Merlin One-Shots

Above the clouds

'This is going to be so exciting!' Gwaine clapped his hands like a child, a gleeful expression that was replaced with a pout when Lancelot hit his arm.

'You'll freak him out. It's taken us over a year to convince him to show us this.' The Knight chided his friend, who solemnly nodded his head, looking back to where Merlin was pacing. It had been a big reveal, last year, when Merlin finally admitted his Magic to Arthur. A very terrifying thing, filled with Merlin's puppy-dog eyes and Arthur actually showing some emotion. Of course, he shut that down quickly, saving it for rare moments with Merlin and when Gwen was annoyed with him.

The Queen could be terrifying, when she wanted to be. Much like Morgana, he mused, the woman he was attempting to court. She had a fierce tongue, a quick-wit that left him baffled and tripping over his words like a teen again.

Back to the topic at hand. Merlin may have admitted his Magic, but he kept a little secret, for just him and Gwaine to know.

The fact he was a Dragonlord, that he had a hatchling he was raising. Not only that, but according to Merlin, Dragonlords had the ability to retain some of the features that their kin had. Merlin had sat them down, slowly explained that he was slightly more powerful than most, could fully shift into a Dragon-form if he wanted.

They would work up to that bit, for now, they just wanted to see the beginnings of his transformation. Hence why Merlin was currently pacing the clearing in the forest, before he halted.

'Okay. Okay, I can do this.' He muttered to himself, and Lancelot felt sad for his friend. It had to be hard, to trust them with something that was certainly not normal. He didn't have to worry about Gwaine reacting badly, the Knight would love Merlin no matter what, even if the manservant was oblivious to how Gwaine felt about him. In fact, Merlin seemed to be the only one that wasn't aware Gwaine was pining for him.

Merlin sighed, screwed his eyes shut in a look that Lancelot found funny, but from the muttered "adorable" that came from Gwaine, he figured it was a personal thing.

That's when he began to change. Lancelot watched in shock as claws seemed to form at Merlin's hands, horns peeking out from his black hair. Merlin gasped, bent over like he was in pain, and his shirt split as leathery spikes pointed out, before they began to unfold. Wings, he had wings!

When Merlin opened his eyes, they were burning gold, the black no more than slits in his gaze. He looked... incredible. Powerful, far beyond anything the Knight had expected, and if Gwaine's stunned silence was anything to go by, he was just as shocked.

Gwaine rose first, but Lancelot was quick to follow, walking towards a clearly scared Merlin.

'Can... Can we?' Gwaine's hand was creeping out, and Merlin nodded. Lancelot first reached for his hand, to admire the claws, the faint shimmer of black scales that he could see. Gwaine was not as held-back, went straight for the wings. They were huge, and when Lancelot dared to reach for the horns on his head, he noted that the wings flexed slightly.

'Sorry, sensitive.' He chuckled weakly, but didn't stop them from continuing to explore. The wings were actually soft to touch, with spikes at the top, the same dark black and gold pattern.

'Should've known you'd be partly the colour of the Pendragon emblem.' Lancelot joked, and Merlin grinned. It was then that he noticed the teeth, slightly sharper and pointed, and focused on the eyes.

'Thank you. For trusting us with this.' Merlin blushed, shrugged and then hesitantly looked up.

'If... If I transformed fully, would you want to see Camelot?' He realised that Merlin meant from the sky, and the Knight gasped at the possibility. Gwaine was already grinning, Lancelot quick to join.