Chapter Twenty One - Avalon, Part VI

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As we fight I say to him, "You don't have to do this. You have a choice. There's always a choice." Nothing works. He just keeps trying to land blows and I just keep blocking them. So I try talking to him again only this time I ask him, "Do you like killing people? Or other creatures?" His movements become slower until he stops and then he looks at me. He doesn't speak but I know what he's saying, I can feel it.

"Go. Run." I say to him. I'm not going to shed any more blood then I need to. I made a promise to myself, to Camelot, and to King Arthur that I won't do murder. But he might have killed Pryoca and many more so I also can't have him here. I'm upset and angry so I need him to go. He makes no movement though so I yell at him, "Níedgenga!"

He leaves. He runs. And he doesn't look back.

I turn to Pryoca and kneel down beside him. I bite my bottom lip and gather courage as I hover my palm above his nose and mouth. I only have to wait a matter of seconds but it feels like an eternity before hot breath is felt on my hand. I breathe a sigh of relief. Pryoca's alive but he's still bleeding and it's getting worse. I don't know what to do.

"Pryoca." I say quietly. "Please don't die."

I am about to say something else when suddenly he changes and no longer looks human. He's blue all over and he's back to that creature I saw before. He's both.

"Níed ne áswámian." I say again as I place my hands on the sides of his face. "Níed ne áswámian. I've only known you for a day but it feels like I've known you forever. So please Níed ne áswámian Pryoca-wit."

Something hits the side of my leg and I'm startled out of that moment as I look over to what it is. I stop. It's an apple. It's a yellow golden apple and its right beside me. It's thee apple, the one that can save someone's life from death and keep them alive. The thing we have been searching for and now it's here. I can save Pryoca. He just needs to eat it and then he'll live. He won't die.

"Pryoca!" I yell to him as I shake him and try to wake him up. "Pryoca! Pryoca!"

I stop. This apple isn't, it's not supposed to be for Pryoca. It's for Arthur, King Arthur, so that he will survive the last battle and so that it won't be the last battle but just a battle. Yet that is so far away and Pryoca is dying right now, right here. I can't let Pryoca die but I also can't let Arthur die. So what do I do?

"Missy." Murmurs Pryoca as his eyes flutter open. "What – What happened?"

I look into his yellow eyes and I know the answer. It will be difficult, both ways but I have chosen and I know what I must do. I'm not like that man in the story, I don't have the true heart of a warrior no matter what the high priestesses say. It doesn't matter though because I help, I save, and I protect what's right. 'By no mean to be cruel' is what I promised to do and it would be cruel to let Pryoca die. It would also be murder. So I pick up the apple and put it up against Pryoca's mouth.

"Eat." I say to him. "Don't think, just þiging it."

His eyes stay closed but he listens to me and eats. I hold the apple to his mouth and help him eat it until it is all gone. He stops moving and only lays still. He looks so peaceful. I watch in amazement as his wound begins to heal all on its own and I smile because he isn't going to die. I saved him but by doing so I might have just let King Arthur's last, best chance die.

I have to save Arthur I have to find another way and quick because who knows how long it is until the last battle? "I need to get back to Camelot, back to home and I need to do it right now." I say out loud, hoping that the high priestesses will hear my plea. "Please. Put me back. Please. Can you just take me back to Camelot and out of Avalon?"

A small, quiet voice whispers in my mind, "Yes."

....

One second I'm kneeling beside him and the next I'm not. I no longer see yellow all around me, nor do I feel air surrounding me. What surrounds me is water and it sends a shock wave throughout me. It takes a minute to realize what is happening and then I'm thrashing around. Moving my arms and legs, trying to get out of this trap of water but nothing works and I can feel the limited air I have leaving me. I try everything but nothing works and for a split second it feels as though my fingers brake the surface but then it's gone. I'm still trying but I'm also still sinking.

Why did I never learn how to swim?

"Where are we going?" I ask Alex and Elie as they run ahead of me. Alex turns her head to look at me and answers while smiling, "You'll see."

We walk a while longer and then they stop. Elie turns to me as I take another step forward and smiles. It's an encouraging smile and it makes me smile but mine is one of confusion. He and Alex walk through the trees but I don't follow right after, I wait. After about two minutes I hear laughter coming from both of them. It's the kind of laughter that comes from happiness and it gives me the nudge to walk through the trees after them.

I push my way through the leaves and branches until I'm on the other side. The first thing I notice is the water. It's not a lake but it's also not a pond. Both Alex and Elie have already jumped in and are splashing water at each other. Elie looks up after about five minutes and lands his eyes on me.

"Well aren't you going to jump in?" He asks me.

"Um... Uh... I..." I stutter.

What do I do? I'm from the twenty first century and I don't even know how to swim. When my mum was around I was too young and then it was just me, my dad and my brother. My dad didn't really do anything and my brother stayed as far away as possible from my life. No one ever took me to learn nor teach me. At school we never went swimming so how was I... How am I supposed to know how to swim? Even Alex knows how to swim and she's younger than me.

"I'm just going to enjoy the sun."

Every time after that when they went to that place I always stayed behind and made an excuse. I was too embarrassed and prideful. So because of that I never learned how to swim. I never asked to learn and now this is where I am. Sinking to the bottom of a lake, towards death and beyond. I must becoming delirious because when I open my eyes I swear I see Gwaine swimming towards me. I reach out my hand and just as it feels like he's touching it I stop moving. I'm sinking deeper as I close my eyes and inhale. Pain is what I feel as water fills me, in my throat, in my nose and in my lungs. And then darkness.

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