A/N: This is the first of a new three part series that I've had in my head for a while. It is an AU story that has nothing to do with my other series. I'm taking it in a whole new direction and I hope that those who've read the Destiny series will enjoy this one as well. Starting with this quote which I think defines Uther's motivation perfectly.


Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

Yoda, Star Wars


Chapter 1: A Dragonlord's Escape

There was a time when the great kingdom of Camelot was ruled by a very power mad king. He imposed hard taxes on his people but that was the nicest thing he did. He soon did business with slave traders and allowed them to do business using his own people like they were products for trading. It greatly added to Camelot's wealth but the people were suffering and getting angry. One lord started to petition that their king was as good as a common thief as how he let these men take strong able bodied men from their families to line their pockets. The king executed him for treason but that decision would come back to haunt him. That was because the man's son vowed to end his reign once and for all in retaliation and that man was Uther Pendragon. Uther knew to conquer and defeat him he would need help through the support from one of the most influential noble families in the land: the Dubois. To cement their aid he had agreed to a marriage to their only female heir, a blond beauty by the name Ygraine. Uther was all too happy as she seemed to be fair in beauty and heart and she had immediately caught his eye at first meet. Uther marched against the king and managed to defeat him. After Uther's victory he and Ygraine were crowned King and Queen of Camelot.

The next five years had the people trying to forget the time of the 'Greedy King' in the wake of Uther's new rule. Slowly but surely, Uther started to bring order back to the land that had been allowed to spring up under the careless watch of the Greedy King. He reinforced the knights' code and added a segment that guaranteed that each knight would be loyal to the crown by focusing membership only to houses that swore their fealty. He wanted to avoid the mistakes from his predecessor's reign. It seemed that everything would work itself well for Uther except for one thing: his dynasty. It would seem that Ygraine, soon after their wedding, had contracted a hard hitting disease. She fought it off but it was determined that the chances that she might be bearing any children would be almost non-existent. The conversation often echoed in his mind when it went to the subject.

"Are you sure?" Uther asked as he looked to his wife as he looked to his sleeping wife.

Gaius, his longtime friend and new court physician nodded gravely. "The worst is past. Her chills have now stopped but I fear that the damage has been done."

"What do you mean Gaius? What damage?" he asked with his voice cracking.

"Sire, I'm afraid that Ygraine's uterus might have suffered from this. The damage might be severe enough to be long term."

"What are you trying to say Gaius?"

The physician bit the inside of his cheek as he seemed to brace himself for the worst. "I'm afraid that the chances of Ygraine bearing any children might just be next to none."

Uther didn't want to believe that but after five years with no child in sight he was starting to get scared that it was the hard truth. The Pendragon dynasty, his father's dynasty, it would all end with him. He couldn't let that happen. The only reason he was even able to get the strength to take the crown was because of his father and if he couldn't further their line then it would all be for nothing. Ygraine herself mourned her fate as she would have loved to have had at least one child to be able to hold in her arms and gaze back at her with pretty eyes. Uther wanted her to have that. He felt she deserved that and that he deserved an heir. There had to be a way. One day, as Uther was getting ready to ride out for a routine inspection his gaze fell on a small puppet theatre set up in the lower town. It was being done by a peasant hedge wizard as he entertained some children. That was the answer: magic.

Magic; it is a power few can truly define. A force that was as part of the world the wind and water were and just as essential. It had the power to bring forth great prosperity and great ruin. It caused empires to both rise and fall, made the meek mighty and made the mighty fall and the ones to see it all unfold were the Dragons. They helped men tap into the magic and found some that they felt kinship with and those men became known to the world as the Dragonlords. Over time magic spawned an entire religion centered on it and its ways. Priests and Priestesses who were trained in its art and ways perhaps for their whole life. They were of an order that had dominion over the Isle of the Blessed.

