I was slacking a bit on responding the reviews the last couple of chapters. Sorry :(
Anyhoo for 52: YAH FLAMIE! thank you for being the 350th reviewer on ffnet for this story!
Thank you shelle-ma-bell, GoldenFireFish, AWanderersHaven, Fai's smile, and Nance for your reviews!
Proofread by Nance, who doesn't get than no matter how hard she tries I will never submit to the "double L", "S", or "our's" of non-American English MUWHAHAHAH! But other than that...I truly couldn't figure my way out of the punctuation and grammar jungle without her! And thanks to IcarusLSU for helping me smooth out the flow and listening to me whine when I think I've lost my way.
2500 years ago...
"Where are we going, Father?" The dark-haired, young man asked.
They had been traveling for months from the mainland, in a place known as Ránríki in the northern area of Viken, heading south toward the island their people had first come from, when they had been brought to Earth. Few of their kind born in recent centuries, possessed the innate abilities to carry on their people's legacy.
"Lludd's dragon has been gifted with an egg." His father's voice was filled with hope for the future. "It has been over five decades since the last dragon was born. There will be three others there with you, to try and summon the dragon from the egg."
Balinor felt a shiver run through him. While the descendants of the Dragon Lords and their human mates were plentiful, the strong genetic line that bonded some of them to the dragons, was dying out. Balinor's people...his culture...was slowly becoming extinct. Many of the children were at least gifted with magic, to some extent, and most chose to follow the druidic path. However, others delved into stronger genres of magic that pushed far beyond the natural order and teaching given by the Nox, generations previous.
He was one of the few who had shown enough promise to potentially carry on his people's traditions. He had barely come of age, fully grown by human standards, but still very young in comparison to his father's race...his race.
"Kilgharrah..." He whispered, as his thoughts drifted towards the stars. He had been told many times, as his father had before him, that far beyond the white band across the night sky, is where his people had come from.
His father looked at him quizzically. "What was that?"
"His name."
"Balinor..." Heremod said patronizingly. "...You won't know the name until it comes to you, when you see the egg."
The young man, with his dark eyes, laughed, "I know that's the dragon's name, Father. The egg's line can be traced back to Ogham...Taliesin's own dragon...who had brought our language and our people to this planet. The name is a mixture of old and new, meaning the son of Ogan. He will be the one to carry on our language into the coming days."
Heremod gave his son a sad smile. "Perhaps, he will, but don't get your hopes up. If the egg doesn't hatch for you, we will need to discuss the future, and see if my dragon would be willing to accept you."
"...But, that means you would die, Father!"
"I have seen over seven centuries of life, and have had to fight so many wars. Your mother and I have already discussed breaking our own bond. She is tired...I am tired."
"I know it's the dragon's name, Father." With that, Balinor fell silent. His discussion with his father was at an end.
Heremod let him. The future would be decided soon enough. He looked up and saw the hilltop fort of Dinas Emrys, rising in the distance.
In the keep, they met with others who had traveled from far and wide for this occasion. One man stood out among them, not being one of the Dragon Lords. He introduced himself to Balinor as Moros. "...But, Taliesin used to call me 'Merlin,' saying that I was but a mere falcon flying around the galaxy, compared to the Furlings." There was a twinkle in the Alteran's eyes that Balinor was immediately drawn to. "What do you plan to do, once you call the dragon from the egg?"
The young man admitted, he hadn't thought that far ahead.
"Well, if you decide not to return north with your father, whatever happens here, I'd like to offer my services in training you and your dragon."
Balinor grinned, his youthful enthusiasm getting the better of him. "You think it'll be my dragon, too!"
Merlin laughed, deep and long. "That remains to be seen, my boy." He said, but the wink he secreted Balinor's way told the young man all he needed to know.
2000 years ago...
"I was saddened, as we all were, to hear about your father, Balinor."
The dark-haired man nodded his thanks. "I appreciate that, Ashkanar."
King Sigemund, in the lands of the Danes, was hailed as a hero who had slain a great dragon. Heremod held out long enough to kill Sigemund, and brought the Northern King's reign to an end, before passing on himself.
It was a sign of the times, as more and more humans began to fill the lands; declaring themselves kings over man and nature, under the guise of some obscure faith. It reminded Balinor of what Merlin had told him about the Ori, and he wondered if his people would survive another uprising against such fanatical beliefs of the humans.
He shook the thought away. Now was not the time for dabbling in the dark thoughts. Instead, it was a time to hope...and potentially celebrate.
