When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.

~ Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym

Chapter 16: In the Horizon

The people from Ealdor had traveled hard and far after that event and were camping quite some distance away from where their village was going over what had happened today in their minds.

Richard placed a hand over his sleeping wife's head. "The baby is a few weeks away, maybe less. It wouldn't be wise for us to be moving constantly." He looked over to the Druids. "Are you sure we would be able to stay in this camp for a while?"

"Of course," said the Elder. "I personally know the elder charged with that camp. He would be happy to help house you and your wife and they have people well versed in delivering children. Your wife and child will be in good hands there I assure you."

"Thank you," he said gratefully.

"Do you think we'll be safe here tonight?" asked one of the villagers. He didn't seem to ask one person specifically, just in general hoping someone had a good answer. He wasn't alone. Many of the others were wondering the same thing especially after the day they've had.

"It's okay," Balinor announced through the tense silence. "I have Kilgharrah scoping out the area and he hasn't found any sign of anyone from either Uther or Cenred's army close by. We'll be okay here tonight."

His words brought relief to a great deal of the people but there were still a few who were concerned.

"Are you sure about the safety of this place?" Richard asked him in a hushed tone. "Surely there would be troops combing the territory for you."

Balinor nodded. "Kilgharrah told me that Cenred's troops from the Southern Batallion are preoccupied in chasing after stragglers from Uther's army that ran off. They're a little too busy to really have a full-fledged search."

"Oh, that's good news then." He looked over to their wives that were out like lights close by. "I'll be able to sleep a little easier then."

"I think everyone will. They've had a trying day and could use a good night's rest."

"What about you?"

Balinor shook his head. "I just can't get what they told me out of my head. About how that knight and his men were frozen in place like that. Hunith was so weak that she was barely able to stay awake after we started moving from all that action from the attack."

After he had cut off Sir Tate's hand and shooed him away they began to trek for the safety of the camp the elder and Abel spoke of but Hunith was barely able to keep her eyes open during the whole journey. Hunith had nearly collapsed asleep as soon as they called for a stop for the night. Some rustling made him turn to see the elder walk up before the two.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.

Balinor pointed to the empty spot beside him. "Please."

"I know you worry of the condition of your wife Balinor," he grunted as he took his seat. "I could feel your worry and distress swim across the air around you. It's about today's events with you wife isn't it?" he asked after a moment.

Balinor looked him in the eye. "Do you have any explanation for what happened? Hunith doesn't have any magic so how did she use it to stop those men?"

"Perhaps, she always had the gift but it never showed it way to the surface," he offered.

Richard shook his head. "No, I've seen Hunith in many situations when we were growing up." He then broke into a small smile. "I remember…I jumped down from a tree behind her wailing at the top of my voice to scare her when we were children and that didn't bring anything out of her except a scream and did nothing to me except get me hit many times with twig she picked up."

When the euphoria from that memory wore off not one of them could really offer any true insight for what had happened.

"I think I might know someone who can help you find the answers you want," the elder said.

"Who?" he eagerly asked.

"The elder of the camp we're heading to, I've met him a few times and he just might be able to help you. His name is Gregory and he has a talent for looking into people in ways that not many can. The answers for what happened are buried within Hunith and he can see what it is and can tell us."

Balinor nodded. They now had even more reason for getting there than before.

The following morning, they all were cleaning up their campsite to begin the journey to the druid camp. It was in Carleon just inside the border between it and Essetir. Balinor was brought out of his preparation when his name was called.

"Balinor?"

The dragonlord looked up to see Stanley, Enid and a few of the other villagers moving for him.

"Yes?" he said standing up.

One of the village men came forward a little timidly and awkwardly. "We just wanted to say…thank you; for trying to help us and saving us from Uther's men."

"Yes," said one of the women. "My husband and two children would most certainly be dead if it wasn't for you. I can't repay you enough."

"Frankly, we just wanted to have your forgiveness for casting you out like that," finished Stanley.

Balinor held his hand up. "It's alright. I don't have any blame for you or even to the headman. I'm only upset that I couldn't save everyone."

"Balinor," Stanley stepped more forward until he was right at Balinor's side. "Many of the villagers here like Enid wish to join with you to that camp of your druid friends. Though there are a few of us that have other places to go, including myself. I plan to go to my brother's family deep in Carleon. I hope you can understand."

