Ta-dah! I present Kilgharrah, the Great bane of spell check.
Kilgharrah
He knows Balinor is still alive, distant, unable to help without allies, but still alive. Uther has not slaughtered them all in his quest to destroy magic.
(Kilgharrah is not certain that is something to celebrate, it is a torture to know a friend is alive but out of reach, and would certainly be killed if he tried to save him.)
He makes do with visions of the future, so many possibilities, the Once and Future King and Emrys have both been born, and he personally only cares about Emrys, who will be a dragon lord. The Princeling does not interest him, not after Uther's betrayal of their alliance.
But something changes, suddenly, the princeling, the Once and Future King, is gone, and Kilgharrah can only jerk in fear. Because a world without the Once and Future King is not a good one, and he sees Uther unknowingly kill his own son, Emrys dying (Emrys should be immortal, how can he die?) and the Witch destroys Camelot.
It is a terrifying change, one that he does not understand, and though it does not last long, his visions after do not retain the spoiled princeling that matures (most of the time), but a knight, bloodstained and weary, badly in need of some support by Emrys to believe in himself. There are still elements of the spoiled princeling of previous visions, but none that resemble anything other than a vague façade for those that don't know him, or a joke between him and Emrys.
This change intrigues him, and when Uther storms in, demanding his presence (the chains do more than restrain him, they keep him from burning the man until nothing is left, not even ashes) and the fate of his son, Kilgharrah is even more intrigued.
Nimueh's involvement has only ever boded ill for both Emrys and the Once and Future King, Uther does not know that, and he will never tell the man this, but Nimueh herself has apparently decided to meddle even more than just her future hate of Uther would allow her.
He remembers long ago, there was a future where Emrys and the Once and Future King were raised together under the watchful eyes of Ygraine, Balinor and Nimueh, and wonders if this is an echo of yet another possibility.
"The young dragon lives, Pendragon, he will return to Camelot on his own, he will join your knights, and you will only recognize him after he is injured in your service." Kilgarrah ignores Uther's demands for a way to challenge this fate. "He is very much his mother's son."
Uther leaves in anger, and Kilgarrah does not care, he only cares for the sense of magic, a shimmer that he recognizes from much time on the battlefield trying to keep Camelot from tearing itself apart.
"You meddle much, High Priestess, and dangerously so."
The magical image floats where Uther was standing, and Kilgarrah smiles at the High Priestess' practical use of magic, something must've been planted on Uther and fallen when Uther entered the chamber, an old trick they'd used to get messages to prisoners without dragon lords or druids risking themselves. It will not last long, and they will never speak again once the image fades, but for now, they may enjoy getting one over on Uther.
"Ygraine charged me to love and protect our son, I may have no blood claim, but my magic did help him be born. If he is indeed the Once and Future King, I will not have him raised in a place where he will be poisoned against the very thing that gave him a chance at life." Nimueh stands tall, haughty and strong as always.
"You will not raise him, I trust?" Kilgarrah doubts the woman knows how to be a mother, to raise and care for a hatchling.
"… There is a man who owes me a debt, I have taken the child to him." Nimueh closes her eyes. "We did not always see eye to eye, Great One, but I do need to know, how shall I die?"
"… Emrys shall kill you, and in doing so, gain the power over life and death. With it, the life of the Once and Future King is assured." It was the strongest path, the one most likely to occur, but by no means was it certain. Nimueh, however, seemed happy about that. "This pleases you?"
"Yes, it does." And with a mysterious smile, she bowed. "We shall not speak again, Great One, I was honored to fight by your side."
"As was I." The image faded, and Kilgharrah settled into a place to sleep.
He feels it when the Once and Future King arrives, as certain futures become more clear, but it is Emrys' arrival that has him lurching up despite the chains, he feels the young one like a warm glow, not like his father, who's magic only warmed his skin, but one that sinks in almost to his old bones.
He calls to the boy, feels Balinor's confusion, dim and much like an afterthought, as he tries to reach the young warlock. The boy is not a dragon lord, yet, though he is the son of one, but Emrys is Magic, and is capable of some passive dragon lord abilities through that fact alone.
It is frustrating to wait, and only after their meeting (which could have gone so many ways, Kilgharrah was unsure what to expect) does Kilgharrah remember that magic has not yet returned to the kingdom, and the boy could not immediately come to him when he called. Living in future visions has damaged his sense of the here and now, apparently.
Merlin stands before him, young and unsure, a hatchling not yet sure enough to spread his wings. He does not want to believe in destiny, and Kilgharrah cannot blame him. Destiny allowed Uther to betray those who were his allies.
"The Prince will need you," Kilgharrah says, and is surprised when Merlin responds.
"There is no prince here, just the king and his ward!" Merlin looks ready to leave, and Kilgharrah sighs.
"He is here, trying to hide from his destiny," Kilgharrah does not particularly care for the way Merlin looks at him, but this is Emrys, however young and foolish, and he will be great. "You must help him, and he shall, in turn, help you." It will not be easy, already, there are many ways this will go wrong, but there are just as many ways for them to reach their destiny. "You must find him and help him." Kilgharrah watches Merlin leave, and closes his eyes, watching as the futures unfold. A knife, the Witch rescued, and then an accidental display of magic that has the Princeling promise to help Merlin protect Camelot, neither even fully aware of each other's true potential or their destiny.
It is not the most auspicious of starts, perhaps, but it is a start.
Next one should be back with Merlin, but the basic rewrite of ep 1- Morganna gets threatened, Arthur and Merlin save her, Uther approves of Gaius' new apprentice, and the two somehow end up being partnered together so that Arthur can show Merlin Camelot while Merlin helps Arthur with his probationary duties.
Still working on how that will write out, MC is no help.
MC: I am too, she's just annoyed she's got writer's block on her other stories, and I introduced her to Merlin to, you know, take a breather from those fandoms. Which then got her to come up with this idea. Actually, she came up with a time travel idea, she's been reading a lot of time travel stuff, including some book about a time traveler trying to decided whether or not he can and should stop the JFK assassination (boring! Time Traveler's Wife was way better) but she wanted to catapult season 1 characters into an alternate future and I got confused by whether or not that happened because at one point she mentions Uther … I convinced her to write these bits instead.
And I get the last word this chapter! Mwa-ha-ha!
