A/N: Thanks for al your support and votes guys i really appreciate it! you all inspire me <3
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"A-Arthur..." Stammered Merlin with a cracking voice. But Arthur was no longer there. In his place the same massive dragon that Merlin has seen from their bedchambers, the chambers he shared with Arthur, his husband, now cursed into this terrifying beast before him. He looked into the flame coloured eyes of the giant creature and saw no trace of his love, only cold and unfeeling fire that burned in the night seeping from it. The dragon screeched. Merlin took a worried step back, rethinking his confidence. It was clear that this was not his husband, but a wild and magical creature, even so, there was something in Arthur's threatening demeanor that called to Merlin. He took a deep breath and threw back his head, summoning magic from the air around him as he spoke to the dragon.
"Drákon! Árthour, eímai o sýzygós sas!" he commanded. The dragon- Arthur- stopped in his tracks and cocked his head in a way that a man would. It moved its head down towards Merllin, who, althought he was scared, held his ground and reached out his hand, his soul was crying out to the man who had become the dragon, willing him with all his might to remember his humanity. The dragon's face moved closer to Merlin and, just when his resolve began to waiver, it nuzzled it's large head against the warlock's outstretch palm.
"Arthur?" Merlin asked amazed at this sudden change of character from ragin beast o sweet creature. He looked up and saw Arthur's own eyes staring back at him, deep blue oceans full of love and sorrow and all the other feelings swimming together in endless blue pools. The fire and flame had gone and he could see Arthur's goodness and kindness howing through his dragon's body.
"Arthur!" Merlin cried and grinned at him, and cupping his giant scally muzzle in two hands he pressed his forehead against it and closed his eyes.
"I'm so glad you're still here" The much smaller man said to his husband. Merlin stroked Arthur's scaly cheek before steeping back from the dragon with a wicked grin playing across his pale face. Somehow, the dragon managed to look suspicious. Merlin just grinned wider before suddenly shouting at the dragon.
"Fetch!" he grinned. And he made a tree branch fly from the gorund and through the sky. The dragon glared at him before jumping into glourious flight after it. The branch was captured in the dragon's mouth before it started to fall from its flight, and the dragon swooped around landing with no grace and presenting Merlin with the branch. It – he, this was Arthur after all, even if his body did not resemble that of his husband save the crimson scales that covered his like his clok of Camelot – was trying to look miffed, but his tail twitched in joy and gave his mood away. Merlin took the branch with his magic and hurled it skyward again, laughing delight as Arthur took off towards it again without a pause. The pair played like this for some time: until Merlin had a new idea.
"Arthur" he called into the sly and the dragon came back with the branch again. Merlin took it and dropped it to the ground.
"Do you want to try something else?" he asked with a mischevious grin. Arthur nodded his big head agreeably.
"Okay, good. Stand still. I'm going to ride you." Smiled Merling. Arthur reared back, shocked. This earned him a dark glare.
"Like a horse." Clarified Merlin. Arthur let out a gentle and apologetic puff of smoke as he bent his massive legs down to allow his dark haird husband to scramble onto his scaly back.
Merlin settled himself in the nook between Arthur's neck and back and held on tightly as he squeezed his legs together signalling to Arthur to take off. Arthur complied. And with a huge flap flap of his massive wings the pair were in flight. Arthur flew into the night sky, delighted to here the overjoyed gasps of his husband at the view, he dipped and wove through the clouds in the night sky, egged on by Merlin's shear joy, they flew together over the lakes and mountains of the Kingdom of Camelot, taking in the beauty of their home country together in the darkness of the night, until eventually a thought occurred to Merlin.
"Arthur, let's fly to the faeries!" he exclaimed: shocked and embarrassed that he had not thought of it before. Arthur gave a subtle nod of agreement and swerved around in the sky to head for the fairy's tree. Arthur glode low over the forest with his dragon's wings whispering through the air like an owl, almost silent in the dark blanket of the night. Merlin feelt the cool night air brush across his face and he sighed in happiness. In the ditant horizon, the dark black of the night's sky was lightning, tinted with blue as the sun began to raise over the horizon. Merlin was jolyed out of his enjoyment; Arthur!
"Arthur, the sun!" Mrlin leaned down to say in his ear. Arthur snorted in response and began looking for somewhere to land before he became a man again and they fell out of the sky. He pulles back his dragon wings and dipped his large head in a streamlined swoop the moment he saw the clearing. Just as the sun touched the leaves of the horizon the pair careened into a clearing Arthur's sharp dragon eyes had spotted from the sky. As the sun rose and Arhtur transformed back from the dragon into the crowned prince of Camleot, they crashed to the ground with a soft thud and landed entangled in the bushy undergrowth and eachother. Arthur was a person again, fully clothed in his princely finery. And on top of Merlin. Merlin noticed their closeness and let out a checky grin.
