The night had been like any other. Gwen extinguished the candles before wishing Morgana a pleasant night, there were no violent disturbances that shook the courtyard or lower town, all was quiet. Occasionally the wind blew past her window, moving her ornate curtains, but nothing more than these small sounds interrupted her peaceful chamber.
She was just about to drift off into a comfortable sleep when she heard a voice from somewhere very close to her ear.
"Hello, Morgana," it said casually.
She shrieked and rolled out of bed, frantically rummaging through her night stand, looking for something to light a candle or, worst case scenario, a weapon to defend herself with.
"There will be no need for that, it is merely me."
Morgana looked over her shoulder, peering at her bed. She recognized the cadence of the voice, the certain relaxed inflection used at the end of a sentence, but the tone and pitch was completely different.
"Kyulds?"
"Indeed, I am." Kyulds waved his hand and the candles surrounding her bed instantly lit. Morgana recoiled at the sight of the form sitting on her bed. It was the form of a young girl. She had dark hair, pale skin, and was wearing a dress that Morgana recognized.
Kyulds met her questioning expression with his own confusion. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He looked down at himself. "Oh, I see. The last time we met I took a form that was more... comforting for you. I can change if you like."
"Who are you now?"
"I like to adapt to the environment I'm in. This person left a very significant mark on the world recently." His eyes were filled with unexplained woe. "When a person thinks about another person, associates them with some sort of intense emotion, whether is be love or hate, it is easier to hold onto that certain memory. I embody those people, alive or dead, who have left significant marks on peoples lives. For you, I chose young Mordred, as you had just felt that loss."
"But who are you now? I've never met a girl like that. That dress though..."
Kyulds laughed. "Who said I only embody people for you, Morgana? No, this one comes from someone else's thoughts."
Morgana felt a light pang in her heart. "From Merlin's?" She hated that, for even a moment, she felt sympathy for the boy. She made sure her demeanor hardened once more.
"Yes."
Morgana nodded in understanding. "So... what do I owe this surprise meeting? You could do with giving me some sort of warning next time. A note perhaps?"
Kyulds waved the girl's hand. "I couldn't be bothered. Either expect me at all times or be surprised when I show up."
"Why have you come?"
Kyulds frowned at Morgana's frankness. "I said that I would. I didn't know how long it would be before I regained my strength. But now, I am fully rested." He stared at the fingers attached to his hands, then looked up at Morgana with only his borrowed eyes. "To be perfectly honest, I thought I might not have to visit at all. I thought Merlin might be dead by now."
"Things have been... complicated."
"Oh?"
"You didn't tell me my magic would be compromised."
He shrugged. "I said the only thing that would remain intact would be your mind. Magic is something you'll have to remaster."
"But that takes time."
"Indeed."
"Which seems to be the only thing on my side. Time, I mean."
Kyulds smiled. "I'm sure." He got up from the bed and stood in front of one of the windows, letting moonlight spill onto the face of the girl he wore. "I take it you have a plan?"
"I do. I've met with my sister and-"
"Oh, Morgause... how delectable."
"Right... well we've decided that, for now, it's best for things to be kept as close to the initial events as possible so that we can have accurate knowledge of what is to come."
"Oh, a brilliant thought, a brilliant thought. The only problem is... things have already changed so astronomically... I'm afraid it might be impossible to go back."
"What?"
"Oh yes. It's not your fault, really... well, I'm sure some of it is, but Morgana... every tiny action, no matter how small, effects things on a larger scale. Perhaps one day you combed through your hair five times instead of six. A mere minute and a seemingly insignificant and minute detail, but what that missing comb really is, is a unit of time. You left your room a minute earlier that day. You might have experienced the day completely differently because of that newly gained piece of time. If something that small can change what is to come, imagine what the mistakes you have made so far have affected the future."
Morgana was silent, digesting the news.
"You shouldn't feel too down about it though. You still have the upper hand. You still know things that others don't."
"How much has changed?"
"I do not know the extent."
"You must know."
"I promise you, I do not."
Morgana paced in front of her fireplace, much like her sister had on the night she told her about the very being standing in front of her. "What am I to do?"
"Exactly what you have been doing. You have a plan. A plan that ends with Merlin's death."
"Yes..."
Kyulds' eyes narrowed. "You do have a plan... yes?"
"We have the basis of one. Something to be built upon. Morgause thinks, and I quite agree, that my revenge will be more meaningful if there is actually something to avenge. At this point, Merlin hasn't done anything to me that would invoke such a feeling. Killing the innocent friend I once knew will not be satisfactory. We will recreate the circumstance, and he will poison me again."
"And then?"
"Then..."
"Then you will kill him."
"I'm not sure it will be enough. I want more. I want him to suffer as I suffered."
"NO! You will kill him as soon as you are able!"
"Why do you care so much about when Merlin dies? It will be done, just let me do it my way."
