*Flashback* (1)

"You're back!"
There were few voices in the world which Hector could stand to hear. Most of them had died out long ago. But lady Elena, his beautiful wife, never failed to make him smile.
Even when he was still wrenched in sea water and stinking of fish.

He gave her a tired smile, before he walked into the room to hug her tight. She grimaced at his smell, but otherwise didn't complain. "It's good to be back.", Hector mumbled and closed his eyes to hide his face in her shoulder.
"How is Leon?"

"He's missed you.", Elena grinned happily. "Me too, by the way.", she added accusingly. She pushed him away gently, before looking into his tired eyes. Her smile faltered for a moment, but then she caught herself.
"Have you found your friend?", she asked.

"He's here. In Camelot.", Hector nodded and went to look around in the room. He spotted his son almost instantly.
Leon was merely a baby. Maybe a little over two years old. The child was sleeping in a crib not too far from the fire place. Just far enough to keep him from reach, but close enough to warm him thoroughly. To think he had spend so much time in Camelot.... and yet so much time away from his family.

'Maybe...', he thought, 'maybe it's better this way.'

"Is everything alright between you? Or did Uther say something? I could talk to him, if he isn't treating Balinor right." She looked at him with worry.
It always felt strange to Hector to have someone in his life who understood him so well. Who listened to him. Who treated him like a human being.

"He hasn't... but Balinor ratted me out.", he muttered and tried not to look at her.
Despite everything, he knew that his wife did not approve of his way of dealing with things. She did support his ideas as well as she could though.
"You poisoned his father. You planned it. You've poisoned half the island. What do you expect?
Your friend has people there he loves. You cannot expect him to understand why you find it necessary. I happen to agree with him, by the way."

"Have you figured out what the book says?", Hector asked, instead of justifying himself.

Elena's face turned sad. "I have."
Hector bit his lip. He knew their relationship was strained a little. After all.... she did have to put up with a murderer.

"That's good.", he said and looked away.
"It's on the table. When I heard that you're back, I got all the translations out. It took weeks. Be thankful I'm so smart, unless you'd still be staring at the pages like an idiot. Your language is remarkable.
It's a shame that you lost the ability to read it. You could have taught me."

Hector's stomach dropped a little at that. Elena turned to him, a proud smile on her lips. So used to his sadness that she was unaware that she just threw oil into the fire.

Hector had lost his status as dragon kin. His immortality. His healing abilities. His ability to read in his native tongue as well, apparently.
He lost everything that had made him dragon kin.
He had to start from scratch. He was nothing but human now. He aged faster than ever.
He couldn't understand dragons any longer, unless they chose to speak human.

He gritted his teeth at the reminder.

"You won't believe it!" Elena had continued talking, without realizing that he had been spacing out all along. She sounded so excited to show him what she had figured out.
Before Hector had left to the island, all they had figured out was that Hector had been right all along.
The poison was what caused his fall from grace.
And that dragons used to be different. Feathers. They had feathers! There used to be no dragon lords! The dragons used to be free!

"Go on, read these!", Elena smiled and held out sheets of pergament. She had written in the neat handwriting Hector was so used to see from her.
And she was careful with her translations. There were barely any words she had scratched through.

Hesitantly, Hector took them up and scanned the pages.

"Did you show them to Uther yet?", he asked.
"I have. He said it's mostly nonsense. He thinks it's a bunch of tales written for children. But he also said, that it might still be useful, if I managed to translate everything.
But that's not very interesting.
Did you know, the first dragon Lord was a woman!", Elena sounded exited.

Hector blinked. Then his mouth fell open at the last part. "That does sound like gibberish.", he muttered in honest disbelieve.

"Apparently not! And you won't believe what else I figured out! In these legends there is mentioned a dragon egg!"
Hector blinked again at his wife, who's dark eyes were wide with anticipation. She took this far more serious than he had expected. But it made him smiled. After all.... the two of them were therefore the only ones who did.

"Dragon eggs are rare, but..."

"No no. You don't understand!", she said excitedly and hurried to find the right sheet with the translation.
When she finally found it, she presented it to him with a great smile.
"This egg works as some kind of contract between the lady of the lake and the dragon Lords.
It is written here that the rules of the Dragon Lords do not apply to it! It would be a dragon like the original ones!
If we could find it, we could break the contract! Don't you see?"

