The Inheritance
Tales of an Elemental Witch
Novella
D. Michele Robbearts
Copyright © 2019. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places are all creations of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or by any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law.
Photos from Pixabay.com
Cover designed by Cheryllynn Dyess
Formatting by Cheryllynn Dyess
Copyright © 2019 D. Michele Robbearts
All rights reserved.
DEDICATION
For my children,
Christopher, Destiny, Elijah, and Donavan, who taught me to never give up and family is everything. I love you more than words can express. Dreams really do come true!
To my dad John, who was proud of me when I wasn't proud of myself.
To my mom Rosita, for being there for me when I need you the most. You guys are the absolute best.
A special thanks to Cheryllynn Dyess for being my hero and mentoring me. Most of all thanks for being my friend!
And of course, for my Andrew who pushed and encouraged me to finally tell my story. Thanks for putting up with me, I know I'm difficult that is the wild child in me! This one is for you.
CONTENTS
1 Chapter
2 Chapter
3 Chapter
4 Chapter
5 Chapter
6 Chapter
7 Chapter
8 Chapter
9 Chapter
10 Chapter
11 Chapter
12 Chapter
13 Chapter
14 Chapter
15 Chapter
16 Chapter
17 Chapter
About the Author
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England 508 A.D.
CHAPTER 1
Hate was all that Morgaine had left. Merlin had left her. Morgiane's heart was broken into a million pieces and Morgaine felt she could never forgive him. He had killed what little heart she had left and there was no going back from that. The vision came to her as Morgaine looked into the pool of water. The longer she looked the clearer the vision. The scene played out before her, she looked out at the battlefield and saw bodies everywhere. The Light Fae had gone back to their hidden forest to sulk while the witches made a hasty retreat. Morgaine smiled, a rarity for her, and thought to herself. I have them on the run. I will complete my plan and by the end of it, the world will fall to their knees and beg for mercy. Then I will have dominion over all. Her greatest wish was to have dominion over the earth and to be worshiped as a goddess. There was no love left in her. She had been good at one time, even trained in magic on The Isle of Avalon by the Lady of the Lake, that is where she had first met Merlin. It was said that he was born of a half-fae and half-mortal woman and a dragon lord, that he got his powers from them and was sent to Avalon to be trained. Morgaine herself was sent to Avalon when her mother, who had a small bit of magic to her, discovered her daughter possessed the power to control all the elements.
The Lady of the Lake and her fellow witches trained those who possessed magic. The magic born were sought out and brought to Avalon for training. The goal was to be of service to the Mother Goddess. The training was laborious and time-consuming. There were all sorts of magical beings trained on Avalon. The only training not given was black magic. Black magic should never be taken lightly. Everyone knew that power used to do evil was forbidden. Magic used for evil came back on the wielder three times stronger. If you put out evil, you would be paid back with evil. Three times worse sadly for some people the rush from evil was worth the payback. Power and revenge were just some of the reasons a person would choose black magic. If the person was well trained and in control of themselves, power was good when used for good, but if a person had dark inner spirits, then they would set themselves up for the dark embrace. In these early days, Morgaine was happy. She and Merlin trained together and were the best students of all trained at that time. Merlin had the power over fire and could command dragons, a gift from his father no doubt. His control over magic was strong, a gift from his Fae mother. The Lady praised him, even favored him. At least, that was what Morgaine thought. Morgaine was strong in her magic as well; her biggest problem was she had little patience. Merlin was mesmerized by her beauty, and he didn’t see the warning signs. Like most men, all he saw her beauty and couldn’t look past that. She had flaws like everyone else but her most significant weakness was her selfishness. The Lady of the Lake saw all this. She had the wisdom of the ages and saw Morgaine’s potential to do great things. She also saw those flaws and knew that if she didn’t watch her, she could fall prey to evil.
The lure of dark magic is worse on the gifted. It’s as if evil wants to turn that power to its side. In Merlin, the Lady saw his goodness and his unwavering need to seek knowledge. In Morgaine, she saw she mostly wanted power, plain and simple and her selfishness made her ugly on the inside. Physically, she was beautiful to be sure with long wavy red hair, eyes a pretty shade of moss green, and her figure was small and trim. The Lady of the Lake saw it all… through eyes that shone with the wisdom of experience and knowledge of old magic, magic from the primal source. She prayed to the Goddess that her student stayed on the path of good. If she turned to evil, they would have a severe problem, so, the lady trained them all and in this beautiful setting.
Avalon, isle of apples, was an island in the middle of the lake. It was a beautiful island with apple orchards and lush greenery. It was said to be the Isle of the Dead, fallen heroes were brought to the isle to be buried. Surrounded by a thick mist and a dense fog, it was only visible to those magic born. The only way to go there was if you received an invitation from Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, was the sorceress that ruled over Avalon. She alone granted that honor.
