A slightly different chapter as you no doubt suspected.
Chapter 10
"Well?" asked Kilgharrah when Merlin didn't reply. "Do you wish to hear the tale of the Ice Diamond and it's ancient beginnings?"
"Go on then," the young man said with a sigh. "I suppose it's too much to ask that you be as concise as possible?"
The dragon gave him no answer and so Merlin shrugged, put his jacket on the grass and sat down. Kilgharrah also settled himself down and lay his enormous head on his front legs, as if he were a cat warming himself by the fire. Merlin smiled at the incongruous image his mind had somehow conjured but, at least in this position, he wouldn't end up with his usual neck ache. The dragon waited until he was sure he had the young warlock's full attention before beginning.
~o~0~o~
"I have often told you of the time before the purge when the Old Religion ruled and accepted that magic was simply a part of the land, but such magic has been in existence long before a religion was created to worship it, longer than you puny humans have lived here. It is older even than the dragons or the trees - It is as old as the earth itself and when the very first creatures that fully understood it's power came to be, they were revered as gods amongst the lesser beings.
"Back in the earliest days of the humans there were two powerful sorcerers who were considered as gods. Whether they were entirely human or had other blood in their veins I cannot say but, no other witch or warlock alive at the time could come close to their very great power. Both men ruled huge kingdoms; Segomo resided in what we now call Gaul and ruled those lands and all the known world to the south. Lugh resided in the present day Albion and ruled this land and all of those to the north. The two were bitter enemies and fought for control and to prove their superiority over their people and each other. Separated by a stretch of sea that was difficult to cross – even with such great magic - their war consisted mostly of insults and ridiculous bragging about who was the most powerful.
"Segomo was the most war-like of the two and grew frustrated at his inability to prove his great claims, and so he grabbed the largest diamond that he had been given as fealty by a southern king and enchanted it with all the coldness of his heart, all his hatred for Lugh and all of his lust for power and greatness. Once done he gathered all the lesser sorcerers and magical beings that were in his thrall and created a spell of such magnitude that he was able to send the Ice Diamond to the most northerly point of the world. There is settled within the ice that already existed and slowly, surely, it started to work its evil.
"The following winter was the worst that any remembered. Even the dragons of the time, young still, but older than any man alive, could not recall worse. The Norse kingdoms were soon overcome by ice and those few that lived there quickly fled south. The tribes of the northern Celts followed and your Albion ancestors started to have to endure bitter winters of snow that lasted for half the year.
"The snow and the ice continued it's march south, weighing down the very land, soaking up the very oceans until, in time, there was no sea dividing Albion and Gaul, nothing to stop the two powerful warlocks from turning their war of words into a war of magic; their very great power causing even the great dragons to tremble in fear.
"Lugh eventually managed to push Segomo back across the once great sea that was now merely a river, but he was unable to kill him; as the pair were too evenly matched. Still, Segomo's evil diamond continued to do it's work, the ice now threatening to smother the whole of Lugh's world and forcing his people to flee south to live under the control of his enemy. In desperation Lugh called together all the lesser magicians that were allied to him and they discussed how to defeat a sorcerer that was a match for their very great and powerful warlock.
"All seemed hopeless, but Lugh had one ability that Segomo did not. He was a Dragonlord, and so had the power to summon the dragons and have them do as he bid. So, he called on the largest and greatest beast and asked his advice and soon every dragon that swore fealty to Lugh and all those in the world that had not, were gathered at the foot of the ice sheet, in a long line stretching from Londinium in the east to Abona in the West, and were interspersed with every magician with any skill from all of the northern kingdoms. Those sorcerers cast powerful warming spells at the mile high sheet of ice, whilst every dragon blew its magical fire. Slowly and surely the ice retreated and the army of magical beings followed it, all the way to the furthest region of the northern Celts. There Lugh gathered all the magical power available to him and commanded the Ice Diamond to be summoned to him. For seven nights and seven days he and the greatest of the dragons poured their magic into the diamond but it would not break; would not yield and the ice slowly started its march south again.
"How can this be?" asked Lugh. "I am at least as powerful as Segomo and have your very great magic to assist me in addition. How is it that we cannot undo this enchantment?"
