"Harry Potter and the Guardian of Lost Souls"
Disclaimer: All of the characters from the Hp Books belong to J.K. Rowling. Merlin under no circumstances belongs to me. (Obviously...) The whole idea of the Light and the Darkness kind of came from "The Dark is Rising" sequence but not really. The plot I'm very proud to say, is mine as is the character "Ralstin". To the best of my knowledge, Merlin never had an apprentice. This disclaimer will serve as the disclaimer for my entire story.
A.N:) Hey everyone! I'm back! And I think this story is going to blow you all away! I don't even know where the plot came from... It just suddenly formed itself in my head. My dream is to become a published author (I already consider myself an author in my heart) and ff.net is really helping me to develop my writing skills. Here I can work on plots before I'm ready to take on my own characters. I want to thank anyone who'll review this already beforehand. Reviews build people's self esteem so much and give them the will power to stick to projects and never give up. Everything is possible, especially when people support eachother!
Prologue:
"Esh vamim asartu aduma tavo kesim koluram!"
The words rang clear and echoed throughout the great stone hall, bouncing off the walls and ringing from the dripping ceiling. A fire was ablaze in the center of the room spreading light and warmth everywhere save the darkest and most hidden corners and crevices, while the constant drip-drip from above caused it to sizzle every few seconds.
Merlin of the Light circled the fire chanting the spell, his voice rising in volume and power. His hands shook violently as he scattered more powder into the flames causing them to erupt momentarily in red and gold sparks. His body could barely contain the unnaturally powerful and magical soul that possessed it. Indeed, the prophets had been correct. Merlin was to become the greatest wizard to have ever been known.
He finished his circling and stood before a small wooden table- damp from it's prolonged existence in the hall and chipped from overuse. A book lay open upon it, it's words shimmering gold in the faint light. It seemed to whisper secrets unknown to man save a chosen few. The words were scattered into the silence and lost there.
"Accio Libro." The book flew into Merlin's outstretched hand as lightly as a leaf is carried in a gusting wind. It fell open magically to the wizard's desired page- an empty page. He began to mutter words and as he spoke, the book transcribed them onto itself:
~Spell of Protection against the Powers of Darkness~
- -This spell will conceive an aura of purest light, which will bind itself to he that the caster wishes to protect, himself or another. It should not be used except in dire need, when no other chance of escape presents itself. The reason is simple, each time the spell is used, it will remove five years of life from the one to use it.-
- Merlin paused, looking up from his work. He had heard a noise outside the great wooden doors at the northern end of the hall. It sounded like something that shouldn't be there. Something was amiss.
- Suddenly, he gasped, a sharp pain gripped his heart and the doors were flung open and torn from their hinges. A dark wind swept the room and the great fire was extinguished, plunging Merlin into utter darkness.
He remained still and silent, feeling the presence of evil enter the hall. He heard footsteps echo all around him and someone taking ragged breaths.
"Who are you?!" Merlin boomed. "Show yourself Agent of Darkness!"
The footsteps stopped and he heard a short contemptuous laugh, followed by a whisper that held almost as much power as his own voice had.-"Merlin."
Pillars of green fire sprang up around him and the great wizard was temporarily blinded by the sudden blazing light. When he regained his sight he looked around to face he who had dared challenge him. But his heart turned to ice and his breath caught in his chest when he recognized the familiar figure of his apprentice- the boy he had taken under his wing seven years ago to teach and train so that one day, he might have a predecessor to stand against the darkness when he was gone.
"Ralstin." He muttered and his hand clutched at his throat in the shock of his betrayal. He couldn't bring himself to process that this had been the boy all his hopes had ridden on. But he no longer appeared a boy. His face was contorted in an expression of fury and hatred and his eyes reflected only contempt and deceit.