"Of course," he said immediately. "All of you must do what you feel is best for you and your loved ones."

Stanley breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that he was going to leave Balinor offended again. "Balinor, if there is anything that I or any of us can do for you then please don't hesitate to ask. It's the least of what could be done for what you have done for us."

Balinor was about to shake his head when his hand lightly grazed a pouch attached to his belt; the small pouch of gold that Cenred had given to Abel for his information. "Actually," he said gripping the pouch and taking it off his belt. "There is something you can do. Before you go to your brother would you mind delivering something for me?" he asked holding the pouch out.

"Of course," Stanley insisted.

It was over a week from that battle in Ealdor that Uther and his forces returned to Camelot. When he returned he didn't picture his return to be like this at all. He imagined that he would be here with the cheers of victory sounding off from his men behind him as they dragged a chained up dragonlord and a dragon's skull for a trophy to hang in his throne room. Instead he had severely sullen and weary men behind him and a loss of fine artillery and custom made iron weapons lost and weighing on his coffers and Balinor and his dragon still on the loose.

He looked over at Sir Tate who was being escorted on a horse by a soldier leading it by the reins. He was shocked to see that one of his most reliable knights stomped back to his fallback camp with a bloody stump on his right arm where his hand used to be.

"Good lord, what happened to you Tate?" he said when the camp's surgeon went to check the handless arm.

"I found Balinor and his wife," he said in a drone like tone.

"You did? And?" he pressed on. But Tate stayed silent as he was looked over. "He did this to you, didn't he? That blasted dragonlord!" he said kicking a stray chair. "How dare he sully one of my knights!"

"Please sire," the surgeon begged.

Uther quickly got himself to calm down. He couldn't have his men see him so loose and full of panic, not now of all times. He needed to be firm and strong for Tate, for his men, his name, for his entire kingdom. A crisis was impeding and he needed to begin the work to head it off.

"I'm sorry for your loss Tate. Rest assured...your sacrifice will be avenged," he vowed as he stepped away.

None of the other men that were with Tate returned and they had to be ruled trapped behind the enemy's borders. There was a roll call and it seemed that there were a number of men that were missing that seemed to have been stuck behind in Essetir. A scout was sent out and reported that Cenred's troops had started to secure the areas around their border. Uther had to regretfully acknowledge that the situation couldn't be salvaged at all.

When he entered his castle courtyard he was greeted with Gorlois, Gaius and all his other advisors and council members.

"Welcome back sire," Gorlois said with a bow. He then took note of his appearance and that of the others, especially Tate and his missing hand. "What happened?"

Uther didn't answer. He just ordered for Gaius to see to treating Tate and the others wounded while Gorlois reorganized the men. He needed to go to his chambers and prepare his messages to the surrounding kingdoms to let them know that if they do anything to support Cenred then he would destroy them.

As Gaius learned of the events that took place in Ealdor, he couldn't help but feel grateful that Hunith not only was safe but also appeared to be married to Balinor if Tate's description of the dragonlord's wife was accurate. She deserved a good man in her life and he knew that despite everything Balinor was a good man.

Cenred had been surprised by the report given to him from a messenger sent by the Southern Battalion. The men had actually engaged Uther's forces that had crept into his kingdom at the grounds of Ealdor. He immediately rode over to hear the battalion's commander give him news of victory but there was a notable absence.

"Where is the dragon? Where is that Dragonlord Balinor? Didn't you come across them?" he asked aggressively.

"My king," the man bowed. "Balinor and his dragon were here, aiding us in engaging Uther in fact, however, he and his dragon left as Uther began his retreat."

"Any idea where?"

The commander shook his head. "They took off into the air sire. There's no way to track them."

Cenred was angry with the fact that Balinor and his dragon managed to evade his efforts to absorb them into his command but he was still happy that he could boast of having Uther Pendragon himself fleeing from his forces. As of now, his men were scouring the nearby areas hunting for any stragglers that had wondered off from Uther's main force. He went to visit the grounds of Ealdor to see the spoils that his men had taken. He was presented with a top quality catapult.

"Amazing," he said admiring it.

The commander pointed further out. "My king, we managed to procure two others just like it."

"How?"