Another egg, the first one since Kilgharrah's, had been found intact. The significance of it once again brought the Dragon Lords together. There had been a time when there were more eggs than potential Dragon Lords, as many of the older generations chose to pass on their dragons to their children and die peacefully. Times had changed, and less eggs were found with each passing century. Some were stolen by humans in their greed; others destroyed in wars.
He remembered when he had come of age, there had been himself and three others vying for what had become a matter of not only prestige, but also survival. Balinor had called to Kilgharrah. The egg had hatched quickly, and the small bronze-colored dragon took to his new master immediately.
Unfortunately, not all among the Dragon Lords were happy about the outcome. One of the other young men had set out to prove he could take control of the dragonling before Balinor's bond was fully formed. The brash actions of Balinor's competitor had led to war among the remaining Dragon Lords.
It was around that time, that the Sidhe had been discovered. They were scouts, created by the followers of the Ori to search out through space and find the remaining dragons that had fled thousands of years before from Celestis. With Merlin's help, the blue little demons were imprisoned at the Lake of Avalon. Sadly, however, the humanoid creatures, who were set to destroy the dragons if they could not return them to their masters, had already been able to spread stories among the humans on how to kill the dragons.
Merlin had kept them confined, using them to his advantage to keep many humans from venturing too close to the island where he had set up his lab. He had worked with Balinor to try and find a genetic fix for the dying symbiotic race of Furlings, as well as searched for a way to destroy the Ori. He seemed to be the only one of his own people, who truly believed that someday the evil of the Ori would spread, and doom them all.
"Balinor? Are you still with me?" Ashkanar chuckled nervously.
"Sorry, yes...I was just thinking." Balinor said, coming back to the moment.
Ashkanar was a very old man; the only one of the Dragon Lords who was somewhere over two millennia in age. He was a direct descendant from Taliesin and his Nox mate. A slight, pinkish hue to his skin, and wiry hair that looked like gray moss, gave away his ancestry. "Has he made any progress?" The elder asked, his eyebrows rose hopefully.
Balinor hated to disappoint his old friend, but sadly, all of Merlin's efforts had been unsuccessful.
He shook his head, and opened his mouth to explain, when a young servant girl interrupted them. The ceremony was about to start, and their presence was being requested.
There was only one boy, younger than Balinor had been, with the potential to summon the infant dragon forth from Ashkanar's egg. They all held their breath as the boy tried desperately, but he couldn't seem to find the name that would call the dragon.
Balinor stayed behind, long after the other Dragon Lords had departed; varying levels of sadness and resignation thick among them. Currently, their numbers were less than they had been, when Merlin had first brought their people here.
"My dragon and I are not long for this world, my friend." Ashkanar's voice was filled with resignation and sorrow. "If one of our sons do not come forth soon to hatch the egg, I will be forced to protect it, any way I can."
Balinor was afraid to ask. The silence stretched between them, as it became clear Ashkanar wouldn't elaborate without being prompted. "What do you mean?"
"I need you to do something for me, Balinor."
"Anything I can, my friend." Balinor responded. The two men stood atop a tall tower, hidden in a meadowed valley, surrounded by massive, snow-covered peaks.
Ashkanar pulled out a Triskelion, broken into three pieces. "Take these. Separate them and hide them across the land. Keep one for yourself, in case you ever have a son."
"What do you intend to do?" The worry was evident in Balinor's face, as he ran his fingers across the carved runes on the pieces.
"I will not let it fall into the hands of the humans or the followers of the Old Religion. 'Old Religion...' What a joke that is. I I remember the folklore of our people, from long before we came to this land. These half-humans know nothing of where their power comes from. If any of them was to find the egg, they would surely pervert the power within it for themselves...just as those our ancestors fled from had done." Ashkanar sighed. His old bones creaked and cracked audibly. "Perhaps in the future, one of the sons of our people will come to find it, but in case that never happens...I will do what I can to protect it, even if it means sacrificing the egg to do it."
1500 years ago...
He couldn't believe what he had done; how foolish he had been. His wish had been to spare Kilgharrah...
Men had driven the once noble people to the brink of extinction. One man in particular, had found a way to bring down the last three dragons and their Dragon Lords. Balinor and his bonded kin, Kilgharrah, were the last...the very last...on Earth, and from what Merlin had said, there were no more out in the stars.
"...Perhaps in Celestis, where your people had originated from millions of years ago, but I suspect whatever the Ori had done to your people, genetically speaking, would have killed any who had remained when Taliesin and Ogham fled." The Alteran had said, years before.