"Yes, dear teacher." He mocked, "Ralstin. The little apprentice, always doing his masters bidding and learning his lessons. You hung so many hopes on me that you were blind to the fact that I truly despised the Light. Why do things the hard way and be always on the losing side, when the Darkness has so much to offer for almost nothing in return. Nothing but my soul. And let me tell you oh great one," Ralstin lowered his voice to a whisper, "It was already theirs."
"How could you betray me?" Merlin asked, his voice choked with unshed tears. "I loved you as a son!!!" his shout rang through the empty chamber, the echoes of his pain and grief going on long after the wizard fell silent.
Ralstin laughed evilly. "You foolish old man. You're finished. I know your secrets, I know your magic and I know your power." He paused and looked gleefully at Merlin. "You taught them to me."
He barely had time to allow this information to sink in before Ralstin conjured a great black ball of fire and flung it at him. He was thrown back against the wall with a force that would have killed anybody else. Ralstin knew his magic, he thought dazedly, he had taught it to him- wandless magic, the most powerful of all.
He knew what must be done. He quickly let go the fact that he had loved Ralstin, he let go all memories of their time together. It was necessary. To defeat him, he had to separate himself from him. It was the only way to win.
Merlin shook himself and in one moment he brushed aside Ralstin the eager apprentice boy. Instead, there stood before him a tool of the Darkness- one that needed to be defeated.
Another fireball came his way but he dodged off to the side and got to his feet. The wall behind him crumbled apart.
"The Darkness demands your soul Merlin!" Ralstin shouted over the noise of crumbling rock and mortar. He prepared yet another ball of black flames. "Your secrets are valuable but not as much as your essence, your spirit!" He flung the flames in his hands at the wizard, who jumped behind a cauldron in the far corner of the hall.
"My soul?!" Merlin shouted amused. "Has the Darkness become so disillusioned as to think that it would ever possess me?! Ha!!!" His clear voice carried over the crashes of the hall coming down around them. He concentrated his mind on his opponent and stretched out his hand, shaking slightly with his welling power. With a force that shook the foundations of the Earth around him, Merlin raised Ralstin from the ground and flung him through the ceiling. He then levitated himself to follow him outside. He landed in the clearing just outside what had once been a hall of the Light and was now a crumbling wreck. Ralstin stood at the opposite end breathing in gasping breaths but with all the fury of evil dancing in his eyes.
"Give it up, old man!" He called to him. "I'm just as powerful as you are but younger and stronger. You can't hurt me! No matter what you do."
Merlin looked at Ralstin almost lazily, a small smile playing on his lips. He prepared the spell in his mind, the one that would finish him off. "Ah! But you forget your lessons, my young apprentice. He who believes himself all powerful, has clearly overlooked his pride, and that will be his downfall."
Ralstin's eyes grew wide as Merlin began to chant his most recent spell.
"Esh vamim asartu aduma tavo kesim koluram!" Merlin began to feel a change in his body, as if one of his resources was being used up, he knew that it was only five years of his life being turned into pure light to protect him. He continued his chant. "Esh vamim asartu aduma tavo kesim koluram!" Ralstin was getting ready to attack, the sky was getting dark and the wind blew stronger than before. He raised his hands, preparing to finish Merlin off.
"ESH VAMIM ASARTU ADUMA TAVO KOLURAM!"
Ralstin hit just as Merlin was surrounded in an aura of white light made of his own life force. The great ball of Darkness surrounded Merlin for a moment that seemed to last an eternity before rebounding off of him in Ralstin's direction. Merlin heard a scream of pain and defeat and then everything exploded. He was flung backwards and he hit the ground. Green flames came up all around him, destroying everything remotely near the blast. The wind still blew and the rain came pouring down upon the devastation. And then silence.
When everything cleared away, Merlin stood uncertainly, looking around him for a sign of Ralstin. He let his memories come flooding back to him, and the impact brought him to his knees.
He had loved him like a son.
He heard a rustling in the remains of the trees to his right. Merlin rushed over to where an almost lifeless Ralstin came crawling out of the brush on his hands and knees, before toppling onto his side, barely breathing.
