Chapter Text
A DARK HOLE: NIGHT
The old knight opened his eyes to darkness all around him, flashes of a battle echoing in his ears, he had been unhorsed and ambushed by the Duke's men, Excalibur flashing as metal cuts through flesh and bone, a sword.. and a stone no one shall wield Excalibur but me.. Merlin.. Merlin work a fog.. To hide..
He gasps, awake instinctively tries reaching for his sword, cant find it. His elbows hit the side of what felt like a box.. Panic sets in, Box?
Survival instinct kicks in, honed by decades of fighting, surviving, he calms his breath thinking at least there's air and reaches for his belt but his hunting knife is bucked on the other side.
He opens and closes his hand, feeling the gauntlet was still there and suddenly smiles
UTHER
This isn't now I die
He punches forward, feeling the wood cracking. Again and again for what seems like hours, he punches as dirt starts falling on his face, punch after punch, until finally his fist pushes through and dirt starts filling the casket. The old knight uses his leverage and pushes through, digging, desperately gasping for air.
WESTERN PLAGUELANDS: NIGHT
A gauntlet bursts through the grave site, then another as the body of Uther Pendragon raises from the grave, he gasps for air taking a deep breath, coughing sand and after heaving his body collapses on his back.
He smells burning wood and feels the warmth of a fire and turns his head to see Merlin sitting by a cozy campfire roasting a rabbit.
MERLIN
Took you long enough
Uther cant believe his eyes, still full of dirt and sweat
MERLIN
Well? Are you going to join me or am I to wait for you all day?
The old warrior stands up in anger immediately reaching for his sword.
MERLIN
Excalibur is not there
He tries to speak, but his throat hurts
UTHER
Merlin. My voice
MERLIN
You were dead my dear King, that will undoubtedly affect your ability to speak, now seat, drink this and be quiet. We have a lot to talk about
Merlin throws an odd flask at Uther, it was filled with a red liquid, the old knight sits in pain, opens the flask and sniffs it.
MERLIN
Do you think I would go through all the trouble of bringing your worthless carcass to life just to poison you? Drink Uther, drink.
Uther feels too tired to argue, he opens the flask and drinks it.. It tastes odd at first but then his wounds start regenerating, his stamina is back and suddenly he feels stronger than ever.
UTHER
What magic is this?
MERLIN
Not mine, this is a local potion from this accursed world we are in. It serves its purpose.
UTHER
World? What do you mean world? The last thing I remember, I was being attacked, dying asking for your help.
MERLIN
And I was carrying your newborn child to a proper home, its not like I could stop to suddenly summon a mist. I mean I COULD have done that, but your time was over.
Uther bristles in anger
UTHER
MY time was over? I was just crowned king!
MERLIN
We have gone over this Uther, You took the Duke's wife, betrayed her trust, you were not the one.
UTHER
What of the boy. What of Igraine
MERLIN
The boy was named Arthur, and he is the reason we are in this mess today, why I raised you from the dead. Igraine remarried and died in childbirth, a terrible thing
UTHER
How..What..
MERLIN
Yes, those are all great questions, but its easier if I show you.
Merlin rummages through his pouch finding another flask, he shows it to Uther, with a cocky smile on his face.
MERLIN
This one however, is mine..
The flask breaks and blue fire explodes from the campfire forming images, Uther instinctively covers his face.
MERLIN
Don't worry its quite harmless.. When I want it to be.. Since I arrived here, I have an extraordinary control over fire.
Merlin raises his staff, and images begin to form as he narrates them.
MERLIN
Arthur, unlike you WAS the chosen one. He rallied his men to victory, united Britain under one banner, and became high king. Unfortunately, Morgana had other plans
UTHER
Igraine's daughter
MERLIN
I see your memory is improving, yes, and she never forgave what you did to Igraine, the little demon even bewitched me, and I took her under my wings, showed her the ways of necromancy and magic.
UTHER
Great work.
Merlin just gives him a glare
MERLIN
She trapped me in the heart of the Dragon, poisoned the mind of Guinevere so she betrayed Arthur with Lancelot, used MY magic to father a son with Arthur, and plunged our land into darkness for a decade. Little Mordred grew up to be quite a monster, but thanks to the knights recovering the Holy Grail, Arthur fought one last battle against Morgana and was mortally wounded, killing Mordred.
UTHER
My boy died?
MERLIN
I was able to briefly escape my imprisonment and assist Arthur. I always had a soft spot for him, but no he did not die, he went to Avalon to live with the Gods of old.
UTHER
Then why are we here?
MERLIN
Because dear Uther, of what happened AFTER.
MERLIN
Morgana's soul didn't die, it wandered, looking for power, looking for what I took for her and she found it. A Wizard named Medvih joined forces with another called Gul'dan and opened a portal unleashing ripples across time, space and realities and that dark Fel energy not only revived but also empowered Morgana. She returned to our land, used the same energy to bring back Mordred and his army and were about to destroy the land. But I had been awoken, and from Avalon I was able to save us by hiding the city from Morgana, channeling the power she possessed to hide Camelot and our entire land, here.
Merlin gestures around himself
UTHER
In a graveyard?
MERLIN
Not the graveyard your bumbling fool, in this land. Azeroth as its called, I no longer feel the dragon as its hidden, end even with my amplified abilities I cannot seem to find it. So I was sought by this complete idiot called Khadgar, he wanted my help in saving something somewhere and I told him where to he could stick it. However he is not totally talentless and struck a bargain with me, for my help he would allow me to use his city's power Dalaran to find you and the others.
UTHER
The others?