"Hi," he said, raising a salacious eyebrow.
"Hi," Arthur breathed back, just cottoning on to their positions.
"You're on top of me." Merlin pointed out, worried that the transformation would have made Arthur miss the obvious. Arthur smiled down at his husband.
"What would you like to do about that?" he aksed, shamming innocents with his blank face. Merlin moved his arm up from where it was wedged awkwardly under Arthur's strong body and ran his hand through his husband's blond hair.
"Oh, I have an idea or too." He explained seriously and wrapped his long fingers around the back of Arthur's head to pull him down for a fierce kiss. Arthur finally pulled back.
"You like me as a dragon." He said. Merlin couldn't argue.
"I like you better as a man." He replied, before kissing his husband again. Arthur sighed against his face.
"We'd better go see the fairies" he said and Merlin pouted and blew a raspberry.
"Phthththtppthhthhth. Spoil sport." He said and Artur swoped down and kissed the expression off his face then stood up and help a hand out to Merlin to help him up. Since he was pregnant standing up had become more difficult. Once he was stood up the set off deep into the woods. The woods lightened around them and is was a gentle golden sunrise by the time they came upon the fairy tree, causing a dim red light to filter through the branches the rich shade of the Pendragon crimson, sprawled out across the sky like a cloak laid chivalrously over a puddle to protect the feet of a delicate ladey.
They rounded a cluster of trees and came out into the small grove at the base of the Great tree. Merlin gasped, the air around them was filled with small lights floating and dancing in the light of the sunrise.
"Oh Arthur, you never said how beautiful it ws!" he breathed and Arthur marvelled at his youthful expression of wonderment as he gazed around, the lights reflecting in his wide eyes like a thousand galexies. Then Arthur's expersssion darkened as the Faries appeared before them, growing in form out of glouds of purple green and orange fairy dust. MErlin gasped in wonderment.
"Crown Prince Pendragon" said one, it's voice sounding like it was comeing from many different directions at once.
"To what do we owe this honour?" Said another, and Arthurs eyes narrowed as he heard the smirk in it's voice.
"I ask that you remove this curse" Aurthur said firmly hoping that the faries would respect his princely tone now that they had had their fun. The air filled with the sound of tinkling silver bells as the fairieies laughed, mocking his request. He scowled and opened his mouth to command them, but before he could say a word, Merlin had stepped foward, also with a matching scowl on his usually radiant face.
"i am Emrys" said Merlin with a sweeping gesture wih his arms in a commanding tone.
"You will obey" he sais and his eyes blazed with magical golden light which took Arthur breath away. The air around them darkened until it was almost as if night had fallen as rapidly as the sudden slamming of a dungeon door. The sounds odf the surrounding forest were dampened and left Arthur wondering if he had been deafened, but he hadn't. The sound came back to his ears as the faeries giggles at Merlin's furore
"We know you Emrys but we obey no man." they spoke as one. Arthur smirked, amused at the failure of his husband's pomp, desprite the seriousness of the circumstances, but his smirk quickly fell and turned serious, as the warlock let out a pained gasp, and clutchy his swollen stomach, as he bent double in a jolt of pain.
"Merlin!" cried in anguish, running to his husband's side as he knelt on the floor in pain, face contorted in agoony.
"The baby...!" Merlin gasped as the pain sliced through him in spasms like an unquenching fire in his abdomen his porcelain skin turned as pale as a moonbeam. Arthur was shaken at seeing Merlin is such sudden pain. The adrenaline rushed through his body and his blood sang is if a light. Even the fairis looked concerned.
"You are about to become a father" They whispered.
"We did not understand" grumbled the purple fairy.
"This changes things" explained the green fairy.
"You are wise Emrys" confessed the orange fairy.
"We shall lift the curse." they roared in unison.
"No," cried Merlin.
"No?!" repeated the fairies and Arthur also, all where shocked.
"Arthur I -nnnnnnnnnnng- need to get back!" Merlin groaned on the ground.
"Merlin the plan-" Arthur countered, thinking about how far away the cabin was from their current location.
"I don't -aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!- I don't care about the plan! The baby doesn't care about the plan!" Merlin panted turning his head to glare att the blonde man standing over him with a concerned look on his face. Merlin turned his pained face to the fairies, now hovering non-partisanally nearby.
"Can you- can you change him? Now?" he gasped. the faries seemed confused. They couldn't understand why he would want that.
