Chapter Text
· · ─ ·☽𖤓☾· ─ · ·
Kigharrah sat silently in his new cave, one that did not hold painful and depressing memories of the past, one that was all his (and his young companion Aithusa’s of course)
Thinking back on his memories as he normally would on a daily basis he remembered a lesson he had with his deceased master, back when he wasn’t exiled and Kilgharrah wasn’t imprisoned. He was being taught how to transform, specifically into a human.
He couldn’t remember how long ago it was that he was taught how to transform, why was he learning how to transform anyway?
It was back when Gaius, Uther, Nimueh and Balinor were still the closest of friends
That really was a long time ago.
He chuckled softly as he remembered why, why he had been taught.
༺♰༻༺༻༺♰༻
Camelot, one week after Uther and his mismatched army of soldiers had taken the citadel and rescued Camelot from tyranny (only to hand the crown to a new tyrant)
“Come oooon gharrah! Jusst one ssip~”
His master was slurring clearly drunk out of his mind, he wasn’t ordering him to drink the strange dark liquid from the small metal cup (small in Kilgharrahs point of view, although he was much smaller back then) so he didn’t feel a need to.
“You forget Balinor, it would take the entire supply of mead in tavern to get me drunk. I won’t waste a liquid that makes you so happy”
“WHAT!” The new king startled the sober Ygraine (working with the equally sober Nimueh to figure out how much liquor it takes to make Uther admit that he's in love with her) who he was leaning on for support “noooo you have to get drunk! Not once in your entire life? Don’t tell me you haven’t gotten drunk ONCE.”
Gorlois giggled in that girly way he always did when he was drunk, Vivienne snorted loudly at it in the way she always does, “yeah i mean even Viv and Gaius got on it tonight, and they never drink!”
“So I should stay sober and keep you all safe!”
Ygraine shook her head and pulled her king back down to sit in front of her “Kil’s already said he can’t get drunk because he’s too big, what are we going to do? Make him smaller?”
Uther laughed and rubbed his head into her chest (Kilgharrah could hate the man and also understand completely why his wife’s death hurt him so much) “make him human?” He lazily suggested
The look Nimueh got in her eyes was mischievous “Actually… we could do that…”
Gaius perked up at that, his long brown hair (already bursting with silver streaks due to the stress of war) falling in front of his face, he began wagging his finger at her “We already discussed this Nim, we don’t know if it will work on animals,” he pointed his finger directly into her face when he noticed the way her lip quivered to object “magic or not.”
Balinor looked between the two “What are you guys talking about?”
“We’ve been investigating into the glamour spells, there’s one that can change animals into other animals, the spell disappears when the creature is dead. I THINK-”
Gaius held his hand up “You ‘assume’ actually.”
She huffed “I assume that we could use the combination of the animal to other animal and the human to look like a different human to change a magic creature INTO a human!”
Nimueh smiled proudly at her deduction, Vivienne looked at the floor and looked back up at her friends “that might actually work!”
Kilgharrah could almost feel the terrible outcome of this decision dawning on him in that very moment, nothing like that has ever happened in his life (granted it had only been around 50 years, he technically still a hatchling compared to his 1,000 year old father) but he had also never heard about something like that happening, no other dragon had ever said anything about that.
He did like learning.
“Let’s do it.”
The arguments that had been going on in the background silenced immediately Gorlois was the first to question him “You never agreed to anything, what is happening?”
(God knows why he ever agreed to let them do that too him)
“I always spend all this time with you guys, in 10 or 20 years I’ll be way too big to just stroll around in the castle, you know I’m hitting that 60 year mark I’ll be getting my growth spurt soon. Maybe I should have a smaller form?”
Balinor sighed loudly and wiped away a fake tear “They grow up so fast!”
“I’m older than you”
“Technically in dragon years you’re still a child”
He could physically feel the argument brewing, he wasn't a child he just had to have his growth spurt and as long as he was in a large enough area when it happened he would be fine and he would get as big as the dragons he knew, as big as his father hopefully.
(He missed his father and his mother and his siblings, the last time he saw his father with his mother and siblings he was as big as the mountain where the dragon lords had their meetings and training)
“Well I’m sure I can magic him to look older if he looks like a toddler, okay let’s try this…”
After quite a while of drinking and failed spell casting, she hit the mark
“Draca ferhþ, wending úre thee, þín blod súlal cerr tu beorn”
(Dragon spirit, change your form, your blood shall turn to man)
There was a flash of gold, his body felt warm and light and when he felt his feet on the ground they were not clawed anymore.
HE WAS WEARING SHOES?!
“By the goddess you actually did it!” (To this day he didn’t know who had said it)
He opened his eyes, he was still towering over his friends but he was at their height more or less
He looked down at his hands and arms, clad in a cream coloured long sleeved tunic, he had hands, HUMAN HANDS!? Sticking out of puffy sleeves!
He looked down further. He was quite stylish if he asked himself, accompanying his cream tunic was a dark brown waistcoat and herem pants of the same color. There were quite a few golden accessories, a few chains and Druidic embroidery on the waistcoat.