Merlin knelt beside him and held his head in his hands.
"Ralstin, can you hear me?"
The traitor's eyes flickered open and for a moment, Merlin thought he could see a remnant of the boy he loved. Then he blinked and it was gone.
"Ralstin, you can still change your ways. The Light always grants second chances to those who are willing to go back. Say you will return to the Light and that you will throw off the Darkness." He pleaded with him. "Say you will return to me. Say it!!"
In his last moment of consciousness, Ralstin smiled victoriously. "I am and will forever remain, slave to the dark. You will lose old man. Be sure of that." And with a last contemptuous glance, he fainted into unknowingness.
Merlin cried out in grief, not only for himself, but for Ralstin and all those wretches to have ever fallen into evil. His own son might as well have betrayed him.
After a few moments of mourning his lost soul, Merlin stood and again separated himself from Ralstin, releasing and scattering to the winds all of the memories he held of him.
Ralstin was not dead. Merlin might have killed him there and then, but he decided that death was too lenient a punishment for him. Instead, he called upon the Powers of the Light to banish him from the world of the living. He sentenced him to an eternity of sorrow and suffering- forever to become the Guardian of the Lost Souls- the souls of those that had been given life- the greatest gift of all- only to waste it by causing grief to others. Souls that had surrendered to the ways of evil.
But though he was banished, he still remained bound to the rules of time and space.
Merlin stripped his magic from his body and disfigured blackened soul and so all knowledge of Ralstin and his betrayal passed forever from this world.
Or at least, it should have...
What Merlin never knew, was that something had survived that fateful battle between Light and Darkness. Indeed it was the Darkness itself that escaped for Darkness may be discouraged for a time, but never quite defeated. It lives in the heart of every living being. Yes, the Darkness survived and carried the knowledge of Ralstin's punishment until it found the proper being to trust it to.
The secret of the Guardian would still be kept secret, but only until a time when the Darkness would seek to exploit it.
A time when Darkness was closer to defeating the Light than ever before...
Disclaimer: All of the characters from the Hp Books belong to J.K. Rowling. Merlin under no circumstances belongs to me. (Obviously...) The whole idea of the Light and the Darkness kind of came from "The Dark is Rising" sequence but not really. The plot I'm very proud to say, is mine as is the character "Ralstin". To the best of my knowledge, Merlin never had an apprentice. This disclaimer will serve as the disclaimer for my entire story.
A.N:) Hey everyone! I'm back! And I think this story is going to blow you all away! I don't even know where the plot came from... It just suddenly formed itself in my head. My dream is to become a published author (I already consider myself an author in my heart) and ff.net is really helping me to develop my writing skills. Here I can work on plots before I'm ready to take on my own characters. I want to thank anyone who'll review this already beforehand. Reviews build people's self esteem so much and give them the will power to stick to projects and never give up. Everything is possible, especially when people support eachother!
Prologue:
"Esh vamim asartu aduma tavo kesim koluram!"
The words rang clear and echoed throughout the great stone hall, bouncing off the walls and ringing from the dripping ceiling. A fire was ablaze in the center of the room spreading light and warmth everywhere save the darkest and most hidden corners and crevices, while the constant drip-drip from above caused it to sizzle every few seconds.
Merlin of the Light circled the fire chanting the spell, his voice rising in volume and power. His hands shook violently as he scattered more powder into the flames causing them to erupt momentarily in red and gold sparks. His body could barely contain the unnaturally powerful and magical soul that possessed it. Indeed, the prophets had been correct. Merlin was to become the greatest wizard to have ever been known.
He finished his circling and stood before a small wooden table- damp from it's prolonged existence in the hall and chipped from overuse. A book lay open upon it, it's words shimmering gold in the faint light. It seemed to whisper secrets unknown to man save a chosen few. The words were scattered into the silence and lost there.
