Chapter Text
The wind whistled through the mountains, whipping the mist around peaks and through valleys, and blew shallow drifts of snow into the mouth of the cave. The air and stone were cold as ice, and yet the snow melted as soon as it touched the walls or floor of the cave, hissing into water and steam. Thin trickles of gold streamed along the walls in wavering seams, deeper and deeper into the mountain, the passage cave-wide, walls scored with claw-marks, and here and there scorched in streaks where the rock had melted and dripped towards the floor.
In the distance a light could be seen: the golden, flickering light of a torch; and there were voices.
The time grows close," said Taliesyn. "Arthur has chosen his Queen."
"Is that so?" replied the Dragon, in a voice like paper rustling in a cave. "So soon."
"Emrys should be warned."
"I'm not sure. In this new time Guinevere is so different. She's just a serving girl. She has no noble lineage. She has no place at court. Perhaps this time she has no part to play."
"I fear otherwise. Arthur would marry her. His love burns as strong as ever."
"And hers?"
"Interestingly, perhaps more than might be expected. But temptation will come and when it does it is by no means certain that she will choose Arthur. It is up to Emrys to tip the balance in the King's favour."
"I fail to see what Merlin could do about it. He is a boy, still, in many ways. He knows nothing of romance, or threats to women's hearts."
Taliesyn smiled mysteriously. "Is that so?"
The Dragon narrowed his eyes. "You know otherwise?"
Taliesyn shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm sure he would have told me," the Dragon said.
"You were always too busy pushing him at Arthur."
"Arthur is where his destiny lies. To have done otherwise would have been no less than foolish."
Taliesyn paced back and forth, turning the crystal in his hand. "And yet it comes to nought. I confess, my old friend, I see no clear path through this. The future is murky at best and we have been thwarted so often. The memories are so many now I fear…."
"I believe this is the last chance for Albion," said the Dragon. "If we fail this time the land is truly doomed."
Taliesyn put a steady hand on the dragon's leg, warm skin on cool scales.
"Then we must not fail. Our task is clear. To warn Emrys of the threat and let him see to it that Arthur is not betrayed."
"Indeed," the Dragon said. "I shall speak to him."
"I could show him a future. He might not believe such a thing of his future Queen otherwise."
"Merlin does not trust the crystals."
"He doesn't always trust you either."
The Dragon swished his tail irritably. "If he fails to listen to me, we will take more drastic measures."
Taliesyn considered this for a moment, then nodded. "So be it. I shall take my leave for now, old friend." He bowed deeply, and turned to walk away.
"Romance?" the Dragon said. "Merlin? Really?"
Taliesyn smiled a little smile. "The Lady of the Lake, no less."
"The Lady?" said the Dragon, astonished.
"Indeed."
And then the Dragon laughed, the bellowing sound of it echoing around the cave, rumbling through the mountain like thunder.
It rang in Taliesyn's ears as he disappeared through the mists.