Guinevere's Rules

Rule Four: When Faced With Living or Dying, Choose to Live

I always thought that those who die or get injured when trying to save a store some money were brave, but for the brief moment I was faced with that same option, I realized that I would never do the same. The door burst open and a man with a mask came racing in, immediately I thought about all the money I had on me and glanced toward the register, hoping that there was enough in there too. 

If it came down to money or my life, I would give whoever was asking however much they wanted. Money was such a silly thing to sacrifice a life for anyways. 

Right after Merlin had gotten me to sit down and listen, the door flew open and if you couldn't guess, a man in a mask came running in. Now, even though I knew about Merlin being, well Merlin, I still was unsure as to where I fit into all of this magic stuff and honestly, didn't want to test my mortality. 

I was fully prepared to throw the robber my wallet and run until the golden dust that seemed to keep making an appearance in my life circled around the stranger's hands. At the same time, Merlin and he both shouted words I couldn't have understood and bursts of flames flew towards each other. 

Unlike his opponent, Merlin was well practiced in magic, catching the fire thrown at him with ease in one hand while sending his own flames towards our attacker with his other. As Merlin's bright blue flames hit the man, he went flying and connected with the wall, knocked unconscious. 

My hand tangled in my hair as I stared at the scene in shock, "Bloody hell!" 

"There will be plenty of time to curse later, My Lady, follow me if you want to live." Merlin hissed at me, opening the door to his back room. Without hesitation, I raced forward and joined him as we left the shop through the back door.

Speed walking, we entered the crowded streets of London, racing to some unknown location that was supposed to provide us peace. "Where are we going?" I asked in a slightly raised tone so Merlin could hear me over the crowd. 

"Albion has entrances everywhere, but it is difficult to find them and if you aren't careful, you'll walk out right into Morgan le Fey's castle. So, in order to avoid certain death, we have to go to the portal that will take us to Old Camelot." Merlin explained, pulling me along turns and down random alleyways. 

Instantly my eyes lit up, "Like the Camelot that was around when Arthur ruled?" 

Merlin didn't answer, instead, he tugged us suddenly towards a building, only to find that it wasn't a building at all, but instead, an entire street was there. Instead of shops, this place had holes in the walls, literally holes in walls, where the brick seemed to liquify. Few people were on the street with us and those who were kept their head down and walked as quickly as we were. Picking one of the portals, Merlin pulled us through. 

Upon entering the strange portal, I felt a feeling of being dunked in ice-cold water, everything felt heavier. I tried to open my eyes but found even that task difficult. The only sense I kept was the feeling of Merlin's hand securely holding mine as we traveled through the portal. In the second after entering, the cold, wet feeling was replaced by warm comfort. Like laying in a comfortable bed in the middle of summer when you have nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Finally, I fell forward and my senses rushed back at me rather suddenly. 

There was noise all around us and the warm feeling that I experienced just before leaving the portal never went away, just lessened in intensity. I blinked my eyes open to find myself on my hands and knees on the floor in front of a portal in the middle of a city. In shock, I looked around, expecting to see people rushing about and magic everywhere. 

Instead, I saw men and women dressed in uniform, a golden dragon in what looked like a family crest blazing on their biceps. The buildings were crumbling, some having long ago collapsed to nothing but the foundation. It was nothing like I pictured it.