"This magic was created with every negative emotion at his disposal," the dragon replied. "Hatred, fear, jealousy, rage; to name but a few. You are not as evil as he is my master but ..." He paused, almost embarrassed to continue. "You do hold many of these traits within you, nonetheless … as do I," he hastily continued when he realised he was about to endure his master's wrath. "We need to search amongst the other sorcerers here and find one that is pure of heart; one that has not yet been corrupted by magic's very great power. His magic combined with mine may make all the difference."
"But, such a child would not have my great power," Lugh argued.
"No, but he would have the humanity that ... Segomo has lost. The hope and love that your enemy does not possess and cannot hope to understand. It may be enough."
"So, Lugh gathered all the sorcerers to him and asked them the questions that the dragon had posed. The candidate that supplied the correct answers according to the dragon surprised the great warlock. She was a girl, not yet sixteen; so small and so frail that it seemed that a gust of wind would blow her over. Branwyn's hair was raven black, her skin as pale as snow and her eyes as blue as a spring sky, but her magic was powerful; certainly more than most three times her age.
"As instructed she poured all of her magic into the diamond that lay before her, along with tender thoughts of her lost love, her affection for the friends from her village, the great love she had for her family and her concern for the future of her own personal world and that of the greater Albion. At the same time, the dragon threw all his magical flame and heat at the cold of the stone.
Love against Hatred; Fire against Ice, Light against Dark ... and the Diamond exploded.
"That is it?" asked Lugh. "It is destroyed?"
"Not quite," the dragon sighed, indicating a small sparkle on the tundra before them. Branwyn picked up the object and quickly dropped it with a cry.
"It's cold. So cold!" She knelt down in front of it to study it better. A small piece of diamond, no bigger than a man's little finger nail.
"It is nothing," said Lugh. "It is so small, so insignificant."
"You have seen for yourself that the small are not necessarily powerless," said the dragon, indicating the girl. "Certainly that shard does not have the power to freeze half the world, but it could be troublesome to your descendants, nonetheless. I entrust it to the pair of you, to keep it safe and far from those that would do harm. Do not let your offspring be overpowered by feelings of hatred or jealousy. Do not let any magic they have allow them to believe they are superior to those around them. In this, follow the teachings of Branwyn. Accept her love and use your power for good and the betterment of others. For then the power of this tiny Ice Diamond will be impotent because …
"If all with magic have her heart, then none will have the power to wield this weapon."
~o~0~o~
Kilgharrah paused and tipped his head at Merlin.
"Well?" asked the young warlock. "Is that it?"
"You did ask me to be concise."
"Yes but … what happened next? Did Lugh defeat Segomo? Was spring returned to the world? What happened to Branwyn?"
"You think this is a story I made up, young Warlock? It is not. This is your history and so ... you should now know the answer to each of your questions."
"I don't understand."
"The majority of the diamond was destroyed ... but not all of it, nor its enchantment, as you have today discovered. Segomo eventually died of old age and another, less powerful warlock took his place. Lugh married Branwyn and, when he died, the magic continued in Albion at a far more sensible level until this day." He moved his head so close that Merlin could almost see his own reflection in Kilgharrah's eyes. "Did you not recognise anything in the description of Branwyn? Black hair, blue eyes, pale skin … seemingly weak and powerless?"
"Ah ..?"
"You are her descendant, Merlin. Hers and Lugh's."
"What? Now you're telling me I'm related to a god?"
"You do not listen, young warlock. You have inherited Lugh's ears but still you do not know how to use them."
"Hey!"
"He was not a god, just one of the most powerful sorcerers of all time. You are not a god either, just someone who has inherited much of his magic, along with his power over us dragons. Luckily for you, and for Camelot, you have also inherited Branwen's heart; for only love, innocence and selfless magic can truly break this diamond's spell and so, I hope, that you and I can do better than both our ancestors and rid this world of it's curse for ever."
~o~0~o~
A/N The idea of this story just came to me ... it had never originally been part of the plan. Although I made it up I did try to include some 'truths'. The names of the characters are various mythical gods and the description of the Ice Diamond's curse was inspired by what happened to Britain and N. Europe during the last Ice Age.