Caroline Faber

When young warlock Merlin arrives at Camelot, he finds himself in a place where magic is punishable by death. Yet when he finds the Great Dragon, Merlin's destiny becomes clear- he must use his magic to protect Arthur, son of Uther and future King. Merlin arrives at the gates of Camelot as a young man, sent by his mother to start a new life. Bright-eyed with wonder, Merlin steps into the square where a crowd has gathered. A man, accused by the tyrannical King Uther of using magic, is executed right before a horrified Merlin's eyes. In Camelot, the price for using magic is death. As the axe falls, an old woman, Mary Collins, swears that one day she will avenge King Uther for the death of her son, before disappearing into thin air. A shocked Merlin makes his way across Camelot to find Gaius, the Court Physician. Taken by surprise, Gaius falls from the top of a ladder: instinctively Merlin reacts and uses his magic powers to break Gaius's fall. Instead of thanking him, Gaius turns on Merlin and warns him how important it is to keep his magic a secret or else he will face certain death. As Merlin explores his new surroundings he sees a young man humiliating his manservant and decides to step in and stand up for the poor, ridiculed boy. This turns out to be a mistake on Merlin's part as he soon discovers the young man is the King's son, Prince Arthur. Merlin seems unable to heed Gaius's advice to stay out of trouble! Merlin is thrown into the stocks as punishment for fighting Arthur and he meets a young maid named Gwen, who is clearly impressed by his heroic actions. Merlin, however, doesn't seem to notice her advances... When Merlin discovers the Great Dragon he begins to understand his true destiny – he must use his abilities to protect Arthur, the future King of Albion. Merlin refuses to believe this. Mary Collins returns to take revenge on Uther's son, Arthur, and Merlin must now take control of his destiny. Will he be able to save the young Arthur in time?

Merlin, Arthur, Morgana and Gwen join forces to save Merlin's village from a ruthless group of bandits. Merlin is stunned when his mother, Hunith, turns up in Camelot, bruised, battered and desperate for help. Their village, Ealdor, has been attacked by a bandit, Kanan, and his men. Kanan is demanding all of the harvest and will be back in a week to collect everything – or the villagers will pay with their lives. If they give their food to Kanan, however, they will starve to death. Merlin gets Hunith an audience with King Uther, who listens to her story but refuses to do anything. Ealdor is beyond the boundary of Camelot's realm and none of Uther's soldiers can cross the border – to do so would be an act of war. Merlin, meanwhile, tells Arthur that he can no longer be his servant. He has to protect his mother and friends and will leave in the morning. Merlin goes to Gwen to pick up some weapons and armour but, when he gets there, he finds Morgana with Gwen. After hearing Hunith's appeal, they couldn't let Merlin go alone. He tries to argue with them but they're both determined to help the villagers. The gang sets up camp for the night in the woods and, as Merlin lies awake, unable to sleep, he hears the sound of a horse approaching through the darkness. It's Arthur, who tells him that he has come to help fight, too. When they arrive, they find Kanan and some of his men ransacking the place. There's a stand-off and Kanan is forced to back down as Arthur demonstrates his prowess with the sword. Arthur convinces the villagers that they have to fight, but an old friend of Merlin's, William, refuses – he blames Arthur for riling Kanan. Merlin realises that, unless he uses his powers, there is no way that they can defeat Kanan and his men, but will he risk exposing his abilities to save his friends and the villagers?

Whilst out on a routine hunting trip, Arthur and his men encounter a huge and terrifying monster. It has the body of a lion and the head of a serpent, with a huge pair of dripping fangs. Gaius explains that what they encountered was a Questing Beast, said to have been conjured from the nightmares of a long-dead King. It is a creature of great power from the Old Religion, whose bite is always fatal. Uther refuses to acknowledge such folly and sends the Knights out to kill it. Arthur and his men creep through the forest and find the tracks of the beast. As they cautiously enter its lair the beast jumps out of the darkness at Arthur. Merlin uses magic to send a sword flying at the creature, and it vaporises before his eyes. The beast is dead, but Arthur lies unconscious on the floor, blood dripping from his shoulder – he has been bitten. Arthur is rushed to Gaius – the physician takes one look at the ailing prince says there is nothing he can do, the teeth of the beast have done their evil work. Arthur will soon die. Merlin blames himself for failing in his destiny to protect the Prince. He tries to use magic to save Arthur but it doesn’t work. Gaius tells him that the bite of the Questing Beast is a death sentence which no magic can overturn. The castle goes into mourning, but Merlin refuses to give up, he seeks the help of the Great Dragon who tells him that all is not lost. The Dragon tells him he must go to the Isle of the Blessed and ask the old religion to save Arthur – it alone has the power. Merlin goes back to Gaius with the clues the dragon has given him. Gaius fills in the gaps – the ancient magic which has the power to mirror life can reverse death itself, but there will be a price to pay. Merlin journeys to the Isle of the Blessed where he finds Nimueh waiting for him. Nimueh tells Merlin that she can save Arthur’s life but he must know that a price will have to be paid. To save a life, a life must be taken. A desperate Merlin says that he will take that chance, Arthur’s life is worth anything. If he has to give up his own, then so be it. Nimueh shows him a gold chalice – it is the Cup of Life, blessed by centuries of powerful sorcery so that it contains the very secret of life itself. She tells him that if Arthur drinks water from the cup, he will recover. She gives Merlin some water to take back to Camelot with him. Merlin feeds Arthur the water from the chalice - he slowly shows signs of recovery. Gaius declares he will live. The castle rejoices that their Prince is recovered – and Merlin awaits his fate - but when his mother, Hunith, arrives and is gravely ill, Merlin is distraught. His mother is ill because of the bargain he struck. Merlin already knows what he must do. He tells Gaius if the balance of the world needs a life, it must take his. He will return to the island and give his life in Hunith’s place. An anguished Gaius tries to dissuade him – Merlin’s talents, his destiny, are too precious to be sacrificed but Merlin refuses to listen, he has no choice – he cannot let his mother die. Returning home to collect his things, Merlin finds a letter. It tells him that Gaius has gone to the Isle of the Blessed in his place. Gaius lovingly acknowledges that Merlin’s life is worth more than his and it is his that should be given instead. Merlin thunders after him - will he be able to catch him before it's too late?

Arthur and Merlin are forced to run for their lives as a merciless Morgana attacks Camelot.