Chapter 22: Camlann (486 AD)
Somewhere in Britannia, 486 AD
(Mordred POV)
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Mordred watched distraught as the portal closed. She hadn't expected that she would be the reason her mother would be gone. It was all because of her. That damn wizard "Merlin" came here to kill her not her mother. Her mother had even beaten the man and she had accidentally set him free instead of killing him in her anger. Mama always said that her temper was dangerous, her words were never truer. The realization that her mother was dead was starting to set in. She would never see her mother again, she would never see her soft smile, she would never see the proud look in her eyes when she accomplished something.
Her mother's last words were like a knife in the heart. "I love you." Did she mean those words? She had killed her mother. How can anyone love his killer? She wouldn't. It was all that bearded man's fault. Why did he attack her? Why did he hate her that much? She never did anything to him; she didn't even know who he was but he took everything from her.
She didn't move from her ground for an hour, she didn't even know where she was. She didn't care either. Tears kept streaming from her eyes like a never-ending river. She felt empty now. It was horrible, being alone in the world.
A voice startled her, "What are you doing here, young one?"
She responded, "Nothing." Wasn't she supposed to be alone? She hadn't noticed her coming. Her mother would be disappointed in letting someone sneak in on her like that. Even in death, she failed her mother.
The woman must have seen her tears. "What's wrong my dear?"
She took a look at the woman, she seemed be the age as her mother, she had long blonde hair coupled by a crown and a veil covering her face. She wore a weird black dress that exposes her navel and abdomen. For a moment, she saw her mother in front of. And then the damn broke. The told the woman everything. About how a man attacked her home, how he wanted her dead, how her mother died. How everything was her fault.
The woman listened to her story, never interrupting, and Mordred felt slightly better when telling someone of her story.
After a minute of silence, the woman asked, "Do you know the name of the man that attacked you?"
"Merlin. His name was Merlin."
"And what was your name?"
"Mordred, my name is Mordred Le Fey."
"Le Fey, what a nice name. What are you planning to do now?"
"I don't know."
"You said that man took everything from you, did you not." Mordred nodded. "Then why don't you do the same from him. Become what he feared you too be. Take down what he built brick by brick. Make him feel what your despair, your pain, your hatred."
"Yes!" Slowly the emptiness in Mordred's heart started to turn into rage, hatred and anger. She must make him suffer for what he did. Thoughts of vengeance filled her mind.
"For that you need to destroy Camelot and its puppet king. They're Merlin most powerful tools and his most precious treasure. It's only fitting you take it from him as he took his mother from you. Will you help me kill Arthur, Mordred?"
"Yes, I will."
If Mordred could see beneath the woman's veil, she would see her smiling maliciously at what fate brought to her.
"Well now Mordred, take my hand, and join me in my conquest of Camelot."
Mordred took her hand, pledging herself to help this woman. She had no idea the repercussion of her actions, nor that it would seal away what her mother tried to prevent.
"From now on I am your new mother, Morgause Le Fey."
Mordred didn't notice that the sword and sheath that her mother gave her, Anduril, had disappeared. She would never see them again; she wasn't worthy anymore.
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Unknown time, Unknown space
(POV Morgan)
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I wake up with an attempted gasp, I couldn't move. I was disoriented and tried to remember what happened. Oh yes, Myrddin tried to kill Mordred because of some vision or some prophecy, I saved her and fought him and defeated him. Then why am I here. Oh, that's right Mordred attacked Myrddin when he was bound and accidentally freed him instead of killing him. He tried to erase my daughter from existence, the bastard. But I sent her away. Thank God she's safe. I hope she's alright. Oh right, my desperate gambit must have worked. I manipulated Myrddin last attack to freeze in time, not erase me since I couldn't disperse that much time energy, I had to manipulate it. To avoid getting attacked when I was frozen, I created a dimensional rune to create a personal dimension to be frozen inside. It's kind of like the mirror dimension buy only I could access it.
I need to slowly unravel the time energy to free myself. I have to be careful; I could risk reactivating the spell and removing myself from existence. A time rune appears in the air and slowly manipulates time to free me. It takes hours but I can finally move.
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I finally exit the dimension into the real world. I should reappear in the same place I disappeared into, but all that greets me is a normal clearing. It's as if I had never moved there. A result of my former apprentice's last attack, probably. I need to figure out how long I have been frozen to.
'tempus'
The result of the spell horrified me when I read the year, "491 AD", I have been gone for five years. I need to find Mordred, to make sure she is alright. I conjure some water and use some blood I took from her to scry.
I cannot express the anguish I felt as I saw my daughter battling a blond woman with a sword made of wind. She must be King Artoria Pendragon. I could not prevent her fate, but perhaps I could still save her. I apparate to her, trying to reach out to her, get her out of there to find that Mordred had stabbed Artoria but that Artoria's sword impaled my daughter as well. I watch as her eyes slowly turn empty and feel her soul leave the world. I refuse to accept her death, I run up to her and hug her body before it falls. I keep casting my strongest healing spells. I even try to rewind time to save her but it wouldn't work. Fate will always have its dues. The universe always wins.
