The Truth About Merlin

6: Dragons Are Bossy

About a week later, things had gotten relatively back to normal. Merlin was still restricted by the chains of his curse of truth, but he went back to working for the king. He didn't speak as often, but he did return to his usual cheeriness.

During the knights' training, while Merlin was polishing armor, he heard Losgann weaving his way into the warlock's mind. "It is almost time." He said in an edgy tone. Merlin tensed at the words and stopped rubbing the brush along the silver breastplate.

"What should I do?" Merlin sent the thought to the dragon. He also sent a message to Kilgharrah, hoping that between the two dragons, he could get some useful information, even if in the form of a riddle.

Losgann sensed how Merlin reached out to Kilgharrah and with an air of annoyance grumbled, "This is not meant to be a conference call, young warlock."

Merlin was baffled by the unfamiliar reference the dragon used. "What's a conference call?" he asked.

"Don't verge off topic. One day you'll learn the answer. We have larger issues to worry about at the moment."

"Yes, you're right. My apologies. Please continue."

This time, Kilgharrah chimed in, "You must alert the king about the arrival of Morgana's army."

Merlin's eyes widened, stunned at the bluntness of the old dragon. "MORGANA? That's the 'old friend' you spoke of? This is far worse than I thought! You couldn't have been a bit more specific, Losgann?" Merlin huffed.

"Who else would you expect? Really, Merlin, I thought you were wiser than this."

Merlin, obviously annoyed, snapped back, "You dragons always think you're helping, but had you just given me a straight warning maybe I would have been able to prepare accordingly. I know how Morgana fights, I could have spoken with Arthur and he would have trained the knights."

"I did tell you to prepare for the mightiest of warriors. The decision to lounge around following the king all day instead of training for the worst was your fault, it had nothing to do with me. Perhaps you will stop complaning and let us help you now." Although Merlin couldn't see Losgann's face, he could almost hear his smug "I told you so" expression.

Gwaine noticed the servant zoning out with a furrowed brow and hard frown on his face. Gwaine, ever the curious prankster, snuck up behind Merlin and jumped on his back. Merlin snapped back into the world before him and fell over from Gwaine's weight, which earned a loud groan from the long-haired knight.

"Gods, Gwaine, what's the matter with you?"

Gwaine chuckled as Merlin stumbled off of him. "What's wrong with me? Mate, you've been on edge all week, and you dropped the armor on the floor while you were washing it and you didn't even notice. You were in your own little world. So, fess up, what's going on?"

Merlin gulped and Gwaine noticed his skitishness. "Merlin?" Kilgharrah and Losgann tried to bring the warlock back to their conversation.

"In a moment, I have to take care of something." He replied to the awaiting dragons. He noticed Gwaine's puzzled expression and sighed. "Morgana will soon return to Camelot, and I'm trying to find out how to stop her from destroying the kingdom."

Gwaine blinked, that was not the answer he was expecting. "Are you sure?"

Merlin nodded.

"We should tell Arthur."

The servant thought of the previous advice Losgann gave him, and then of Kilgharrah's contradicting statement. "Answer this honestly and finally," Merlin sent the message to the dragons, "should I tell the king of the dangers?"