#Vivianne of the Lake must be Feared

[legendofthependragons-blog]

Prologue: Across the Void

Merlin gazed out at the battle waging in the valley spread out before Camelot. This was hardly the first and undoubtedly the last. The heir Kentigern had been missing for a winter already and his body doubtlessly feeding the land.

He zeroed in on King Arthur’s form as he made his way across the battlefield. When he was not fighting, he stooped down to encourage fallen soldiers. He was the people’s Chief indeed. The people’s Queen went from tent to tent as she provided aid for the wounded, her blonde hair dirty and her fair hands bloodied. Her heart of sorrow at her son’s disappearance did not show.

He felt a pulling in his chest where the Amulet of Avalon rested. The rose shaped emerald was sparkling despite the oncoming darkness. The Lady of the Lake was calling to him.

The hooves pounding through the forest brought him to her swiftly. He saw her form appear through the waterfall as she floated over the lake to him. Her melodic voice beckoned him but he was strong enough to wait on the shore. The skeletons of hundreds of men lay at the bottom of the lake, warning him of his destiny should he give in to her charm.

She was herself when she made it to the shore, no longer an apparition but a woman, his old friend. For the first time he saw the pain in her eyes from the visions she had seen.

“The time is coming when the moon and shadows will rise. They will overtake the land in seventeen winters if they are not stopped. The shadows must fall as the Chief will fall.”

“You are certain of this fate, Vivianne?” the seer asked.

His visions had warned him of the same thing but in muddled terms. The expression on her face convinced him that she had heard stronger. The prophetess was assured in her speech. When two visions collided, the world had spoken.

“Yes, Merlin; my waters have been clear. I do not yet know the date, but I am certain we have much to fear. You have seen it too?”

“Indeed. The time draws near. I feel the pull to a higher calling than I have ever known. Beyond the days of Uther and more important than this time of Arthur, this call is higher than any I have known. A new Chief must be found.”

“They are coming for you, from across the voids, and I must go.”  

The Lady of the Lake disappeared behind the falls once more. Merlin felt a trance taking hold of his body and allowed it to do so. Visions swam before him but he waited for one to take hold.

Instead of sight he began to hear voices with no face. They swirled about like ghosts in the hills, calling out to him without distinction. They had not made it across the void yet, but their message was so urgent that there was no time to spare.

She lives, she lives, she must live.

Beware the shadows, beware for they must fall.

A destiny awaits. The king will fall.

Arise and awaken.

Send the call for the moon must rise before shadows fall.

The voices called to him from oceans deep and mountains high. They echoed through the hollowed hills. They yearned to be released from the void.

Release us, release us; we will call the child.

He raised the emerald amulet to his lips. The call must go forth, reaching its hands across all of time and space. He knew not who the child was to be, but he felt her hands wrapping the amulet with him. She was hearing the call.

“My child, the time is coming to arise; the bloody and the broken are screaming out your name. The tides are changing and the moon is rising. Arise, warrior, arise and meet your destiny where shadows fall. Bring the emerald light to this world and disperse the shadows to the next! The fate of us all lies in your hands.”

The amulet fell back against his chest and the warmth from the necklace raged through his body. He saw the warmth as a golden glow that consumed him and shot to the sky. The voices went screaming into the sky, masking the screams of the men dying on the battlefield.

The call had been freed, and now the call must be heeded. Only one could hear the voices now, the descendant not yet born. Merlin felt the last of the call being dispersed among the clockwork of time and began to swim out of his trance. 

It was out of his hands now.

The hands that received the call were much smaller than the old seer’s. The emerald stone matched the young irises peering at it. She felt the warmth start in her fingers and surge through her body. Voices started swirling in her head.

“Papa?”

She called out but no one was present. The voices grew louder and she knew they came from the stone, her father’s necklace. She should not have been in the room, yet she felt the pull. Papa would be upset.

“Idyllade, Idyllade,” the voices said.

“Who’s there?”

“My child…”

The girl was unafraid of the voices. They pulled her in, feeding off of her unashamed curiosity. Her eyes searched the stone for faces but only voices greeted her.

“The time is coming to arise; the bloody and the broken are screaming out your name. The tides are changing and the moon is rising. Arise, warrior, arise and meet your destiny where shadows fall."

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