A flap of wings, and the dragon landed in the abandoned alleyway. He shifted himself into his human form, and then lifted the veil of invisibility. He had felt the presence of Arthur in London, but it had taken him a few weeks to find him in this large city. He had known about and had been watching over Merlin, without Merlin's knowledge for many years now. It had been tough to use magic stronger than Merlin's so that he wouldn't be detected, but so far it had worked.

But something was coming and now was the time to let down the disguise

He walked out of the alleyway, a couple of blocks from where Merlin was walking, and walked in a pattern to intercept John.

The watcher was even more ancient than Merlin, and had been guarding and watching over the man in the guise of Mike Stamford since Merlin came back from Afghanistan. It was time to reveal his full form.

"Oi, John! fancy seeing you here!" Mike said, for now still using his shielding magic to cover his true form. He would drop it soon enough.