Darkness

Finding Morgana

Merlin had stayed with his mother for two days before leaving. He left another few letters with her to send to Camelot, to Arthur, should he not be back in the next day or two. He had planned to search out Morgana but still be able to say a proper goodbye to his mother before heading back to his life. His destiny. The letters he left were for Arthur and Gwaine. He'd revealed all of his magic and things he had done in the letter he'd given Arthur before setting out. But if something were to happen, he wanted to make sure that Gwaine knew how much he had enjoyed their time together, and apologize for not telling him sooner what he had intended. Alator had contacted him a while back and mentioned that Morgana had been making her way around the edge of Mercia, Lot's Kingdom. Dangerous territory as bandits roamed freely, slave traders were a constant threat, as were rogue sorcerers and mercenaries. Merlin dressed in dark colors, leaving his bright shirts with his mother, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He had a dark cloak that covered his face. Too many could associate him with Camelot and the King, having been the man's servant for seven years now. He had been able to deter several bandits already by simply redirecting them with his magic.

A familiar presence brushed against his conscience. He reached out with his thoughts. Aithusa? He felt the recognition and then he sensed anxiety. Something was wrong. He rode as close as he could, but dismounted when he got near as he sensed a large crowd. What he saw, caused his breath to catch. Aithusa had chains draped over him, holding him in place. Morgana was nearby in a similar fashion. The two stayed close together, as if they were trying to protect each other. There were at least 20 armed men surrounding them. Merlin could take out or distract most of them, but he needed to be able to free Aithusa. He was a dragonlord, the last dragonlord. He hadn't seen Aithusa in years, but he was still responsible for his well-being. Merlin decided to reach out with his mind and hope the prisoners would understand.

Morgana, I know you have no reason to listen to me, but you must. I'm going to cause a distraction and get as many of the guards away as I can, but then I'm going to free Aithusa. Be ready. I will not let any harm come to him.

Merlin barely had time to block the anger, shock, and betrayal that was blasted through his mind. He slipped around the edge of the encampment and caused enough disturbances in the underbrush for several of the bandits to go investigate. As they got far enough from their companions, Merlin cast a spell knocking them out. That took care of half of them, strangely enough. When he crept back closer, he caused a similar disturbance off in another direction, causing half of the remaining group to check it out. Once they were out of sight, Merlin focused on the chains trapping Aithusa and sent them falling to the ground. Once he was free, Aithusa didn't move. He stayed by Morgana. Merlin came into the clearing then, drawing the attention of the remaining men before he uttered in the dragon tongue. While it came out as a guttural growling sound to others, it came out in words to Aithusa.

Go! Fly! It's not safe for you here. Find Kilgarrah! Now!

Morgana had just stared at him with hate in her eyes the whole time. But he, being a dragonlord, had given a command to his dragon, who now had to obey. Though he could tell how upset this made Aithusa, the white dragon obeyed, taking flight and disappearing over the trees. Merlin then used his magic to push the men nearest Morgana back. He released her chains as well and then they ran. When they thought they were far enough from the men, they stopped to catch their breath. Merlin could feel Morgana's anger directed towards him.

"So. Merlin. It seems as though you're a traitor to your King and your own kind." Morgana growled.

"I know that's what you think. And I am sorry for all that has happened to you. Especially my part in it."

"I trusted you! I came to you scared and afraid and you turned me away! All you had to do was tell me you had magic! Why couldn't you do that?" She was shouting at him.

"I couldn't afford to! You were afraid of Uther, but you were also his daughter. He would never have killed you, not when he used magic to heal you! But me? I'm nothing, a nobody. I'm just a servant. He'd have had me executed in the blink of an eye if you would have even joked that I had magic."

"You think if you had shared with me that I would have betrayed you? You had so little faith in me then?"

"No. No, but I had gotten so used to hiding, to being told how vital it was that I kept it secret, first by Gaius, then the Great Dragon, that I couldn't risk it. I never wanted to do what I did." Merlin said, not meeting her eyes. 

A branch cracked nearby and they were both suddenly alert, hands raised outward in defense. As men rushed toward them, they each flung spells and innate magic in every direction. It was almost as if they had been fighting with magic together all their lives, how well they complemented each other. Merlin and Morgana, eyes shining bright gold, spells at the ready, were hit with darts that delivered a drug to knock them out. There was nothing else they could do. The last thing each saw before sleep overcame them, was the fear of the other.