Merlin's magic (Oneshots)

The portrait part 1

"I could ask you the same question.", Arthur spit back.
"My name is Arthur Pendragon. King of Camelot.", he growled, surely this man would know who he was.

The man raised his eyebrow. "I've heard better lies.", he said, not letting the sword sink or any of Arthur's movements out of his sight.
"I! Am Arthur Pendragon. And I am no king. Least of all of Camelot."

Arthur blinked, eyes wide in shock. "What the hell are you talking about? You can't be me! I am me!", he said, utterly confused now.

The man tilted his head, clearly trying to decide whether or not it would be better to have Arthur killed. "That's what I said.", he snarled.
Neither of them moved. Great, Arthur. And you came here without any kind of protection. Seriously, you could at least have taken some armor with you.

"Are you going to kill me?", Arthur finally gulped, as the man kept watching him.
"You haven't really given me a reason to. Now, have you?", the man responded gully.
"Then, how about a truce? You won't kill me, I'll tell you how I came here?"

The man contemplated Arthur's suggestion, but sighed and sheathed Arthur's sword away.
"Fine. I'm not in the mood for killing anyway. Sit down at the fire. On the other side, so I can see you." He nodded his head towards the roasting rabbit and Arthur nodded. Slowly, he got up from his cowering position, hands raised in surrender as he walked around a couple of utensils that lay spattered around the cave and set down on the cold hard ground.
The other man watched him warily, before sitting down opposite to Arthur.

"Now. Tell me. How did you get here. Nobody was supposed to find me here. This cave is far off any civilization. Even the dragons avoid this area.", the man threw over a small lump of bread. Irritated, Arthur caught the food, unsure whether or not it was wise to eat it.

"Dragons?", Arthur asked scandalized. "I thought they were all dead?"

The other man frowned. "If that were true, then who was I talking to last week?", he rolled his eyes, full of sarcasm.
"Talking – Dragons don't talk.", Arthur retorted, finally deciding the bread was worth a bite.

The other man stopped rotating the rabbit he was currently focusing on.
"Then, clearly. You've never seen a dragon before. Which is funny, considering your sword was forged in a dragon's breath.", the man shook his head. "Now tell me who you really are and how you got here. Before I impale you."

Arthur stared at his own sword. Forged in a – okay that was a question for later. First of all he had to answer this man's questions.

"My name, as I said before, is Arthur Pendragon. I am the king of Camelot. And I came here through -", he paused. Was it wise to actually say it? Oh well, what difference does it make. "A portrait."

The man locked eyes with him now. "A portrait? As in the portrait of Giseldir? Now I suppose that makes sense."
"The two portraits of what now?"

The man grinned amused. "You don't know much about magical items, do you? The portrait of Giseldir is an ancient portrait. Nobody really knows how old it is. All we know is, it was painted in the crystal cave. The birth place of magic.
If you don't know where that is – the crystal cave exists within the valley of the fallen kings.
The portrait always shows the current king and was a present from the sorcerer Giseldir to king Bruta. The first king of Camelot.

It is said that the portrait is actually a portal. Nobody knows where it leads though.", now he pointed at Arthur.
"If what you say is true and you really are Arthur Pendragon, then I guess that would be the answer. An alternate reality. Which is how you ended up here."
The man said all this with a straight face, as though he was used to these kind of things happening every day.
The man sighed. His amusement at Arthur's reaction slowly fading.