The sound of knocking woke him from his slumber and his blue eyes parted to see two people running into the room. There was a man who was almost as tall as the door frame, his dark brown eyes stared at him in determination as he scooped him up into his arms and Merlin realised he was a small boy. What age, he wasn't sure. The woman on the other hand was gathering some of his belongings, her eyes filled with concern and panic. "Hunith, hurry up!" The strange man holding him said firmly.

"Done, lets go." Merlin held onto the man with his arms around his neck as he was carried downstairs and they suddenly came to a halt when Hunith attempted to open the door. It wouldn't budge. "They've locked us in!" She began running around the house to check the windows and found them all boarded up. They were trapped.

"There has to be a way out," the man said and set Merlin on the floor who sleepily rubbed his eyes.

Both of the strangers ran around the home they were in and Merlin suddenly felt the danger they were in. The air around him thickened and black smoke began to appear through the gaps in the door. Stepping away instinctively, Merlin clutched the top over his heart and tried not to panic. Except his breathing was becoming deep and fast, his eyes darted around and he let out a small yell as Hunith pulled him into the middle of the room.

"Can you summon the dragons for help?"

"We don't have that much time. They've already-" his words were cut off when flames began to consume the door and Merlin clutched onto Hunith's leg.

"There's a child in here! Have mercy!" Hunith yelled at the people outside.

"You will burn and the magic will be gone from my island," a firm voice replied and the flames began to surround them completely.

"Save him!" Hunith demanded to the man who was obviously her partner as she knelt on the ground to hold onto Merlin. "Get him out of here!"

"I only have enough magic to save one of us," the man replied.

"Him. He's our Son, he hasn't yet lived and he's ours to protect. Send him away. Please."

"Okay," he knelt down in front of Merlin and cupped his cheeks in his palms. "You be a good boy okay? There will be people who hate you, despise what you are but never forget that we love you. You are our everything. Live, for us."

"Don't leave me," Merlin pleaded quietly.

"You will find someone," Hunith said behind him and kissed the back of his head. "You won't always be alone. Trust your instincts and do what you must to survive." The air suddenly began to get darker and Merlin coughed as smoke entered his lungs. "Do it now!"

Merlin was surrounded in two pairs of arms and a word was whispered in his ear, that was when the world spun. The fire surrounding him, the people who he knew he loved with all his heart, his home, now gone. Replaced with trees and the cold night air. As his eyes parted, he saw in the distance that many homes had been lit on fire. The sound of screams could be heard.

He somehow knew which home was his and stepped from the forest in hopes of reaching it in time, except a hand grabbed his arm to pull him back. "What are you doing?" The little young boy stood behind him asked and Merlin looked at him with wide eyes.

"I have to go back."

"They're killing anybody who leaves their homes. If you go back, you'd be walking to your death."

His heart suddenly tightened in his chest and he let out a yell as he fell to the ground, the stranger now knelt at his side, looking at him in concern. He was talking, Merlin could see that. Except all he knew was pain. It was in that moment that Merlin knew they were dead. Hunith had called him their Son, which meant those two people had been his parents. Now they were dead and there was nothing he could do.

He barely noticed as the darkness surrounded him, his eyes simply watched the remains of his home burn to the ground and then there was nothing.


The next time he opened his eyes, Merlin was back in his current home, lying down on the bed, surrounded in darkness. As he pushed himself up, the grief he'd felt during the dream flooded back to him and tears fell down his cheeks. So he did have parents, the question was, why had he forgotten them until now? Someone had killed them and they'd sacrificed their lives so he could survive, his Father using the last remainder of magic he had to send him away. He hadn't even learnt his Father's name.

His hand shook as he ran it through his hair, what had happened that night? He remembered the house being on fire, the person yelling from outside that they must burn. Who could have such hatred in their hearts that they'd burn someone's home to the ground with the owners inside? Was it because his Father had magic?

As the sunlight began to beam through the window as the sun came over the mountain edge, Merlin squinted and knew what day it was. Arthur's Father was due to come home today, he'd been told this yesterday when Arthur had come to visit him during his recovery from using such a powerful spell, and it meant that today was the day he was meant to kill his first dragon. He'd been picked by the elder and now the entire island would be coming to watch.