Kyulds slammed his fists down on the table in one swift motion. "It is not your business, witch, why I want things done!! You will do as I say!"
"Why does it matter so much, to you, that he dies? Has he wronged you like he wronged me?!"
His clenched fists shook the table. "He needs to be dead."
"If you want him gone, why don't you finish him off?"
"I... I can't..."
"Why?"
"It shouldn't matter to you why I can't. All that matters is what I'm telling you."
Morgana scoffed. "You're very demanding for someone who is asking for a favor."
"It. Is. No. Favor." Kyulds said coldly. His tone kept Morgana quiet for a moment. "Is there anything else of worth you wish to say?"
"I spoke with the Great Dragon."
"Oh, Kilgharrah..." He meandered back to the window, brushing his fingers against the silk curtains. "Do go on."
"He said I shouldn't trust you."
"To each his own, I suppose... but to be expected."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I wouldn't trust me, but that's just me. You may do as you wish as long as Merlin is dead. I do not care if I have your trust. It is of no consequence."
"You do not care if you have my trust?" Morgana was growing increasingly perplexed.
"No. I know that you want your revenge. I know you want Emrys dead. I want the boy dead as well. I'm giving you the chance to get your revenge. Wanting the same thing does not make us allies. Associates, maybe, but not allies and certainly not friends."
"I gave no indication that I wanted to be your friend," Morgana said, offended.
"Yet, you seek to know my mind as a friend should."
"Believe me, it is only a sick curiosity. I do not care how you feel otherwise!" she snapped.
"Then we have an agreement."
"There's something else that Kilgharrah said."
"Yes?"
"He said I cannot change destiny. He said, no matter what I do, I will not be able to get any type of revenge."
Kyulds snorted. "The reptile sounds wise, but he has been wrong about many things. He only means to scare you away from trying."
"You're certain?"
"Of course not. I'm not certain of anything. I have my suspicions, and usually, I'm right."
"I must admit, you're not filling me with great confidence."
"Then don't act with confidence. Act with instinct."
Morgana did not have a response to this.
"Now, if you will excuse me, I am growing much too tired of this conversation. I will leave you to your... bed." Without another word, Kyulds vanished, seemingly becoming one with the breeze blown curtains.
Slowly, Morgana's adrenaline diminished and she was able to get back into bed. However comfortable, her mind was still ravaged by thoughts of her situation. Who should she believe? The Great Dragon or Kyulds? both of whom seemed to enjoy being as cryptic as possible. Was destiny set in stone? or was it malleable and could it be changed? Could Merlin be killed?
And then... how much else had she changed since she arrived here? She had thought that it would be an amount insignificant to her plight, but according to Kyulds...
Stop it!! she told herself. It was no use catastrophizing. She had the upper hand. How could things possibly play away from her favor?
<<>>
Kyulds drifted through the castle, taking no form, no physical body. Simply a consciousness floating down the many halls, through the many doors, and into the physicians chambers. The old man was asleep and was not wakened by the slight breeze that Kyulds brought with him. He went up the small set of stairs and found the boy, sitting atop a few crates, staring pensively out the window at the night sky. His attention was stirred by the beings presence.
"Gaius? Is that you?"
Kyulds smiled. "Not Gaius," he whispered, but in such a way that Merlin could not hear.
Thinking it nothing, Merlin looked back to the window.
Kyulds kept closer, reaching out with a misty hand and brushing the boy's shoulder.
Again Merlin turned around. "Gaius?" He stood. "I know someone's there! Where are you?"
"It is only me."
"Wh- what?"
"You can hear me?" Kyulds asked, surprised.
Merlin was looking wildly around his room, searching in vain for the source of the voice. "I'm warning you! If you don't show yourself... then... then..."
"Then what?" Kyulds whispered in Merlin's ear. The boy jumped at the proximity of the voice.
"Bemeldian!" Merlin shouted at the room.
Kyulds felt a tug, the spell urging him to reveal his true form. He let curses fly under his breath as he fought against the glow in Merlin's eyes. With one final push, Kyulds forced the spell away. The rogue magic flew around the room, knocking into things and bringing chaos and disarray, the force of which hurled Merlin into the opposite wall. He fell unconscious as Kyulds' feet.
"No!" Kyulds shouted. He quieted the unruly magic and went about tidying the room the best he could. He lifted Merlin from his place on the ground and set him gently on the bed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I didn't mean for things to escalate." Kyulds said in earnest. "Rest now, and forget all about this in the morning. It will be for the best." He hovered over the boy and grasped his hand in a way that seemed almost loving, strangely protective and endearing. "And I promise you, I will explain everything when the time is right, and the time will be right soon enough."
Kyulds drifted away again, out the door and past the sleeping physician, through the halls and up the stairs.
"Kyulds..." came a rumbling voice from below.
Oh here we go, Kyulds thought. He drifted in the direction of the voice, falling through layers of rock, brick, and hard cold stone. He reached the vast cavern with surprising speed. The dragon looked up as Kyulds entered.
