Prologue
740 AD Britain:
The war of sorcery has always been fought in the shadows, with the forces of good trying to defeat the forces of evil since the beginning of time. The greatest of all the forces of good was Merlin, the most powerful sorcerer to ever live. He believed that magic was to only be used for the good of mankind. He had three apprentices that he entrusted with all of his secrets. He should have only trusted two.
Merlin's greatest enemy was the powerful sorceress Morgana, or Morgana Le Fay. She believed only in power and had her eyes on the ultimate spell of power, "The Rising". A spell that would raise an army of the dead and destroy most of the human race.
Merlin fought Morgana to keep her from getting the spell. In the end she won.
Balthazar and Veronica, two of Merlin's apprentices, arrived too late to save Merlin. Veronica sacrificed herself to capture Morgana, casting a spell that trapped Morgana's soul in her own body. Unfortunately Morgana started killing Veronica from the inside. Balthazar trapped them both in a device called a Grimhold, a prison for sorcerers, but was too late to save Veronica. Her soul faded and Morgana took over.
Maxim Horvath, Merlin's third apprentice betrayed them all by aiding Morgana. Before she was imprisoned in the Grimhold he stole the spell from the book that Merlin had been protecting. Balthazar witnessed Horvath's betrayal, but was unable to stop him at the time. He later hunted down many other Morganian sorcerers and imprisoned them in the Grimhold, eventually capturing Horvath.
As Merlin lay dying he told Balthazar that a sorcerer would be born that could defeat Morgana and save them all. That this child, the Prime Merlinean, would be the most important sorcerer to ever be born. He gave Balthazar his dragon ring, telling him that it would reveal to him the child that would be the Prime Merlinean. He cast a spell that would keep his apprentices from aging until they could find this child, and train them. He didn't know about Horvath's betrayal and died without hearing of it from Balthazar.
Over the years Balthazar would search the world for the child, to no avail. It is said that never would he deviate from him quest…