What if the people he was trying to impress were the people who had murdered so many people all those years ago? They'd just forgotten the crime they'd committed or choose not to remember. If that was so, what he'd been feeling his whole life was a lie. He wasn't an outsider, someone who could come from another island or planet. There had been many like him, living amongst normal people, who had been killed for who they were.

He was the last of his people on this island and there was no way he was going to let the passing of his people go without punishment.


The sound of a crowd cheering was heard as Merlin made his way down to the arena, his hands clenched at his sides as he ducked under the gate and listened to the sound of it closing behind him. As he looked up at the people clapping their hands together, his eyes landed on the leader of the island and Arthur who was stood at his side. Uther looked interested in what was about to happen, clearly amused at the idea that Merlin could be the chosen one. Arthur looked worried, knowing that Merlin was unlikely to strike the dragon.

Not when he had been caring for Kilgh all this time.

When Uther got to his feet, it reminded him of the almighty beast back in the cave. Rising from the pits of hell to frighten it's followers, the moment Uther stood the people went quiet and he knew if they had wings, they would have flown away like the dragons had done. Uther wasn't someone you messed with. "Welcome one and all! I returned yesterday to be told that Merlin Emrys was the chosen one to kill his first dragon in front of us all. I take it I wasn't the only one who was shocked?" A small snigger came from the crowd.

"It is time for him to show me why he was chosen. I ask for you to remain silent and watch as he becomes one of the people." Uther nodded his head and a lever was pulled, pulling up a door that allowed a dragon to escape into the arena. At first the dragon hesitated and when it realised it was safe to come out, it's head poked from the cage, its eyes on Merlin as it came forward. Everyone waited for Merlin to go to the side and pick a weapon from the choices, however he didn't move. "Choose your weapon trainer," Uther demanded.

Merlin looked up at Uther and smiled, "I have no need for a weapon."

Confusion filled the stands as the dragon began to get closer to Merlin and Arthur took a step towards the wiring that protected the people. Just as the dragon reached him, Merlin looked back at the creature and let his expression soften. "You do not want to fight me," he said quietly but due to it being so quiet, everyone heard him speak. "I have caused you no harm and have no intention of doing so."

The dragon hesitated and tilted its head to the side in curiosity, clearly wondering why Merlin was talking to it instead of attacking. "Attack!" Uther yelled from the stands and Merlin shook his head. Instead, he put out his hand and crossed the distance between himself and the dragon. A loud gasp came from the people as he put his palm to the dragon's snout and it settled down on the ground, seeing that it had no need to fight. Merlin was no threat to it. "What do you think you're doing! Kill it."

"Is that your solution to everything?" Merlin questioned and moved away from the dragon. Without saying a word, his body lifted from the ground and when he was eye level with Uther, he let his expression show his real feelings. "Do you kill those who are different from yourself?" He didn't even care right now that everyone could see him using magic. "Was it you who sent out the order to kill my kind all those years ago?"

"How-" Uther started.

"Magic," Merlin teased and glanced towards Arthur who looked nervously at his Father. Suddenly a loud cry came from below and he saw the dragon being dragged back into its cage, some dragon fighters now entering the arena. The dragon didn't deserve to be locked up. Everything deserved to be free. "How did you feel after you killed so many of my kind? Relieved? Happy? Satisfied?" Merlin asked as he looked back at Uther.

"I protected my people from those who would cause us harm."

"Oh you have no idea just how much harm someone like me can cause," he said and all of a sudden, the magic seemed to seep out of him. A hand snaked out through the wiring and Uther held him by the neck, his feet hanging in midair as the magic no longer held him up.

"You think I didn't expect one of you pests to escape?" Merlin's eyes dropped to the gem glowing around Uther's neck and he knew that would be the source that had taken his power from him. It would have been how no person with magic had ever been able to harm him whilst they'd burned to death. He could take their powers from them without much effort. "You will burn like your people did and finally this island will be free of magic."

He was thrown away from the wiring and Merlin smashed to the ground. When he was lifted to his feet by two of the dragon fighters, he glared up at Uther, "You will pay for killing my people."

"Take him away!" Uther demanded and Merlin was dragged from arena. Not before he saw Arthur standing there in silence, letting him be taken like a criminal. Had he expected this? Warned his Father that Merlin might be something other then normal? He had acted like he would protect Merlin no matter what, now that he had a chance, he did nothing.

I will make them all pay.