【中文頁面】

第一章

黑暗包圍著他，寒冷沁入他的骨子裡，他顫抖著。

他不知道自己是怎麼來到這裡。不論他多用力想，還是什麼也記不起來。他通常清明無比的心此刻一片混沌。

他召喚出自己的力量，試圖喚醒光亮。什麼也沒發生。他皺起眉頭再試了一次，希望力量會浮現，他從土地中汲取力量……

一絲火星閃現—可是短短一瞬就消逝了—接著又是一片死寂。他究竟發生了什麼事情？

他嘆了一口氣，把頭枕在背後凹凸不平的岩石上，無視於石頭刺刮著自己的皮膚。這個時候他才感覺到了。

是魔法。

他感覺得到空氣中的魔法，他嘗得到魔法的味道，一如卡美洛奉上的、最醇美的酒。接著，他聽見了：細細呢喃的聲音。

他在黑暗裡搜索著，可是只有找到暗影。他沒辦法判斷聲音是從哪裡傳來的，只知道聲音似乎同時從四面八方湧現，非常近，又非常遠。接著，有個聲音突然出現在他耳畔。是一個女人的聲音。

「現在你是我的了。」聲音說。

梅林從這幅異象被拋回現實，他倒抽了一口氣，感覺自己的意識被扔回身體裡。他踉踉蹌蹌，意識到身旁的環境時，差一點就快跌倒。森林的聲音與氣味也回來了。洞穴的低語聲被樹葉的沙沙聲取代。

【英文頁面】

Chapter One

 Darkness surrounded him. Coldness seeped¹ into his bones. He shivered.

 How he came to be there, he didn’t know. He couldn’t remember anything, no matter how hard he tried. His mind, usually so clear, was foggy.

 Drawing on his powers, he tried to summon light. Nothing happened. He frowned and tried again, willing the energy to come, drawing it from the earth …

 A spark – gone in an instant – then nothing. What was happening to him?

 Sighing, he rested his head against the jagged² rock at his back, ignoring the way it dug³ into his skin. That was when he sensed it.

 Magic.

 He could feel it in the air. Could taste it like the finest wine Camelot had ever served. Then he heard them: whispered voices.

 He searched the darkness, but found only shadows. He couldn’t tell where the voices were coming from, only that they seemed everywhere at once, near and far. Then, suddenly, one was right by his ear. It was a woman’s voice.

‘Now you are mine,’ it said. Merlin gasped as he was thrown from the vision, his consciousness⁴ hurled⁵ back into his body. He stumbled and almost fell as he became aware of his surroundings. The sounds and scents of the forest returned. The whispers of the cave were replaced by a leafy rustle⁶.

--------------------------------------------------

【英文詞彙解釋】

1. seep：滲出，滲漏

2. jagged：凹凸不平的

3. dig：刺

4. consciousness：意識

5. hurl：猛扔

6. rustle：（紙或樹葉等）沙沙作響