Meeting of Fate

No one has a problem with the first mile of a journey. Even an infant could do fine for a while. But it isn't the start that matters. It's the finish line.

~ Julien Smith, The Flinch

Chapter 1: The Changes of Chance

A generation ago, Camelot was reigned by a king whose tyranny drove his subjects to rebel against him. The leader of this rebellion was a young lord named Uther Pendragon whose father had been a victim of the tyrant that became known as 'The Greedy King' for his dealings of selling his own subjects to slavery to fill his coffers. He was defeated and Uther became the new King of Camelot. He had a fine maiden as his queen, Ygraine, but when she was unable to bear him an heir Uther became desperate. He went to his friend the priestess Nimueh to ask for her assistance and she gave it to him. Ygraine birthed him a son whom was named Arthur but Ygraine died to bring him into this world as per the laws of the Old Religion.

Uther was devastated at the cost of such a miracle. Soon that devastation turned to anger that quickly evolved into vengeance. He hated Nimueh and the magic she used to take Ygraine away from him. Uther declared magical practices of any sort to be banned and set about to rid his kingdom of it and begun the Great Purge. A year into his purge saw the deaths of hundreds of people that had magic, studied it or were allied to it in any way. Uther seemed to believe he would succeed in his quest, that is, until he came across a man named Balinor Ambrosius.

Balinor was a dragonlord that had command of a great golden dragon. When Uther lay his fellow dragonlords and dragons to waste he wreaked a great vengeance on Camelot. When it seemed like Uther would suffer a defeat he appealed to Balinor for a truce. Balinor agreed, against his dragon Kilgharrah's judgment and the two of them ended up ambushed and betrayed. Balinor was set to be executed and Kilgharrah was meant to be imprisoned underneath Camelot. Balinor managed to escape thanks to the aid of Camelot's royal physician Gaius. Balinor fled but he didn't flee alone. He took Kilgharrah with him and the two of them became prime fugitives of Uther's vengeance.

He retreated to Essetir and settled down in a small village named Ealdor where he met a beautiful, good woman by the name of Hunith and fell in love. Soon enough, she fell pregnant with his child as Uther tracked him down. With the help of some druids and new friends he made in Ealdor, he had set Uther up to face war against King Cenred. It drew Uther's attention off of Balinor and Kilgharrah as he had to focus on the new war on hand. With the distraction, Balinor and his new companions fled to the Perilous Lands where he managed to tame them and covert the land into a new home to settle for all of them that evolved into a full-fledged kingdom over the years. It became a sanctuary where magical people and non-magical people were able to co-exist together free from the influence of the Great Purge. That kingdom he had named Frith and Balinor became its Dragon King.

The secret new kingdom of Frith grew out of the ruin and desolation that had been the Perilous Lands. The Fisher King gifted Balinor dominion over the land and left it in his hands in exchange for freeing him from eternal agony and letting him pass on through the aid of the magical sword forged in the dragon's breath, Excalibur. Roughly eighteen years later, Balinor and Hunith ended up ruling a growing land with their three children. Their youngest son was a twelve year old boy by the name of Nowe. Their only daughter was a seventeen year girl by the name of Liana.

But the eldest was their first son. His name was Merlin but to the Druids he was known better as Emrys. Outside of Frith, Merlin used his alternate name as the one that the world know him as. It became so ingrained in people's minds that only his friends and family called him Merlin.

In the training courtyard Merlin was with his three friends as they relaxed after they went through a rough training exercise. Rougher especially for Merlin who had to go the extra mile as a sword was not one of his strong suits. Merlin was getting helped to his feet as his training partner had knocked him to the ground for the fifth time in a row.

"You know Will," he said as he rubbed on his arm. "I think you are starting to go out of your way to ram into me during training."

Merlin's best friend Will just rolled his eyes. "C'mon Merlin, would I do that?"

Merlin just gave him a condescending look as Will tried and failed to look innocent. The two of them had been friends forever. Their parents had been friends before Frith even came to be and they had grown up together as a result. Will and Merlin were practically partners in crime for their antics in and out of Frith.

Merlin's other friend Gwaine just leaned against one of the fence poles and snorted at them. "I know I would. You're too light on your feet Merlin and it's too easy to knock you down during a sword fight. You need all the practice you could get to stay on your feet."

"Look who's talking," said Leets, Merlin's other friend. "Two drinks and you stumble over your own feet."

Gwaine shrugged that comment off with a smile. "Why do you think I drink so much? I have to practice as much as I can. Practice makes perfect."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's the reason."

