A/N: Here comes the second chapter. I truly think you'll like the third one better, because they'll move straight to the Enchanted Forest and our favourite True Loves (all of them, ALL OF THEM!) but for now, Kilghie's waiting.

2. Dragon fire

A few days passed after those meaningful events.

Galahad, as appointed by Mordred, by then sat in the Siege Perilous at every meeting of the Round Table. His father had taken upon himself to train him by sword every day in preparation for his and Seren's quest.

A small community of druids had entered the city, occupying the courtyard of the castle as per Guinevere's agreement. She herself recognized many years prior that magic, when used for good reasons, was not a threat. She could be often seen among the families, talking with mothers, playing with children, for a time remembering when she still was that serving girl roaming the Lower Town.

Seren hid in her chambers for days, refusing any visitors, even Galahad.

The news of her magical parentage had taken quite a toll on her morale. She felt even more the feeling of abandon she often felt while thinking of her mother, a mother that had not loved her child enough to will to stay by her side.

She remained sat on her bed for hours on end, eyes locked to Fang in her lap, trying by all the means she could think of to find excuses for that person she missed and loathed at the same time.

A backpack laid on the table of her room, waiting to be filled by what would be necessary for her and Galahad's trip to wherever they'd go.

That too had taken a toll. Knowing she was the only hope not only of Camelot but also of all the realms that were. That she had a magic no one could counteract, even if she had never used it consciously before.

Now that she thought about it, Seren could remember moments of her early childhood when strange things had happened: a sword flying off Lancelot's grip while they playfully sparred, a horse calming down even without words being heard, even food coming out of nowhere on a cold night before the hearth.

Mordred was right. She had magic.

But she could not use it. Not anymore. Not as hard as she thought about it.

When the morning came when news of the witch arrived, Seren got up early and started to pack whatever she could think of.

An hour in, Guinevere joined her.

The Queen was visibly sad to see her protégée go, as her shaking hands could hint on. She occupied herself with packing Seren's clothes, a cloak for cold nights, as well as her bedroll, while the young woman took care of her healing necessities and the many arrows she'd need in her quiver.

When their deed was done, both women stopped in their tracks and eyed each other.

Gwen sighed deeply before reaching for Seren, pulling her to her arms to hug her tightly.

"I am so sorry."

Seren closed her eyes, breathing in the flowery scent of her aunt. "Sorry for what? You've given me a home, a family, taught me everything you knew, were a mother in so many ways... You have nothing to be sorry for."

Gwen hugged her even tighter, and chuckled through silent sobs. "I am sorry because I should have known you were magical. Your mother was so powerful... I should have known. And now you're leaving us, and you don't know... I'm so sorry."

"I am sorry too... But you can't be. My uncle should be sorry. He could have stayed, taught me himself, instead of leaving to do whatever he did all these years..."

Gwen untangled herself from Seren, wiping her tears away. "He was away trying to find his sister. He left us and you to find her and bring her back home. When he found no trace, he tried to come back, but...he saw that you were too old already to remember and forgive him... Another thing I should have told you..."

Seren didn't answer right away, moved by her words.

So, at least one of her blood family had tried to remain by her side? Well, this changed nothing. She still had been far too lonely these last twenty years...

Seren moved to grab her backpack and leave the room, but Guinevere stopped her, a soft hand grabbing her arm.

"Wait, Seren, I... I have something to tell you that could help."

Seren's eyes widened, their green evident in the sunlight. "I'm listening, of course."

Gwen released her arm and went to stand by the window. "All these years ago, when Arthur died... Lancelot came to me with a news. He had roamed the forest in search for remaining Saxons and had stumbled upon...an old friend of your mother's. I have since granted him free passage through our land, and he's lived there ever since." Her brown eyes met Seren's green once again. "Her dragon, Kilgharrah."

Seren's brow furrowed. "Her dragon is still alive?"

"He is, though old and diminished. He cannot fly onto far journeys anymore, and therefore, he lives on the shores of the Lake of Avalon. Lancelot rides often to give him food on harsh seasons. They met on more than one occasion."

"So, you'd want me to meet him? Why?"

"Your mother once told me that Kilgharrah was the one to awaken her magic. When she first came here, it was potent, but one night, she went to him, and he awakened it. Maybe he can awaken yours too. After all, you have her blood in your veins..."

"Unfortunately..." she answered in a whisper. Her eyes met her aunt's again. "On the shores of the Lake of Avalon, you say?"

"Yes. He says it is the only place that gives him solace and peace, as it still is magical."

