop the horrid feeling that shot through her as those eyes seemed to stare straight into her mind. "Once before I warned you of the druid boy," he snapped. "It is his destiny to bring about Arthur's doom! It may be that time is upon you."