"Merlin why-" Arthur started and crouched next to him on the ground and put his hand on Merlin's back soothingly.
"Because! You can take! Me back!" Merlin shouted.
"But I don't-" Aurthur stammered.
"TO CAMELOT!" Merlin bellowed and Arthur jumped back stunned into silence.
"I don't care, about the plan. This baby, is coming. Now. And I, need Gaius." he groused through gritted teeth.
"Right. PLease change me now" Arthur nodded resolutely and turned to the fairies. They agreed.
"We shall" they all intoned at once and suddenly Arthur was surrounded by golden light and his body changed again into the giant form of the huge red dragon, but amidst the burning red scale there shone the eyes and heart of Merlin's husband, the crowd prince. Amidst his pain Merlin felt himself gently floated onto Arthur's back and felt the rocketing rush of cool forest air as his enourmous wings either side of his beat away at the air and lifted them hig into the sky, abone the fairies, and the trees.
The spring sun shone down on Camleot through the fluffy white clouds that swirled through the aqua sky before they were parted by the strong wings of a dragon beating through the air on a desperate mission to the walled citadel and castle within. The dragon – Arthur – landed smoothly on the grasses outside the white wall, looking proud for a moment at how gently he had managed to touch earth. He was quickly dragged from his pride by the cries of pain of the man on his back.
"Bwooooooooorg" Arthur let out a deep and long sound dragonishly as he felt his body shrink until he held Merlin in his Arms, but he was too heavy to hold up as Arthur's fit muscles shrank to his human size. He knelt to the ground with Melin leaning against him and Merlin screamed in pain. Suddenly, around the corner, he heard shouts and running, and his knights appeared! His rather, Uther, The king of Camelot was with them.
"Sire!" shouted Gwaine and dashed over to kneel by Merlin's other side, uknowingly echoing how Arthur and Merlin had kneeled at either side of Isabella when she had died from the chimera so long ago in the quarry.
"Arthur! What is the meaning of this?" Uther boomed at him, striding manfully across the grass, with a slightly frown on his face accentuating his steely eyes and the scar on his forehead, his red cloak billowing behind him.
"I need Gaius!" Arthur called at the assumed peoeple, Merlin cried out in pain beside him. Uther's cresed brow fell and he gasped out loud. Over the time of their marriage Uther had become fond of the man who had captured his sons heart and dreaded to think of Arthur, his son, suffering the heartbreak of widowhood so young as he had.
Suddenly Percival appeared from the gatrhered Knights.
"Percivel! You heard my son! Bring him to Gaius!" commaned the King with a firm wave of his gloved hand. The giant knight came forth towards Merlin's wraithing form and swept Merlin up into his burly arms as if he were a small child and held him close to his chest to protect him from the eyes of those nearby. Arthur hated to let him go but he knew he must as he could not carry Merlin alome, and despite Percivals' size he was very gentle and would not hurt or crush Merlin with his strength.
"Arthur! What has happended here?" exclaimed Uther as Percival headed towards the physhcian's chambers with Merlin his charge. He laid a hand on his son's arm, holding him back from following his ailing husband. Despite Arthur's strong will to be at his Merlin's side, to Uther, the safety of the kingdom had to come first.
"We saw the dragon! Has is wounded Merlin? Where is it? It shall be tracked and we will show it not mercy!" continued Uther when he noticed his son had not answered him and was looking very stressed out and nervous.
"Not now Father!!!" Arthur cried and ran into Gauis's chambers where Merlin had been laid on his back on a bed, and Arthur sat next to him and held his hand, gazing at him worryingly. Merlin caught his eyes and smiled at him despite his pain, his eyes like chips of a rare ultramarine gem and his face as stark white as the down of a swam who glid gliceley down the river. His obsidian tresses were starting to cling to his forehead as he sweted in pain and Arthur reached up a hand to brush them away ad stroked Merlin's face.
"Stay strong, my love" he whisper to him and Merlin's smiled.
"ARthur!" Uther was there frowning in concern for Merlin but also for his son, who may have just been attacked by a dragon and was not exlaining what was going on.
"I'm sorry sire, you should leave. I must treat Merlin" said Gauis apologethically to the king. Arthur looked up.
"I'm not going." hes aid firmly. Gaius looked at him firmly and noffed once, then heald out an arm to escort the king out of the room. Uther looked over his shoulder at his sun, but he was already turned back to his husband, clasping his hand in his hands and whispering soothingly.
"I'll alert you when we have news." Gaius promised. Uther could only nod in agreement as Gaius grinned mischeviously and shut the door to his chambers behind him.