Chapter 10

A Dragon's Revenge

*Hides behind shield, don't hurt me! :(

I will post an update notice on my profile marking my progress between updates if any of you want to know. If any of you have any ideas for what you might like to see, please leave a review. I have the master plan, but sometimes I need ideas for the little things. Any Merlin characters you want alive rather than dead, any possible scenes you think would be funny, let me know! I might write it!

A lot of the dialogue in this chapter is taken directly from the episode, the transcript of which can be found at scriptline . livejournal 12577 . html

I hope you all understand this by now, but I do not own these characters or the original stories.

Merlin stood silently in the council chambers, listening as as the council discussed what to do. The past three days had been full of terror; walls shaking and crumbling from the siege, soot raining down on the masses as flames were unleashed upon the city. The dragon attacked only at night, but fear allowed very little rest during the day. Everyone: the knights, the servants, and the villagers, were exhausted. Even now smoke rose in huge plumes that could be seen from miles away. Camelot was in its own personal purgatory, suffering from the sins of its ruler.

"The dead number 49 men, 27 women, a further 18 women and children are unaccounted for. Most of last night's fires are now out. The castle walls, in particular, the western section are near to collapse, I could go on." Arthur reported.

"Do you have any idea how the beast escaped?" The king asked. Once more, Merlin felt shame burn through him, this was all his fault.

"I regret to say, Sire, we don't." Sir Leon said. Merlin shifted a tiny bit, Let's hope they never find out, he thought to himself.

"There must be some way to rid ourselves of this aberration." Uther stated. He began to pace.

The previous night Merlin had attempted to use his magic on the dragon, enchanting a nearby spear to stab him. But to no avail, it had merely bounced off the dragon's thick scales. The dragon had sneered at him, "Do not imagine that your petty magic can harm me."

"Why are you doing this?" Merlin had shouted. "You're killing innocent people!" He didn't understand it. After everything the dragon had preached about his destiny, Camelot, Arthur, and Albion, he didn't understand why he would attack the city he had so often helped Merlin to save. What astonished him even more is that the dragon even took a swipe at Arthur when the prince got in his way. One lash of the tail and the prince was thrown back. Arthur wasn't hurt too badly, but he received a deep red scratch across his chest. The dragon always enforced the idea that Arthur Pendragon must live for magic to be returned to the realm. So why would he attack Arthur?

Later on his mentor had explained to him that dragons are creatures of the old religion, so Merlin's magic would have no effect on him. They could always find another way to stop the siege, but the warlock had never felt so powerless.

He was shaken out of his thoughts as the king addressed his mentor. "Gaius?"

"We need a dragonlord Sire."

"You know as well as I that is not an option."

"Sire, what if...there was, indeed, one last dragonlord left." Only someone close to Gaius would recognize his discomfort: his hands were clasped tightly behind his back and his shoulders were stiff.

"That is not possible."

"But if there was..." The physician trailed off.

"What are you saying Gaius?"

"It may just be a rumor, I am not sure, but I think there is one Dragonlord still alive. He goes by the name of Balinor."

"Balinor?" Uther repeated blankly.

"Where does he live?" Asked Arthur.

"He was last seen many years ago in Cenred's kingdom, on the border town of Enged."

"If this man exists then it is our duty to find him." Arthur stated. That was just like Arthur, brave to a fault. Ready to set out on a mission to without knowing the details first.

"Our treaty with Cenred no longer holds, we are at war. If they discovered you beyond our border, they would kill you!" Uther exclaimed.

"I will go alone, that way I will not be detected." Arthur stubbornly set his jaw.

"It is too dangerous." Uther insisted.

"Do not turn this into a battle of wills Father." Merlin looked up in surprise; Arthur rarely ever disagreed with his father in public.

"I am not speaking to you as your father, I am speaking to you as King!"

"I will ride immediately." Arthur ignored him.

"My concern is for you." The king said desperately. Despite his aloofness, the king really did care about his son.

"Mine is for Camelot, I will send word when I've found him." Arthur turned on his heel, striding towards the door.

"Take at least 3 knights with you." The king ordered.