Hector shook his head. But he waited. Elena had always been much smarter than him. And she had always supported his attempts to free the dragons as ecstatically as he.
Of course, her approach was less brutal than his, and they fought often about the alternatives. Because, Hector was convinced there were none.
But he was willing to listen at least.

"Not really. How would that work?"

"With the Dragon, either the curse could be broken, OR we would strip the Dragon Lords of their power OVER the dragons! Maybe both!"
Her eyes were glowing hopefully.
Hector's responding smile was more forced than real. He loved her enthusiasm. But he feared it....
"Don't you think this is wishful thinking?" He knew there must be some truth to these stories, why else would his father have hidden it.
But these assumptions were going a little too far. Even for him.

"What? No! This is your history! You said it yourself, the dragon Lord's have been hiding the truth from you! It makes sense now, doesn't it?
If you could somehow find a way to make them powerless. Or even become a dragon lord yourself?"

Hector looked at her. Really looked. Then he took the papers in hand, and rushed to read through them. She.... kind of had a point.
"This...", he said, his mind rambling.
"You could be on to something!", he muttered.

"YES! And that's not the only thing!", now she was grinning widely.
And since Hector was currently holding the papers, she put up the book about the history of the battle of Drakonier.

"This book says that the first Dragon Lord, her name was Myrddin, disappeared. And no one could figure out where she went.
BUT-", she popped the word with emphasis, "I found records here in Camelot!
She went here! To this castle! She WROTE a major part of this book and gave it to her fellow Dragon Lords. People she chose, by the way. Not who were born as Dragon Lords.
But here in Camelot, there are records of a woman who came to court by the name of Myrddin Emrys."

"Emrys?", Hector's eyes widened. Despite Uther's warnings to talk to the druids, the name did ring a bell. Because he had defied those orders and talked to them of course.

"Yes! That's what I thought too! She was court sorcerer in Camelot for about fifty years, before she she apparently gave up her soul or something? Anyway, she is buried here, right next to king Bruta, because she insisted on it and the king at the time valued her immensely, so he allowed it!
The egg might be in the vaults! By her grave!"

Hector stared at her still. "You think she was buried with it?"

"Kings and Queens get buried with their most valued possessions! I can't think of anything that might have been of more worth to her than the egg."

Hector huffed out in disbelieve. "This can't be true."
"It's wild, isn't it?", Elena smiled widely once more.
For a moment Hector smiled back. Then his face fell and settled on something else. Something that this train of thought shone a much different light on.

"I have killed for this goal.
I have killed my own kin."

"You did it in Uther's name. Don't forget about that. You did it, because you believed it to be the only way to free the dragons AND keep Leon and me safe."

"You know that's not the only reason why I did it.", Hector frowned.
"I know.", she said and her eyes turned a little bit colder.
"But it's one of the reasons. I'm trying to be positive. I don't want to fight you anymore.", she said painfully.

"So you've just forgiven me.", Hector bit his lip once more.
You know... the thing is... Hector knew exactly what he was doing. What he already did. And he hated the Dragon Lord's with a passion.
But he loved the Dragon's just as much as he hated their masters. And he knew he was ripping families apart. He knew he left them alone to suffer.
And knew, or rather believed, that some of them deserved it. But there were some even he would have liked to spare.

Such as Balinor and his family. Or Rebecca. After all, it was his fault that the Dragon Lord's in these families died.
And maybe he wasn't completely innocent on the suicide of Rebecca's daughter. He should have stopped his brother, but he hadn't. Not for trying.... but because Hector had been weak. Too weak compared to his brothers brutality at least.

Of course all of that would rest on his conscience.
It made him tired and exhausted and terrified. Of course he hated what he was doing.
But someone had to do it.
Or else the Dragon's would be enslaved forever. Someone had to make a change. Hector was just the only one willing to do it. AND, willing to pay the price.

"No." Elena looked at him closely. "But that's something we have to live with." And perhaps, that was enough.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"It's been two weeks. Why are you here now?"
Balinor was merely a shadow of himself. He sat in the dungeons, hands chained to each other, but otherwise free to move.
He sat there, his beard grown out and the lines under his eyes dark, as if he hadn't slept in days.

Hector looked upon him with hardly any remorse.
Not because there was none. But because he was good at hiding it. He was good at steeling himself.

"Can you call Kilgharrah?", it was not a demand. It was an honest question. Balinor was no dragon lord. And dragon kin couldn't call upon their dragons. Not by force at least.
But Kilgharrah had always been different.

"Why?", Balinor spat out.