The only hope that remained for reaching out to Celestis, laid within the Crystal Cave. Sadly, that was part of Uther's territory. He and Kilgharrah could have flown off somewhere, far out of the reaches of the mad King Uther, but there was no guarantee they would find safety elsewhere.
After consulting with Kilgharrah, Balinor had made a deal with the devil. A human friend of his, Gaius, felt certain that Uther's rage over his wife's death had passed, and so he approached Uther under the guise of supplication. He had surrendered himself, after receiving a promise that neither he nor Kilgharrah would be harmed. Kilgharrah's prophetic visions spoke of a time to come, when they would be free, and the wrongs would be put right by the infant son of Uther.
What neither of them had expected, was the method Uther used to keep the promise twisted in his words. While the king did not kill the Great Dragon, magical chains bound Kilgharrah to stone, deep under the castle.
"Flee..." Kilgharrah's last message to Balinor, rang through his head. "Flee, Balinor. He does not understand our bond and he will kill you. Save us both, my friend."
Balinor ran. He was relieved when he had finally reached the Kingdom of Essetir.
Gaius had felt that he was responsible for the betrayal, even though Balinor did not blame him. The physician had family in Essetir. His sister had married a nobleman, who had later became the ruler of the small realm in the east. "I doubt Uther would follow you to Essetir. My brother-in-law owes me, for it was at his urging that I came to Camelot in the first place and take up Uther's offer of sponsorship for my training as a physician."
On Gaius' word, the King of Essetir offered Balinor a position among the guard. The monarch was unaware that the man he was giving refuge to, was the same Dragon Lord who King Uther of Camelot was searching for. For months, Balinor successfully hid among the ranks of Essetir's soldiers.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Lord knew he was in trouble when he caught the eye of the king's youngest daughter.
A few months later...
"What are those stars there called?" She had the delightful innocence of a child, as she pointed up to the sky.
"That is Orion." He said, and pulled his arm tighter around her shoulders. The grass and moss made a soft bed underneath them. His cloak, draped over their naked bodies, kept the breeze at bay, while they huddled together for warmth.
She laid on her side, pressed against his body; one arm tucked underneath, while her other rested across his chest. Each time she would point to the stars, the cloak covering them slipped, and Balinor found himself more mesmerized by her flowing curves, than the sky above. He had looked at that sky for over a thousand years...for answers...and found none. Here, in the hills away from the nuns in the nearby convent, he finally found peace. Her leg encircled his, her delicate toes moved smoothly along his calf muscle.
"...And those ones over there?" She asked, once again throwing her arm toward the heavens.
Balinor chuckled, happy to indulge her curiosity. Nights like this were rare, when he felt he could allow himself to believe that everything would be alright...someday. He still felt shame and guilt for having left Kilgharrah in Uther's clutches, but, at least the mad king had kept his promise to not actually harm the dragon.
It was hard to be patient, but he knew he had to be, for now. Someday things would change, once the king's grief ran its course, or when the infant prince came of age and took the throne.
He smiled down at the brunette princess in his arms. He doubted if her father, the King of Essetir, had any idea that when he had sent Balinor to escort his precious daughter to the convent outside of Ealdor for tutoring, that the two would have ended up like this...with her sneaking away in the night to join him on the grassy hilltop, just past the forest.
The propriety of humans held little sway with the Dragon Lord who had seen over a millennia of life. Many times before, he had fallen for various women, but none so deeply as with the precious lady currently warming his bed of grass.
"That's Pegasus."
"The one where your friend Merlin comes from?" She asked teasingly.
It hurt a bit, that she didn't seem to completely believe him, but she was young, and she was trying. "Yes, my Lady, as I have told you before."
"Oh, you can just stop with the formalities this instant." Sitting up, her body was exposed as she looked down on him. Her blue eyes sparkling with an inner fire.
"Very well, my beautiful Hunith, I shall no longer be so formal with you."
"As if you ever have, since the day we first met in the hall outside my father's Court."
A deep laugh issued forth. "I've never met anyone like you before." Balinor pushed himself to a sitting position and leaned forward, kissing her perfect cupid's bow lips. "I tell you what. Someday, I will find a way for you to meet Merlin, and then you shall see the truth of it all."
"When will that be?" She pouted.
"When you are old enough for me to marry you."
"I don't understand why you won't just marry me now." Her bottom lip jutted out in a playful pout.
He ran his fingers through her long, dark hair. "You are so young, Hunith. Why are you in such a rush?"
"By the time I'm old enough for you, you will be too old for me."