"You snake!!"
"Who? Me?" Kyulds asked mockingly, acting as if he was offended.
"You have no idea what you are doing!"
"I think I do. And based on your anger," he landed his consciousness on a solid rock and began to take solid form. When the mist cleared from around his physical shape, the form of Uther Pendragon appeared, crimson cape and all. "I believe you think I might succeed."
"Is everything a sick game to you?" Kilgharrah asked, in reference to the shape Kyulds chose.
Kyulds looked down at the surly king he impersonated and smiled wickedly. "All and nothing is a game, Kilgharrah."
"You must leave, now. Take the witch with you and maybe things will resemble normality once again."
"But that's not what I want."
"What do you want?" the dragon growled.
"You know what I want, Kilgharrah."
"You will leave him be."
"I don't have to do anything you say, actually."
"Kyulds, please," Kilgharrah tone shifted completely, now imploring the strange shape shifter. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, I'm sorry for what you've become, but this is not the answer. Killing Merlin won't solve anything, it won't solve your situation."
"I don't think you understand!" Kyulds shouted in Uther's voice, which bounced intimidatingly off the stone walls. "I don't want there to be any situation anymore! I wish to be nothing!" He was near tears. "I wish to be liberated from my pitiful existence."
"You were created for a reason. Don't forget it."
"To be born of someone's anguish, is to not be born at all."
Kilgharrah narrowed his eyes. "You wish to be human? A mortal?"
"I wish to be dead."
Kilgharrah looked sadly at the being in front of him. "I am truly sorry for you, but there is nothing you can do."
"I can kill Merlin. Before..."
"I don't think you understand what you are-"
"Oh I do." His form flickered. "I do."
"Then what is your plan exactly? Killing Merlin didn't work for you the first time... why should it work now?"
"Because... because here, he is young. Here, he hasn't experienced the suffering, heartbreak, and betrayal he has in the present. He has none of the guttural emotions needed to create me. If Merlin was to die now... he would not fight... In fact, his dear love Freya has just passed on. He might even be glad to join her."
Kilgharrah shook his head. "You are playing a dangerous game, trying to thwart destiny."
"I suppose, you will attempt to keep Emrys' destiny intact? You will try to guide Merlin along destiny's sickening way?"
He bowed his head. "It is my duty. My wisdom was gifted to me to ensure the beautiful and bloody path of legend and destiny."
"Indeed." Kyulds' form flickered again. "You told Merlin not to help Morgana. In doing so, you ensured her place as the darkness to his light, the hatred to his love. You planted the seed of doubt in his mind about the druid boy, Mordred, ultimately ensuring Arthur's death at the hands of the young knight. Every piece of advice, every spell you gave him, was to lead him to Camlann. Without your advice, things would have been different, they would have been better!"
"I was ensuring he succeeded in fulfilling his destiny."
"You never cared for him! You only cared for destiny!"
"And so... what then? You're going to make sure I don't succeed? You're going to stop destiny by killing him as a boy? It is absurd."
"What else am I supposed to do?!"
"Live with it!! Live with the guilt, the shame, the experience destiny has gifted you with! Do not scoff at destiny's plan, embrace it!"
Kyulds shook his head, trying to beat the dragon's words from his mind. "No... No! I don't have to!! There has to be another way!! There has to be a way I can free myself from this eternal nightmare!!!"
Kilgharrah merely laughed. "No one can choose their destiny, and no one can escape it."
"SHUT UP!!" The cavern began to rumbled with Kyulds' anger.
Kilgharrah's eyes widened as fallen stalactites hurtled from the ceiling. One particularly sharp piece of stone impaled the dragon's leg. He roared in pain. Kyulds abandoned his physical form once more and began to drift away.
"I will not have you in the way of the new destiny, Kilgharrah!!"
The cavern continued to shake uncontrollably.
"It will take much more than a few stones to kill me!!" Kilgharrah bellowed.
"I don't have to kill you! I just have to make sure you can't interfere any further!"
Kilgharrah roared once more as falling stones and boulders blocked off the only entrance to his cave. He beat his wings wildly against his restraints to no avail. "Do not leave me you foul creature!!!"
"Only as foul as you, Kilgharrah!!"
Kyulds vanished into the stone, leaving the dragon in a pit of darkness. Kilgharrah roared and breathed fire with all his might, but he could not reach the young warlock sleeping above. He collapsed, exhausted and dirty with dust and pebbles caked into his scales. He panted in the dark, an unsettling cold setting in. He worried for destiny, but more than that, he was worried for his young friend who knew nothing of the debate that took place below the citadel. Kyulds had scoffed at the relationship between him and the boy. This truly hurt him, for although he never revealed the full truth to Merlin, over the years he had grown to care deeply for the boy, or from his time, the young man.
And now his future was in jeopardy, a future that was known since the dawn of time, and there was nothing Kilgharrah could do about it.