Every now and then, those who have heard of Clan Balmoral's secret weapon wonder aloud as to why a small clan from the Starwood Strand should need a highly-trained assassin in their ranks. These are normally the same people who ask why Clan Balmoral has a Serthis Army, and thus they are ignored (everyone needs snake-people armies in their lives).

But even those who do not question the presence of an assassin often incorrectly identify which dragon it actually is. This is, of course, the point.

Unity, eldest of his nest and firstborn son of the clan, is never quite what he appears to be. His unassuming exterior and other dragons' preconceptions about his breed allow him access to places and dragons that would otherwise be far more protected. After all, there is nothing to fear from a dragon who forgets names and faces after a few months, who eats exclusively plants, and who is known for getting out of the way in combat rather than attacking... is there?

For Unity may be a Tundra, but he inherited his father's power, protective nature and quick brain. He is Clan Balmoral's assassin, quiet, peaceful, and absolutely lethal.

Unity is the child of Majestas and Mael, eldest son of the clan leadership and blessed with both the tremendous olfactory capabilities and constitution of his mother and the sharp mind and protective nature of his father. Balancing the two sometimes opposing natures he was born of is not a task many would succeed at, let alone relish, but Unity's name is more than just for show. He has not chosen a side to follow, but instead has chosen to unify them.

Yet in Unity's greatest strength lies his greatest weakness. Half of his blood comes from a Guardian, and with it comes half the pull of the Charge. A Tundra's forgetful mind is not typically built to withstand the weight of even half a Charge, let alone the lonely wandering of the Search, and so in the darkness and confusion it has... changed. Some might even say corrupted.

For Unity's Charge is Clan Balmoral itself, and Unity will do anything to protect it. If he thought one of the clan members was a threat, he would kill them without hesitation. Fully aware of Treesnek's mysterious hatred for Clan Balmoral Tundras, Unity had wished to face him himself, but when the Games collapsed into The Rebellion it seemed that Treesnek lost interest in tormenting the Clan.

Unity, however, did not. The corrupted Charge lances through his mind, demanding blood and paradoxes, and there is only so long that one dragon can stand against such an assault. In the weeks after the Rebellion, he watched as the Clan appeared to relax, no longer fearing the loss of an innocent life every week.

But in Unity's mind, it is the Games that have brought the Clan together. Before, they were nothing more than individuals and a few mated pairs – and Kyanos and Pyros, but they are different anyway. But as the Games had proceeded, the small family groups had bonded together, bound by shared loss and pain. They had grown into a cohesive unit, led by Unity's parents supported by the three primary breeding pairs, with the backing of the shy cleric Kepler, the Priestess Carmel and the mighty Triumvirate of Kyanos-Pyros-Adaar. Even the Clan Balmoral Serthis Army had been nothing more than a dream and a few scattered familiars before the Games. Now it is over one hundred and seventy individuals strong, with General Marshal, his new officers, and the recently-promoted Colonel Ashkasa to lead it.

The Games has kept the Clan together. Therefore, for the good of the Clan, the Games must go on.

Unlike his mother, he does not trust easily, and does not forgive swiftly. And unlike his father, he has no use for shields or defence. Unity is the silent shadow in the deepest glades, moving between blinks, stealing breath as quickly as the wind steals warmth. Blade or poison or merely the crushing strength of his jaws, it does not matter. That which threatens his family will die.

The first time Unity was entered in the Games, Majestas killed him in the Bloodbath. At first, Clan Balmoral assumed that this was the closest thing to mercy he could show his son, shielding him from the destruction of the Games. But when the Games culminated in The Rebellion, and Unity grew quiet and strange in the unnerving weeks that followed, when dragons disappeared and reappeared without warning or memory of where they had been, the wiser ones have begun to wonder whether Majestas was not protecting Unity – but protecting them.

Unity vanishes into the twilit forest between one breath and the next. None see him leave, and perhaps none will see him return, but there can be no question that after this night Unity will never be the same again.