Until forever comes

Roses are Red

With my spirits heightened, I pushed on towards the labyrinth. I felt I had a purpose. Merlin needed me. Arthur needed me. Camelot needed me. Without Merlin and Arthur, there was no Camelot and all would be lost. There it was. The cracked stone arch, hung heavy with ivy, loomed before me. I swallowed. I began to force one foot in front of the other as I entered the labyrinth. The stone walls encased me and they seemed to grow taller with every step. I carried on walking, slowly and catiously. A few turns later I came to a stop. Blocking my path was a towering wall. I turned and tried to retrace my steps but everything looked the same. I was lost. Panic began to consume me and I had to fight to keep myself calm. ''Come on Inwe, focus''. I took a deep breath to compose myself. I closed my eyes and let my mind's eye extend beyond the physical barriers. I could see it all, the huge labyrinth extended far into the distance. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to build this? There was no way I could search the whole thing for Merlin and Gaius: they might not even be here.

I searched with my mind for traces of magic across the labyrinth.....there. A singular point that seemed to pulsate with the sheer power of the magic within it. That must be Merlin. He wasn't that far away and I could only hope that Gaius was with him. I stumbled backwards as my mind rocketed back to my body. It was then I remembered the whole lost thing. I gritted my teeth. Enough was enough. With renewed determination, I turned and I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I ran like a child runs down a hill, legs going so fast you think that you'll fall over but you just keep running. I trusted my instincts and took a right turn, then a left, followed by another right. Suddenly, I skidded to a halt as a saw a clearing appear before me. It was covered in lush green grass and, standing alone in the middle of it, was a small stone altar.

Taking cautious steps, I advanced towards the altar. As I neared I could see that, lying across the top of the altar, was a single rose. It was a more vivid red than I had ever seen and it almost seemed to glisten in the fading sunnlight. As I drew closer still, I saw that somrthing had been engraved beneath the rose. With shaking hands, I reached out and plucked the rose from its place. My breath caugh in my throat at what I saw, yet it did not mean much to me. Chiselled carefully into the mossy stone were the words ''Roses are Red...but Blood is too''. An image of Vivian in her glittering red dress flashed into my mind. ''Curse her'', I said out loud, ''This 'rose' is going to have a LOT of blood on her hands''.