"Accio Libro." The book flew into Merlin's outstretched hand as lightly as a leaf is carried in a gusting wind. It fell open magically to the wizard's desired page- an empty page. He began to mutter words and as he spoke, the book transcribed them onto itself:
~Spell of Protection against the Powers of Darkness~
- -This spell will conceive an aura of purest light, which will bind itself to he that the caster wishes to protect, himself or another. It should not be used except in dire need, when no other chance of escape presents itself. The reason is simple, each time the spell is used, it will remove five years of life from the one to use it.-
- Merlin paused, looking up from his work. He had heard a noise outside the great wooden doors at the northern end of the hall. It sounded like something that shouldn't be there. Something was amiss.
- Suddenly, he gasped, a sharp pain gripped his heart and the doors were flung open and torn from their hinges. A dark wind swept the room and the great fire was extinguished, plunging Merlin into utter darkness.
He remained still and silent, feeling the presence of evil enter the hall. He heard footsteps echo all around him and someone taking ragged breaths.
"Who are you?!" Merlin boomed. "Show yourself Agent of Darkness!"
The footsteps stopped and he heard a short contemptuous laugh, followed by a whisper that held almost as much power as his own voice had.-"Merlin."
Pillars of green fire sprang up around him and the great wizard was temporarily blinded by the sudden blazing light. When he regained his sight he looked around to face he who had dared challenge him. But his heart turned to ice and his breath caught in his chest when he recognized the familiar figure of his apprentice- the boy he had taken under his wing seven years ago to teach and train so that one day, he might have a predecessor to stand against the darkness when he was gone.
"Ralstin." He muttered and his hand clutched at his throat in the shock of his betrayal. He couldn't bring himself to process that this had been the boy all his hopes had ridden on. But he no longer appeared a boy. His face was contorted in an expression of fury and hatred and his eyes reflected only contempt and deceit.
"Yes, dear teacher." He mocked, "Ralstin. The little apprentice, always doing his masters bidding and learning his lessons. You hung so many hopes on me that you were blind to the fact that I truly despised the Light. Why do things the hard way and be always on the losing side, when the Darkness has so much to offer for almost nothing in return. Nothing but my soul. And let me tell you oh great one," Ralstin lowered his voice to a whisper, "It was already theirs."
"How could you betray me?" Merlin asked, his voice choked with unshed tears. "I loved you as a son!!!" his shout rang through the empty chamber, the echoes of his pain and grief going on long after the wizard fell silent.
Ralstin laughed evilly. "You foolish old man. You're finished. I know your secrets, I know your magic and I know your power." He paused and looked gleefully at Merlin. "You taught them to me."
He barely had time to allow this information to sink in before Ralstin conjured a great black ball of fire and flung it at him. He was thrown back against the wall with a force that would have killed anybody else. Ralstin knew his magic, he thought dazedly, he had taught it to him- wandless magic, the most powerful of all.
He knew what must be done. He quickly let go the fact that he had loved Ralstin, he let go all memories of their time together. It was necessary. To defeat him, he had to separate himself from him. It was the only way to win.
Merlin shook himself and in one moment he brushed aside Ralstin the eager apprentice boy. Instead, there stood before him a tool of the Darkness- one that needed to be defeated.
Another fireball came his way but he dodged off to the side and got to his feet. The wall behind him crumbled apart.
"The Darkness demands your soul Merlin!" Ralstin shouted over the noise of crumbling rock and mortar. He prepared yet another ball of black flames. "Your secrets are valuable but not as much as your essence, your spirit!" He flung the flames in his hands at the wizard, who jumped behind a cauldron in the far corner of the hall.
"My soul?!" Merlin shouted amused. "Has the Darkness become so disillusioned as to think that it would ever possess me?! Ha!!!" His clear voice carried over the crashes of the hall coming down around them. He concentrated his mind on his opponent and stretched out his hand, shaking slightly with his welling power. With a force that shook the foundations of the Earth around him, Merlin raised Ralstin from the ground and flung him through the ceiling. He then levitated himself to follow him outside. He landed in the clearing just outside what had once been a hall of the Light and was now a crumbling wreck. Ralstin stood at the opposite end breathing in gasping breaths but with all the fury of evil dancing in his eyes.