He felt something on the bridge of his nose and reached for it only to find crescent moon glasses resting gently on his face, his HUMAN face.
A mirror was handed to him, slightly shaking he brought it up towards his face and looked at himself.
Very strong jaw. That nose is very straight. The glasses do look good on it though. The eyes are a weird dark gold color. The hair was even stranger, no matter how hard he pushed back on the top of his head the two wisps of hair that curled backwards to resemble horns did not seem to go down, just proofed back up everytime. Again it was a strange dirty gold colour, some parts were darker some were lighter.
“If no one else is going to say anything I’ll say it first, you look hot as hell Gharrah.”
Vivienne hit him on the head “Don’t start flirting with him!”
Gorlois tried his very best to defend himself, though it was pointless.
Uther was the next to talk “we’re going to have to beat the men and women off you kil!”
Gaius tilted his head to the side and looked around and the maids and stable boys blushing and pointing at him “Honestly yeahhh probably.”
· · ─ ·☽𖤓☾· ─ · ·
The memories of laughing and drinking and getting soaked through when Balinor and Uther began spinning around and knocking everyone’s beers out their hands swam before his mind as it slowly faded, that was a good night. He didn’t even know when he was turned back into a dragon.
He laughed softly for the past he used to have, before everything fell apart.
Aithusa looked up at him with her bright eyes “What are you laugh.”
“It’s ‘What are you laughing at’ my dear. I’m laughing at memories, happy ones.”
She made a happy trill and went back to chasing her mouse
He heard another trill shriek from Aithusa as she chased a rat around eagerly before pouncing forward straight into a wall and knocking her head as the rat raced through a crack in the cave wall to escape its untimely end
How long had he been with his young companion?
A few years? No, she was still so small.
One year? Yes that sounded right.
He wondered vaguely about the young warlock, he hadn’t heard from him in a while, he would never admit it to his face but he had missed the boy and his silly questions.
“Aithusa! Come here.”
She sat down gently in front of him, looking up at him with wonder in her eyes. “What is it?”
“I need you to remember the spell I am about to use, it is important.”
“Okie doki!”
Such silly phrases had been taught to her by the young warlock, the boy was so much like his father. (Before the fallout. Ygraine died, shattering the peace between magic and humanity, not that it was her fault, it was no one’s fault. Not really. The death of doves ,as he had called it, was a tragedy.)
Kilgharrah took a deep breath, remembering the words Nimueh had spoken that night he channeled his energy into his breath
“Draca ferhþ, wending úre thee, þín blod súlal cerr tu beorn”
He watched in awe as the small dragon began to glow and float slowly through the air before gently lowering to the ground.
She was no longer a dragon, but a human girl.
A very small one, maybe 5 or 6 at least, he would never understand this spell. Maybe it mattered that Kilgharrah saw her as older than she actually was.
She danced happily stomping her human feet into a small puddle of cave water, she was barefoot for some reason or another but was dawned with a flowy white dress, simple but very cute. The long bell sleeve almost resembled her wings, the dress was decorated with the same swirling Druidic design that had been embroidered into his waistcoat all those years ago with the petals of dragon roses on the bell sleeves in beautiful pale pink and lilac thread
Her hair was pure white, no darker or lighter sections, pure white. All wavy and layered and spiky at the bottom it reached past her midsection. And just like his own human hair, two tuffs of hair on top of her head curled inwards resembling her horns.
“Well do you remember the spell?”
“YES I DO!”
He voice was much squeakier than it was when she was a dragon
He took another deep breath and recited the words, directed at himself
His body went warm and light before he dropped to the ground with a lot less grace than before.
He stumbled and looked down at himself, the clothes were the same, he went to the water and looked at his reflection. His hair was greying and his face was wrinkled with a gray moustache on his upper lip but that’s fine. He didn’t appreciate the women and men throwing themselves at him while he was spending time with his friends, maybe now they won’t.
He hears Aithusa giggle at him and turns to scoop her into his arms.
“Why don’t we go visit, Merlin?”
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
In all of the terrible decisions the great dragon had ever made this has to have been the worse one, after talking to the leader of a local Druid camp he had acquired Aithusa and himself a small pale blue cape and large brown one, he had made his way into Camelot with the girl under his arm. They had arrived at the market and Aithusa had started making whining noises and looking around with terrified eyes
He put her down on the ground to look her in the eyes and ask if she was alright
The moment her feet touched the ground she took of running into the market, no where to be seen
After chasing her down the busy street he lost sight of that pure white hair.
He stopped and threw himself on the ground heavily.
Feeling his eyes begin to water, oh yeah that’s why he didn’t like being human the first time, too many emotions to take hold of and control in the way he had trained himself to control in his dragon form
He took the crescent moon glasses off his face and wiped away the tears that brimmed over.
“This isn’t good.”
He closed his eyes and paid attention to his surroundings looking at all the minds around him, looking for one man in particular putting his head into his knees when he felt his magic start to surge, can’t save Aithusa when he’s on the pryre
Merlin.