A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed and put me on story alert or favourites, I love you all.
This is one of the chapters I have changed loads so if you are an old reader who is re-reading READ THIS!
"The tragic element of a character is always intriguing I think." - Greg Kinnear
Chapter2 – Lilly the Last
Lilly brushed her fingertips across the surface of the scrying pool. Morgana's face appeared in the water, distorted in waves of ripples. She spoke.
"We're ready to hear what you have to say."
Those fools think they can just let her say her piece and then they will be on their way, she thought. How wrong they are; she will change their minds yet. Her mother had always told her to be strong and persistent. One well chosen sentence had the power to show a man the truth. Lilly felt the old grief, still ready to surge to the surface of her mind, struggling in its cage. Anger blinded her for a moment and tears grew beneath her eyelids. She brushed them aside.
The ever-present self loathing she had felt for almost five years overwhelmed her. She slowly sank to the ground clutching fruitlessly at the walls of the scrying pool. Her nails broke as she scratched at the rough stone and her skin tore. Blood dribbled down her hands. She didn't notice. No tears bubbled from her eyes now; her face was hard and her anger aimed was at her own weakness.
She was scared. She was scared of Uther, what he had done, how even thinking about him made her remember her blood-family. She was scared of herself, how her fear would stop her from be able to complete her quest. She had seen into the future and she knew some of her role in the events that were soon to be. Of course most of her future was as shrouded in mist as it had always been. What she did know was that what she was doing here would topple the precarious power balance between magic and swords and cast the whole of Albion into chaos. She could only hope that it would emerge a better place.
The harsh winds ensnared her unbound hair and it caught on her lips and in the wetness on her face. She reached up to brush it away and smeared blood across her cheekbones. It didn't matter. How could anything ever be important again? They were dead. Her mother's words were dead.
"There is always hope, remember that my Lilly; even the stone cold souls of kings can be swayed. The hearts of men are weak and idealistic, they do not see the balance of the world, the precarious scales holding life and death even; one blind action can tip the scales and the world will fall into the dark. Uther was not always like these men, he did not hate us, he still does not really, he is afraid. You know what happened with the High Priestess and Arthur's birth. Nimueh was a good woman once too, before the Purge, but the bitter taste of life made her rot and decay until there was but a whisper of the person she once was left. I pray this will never happen to you my daughter. I have seen your future, I trust you to set destiny back on its path…"
Lilly swallowed. She did not deserve to be trusted; her entire species was gone because she had been trusted.
"My daughter, I trust you to lead the rest of the elf clan to safety."
"But what about you mother?"
"I will halt them for as long as I can. GO!"
And so she had fled. Fled and failed.
Lilly traced the faint outline of a pointed ear with her fingertips. She was the only creature in Albion with that heritage now. This was partially Uther's fault…if only he hadn't sent his hunting party a little further north than usual.
She couldn't delay any longer; they'd been waiting for her while she had lost herself in the land of memories and regrets. Her mother's words may be dead - Gods know, she felt dead as well – but as the last elf left in the west it was her duty now despite her own emotions.
Ignoring the bitter wind sweeping round her and chilling her beyond the skin, she rose and quickly washed water over her face from the pool, cleaning her skin. Her many layers of blue silk flowed behind her like the cascading waves of a stream. Her light shoes made of finely stitched leather made no sound as she hurried down the ruins of a stone corridor. She brushed away smoky threads of spider's webs before they caught and tangled in her brunette hair. Then finally she took a black bag, which looked as though it had been thrown carelessly on the floor in a rush, the cool leather biting her skin. She uttered a quick spell and the wind was sucked towards her and whipped round her tiny frame. She vanished.
X~X~X~X~X
The silence in the room was an uncomfortable one. Uther looked around and gazed in faked interest at everything in his path of sight apart from any of his companions. Morgana, on the other hand, was glaring at his back and making his plight to ignore her almost impossible.Merlin could practically taste the disapproval and tension in the air. Just as he and Morgana were at home here as much as they could ever be – in a room full of mystery and magic – Uther was a fish out of water. His power was nothing here and he was receiving neither the fear nor the respect he'd grown used to in Camelot.
Gwen excused herself and walked over to Merlin, Arthur moved away to talk to Morgana. Gwen smiled warmly and picked up a large burgundy cushion.
"Let's go and sit by the fire again, we may have to wait a while before she comes back," she said quietly. Merlin nodded and took hold of a similar cushion, feeling the silk slide beneath his fingers. A strange happiness mingled with his fear as he sat by the fire. It spread throughout him like the comfortable glow of the roaring flames. Gwen ignored the seats and sat on the floor, facing to the right of the fire. Merlin sat cross-legged next to her resting his hands on his lap.
"So," she began, "What do you think?"
"What do you think?"
"I think that Uther is going to be rather closed minded," she decided. A grin flickered briefly across Merlin's face.
"Of course, but what about the magic? You helped me and Morgana with the druid boy, Mordred," he prompted.
"Morgana scared me with how much she was risking for a child she'd only just met, but I don't have an actual opinion." Merlin stayed quiet for a few moments, ingesting this information. Then he spoke in a vulnerable voice.
"I'm scared Gwen, how much does she know about us all?" Gwen's pressed her lips a little tighter together but did not reply, did not even question what he might have to hide. Other than the obvious there was nothing really to say.
X~X~X~X~X
The air stirred slightly and everyone sat up a little straighter, anticipating the inevitable. Lilly was back. Merlin saw every muscle in Arthur's body tense. He was attempting to hide it but Merlin could see he was frightened. Suddenly the fire and all the candles were extinguished. They were thrown into complete darkness for a second before life breathed and spluttered back into them.
Merlin glanced around, wearing a bemused frown. His eyes swept over the circle and landed on Lilly. He suddenly seemed unable to breathe. She was not the tall, beautiful and yet terrible women he had imagined her to be. She looked as if she was only just a woman, twenty at the most. It's seemed almost impossible that the girl in front of him possessed the unique and powerful magic he could sense radiating from her. Her only unusual feature was her pointed ears, hair tucked behind them to purposefully highlight their presence.
She was beautiful though, it was undeniable, but it seemed as though as little as a raised voice would break her. She was tiny, her long auburn hair and wide blue eyes seemed almost too big for her, as if all of her features except those had shrunk. Light silks and delicate materials clothed her. They were torn, stained with blood and dirt, and were not nearly warm enough for the bitter weather. Merlin felt a strange, almost primitive instinct, telling him to guide her to the fire and wrap a cloak around her shoulders. He blinked and tried to it. She may be dangerous to Arthur…that made her an enemy.
She stood at the head of the circle, watching the others rise warily to their feet and back away from her.
"Shall we begin?"
Morgana stood, she towered over Lilly's tiny form, dignity rolled off of her in waves. She drew the attention of everyone in the room with that one gesture of power.
"Who are you? What species are you? Why are you doing this? Why us?"
A crease appeared between Lilly's eyebrows. She stood in silence gazing at each of them in turn, dragging her eyes over them as though she was pulling a great weight. Goosebumps tingled on Merlin's skin. He heard the gasps of shock from each of the room's occupants as gold tendrils of magic snaked upwards slowly from the floor and round their legs. He closed his eyes as it travelled further upwards and the air compressed around his head moving downwards until he felt as if he was wrapped in a tight confining blanket. He couldn't breathe, he tried to open his eyes but found he couldn't and he began to panic, the darkness was crushing him. Lilly…she was killing him…
A/N: I don't really have to say it anymore do I? It'll only take a moment, please review. I love you.