Sadly, I don't own Merlin.
Thank you, to everyone who is liking my latest collection of one-shots and short stories; I'm hoping to come out with darker, grittier versions of Merlin that the BBC never did before, except in brief glimpses. Darker Merlin, like the one seen in Chris Chibnall's Camelot, held great potential. I'm hoping to do that later.
Anyway, enjoy.
The Chase of the Last Dragonlord.
A part of Merlin was glad to see the back of Camelot which was suffering more and more damage with each of the Great Dragon's attacks and leaving the citizens who were tired and exhausted, looking out to the skies with fear of the dragon's next attack which was going to come again. Every day search parties were looking into the burnt and smashed parts of the city. Gaius had taken him out to tend to the people who had survived the attacks, trapped in burning parts of the city and left to wait. Many of them had survived, but more and more people were dying, and all because of him.
Because he was the one who released the dragon from its prison.
Merlin had been aware of the dragon's desire to burn Camelot to the ground for some time now, ever since he had looked into the Crystal of Neahtid and witnessed the dragon attacking the city. And ever since he had seen that vision within the crystal, Merlin had gone out of his way to stalling the Great Dragon to prevent the vision from coming to pass.
He was now beginning to see it was a lost cause. The Great Dragon would have attacked Camelot even if Merlin had released him prior to the mess with Alvarr in the first place. He had been terrified of the possibilities for much longer, and Merlin had gone out of his way to keep the Great Dragon in the prison Uther Pendragon had kept him for twenty years.
It was a mistake. Merlin could see it now, he could see for himself that by continually stalling and making endless and inevitably endless promises to the frustrated dragon, he was only making things worse. It was the same stupidity that had allowed Morgana to be spirited away by Morgause. Merlin closed his eyes and bit back the urge to sigh; he didn't want to speak to Arthur right now, and he knew if the Prince heard him sigh then he would be mocked for it, and that was not what he needed, not right now when so much guilt was being piled onto his shoulders.
He should never have listened to either Gaius or the Great Dragon where Morgana was concerned; Gaius had been determined to just turn a blind eye to Morgana's plight, exactly as he had when Freya had been brought into Camelot in that filthy cage, whereas Merlin had known the whole time what Morgana was going through, whereas the Great Dragon was unmovable in his beliefs Morgana was an evil and dangerous witch. Not once did he even try to offer an alternative idea that would have ensured Morgana and even Mordred would not be a threat in the future but was it possible it could have been avoided?
No, the dragon had been determined to ensure nothing changed.
He saw a possible future, and instead of seeing an alternative of bringing both Mordred and Morgana onto his side, and helping to usher in a new age for Albion, the Five-Kingdoms, and magic itself so the Pendragons and the other kingdoms, Merlin had noticed the Great Dragon seemed determined to ensure that part of the future came to pass. He didn't know why.
How many times in his life had he lost control of his abilities when he was a child? How many times had his mother pleaded with him not to think of himself as a monster whenever he lashed out when he got upset? How many times had he thought of himself as a monster?
Morgana had gone through all of that and more. As the ward and unofficial Princess of Camelot, Morgana was under as much scrutiny by the nobles of Camelot and the kingdom as Arthur himself was. If she had accidentally lit a candle, or someone saw her eyes flash gold, her social rank would not have saved or even protected her. Uther had made it very clear that magic was forbidden and that magic was evil, and anyone who showed the smallest sign of it was to be executed without trial immediately. Merlin knew he had made exceptions now and then, but all of those occurred under specific circumstances.
Merlin didn't know if Uther would have killed her or not considering how close Morgana was to him compared to other sorcerers, such as Edwin or Mary.
But what made him even more guilty was how he had treated her when she had shown signs of her magic appearing - he wondered why it had never appeared before, and he wondered if Morgause's presence had something to do with it - and it had frightened her and made her feel like a monster. Merlin had felt pity and kinship with Morgana. How many times had he thought of himself as a monster?
Too many times to count, Merlin thought to himself sourly. Would mother have made me do the same thing? I'll have to ask her to discover the truth of what she would have done if she had been in my shoes.
He knew what Morgana had been going through, but he had followed and listened to the advice of Gaius and the Great Dragon, and he had ignored her and her plight, and now there was every chance when and if she came back, she would be Camelot's enemy. And it would be part of his own stupidity which had caused it, and many would pay the price.
