Previously: He was acutely aware of the sword that had reappeared by Balinor's side. Not yet picked up, but still in full view, letting Merlin know exactly what he was dealing with. "You knew who I was when you came to fine me. Now tell me what you want from me!"
Oblivious
Chapter 5: Confrontations
"The Great Dragon has escaped and is attacking Camelot!" Merlin blurted out and flushed at his complete inability to keep a secret, it was a wonder he hadn't already been executed for sorcery. But Balinor's stare strongly resembled Gaius's. It was a glare that made you confess to everything, like a guilty child being interrogated by an adult.
At this news he looked surprised, clearly the story hadn't reached him yet but in his isolated state that was not terribly shocking. However, given his position as a dragonlord, Merlin had half expected him to be able to sense the dragon's newfound freedom. Then again, Merlin could only sense the presence of magic by concentrating; perhaps it was the same with dragonlords. Either way, he was momentarily startled so Merlin decided to plough on.
"He's killing innocent people; we need you to stop him before Camelot is reduced to ruins!" Balinor recovered and rapidly snapped back.
"It's not the innocent people *Kilgharrah wants, it's Uther, and until Uther is dead he will not stop!"
"But I thought you could help-"
"Why should I help?" he interrupted angrily, "It is not my business to interfere between the dragon and the king."
"But the people are dying!" Merlin pleaded, but the dragonlord ignored him, as something seemed to dawn on him and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Who are you?" Merlin gulped, he hadn't prepared an answer for this.
"I'm Merlin and he" Merlin gestured to Arthur, "is Sir Leon, the king sent us-"
"No. That's Prince Arthur." He couldn't argue against the truth and when Merlin next spoke it was with the tone of someone who has lost all the hope he had begun this quest with.
"Please. You're our last chance."
"I will not help Uther." Balinor said in a tone that allowed no argument. "When the prince awakes, I want you both to leave."
The next morning Merlin woke form a fitful sleep with a feeling of dread which had burrowed its way into his stomach as if to take permanent residence. Today he would have to tell Arthur they had failed. In two days time they would have to tell Gaius and Uther and Gwen and the Knights and the people of Camelot that their last hope had been extinguished like a dying match under a heavy boot. It was a duty he was not looking forward to.
Balinor was collecting some herbs; he had said he would give some to Merlin in case Arthur's wound started acting up again on the way back. Merlin thought it was a pointless gesture. Once they arrived home it would just be a matter of time until the dragon incinerated them.
Merlin packed the bags and made sure the horses were fed and watered for the journey back, and once they were saddled and ready Arthur strode out of the cave beaming like a mad man.
"I feel great!" he announced to anyone willing to listen, "What the hell did you give me?" Balinor ignored him and went back into the cave. Catching sight of Merlin, Arthur went over to him glancing back over his shoulder at the retreating figure of Balinor.
"So you found the dragonlord? Well at least we can go back now and get rid of this overgrown bird."
"He's not coming." Merlin said softly, focussing on the task at hand. "He won't help."
"Why not?!" Arthur demanded and without waiting for a response he marched back where the elder man had gone. "You obviously weren't persuasive enough."
Curiously, Merlin moved closer to hear the ensuing argument, Arthur attempted the same technique Merlin had by talking about the innocent women and children, when that failed he tried bribery.
"If you help us, my father will drop the charges on you and you will be a free man."
"Uther promised that before, and then he had the rest of my kind rounded up and killed. Even the children. The innocent children. Your father is no better than the dragon."
This would have deterred many, but Arthur being the stubborn prat that he was, continued to pester and pester until the dragonlord lost his temper.
"Uther Pendragon hunted me from my home! Then he chased me to another kingdom and made me leave the woman I love! I will not help him. If Uther wants his people spared he will leave his castle and meet Kilgharrah's fire. And only then will Camelot be purged of the corruption he's spent decades trying to find!"
Arthur could not respond to that. It was clear that nothing he could say would change Balinor's mind. He strode past Merlin and towards the horses. Merlin hesitated and went back into the cave for one last talk with Balinor.
"Don't waste your time Merlin!" Arthur called loud enough for Balinor to hear.
"I have another message for you." Merlin said quietly, once he was sure that Arthur was out of earshot, Balinor grunted.
"Get on with it."
"Gaius sends his regards." The dragonlord's head snapped up at the name. "He told me where to find you and he said you would help to save the innocent. He holds you in such high regard. I thought you might be like him."
Then before Balinor could respond, Merlin joined Arthur and together they headed back to Camelot, leaving a pensive dragonlord behind.
Merlin and Arthur were about halfway to Camelot and ready to make camp for the night when they heard the sound of someone approaching. Bandits. These woods were known for being full of them. Merlin realised with some dark humour that the lie he had told Balinor almost a day before, could turn out to be true.