"Because I need him to confirm something.", Hector said, eyes narrowed. He, too, hadn't slept in a while.
He had been down in the dungeons, where the last remains of Kendris were hidden.
It pained him to do so. But Uther and him had a deal. And you could chain a dragon, by chains made of dragon scales.
Kendris scales were the only ones available. It was a long and hard process. But they were just about ready. Kilgharrah's chains, that is.
All it needed now was magic. THIS, Hector could provide as soon as they faced the dragon.

"Is that what you call it nowadays? Don't think me a fool, Hector. I know what you're planning. You want to chain him.
The guards love to taunt me about it too. Think I'd fall for it anyway.
You want to chain him. And control him. If not kill him. Though I'm not sure you really have the means to do that."

"No, I don't.", Hector said. And because it was unclear which part of the accusations he had responded to, he swallowed first and then clarified.
"I want to chain him, yes. But I never planned to kill him. I want him to order the dragons to stop listening to the Dragon lord's orders.", he huffed a laugh at the paradox in his sentence, but looked at Balinor seriously.

"The chains are ready. Now all we need is you."

Balinor raised both eyebrows. "Are you nuts? Where the hell did you get the scales from anyway? For Kilgharrah, you'd need a massive amount!"

"Kendris.", Hector replied with hesitation in his voice.
Balinor blinked in surprise. "Kendris? Isn't Kendris..."
"Dead? Yes.", Hector muttered.
"You brought him here? And then you pick scales from his dead body?", Balinor gasped in horror.

"I had no choice."

"Bullshit.", Balinor countered.

Hector took a deep breath. "I know you don't understand this, but...."
"Of course I don't! I could never do this to ANYONE! Regardless of species." Balinor was not just talking about what Hector did to a corpse. It was about everything else as well.
"No, but THEY would!", Hector lowered his face and his voice, stepping closer to Balinor.

Balinor had to stand up, to make room for his anger. He stepped forward to the bars that separated them, only to growl at his oldest friend.
"For the last time, Hector. Not all dragon lords are like your father and your brother!",

"No. Perhaps not.", Hector grimaced. Looking at Balinor as if seeing him for the first time.
"You really don't see it, do you?", Hector asked and tilted his head at Balinor.
Balinor shook his head. Not to answer. It was an expression of disapproval.

Hector grabbed for the bars.

"My father raped a woman. My father killed a dragon. My brother is not better than that. He did the same and worse. He tortured dragons for fun.", he spat out the last word.
"As a punishment they were locked into our house. Able to hurt their family members. To torture their dragons. To abandon their duties and still live in peace and luxury!

Selena and I were shamed for what Sentiell did to her and she killed herself.
I made everyone mortal. Like my dad did to ME. But I got banished for it, with the punishment of death upon my return."

"Those are different things on different scales, Hector! You weakened our kind in the face of the enemy! You caused more deaths than your father ever could. ", Balinor hissed out.

"So you think it's justified, that our people go and rape and kill people here in Camelot, where the people can't defend themselves against us?"

Balinor stared at him with wide eyes. Not having expected Hector to suddenly change perspective.... To see from the view of their enemies.

"And what about you?", Hector added with anger.
"You decided to spare my life. For THAT you got banished too. Do you think that's fair?"
Balinor stopped. And stared.

"You know that Uther would kill us, if he knew how to."

"He would have never found the island, if we had enforced our protection instead of sending out scouts who are just there to burn down houses and kill farmers.", Hector countered.

"You want us to hide on the island!", Balinor weakly replied, but he was suddenly grasping a totally new picture.

"It's better than war!"

"You are leading the war!"

"I have no choice!", Hector growled back. Back to his first argument. They stared at each other for a while. Hostility and hatred visible in their eyes.

"It's still not right.", Balinor shook his head.
Hector took a deep breath and stepped away from the bars and turned around.
"Let's face it, Bal. There is only one difference between Dragon kin and Dragon lords."

"Yeah, the powers, I know.", Balinor replied and rolled his eyes.
But Hector looked back at him coldly. "No.", he shook his head.
"The law is on their side."

And with that he left the dungeons. Leaving Balinor behind with a lot to think about.

---------------------------------------------------

Hector returned to his rooms, his mind rambling. Questions upon questions on his mind.
None of which he had an answer to.
"What am I doing?"
"What am I going to do?"
"What would be the right thing to do?"
"How can I protect my family?"
"How can I free the dragons?"
"How much longer can I fight?"
"Will everything work out?"

