Another Way Out

The Escape

Morgana croaked out his name, "Merlin?...help us please..she's hurt." Morgana wasn't the type to every ask for help from an enemy so he was surprised to find that she did ask for help and cared for Aithusa's safety over her own. He figured that they probably were so close because of their time together. It killed him to see them both like this and he hurried away to get his supplies.

"Merlin?! Merlin, please don't leave us!", Morgana cried out. His heart stopped. She thought he was going to leave them to rot. "Hold on, Morgana, I'm coming", he whispered to himself. He tied the end of his rope to a nearby tree and hoped they hadn't made too much noise to attract the guards from the castle. Merlin then dropped the rope into the well and instructed Morgana to come up first so she could help him carry Aithusa. She did as she was told and soon came out of the well with some struggle. "Thank you, Merlin, I thought I was going to be executed...I'll never forget this", she hugged him tight before realising what she had done. "....we should get her out now...before the guards come to check on us", Morgana uttered softly. It was at times like this, Merlin saw glimpses of the old Morgana, his Morgana. He smiled when he saw her tying herself with rope so he could lower her down to pick up Aithusa. She picked up the baby dragon with some struggle but he heaved them up anyway, using his magic to help him.

Once they were both out, he looked at them and saw the happiness on both of their faces, Morgana's being momentary for she didn't want him to see her moment of weakness. Merlin instructed Morgana to quickly go to the boat and get it ready for them. She looked reluctant at leaving him with Aithusa but saw the small smile on his lips and left with a nod.

Merlin looked at Aithusa and saw she did indeed recognise him as he was the one who hatched her. "Aithusa", he spoke in dragon-tongue, "we must not let Morgana know who I am, you must act as if you do not know of me", he commanded. She looked at him with curious eyes and squeaked out, "why, kin, why must we act like this?" He replied," Morgana may use it against me in the future, I will tell her one day but not now okay?". "Okay, my kin", she chirped.

He picked her up as her back legs were injured and hurried through the forest to where the boat was. Morgana was waiting for them, impatient and afraid, wondering if they had got caught. She let out a breath of relief when she saw them both and quickly ushered them into the boat.

The young dragon lord placed Aithusa down, took the oars off of Morgana and starting rowing with as much speed as he could. He looked up and saw two pairs of curious eyes watching him. "Who sent you here? Arthur? Did he want to kill me himself, is that it? He didn't want someone else the pleasure of ending my life? Should've expected it. His father was Uther Pendragon. What I don't get is why he sent you, Merlin? But then again, you do seem to outlive everyone don't you?"

His eyes met hers, battling each other, wondering who would look away first. He smiled. She frowned. "Well, what is it? Out with it."

"No one sent me here. Everyone thought you were already dead. Arthur does too though he has already forgiven you for everything you've done. I only found out about you being here, two days ago. So I came alone after telling the King that I'm visiting my mother. I couldn't bear to think of you being executed. It killed me when I poisoned you but I had to. You were the cause of the slumber at the castle. I had to stop it. I'm so sorry Morgana."

She often had nightmares of that day. But compared to the nightmare she had been living for the past two years, it was more like a daydream. Morgana just looked at him and said," just why are you so loyal to Arthur? One would think you're in love with him the way you act." A smile broke out on his face. "I am not in love with him, Morgana, however I do think he has the potential to be the greatest king there ever was."

Suddenly he remembered where they came from and realised they must be starving, so he brought out the food from his bag and told them to both eat. Morgana was reluctant. He couldn't blame her. He did after all, poison her. So he broke off a bit from all the food and ate it to prove it was safe. She then slowly started eating then got a little faster considering she probably hadn't ate in a long time. Merlin took out a water skin, drank some and offered it to Morgana who drank it happily. He got out a huge leg of lamb for Aithusa, who crooned in happiness. He watched her attempt to eat it all in one bite and fail. He beamed at them and informed them that they were almost on the other side. 

Merlin had borrowed a horse and cart from a nearby village under the Sarrum's rule. He thought it would be useful to carry the young dragon and Morgana in. He was right. It took a little effort but he and Morgana carried Aithusa into the cart and covered her in one of the blankets Merlin had provided. Morgana took the other and cuddled up to her baby dragon.

Merlin sat at the top to control to the horses when he heard warning bells coming from the Sarrum's castle. With that, he urged his horses to move and off they went, hoping to get out of Amata as soon as they could without being caught.

Two hours later of riding, they had finally got to Merlin's hometown of Ealdor. "Why are we here?", Morgana was afraid, he sensed. "You are to stay here in my house with my mother until your dragon heals. I will be sending supplies from Camelot that will help quicken the healing process." She didn't bother to argue with him but stayed hidden under the blanket until he got them into his mother's small wooden barn.

"I'll be back. Stay in here. Don't move at all and try not to make too much noise just in case someone hears you. I will be informing my mother of your arrival", and with this, he was gone.