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Prologue

The Beginning of the End

She remembered the first day she met him. The day started normal enough. Well as normal as Merlyn's life could be these days. She was just about to head to Arthur's room to tidy it up when she suddenly heard a scream. It sound like that of a young boy. She immediately stopped in her tracks and look back. She listen for a moment, trying to figure out what direction it came from, but she heard nothing. After a few minutes, she just told herself she imagined it and scurried off to continue her chores, but then she heard the boy again. This time his voice came to her as clear as day and she realized it was in her head, "Help." It pleaded.

Merlyn quickly rushed off to find the source of the voice. She couldn't explain how, but she knew it had to be coming from the front entrance of the castle. She scanned the plaza carefully, then finally there he was, the young boy. He was a small thing then, slumped against a well and hiding under his green cloak. He looked no older than ten or eleven years. His hair was dark, almost black, and had a pair of blue eyes even more brilliant than her own. For a second the two just stared at one another, captivated. Merlyn felt almost as if something was tugging her towards him, but she didn't have much time to think on it once the castle guards arrived.

The boys eyes widen with fear as he pleaded in her mind again, "Please, you have to help me. They're searching for me."

"Why are they after you?" She asked back.

"They're going to kill me." He replied.

Against her better judgement, Merlyn nodded. There was no way she could leave such a defenseless boy to the knights. With great difficulty, she managed to guide the boy out of harm's way all the way to the east wing of the castle. While being chased by guards, she might add.

They couldn't make it to her quarters, but she was able to make it to Morgana's. If anyone other than Giaus would help them, it'd be her. The king's ward and her handmaiden, Gwen, took kindly to both her and the boy and hid them away.

Morgana agreed to take in the boy until Merlyn could find a way to get him out of Camelot. Unfortunately after the guards left, the boy had taken ill. He had a terrible cut to his side and from what she could tell, it was beginning to become infected.

Giaus later agreed to help the boy, and thanks to his expertise, he become well again and after a a couple days and one failed attempt, Merlyn was able to return the duid boy to his people. All with Arthur's help of course, surprising as that was to her.

The great dragon, kilgharrah, had warned her then of what the boy would become. She had not believed it then. He was such a small child, frightened, scrawny, and from what Merlyn could tell, innocent. How could he possibly bring Arthur's downfall? The very notion seemed silly. However, Kilgharrah would never make up something like that. She still had to heed her words.

Apart from that day, Merlyn only saw the young druid boy on two other occasions. Once only for a moment when she sent Morgana to the Druids and the other when he came back to the castle to find a crystal.

As long as Merlyn would live, she would never forget the last time she saw him. Arthur and the knights had followed after a band of druid renegades. The battle was horrible and bloody, but there was nothing she could do to change it. That's when she found Mordred again for the last time.

He was running away from the battle. Merlyn had saw him dashing off with his little green cape waving behind him. She followed after him, still feeling drawn. At first she was just going to make sure he got out of the fray safely, but then Kilgharrah's words rang back in the mind,

"If the boy lives, you cannot fulfill your destiny."

"What are taking about? My destiny is to protect Arthur."

"And there you have your answer."

"What do you mean? Is the boy to one day kill Arthur?"

"That, my dear, is entirely up to you."

He had to die.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a few knights running after him. She knew what she had to do. With an outstretched hand, she drew her magic ready to trip the boy when suddenly she felt a sharp pain pierce through her heart. It was so painful that it made her gasp and tears starting running down her cheeks. She had no idea what was causing this. Sure she didn't feel good about trying to kill the boy, but she shouldn't had felt anything like this! She barely even knew him! He was destined to kill Arthur! Why would the thought of his death bring this much sorrow to her? It didn't make sense.

In her mind, she knew he needed to die. If he didn't, everything she ever worked for and loved would be destroyed. She told herself this over and over again, but she still couldn't it. For whatever reason, every fiber of her being screamed at her not to. So with great reluctance, she let him go, tripping the knights instead and giving the young druid a clean getaway.

Once the boy saw this, he looked back and held her gaze. "Thank you, Emrys. I will never forget this. I promise, one day I will repay your kindness." He vowed and turned away and left.

Since then it has been many years since she last saw the young druid boy. On the rare occasion she thought of him, a part of her sometimes wished she could see him and know how he was, but the greater part of her hope that she never did. She feared if she were to see him again, Kilgharrah's warning would come to past and she would be forced to finish with what she could not all those years ago. She didn't want that to happen. Not ever.

No matter her feelings or desires.

A/N: Thank you everyone for reading the prologue! If there are mistakes, I apologize. I'm looking for a Beta. I hope it wasn't too bad and that some of you enjoyed it for the time being. This story will mainly take place during season five, but as you can tell, there are going to be quite a few differences in this story compared to the show. I don't like it when authors just rewrite everything that happened in the original work to a T and pass it off as a fiction. So there will be some major changes down the line that I hope you guys will like.

Please review. I love hearing all your feedback. If any of you have any suggestions for the plot, advice, thoughts, or constructive criticism, I'd love to hear it. Thank you and see you next time. :)