He sank down on a chair in his chambers. All while his wife talked to a maid just outside the room.

He closed his eyes and buried them in his hands.
A noise interrupted him and he looked up to see Leon playing inside his crib.
He had a few wooden figures in hand. He was small. He could barely talk, but he loved to make noises.
And right now he was replaying a story he must have made up somehow. He held a wooden dragon figure in hand and another one which was a clearly a knight.

Baby Leon made dragon noises at the moment. The knight seemed to understand what they were saying, but Hector sure as hell didn't.

"I'm a KNIGHT!" , Leon finally said with a tiny but loud voice. "I will defeat all the bad bad men!", he announced, as if he truly planned on it for his future.
Then the dragon made noises again, which Hector did not understand and then both figures hit against the crib bars, as if it were a prison. They were not fighting each other though. They were fighting alongside each other instead.

Hector smiled at the sight. And his questions changed directions again. Would his son be proud of him, when he grew up? Probably the exact opposite.
Would Leon one day be a knight and be proud to be his son?
Would he?
Hector's smile fell. Because despite everything he told everyone, despite his own conviction to do the best he could, he couldn't imagine his son would be.
After all the best he could do was fucking horrible.
How could a child be proud of a father who was banished from his home town for treason?
How could a son be proud of a man who killed his own father?

It was necessary, he always told himself. That didn't mean he was happy with the price he had to pay for it.
Only here. Only at home did he ever give himself time to doubt. Reason to question what he was doing. And it always tore him apart. But it also gave it some kind of reason.
His madness.

"Papa!", Leon suddenly said and smiled, as wide as tiny children could. Within a second, his toys were forgotten and he stood up inside the crib, demanding attention.
Hector sighed and stood up to approach his son.
And like he wished his own father had done, he took his son in his arms and carried him all the way back to the table.

"Hello son!", he responded. Still, after all these years, awkward to be responsible for this tiny miracle.
"Who are your friends?", he pointed at the toys, whom Leon had forgotten, but not let go off.

The thing is, Leon couldn't have many friends. Real ones, that is. Hector's family was being watched by Uther's knights. Closer than any other royal family was. It was only natural.
Which made it harder for them to fit in.
Not that any royal family wanted to be associated with dragon kin, while Uther hunted their kind.

Leon grinned excitedly. "They are knights!", he explained.
"They defend Camelot from the evil witch!"

Hector frowned. "What witch?"
"The WITCH. Uncle Uther said witches are bad. So they fight the witch!", Leon patiently explained.
Hector grimaced. "Uncle Uther?", he asked, feeling dread overcome him.
How often had Uther come here to visit Hector's son? Teach him unwanted lessons?
Hector himself had missed so many days, since Leon was born. That his son even remembered him was a wonder.

"Yes! And these are Sir Leon -", Leon pointed at the knight. "That's me!", he added, as if he needed to clarify.
"And that is Sir George!", Leon grinned happily, pointing at the dragon.

"George?", Hector couldn't help but laugh at the name. George... that sounded .... normal. For a human that is. But for a dragon.... that didn't really add up, did it?
After all, no dragon birth was without meaning. It defined who the dragons were. What their purpose was in life.
Giving a dragon a human name.... Hector had never heard of such a thing.
"Don't you want to give him another name? George sounds ....", Hector sighed a little in exasperation.

Leon looked at him with wide eyes.

"Human?", Hector concluded.
Leon blinked.
"They're not humans. They are knights!", Leon insisted. In that moment Hector remembered that he was talking to a two year old.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where is it?", Elena was hissing in a whisper. Hector tried to follow her. He held a magical shield above them both, so that they were invisible. But he had been keeping the magic up for multiple hours now.
It was getting harder and harder not to slip up, while his wife tried to read tomb inscriptions which he should be able to read with his eyes closed.
....
Okay, maybe not with his eyes CLOSED, that would be ridiculous.

"How would I know? You're the one who was so sure the egg would be here."

It was dark. Not just in here, where dozens of royals were buried, but also outside. It was the middle of the night. They weren't supposed to be here. Scratch that. They were forbidden to be here.

"Elena, we're searching for a fairy tale. You have to know that we could be wrong."

Elena shushed him, uncaring of what he had to say. "I'm sure it's here somewhere!", she insisted. Almost desperately. Who could blame her. She finally had hope to stop her husbands madness.
If the fairy tales weren't real, she would start making up proof, so Hector WOULD believe it. As long as it stopped him, that is.