Without looking back Arthur said, "I will take one knight with me. Prepare the horses Merlin."

"A mission? In the middle of a siege?"

"Arthur requested me specifically; we are searching for a Dragonlord, I am told they and they alone can control dragons."

"It'll be dangerous, are yeh sure you don't want me comin' with, lass?"

"I'll be fine Coram," she smiled, " Besides, I've got Faithful with me."

A resigned look crossed Coram's face, he had grown used to Alanna's stubbornness. He knelt down and looked the cat in the eye. "Take good care of her yeh hear me? Protect her."

Faithful twitched his tail in amusement. Does that include protecting her from herself?

Merlin was in Gaius's chambers, packing supplies for their trip. "Who were the Dragonlords, Gaius?"

"The Dragonlords were men who could talk to the dragons, tame them."

"What happened to them?"

"Uther believed the art of the Dragonlord was too close to sorcery, so he had them rounded up and slaughtered." Gaius answered sadly.

"But you knew one was still alive, how?"

Gaius raised an eyebrow. "I helped him escape."

"Really?"

His mentor looked at him gravely. "Merlin, you've never heard the name Balinor? Your mother never mentioned him?"

Merlin shook his head in confusion, "No, why would my mother mention him?"

"After I helped Balinor escape, he fled to Ealdor. Your mother took him in."

"She stood up against Uther?" He asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"She was very brave." Merlin was impressed.

"When Uther discovered where Balinor was, he sent knights to Ealdor to hunt him down, and Balinor was forced to flee."

"Why did my mother never tell me?"

Gaius looked quite melancholy, "I promised her I wouldn't speak of these things, but I think you ought to know."

"Know what?"

"I've always treated you as my own son, but you are not." Merlin looked at the older man warily, where was he going with this?

"You've always been like a father to me Gaius, but what are you saying?"

"The man you are going to find is your father."

"What?! My father, he was a dragonlord?! Why did no one tell me?" Shock, hurt, and betrayal rolled through him. No one had seen fit to tell him who his father was, was he not trusted?

"Your mother thought it was too dangerous." Gaius defended.

"I had a right to know!" Merlin shouted. All his life he had been made fun of for having no father. All the other children in Ealdor – except Will of course – had picked on him; calling him a bastard and punishing him for the simple crime of never knowing his father. Besides, he had been declared illegal for simply being born with magic, how could knowing his father's name put him in any more danger than that!

"She wanted to protect you." Gaius said softly.

Merlin looked at him defiantly, angry tears swimming in his eyes. In a cold voice he said, "No. I had a right to know."

An hour later he was saddling his horse. Merlin was still angry about being kept in the dark. For 19 years he never even knew his father's name; but even as upset as he was, he regretted raising his voice to the man who had taken him in. When his guardian made a reappearance, Merlin was quick to apologize.

"Gaius, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have -"

"I'm sorry too Merlin. You had a right to know."

Merlin looked away awkwardly as he finished tying down his supplies. Gaius put a calming hand on his shoulder, before wrapping him in a hug. "Be safe."

"I'll do my best Gaius, but you know how Arthur attracts trouble like flies to manure."

Gaius gave a weary chuckle before looking at him seriously. "Merlin, Arthur cannot know who your father is, as the son of a Dragonlord, Uther would hold you under the highest suspicion."

Merlin sighed sadly, more secrets. But he nodded in understanding. "I'll see you soon Gaius."

He mounted his horse and rode to the west gate, there he met with Arthur and Alan and they took off of their mission.

From the window, Uther watched his son leave, the lanky manservant and a red-headed knight beside him. He addressed a nearby knight, Sir Leon. "Who is the red-haired knight riding with my son?"

"That is Sir Alan of Trebond, Sire."

The king's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I've never heard of Trebond."

"Sir Alan said he came a long way to get to Camelot, that it's a small place far outside our borders."

"Fetch me Gaius and Geoffrey, the Court Genealogist."

I apologize about how rushed and dialogue-heavy this chapter was. I know Merlin's reaction was sort of shallow and superficial, but I was stuck. Any of you recognize what Uther might do? I'd love to hear any predictions you might have.