Merlin and Gwaine had met over a year ago when he and Will had ventured out to investigate rumors of a magical incident involving a band of bandits that used magic attacking and robbing a traveling family in the area. They had stopped in a local tavern where they found Gwaine fighting against four men trying to shake down the tavern's owner for free food and drink. Merlin and Will came to his aid and helped throw those men out. Once outside Merlin used magic to put those men in ropes and had them hang upside by their feet off a tree to await being arrested by the local knights as he and Will ventured on. Gwaine had caught Merlin doing it but he laughed at the sight and said that he liked Merlin's style. He decided to join them for a bit and helped them fight against the sorcerer behind the incident and the group of bandits he was a part of. After that, he decided to permanently join Merlin and was surprised to find out that he was the Dragon Prince Emrys.

As for Leets, Merlin had met him when he was around 11 years old. He was a boy that his father and his friends saved from Uther's knights. He had lost his parents in the Purge and had been barely surviving by being a pickpocket and stealing from food vendors and carts with simple levitation spells. He was taught and schooled to slowly cease in his stealing habits and utilize his latent talents to do some real good. Though, he did on occasion swipe things from people's pockets, harmless things, before giving them right back. "You never know, my old talents might be needed one day so I have to keep fresh." Leets' favorite joke was that he literally was made for that as his name was 'steal' backwards though people always responded that it was the wrong kind.

"Well, you are getting better," said Leets bringing them back to the topic of Merlin's sword handling. "Give it some time."

"Okay," Merlin nodded. "Well, let's get started on the fun stuff then."

"Be our guest," Will said as he and Gwaine went back a little to give Merlin and Leets some room.

During training time, they would set aside some time to practice in magical defense on top of weapon training. As Gwaine and Will didn't have magic they couldn't participate but they did enjoy watching it. There was a target dummy a bit aways and Leets and Merlin turned to face it.

"Mind if I go first?" Leets asked.

Merlin gave him the field. "Be my guest."

Leets conjured a small fireball in his hand that launched for the dummy and it grazed the target on the dummy. He then levitated an arrow from a nearby quiver and launched it for the target that missed the target bullseye but hit the dummy's arm. Leets easily lost his cool and sent a bigger spell that knocked the dummy off its stick.

Merlin just gave him a small smile before he magically repaired the dummy and helped Leets get into proper footing as he talked him through his second attempt to hit the target. Will and Gwaine shook their heads. That's how it always was with Merlin. He can be a little slow and lack coordination when it came to a sword but throw magic into the mix and Merlin was instantly transformed. He was assured, strong and confidence incarnate using, teaching or even talking about magic. A visage truly worthy of being the esteemed Emrys.

After training was all done, the four of them went off to get themselves cleaned up.

"My dad told me something interesting," Will said as they reached the armory.

"What?" asked Merlin.

"He says that he heard that The Butcher hired a singer, the Lady Helen, to come to Camelot. He wants to throw some festivities celebrating the twenty year mark of his 'Great Purge'" he said making air quotes around the words Great Purge.

"Should be quite the party," said Gwaine.

Merlin smiled. "Yeah, it should."

"Uh Oh." Leets knew that a smile like that on Merlin always meant trouble for someone but was fun for them.

Arthur was in the training courtyard in Camelot with the other young nobles as they trained. He was hacking away at a man covered in padding that was trying to block his hits with a broad shield. He struck at the guy and causes him to fall on his back to the laugh and cheers of everyone watching.

Arthur smiled at the young man groaning on the floor. "I think he's had enough."

The others followed Arthur as they left to put away their equipment in the armory. Standing at the entrance of it was Sir Tate. He appeared to be waiting for them.

"Prince Arthur," he said when he caught sight of him.

"Yes Sir Tate?"

"Sire, the king has requested your presence for an immediate meeting in the throne room. Come with me please."

"Of course."

Arthur left his sword and shield with the others to have it put away for him as he followed Sir Tate. When they got to the throne room, they saw that the king was sitting on his throne patiently waiting for them along with Morgana in the seat to the right. There was a collection of lords and advisors of the court gathered as well.

"Ah, Arthur," Uther said when they arrived. "Good, now we can start this meeting."

Arthur sat in his chair at the left of his father and his father stood up when he sat.