Uther knew that it must have the answer. If a poor and mediocre man could bring some straw hand puppets to life then surely it could give life to an heir for himself. He needed the very best and the priests and priestesses of the Old Religion would no doubt know the way. He approached a priestess that was a new addition to their order, a beauty by the name of Nimueh. He brought her back to Camelot under pretense of forming ties between Camelot and the Old Religion. Over time they did become good friends and Uther felt he could put true trust in Nimueh. He then told her of his fears for him and Ygraine and she lent a sympathetic ear to his troubles. He asked if she knew of something that could help his wife bear a child. She said that she would look for him and he said that she would always have his gratitude.

It was over a month later that she came to him with a solution. She told him how Ygraine could have a child and explained it to him. Yet, there was a catch: For a life to be given one had to be taken to keep the balance in check. Uther understood that someone would have to die for an heir to be born. Uther asked Nimueh to prepare the magic needed while he would handle the rest. The night where he would consummate an heir he had ordered for an execution of one of the prisoners in his dungeon. It was just a run of the mill thief that normally would serve a menial sentence but this was necessary. He executed him for the payment of death and then went to his wife. It was soon after that Gaius had told Uther that Ygraine had fallen pregnant. Uther was feeling truly triumphant. He confided in Gaius his request to Nimueh and Gaius had fallen silent in shock. He knew some of such magical bargains but he didn't think that Uther truly understood just what he had agreed to. This wasn't like giving a small coin in exchange for a service, this was magic that tampered with life and death and it wasn't to be taken lightly. Soon the time came for Ygraine to fall into labor and she birthed a healthy baby boy. However, Ygraine's life faded almost as soon as the boy was born.

Uther was devastated. He couldn't believe that Ygraine had been taken when he had exchanged for their son Arthur when he already made the payment of a life months before. What had he done? That question haunted him for a fortnight before it became: What had Nimueh done? It was Nimueh's fault that this happened. He trusted her and she betrayed him. Why? Did she think that killing his wife would open the way for her, was that it? He hated the very thought of her. Soon he had been given a report of three of his knights being killed as they stopped a sorcerer who had tried to bully a farmer out of his land and his youngest daughter. A sorcerer and his magic, just like Nimueh! They were all twisted and rotten to the core! It wouldn't just be Nimueh who would answer for this. It was everyone who used the same foul magic that she did that would pay for what had been done.


Uther spent the next month collecting information on the people that had ever used magic in his kingdom. He ordered his forges to prepare many shackles and cuffs of salted iron to help hold the abundance of special prisoners he would have. He drew up a list of all the people who delved in sorcery and planned to strike them all down in the name of his wife and queen. They wouldn't take anything else from him or anyone ever again. He knew that Gaius had once practiced but he hadn't used any for a while now and when asked said that he just didn't have the talent for it. Uther was glad for that. Gaius however was no fool. He had a suspicion what Uther might be doing and soon learned of his plans. He saw that his beloved Alice was on Uther's list and covertly struck her off before he warned her to leave Camelot. It was in the nick of time before Uther, with a grand declaration, started his Great Purge of magic. He decreed it to be forbidden on the pain of death and dealt out the sentence. He executed dozens of people within the walls of his own city before turning his attention everywhere else. The Isle of the Blessed was his chief concern as he led the attack himself with his full army. The casualties for both sides was great but Uther managed to conquer the once holy isle. Unfortunately he found no sign of Nimueh there.

With the Isle of the Blessed conquered and the priests and priestesses eradicated it seemed that everything else would be easy from now on. A druid prisoner tried to warn Uther that what he was doing would have consequences that would bring calamity to him and his kingdom but he turned a death ear before he gave the executioner the order to lop off his head. He didn't see any cause for alarm. Uther soon ran into trouble after the first year mark in his Great Purge when he came up against a young dragonlord by the name of Balinor Ambrosius.