In this setting, Merlin and Morgaine fell in love. Their magic grew and so did their love for one another. While there were many different beings born of magic that trained on Avalon, most stayed to themselves. Merlin and Morgaine were the exceptions. They shared a love of magic and desire to be the best. Nimue gave out tasks for them to do, sometimes the task would seem impossible. Merlin was easy going and confident in this work, while Morgaine sought out approval from her peers. Merlin however only saw the good in her because he could not see beyond his love for her, but some would describe her as a narcissist. They say that love is blind. In this case, it was a fact. As the time came closer for them to end their studies in Avalon, Morgaine grew more impatient. She felt she was ready to leave and be on her own. She thought she was the best magic born person on the isle. The Lady always picked Merlin over her and while she loved Merlin, she didn’t think him her equal. It angered her always to be second to him. In her thinking, Nimue picks him to make her feel less than perfect. If she didn’t know better, she could swear Nimue wanted Merlin! That old crow cannot have him! He is mine and I will not share his affections with any one, she thought to herself.
Merlin was happy that his time at Avalon would be ending soon. He hoped Morgaine and him could marry once their training was over. The magician wanted nothing more than to live out his life with Morgaine. This was what he dreamed of. He wanted to take her to his family home, located high in the hills of Cornwall. The place was peaceful and he knew that they would be happy there. The castl
e was set upon a mountain top since dragons preferred their keeps to be high up.
Dragons had the gift of flight, so it mattered not how high up the castle was situated, but they preferred it to low lying castles where they would be forced to limit their flight. The home was a gift from his father to his mother who had wanted a safe place for his beautiful Fae wife. It was a safe place alright, but it was cold and bleak. His mother was a creature of the forest. She did best in the green forest where she could feel the soft grass between her toes, that is the type of environment in which she thrived. Loving her dragon made her want to give up her beautiful forest home. Love was funny like that. It made one do crazy things. She would go anywhere for the love of her life if only to be near him, even leave her beloved forest home.
When she had given birth to their only child Merlin, her health began to fade. Drake watched his beloved Gwinifer’s light dim. The longer she stayed on the mountain, the more it dimmed. Fae were creatures of light, so when she got sick, he bade her to go down to her forest home once more. Merlin could not stand to see her suffer, not even to keep her near. He would often fly the skies to take his mind off the suffering of his wife. By the time he decided to take her down to the forest, so it was too late. Drake had found his beautiful Gwinifer dead. She died because of her love for him, and it did nothing to ease his mind or broken heart. He felt guilt and the grief he felt was so intense and debilitating that it caused him to hide from the world. His roars in anguish could be heard throughout the forest and its surrounding lands. Everyone that heard that roar felt his pain and feared for their safety.
Drake sent his son, Merlin to Avalon to be trained. The sight of him made his heart hurt. His grief was too overwhelming he had lost his beloved and stayed in dragon form now most of the time. In that form, he felt less pain, the beast in him had animal thoughts. It made it was easier to deal with the sorrow of her death. The castle would be Merlin’s home one day. He could not live there anymore, everywhere he looked he saw his wife. He could still smell her scent in the halls. Every stone and room reminded him of Gwinifer and the times they had together. Although the time they had spent together had been short, she was his soulmate. Dragons mated for life. She would always be mourned. The only thing Drake had left of his wife now was his son Merlin. Drake was unable to look at him without adding to his grief. Merlin was sent to be trained and he left to hide from everyone and everything.
CHAPTER 2
The time had finally come, they were almost done with training. The students all made plans for their futures. With the training almost complete it was an exciting time for the magic born. Merlin made plans of his own. He planned to ask Morgaine to marry him. He hoped she felt the same way and wanted the same things in life he did. Magic was part of their lives and Merlin for one could not wait for the adventure to start. Although, lately he felt something different in Morgaine.
The Lady of the Lake had praised him for the latest task she had asked of the students. They were asked to call forth the winds and blow away the fog and mist that surrounded the isle. Then they were to call back the mist and fog. They were to place the fog and mist back around the isle to hide it again. This was no easy task. Both tasks required the magic wielder to focus and harness their magic. The mist and fog were put there by Nimue herself, it was a strong spell to keep Avalon safe. So, the removal of those safeguards was a great feat of magic. He had thought she would be happy for him. As it turned out, Morgaine was not pleased. She had a sour look on her face and her whole attitude changed. She reeked of anger and jealousy. When it was Morgaine's turn to complete the task, it took longer for her to get results. The mist never disappeared entirely, it faded and shimmered. In the end, she needed help to complete the task. Nimue had to help her and that alone made Morgaine angry.