Hector wanted to ask, where she assumed 'it' was, when suddenly, his wife squealed in delight.

So loud, Hector instantly panicked, thinking the entire castle must have heard.
But then he remembered what they were searching for. Curious beyond believe, he leaned over the dusty tomb stone. Carved into stone were symbols that Hector recognized but could no longer read.

"Is this it?", he asked, brushing off the dust and stared at it.
Elena pulled out a sheet, similar to ones she had shown him in their chambers. It was the alphabet of the dragon language underneath a chart of possible letters they could be translated into.
'Could be', because dragon language was an intuitive language. It was strongly connected to the soul and the mind.
Interpreting it was difficult, even for Elena. Who grew up leaning fourteen languages and managed it with little problems.

"I think it reads....", Elena was hovering over the symbols now. Curious and excited.
"The ancient child."

"That's an odd thing to write on a tomb stone.", Hector commented and took another breath, because the amount of magic he was using was starting to get on his mind.

"I think we have to open the tomb.", Elena finally decided.

"Are you nuts?"

"If there IS an egg in there -"

"You can't know if it hasn't already been hatched, even if it does exist.", Hector pleaded.

"I think we would have found records, if it had.", Elena insisted. And because Hector had never been able to argue with her, he stepped away.
Elena pulled up her wrists. For a woman at Uther's court, she was surprisingly buff. Meaning, despite not being allowed to train as a knight or do anything really, there was no doubt she could hold herself in a fight against one.
(That was mostly, because she loved to help the servants bring in fire wood. And she had a fable for the axe. Give her one and the knight who'd have to face her would end up quitting his job. She would later train Leon combat skills, so he could show off to Uther.
She would be the reason why Leon made it as a knight in the first place.)

Right now, she was stemming her entire weight against the stone coffin. Hector had to focus on the spell that protected them from the knights just outside the vaults. Which meant that he had to constantly draw some kind of circles in the air. So he was basically useless to her.
But she knew that.

And it was important that they would not be seen or heard. Because if Uther ever found out that Hector was using magic in Camelot.....
Let's just say his head may be the last thing he worried about.... but he still worried about it!

The lid was incredibly heavy. With huffs and puffs, Elena managed to push it away.
And then she almost screamed.
As did Hector, as they both jumped up, away from the coffin. The sudden panic disrupted Hector in his movements and his magic circle broke.

"That's impossible!", Elena mumbled, because she was too distracted to notice.
Fear was written all over her face.

There was a cough. But it was neither a guard, nor Hector or his wife who had been coughing.

It came from inside the coffin.

For a moment, husband and wife stared at each other. Hector's magic had fallen. They had no time to stay here like this. They would be found any time soon. Now that the guards would be able to hear them again.

There was another cough, when suddenly a figure emerged from the darkness inside the coffin.
Whatever it was... it had no face. But they could tell, it looked at them for a moment.
It was a shadow, surrounded by golden light.

Neither Hector nor Elena dared to say a word. It wasn't as if they could have talked to it. Within a few moments, the creature dissipated into golden particles.
As if the dust in the air had caught fire and decided to glimmer around them.

"What do you...", Hector swallowed.
"What do you think that was?", he finished his question lamely.

"Maybe it was a protection spell for whatever is inside of that tomb.", Elena answered, as if she knew.
She ended up being correct, because when she finally dared to walk over, she picked up an egg. About the size of her lower arm. And it was glowing in the same golden dust that was surrounding them.

"Are you sure, it's safe to touch it?", Hector asked, when he finally found his voice again. Not that it mattered anymore. She had already picked it up.

"This egg is hundreds of years old, Hector! I bet Myrddin put a protection spell on it for the cold or something!
Oh my god, do you know what this means?" She totally ignored his concerns again.

There was a sound, behind them. A door opened and shut closed. A voice yelled: "Who's there! Show yourself!" Because that ever made anyone stop hiding.

"It means you're being too damn loud!", Hector panicked and within a second, he pulled his magic barrier back up. He really should have done that sooner.
"Come on, we got to leave!"

But Elena only laughed. "Hector, we can free them! We can free the dragons!", she walked over and mockingly kicked him in the leg, because her hands were currently occupied.
"We could also be killed for treason. Come on, let's go!", Hector hissed, almost falling over from the treatment.

-----------------------------------------------------

"How are things coming along, Hector?"

If there was one thing Hector hated, it was being put on the spot by Uther Pendragon.
He didn't dare answer.
Sometimes, people ask you, if you're a fool. Sometimes it's wise to keep quiet. Rather than eliminating all doubts about it.

