The Last of his Kind [Arthur]

[consultingwarlock]

'It's all my fault', were the words repeating themselves over and over in Merlin's head. It was the third night since he had set the dragon loose from deep beneath Camelot, and the city looked close to collapse. Flames licked at every surface they could find, rubble was strewn over the once-majestic courtyard, and the screams of the victims seemed never ending. He hadn't seen anything like the death and destruction surrounding them at this point in time, and had never felt so helpless. Kilgharrah was taking out his rage, bottled up through centuries of imprisonment, out on the people who lived under the rule of his jailer. Merlin had been foolish to trust that the dragon would do anything less than take revenge. He only wished that there had been another way to avoid this conflict, but the dragon's help was the only thing that had stopped the Knights of Medhir and he had seen no other way out. Now the people of Camelot were paying the price.

Throughout the night the battle between men and dragon waged, with Arthur dealt a savage blow across the shoulder in his efforts to protect Gwen. Merlin had desperately tried to stop Kilgharrah with an enchanted spear, but it bounced harmlessly off the dragon's scales, his magic having no effect. 'Why are you doing this?!' he had screamed at the retreating form of the dragon, 'You're killing innocent people!' Despair had washed over him at that moment when he received no reply. Kilgharrah was too full of hate to feel remorse over his actions, and would continue until everything Uther ruled over was crushed. No matter the trail of dead left in his wake.

'The dead number 49 men, 27 women, a further 18 women and children are unaccounted for...' was the sombre report from Arthur the next day. Their situation looked even worse than the previous day, with the west section of the castle near to collapse. No one had any ideas of how to defeat the beast. That was, until Gaius spoke of the last Dragonlord named Balinor. Merlin had stood to the side of the room as Uther debated the existance of such a man with Gaius, and then when he was told of the rumours surrounding the Dragonlord, watched as Uther began arguing with Arthur over his willingness to search for the man. In the end, Arthur's conviction over the safety of his people won out, and he had left the room to equip for the journey ahead, giving orders for Merlin to prepare the horses.

A short while later, when Merlin was packing food for the journey, he had enquired about who the Dragonlords were to Gauis. However, he noticed that something was wrong from the beginning of the conversation, as his mentor took longer in replying than he usually would. Interest peaked more by this observation, Merlin had pressed for answers. Gauis finally spoke of men who were once able to converse with the dragons, tame them, and how because of Uther's hatred of anything related to magic, he believed that the Dragonlord's powers were too closely related to sorcery and had them slaughtered. After a moment, a thought struck him. 'How did you know?' he had asked, curious as to how Gauis was so knowledgeable in the whereabouts of the last remaning Dragonlord. The physician's answer made Merlin see him in a new light, although he should have expected it as Gauis was harbouring a warlock under Uther's nose at the present time. 'I helped him escape.'

After a moment's pause, Gauis had asked tentively, 'Merlin, you've never heard the name Balinor before?' At Merlin's negative reply, he asked a different question that left Merlin confused. 'Your mother never mentioned him?' Gaius obviously heard the confusion in his voice, because he carried on to tell Merlin that his mother had taken Balinor in when he was on the run. Now he had become more confused; the idea that his mother had kept something as important as this from him seemed unthinkable. But then Gauis had told him something that changed everything. 'The man you are going to look for... is your father.' From the seriousness of his tone, Merlin could tell it was the truth. It seemed as if all the air went out of the room at that moment; he had struggled to breathe, to comprehend what he had just heard. Anger, betrayal, sadness, all those emotions fought for precidence in his mind. He had raised his voice at Gaius, letting all his emotions bleed out into his words. 'Why did no one ever tell me?!' At Gauis' insistance that his mother only hid the truth to protect him, Merlin had stepped forward, tears threatening to fall, and replied, betrayal laced in his tone, 'No. I had a right to know.'

Now he was waiting to leave Camelot, picking at one of the straps on the saddle and listening to the sounds of people trying to repair some of the damage before nightfall. He looked up at the approaching footsteps, only to avoid eye contact when he saw who it was. "Have you got everything you need?" Gauis asked gently. Merlin only nodded in response. Guilt over how he had spoken to the physician earlier that day overwhelmed him, and he turned to face the old man, speaking quietly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Gauis looked at him, gaze softening, and replied, "I know that." Nodding to show he'd understood, he returned the gaze gratefully. Just then, Arthur appeared from behind, and after a brief exchange of words (Merlin had forgotten to help the Prince get ready, too caught up in thoughts of his father), Arthur mounted his horse and moved off. Merlin had commented on Arthur's brief wince of pain, knowing that to outwardly show any sign of injury was weakness in Arthur's eyes. But at the Prince's assurance that it was just a scratch, Merlin returned his thoughts to dwelling on who they were looking for. After promising Gauis he would not tell Arthur of Balinor's relation to him, Merlin rode out through the gates, catching up with the Prince.

He did not know what to expect in the coming days. He only hoped that Balinor would agree to help. And that Camelot didn't fall in their absence.

Setting: Camelot Courtyard, later in Cenred's Kingdom
Time of Day: Early Afternoon
Timeline: During The Last Dragonlord
Tag: Arthur
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