"Then I'll go to him. Maybe can ask him a couple of questions too..."

"Yes, maybe..." Gwen walked to her carefully, then drew her back in for another hug. "I will miss you so much, my darling..."

"And I you, Auntie. Promise me you'll survive anything that witch sends your way."

"I promise."

"And promise you'll take care of Uncle Lance."

She chuckled. "I've always taken care of him, I'm not going to stop now..." Her eyes darkened with new tears. "You take care of my son."

Seren nodded. "With my life."

Gwen nodded, then released her, pushing her towards the door. "Go on. If you stay any longer, I'll never let you leave..."

Seren chuckled, kissed her aunt's cheek, and sauntered to the door, Fang in one hand, her bag in the other.

Ready for adventure.

She met Lancelot's hug with more force than Gwen's.

If she had always considered the Queen her aunt, the Knight was closer to be her father than anyone else in the castle. Leaving his side would be the most difficult thing she ever had to do.

"Remember what I've told you, Seren. Your sword is an extension of your arm, your bow is-"

"The finger with which you release the arrow. I know." She smiled faintly, her hand not leaving his arm. "Be careful."

"You be careful. And take care of Gad."

"I will."

Lancelot's dark eyes glistened with unshed tears, and he brought her back into his arms for a last hug before he pushed her away and towards her horse. "Leave now. Go. Live. Fight. Love. And come back to us."

Seren smiled again, although it did not reach her eyes, and climbed onto her saddle. She launched a last glance at her childhood home and family, before kicking Lightning's sides and leaving it...for a good long while.

Galahad followed close, his blue eyes dark with grief.

They rode for almost half a day before Seren couldn't bear the silence anymore.

She turned to her companion, who was still looking down at his hands, following her without so much as a thought, and sighed. "Gad... You need to cheer up."

"How can I cheer up, Ren? I've just left my parents, perhaps forever. Maybe next time I walk into Camelot's walls, they'll be dead."

Seren turned around again, hiding the tears forming in her own eyes. "You think I haven't thought about it? But this is why we're leaving. To make sure they won't die."

"If you say so..."

And he remained silent once more.

Night fell, and they were still a good ten leagues away from the Lake.

Seren decided, as Galahad remained silent and grim, to stop for the night. She tied her horse to a tree branch close to a bush of edible leaves, and moved to place her bedroll onto a soft dirty ground.

As Galahad settled next to her in silence, she moved to gather twigs and branches to make a fire.

At last, the young knight got out of his stupor.

"You know, Father told me about the dragon. When I was younger."

Seren, who was by then piling the wood and trying to set fire to it with her silex, raised a brow. "I don't think he ever told me about it."

"He said that's partly thanks to him he was still alive." Galahad's blue eyes met Seren's green as the flames started to crack up, and he carried on his story. "He told me of how he died once."

Seren huffed. "No one dies 'once'. You die, end of. There is no dying more than once."

"Father came back from the dead. He told me the whole story. I can't forget it. I thought it beautiful and still...horrible."

She settled against a tree, and sighed. "Go on. You haven't told me half as enough."

Galahad smirked a little in the firelight. "Once, the Veil between the worlds was torn apart. King Arthur, Emrys and Father went to mend it. Arthur willed to sacrifice himself for it, and Emrys to sacrifice himself for Arthur's sake. Father decided he would sacrifice himself for both his friends, and did it. He died." He paused. "He says he doesn't really remember what it was like to die. He says he felt as if mere seconds had passed before he opened his eyes again and your mother was stooped above him."

Seren's eyes widened. "My mother?"

Galahad nodded. "He told me that when he woke up that next time, Lily had brought him back from the dead by retrieving his soul. But that prior to that, a shadow of him had brought havoc on Camelot. The Lady Morgana had learnt that King Arthur wished to marry Mother, and she brought back to the living the only person she knew whom Mother loved before she did the king: Father." He smiled a little. "She was right, in a sense. Mother and Father were caught kissing, and Arthur willed to kill them both, but your mother explained the whole ordeal, and Mother remained unscathed, and married the king eventually. He told me that Emrys wished to let him go back to the dead, but that Lily was fiercely against it."

Seren sighed. "He was her best friend."

"Yes. So, she went to her dragon and asked for a way to bring him back, and he gave her one. She gave Father back his soul in exchange for an old sick man's life, and ever since, he is alive and well." He stopped, his eyes settled onto the flames.

Seren fiddled with her hands for a moment, then settled onto her bedroll, eyes onto the canopy of stars above her head. "I had never heard that story before..."

"I guess we will hear many more during this whole thing..."