"I'm already too old for you!"
"Yes, I know, you have seen over a thousand years." She drawled out, rolling her eyes for emphasis.
He couldn't help but laugh at her melodramatic tone. "Committing to be my wife is a serious ceremony, and I want you to understand more of what it means before you decide. It goes far beyond the words of the priests. If it were that simple among my people, I would whisk you away this instant." Balinor could tell she was tuning out the words he had spoken, having heard them before...repeated each time they found themselves lying together after their passion. "Fine. This next spring, I shall take you to meet Merlin. Hopefully, he can make you understand the commitment you are so eager to jump into."
She flashed him with a brilliant smile and snuggled into his chest, pulling the cloak over her body. "I can't wait to meet him! I like that name. Is it French?"
In all his centuries, he had never felt so free, or lighthearted, as the beautiful, teenage princess made him feel. With her in his arms, he was almost young again.
He sank down on the floor of the cave, his grief spilling out in a waterfall of tears and pain. He didn't know if his beautiful Hunith was alive or dead. Balinor hoped that by running from Ealdor, he had saved her life.
Her father had somehow received word of his daughter's indiscretions with Balinor. He had sent word to Uther in Camelot of the Dragon Lord's whereabouts.
The moment Balinor saw the red of the capes, he knew he would have to flee. Hunith was in the convent under the watchful eyes of the sisterhood, and the day was still young. Any attempt to contact her, would have to wait for darkness. Unfortunately, Uther's men were not as patient. Led by the mad king himself, the small convent, outside of the village of Ealdor was raided. The sisters of the order were paraded out; forced to tell the King of Camelot about the man who had stayed nearby to guard the princess. One of the nuns, the one who most likely sent the initial word to the King of Essetir, pointed to a trail in the woods. "You will most likely find him along that path." He heard her say.
The knights were on his heels, and all he could do was flee. His magic staved off the worst of their attacks, but he was a peaceful man; he always had been. So, he ran once more.
He found his way around the edges of Camelot to the Valley of the Fallen Kings, and the cave that his friend and mentor, Merlin, had once spoken of.
When he neared the area, a man appeared before him, claiming to be Taliesin. Balinor knew the name. Every child of a Dragon Lord had grown up with the stories of Taliesin and Ogham. At first, Balinor was confused, until he realized it was only an illusion, cast by magic. He followed the image of Taliesin into the Crystal Cave, where he fell to the ground, and cried himself to sleep, as if he were a lost child.
"Balinor. Balinor, wake up."
A hand on his shoulder, shook him gently back to consciousness. He looked up into the ancient eyes of his Alteran friend. "Merlin? What are you doing here?"
The old man smiled, the creases around his eyes deeper than Balinor had ever known. The last time he had seen his friend, Merlin was preparing himself for Ascension with his fellow Alterans. Their conversation had been a poignant one, and both had thought it would have been their last.
Offering his arm, he assisted Balinor off the ground. "I had set up this cavern with Taliesin, long ago. There was an alert system in place, in case it was ever accessed."
"Yes, I remember being told about it, but it doesn't explain why you are here in the flesh."
"There are stirrings far out in space of times to come. I have given up my place among the Ascended to find an answer."
A sour chuckle issued from Balinor's throat. "Kilgharrah had spoken of a new prophecy being formed. One that would save all of Albion."
Merlin's eyes narrowed. While he knew the dragon would not have been able to fit among the rock walls, covered in crystals, his preliminary scans of the area had not revealed the dragon hiding anywhere nearby either. "May I ask, where is Kilgharrah?"
The last Dragon Lord sighed. The fate of his kind and the one he was bonded with, seemed to be at an end. He began explaining to his Ancient friend all that had transpired since their last meeting. Merlin led Balinor through the caverns to a hidden room, while he listened.
Following behind the two men, like a ghost that didn't really exist in the current scene, was another. He had dark, ruffled hair, and eyes nearly as blue as some of the crystals.
Other voices began to filter through his consciousness, while he looked around the new room. At the far end was a Stargate. However, unlike the gray, metallic one at the SGC, which was made of naquadah, this one appeared more natural, as if it had been formed from the crystals in the cave.
The two men in the vision...or perhaps it was a memory he was seeing...were conversing near a control console, but he couldn't hear them over other voices that were growing louder...coming closer to him.
"...Is where I came through." He heard one man say. It took a moment for his mind to register that he knew the voice.
"Why is it different from the others I have seen?" That was Arthur, he was sure of it.