"It's been three weeks."

"Things would be easier, if Balinor wasn't locked up in a cell."

"You want me to let an enemy, a dragon lord, run around unsupervised?"

"I never said, you couldn't supervise him.", Hector muttered.

"This is not a joke, Hector. You know how murderous your kind can be!"

Hector growled as a response. Yes he knew. He himself was the best example. And HE was running around unsupervised. But he would be absolutely mad, to point that out to the king.

"I have treated you kindly, Hector. I am warding your entire family! Do not test my patience!", Uther demanded.
He hadn't even bothered to stand up from his throne.
Instead, Hector had been told to kneel in front of his king.

"Of course, Sire."

"No, you don't understand, Hector. My knights have spotted dragons heading this way!
If you don't get the situation under control, Camelot is doomed. And so is your family. Don't you forget about that."

Hector hissed in a breath. "Yes, Sire. Of course not, Sire.", he closed his eyes.

---------------------------------------------------

"Have you found a way yet?", Hector was pacing in their chambers. He was getting less and less patient, while his wife worked out how the egg worked.
It wasn't just a normal egg. The shell was covered in runes and symbols. And it was still glowing.

"Well... I don't know? There is nothing written in this book? Why don't you try?", Elena was getting just as restless.

"I already told you, I have no idea! Only dragon lord's can give a dragon egg a name!"

"Try it again! The rules don't count with this one!"

"How many times am I supposed to try? I can't find the right name. It's not....", Hector pulled at his hair.
"Look, Dragon Lords and the dragons share a language. They have a certain bond.
And a dragon's birth is never without meaning!
Which is why the name isn't picked by chance! The dragon lord goes inside himself, and tries to connect with the egg.
Then the egg will decide if it's time to come out and what their name is! That's all I know! I have lost ALL my abilities! It won't work with me! Regardless if I ever was a dragon lord or not."

Elena's shoulders slumped. "Do you think Balinor might figure it out?"

"What if ... we don't even know if we have to hatch the dragon! What if the contract is written on the shell?"

"Then how do we break the contract, if we don't break the shell?", Elena countered and as always, she had a point.

Hector balled his hands into a fist, but didn't lash out on anything. He took a deep breath.
"I don't think Balinor can help. He's as powerless as me now. Even if he was supposed to be a dragon lord. I took that power from him, remember?"

Elena sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"Come on, there has to be a way."

"You mean, other than my original plan."

"You mean, brainwash Balinor, hope that the great dragon won't notice? Then magic Balinor into capturing Kilgharrah? Then make Balinor knock Kilgharrah unconscious, get his poison and kill Balinor with it, because that would kill them both? Yeah, great plan."

"Elena..."

"No, seriously, Hector. Your plan is bound to fail. And even if you succeed, you're going to paint the world with blood!
The world your SON is meant to live in!"

"Not that again, Elena!", he said with a pained voice.

"Yes, that again! I don't know if you noticed, but your father sucked! Because he murdered! Don't be like him!"

"I already am like him!"

...

There was another heavy pause. One in which Elena sighed. "Why do you have to make everyone around you suffer? It's not even making YOU feel better.
You know what you're doing is wrong. Why do keep doing this? To US, to yourSELF?"

"Because the alternative isn't better.", Hector gave back.
"Because the alternative is letting other people doing the murder. And never changing anything. If I succeed, I can stop this!"

"You really believe that, don't you?", Elena asked. And it felt as though they've had this conversation a million times.

"A world painted in red, is better than a world in the middle of war. And our son right in the middle of the slaughter.
I want our son to live in peace. I'd rather have him hate me, then feel responsible, when he's the next one they find dead on a mission."

Elena stared at him and shook her head. "You are so scared of death, Hector. You forget to keep living."

"That's why I'm making sure, he won't have to fear it."

Elena sighed. Arguing with this man was a lost cause. He never denied the accusations made at him. He had a reason for everything. It was frustrating.
"At least talk to Balinor. He might have an idea at least. And if he believes that you're trying to find a peaceful solution, he might even help us!"

Hector sighed again. "Alright, I'll try. Keep an eye on Leon in the meantime, please.", he said and put a comforting hand on her cheek. She leaned into it, but with sadness in her eyes.
He kissed her on the forehead, then he turned around. His red cape flying behind him, as he walked in the direction of the dungeons. In his hands, he held the book.