Balinor was livid as many of his fellow dragonlords and dragons on these treacherous sneak attacks when many never did anything to harm the innocent. He wasn't alone in his anger as Kilgharrah, the Great Dragon and long-time friend, answered his call to try and stop this madness. They and the rest of their kin started to protest Uther's Purge in public and soon were forced to fight when his soldiers came. However numbers were not on their side and their fellow kind was killed by overwhelming forces until it came down to just the two of them. Balinor and Kilgharrah were the mightiest of the bunch and wouldn't falter. They took this to the city itself and launched a grand assault that rocked it very foundations. It was terrifying and many of the people pled and pressured Uther to negotiate. Uther sent an envoy to call for a truce. He claimed that he and his people had had enough of all this and just wanted it to end. Kilgharrah didn't feel like listening but Balinor convinced him otherwise. It wasn't just there side who had suffered losses. Camelot had lost many in the high hundreds and that was only the soldiers. He argued that perhaps Uther must've had enough especially with so many pleading for him to stop. Kilgharrah had told him of Uther's woe with his wife and he believed that Uther was starting to see that this all just wasn't worth it anymore. How could they consider themselves to truly be the noblest of magical beings if they didn't act noble and try to strive for peace. Kilgharrah saw that his friend had a point.

Uther called for a place to meet with both of them for a peaceful solution and they agreed. When Balinor showed up for the meeting with Kilgharrah Uther sprung up a trap. He ambushed them and had special chains that he had a few of his captive sorcerers create for him to bind the dragon (he had said they would be pardoned but executed them as soon as they were done).. Kilgharrah spat fire at a few but Uther screamed that if the dragon attacked any more of his men that Balinor was to be killed. A few men had crossbows aimed at him and Kilgharrah grit his fangs and stopped to spar his friend. Two knights went forward and restrained Balinor in cuffs of salted iron. It didn't matter, his magical spell work was a little lacking anyway.

"What is this?" Balinor said as he struggled against his captures. "You called us here to make peace!"

Uther snorted in disbelief. "Peace? What do vile creatures such as you know of peace? You only know of bringing deceit and betrayal and destroy everything you touch. You are nothing but evil to this land as is all of your kind!"

Balinor couldn't believe what he was hearing. He felt like such a fool. He can't believe he actually trusted this man's pleas. "You are mad! We call off our assault and agree to a peace meeting only to get ambushed by your men and we are the deceitful and treacherous ones?!" He then looked about at all the men around him. "Do you men have no shame? No conscience at all? My dragon and I didn't need to do this. We could've easily just kept attacking and burned all of Camelot down but we didn't. I came to spare you and the citizens the pain of a dragon's flame and to end this fighting and this is how you answer a gesture for peace?"

Some of the knights seemed look a little uncomfortable at Balinor's words but Uther wasn't having doubt and second guessing fall upon his men.

"Do not listen to this man's words," he announced. "He is only trying to manipulate you. How many of you lost friends and brothers thanks to this man? He knows he and his beast are trapped and is doing all he can to free himself." He went up to Balinor and gave him a punch across the jaw. "We have triumphed against the pinnacle of magic. Men, mark this day for the chronicles of our kingdom's history. We have made a giant step towards having safety and security be forever restored to Camelot and captured the last dragon and dragonlord! Magic's greatest monsters have fallen!"

Cheers of victory started to ring out amongst all of them and Balinor was teeming with anger as hot as a dragon's flame.

"You are the only monster in this field. Mark my words Uther;" he growled. "You will answer for all of this! I swear it on my honor as a dragonlord!"

"Then it's a good thing that you magic people have no honor then."

"Say whatever you need to live with yourself Uther," he spat before Uther gave the order to take him away.

Uther decreed that this dragon would be kept in the caverns below Camelot and serve as an example to those that would use or side with magic the price for such action. There were still so many sorcerers and magic users still spread about and hiding out there but he now would have them all do so in fear until their time had come. He also ordered that Balinor would die by fire on the pyre in a few days. He found it appropriate to end the dragonlord's life by this method and poetic as well. Balinor couldn't bear to look at any of these people as he was led out of Uther's throne room. He was full of regret now. He felt that he was a man truly befitting the title of "dragonlord". A man of true honor and nobility as was befitting the race of men who shared kinship with the dragons. Was the noble gesture of peace and mercy he showed this city not enough for any of these people?