Leon's soft tenor spoke next. "From what I was told, by Heimdall, this is one of the original Gates. The crystals weren't as plentiful as naquadah in this galaxy. So, they saved those for the power cells and other things."
"Yeah." The first voice came again. He now knew it was Gwaine. "The Atlantis Base, in the Pegasus Galaxy, has one similar. If I remember right, Carter said they have a bit more computing power and can reach further."
"So, was that a hologram...the guy who led us into here?" Mickey asked with a hint of anxiety in his voice.
"Yes. I believe it was Balinor." Arthur stated.
"Balinor?" Leon gasped, recognizing the name from his memories, although he had never met the man.
"Who's Balinor?"
"He...was my father, Gwaine." Merlin finally said. His eyes blinked, clearing away the cobwebs of unconsciousness.
"Well, look who finally decided to rejoin the land of the living!" Mickey spoke up excitedly. He was standing with Leon near a shelf that was studded with symmetrical buttons made from the crystals, like a large control panel; obviously getting a crash course in how to access the systems.
Merlin smiled, before drawing a deep, cleansing breath. It took him a few seconds to realize the pain he had been feeling was greatly diminished. Whether it was because the Crystal Cave had blocked out the worst of it and was giving him strength to push through, or if Aithusa's own pain had eased for some reason, he didn't know. Whichever it was, It felt good to breath again. His eyes scanned the room. "All these centuries...I suspected there was more here, but I never knew this chamber existed..." Nor had he even imagined that the images of Taliesin and his father were holograms. Before Camlann, a room had opened up to him, and he had felt himself engulfed in a bright light, when the crystals had responded to his magic. He could now see the opened archway between that place, and the room they were currently in.
His mind drifted back to the scenes he had witnessed. He wondered if they had been real, but even as he questioned it, he knew they were. Balinor's memories had been transferred to him through the energy of the crystals. He crinkled his nose as he recalled one of them.
"Merlin, are you alright?" Arthur asked, standing beside him and holding out a hand to help his friend to his feet. He wrapped his arm around Merlin's waist to steady the warlock, and led him over to a flat rock to sit down on.
"Eh..." He was certainly better than he had been, "...about as good as a man can be, after having a memory of seeing his mother naked with his father downloaded into his brain."
Arthur's lips curled into a grimace, before he began to chuckle. The other men soon joined in.
It felt good...to be with his friends, laughing once again.
"She was a beautiful woman, but I don't imagine any man wants to envision his mother unclothed and in that position." The former king nearly choked on his laughter.
"His mother...or, his sister." Gwaine said with a pointed look at Leon.
The tall knight sobered and glared at Gwaine for a second, before he broke into laughter again.
"I hate to be a party pooper..." Glancing at his watch, Gwaine noted how long the journey had already taken, "...but, we need to get back to the SGC for a debriefing with General Landry, and I still need to write up a letter of resignation."
"We need to stop by the manor on our way, to retrieve Percival...and see my wife." Arthur agreed, hoping that the knight and Martha had found the item he had requested. "Will you be alright here with Mickey?" His concern about leaving Merlin weighed heavily on his mind.
Merlin nodded, with his eyes fixed on the Gate, and all the possibilities this room could hold. "Yeah. Go take care of things. We'll have this place figured out by the time you get back."
"I think I found the controls for the bandits. So, you shouldn't have any trouble on the way out...or I might have doubled their patrols...hard to say for sure." Mickey's face was plastered with a wide, teasing grin.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Call us, if you need us."
AN: Some fun information for ya:
In the epic poem Beowulf, Sigemund was a great king whose digression in the story was told in a way to compare his rise and fall with Beowulf. He was known for slaying a dragon and then was betrayed and killed by Heremod, bringing his reign to an end.
Kilgharrah: by some odd name link hopping, I was able to (in a twisted way) connect his name to the language that was used in the show as the "dragon tongue". Kilgharrah...Kilgara...took me to Kilgarriff, an Irish family name with roots in name O'Hogan. O'Hogan can then be translated to O` O`gan, meaning Son of Ogan. Ogan is form of the word Ogham, which was the tree alphabet used in Ireland, and has roots in Old German, and is said to appear to be similar to Greek as well. Old German is the language that was used in Merlin as the Dragon Language. So...it's a bit of a stretch, but what about this story isn't?
Lludd was a king around 100 AD in Britain, and was the one who imprisoned Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon of Wales) and a white dragon under the mountain where Dinas Emyrs was built. This then plays into the myth of Myrddin/Ambrosius and the history with Vortigern, around the beginning of some of the Arthurian Legends.