------------------------------------------------

"You can't expect me to believe you, can you?", Balinor asked almost amused, as Hector explained the new plan to him.

"Well, do you recognize this book?", Hector rolled his eyes and through the leather bound thing into the cell.
Curious, Balinor picked it up.
Then he frowned. "What the hell? That's dragon tongue! But it's unreadable!"

"Sorry. That's the poison's fault.", Hector explained offhandedly.

"The poison stops me from reading?", Balinor asked scandalized.

"Sadly, yes. Anyway, my wife has figured out the stories behind it. They are about some woman named Myrddin. Apparently she was -"

"The first dragon lord, yes. I remember the tales. My mom used to tell me about them.", Balinor frowned. "What about them?" His mind still seemed more occupied with the fact that he couldn't read anymore.

Hector blinked. "Your mom taught you?"

"Yeah. Didn't your dad -"

"No.", Hector interrupted him. Balinor bit his lip, as if he just realized how stupid he sounded.

Hector uncrossed his arms and walked towards the bars of the cell again. "Look, Bal. Your parents were always different. But I know for a fact, that my brother was told these stories, when father was about to go to war.
THAT's when he gave him the book! Dad made Kendris bite me, because what's in there is a secret, shared only by the dragon lords!"

"That's ridiculous, those are fairy tales."

"They're not.", Hector shook his head. "This is our history.", he added, but Balinor did not look convinced.

"Do you know about the egg?", Hector finally got to the point.

"The egg?", Balinor grinned. "Yeah... like the contract thing? Nothing but a myth. People don't even know where Myrddin was supposed to have gone. It is a legend, nothing more."

"I have it.", Hector wasn't going to talk around the bush with this. It was too urgent to keep small talk with Balinor.

"You have what?", Balinor raised both eyebrows unimpressed.
"The egg.", Hector responded coldly.

Balinor blinked a couple of times. Then he burst out laughing. "Yeah right. A chicken egg maybe.", he laughed.

"Only if chicken eggs are the size of a dragon egg. Glow with golden dust and fucking runes on it. While also hiding in the royal tombs.", Hector sassed.

And the look on Balinor's face was priceless.
"You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?", Hector frowned.

"And what do you want from me now?", Balinor asked, a tad more serious. As if he was considering to believe him.

"I need to know if there is a way to hatch a dragon egg, without dragon lord powers! You certainly don't have any. Even if you did, I blocked you. So you're basically useless. Unless you have an idea I could use."

Balinor stared at him, the horror of his knew status of existence just setting in. Then he leaned his head back against the cell walls.

"I certainly don't know a way. And even if you managed it. What would it do?"

"Elena and I believe that cracking the shell, means breaking the contract. We could free the dragons.", Hector whispered the last part. "Just like we always wanted!"

"Like YOU wanted, you mean. You forget, that the curse protects the dragons.
And ... if the contract breaks, what will it cost? What lives will it take?", Balinor asked.
"Or don't you care about that after all? Wait... I forgot. You never did."

Hector growled again. Anger filling his guts. "It will surprise you, that this would cost us nothing."

Balinor stared at him. "Wow.", he muttered in utter disbelieve.
"So you want to tell me, you killed the dragon lords for fun?"

Hector closed his eyes for a second. "That's plan B."

"Plan B?", Balinor stared at him. "You killed them.... just in case?"

"I killed people who threatened my family!", Hector argued. "But that's not the point. We didn't know about the existence of Plan A, when I started this.
We can stop the murder.", Hector pleaded. But Balinor just appeared to be completely bewildered.

"You mean... YOUR murder."

Hector closed his mouth, before he could answer. Then he sat down on the ground, leaning against the bars.
"Yes. My murder.", Hector finally agreed. Because what was the point in denying it?
Balinor blinked, not expecting Hector to confirm it.
"You could stop my murdering. Bal, I'm running out of time. If I don't get results NOW, Uther will have me hanged. He will have my entire family killed!
There are dragons on their way here.
Camelot and Drakonier used to be allies. They shouldn't be at war.
The dragon's shouldn't have to hide. And the citizens of Camelot shouldn't have to live in fear!

They could live together in peace. Am I the only one who sees it?"

"Well...", Balinor hesitated. "Your methods aren't really..."

"Someone has to do the dirty work! That's just how it is. And my life was already fucked up. The least I can do, is make it count! Not for me.
For those who deserve to live."

Balinor swallowed heavily. Only now noticing the dark circles under Hector's eyes. The man hadn't slept in days. Probably not since he had been unconscious on the ride back to Camelot.

