AN: This is my first Merlin story, however not my first Harry Potter one (although I haven't published one of them yet. They're still going through a bit of writing and plot bunny-ing) so please bear over with me if I make any sort of mistake or anything. Criticism is welcomed (I'm not exactly English/American so the language doesn't come to me as easily. Any mistakes found, I'll gladly correct :D)
Disclaimer: Sadly, I own neither "Merlin" nor "Harry Potter". They both belong to their respective owners: BBC and J. K. Rowling
Before you move on, I want to say that all Merlin-universe spells are Welsh translations.
And a huge thanks to Evanescence for their dark music to bring me just in the right mood for the prologue ;D
(And of course a huge thanks to the Merlin books for giving me a better understanding of the characters I love to watch on TV almost every day :D)
Summary: Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever thought that you didn't belong anywhere, only to find that your life was just about to begin, as you travelled back in time with four other magicians you hardly knew?
My name is Lyra Astoria Dunham, and this is my story.
Prologue:
Every good story has a beginning
It was a rather cold and dark night in the Darkling Woods, but the tall figure walking in only a light cloak and sandals didn't seem to feel the cold air at all. If she only merely felt the cold or was really freezing, she didn't show. She just continued walking forward as if there was nothing else in the world but her and her path.
It didn't seem as if she had a destination, for she just kept on walking, until she came to a halt in front of a cave. There seemed to be a complete darkness on the inside of it, but that didn't scare the woman in the light robe away. She merely chanted something to herself in a harsh language, before a flame shot up from her right palm.
There wasn't much to behold as she finally entered, mostly it was only walls of stone on either side of her. The woman though, didn't once waver in her steps but continued forward, a small smile now gracing her lips behind the hood.
Out of the blue someone suddenly shouted, "Niwed i'r lladron." But the sorceress merely flicked her left wrist before the spell cast at her was deflected.
"Who are you to break into my home?" a raven-haired woman asked as she moved out of the shadows.
"Who I am is of no importance to you right now," the sorceress began. "It is what I want that you should be worried about, Nimueh." As if on cue, she pulled off her hood revealing her long blonde hair.
The dark-haired woman, Nimueh, simply scowled at the witch but nonetheless gestured for the sorceress to follow her. Not long after they were so deep into the cave that the light of the water was reflected onto the walls, bathing the cave in a silvery-blue glow. The blonde woman muttered harsh words again, making the flame in her palm disappear. Her hand was left unharmed.
The inside of the cavern wasn't bigger than perhaps a small chamber but it contained more magical objects than any normal household would dare to store. In the middle of the cavern was a large stone basin, much similar to the one the blonde witch owned herself.
Nimueh stopped and turned around to scowl once again at the intruder. "What is it that you want with me then?" she hissed, making it clear to the blonde woman that she wasn't welcome at all.
The other sorceress merely laughed. "How young and impatient you still are," she chuckled once again before continuing, "How much you still have to learn." The blonde woman's emerald eyes were sparkling with amusement.
Nimueh snorted. "Who are you to tell me that I am young and impatient?" she spat. "I am Nimueh, priestess of the Old Religion and of Life and Death itself. You should be the one cowering before me and asking me to spare your life."
"Do not question my authority young witch!" the blonde woman's voice echoed threateningly through the cavern walls, her green eyes flaring with anger. Nimueh almost cowered herself as she heard the rage in the other witch's words. "You will stop acting like my superior and listen to my proposal!"
Nimueh nodded, having finally been convinced that this woman was somehow more powerful than herself – though she couldn't fathom how or why.
The other woman closed her eyes and after a while her features relaxed into amusement once again. Nimueh noticed that for a woman who claimed to be older than her, she was looking amazingly close to her own age. Then again, magic could do more than just deceive the eye.
As the woman finally opened her eyes again the amused glint was back, but she was smiling wickedly. To Nimueh, she looked truly like evil itself. Perhaps that was why she had sought her out in the first place?
"I am here Nimueh," the blonde began, the wicked smile never leaving her face. "To ask you a favour." Instead of continuing right away she started to pace, started to circle around Nimueh. Their eyes never left each other's. "It seems," the other woman finally continued, "that we have a common enemy."
Nimueh didn't have to ask to know who the blonde witch was talking about. Merlin. Nimueh already felt her blood begin to boil.
The blonde sorceress laughed. "I can see by the way you hands turn into fists that you want him dead as much as me," she sweetly said, though Nimueh noticed the venom behind her words.
"What has he done to you, which makes you want revenge against him so desperately?" Nimueh found herself asking before she could control her tongue. There was something about the blonde woman that suddenly made her not want to disobey her. Nimueh's fists tightened.
The other sorceress laughed darkly. "It is not what he has done, young one. It's what he will do that makes me come to you."
At her words Nimueh frowned. She hadn't seen this woman attacking or harming Camelot or Merlin in any way. How could this sorceress claim to have seen her own attempts at destroying the grant citadel, would have failed? How could the woman state this, when Nimueh herself could not have foreseen her own failure in killing the young warlock Merlin?
"I believe," the blonde witch continued, seeing the frown that was gracing the raven-haired sorceress's features. "It is time that I properly introduced myself."
Nimueh waited in anticipation but never let it show on her face. She liked to keep a calm exterior, a mischievous one.
"My name," the blonde witch began, while pointing her pale hand at herself," is Sylene. I am high priestess of the Old Religion and of Time itself. I know everything about the past, present and future." The wicked smile that had been gracing her lips grew wider. "I come to you tonight because I have a favour to ask of you."
