Freeing a Dragon and Meeting a Prat:
When Merlin entered the Crystal Cave he was but a boy, when he came out again he was a man – he was Emrys. Sleeping inside the birthplace of magic had given Merlin the knowledge of who he was and why his magic was so powerful. Merlin knew now of his destiny and of the prophecy of Emrys and the Once and Future King. He knew that Arthur Pendragon was the other half of his coin and that together they would unite the land of Albion and restore magic to Camelot (since it was the current king, Uther Pendragon, who had decreed magic illegal and sought to stamp it out of his land). Emrys had been born because of this decree and Uther's son Arthur had been bequeathed the title Once and Future King by destiny so that together the two young men could heal the land of the destruction Uther's purge had wrought upon it.
Leaving the cave the greatest warlock that shall ever live turned his feet towards Camelot once more. He no longer was lost. The knowledge bestowed upon Merlin in the cave showed him the path to the citadel. As he continued on his journey Merlin noticed a tent erected near the road, knights of Camelot stood around a fire that burned merrily, a pot bubbling away above it. An older woman dressed in the course brown clothing of a peasant was sneaking through the trees, apparently trying to reach the tent without the knights noticing. Emrys frowned. What was the woman doing? She had magic; he could sense it though it was not particularly strong. He also felt a strong sense of grief and despair coming from the woman in question.
"What are you doing?" he asked her with his mind. The old woman startled and looked around her in fright.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"I am Emrys. What are you doing?" he repeated his question.
"Uther Pendragon killed my son. I will have revenge. I will kill his son."
"And how do you plan to do that?" The old woman smiled grimly when she heard his question.
"I'm going to disguise myself as Lady Helen of Mora and sing for the guests at the feast. The song will cause all the people in the hall (apart from myself of course) to fall asleep and I'll be able to kill Arthur Pendragon right under his father's nose." The woman chuckled darkly. Emrys shook his head.
"I can't let you do that."
"WHAT? You would protect the people who persecute our kind?" the woman's screech echoed through his mind.
"Arthur Pendragon is the Once and Future King, it is my destiny to protect him. Besides which, killing the Pendragons would not solve anything. We need to end the cycle of hate so that all people can live in harmony together. I'm sorry about your son but I'm sure he would not want his mother to become a killer because of his death."
This last point seemed to sway the woman and she deflated against the tree she had been hiding behind. Merlin walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the great warlock and suddenly Merlin found she was sobbing into his shoulder. He patted her back gently and led her softly away from the camp of Lady Helen and the knights of Camelot. It would not do for Camelot's knights to find two magic users so close to their camp.
"Sorry." This was the first word either of them had spoken aloud that evening.
"Don't be. Grief has always had a powerful effect on the minds of men, and women." Merlin smiled at her.
"You were right, Thomas wouldn't have wanted me to kill anyone, not even Arthur Pendragon." She look at Merlin. "Thank you Emrys for reminding me of that. You have a good heart. Don't ever lose it."
"What will you do now?"
"I can't go back to Camelot. Uther knows I use magic now. Perhaps I'll find the druids, they'd offer me sanctuary I'm sure."
"Well when you find them, tell them you met me and that I'll be with the Once and Future King soon. Give them some hope. It won't be too long now."
"Goodbye Emrys and thank you, again." The woman turned to go.
"Goodbye…" Merlin looked at her questioningly.
"Oh," she realised she hadn't introduced herself "I'm Mary. Mary Collins."
"Goodbye Mary, maybe we'll meet again someday." Mary Collins smiled and turned, walking away between the trees.
The warlock sighed relieved and turned his feet once more towards Camelot.
Upon his arrival in Camelot, Merlin went straight to the blacksmith and purchased a fine sword. It was the best one Tom, the blacksmith, had ever made. Tom's daughter ('Grace') was about to walk over to the castle where she worked as the Lady Morgana's ladies maid and since Merlin was going to see Gaius, he offered to accompany her.
"Thank you. I'm Guinevere but most people call me Gwen."
"Merlin." They shook hands and walked together to the castle. When they arrived there, Gwen went off
towards Lady Morgana's chamber and Merlin began to follow her directions to Gaius' chambers. However, as soon as she could no longer see him, Merlin turned around and made his way deep into the heart of the castle where he found two guards playing dice as they were guarding the entrance to a large, roughly hewn tunnel. Staying out of sight Merlin used his magic to move the guards' dice away from them down another passage, then as soon as the guards had followed the dice far enough away Merlin slipped past their post and down the tunnel, conjuring a ball of light as he did so. At the end of the tunnel the warlock found himself looking into a vast cavern.
"Kilgarrah, where are you?" he yelled into the abyss, "I've come to release you." An enormous bronze coloured dragon flew down to rest on an outcrop of rocks opposite the platform the boy stood on. The dragon stared at Merlin, confusion evident in his golden eyes.
