Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, but I do own Melody.

Hey guys, this is my latest story. Apparently my mind likes writing one story at a time as much as I read one story at a time, which is to say, not at all. I will still be updating my other three stories, just have patience, please. And on with the story.

Chapter 1

14 year old Melody sat with a group of the younger children, spinning tales of dragons and free magic and equality for all people with the assistance of her own magic. Dreams she herself had had last year. They had brought her hope for freedom and hopefully would bring the same to the younger children. Mordred came running over.

"Did you hear?" he said excited, a gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face. "Morgana is here! She might even stay!" Whispers went through the crowd of children as they shifted, some worried of the King's ward being in camp, others worried for the same reason. Melody was part of the second group. Not only was Morgana the King's ward, and he would most definitely send many men after her, but Morgana also featured in some of her dreams. Her dreams, unlike some people's dreams, are not concrete. Hers were visions of possible futures. As each choice is made, each version of the future gets either more blurred or more vivid. The Lady Morgana featured in her dreams as in two ways. Either she will become a powerful witch and help bring magic and peace back to Camelot. Or she will become a powerful witch lost in rage and hate and revenge. Both are equal possibilities. She had seen her stand by the side of a dark haired teen with magic and a blonde haired man in chain mail and armor, all of them fighting for what's right, but she had also seen her kill and torture and destroy indiscriminately, not caring who paid the price as long as she got her power. Melody bit her lip and hoped that being here would help Morgana decide against the rage she had seen in one of the Lady's possible futures.

-Merlin-

It was hours later when Melody felt the tremors in the earth warning of the horses approaching. She gasped and left her tent, running over to Aglain's tent. She had seen him lead the Lady Morgana there a whole ago and hoped he was still there, before bursting in to see the Lady talking with the dark haired man she had seen in some of her dreams. She slid to a stop, eyes wide. In her dreams, she had known he had magic, but this? In real life, it was so easy to tell.

The man - more a teen really - was Emrys.

Melody bowed slightly before straightening.

"Forgive me for the intrusion."

"It's alright," Morgana said. "You look upset. What is wrong?"

"I need to find Aglain, My Lady. Have you any idea where he went?" Morgana shook her head, looking worried at the gangly young girl who seemed to be in such a panic.

"What's wrong?" both Emrys and Morgana asked her.

"Horses. There are horses approaching. I think the riders mean us harm, we must all leave!" At that point, the tent opening was pulled to the side again and they all looked to see Aglain. "Aglain! There are-"

"I know." He caught sight of Emrys. "Who is this?" Melody's eyebrows furrowed slightly. How could he not tell this was Emrys?

"He's a friend," Morgana answered. "What's wrong? Is she right? Is it the knights of Camelot?" Aglain nodded and glared at Emrys.

"Led by the prince. Your friend led them straight to us." Everybody looked at Emrys who looked shocked and slightly guilty.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think they would follow me. I came to warn you about them coming after you. The king thinks you kidnapped her."

"Well that's ridiculous!" Morgana exclaimed with an affronted look.

"I know, no one could actually succeed in kidnapping you I've seen you fight, and I know the druids wouldn't kidnap you, they are a peaceful people, but you know how blind he is when it comes to Magic. I mean, not that he would hurt you. You're –"

"Merlin."

"Right. Sorry." Melody frowned again.

"Emrys." She waited until he looked at her before continuing. "Why did the Lady Morgana call you Merlin?" She could see the hesitation in his eyes as they all started running before hearing his voice in her head.

"Because Merlin is the name my mother gave me. Is it all druids who can talk like this?"

"We all have the capability of it." She slowed, the other three going ahead as she spotted some of the children she had been with earlier, the eldest of them being 5, surrounded by knights of Camelot brandishing swords. She changed direction, heading straight for them, hands raised. Just as the knights were about to swing their swords down, they all flew away from them. Melody reached them and helped the children – 3 of them – to their feet. One of them shrieked as another knight came up behind her and started to swing at her. She spun around and aimed her hands at the ground, causing it to crack and push up and the knight to lose his back l balance and fall, his sword just cutting into her unprotected side and she gasped in pain. Turning quickly, she took two of the children in her arms whilst the oldest spotted her mother and ran. Melody ran too, carrying the other two children – twins at the age of 3, Christian and Marissa – when she saw their father coming towards her. She gave them over quickly, her arms starting to ache, and the wound in her side flaring with pain, before making her way to more people she could help. It was too late to save some of the people she came across, bringing tears to her eyes. She was cut off by more knights and ran in another direction. She felt a hand slide into hers and she turned, ready to do something. Dark eyes met her grey ones and she let out a relieved sob as he pulled her into a brief hug and pulled her away, both of them running.

"Nik, no!" she protested, trying to pull her arm out of his tight grip. "We need to go back, we need to help!"

"We can't Melody! There's nothing we can do!"

"We have my magic!" she insisted, turning back. He struggled to pull her closer to him, not letting her go back towards the camp. She fought against him without her magic, trying to remove his arms from around her. They struggled for a few minutes before Melody stilled suddenly, eyes wide. "They're coming this way."

"How many?" she turned to look him in the eyes.

"All of them."

-Merlin-

The two had gone their separate ways, Nik having suggested it just before the knights burst into the clearing. Nik had gone right, heading closer to the castle, whilst Melody had argued, saying it was a stupid idea, before heading in the opposite direction. After about 10 minutes, Melody doubled back and headed back towards the camp, which she would now come to regret The scene she came across made her feel sick. Bodies were everywhere, blood soaking the ground. These were people she knew, people she loved, and they were gone.

She could have saved them.

She turned and ran. She had no idea how long for, only that the sun had set and the wound in her side now felt like it was on fire and her head was spinning like she and Nik used to when she was five and he was seven. She stumbled next to a river and leaned over to dip her hands in and take a drink, only to catch sight of her reflection. She flinched, her red hair which was so uncommon and therefore admired by some of the youngest children of the camp who had not yet learned to be cautious of the color, only reminded her of the blood of those she loved spilled on emerald green grass. She stumbled back to her feet, breath coming on harsh pants and ran on. She emerged from the forest who knew how long later in front of a woman and collapsed, vision blurring, the woman's words as she hurried over lost in a haze as she lost consciousness.

So, Melody is a natural at certain kinds of magic. Obviously, she's got a bit of seer in her which allows her to see possible futures, unlike Morgana's visions and she's also a natural at elemental magic, which was how she knew the knights were coming. She's connected to earth, air, fire and water, so anything to do with them – including a load of knights on their horses, she could feel it. The easier spells are obviously easy for her to do, but other spells not so much. So now that you've read the chapter, please leave a review, I love to know what my readers think

- Kyrian Mikaelson