Hello all. I am basically posting the first parts of any major works that I'm working on at the moment as I won't be able to do much in a couple of weeks due to major exams. This is a new story that has nothing to do with The Warlock's Calling, The Rise of the Legend or Window to the Past. It is set after Season 3 and contains Merlin/Freya, Arthur/Gwen, Lancelot/OC and some Morgana/Frick. I hope that you enjoy it.

MerlinStar

Disclaimer for all chapters- I own nothing that the BBC and Shine Limited came up with, i.e. characters. Also Frick belongs to the people who scripted the 1998 film with Sam Niell and Helena Bonham-Carter

Prologue

Deep underground lives a being as ancient as the Old Religion. She is known to all as the Faerie Queen, a dark creature who is the evil side of the balance. For centuries she has watched the world turn and seen generations born and die; seen atrocities and justices committed and forgotten as the world ages. Her name is Deryn.

Long ago she had foreseen Uther Pendragon's Great Purge, so Deryn hatched a plan that would take the greatest amount of patience, something she had learnt as she had lived for those long years. She needed a leader who would strike against Uther and chance soon came barely months after the Purge had begun. With a small amount of Deryn's help, a child of great heritage was born- the perfect leader- and one who would ensure the shame of the Pendragon family.

Over twenty years passed before Deryn deemed her plan ready to begin. She sat, pondering, on her stone throne, watching a flame in a torch burn with an eerie purple light.

"Mistress?"

Deryn turned her head to see her Gnome servant running towards her.

"How did they receive the news, Frik?" she asked, softly. She stood and walked to the gnome.

Frik was the tallest kind of gnome, the exact same height as a fully grown human man, but what gave him away were his pointy ears and pale green eyes. Gnomes were known for being the only creatures with eyes like that.

Deryn herself was incredibly pale- her skin was practically white- which came from living in a cave for centuries on end. She wore a deep purple dress that camouflaged well against the cave walls, falling to her feet. Her eyes were a rich shade of violet, complimenting her hair, jet black and falling straight down her back.

"Very well, mistress," Frik said. "The minute I told him, Uther began preparations for your arrival."

"So, we should plan to leave for Camelot in about a week," Deryn muttered. "And Uther will welcome us with open arms once more."

"Yes, mistress," Frik replied. "And, once more, they do not suspect a thing."

"And also what they cannot anticipate is how our people will benefit from our visit." Deryn chuckled. "The boy himself will have no idea."

"Mistress, permit me to ask... but do you think he is ready?"

"He has been growing strong for the last twenty or so years. Of course he is ready. Now all he needs is our guidance to make him more powerful than ever; even more so than has been prophesised. He will be as strong as the Old Religion itself."