"Perhaps. But I don't like the idea of learning how much of a hero she was..."

There was shuffling next to her, and then Galahad went to lie by her, his hand engulfing her own and entwining their fingers. "Forget her, Seren... You don't need a mother. You have Mother, and Father, and Uncle Percy...and me."

Seren closed her eyes, unwilling to tell him how much she didn't think him family. Instead, she let the cracks of the wood burning lull her to sleep, and revelled in the feeling of Galahad close to her...

Morning came, and with it the last part of their journey to the Lake.

Seren had waken up to Galahad making breakfast with a small amount of bread and a cup of milk. The sight had made her smile. She could wake up to it every day until she died, for all that mattered...

But some things were not meant to be, and she knew perhaps with utmost certitude that this was one of those...

The Lake of Avalon was one of the few parts of the kingdom that Seren had never been to in all her life. Lancelot had deemed it too dangerous, and now she knew why.

She didn't know how she would have reacted years back if she had known her mother's dragon lived on its shores...

Galahad and her left their horses a good way from the lake and advanced carefully through the woods surrounding the area.

Seren, strangely enough, could feel as if her blood was boiling through her veins as she approached the place. But she did not know why, or cared for that matter.

They erupted on the shore of the lake, a beautiful, peaceful lake, still with the lack of wind.

Seren loved the place at once.

There was a shuffling to their left and Galahad drew out his sword at once. But his blue eyes widened at the sight he was given, and Seren followed his gaze, her own green eyes widening.

A dragon.

Kilgharrah was named the Great Dragon in many tales that she had either read or heard of during her childhood, but nothing could have prepared her for the sight he gave her.

A huge, graceful beast with golden eyes and mated grey scales, lying down on the sand, his paws carefully put one upon the other. And he was staring at his visitors.

"You are not Lancelot."

Galahad was gaping like a child, and didn't bring his sword down until Seren put a hand on his and pushed it down herself.

She swallowed hard before taking a pace forward. The dragon followed her, and she could swear that he was smiling. How could a dragon smile? "I am Seren. Daughter of-"

"I know who you are, Seren, daughter of the Lady Knight and Gwaine the Brave." His eyes turned to Galahad. "And you, son of Lancelot and Guinevere." He bowed his head gracefully. "I am honoured to meet you both at last."

Galahad walked so he was back beside Seren, and cleared his throat. "Uh, I would say it is an honour to meet you, Great Dragon. We have heard so much about you..."

"Yes, I guess you have. Although, you are not here merely to meet me. Are you, young ones?"

Seren sighed. "Our Queen has told me you could perhaps help me." The dragon's eyes widened as if curious, and she took it as her cue to go on. "I'm supposed to have magic, but it seems it is blocked."

Kilgharrah's head leaned forward, and if Seren thought about taking a few paces back, something glued her on place, something clearly not natural. He leaned forward until his snout touched her chest, then leaned back. "Yes, it seems your magic has not evolved since the parting of your parents. But I cannot help."

Seren let her gaze fall, hiding her annoyance. "We thought that, as I have the blood of your Dragonlord-"

"I know what you thought. But I cannot help. Your magic is present in you, and wishes only to get out. You and you alone can break the lock you have put on it."

"You are talking nonsense."

Kilgharrah huffed. "It will make sense eventually. Now, I believe you are headed for the Enchanted Forest."

Galahad, who had remained silent during the exchange, stepped forward. "Yes, we are. Do you know how we can go there?"

"I do. This Lake has always been a portal between the realms. I will open it for you. But know this, both of you: do not lose yourself during your journey. Lose yourself, and Camelot is doomed."

Seren felt as if his words were more for her than for Galahad, but didn't say. Instead, she bowed her head. "Thank you for helping."

"I have always had Camelot's fate at heart. Besides, your parents have always been valuable friends. I owe them a lot." He leaned to his left and blew heavily onto the waters of the lake, which started to bubble as if boiled.

On the centre of the lake, a maelstrom formed, and soon, a portal was opened.

Galahad bowed to the dragon before heading to the water, walking to it then in it without so much as an hesitation.

Seren looked back at the dragon one last time.

He held her gaze, then leaned down so his eyes were levelled with hers. "One last thing, young one. You hold many regrets, fears and most of all anger in your heart. Don't let it change your course."

She hated how he spoke in riddles, and hoped it would someday, hopefully not long from there, make sense. So she nodded and joined Galahad into the lake.

The waters were freezing, but as her hand closed around her companion, Seren didn't fear.

She wished for answers, and something told her she would get them were she was going.