"As you know, in three days marks the twenty year mark of the Great Purge. It hasn't been an easy two decades since the renegade Balinor started calling himself the Dragon King and has been working to undo the attempts of safeguarding the kingdom in ridding this land of magic. Unfortunately, he has managed to allude all of our attempts of locating him and his hideout alongside all the evil sorcerers he has managed to bring under him. He and his followers have over the years tried to stand in our way and he has recruited and freed many magic users from our custody to join him. Many of our valiant knights and men have suffered over the years because of that criminal, some visibly here in this room," he said looking over at Sir Tate whose brass hand was visible at his side.

Morgana stayed uncharacteristically silent as Uther spoke of the Dragon King. She thought it was terrible what she heard happened to Sir Tate and other knights over the years having lost their sword hands to the man but she didn't know what Uther expected. If Uther wanted to hunt and kill these people then of course they would retaliate. Truthfully, Morgana thought Balinor was being quite merciful at stopping at the sword hands of his captives given what Uther was doing to his. She had seen people executed over the years simply for having or accused of having magic or being connected to magic. Some were young and poor people that didn't look like they could harm a fly. Morgana had heard talk that Gwen stumbled onto where select people were calling the king Uther 'The Butcher' Pendragon.

Uther continued his speech.

"For the last few months, we have received reports of increased magical activity involving the sorcerer calling himself Emrys, the Dragon Prince. He is the son of Balinor and seems to be following in his wicked father's footsteps. He has been sighted causing havoc in several points of the kingdom and of our allies aiding us in the Purge. Word is spreading that he is all but invincible based on him taking the name of some sorcerer in an old wives tale."

When Emrys appeared, Gaius and Geoffrey of Monmouth had told him that Emrys was the name of a sorcerer said to be magic itself that would help bring magic back to the land stronger and greater than ever. Uther chalked it up to a desperate attempt to intimidate his enemies that Balinor would give his wretched son that name. Yet, when Emrys appeared to effortless cast powerful feats of magic and rode in on a wyvern, he was giving his name the weight behind that tale. Uther hoped that his son would become great enough to destroy that youth as he hoped to destroy Balinor.

Arthur had been hearing of Emrys more and more the last few weeks. He listened to talk amongst the knights and nobles and overheard rumors flying through the city's inhabitants about the elusive Emrys. He was always shrouded in a dark hooded cloak that covered his face but showed the blue battle garments he wore with the symbol of a gold dragon behind a star pattern worn by Balinor and his followers. They say that Emrys had dragon scales over his eyes and golden draconian eyes that he kept hidden under the hood. That he had tattoos of magical symbols all over his body that gave him his incredible power. Arthur had yet to come across him and honestly, part of him was a little scared to. Many of the men that returned from facing Emrys said that they never felt so small and helpless than they did when they had come up against him and his men.

"We need to have our twenty year mark send a message to Balinor, Emrys and the rest of our enemies that we will not yield to them and their perverse magic. Because of them, our enemies seem to be growing bolder. A patrol has caught a sorcerer practicing magic within the inner rim of the kingdom. He will be executed at the start of our mark to show all those who practice magic that they are not as invincible as they presume themselves to be."

Gaius stayed silent as applause sounded in the throne room. He had a feeling that all of this wouldn't turn out as this court presumed it would.

Merlin was in his room getting ready to sneak off to Camelot with his friends when there was a knock on his door and he turned to see his sister Liana there. She was wearing a wavy burgundy dress that helped bring out the brown of her eyes and her hair.

"Hi Liana," he said resuming his packing.

"What are you up to?" she asked as she walked in.

"Nothing. What makes you think that?"

"The fact that you're preparing to take your 'Emrys' cloak with you. You know that mother doesn't like when you use that to cause mischief."

"I'm not always causing mischief with it," he protested. "I use it to do my duties to Frith as well."

"But that's what you're doing now," she said with a knowing smile. Merlin didn't respond but that was all the answer she needed. "I won't tell mom or dad, don't worry. But, you have to tell me what you are up to this time"

Merlin smiled at his sister. "Camelot is having a little festival celebrating the twenty years of Uther Pendragon's Great Purge. You can't have a festival involving magic without any, can you?"

Liana shook her head at him but was laughing all the same. "I guess not. Just…be careful out there."

"Hey, it's me."

"Why do you think I'm warning you."

Then she started to leave.

"Funny," he droned out as she stepped out the door.

End of Chapter 1

A/N: I hope you liked the start of this story. I love to hear what you all think of how the opening was and also how the title image hit some of you. It took me a while to get it right. The next chapter will have the execution of Collins and the threat of his mother that Merlin oversees and reacts to as he puts his own plans for the celebrations in Camelot into action.