His Guardian Angel 2

Interlude - Discovering the Past

A.N: Whoa, it has been a hot minute since I've written on this story. However, I recently went on a visit to Pierrefonds, the Chateau where Merlin was filmed and have been filled with a new determination to get this story finished, so I will try my best to finish off the final chapter and the epilogue in the next few days. 

"Come on girl." I whispered, feeling the strain of Heaven's muscles as we sprinted through the forest. Every so often I ducked as there was a stray branch, or we veered off course slightly due to a collection of poisonous bushes. But other than that we remained in a straight line, heading to where we needed to go as fast as possible.

After what I saw last night, I'd had a restless sleep, and was determined to speed ahead this morning, taking as little time as possible to reach the Dragonlord, understanding that they needed to provide help to Camelot as soon as possible. I had dreamt of fires last night, and could hear screams coming from all directions around me. I didn't know how he had gotten out of his underground cell, but the dragon was now free, and terrorising Camelot. I just hoped that whoever I found would be willing to help, considering Camelot had been the one to slay all the dragons.

I ducked under an outlying tree branch as Heaven began to slow slightly. "Are we there?" I whispered to my horse, who let out a small huff, giving me my answer. I allowed her to come to a stop and noticed an opening in the land, the dragonlord I was looking for must live in this cave. I swung myself off of Heaven and glanced around, making sure that there wasn't anyone else around me. "Stay here, I'll go in alone." I whispered, before moving away from my horse, knowing that she would stay where I'd asked her to.

I slowly made my way into the cave, getting a sense of how large it was, and how far it stretched on for. I could see a light flickering in the distance, so I assumed that the dragonlord had started a fire. I continued to wander through the cave, before coming upon where the dragonlord was. A man was sitting on the hard ground in front of a small fire, on which a small carcass, presumably a rabbit, was roasting gently. There was a small pile of supplies behind the man, and a makeshift bed was laid down hastily on the floor.

The man looked as though he was well into his forties, but still had long dark hair that reached his shoulders, and he was wearing an extremely faded blue tunic in which there was something I recognised but couldn't quite pin down what it was. "Excuse me?" I whispered in a small voice, not wanting to startle the man too much, or cause any violence to come from him. The man's head immediately whipped around to look at me, the man had a hard, angry look in his eyes as he stood up, revealing the height difference between us. He was much taller than me, but his eyes raked up and down my figure, presumably trying to figure out whether or not I was a threat.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I promise, I mean you no harm." I said, holding my hands out in front of me so he could see that I had no weapons on me. "Who are you? How did you find me?" The man asked in a husky, but demanding, voice. "My name is Ana." I said, not answering his second question, simply used to hiding my magic from others. "What do you want from me?" He asked quickly, not mentioning my lack of answer to his second question. "I've come to ask for your help." I said, trying to think through what I was actually going to say to this man.

I had spent so much time worrying about whether or not I was going to reach the dragonlord in time, that I hadn't actually considered what I was going to say to him, knowing that like most other magic users he likely held a grudge against either Uther or Camelot. "What could you possibly need me for?" The man said, with a glint in his eyes that seemed to wonder if I knew what he was. "You're the last dragonlord, is that correct?" I asked, just wanting to ensure that I was speaking with the right person. I could see from the flash of shock in the man's eyes that he was in fact the person I was looking for.

"How do you know that? Who are you really?" The man said through gritted teeth, taking an angry few steps towards me, causing me to back away from him slightly. "I told you, I'm Ana. I know who you are because... I have magic too, magic which informs me of what I should do to help people, and Camelot's in danger. The last dragon was released and is burning the city up as we speak." I said as quickly as I could, trying to explain the situation in as little words as possible.

The man in front of me thought over my words and backed down slightly, looking at me curiously. "You have magic yet you would jump so quickly to Camelot's aid." The man said, and I nodded slowly, understanding that people would find it odd that those with magic in them would want to save the country which had hunted them down for decades. "I have family there, friends." I whispered, and the man looked down at his feet with a guilty look on his face.

"I cannot help you." He said, and my heart broke gently as he sat back in front of his fire, poking at what I assumed was his dinner. My mind raced as I tried to think of something I could say to convince him to help my friends, but nothing came to mind so I just moved over to the Dragonlord, sitting opposite him. The man looked up at me, and I mustered up the most pleading look I could. "I know that you may have suffered under King Uther, but I promise, his son, Arthur, will bring peace to these lands. So those with and without magic can live in harmony. That will not come to pass if the Prince is dead." I said in a whisper, tears springing to my eyes as I thought about what would happen to all my friends in Camelot if the Dragon wasn't stopped.

"I appreciate your concern, but-" The man said, before cutting himself off. I glanced up at him to see that he was staring at my wrist, which had become exposed from where it had been inside my cloak. On my wrist sat one of the matching bracelets that my mother had made Merlin and I when we were children. Neither of us had ever taken it off before, and I had gotten so used to it being there that I hardly ever noticed it anymore.

"You know Hunith?" The man asked, his voice cracking and an unknown emotion clear in his face as his eyes gleamed with tears. "She's my mother." I said in a whisper, and the man jumped up from his seat and rushed over to me at a speed I didn't know was possible. He reached forward cautiously with a hand and placed it on my cheek. "Who's your father?" He asked in a whisper, and I shook my head gently, my mind racing with a million reasons why he would want to know all of this. "I-I don't know. I never met him, he left before I was born." I said, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion as the Dragonlord let a few tears slip down his face.

"I-I think I'm your father..." He said in a broken voice, making me gasp loudly, standing up as well, staring into the man's face for any indication that he was lying, but the pure emotion in his eyes was enough to know that he was telling the truth. As I studied his face a little closer I couldn't help but notice the similarities between some of his features and Merlin's. I let out a small sob and I nodded my head, throwing my arms around the Dragonlord I now knew was my father.