"When Uther called for a retreat the men manning them abandoned them as they were too big and heavy to move fast enough. They also dropped many of these," he then held up an iron sword.

"What are so special of these swords over others?"

"These weapons are salted iron. These weapons didn't make it easy for Uther's men to pierce our steel armor which gave us the advantage."

Cenred turned to his advisor. "Why would Uther use weapons such as these?"

"Salted iron is magic repellent sire. He must've brought them in belief that he would only be engaging Balinor and not us. Quite a bit was abandoned in their haste to pull away."

Cenred looked about. Even though things seemed to be fortunate enough he couldn't help but feel like he's been somewhat had. It took a few moments before he realized how that possibly was.

"Commander, why did it take you so long to get to this village from the south fort?"

"Sire? What do you mean? We rushed here as quickly as possible. We made good time in fact."

"Good time? I sent you the order to move near a week before this incident!" he growled.

"What? No sire. The order reached us less than one day beforehand."

Cenred was confused. "Less than…where is that messenger who gave you the order?"

Druids were camped up close in a far corner of the kingdom of Carleon close to the borders of Essetir. The camp was peaceful but alert in their existence as a few had managed to escape here from Uther's forces. Uther's purge hadn't extended this far yet but they were aware that Uther had been making moves to build stronger relations with King Carleon and Queen Annis. If successful then the purge would move into this kingdom as well. So needless to say, many of them were rattled for a moment when their camp had a large number of visitors show up. They soon became excited when they saw that one of them happened to be a dragonlord. The elder of this camp welcomed all of them to the camp.

"I am Gregory. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need. I'm sure many of you are tired and hungry, please," he said offering them their hospitality.

"Thank you," Balinor said gratefully. "It's an honor to meet you."

He waved it off like it was nothing. "The honor and pleasure is mine Lord Balinor."

Once everyone had been settled, Balinor had asked to speak with Gregory privately.

"Gregory, we hear that you have quite some knowledge surrounding mystical events. We were hoping you could help us make sense of one."

"Of course, in my tent, please."

Balinor, Hunith, Richard, Gina, Abel and his elder joined this elder in his large tent where they found another young man already there.

Gregory immediately introduced him. "Oh, this is my younger brother Iseldir. He is nearly as well versed in myths and legends as I am."

"A pleasure good lord," he said with a bow.

"Hello," Balinor said as they settled in.

"Now," Gregory said sitting off into a corner. "Please tell me what you wish to know."

Together they all told the story of what happened during the attack and the incident where Hunith seemed to freeze the men without meaning too and how it stayed until her strength left her.

"Amazing," gasped out Iseldir.

"Yes," Gregory agreed. "It is; and you are sure that you haven't done any sort of thing like this before when you were frightened or stressed?"

Hunith shook her head. "No, never."

"Can you tell us how this might have happened Gregory?" asked Balinor.

"Please, kneel before me my lady," Gregory said as he waved a hand to the space before him. Hunith's cheeks colored a little from the 'lady' comment but she did calmly go and kneel before Gregory. He closed his eyes and ran his open palm in the air around Hunith.

"What are you doing exactly?"

"I'm just reading your aura. It might hold the answer to what had happened. Please just be calm as I do so." His palm went to either side of her head.

"What have you seen so far?" asked Balinor.

"I'm feeling a presence of great magic but for some reason, it is different from Hunith's natural aura." As his palm faced her torso, "You are with child," he said to Hunith.

"Oh yes." Hunith narrowed his eyes. "Is there something wrong with my child?"

"Oh no," he said quickly. He dropped his hand and opened his eyes with wonderment. "It's simply…"

"What?" Balinor said a little worried. "It's not bad is it?"

"No…quite the opposite actually. The magic came from the child."

The entire tent was silent for quite a few moments. It was Iseldir that broke it.

"Brother, are you about this?"

"Without a doubt." His tone was full of conviction. He was beyond certain.

Richard scratched his head in confusion. "Well, with who his father is I don't doubt he has magic but how is it possible for a child to have magic while they're still in the womb?"

"There isn't," said Balinor. "I know that warlocks can use magic untrained from when they are children but never when they're not even born. It's just impossible."

"Impossible for all but one being," corrected Gregory. "The One."

Abel, his elder and Iseldir all widened their eyes in wonder. They were torn between glee, shock and disbelief.