Merlin pulls a pouch full of crystals, all cracked with symbols arranged.
MERLIN
These crystals were bathed in the Cauldron of Clyddno Eiddyn, they held the souls of every one of Arthur's knights, his own and yours. When I awoke they had been cracked, broken and the souls of those knights are now lost to me, they took the bodies of dead soldiers, only the ones who died in battle and were of noble heart could've housed them.
UTHER
What about me, I still look the same
MERLIN
Yours was different, your body showed up here for some reason because they already had a nincompoop called Uther that died, the spell must've thought you were that Uther and reconstructed your own body. I doubt everyone else will be that lucky. Arthur maybe since he wasn't really dead, but everyone else will be waking up in bodies they don't know, some might even not be human
UTHER
What?
MERLIN
Oh yes, there are creatures here with horns, tails and whatever else you can imagine. But we must not allow Morgana to find our land, the power of the thirteen treasures will not keep it hidden forever.
UTHER
Merlin, I'm but a man what am I to do with wizards and creatures?
MERLIN
What you do best. Raise your banner, gather men, fight and kill. There are plenty of quests to be done. The more your name grows, the others will recognize you and seek you out. Gawain, Tristan, Lancelot, they will all come they were Arthur's men and they will need to help you find and protect him until he can reclaim Excalibur.
UTHER
The Sword, what happened to the sword
Uther said with ferocity, the old look of greed in his eyes.
Merlin
I don't know, the sword is no longer your Uther, you abused the gift of t he gods, used it for your own gains, you are NOT worthy
Uther
Once more, you hit me with words as hard as steel Merlin, but you are right I failed the boy once, I won't do it again I don't care what th is land offers Morgana will not find him, I will rip her apart before that.
Merlin
Good, its because you are so full of Fury that you will make the perfect warrior for this task. But not here. This is not where your path begins.
Merlin opens stands up and opens his hands, summoning a portal
Merlin
Go through here and find a small settlement called Goldshire, you need goin and Marshal Dughan knows me. He will give you general instructions on what to do. You have done this before Uther, you were nothing, and with a sword and shield rose to a King. Do that once more and save our land. I am trusting you one more time
Uther merely nods, he understands the task and he knows what needs to be done, nothing else needs to be said. With nothing but the tatters of his old life, the former king stands up and without hesitation steps through a portal.
Goldshire: Night
Uther experiences teleportation for the first time and does not like it at all. His stomach feels like its on the outside of his body, and the last time her remembers being this nauseated, a lot of Ale was involved, he stumbles across the woods
Uther
Merlin tossed me in the middle of a bog
Annoyed, the former king starts to climb out of the river when he hears small feet running towards him
UTHER
What in the seven hells
Uther looks around and sees not a person, but a thing born of a fever dream and the blackest silt of the marsh. It was small, no taller than as wide as a bull with wet , slick skin similar to a drowning corpse. Glowing yellow eyes staring at him with unblinking hunger as it opened his mouth revealing row upon row of needle sharp teeth.
And the horror charged, right at Uther wielding crude spears tipped with a jagged shard of flint. What seemed to be the leader came first, and Uther's warriors instincts kicked in, they were numerous but uncoordinated and knew nothing of tactics, all they had was numbers, with ease he evaded the clumsy thrust and grabbing a hold of the weapon swung as hard as he could.
The creature flew to the side as Uther, now in full warrior mode charged the other three,
Murlock
Mrglglglg
It shrieked as Uther impaled him by the stomach, then with reflexed honed by years of war he crouched, tucking the spear by his feet. The second creature impaled himself, as Uther replaced his spear now stuck in the Murlocks body with his victims and also found a small knife
UTHER
Come creatures, come and feel my rage
MURLOCK
Mrglglglg
They charged and this time so did he, throwing the spear straight at the first one's open mouth and smiling as he saw the flint burst through the back of his head.
Now it was the leader and him, suddenly Uther .. leapt straight in the air and was able to land directly in front of his attacker and with one stroke stuck his newfound knife on the top of his head.
The creature's snarling teeth still biting, it shoved Uther to the ground, he used all his strength to push it all the way to the hilt, until the nightmarish creature stopped moving and with great effort, he heaved the creature's body away from him and laid there in a mix of horror and extasy. He knew now what this world brought and it was nothing that hard steel couldn't kill.
Uther managed to get up and stumble to what seemed to be the huts where they lived,
The place was a mire of filth and rot, a cluster of hovels perched like scabs on the water’s edge. They weren't houses as men know them, built with honest timber and heavy stone, but crude nests of mud, reed, and sun-bleached bone. They stood on spindly stilts, looking for all the world like skeletal fingers rising from the muck to keep the sea at bay.
The huts were small, cramped things, their roofs thatched with stinking seaweed that trailed like the hair of a drowned witch. There was no order to the village, no streets or clean paths—just a maze of slick mud and stagnant pools where the creatures had dragged their wet bellies.
The air hung thick and heavy, a choking miasma of salt-stench, decaying fish, and the sweet, cloying smell of stagnant marsh-water.
Inside, the walls were slick with sea-slime, yet they showed a strange, savage craft. They were decorated with bits of jagged coral and mosaics of broken shell, as if these beasts were trying to mimic the splendor of the deeps they’d left behind. There was no fire, for they had no love
for the flame; only the cold, grey light of the overcast sky filtered through the gaps in the reeds. Uther found several chests of fallen foes containing treasure, and armed himself. A coat of mail, boots, heavy leather trousers, a small pouch of copper and a good sword.
"I've won battles with less" he touted to himself and without tarring, left the village as he saw light from a small house ahead. And the smell of roasted pork