Merlin wondered what was happening with Morgana and Morgause right now. There was no doubt in the warlock's mind the two half-sisters were more than aware of Camelot's current plight, and he also had little doubt Morgana remembered his own betrayal of her when he'd poisoned her to break the sleeping enchantment Morgause had placed on the city.
Please forgive me, Morgana, Merlin pleaded and he extended the same wish towards Camelot for his actions concerning the dragon, although unfortunately, he knew his hopes would be ignored and discarded. Morgana had never been a forgiving woman over certain issues, and if they met again there was a chance that Camelot's kind-hearted, loving and unofficial princess would come back hateful and evil.
Merlin tried to push away the depressing thoughts swirling around in his head as he tried to keep up with Arthur, but unfortunately, his mind was full of depressing thoughts which lingered on Morgana, what Morgause was doing with her, the suffering of Camelot's citizens, the Great Dragons' attacks, what his mother would have done instead of him where Morgana was concerned, and lastly the fact he might be leading a man back to Camelot where he would likely be killed by Uther's shortsightedness.
Balinor.
His father.
The subject of his father had always been a difficult, sensitive topic for Merlin; his mother had never really spoken of the man, and he had learnt very quickly not to prod deeper. It did not help that so many people in the village especially those who hated him used it against him, calling him a bastard, which only upset Merlin and his mother deeply. It wasn't his mother's fault any more than it was his he was being judged for how his father and his mother had gotten close before marriage.
But now he knew what had happened, Merlin knew it made sense. But he was angry with Gaius for not telling him about his father long before this mess. If he had then perhaps his relationship with the Great Dragon would be much better than what it was. Merlin didn't doubt the possibility the Great Dragon could have known he was Balinor's son. The Great Dragon was far from stupid; he was self-serving, arrogant, vain, manipulative, but he was not stupid, but if he had known then why hadn't he said a word?
Merlin decided not to bother answering the question, especially since he doubted very much the dragon would give a damn about his mother's wishes or Gaius's promises. Learning his father was a Dragonlord was astonishing in itself, especially since he had only just learnt about them, but Merlin had always wondered how Uther had trapped the Great Dragon underneath the citadel in chains. He had always known a kind of sorcery was involved. Powerful magic. But he had never imagined there were specialist sorcerers who had the means of controlling a dragon, and he would never have guessed that his father was one, but the fact he was the last hurt.
Ever since Merlin had arrived in Camelot, he had surprised himself by how he had resisted the temptation to let someone, some vengeful sorcerer who had lost everything to Uther's insane Purge (he had been so tempted to let Arthur kill his own father; the bastard deserved to pay for the lives he had ruined, the innocents he had killed because of Nimueh's actions), but now it was more personal.
There was no doubt in Merlin's mind the moment Balinor was finished and the Great Dragon was either subdued or killed, the Dragonlord would be the next to die, simply because his powers were close to sorcery. And with the Great Dragon, the last dragon on Earth and Balinor the last Dragonlord, dead, it would be a major victory for Uther and those who shared his beliefs and propaganda magic was evil. Two more magical lines would be wiped out.
He didn't care what Arthur himself might promise; Uther was a liar of the first order, and he would lie to protect his precious beliefs and justify it all.
Well, Merlin was not going to let it happen. No way. He had made major mistakes with Morgana, Morgause, and Camelot recently. He was not going to let Uther murder his father, and destroy the last dragon regardless of what the Great Dragon had done.
Enough was enough.
X
Days and nights later, Merlin watched as Kilgharrah flew away from Camelot with a heavy heart.
When Merlin had learnt his father was a Dragonlord, and he was still alive, he had been excited although he had been frightened for very good reason. He had started the quest to find Balinor, and he had only to lose him again to bandits of all things. But as he watched Kilgharrah fly away into the night sky, Merlin closed his eyes. He had always been aware of the bond, the connection between himself and the dragon although he had never understood it, thanks to his Dragonlord abilities he knew what it was.
The brother bond with the Great Dragon.
Merlin was shaken from his thoughts when he heard a groaning from Arthur. He looked down and saw the armoured form of the prince starting to wake up. Merlin bent down over him, a cover story and lie already forming in his mind to keep Kilgharrah safe.
He was the last Dragonlord, and he had no intention of letting his charge be wounded or hunted down ever again, and if Uther tried then the King would regret it.