Watching the Future: Merlin

The Mark of Nimueh

Eleanor gazed at the group before she started the memory. "From now on, I am going to reveal the name of the memory after we finish each one. Is that all right with everyone?"

The group gave her a collective nod. Eleanor nodded in response, and her eyes flashed gold, allowing the memory to begin.

In a dark and damp cave, a woman wearing a blood red dress – who had dark hair and bright blue eyes – stood before an ornate basin filled with water, forming a small creature out of clay by using her hands.

Merlin and Arthur both sneered at her, but for very different reasons.

Gwaine whistled loudly. "How is it that all the bad guys in your life end up being gorgeous women?" He asked Merlin.

Percival rolled his eyes. "Is it possible for you to not hit on every woman you see?" Realizing what he'd just asked, he backtracked swiftly. "Actually, don't answer that."

Merlin rolled his eyes at Gwaine. "Gwaine, stop looking at her like that; she's an evil High Priestess who's tried to destroy Camelot several times."

Arthur stiffened as he realized something. "She's the woman who tried to kill me when I traveled to the Caves of Balor. I had went to the caves to retrieve the Mortaeus flower."

"Nimueh," Merlin growled, remembering his last encounter with the witch.

Before anyone had the opportunity to question Merlin and Arthur about their reactions to the woman, the memory continued.

When the woman had finished forming the small creature, she placed it in a small egg. She began to chant over it, "Berbay odothay arisan yeldo. Bebiede þe arisan ealdu."

Gwen furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What exactly is she saying? It sounds quite similar to the animation spell you had used."

"Command thee arise ancient. I command you, ancient one, to come forth," Merlin translated for the queen.

The woman put her hand over the egg, and it began to glow. The egg then began to thump, similar to the thump of a heartbeat. The witch – obviously proud of her work – smiled up at it.

Once the spell was complete, the witch – whose name was Nimueh – placed the magic egg into the water. It began to travel through a series of underground waterways, until it arrived in a man-made cavern. Once the egg had arrived, a small creature was seen.

Back in her cave, Nimueh stood before her basin, watching as citizens of Camelot were gathering water from a pump.

"Diegol cnytte, gewitte me yst, aliese hine, to Camelot he cymþ," she chanted as she ran her fingers through the water.

"Illuminate the darkness, let me see through the rough water, deliver him, he comes to Camelot," Mordred translated. "Isn't that a scrying spell?" He asked Merlin.

The warlock nodded towards the Druid. "It is; they're not very hard to learn."

In the middle of a street in the lower town, Gaius and Merlin were overlooking a corpse lying in the street.

"Aren't you scared?" Merlin asked when Gaius knelt down to examine the corpse. Merlin was standing a few feet behind Gaius.

"Of what?" Gaius inquired, looking up at his ward.

"That you might catch whatever it is." Merlin answered, glancing down at the corpse as he did so.

"I'm the court physician, Merlin. This is part of my job. Most of the time, there's nothing really to be scared of."

"That wasn't the case with this," Lancelot guessed.

Gaius turned the corpse over to reveal a face. The skin was white with blue blood vessels showing through, and the eyes were pure white with no pupils showing in them.