This got done faster then I thought. Its short but I hope it gives you a taste of the story to come.
I would suggest reading my other stories: Mercy, Always, Buried, and I Will Never Forget first before you read this as the rest of it will make more sense but don't if it is too much. I will try to make it work for you as best I can without them.
There is a longer summary for this story on my profile.
This is a prologue.
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, only my OCs and this storyline.
Hope you enjoy.
An Incomplete Retelling
There is a place not too far from anywhere where the trees are warped and mangled, devoid of what we consider to be life. They do not grow but they do not fall. It is as if they are frozen there in death. Their bark is black as ink but it is not the trees that hold the nightmares in this place. For that you must go deeper, through their grasping claws to the center. Some have only glimpsed it but there is a house there. From the outside it looks empty and decaying. The inside though is filled with endless rooms. Behind a door there could be a single room or a whole other world. They go as far as she wants them to.
The rooms are what she makes them. Everything inside those rooms is under her control. Even everyone she has trapped there. Her shadows crawl across the walls and make sure everything is the way she wants it. Her favorite things to put in those rooms are none other then the dead themselves. They are the easiest to catch because no one is trying to protect them anymore. After death most believe there is nothing left to be protected from, but there has always been her, very few of the living now of her.
She makes them into her puppets and makes them run, reliving parts of their lives over and over again until she decides they can stop. But she'll never tell them to stop. That just isn't the way she is. Chaos and tragedy are what she lives for. If you could call what she does living.
But of course it would be boring if her puppets just did the same dance over and over again. She'll keep her pets for a while until she becomes hungry. Her thirst is monstrous. Eventually she devours her pray. Those poor souls, she eats them whole. Not only does she consume them but also the lives they once lived as well until there is nothing left of them. Once she is done it is as if they had never lived at all. They are erased from history.
Usually she picks off the souls that don't affect the living world too much, but once in a while she gets bored with her usual routine and decides to take the risk. So she goes after a soul that matters and without it kingdoms could topple and be destroyed, in one version of a universe of course. She could not steal all possible versions of that one soul. That would take her an eternity.
She does so love the taste of those rare souls that only exist in one version of reality. Only under the circumstances in that world did this one-person come to be and die in this way, such a rarity, so delicious.
Once she went too far though and the living began to notice her and the stories about her spread until they reached two sets of ears. They heard what she was doing and they did not take a step back and avoid her, as most would do. Instead they decided to seek her out. They found that dark place in the woods that wasn't too far away from anywhere and they crossed the border into her territory as they still drew breath. The living never came to this place.
They found her and witnessed her cruel deeds. They could not stand it. You see these were protectors. It was in their nature and so when they saw the tragic fate of these souls they could not stand by and watch it happen. She tried to stop them of course as she did not understand how much they were willing to go through to protect even the dead.
They fought her and eventually managed to send her into a deep slumber. Unfortunately they could not kill her. She was an old creature and had been born before death had come into this world. She and her sisters could not be killed. So they locked her away with all her horrors. They froze her the way the trees around her home were frozen. She did not live but she did not die. She was simply there.
When this story was told afterward the storytellers usually just ended it there. People would ask what happened to the two heroes but the storytellers could never answer because they did not know themselves. No one knows. I'd like to tell you that there was an end to their story but I'm afraid that I have never been very good at lying to a reader. Someone once told me that a hero's fate was always the most tragic. Take from that what you will, but I'm afraid none of this story is for certain. It has been passed down through many generations and it may have changed along the way.
I wish I could tell you the original story but the only one who knows it now is her but our heroes sent her into a deep slumber.
But nothing stays asleep forever and locks rust and decay until they become too weak to hold their prisoner inside. I must tell you she is awaking and if things go her way one day she will return to the goddess she once was. She will stand tall and mighty over the dead once more.
For now she seeks her vengeance for her imprisonment. Her plan is wicked and cruel just like her. I'm afraid I can tell you no more. The rest of this tale must be followed and it begins elsewhere in a kingdom many have come to call Camelot as a prince and his servant leave on a hunting trip.
I tried to warn them. I told them to turn back, but they would not listen.
The Old Mother is returning and we all best be ready when she does.
Thanks for reading and please REVIEW!
Hello again to anyone who has read my other stories. Its nice to see you again.
Hope you follow the rest the story and remember you too have been warned.
See you next time.