Love your friends but not with all your heart 'cause one day they may become enemies. Hate your enemies but not with all your passion 'cause one day they may be your friends.

Fate l

They were close to the lake of Avalon. They could see its bank; Merlin could already feel its powerful magic. It was hope in his heart; a feeling he had thought he would never experience again. They were so, so close, but was it really close enough?

The trip had drained the king of energy and he felt so tired that Merlin decided to stop for a while. Helping his friend get comfortable on the silky grass Merlin watched him fall asleep and leaned against the trunk of a tree next to his friend as waited for him to wake up every moment.

So many things had happened lately that Merlin could hardly understand how they'd actually come to pass. Arthur knew about his magic; Morgana knew he was Emrys; Mordred had betrayed them and all Merlin could think about was his friend.

New challenges would lurk in the gloom, waiting to overwhelm them. New enemies would prepare their weapons, hate would spread, danger would come from nowhere, but also new friendships could be forged and hope might rise once again.

He'd consider all of these later when the time came, the warlock would face all those challenges with Arthur by his side. He knew that his friend was going to need time to accept this new side of him and Merlin was willing to give him all the time he needed.

If only they got there on time.

Merlin was exhausted, but he struggled to stay awake. Leaving Arthur without protection, even for some moments, wasn't a good idea, more, they couldn't waste time. Every second was precious, but his magic fought against him as though it was trying to warn Merlin about something. Eventually, he didn't have the energy to stay awake and fell asleep before snapping his eyes open again. It had been only for a moment, but the memory of those few seconds was enough for him to sense the danger that sneaked slowly closer, threatening to turn everything he loved to ash.

Horrible images haunted his mind. Morgana using her magic to throw him away, he heard her speaking to Arthur, enjoying his death. He noticed himself holding Arthur's sword and planting it into Morgana's heart. Merlin heard himself saying goodbye and saw Morgana's last question dying on her lips. He cried when Arthur spoke the last words and Merlin begged him to stay, he couldn't accept Arthur's death, and Merlin struggled to save the king. He called the Great Dragon, but it was too late. Yet Kilgharrah assured him that the king would rise again. Arthur's dead body on a boat floating towards Avalon. The hand of the Lady of Lake catching Excalibur. Disaster that would followed. Gwen alone as queen. himself old and alone walking on a road. One after another images rolled inside his mind. He managed to wake up unable to retain a cry coming out his mouth.

One after another all his fears came true. He couldn't find the strength to watch his friend dying in his arms. Arthur had thanked him finally seen him for what he really was but it didn't feel right. It wasn't how it was supposed to be. The Great Dragon gave him some hope, but even if Arthur return, he didn't know how long he would have to wait and he couldn't help thinking that after everything Morgana had done, there would never be a place for magic anymore.

What worried him even more was that he was sure Camelot wouldn't be the only kingdom to believe that of magic. Tears fell down his face and he couldn't stop feeling more alone and lost than he had felt in his entire life.

He remembered a time when he was so happy Morgana had magic, when he thought he'd never feel alone anymore. The memory of Morgana brought back unsolved mysteries.

Where is she? the warlock wondered unable to understand how all the other events happened as he'd foreseen them.

May be it's a vision of the future where the king will be back again? Is she still a threat for the king, then? Was it my imagination?

All these questions invaded his mind and the only explanation he could get was that his own fears had created them all. Merlin had known Arthur was going to die even if he hated to admit it. Everything was so obvious. All his dead friends rested on the bottom of the lake. He used to put them in a boat and set it on fire as he was watching it floating. He knew that his kind would suffer even more after the war.

But how could my imagination have known that Arthur would thank me or that Kilgharrah would foretell Arthur's return? And yet something is missing to complete that dream, that part when I killed Morgana. How is it possible? How could I have been so accurate about everything but so wrong about that part? But if it is another future how is possible for two futures to be so alike. It can't be.

Inertia was killing him. He needed to do something, he needed to be sure. Future or not he had to be sure. Deep inside he also knew that Morgana had to die. It was the only way to stop even a bigger evil.


He didn't know how much time had passed, it seemed like days. Though, it couldn't have been so long. The sun was setting down and the sky was on fire. It was breathtaking. The last sparkles of the twilight danced over the lake, making it look enchanting. A lovely song echoed in the forest. The voices didn't seem human. They were in every tiny corner of the forest, in every leaf, in every deer and squirrel, in the drops of dew, in the blow of wind, in the last sunshine; everywhere. These voices came from another realm, a land of magical beings, of immortal creature, the Island of Avalon, the place where mortal could only dream to catch a glimpse before they pass away.

Merlin could feel their magic. It was like fire and ice had mixed together, it was cold like ice and it burnt like fire.

