PART I BABD
Author's Note: This story is dedicated to Oma13! It would never have seen the light of day without her very kind words of encouragement. I hope it will serve as a thank you for those feelings of gratitude for her belief in me.
PROLOGUE
The forest was screaming. The trees had been hacked down in a single second of ferocious power. The underlying ground ripped aside, even the roots of the trees were torn from the earth. The creatures of the air and earth were fleeing, and those who could not run or fly or crawl away, were dying. These things tore at the heart of Babd as she stood in the heart of the desolation.
The blood of humans meant little in comparison to the devastation visited upon the land. She screamed her warning, her heart reverberating with the agony around her. Her harsh cry echoed across the dying tracts of forest, bring warning of despair and retribution. It invaded dreams and sang in the deepest recesses of every creature that partook of magic. Many mourned at the sound of her cry, and others rejoiced in the battle that they hoped would bring them freedom. Some wept for the destruction at hand and others celebrated the fight to come. War.
Battle was coming to Camelot. It was a battle with a cost that would bankrupt the heart of the King of Camelot and change his land forever. It was a war that would expose secrets and demand unholy sacrifices. The dead trees groaned in the sunlight as they withered and death was everywhere.
Babd's harsh cry echoed again and again, over the desecrated land. Terror and death were coming. Battle.