Nimueh smiled wickedly herself. "And if I refuse to help you?"
Sylene's face grew void of emotion. "Then even your magic of life and death would not be able to prevent me from claiming what I want." Her voice had been cold, full of more malice than Nimueh had ever heard it before. "I am not someone to be trifled with, young witch." the warning was as clear in Sylene's voice as in her emerald eyes.
Nimueh scowled at Sylene once again, not believing that she was actually going to help the woman. But Nimueh was scared for her life, she somehow knew that this other sorceress was much more powerful than her – perhaps even equalled the "great" warlock Merlin – and could claim her life with just the wave of her hand if she chose to. Nimueh's glare hardened.
"What is it that you want of me then?" she asked frostily, hoping that the other witch would notice her hate towards her.
Sylene once again laughed. "Ah, how young you still are," at this Nimueh's face hardened significantly. She did not like being called young. Merlin was the young one – her archenemy. She shouldn't have to listen to this woman calling her young.
"I come to you," Sylene began once again, "because I want you to bring a friend of mine back from the dead."
Nimueh felt the evil smile return. So this woman wasn't as powerful as her after all. Why would she ask for Nimueh's help to do that, when her powers were so great? The dark-haired sorceress felt a pleasingly wicked feeling in her heart as she viewed the consequences of what Sylene was asking.
"If I do this for you, what will be in it for me?" Nimueh asked, the evil smile never leaving her face.
Sylene smiled just as cruelly. "If you help me in not only this but in what I'm going to tell will be your prize, then I will ensure a way that will definitely be the final blow to our common enemy, Merlin."
"You have yourself a deal," Nimueh said with a vile glint to her eyes. Sylene's smile was so wide and cruel that she looked truly terrifying. The blonde witch stretched out her hand, took Nimueh's in her own and started chanting, "Gall Nid yw'r fargen yma ac yn awr yn cael ei newid am byth, er os bydd, bydd y wrach ifanc yn marw ac mae ei phwerau byddaf yn ei ddefnyddio. Gall Nid yw'r fargen am byth yn cael ei newid am gyhyd ag amser yn fy Canllaw ffyddlon."
The raven-haired witch immediately let go of Sylene's hand as the enchantment was said. "I will go prepare a fire immediately. No time must be wasted," she told, before turning around and smiling to herself. Sylene was prepared to bring a friend of hers back to life, but what she hadn't thought of was the consequences of who would die in the place of that life. The dark-haired woman's smile widened. If the other woman had any idea of the extent of Nimueh's powers...
"Not so fast Nimueh," Sylene said, and was smirking once Nimueh turned around again. "Aren't you interested to hear of the plan to help you kill Merlin?" the blonde witch was examining her fingernails and looked bored, except for that small smirk that was gracing her lips. Once again Nimueh found her hands clench into fists.
"How?" Nimueh asked through gritted teeth, hoping this Sylene was soon done taunting her. She was not sure how much more of this she would be able to take.
Sylene lowered her hand and simpered at Nimueh. She could feel how irritated the young raven-haired witch was getting at her way of behaving. "I know of a man in the future – an evil sorcerer indeed – who will do almost anything to have his own archenemy killed."
Nimueh stared at Sylene. Was the blond witch proposing what Nimueh was thinking?
"I believe that if we make a bargain with him, promise him to capture his enemy, he will have no choice but to capture ours." Sylene's evil smile was as wide as ever.
"And how do you propose we bring a man from the future to hear out our offer?" Nimueh all but spat out. There had never been a sorcerer or sorceress who could bring those from the future to them, or go to the future themselves. It was an impossibility.
The blonde witch laughed menacingly. "You still don't understand do you?" she asked Nimueh as she began circling her again. "I can bend time to my will, young one. That is why your plan to kill me in the place of my friend will not succeed."
For the first time in her life Nimueh felt truly frightened. This woman had just figured out her plans in the matter of moments! But how? The dreadful feeling that this Sylene was more powerful than she looked was suddenly seething through the raven-haired sorceress. Nimueh at once understood the full capacity of the powers of the woman in front of her.
She couldn't kill her with her power over life and death, even if she wanted to. Sylene was in control of time, meaning that she could bend it in an attempt to escape and then come back to kill Nimueh. Yes, Nimueh felt truly intrigued by this blonde sorceress.
"Prepare the fire," Sylene began while waving her hand absentmindedly at Nimueh. "I will go collect the ingredients." She turned around at once, making her cape wave wildly behind her, and put on the hood.
Everything was going exactly according to plan. To what she had seen, Sylene corrected herself. She smiled widely. Now everything just had to be set into action.
AN: Well here you go, the prologue's done I hope you liked it! (And wasn't too dark and scary for you xP)
Just to clear things up: Sylene isn't a character in the original BBC instalment of Merlin, but my very own wickedly evil OC xD I really had a hard time finding a name for her, so please state your opinion on that :D And besides, it was really fun to finally start a story from the POV of someone evil for once ;) (You won't believe how much I've been looking forward to do something like this ;D)
I also hope you won't mind getting a bit of the "dark side" before moving on to the real OC of the story *sheepish smile* I just had to start the story with some suspense and a bit of what the plot of the story is about
Well, enough of me rambling! I'm sure you'll want to review, and be waiting for the next chapter of "Forces of Destiny" :D I hope to have it up tomorrow, in a couple of days at the most (seeing as it is Christmas holiday :D)
A very Happy New year to all of you! And don't forget to click that blue button! (You know you want to xP)
(Remember, reviews are what makes us authors write the next chapter soo much faster :D)