But it was enough for one to defy Uther for him. The day before his execution was due Balinor was mulling over his approaching death as he gazed out of the window to see the pyre being built outside. The bars behind him opened as the Court Physician walked in.

"Hello there," he said as he brought a small bag inside.

"Who are you?" Balinor asked.

"I'm Gaius. I'm the Court Physician."

"Nice to meet you. Although I do have to ask why the Court Physician is here?"

"I'm here to treat your injuries. I believe that our knights were a little rough with you and you have some cuts to your face that need cleaning."

"Why would that matter? I'm set to die tomorrow pretty or not," he said crabbily.

"Well the king feels that any note of appearance would draw in sympathy for the enemy amongst the people when they see you led to the pyre and they feel doubt about your fate."

"Well…we wouldn't want that, wouldn't we?" he sarcastically commented before he just sat and left the man to his work.

"Funny, most would put up more of a challenge." Gaius said.

Uther didn't deserve things to be easier but that wasn't any reason to take it out on this man. Balinor didn't want to spend his last day without any dignity which he calmly explained to Gaius. As he cleaned the man's cuts Gaius started trying to make small talk. Balinor wasn't participating though. Gaius could see that the man was appreciating the effort to make him comfortable.

Finally, "I've heard many stories of your people. I must say that you don't disappoint the tales of the nobility and grace of the Dragonlords. Not many would've tried for peace like you did for all these people and for your fellow magic users."

"And it seems that it meant nothing," he simply answered. "I never should've given my trust and just finished what was set out to be done from the very beginning. It's cost me everything."

As Gaius packed up, he took out a small bit of fresh warm bread wrapped in a cloth and gave it to him. "Don't be so sure." He then left the cell and was escorted out.

Balinor unwrapped the bread and bit into it as he dropped the cloth. As he chewed what was perhaps the last thing he would eat he looked back down at his feet to see something sticking out of the cloth. It was a small piece of paper that had three lines written on it. One said 'Wait for nightfall.' The other two lines were spells, one for unlocking doors and another for inducing sleep. He picked up the clot to wipe his mouth of crumbs to find something on the other side. It had a map that had a circle on a space marking a village. It was a place beyond Camelot's borders.


That night, a storm blew in. The rain pounded hard and lightning lit the skies. Balinor waited until a few minutes after the guard was changed to set his plan in motion. This way it would be a while before there would be another check and sweep around this area of the castle. He unlocked the cell with the new spell added to his arsenal and quietly crept out. He sent the guard to sleep with his other new spell and made his way through the corridors until he was outside. There were many locked doors but thanks to his new spell he was able to bypass them and not leave evidence that anything was disturbed. He crept through the city streets using the poor visibility from the storm as cover and miraculously found his way out of the city limits. He headed off for the safety of the woods to begin his trek to where Gaius had suggested he go for safety.

As Balinor ran he had no idea that destiny had intended for him to escape. Where he would go and whom he would come to meet when he got there would play towards what destiny had in mind for the entire land. Destiny however had a counterpart: Fate. Just a single moment could alter destiny's plans by a wide margin and set up an entirely new one. By a freaky turn of fate a bolt of lightning, brighter and bigger than any seen that night struck behind Balinor and made him look back at the city. In that moment, as he gazed at it, it all came rushing back to him. The deceit, the betrayal and the fact that his friend who had given his faith to him was still trapped there because of him. In that moment…

"I can't leave yet," he mumbled. "I'm not leaving you there my friend."


End of Chapter 1

A/N: Well, what do you think. Is it a good start? I hope I've gotten you all excited for what's to come later on.