Kanjigar paused to look at the glowing engravings of the wall. His brief examination told him they depicted stories from the past. Blinky would have loved them but there were other things to focus on right now… such as how to get through the circle of spinning blades that cut him off from the main area of the tomb.

After a bit of trial and error Kanjigar was forced to use the sword he'd brought with him to block them. It groaned under the forces exerted on it slowly beginning to twist and deform.

Truly a waste of a good weapon, Kanjigar thought as he dropped into the chamber below.

He straightened up and then stood in silence for a moment. The cavern he was now in was made entirely out of giant clear crystals the likes of which he had never seen before. They grew from the walls in all directions as far as the eye could see. Each one was more massive as the crystals that formed the steps to Trollmarket. The sheer magnitude made him feel small.

A violent shriek of tearing metal followed by a resounding clang tore Kanjigar's attention away from the wonder before him. The blades were spinning again. Kanjigar bend down to pick up the hilt of his sword from the ground. After a moment's hesitation he placed it in his pocket. There would be no going back now. He squared his jaw and set out to travel through the maze of crystal. According to the map Merlin's chamber would be at the very bottom.

Keeping his bearings proved harder that he expected. It seemed that the crystal had grown since the map was created.

Eventually he found what he was looking for. The Trollhunter had never been so glad to see bare rock in his life. He slid down the final section of the crystal and landed on the grey path. He shoved the map into his pocket. As he drew in a breath of air, he found it stale. He had no doubt he was the first one to travel here in a millennia.

He had been right about the crystals growing. The tunnel itself was crossed by their clear shafts. The Trollhunter was forced to duck under and climb over many of them. Given enough time the chamber would become completely inaccessible. He wondered how hard they would be break through.

Kanjigar ducked under a final crystal and stopped.

Before him on a slab of stone, lit from above by a beam of light, lay a humanoid figure. It was unmoving and covered in cobwebs and yet untouched by the decay that mankind was so prone to. The chamber was silent; not the slightest hint of a breath disturbed the somber atmosphere. Kanjigar rested his hand over his heart and bowed his head briefly. He had no doubt that this was Merlin.

Reverently he stepped forward to look at the man before him.

As he did so a strange urge came over him.

He drew out the box containing the parts of the amulet and laid hold of the blue stone. Moving slowly and breathlessly –almost in a trance- he turned back to the prone body before him. He held the stone over it.

Blue light shot out of the stone and entered the mouth and eyes of the still man.

He took a step back waiting with uncertain anticipation.

Nothing happened. The chamber remained still. Frowning Kanjigar took a step forward.

The man's eyes snapped open and he shot upright with a strangled scream before choking on the spider webs that had been over his mouth.

Kanjigar stood there awkwardly, not quite certain what to do, as the man coughed and hacked violently.

After a while he finally stopped and settled back down on the slab. He turned his head and gazed at the troll before him. His eyes wandered up and down his body before his eyebrows went up.

"Are you the Trollhunter?" He asked.

"Yes," Said Kanjigar before remembering his formalities. He quickly dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "Kanjigar son of Tarigar at your…."

"Yes, yes. At my service. I already know who you are," The wizard said dismissively. "I was simply surprised to see you here. I had been expecting someone else."

"Who…"

The wizard held up a finger. "One moment."

He swung his legs off of the stone slab. Kanjigar hesitantly rose from his kneeling position and watched as he vigorously started stretching, releasing a symphony of pops and cracks. Where humans supposed to make that much noise when they moved?

"Who were you expecting?" He finished when the wizard finally stopped stretching.

"Your successor," The wizard said nonchalantly.

"My…"

"But that's irrelevant now," Merlin went on. "What is relevant is when we are… now let me see…" He held his hands together and started to mutter to himself. Green light glowed in his eyes and between his fingers. "Hmmm. Yes, yes… Ah! I see."

Merlin smile and clapped his hands together scattering the green magic like sparks of fire.

"It seems you've woken me early… About twenty-five years early to be precise."

"I'm sorry," Kanjigar said slowly still a bit caught off guard. Merlin was really not what he was expecting.

"No harm done," Merlin waved a hand at him, turning toward the entrance. "I'm used to adapting my hands to others' meddling. In fact I believe this may prove to be a boon." He nodded, stroking his beard. "Yes. This will open some new possibilities."

He started walking and Kanjigar followed. The two walked in silence out of the crypt and back into the large chamber of white crystal. After a while Kanjigar decided to bring up what he had come here for.

"Would you be willing to assist me with something," The Trollhunter asked carefully. He didn't like asking for help, but... "Bular and his changelings are still free but continue to be a plague on both Troll and human-kind alike. I have the DayStone –which can protect me from sunlight-, but the human population is such even at night I risk being seen. To venture out in the day would be idiocy."

Merlin paused and glanced at him.

"Do they not still abide by the pact?" He asked curiously.

"I don't believe they remember it anymore… or even the existence of trolls. They have invented weapons that even a troll should fear, so I believe it is better that we remain unknown rather than risk open war with them."

"I see," Said Merlin, stroking his beard. "That was bound to happen eventually. I assume that you want a way to move unnoticed?"

Kanjigar nodded.

"I'll see what I can do," Merlin said turning forward again and walking. "You are my champion after all. I fear I shall often be busy, but I should be able to make some time to give you assistance. I will occasionally need yours after all so it's only fair I give a little something."

"Thank you," Kanjigar breathed out. Relief slumping his shoulders.

With Merlin's help he would finally be able to end the fight against Bular and the changelings. Then he would be able to stop worrying about his son becoming involved in this. He would be finally able to rest.

He followed the wizard as they left the stale air of the crypt behind to seek a route back to the surface.

"Ah here it is!"

Kanjigar pulled himself up the crystal behind Merlin and found himself on top of a platform of sorts. In the center of the flattened crystal was planted a staff.

"Is that the Staff of Avalon?" Kanjigar asked in a hushed whisper.

"Indeed," Said Merlin.

He started to reach for it and then paused.

"You should really be wearing your armor," He said pointedly.

Kanjigar blinked and then fished the box out of his pocket.

"I'm afraid I cannot. I had Vendal take it apart in order to find you."

"Eh? Oh yes, I forgot about that," The wizard said. "Give it here."

Kanjigar handed the box over and Merlin quickly set to work assembling the amulet.

"There." He put the final piece in place and handed in back to the Trollhunter. "Now we're ready."

Kanjigar watched him curiously, amulet still in hand, as he pulled out his staff and held it aloft.

"Ah! It is good to have this back," The wizard said in a pleased tone. He turned back to Kanjigar. "Do you remember where the entrance is?"

"Yes…"

"Good! Let's get moving then," He said giving his staff an experiment swing. "If we run we should be able to reach it before the whole thing collapses."

"What…"

The crystal beneath them let out a loud groan before it began to tilt.

Author Notes:

Kanjigar mini-arc time! (This was going to be one chapter but it was getting way too long. Anyway I really wanted to post something. Working full time really cuts your freetime down let me tell you!)

I'm rather fond of Kanjigar for some reason. I headcannon him as a bit of a lawful good paladin type. I think his time watching and interacting with Jim got him to loosen up a bit.

Anyway I believe there's a saying about meeting your idols that Kanjigar is going to wish he'd known and heeded.
Also "Demons" by Imagine Dragons is a huge mood song for this fic.