"What?" Hunith said looking between them. "What are you talking about?"

Iseldir was the one to explain. "There is a legend amongst our people. That there would be a being of magic who would arrive in a time of great chaos and suffering who would help in restoring the greatness of magic back into the land. He would do so because he is in essence magic itself. To the druids he has and will be known as Emrys."

"Emrys?" Hunith asked.

"Yes…and it would seem that he is here, residing in your womb."

Abel's elder lightly caressed his chin in thought. "These times have been dire for magic kind and it seems that number of non-magical people suffering will be increasing as well. It could've had magic choose to bring forth Emrys here and now."

"You're sure that Hunith is indeed carrying 'The Emrys' Elder Gregory?" Abel asked with near disbelief.

"Emrys is said to be magic itself as Iseldir just said. To him it would come to call for him by mere instinct. You Abel witnessed it yourself did you not? When Hunith and her fellow villagers were in peril magic came at his call to protect them. He must've drawn on Hunith's own strength since he couldn't use his own to withhold it which is why it drained her. It truly is remarkable. I wished I had seen it for myself."

Balinor and Hunith honestly didn't know how to feel about any of this; whether they should be scared, honored, proud or sad. These developments could mean several things for them. Though…there was one thing that was certain for them.

"I guess we are going to have that boy you wanted after all Balinor," Hunith said with a hint of a grin.

Balinor broke into a small grin himself as he went to embrace Hunith in a soft hug which had the other occupants in the tent grin as well.

The blacksmith Tom was certainly surprised when he got home after working at his master's forge. He walked in to find his wife waiting for him in slight hysteria.

"Where did it come from Tom?" she asked as he walked in.

He closed the door behind him. "Where did what come from dear?"

She directed his gaze to the table where there was a decent size pouch. Tom could see the faint glint of gold coins from it. He turned to his wife and inaudibly asked for an explanation.

"I was preparing dinner to be ready when you arrived when there was a soft knock on the door. I answered it but there was no one there. Then before I closed the door I noticed that pouch on the ground by the door and saw that it was the gold. I looked around but didn't notice anyone paying attention to the house so I brought it in."

"Well I have no idea what this is about. I haven't done anything to have someone give me that much gold."

"What are we going to do Tom?"

Tom went to the pouch and carefully poured out the coins in an effort to count it. As he did, a small roll of parchment flew out. His wife noticed it too and gripped his arm in worry. He slowly unwrapped it and laid it out to read.

Tom,

I realize that it's quite late but here is what is owed to you for your work in forging such a fine sword. It is worth so much more than your master told you. I can vouch for that. Thank you

"I don't believe it," he mumbled with a small smile grasping his features.

"What? What is it Tom?"

"It's just…a late payment dear. For a sword I forged. To be honest, I thought it had been stolen but it seems I was wrong, fortunately." He had often wondered about what had happened to that sword he forged. Even if it was thought to be a meager looking thing, he thought that it was the best sword he would ever be able to make considering how long and hard he worked on it. He often wondered why someone would steal his over the other ones in his master's shop and he wondered why someone would pay such an amount for it.

His wife looked to the coins on their table. "There looks to be a dozen gold pieces here. What kind of sword did you forge?" she asked incredulously. "For such a sum, it must've had jewels encrusted in it with some silver and gold mixed in."

He chuckled. "Not quite."

"It had to be quite valuable though."

"According to this…apparently it was," he said holding up the message.

"This is wonderful Tom! You can finally afford to start your own forge now instead of waiting years to save for it."

He reached up to give his wife a firm hug. "Yes…I believe so."

In the distance overlooking the city with the descending sun was Stanley smiling at it. He had delivered the gold that Balinor had to the man he had asked him to. As the guards didn't know or were after him, it made him the perfect man to do this errand. Now that he has done his duty to Balinor, he prepared to head off to meet up with his brother for safety.

End of Chapter 16

A/N: Balinor and Hunith now know that their child might just be the legendary Emrys. Not only that but it looks like they'll have quite a few people with them as well as they begin to prepare for their child's future. This will be my last update for a while. I'm going on vacation and I won't be able to write for at least two weeks. I wanted this out before I left so I hope it's left you wanting more. The next chapter will have the beginning of a war in the works and its effect on Balinor and his friends. Also, there will be a small addition to their group.