"Do you regret it?", Balinor finally asked. This time for real. Looking at the back of Hector's head, because he was turned away from him.

"I suppose you need to be more specific."

"Killing.", Balinor elaborated.

Hector looked at the ground. Stared at it. The stone, the dirt. Felt the weight on his shoulders. The cold of the metal bars behind him pressing into his spine.
"No.", he admitted. "They deserved to die."

Balinor's shoulders slumped with even more horror.

"But also yes.", Hector suddenly said, pausing for a moment, as if he was only realizing this now. "Because I deserved better then become a fucking human!", Hector grumbled.
And there WAS pain in his voice. There was loss and anger and so much more grief hidden underneath.

Balinor blinked meagerly.

"I deserved better than to be the second son of a raping monster! I deserved better than being the reason my dragon died!
I deserved better then to transform into this.... monstrosity. This... abomination of what I once was!
I deserved better than watching my first love kill herself!
I deserved better than having to turn against the people who were supposed to take care of me!
And get banished for trying to free those they neglected!
I deserve better than to sit here, where I forced my only friend to rot in a cell!
People are the consequences of their choices, they say!
But what kind of choices do we have?
If I do what they tell me to, I'm not better than them. Then I am supporting them.
If I sit by and do nothing, I watch everyone I love getting abused.
And if I try to change things, I'm the villain anyway. So what exactly ARE my choices?

THIS, Bal -", Hector turned around to Balinor. "Is the first time I have the chance to do something right without sentencing someone to die or to suffer. And my hands are bound, because I have no powers. And neither do you.

So tell me, WHAT do I do? To save my family. To save you! To save this kingdom. Which is full of people who have done nothing wrong!
Who are kind! Who don't abuse their status or their powers!
Please, Bal! Help me! Just this one last time! Let me do something good. Just this once. "

Balinor stared at the back of Hector's head. As if he just saw something in there, he had thought dead or forgotten.

It was quiet for a long time, in which neither of them said anything.
Where Balinor thought and Hector waited.
"Alright. How do I get out of here?", Balinor asked.
Hector turned around, eyes wide, as if he didn't believe what Balinor just said.
"I'll help you. But only, so you don't kill again!", Balinor tried to smile, but it looked forced.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!", Hector smiled, widely. And he meant it.

--------------------------------------

After Hector opened the cell with his magic, he sneaked Balinor out the same way he had sneaked into the tombs with Elena.
They made it through the castle unseen and unheard. (Let's be honest, did they really need the spell for that?)

Slowly, they opened the door. "Come in.", Hector shushed him inside.

With a sigh, Hector undid the magic cloak and turned around to look at his wife.
She stared at him in horror.

Hector blinked. Not having suspected her to look at him like THAT. "Elena? Is everything alright? She shook her head. "No.", she said, completely pale.
Hector blinked in confusion. But Balinor had already walked passed him.
"Wait... is that the .... egg?"

Balinor pointed at the table. Shards of a broken shell lay around it, still glimmering slightly with magic. But the glowing was slowly dying out.

"What on earth....", Hector paled as much as his wife. "What happened?", he asked. Fearing the worst.
"Did you..."

Elena shook her head again. Then she pointed into the neighboring room. Hector and Balinor shared a quick glance, before walking towards it and then, Hector fell to his knees in utter disbelieve.

In the room, right next to Leon, stood a tiny dragon with brown feathers and a round face.
He had his head tilted from one to the other man. Small rests of shell still clung to his feathers.
He looked unlike any dragon Balinor and Hector had ever met. They had never seen a dragon without scales. So free. So glowing, so utterly magical.

Then the baby dragon opened his mouth, roaring towards them a little, making Leon laugh onto his belly.
"That's not funny!", Leon argued despite himself.
No. This was impossible. Leon couldn't have....
Hector's eyes widened. Back in the room, Leon had played with his toys and made the dragon talk dragon tongue! He hadn't recognized it, but he clearly should have. No fucking way!

"Leon... who is.... that?", Hector asked, equally as mortified as his wife had been earlier.
But the tiny boy was grinning widely. "I told you! This is George!"

Balinor stared at Hector, who looked like he was going to gave a stroke. Both of them knew, that THIS, was utterly .... No fucking way.
"We are knights!", Leon added happily. And George agreed with a tiny roar.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.N.://

(1) I have to admit, I didn't plan for another flashback, but at this point, let's just roll with it.