"Give it up, old man!" He called to him. "I'm just as powerful as you are but younger and stronger. You can't hurt me! No matter what you do."
Merlin looked at Ralstin almost lazily, a small smile playing on his lips. He prepared the spell in his mind, the one that would finish him off. "Ah! But you forget your lessons, my young apprentice. He who believes himself all powerful, has clearly overlooked his pride, and that will be his downfall."
Ralstin's eyes grew wide as Merlin began to chant his most recent spell.
"Esh vamim asartu aduma tavo kesim koluram!" Merlin began to feel a change in his body, as if one of his resources was being used up, he knew that it was only five years of his life being turned into pure light to protect him. He continued his chant. "Esh vamim asartu aduma tavo kesim koluram!" Ralstin was getting ready to attack, the sky was getting dark and the wind blew stronger than before. He raised his hands, preparing to finish Merlin off.
"ESH VAMIM ASARTU ADUMA TAVO KOLURAM!"
Ralstin hit just as Merlin was surrounded in an aura of white light made of his own life force. The great ball of Darkness surrounded Merlin for a moment that seemed to last an eternity before rebounding off of him in Ralstin's direction. Merlin heard a scream of pain and defeat and then everything exploded. He was flung backwards and he hit the ground. Green flames came up all around him, destroying everything remotely near the blast. The wind still blew and the rain came pouring down upon the devastation. And then silence.
When everything cleared away, Merlin stood uncertainly, looking around him for a sign of Ralstin. He let his memories come flooding back to him, and the impact brought him to his knees.
He had loved him like a son.
He heard a rustling in the remains of the trees to his right. Merlin rushed over to where an almost lifeless Ralstin came crawling out of the brush on his hands and knees, before toppling onto his side, barely breathing.
Merlin knelt beside him and held his head in his hands.
"Ralstin, can you hear me?"
The traitor's eyes flickered open and for a moment, Merlin thought he could see a remnant of the boy he loved. Then he blinked and it was gone.
"Ralstin, you can still change your ways. The Light always grants second chances to those who are willing to go back. Say you will return to the Light and that you will throw off the Darkness." He pleaded with him. "Say you will return to me. Say it!!"
In his last moment of consciousness, Ralstin smiled victoriously. "I am and will forever remain, slave to the dark. You will lose old man. Be sure of that." And with a last contemptuous glance, he fainted into unknowingness.
Merlin cried out in grief, not only for himself, but for Ralstin and all those wretches to have ever fallen into evil. His own son might as well have betrayed him.
After a few moments of mourning his lost soul, Merlin stood and again separated himself from Ralstin, releasing and scattering to the winds all of the memories he held of him.
Ralstin was not dead. Merlin might have killed him there and then, but he decided that death was too lenient a punishment for him. Instead, he called upon the Powers of the Light to banish him from the world of the living. He sentenced him to an eternity of sorrow and suffering- forever to become the Guardian of the Lost Souls- the souls of those that had been given life- the greatest gift of all- only to waste it by causing grief to others. Souls that had surrendered to the ways of evil.
But though he was banished, he still remained bound to the rules of time and space.
Merlin stripped his magic from his body and disfigured blackened soul and so all knowledge of Ralstin and his betrayal passed forever from this world.
Or at least, it should have...
What Merlin never knew, was that something had survived that fateful battle between Light and Darkness. Indeed it was the Darkness itself that escaped for Darkness may be discouraged for a time, but never quite defeated. It lives in the heart of every living being. Yes, the Darkness survived and carried the knowledge of Ralstin's punishment until it found the proper being to trust it to.
The secret of the Guardian would still be kept secret, but only until a time when the Darkness would seek to exploit it.
A time when Darkness was closer to defeating the Light than ever before...