Chapter One: (The Past) Origin

## Story

*“Once upon a time, there were three most mighty and powerful kingdoms. There was Avalon- our Kingdom, ruled by King Arthur; a noble kingdom, the Shadowlands- ruled by Empress Morgana Le Fay; the darkest, strangest, gloomiest realm, and Ethia- led by the great Merlin; a beautiful, magical utopia! Now, all of the rulers of the three kingdoms were connected in some way, according to legend. Apparently, Arthur and Morgana were half-siblings, and Merlin and Arthur were best friends, closer than brothers. Because of this, Ethia and Avalon were in a complete alliance together, and were so close, they were even considered one kingdom to some! Arthur rarely communicated with Morgana, and was said not to get along with her, but there was still peace between the two empires. And for years, there was. But then, Morgana sent some of her troops to attack the Avalon empire, in an attempt to assassinate King Arthur, her own half-brother, and a massive war broke out! They battled for months, and everything was dying. Ethia joined the fight to aid their brother-like kingdom but even Avalon and Ethia combined could not stop the Shadowlands. Then one day, Arthur and Merlin had had enough. They ventured through a treacherous journey to reach Morgana, and dueled her, two against one, trying to destroy the force of the chaos and bloodshed. She was too powerful, and overcame them. Merlin ended up sacrificing himself for Arthur, and Arthur managed to get away, but not without sacrificing his sword, Excalibur, given to him by a real goddess named Freya, and using it to destroy half of the Shadowlands. Morgana’s ego and empire took a big hit, and she reigned chaos on Ethia and Avalon. The attack drained half of her power, but for her it might’ve been worth it. Ethia was completely destroyed, and so was the mighty civilization of Avalon, but Arthur II (Arthur’s son) and Lyonesse (Arthur II’s betrothed) barely managed to escape with about 30 other Avalonians, and they started a new, incredibly smaller empire. They knew it wouldn’t be long until Morgana found them, and Lyonesse prayed to Freya, saying that she’d give up anything for safety and protection. Freya extracted Lyonesses soul and used it to create an incredibly powerful barrier that cloaked Avalon from the outside world, making sure Morgana could not find them. Even if she did, it would take days for her to get in, and that would prepare Avalon for an attack or retreat. Arthur II died in misery, but not long after having a son- me.* NOW do you see why it’s important **not** to leave the barrier, **CYRUS**?” my father asked.

“Well, not really.” I replied, “The story was cool, though!”

“It’s a complete tragedy! I do not think you should be calling a story about horror and bloodshed cool. You’re barely old enough to hear it, I’m only telling you this story to scare you so you won’t go out of the barrier and be reckless! That is incredibly dangerous, especially for a prince, like yourself!” Father yelled, “You are the only heir to the Avalonian throne!”

“Well, I haven’t even officially been marked as the crown prince, I don’t really care.” I shrugged.

“You should!” Father interjected, “If I die, it is you who shall assume the throne, and even though you haven’t been marked as crown prince, I’m not gonna get another kid! If Morgana kidnaps you- or worse, then Avalon will be stuck without a leader, and it will crumble more than it already has!”

“But I’m only five and a half, daddy!” I whined.

“WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING!” my father shouted, “YOUR SAFETY IS TOP PRIORITY! WHY DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FIVE OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND NOBLE GUARDS IN AVALON FOLLOWING YOU EVERYWHERE!”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged, “Cause you ordered them too?”

“WELL WHY DO YOU THINK I ORDERED THEM TO! Cyrus, stop acting like a doofus, I know you get why your safety is important. I forbid you from leaving the barrier without my permission. Now that is that.” my father hissed through pursed lips.

“Whatevs!” I shouted.

My father looked horrified, “Who is teaching you such treacherous grammar! Do I need to have a talk with your English teacher?”

“I hear people saying it on the streets all the time.” I shrugged.

“THE STREETS!? WHY ARE YOU HEARING PEOPLE ON THE STREETS SAY THAT *ALL THE TIME*? YOU AREN’T ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE CASTLE GROUNDS UNLESS IT’S NECESSARY!”

“Yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes, then changed the subject, “Also, you should keep wearing those glasses! They look funny on you!”

Father’s eye twitched, “Okay, you know what? Just go to your bed!”

“You’ve gotta catch me first!” I replied.

And we chased each other around the room for minutes, laughing. He finally caught me and tickled me until I went to bed.

“I’ll let you study and read for an hour here, and then goodnight.” Father whispered to me, attempting to kiss me on the forehead.

“Ewww!” I responded, dodging the kiss.

He let out a hearty laugh, and then closed the door.

## Summary

Mordred Pendragon tells the story of Avalonian History history to Cyrus Pendragon.