Shadows slowly start coming out of my body. My power that I tried to restrain so much for millennia was starting to be unleashed. My control was slipping but I didn't care. My daughter was dead and even with all my power there was nothing I could do about it. I always kept a lid on my power in an attempt to blend in, to not be alone after the fall of Atlantis. But not anymore. I tried the simple life, tried to ignore her duties, tried to be human, a mother. But I wasn't human anymore. I was the Master of death and it was time to live up to my title. I let out a scream of anguish and suddenly, shadows exploded out of me. Racing everywhere around me consuming everything it touches. It spread for miles, killing men, women, goblins, and children. Even plants were not spared as they rotted and disintegrated in seconds.
Once she was spent, the shadows faded and light illuminated the field. The fields of Camlann became a wasteland. There was no trace of any war, just a barren valley without a shred of life inside but for me and my daughter's corpse. I guess the legends were true, at the battle of Camlann, the battle between light and dark, there was no victor, everybody lost.
I teleport to where our home used to be and dig up a grave to burry my daughter. It was time to mourn now but once I was done. I would track down everyone responsible and make them pay.
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Two days later,
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Using scrying, I discover who was it that manipulated my daughter into fighting Artoria, it was Morgause, her biological mother. Of course, it was. The so called "Lady Le Fey." She even took my name, what a bitch.
She filled Mordred's heart with hate and anger, turning her into the monster she wanted her to be. She didn't even participate in the battle of Camlann, she stayed safe in her tower while my baby was fighting. I pass through her wards like they weren't even there. I slowly walk up the tower, the guards, soldiers, knights and even wizards in the tower turn into dust without me even looking at them or doing any gesture. I can sense her at the top of the tower trying to overpower my anti teleportation wards. These are not your typical anti apparition jinx but a space ward that prevent any manipulation of space time inside.
As soon as I reach the top of the tower, everyone in the tower is dead expect the two of us. She attempts to send out a spell at me but I immobilize her with my telekinesis. One look at the wand and it turns into dust.
I take a look at Morgause and savor the fear in her eyes. I know if she wasn't immobilized, she would be trembling in fright. She knows that the end is near.
"I know you probably don't remember me but I'm Mordred's mother. Yes, that mother. You took my daughter from me. She was one of the best things that ever happened to me and you took her away, molded her into your weapon, your toy. You manipulated her because of your greed, because you wanted to be Queen. I honestly wouldn't care if you hadn't involved my daughter. You might have given birth to her but she was my daughter. I should have killed you when I took her away from you. This is just me making up for my mistake. Goodbye, Morgause."
Her neck twists around with a crack and finally, Morgause Le Fey finally left the world of the living.
It took some effort but I was able to locate my former apprentice. He hadn't been seen ever since our battle. He retired as sorcerer supreme and even gave the eye of Agamotto to his successor, a woman called Nimue. Funnily enough she looks like what the ancient one would if she had hair. I guess that's one mystery solved.
I guess he didn't want to show his weakness now or he was ashamed of himself. He could be trying to undo what I did to him. Makes sense since he's in a very magically rich location. Too bad for him it's impossible.
It's a nice hidey hole but not impossible to access. It's a cave in the middle of nexus of ley lines under the Pacific Ocean. The magic there was so dense it took a physical form as crystals. One shard of a crystal could probably actually power wards encompassing a continent for a century. The crystals could also ignore any type of magical protection or shields. You could probably kill a dragon if you made a bullet out of them.
Inside the cave, Myrddin is sitting on a throne. It must have been nice to imagine being omniscient as he uses the crystals with his clairvoyance to see everything on the planet. He looks he's just skin and bones. He can't even move; my spell must have drained every drop of energy in him. He would probably die soon but that's not punishment enough for his crimes.
"You know Myrddin, you had so much potential. I was prepared to teach you wanders, things you would never be able to imagine. You just had to trust me. But no, you had to ignore everything I taught you. You had to give in to your hubris. That's your biggest flaw, your hubris. I wouldn't have care if you did anything Myrddin, I even allowed your insult towards me by teaching the world what I taught you without any permission. But you had to attack my daughter. She died by the way, both you and I lost in the end. I'm so old Myrddin, so old and I'm so tired. I have seen so many things. The fall of Atlantis, the building of the pyramids, Olympus and so much more. I hadn't noticed how much I held back, how much I desperately wanted to be normal. I thought I grew out of that, but I didn't. You made me remember who I am, what I am, and for that I thank you. Now you also killed my daughter, indirect as it was. You turned her into your enemy and for that I curse you."
"I bind your soul to this place, to this realm outside of time and space for you shall never return to the world."
"I bind your magic to forever use your foresight for you shall see your accomplishment crumble and everything you have built destroyed. You shall never move, never cast any magic but your divination, everyone that enters this realm shall be as much of prisoner as you are. Your body will rot but your mind will not for you shall see everything and be powerless to stop it. You will see everything until your mind breaks, until you forget who you are. Only then you will pass on to the realm of the dead. I curse you Myrddin Emrys."
Myrddin glows orange.
"This is my revenge Myrddin, the world will remember you but not as you wanted to but as a man with a dream that failed in the end. They might even worship you but with every person that utter your name you will remember your failure. They will remember Merlin, the prince of enchantments and not Myrddin the brilliant man you could have become. I have to admit you have the most impressive Divination skills I have seen ever since the Oracle of Delphini. Goodbye, Myrddin."
I slowly fade away from the dimension where I trapped Myrddin leaving him alone for a long, long time.