The Lady of the Lake had said it was due to lack of focus and commitment. Morgaine had not taken the observation kindly. She had yelled out an unladylike expletive resulting in Nimue cutting the lesson short and Morgaine being given a lengthy lecture on respect and patience. After the incident, Merlin wanted to go comfort Morgaine, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He decided to let her cool off and he would check on her later. He figured if she needed to be soothed, she would find him. He honestly was afraid to see her at that moment. Morgaine could at times have a volatile temper. Any one unfortunate to come into contact with her at those times usually regretted it.
Morgaine sought out refuge in a small cave she had found while out exploring the isle for herbs one day. She had kept the location to herself not wanting to share the cave. It was somewhere she could go to escape the stress of her lessons. She had not even told Merlin of the cave. Morgaine used the cave to think and practice her spells. She wanted to perfect her magic, so she used the cave it was a safe place with no prying eyes to practice. No one knew the location of the cave and she wanted to keep it that way. Morgaine didn’t want to see any one right now, she was mad and needed to calm down. Merlin would be out looking for her no doubt. Just the thought of seeing him angered her. Nimue had once again favored him. It wasn’t fair, she thought. Morgaine was quick to blame Nimue for her woes. She actually had the nerve to suggest that my spell failed because of my lack of focus and restraint!
Morgaine remained silent during the lecture. It took everything in her to stay quiet. Nimue even had the gall to help her…. that had been the last straw. The ugly words just flew out of her mouth. Morgaine should have felt bad for the lack of respect given to Nimue but a little voice in her mind made her stand her ground. After all, she wasn’t sorry she had said the awful words. Why should she apologize? Nimue and her opinions matter not to Morgaine. “I am as strong as Merlin and stronger than all the other magic born on the island! I refuse to cow down to Nimue like the rest. Who is she to tell me anything?” Morgaine thought and, in that instant, made the decision that she would leave the Isle of Avalon. She would not wait for the permission of the lady. She would ask Merlin to leave with her. What would she do without the both of them? Merlin loved her and that would make him go with her. If he chose not to leave, then he didn’t love her. Morgaine’s mind had a way of turning everything around.
She rarely thought about the bigger picture and it didn’t matter to her that Merlin’s family honor was at stake. Nothing mattered to her in her mind all things needed to be for her benefit. The only thing she cared about was leaving and showing everyone that she was not to be ruled over. As her plan began to form, her hate for Nimue started to build. She will rue the day she made me look bad. She made an enemy of me and I will get even with her for all the slights she has given me over the years, she thought to herself. Merlin had a bad feeling like something was brewing and he couldn’t put his finger on it. He knew it had to do with Morgaine. He just knew… she was upset about the last task. Morgaine upset was never a good thing.
Morgaine looked into the waters of the looking bowl. She added the herbs and flowers for the spell. Then she stirred the water with her hand. In her melodic voice, she called for the element water, “I call forth water…hear my call. Let me see the answers to my questions. I call upon the Great Goddess to hear me and reply.” The water began to swirl on its own, then stopped suddenly and the water rippled. Morgaine knew she could ask her questions now. The Goddess had heard her call and the element of water was present as well. “Will Merlin go with me? Will I grow in my power and live a good life? Tell me what you see for my future Great Goddess," Morgaine questioned. The water shimmered, as she looked into the bowl the water turned dark then it began to lighten in color. Morgaine saw herself and Merlin. Saw him refuse her and saw him turn to leave. She felt a sharp pain in her heart. He wouldn’t be going with her.
Just then the water rippled and showed her with arms spread wide and the elements surrounding her. She saw people with fear on their faces… she saw raw power and she smiled. She then watched the water turn blood red and faded back to black. When she placed her hand back in the water and released the water element, the w
ater in the bowl was clear once again. Morgaine had her answers. She would leave and become very powerful in her own right. Merlin’s refusal to go with her made her heart harden.
She would ask him anyway, but in her heart, she knew he would refuse. If she couldn’t be with him, then she would stand alone. Damn them all! She did not need any one. She would do it alone and make them all sorry. Only the strong survive and Morgaine was strong. She would get over Merlin’s betrayal. She would learn from her weakness. Bitterness and betrayal would feed her hate and the darkness within.
Merlin was in the garden on the side of the great room. The garden had a bench there and he liked to sit there and reflect, that is where Morgaine found him deep in thought. Morgaine took time to look at him. He was so handsome to look upon. He had black hair that was shiny like a raven’s wing, a face that was ruggedly handsome. He was everything a woman would want in a man. She had come to ask him to leave with her. He turned his head and saw her.
Merlin smiled then his smile faded as he saw her face. “What is wrong? I looked for you earlier my love. I know Nimue was hard on you but you know she is like that with everyone.’’
Morgaine took a deep breath and decided just to ask him, “I’m leaving Merlin. I’m done with Nimue and training. I don’t need any more training. I refuse to tolerate Nimue and her criticisms. She doesn’t treat everyone like that! I see that you are not included in her harsh demands and expectations. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you and her had something going on."
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