And this is my first crossover, guys. Be nice.
Set After: Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets and Merlin: Season Five.
So, on with the story!
It had been years since she had last been to Camelot. That was when the treaty had been struck, and she learned about the deaths of two great men. From that day forth, she refused to even think HIS name. HE, who had been her childhood friend for so many years, and yet so few, was gone, and there was no point in lamenting about it.
Or so she thought.
They were making the journey to Camelot to bring the news of the late Queen's death. The Queen had been Ariana the White, born with pale skin, pale hair and pale eyes. She was the one who had taken her in after her mentor had died.
It was also after she had found Zera, who, then, had just been a youngling wandering the woods, after her parents had died. Now she was Queen, as Ariana had had no relatives or heirs, nor were there any nobles who had quite the experience to rule a kingdom. Andlunn needed a steady hand that would never waver to guide it, but also a hand that could be gentle. Zera had those hands.
And so did she, but she insisted on simply being a guardian. After all, Zera may have been a dragon trapped in human form, but she didn't know. She herself knew what she was, and that it was both much more powerful and much weaker than a dragon. A Drake, a human that could morph into a dragon's body, eventually at will. It took a few years to control, and emotions had much to do with it.
HE had comforted her when she had turned into a small dragon, about the size of a large dog. It was because two of the nastier children had been taunting and teasing her, throwing rocks and broken glass. She had exploded without warning, and then had fled into the forest. HE had found her, her life-long companion that had been by her side since they were old enough to walk. They were both still young, but because of her gift, she seemed and acted much older. HE had helped her morph back into human form, and HE had helped her back to the camp.
It was a week after that Gledden, an older Drake, had come for her. She had had to leave HIM, for the first and last time.
Gledden trained her hard, taught her how to fight, to fly, to run, to wield her magic, to survive, but she still thought of HIM every day for the years she was under Gledden's wing. Then, the soldiers came. They cut down Gledden and would have cut her down too, had Gledden not warned her and told her to fly away. It was painful, leaving behind the old woman, but she had no other choice.
She hadn't even seen the crest the soldiers wore, so she never knew who to take revenge upon. She flew long and hard, finally dropping from exhaustion. She never even felt herself shrink back to a girl.
A patrol found her, Queen Ariana with them, and brought her back to the castle of Andlunn.
She settled there, and found Zera on one of her many evening rides through the kingdom. She was so tiny, the size of a hound pup. Her left wing, blood camoflauged against her scarlet scales, was trapped under a small rock. She had cast a healing spell, and then turned the hatchling into a human little girl, taking her to the castle.
Zera grew well into castle life, eventually joining her every evening for a ride through the forests or fens surrounding the castle. They became the Queen's loyal guardian angels, red and black, fire and shadow, phoenix and raven.
After many, many years, they came to Camelot to strike a treaty with Queen Guinivere. She learned that the late King, Arthur, had died in the battle of Camlann, against an opponent with a sword forged in dragonfire. The spoke HIS name with disgust and hatred, and she felt betrayed, until she finally learned what really happened. Lyra... The girl who had bewitched HIM, who had taunted her and teased her, who had made her younger years a living hell.
She no longer felt betrayed, but sick. That that bully would come back to haunt her... it was nearly unthinkable. As unthinkable as HIS name, which she had vowed never to speak again.
And now she was back in Camelot, to deliver the news with Queen Zera. When she saw him. Emrys, who had never really treated HIM like an equal. She knew he went by Merlin to the people of Camelot, who now knew his gift, and she realized he had been placed under the same burden. The death of someone close, although he didn't know her pain like she did.
No one did.
They returned to Andlunn, and stayed for many years. It was then that she noticed, that while others' hair grew streaked with gray and silver, her own remained midnight black. Zera was growing old as well, but it didn't show as much as a human.
It was when she finally did that she learned the truth. She didn't age. She still looked twenty-two years, instead of her actual sixty-five. It was only then that she learned the prophecy, from Kilgarrah as he lay dying.
She learned that Merlin was immortal also. It was a joy to her, but also a sadness. Though no one else came close to what she felt, they were not on very polite speaking terms.
And so the years went by. She retreated to the forests, to the high mountains, and watched from afar as the world grew. Eventually, she came down from the frosted peaks and smoothly joined the flow of time once more. She faked death several times, forged birth certificates and identitys, and continuously built the bookshop over and over again, the place that kept her sane.
She was aware of Emrys doing the same, but they only crossed paths when they visited the Lake, or Aithusa. The white dragon had found her once, after ramming into a boulder as a dragon and breaking multiple bones, collapsing her lung, and tearing her wing muscles. He healed her, and stayed by her side as her apprentice and assistant for the hundreds of years to come.
She taught him how to disguise himself as human, and he continously became the shining star in her endless, misrable life. A source of pure, undiluted magic of the Old Religion, which plummeted in use as the Anglish invaders took over Britain, their witches and wizards with their wands and silly incantations taking over the magical community.
Her people, the Druids, were driven out and extinguished. Soon it was only Aithusa, Emrys and herself who remained of the old magic.
They all watched as Camelot fell to ruin, was found by the two men and two women who rebuilt it, and watched as it became a school for magic and charm. She admired Rowenna Ravenclaw, with her intelligence and wit, and Helga Hufflepuff for her unceasing loyalty to her friends. She came to understand the drive of Salazar Slytherin, and his pride and ambitiousness, and she felt proud of Godric Gryffindor for his bravery and fiery loyalty. His chosen colors reminded her painfully of Zera and Kilgarrah, though.
They watched the school grow and evolve, and they watched the whole wizarding world hide from their 'peers'. They feared the non-magical folk, for they thought that they feared magic. And while it may have been true once, they were too terrified to do anything else but hide.
They watched as all that had been worked for was lost, and they watched as peace crumbled to the ground. They watched as both Merlin's and Arthur's names were downtrodden, until it was as if Merlin had simply decided to whisk off to Camelot and 'grace' a Muggle king with his glory. For once, both herself and Merlin agreed about something.
They watched as history passed them by for another thousand years, until the year 1993, when Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban.
No one had even realized that he wasn't the only esapee.
Alright, that is quite enough of a prologue. Stay tuned for chapter one!
Oh, btw, the woman/girl who is kind of narrating the story (even though it is third person), is Ravenna, a Druid girl with the gift of magic and the ability to transform into a dragon. She took Aithusa in when Morgana died and taught him the secrets of the ancient dragons, because he reminds her so much of HIM. Can you guess who HE is?
Ravenna just kind of roams the world, not really alongside Merlin, and, because they are both so connected to the Old Religion, they have unimpeded access to the Lake of Avalon. Aithusa as well, but he doesn't really care. He just likes taking care of the bookshop.
And again, stay tuned!
Falcon