Arthur unsheathed his sword and in turn Merlin pulled out his own, knowing that he probably couldn't help much but he counted on a few branches "mysteriously" dropping off trees.
But it was not a bandit who eventually emerged from behind a thick clump of trees, it was Balinor. In his peripheral vision Merlin saw Arthur relax somewhat, the tenseness in his shoulders seem to loosen but the expression on his face remained the same. The prince was still recovering from his wound; if it had been a group of bandits it was unlikely that Merlin and Arthur could have fought them off. However, despite Arthur's relief he still managed to snap an angry remark.
"What do you want?" Balinor ignored him. Instead he focussed on Merlin who stood slightly behind Arthur.
"You were right." He said "There are people in Camelot to whom I owe a debt. And a debt must always be paid."
"So you will help us?" Arthur was irked that the dragonlord had chosen to address Merlin rather than himself, so now tried to reassert himself in the conversation.
"Yes." Relief flooded Merlin, Camelot would be saved. "But it will be on my own terms." Balinor finished, Merlin wondered what effects this condition would have but was too pleased to particularly care and he was sure that Arthur felt the same way.
Once they set up camp for the night Balinor offered to set up some traps overnight to see if they could catch anything for the next days' breakfast. Arthur wholeheartedly agreed, mainly because he was sick of Merlin's cooking and volunteered his servant to help.
So Merlin found himself following the dragonlord a short distance into the woods.
"How do you know Gaius?!" Balinor asked conversationally, pushing back a low hanging branch to let Merlin pass through.
"He's a friend of the family." Merlin replied, "I'm also his apprentice when Arthur's not ordering me around."
"That's good. I know that Gaius has always wanted a son so having you around probably makes up for the fact he never had one."
"He has been like a father to me." Merlin agreed.
They walked a little further until their surroundings became overgrown and densely populated with thick trees so tall they seemed to touch the sky. Here Balinor stopped and pulled some traps from his saddle bag. He handed two to Merlin and started setting up his own.
Merlin held the traps awkwardly, unsure as to how to set them. The ones Arthur and the knights sometimes used were different and even then, Merlin was never allowed near them since as Arthur claimed, it was more likely he would break them than catch anything. Once finished, Balinor looked up to check up on Merlin's progress and saw him gazing hopelessly at the two traps.
"Well, hurry up boy!" Balinor said.
"I'm sorry, I don't know how to set them…"
"What do you mean you don't know? Didn't your father ever teach you?" A father teaching his son how to hunt was usually a major event in any boy's life because no matter the location, if you could hunt you could eat and you could survive. It was so practiced that it had become a tradition for the father to teach his son, Balinor even believed that Uther himself had taught Prince Arthur instead of leaving it in the care of a knight.
"I never knew my father." The tone was very matter of fact, without much emotion, almost like they were discussing the weather instead of his parentage.
"Is he dead?" Having had little to no conversation for almost ten years Balinor was struggling with the art of tact however he tried so soften his voice as he said it.
"No." Merlin accompanied this with a shake of his head. "He left before I was born."
"Oh." It was an issue that Balinor had a great amount of dislike for. He couldn't understand why a man would abandon his unborn child. Dragonlords were raised to always acknowledge a child of theirs, no matter what the circumstances of the conception were, because that child would eventually inherit the gift after the father died. It disgusted Balinor that some men could so callously forget about their own flesh and blood, pretending they were non existent. In front of him now stood living proof of the repercussions of such a man.
"I'll show you then."
For the next half hour or so Merlin learned how to make, use and dismantle traps as well as the best locations to put them and what kinds of animal they would typically catch. By the time they got back to the camp Arthur looked suitably irritated at having been left alone for such a long time but Merlin's sudden bout of cheerfulness make him impervious to Arthur's snarky remarks.
AN: * Kilgharrah as spelt on Wikipedia. Poor Balinor hating on himself, originally this chapter was split into two with the second half (including Balinor teaching Merlin how to set traps) was called 'Better Late than Never' for fairly obvious reasons :) anyways that's all from me today!
Thanks to reviewers: MamzelleHermy, lilyflower1345, Mediatrix, rmatri540, Gabriella Jane London, sarajm, OhHowDelightfullyDreadful, SapphireShelle91, Questionable Answers, Laughy-Taffy the Grape.
Replies to reviewers:
Mediatrix: I think you're right, Balinor's eyes might have been brown in the show, but at the same time the actor who played Balinor and Colin Morgan aren't related (that I know of) so I've tried to make another link between the two by having them with the same eye colour. I hope that clears it up a bit :)
Sarajm: It does make sense, don't worry :) . You'll have to keep reading to find out whether or not they find out the truth though!
Laughy-Taffy the Grape: I hadn't thought about that one, although it is true. There are quite a few oblivious moments in this fanfic, hence why it got the name. There are some obvious ones coming up in future chapters particularly.