Soon he could distinguish the shapes of nine women dancing holding hands. They were rolling and spinning. It was magical and wild, and insanely beautiful. They were singing, laughing and they, so young and full of life. Their long white dresses were so diaphanous that they seemed weaved of cobweb and their long silky hair fell down their ivory shoulders. Merlin was mesmerized.

"Hello, Emrys!" a girl said waking him up from his reverie. It came as a puff of wind.

"Hello, Emrys!" the ladies uttered in one voice. The way they spoke was hypnotizing, every single word was an ancient incantation.

"You seem lonely" a girl whispered in his ear. Merlin hadn't realized that they came so close to him. Their play was seducing and dangerous at the same time. They carried in their eyes the fascination of a new life and the mystery of death, the beauty of power laced with the most poisonous serpent venom. It was the same fascination which kept the victim under the spell of an imposing predator, although it had acknowledged the danger. All that Merlin could do in front of such wild beauty was to stare.

"You seem hurt" another added while playing with his hair.

"You seem lost" the third declared while dancing around him.

"There's so much darkness" the fourth stated, resting her tiny hand on his chest.

"And so much guilt" the fifth continued, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"And so much to come" the sixth foretold, holding his cold hands in hers.

"So much to learn" the seventh supplied, caressing his face.

"To love" the eighth sang smiling, planting a kiss on his cheeks.

"Or to hate" the last one ended, showing a wicked smile.

"What does it mean?" he asked amazed, but the first one pressed her little finger on his lips.

"Shush. Listen." she demanded. "Mark our words because what will come depends on you."

"It's your choice" the last two added.

"You are the only one who can decide your own future." all the ladies said in a single voice.

"What you saw was the future, but it was one of thousands" the third cleared up.

"A single drop of water can change it.'' the fourth supplied

''It depends how important that drop is" the fifth uttered

From now on the ladies went so fast that it was too difficult for him to notice who was speaking. They words came as a whirlpool, a whirlpool created by their foot as they were dancing, rolling hand in hand, surrounding Merlin. They were the flames of the fire and the freshness of a summer rain. This strange mixture sent shivers on Merlin spine.

"Sometimes you can't notice"

''But sometimes it is there to see"

"Sometimes it changes so little"

"Sometimes it changes all" Then they stopped. The time froze as the sixth spoke.

"Some futures have been foretold as they were more likely to happen than others"

"But nothing is certain and you know that" all the other completed her statement in a single voice

"If Arthur hadn't found Kara, Mordred would have stood by his side." the seventh explained. Then the play started once over again, stunning and magical.

"It takes only a step"

"A decision"

"But you can't know where the road you have chosen leads.''

"And if you know, then it won't be a choice after all"

"The art of foreseeing is treacherous"

"You can't escape"

"You have to accept what you have chosen"

"Sometimes trying to avoid the bad way, you choose a worse one"

"Do what your heart tells you to do."

"Then you can be sure that it is the future you deserve"

"You can build anything"

"Or you can ruin what you have built"

''Something have altered the future your great powers foresaw."

"Is it bad?" Merlin stopped them with his worries, but their overwhelming game went on.

"It can be"

"It can be not"

"I don't understand." he cried. The eight took his hand and watched him in the eye as she spoke:

"If you want Morgana dead, you can kill her anytime." she enlightened him.

"Though, it won't be the same."

"It can't be the same"

"It would be another future.''

''Another consequences will follow"

"You will have this chance again''

''At least once''

''There are futures which say that you will not waste it"

"But do you want it?"

"The images you saw were the reason why the prophets had called you her doom"

"Choose wise, Emrys!" the ninth suggested. "Your future and future of Albion will depend on it"

"We will meet again, young warlock. Ask about the shes. That's how your kin calls us. You will hear horrible things about us; some may be true, while others are only legends. We don't reveal ourselves to anyone and we don't like to be chased. We can be unmerciful."

As the words were spoken the shes disappear, letting Merlin alone again. The grief wasn't gone and it wouldn't be. He had to do something, however, for the moment he chose to mourn his friend. Then, he would decide what he had to do.


I've made some changes as I wasn't happy with my first chapter. I hope you'll like it more.

The shes are mythological immortal beings. It is said they looked like very beautiful women and they used to fascinate those who watched them. Some versions say that they were mischievous creatures who punished the people who had seen them, because they didn't like to be seen dancing naked. Other versions say that those who had seen them were not ordinary people and after that meeting they would never be the same. Those people would keep looking for perfection and as it doesn't exist they would spend their entire life disgusted by the world they lived in. The latter one is more poetical and it refers to motive of the genius (the genius is destined not to find happiness, to be always alone and distant to everything despite being immortal, look up the German philosophy: Kant, Schopenhauer).

Their name comes from the feminine form of the personal pronoun, but as the English language doesn't have a feminine plural form I used –s as plural.

I've combined this folk tale with the legend of the three mythological Greek goddess: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. They decided the destiny of the mortals and immortals. The first one wove the thread of life, the second measured it and the last cut it.