I thought up of this story last week when I saw the terrible things that have been happening in Japan, I started writing it and decided to post it.
Therefore, this story is dedicated to all the people in Japan who have been affected by the earthquake and the tsunami. Remember that you are not alone, the whole world is thinking of you and I hope that if you know anyone out there, they are safe.
As you've probably guessed, this story about an earthquake that hits Camelot. If you don't want to relate this to the Japanese earthquake, you don't have to; you can see it as just another Merlin fanfic story (:
Reviews are much appreciated, it may be a while before I put up the next chapter, but if I get enough reviews I may try and update sooner…
Thanks! (:
Chapter 1 – Another Normal Day
It was another normal day in Camelot. The only thing unusual about it, was that instead of chilly winds and cloudy skies, the air was warm, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. It was a perfect, beautiful morning.
By the end of the day, things would have taken a drastic turn.
When the ground shakes, everything will change.
XXX
Morgana stared out of her chamber window, a small frown on her smooth, pale face as she waited patiently for Gwen to finish doing the fastenings on her new dress. It was a turquoise colour, trailing down to her feet, low cut at the top (but not by too much) and there were gold sequins around the hem. It was beautifully made and felt so comfortable, Morgana could see it as becoming one of her favourites already. But there was something on her mind that was preventing her excitement usually felt when she got a new dress.
It didn't take long for Gwen to notice Morgana's unusual silence and frown.
"Is everything all right my lady?" She asked, Morgana could hear the concern in her voice, and knew that if she could see her maid's face, it would be filled with worry too.
Morgana nodded and tried to smile, but she found it difficult. There were so many things going round in her head usually; her mysterious powers that she couldn't control, what her new friend and sister Morgause was up to and when she'd see her again, or what the tyrant of a King might be doing to his Kingdom today. But this morning it was something else bothering her.
Once again, it didn't take Gwen very long to notice and work out what was on her mind.
"Nightmares again?"
Morgana's eyes narrowed, "I don't know," she confessed.
It seemed like a pretty stupid thing to say, but Morgana had had a dream that very night, only she didn't know if it was a nightmare and she wasn't sure what the dream was trying to tell her.
All she could remember from her dream were imposing trees all around, towering before her. She seemed far away from Camelot, and there was an odd feeling of change, or realisation, or…something. The point was, whatever the feeling was, it wasn't a good one.
Gwen finished the fastenings on Morgana's dress in silence. She could see that her lady was concerned about something and deep in thought, but if Morgana didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't going to talk about it. If Gwen was honest, she had been feeling worried too recently. She could see that her mistress and her friend was changing, she was keeping more secrets and there were more things on her mind, and she didn't like what Morgana might be changing into.
Despite this, Gwen smiled her kind and friendly smile, and said nothing more on the subject.
XXX"Come on Merlin, we haven't got all day!"
Merlin rolled his eyes as the mocking tone of Arthur floated across the grounds of the Castle. It was all right for Arthur, he probably liked doing his training, and he didn't have to carry everything. Meanwhile Merlin hated it, and the fact that he had to stumble around all morning carrying swords, a mace, a helmet, armour and a shield, wasn't helping to improve his opinion of it.
But there was something else that was making him feel uneasy that day, he just wasn't sure why.
Merlin's thoughts were distracted however, when he heard Arthur shouting at him again.
"Hurry up Merlin!"
"Sorry!" Merlin grumbled, hurrying to catch up with Arthur, dropping the helmet on the way and having to run back to pick it up. Even Arthur noticed Merlin's unusual amount of clumsiness, as his manservant finally caught up with him and promptly almost dropped a mace on his foot.
Arthur raised a blond eyebrow, "are you all right?" He asked, trying not to laugh at Merlin's clumsiness and not to sound as concerned as he actually was, both at the same time.
"I'm fine," Merlin lied, "just feeling tired that's all." This was true, and it was easy to tell by the dark rings under his eyes. "I was up all night," Merlin continued casually, bending down to pick up the fallen mace, "I—"
Arthur threw his hands up suddenly before Merlin could finish. "Woah, Merlin, if this is about you getting food poisoning again I really don't want to hear about it!" The young Prince told him, but his tone was still light-hearted.
Merlin couldn't help but laugh at this, despite the thoughts plaguing his mind. "No it's not that, there was just a lot of noise last night that kept me awake," he tried to explain, feeling for some reason foolish as he did so.
"Noise?" Arthur repeated, raising his eye brow again, "what sort of noise?" He didn't remember hearing anything.
"Dogs," Merlin told him, "not just the King's hunting dogs either, but dogs from all around, barking through the night. It was as if there was something invisible around that was scaring them."
There had always been stories that dogs could sense more than humans. It was said they could sense when danger was near or when something strange was about to happen, so this news was a little concerning for Arthur. But at the same time, he had heard nothing; he had slept through the night, oblivious to any disturbances in the world. Besides, if there was something bad going on within Camelot, surely people would know about it as well as the dogs?
He shook his head, as if dismissing Merlin's excuse. "You're going to have to come up with a better excuse than that next time Merlin," he told his manservant.
Merlin said nothing, he was more worried about why the dogs were so disturbed in the night than Arthur was, but even he didn't know what was about to occur that very evening.
XXXThe Great Dragon stirred in his deep prison cave; wings folded as he rested on a huge rock that emerged from the darkness. He opened his bright, golden eyes and stared out into the dimness that had been his home for so many years, too many.
It was just another normal day, sitting alone in the deep underground, beneath the castle of Camelot itself, thinking about the future of the Kingdom and the young Warlock hidden inside the walls.
But there was something else about today, something that The Great Dragon could sense, something that warned him that today was not going to be a normal day after all.
Today, might just change everything.