"How…" he began and then stopped unsure what he wanted to ask.
"I stumbled upon the crystal cave last night." This was all the explanation Kilgarrah needed in order to understand what was going on.
"You have a sword?" he questioned the great warlock.
"Of course, but it needs to be burnished before it can release you."
"What will you do with it afterwards?"
"I will place it where none can yield it until such time as Arthur Pendragon is ready to. Or until it is needed again." The warlock held up the sword and the dragon gathered himself. Then in a spurt of heat that would have melted Merlin if it had been aimed at him, the dragon breathed fire over the blade and created a weapon that could destroy anything, even the dead.
The warlock took the sword in both hands and walked around to where great chains bound the dragon to the wall of the cavern. Holding the sword aloft Emrys began to mutter a spell under his breath and as he brought the sword down, it sliced easily through the chains causing them to shatter into a thousand pieces.
"Thank you Merlin. I am in your debt. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Find my father; take him home to my mother. Please Kilgarrah." The dragon bowed its head in acknowledgement then lifted its wings and flew away, leaving the cave for the first time in twenty years. Merlin smiled at the spot the dragon had just vacated. He knew freeing Kilgarrah was a risk. The dragon could easily and justly attack Camelot after such a long imprisonment here, but instinct told Emrys that the dragon would honour his debt to Merlin first. Balinor, Merlin's father, was a dragon lord so he would be able to stop Kilgarrah attacking the city, if he should decide to do so after reuniting his lord with Merlin's mother.
Still smiling, Merlin lifted the sword into the air and drove it into the rocks the dragon had been perched on. No one but Merlin, or Arthur once he was ready, would be able to remove that sword from that stone.
Merlin crept back up the passage and once again used his magic to get past the guards at the entrance. Then finally a day later than he meant to be, the warlock took himself to Gaius' chambers. Knocking on the door he called out to his uncle. An older gentleman opened the door.
"Merlin?" Gaius questioned, having not seen his nephew since he was a child of five.
"Yes."
"You were supposed to be here yesterday. I've been very worried."
"I got a bit lost. Came through the valley of the fallen kings. Found the crystal cave actually."
"WHAT?" exclaimed the uncle.
"Oh, yeah, it also turns out that I'm Emrys and Arthur is the Once and Future King." Merlin informed the court physician, who looked like he would pass out with shock. Merlin got him to sit down then told him about everything that had happened since he left the cave. His uncle looked more and more incredulous with every word Merlin spoke.
"You released the dragon?" This was spoken in a hushed whisper. Gaius didn't want anyone to overhear.
"Yeah, he doesn't deserve to be trapped under Camelot." Merlin shrugged.
"But how did you even know about the dragon?" The court physician had been one of very few who knew the dragon was even still alive under there. It wasn't like the king ever bothered to feed it. It was lucky that dragons could go for long periods of time without food really.
"The cave told me," was all Merlin would say on the matter.
Shoving his bag into the room Gaius had prepared for him, which had previously been used for storage, Merlin decided to take a stroll to get his bearings of the castle while Gaius went to speak with the steward to see if there were any jobs in the castle that Merlin could take on. It was a sunny day and lots of people were outside enjoying the weather and watching the knights train. Emrys spotted the Once and Future King amongst his knights.
"Where's the target?" the prince was demanding of a terrified servant.
"Over there sire."
"But that's into the sun."
"It's not that bright."
"A bit like you then." The prince retorted.
"I'll move it shall I Sire?" The servant began to move the target and whilst he was walking the prince threw one of the knives in his hand. It hit the bullseye. The servant stopped moving but the prince demanded he keep going and threw several more knives. Eventually the servant dropped the target which rolled towards Merlin and came to a stop when he put his foot upon it.
"Wow. I didn't expect the Once and Future King to be such a prat." Muttered the Warlock. Unfortunately Arthur Pendragon heard the end of that sentence.
"What did you call me?" the prince demanded of Merlin.
"A prat." Merlin declared unrepentantly.
"You can't talk to me like that." The Prince declared angrily and had two of the guards throw Merlin into the stocks.
When Merlin returned to Gaius' chambers, the old physician was far from impressed.
"You need to be more careful Merlin. Someone like you needs to keep their head down." Merlin snorted.
"Don't worry Gaius, I'm careful. I was just in shock that the Once and Future King could be such a prat." Gaius raised an eyebrow at his nephew, who didn't seem at all cowed by the expression, much to Gaius' surprise. No one could withstand The Eyebrow of Doom. Except it would seem his nephew could. That was quite annoying.
"Anyway Merlin," Gaius said, "I've got you a job. You're to be Prince Arthur's manservant."
"Well that's one way to keep an eye on the prat I suppose."