Chapter Text
It was a rainy night in Camelot, and Merlin, son of Hunith, was very annoyed. On this occasion, as on countless others in the past, the object of his irritation was his master, Gaius, court physician to the tyrant King. It was the same argument that the two had been having ever since Merlin realised that he was a sorcerer.
The rain beat down around him, making his already wild and unruly hair stick to his thin face haphazardly. He knew he shouldn't be angry with Gaius, as, after all, the man had taken him in as a penniless child, after he had been abandoned by his mother in Camelot Keep one Winter Solstice. Gaius had seen in Merlin a preternatural intelligence and inquisitiveness, a burning desire to know exactly how everything worked in the world around him, and he had taken on the boy as both his steward and his student. At first, his time with Gaius was wonderful: he received education in logic, arithmetic, and the natural sciences, and was allowed to read every book in the castle library to his heart's content. More recently, however, the pair had reached an impasse, and barely a day went by without them almost coming to blows. For Merlin sought knowledge that Gaius, the supposed scientist, seemed determined to keep from him at all costs.
Merlin's powers of sorcery had begun to manifest themselves in his early teens. Naturally, just as Gaius had taught him, he wondered where they came from, how they worked, and what he might do to discover more. But, on this topic alone, Gaius was a closed book. The tyrant King Uther had banned sorcery on pain of death within the kingdom of Camelot, and Gaius claimed that any use of the power, indeed, even its mere mention, could bring ruin not just on Merlin, but on everyone he held dear.
This time, Merlin had been experimenting with his powers, attempting to move objects of various different sizes in an attempt to discover exactly what he was capable of. Gaius caught him in the act, and was predictably furious.
"MERLIN! Stop that at once. Do you have any idea how much danger you are putting yourself in? You will bring shame on this kingdom!", Gaius shouted, his hint of a barbarian accent betraying the time he spent travelling around the wider world as a younger man.
"How am I supposed to stop if I don't know what I'm doing?" replied Merlin sulkily.
"I've told you, Merlin. That knowledge is not appropriate in these febrile times. As long as the tyrant King is on the throne…"
"...then sorcerers must live in fear of being discovered. I know, Gaius, you've told me this a million times. But I have to know what my abilities are. Is the tyrant King right to suppress them, or is this the greatest human rights injustice since Uther's grandfather imprisoned all the goblins in wooden boxes?"
"Any knowledge of your abilities can only serve to hurt you. For a sorcerer, magic is addictive. If you start to use it too much, you won't be able to stop, and then not even my protection can save you from the full force of Uther's Iron Law".
"But how can I know that for sure if I'm not even allowed any knowledge of it? Surely knowing more is better than keeping my powers a mystery, even if only for my own protection, so I know when not to use them!"
"Merlin, enough. The time to use your powers is never. It is too dangerous, and I care about you too much to let anything happen to you. If Uther ever found out, he would have both our heads. I will not teach you about this, and it is high time for you to grow up and stop asking."
At this, Merlin left to wander the castle grounds aimlessly. He knew full well that Gaius was right, that Uther would execute him and his entire friendship circle just to be safe. But he couldn't resist it. The power was intoxicating, and using it made him feel like he could do anything. In a sense, he appreciated Gaius's interventions, as he knew they came from a place of the deepest affection. But he couldn't help feeling that the man was constricting his abilities, that mere knowledge of what he might be able to do couldn't possibly harm him. As he slouched around through the castle grounds in the drizzle, he pondered this dilemma, getting progressively both more annoyed and wetter.
The rain was becoming more intense now, and Merlin realised that he had been wandering for a long time. He was a fair distance away from Gaius' chambers, so he decided to take shelter under an old oak tree. And suddenly, he witnessed something that, if he didn't know better, he would have sworn was magic. The rain itself started whispering his name, the drops coalescing in such an improbable way that they seemed to sound out the syllables of his name, as if to make it clear that some distant mind was reaching out to him. Of course, this was incredibly dangerous, as if the King's guard were to see and hear it, they would surely have him killed as a sorcerer. So, Merlin ran. He ran harder than he had ever run in his life, uncaring of direction or location. He went inside Camelot Keep, and into the dungeons, further inside than he had ever gone, until he had no idea where he was. But still, the voice followed him, inexorably, as if rather than him escaping it, it were leading him to some unknown destination.
Deep in the bowels of Camelot Keep, Merlin emerged into an enormous cavern. Having run for a solid four minutes, he was exhausted, and he therefore thought he was hallucinating when a dragon appeared before him. A majestic creature, resplendent with golden and red scales, it was nevertheless chained to a rock at the bottom of the vast cave, and it seemed to be in pain. Then, the dragon spoke in a booming voice:
"MERLIN! YOU HAVE COME! MY NAME IS KILGHARRAH, AND I KNOW YOU SEEK THE ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE THAT THE OLD FOOL GAIUS IS TOO COWARDLY AND IGNORANT TO TEACH YOU! BEHOLD! THE POWER OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD!"