The Knights of Avalon:
On Hallowed Ground
Prologue – That Which Was Lost
Ducking under the burst of flames, Arienne ran on unsteady legs in the direction of the last pure light on the isle. Her fair hair flew around her face as she stumbled over body after body, and, her foot catching, went down to the ground. With reflexes borne from years of practice, she caught herself on one hand just before her nose hit the dirt –
– and stared in horror into the unseeing eyes of a boy not yet five years old.
Forcing back tears, she picked herself up shakily and, with a whispered prayer, began to run again. Behind her, she could hear the screams and cries of dying mothers and daughters, fathers and sons.
Her own family, she knew, lay somewhere behind her. And no matter how much she wished it, she could not go to them. She had, years before, sworn herself to another duty.
The light was fading, even as the mist grew thicker.
She forced herself up a sudden incline, forgoing dignity entirely as she fell to all fours and pulled herself up the slope by her arms, her hands quickly sliced to ribbons by the sharp rocks protruding from the ground. It no longer mattered if she left behind evidence of her path – there was so much blood everywhere that no one would be able to tell anything from her trail. And by the time the evildoers found the castle, regardless, the princess would no longer be there.
Arienne had not been able to save her own family, but she would not fail her liege.
Panting now from exhaustion, the screams of the fallen echoing in her ears, she staggered over the edge of the slope and pushed herself to her feet. Before her eyes, the mist cleared and she quickly followed the path that appeared before her, her training taking over as she began to move with a natural grace that was no less urgent than her struggle up the hillside.
Three long turns resulted from the path trying to trick her, but Arienne's resolve held firm, and she emerged into a clearing dwarfed by the stone structure which stood within. Relief nearly sapped her strength, but she pushed on, making her way quietly through the castle's long and dimly-lit halls.
It did not ease her mind to note that nobody else was moving within the castle.
"Milady?" she called softly, fearful of alerting one of the wretched invaders to her presence, should they have beaten her into the castle. "Milady, where are you?"
There was no response, and so Arienne turned to her gift. Forcing back the sound of the screams below, she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, clearing her mind of all thought. Carefully, she reached within herself for the power, the beautiful song that could not be destroyed –
– and opened her eyes.
The castle pulsed with a gentle glow, the walls turned transparent, and within one of the back rooms -
She smiled triumphantly. A blue nimbus of light appeared.
But it was flickering.
Her smile faded.
All propriety gone, Arienne began to run again, darting through passageways and empty rooms until she found what she sought.
"Milady!" she gasped, winded, as she rushed to the older woman's side. "Come, quickly! We must get you to safety!"
The older woman struggled feebly, her wavering arms raising in an effort to push herself to her feet, but she collapsed against the wall, panting, moments later. Staring in shock, Arienne watched as blood spread on the woman's bodice, as the blue nimbus began to fade.
"My time is done," Vivian replied haltingly. "Why do you stay where there is no hope?"
"There is always hope, milady," Arienne replied desperately as she cast about for anything she could say or do to –
"Set aside your foolishness and listen, child," Vivian ordered, and Arienne, compelled by years of service, straightened and focused her attention on the woman's words immediately. "There is no hope for me. I am soon to die. The isle has fallen."
"But, milady–"
"Do not argue with me, child!" Vivian said harshly, and Arienne fell silent. "The mountain has been awakened by the invasion of our land. We cannot drive back the monsters that have overtaken our shores, and so the mountain seeks to eliminate them. Anyone that has not been killed by the invaders will soon die at the hands of the mountain – it was foretold, long before your birth, my child." Here, the princess smiled slightly,and though her tone had been harsh when she had begun to speak, it settled into gentleness.
For long moments, Arienne was silent. "What, then, shall I do, milady?"
Again, the princess smiled indulgently. "Do you think, child, that the gods are the only ones who know how to manipulate? I am not a fool to be taken in by prophecy, ruminations of fate and helplessness. Choice still matters in this world, my child. And so now, you have the power to save it."
"Milady?"
"How long do you think," the princess asked, her breathing becoming harsh and labored as blood began to slip past her bodice, "this world would survive without the power you and I both hold? Our power, our knowledge, must go on. You must preserve it." Struggling to lever herself up, the princess slid back further against the wall and reached out desperately, her unbloodied hand clenching on Arienne's arm. As they touched, a flash of light shot from the princess. "Go to the docks. My men wait for you there. Make for a safe place, and do not look back."
"Milady!" Arienne burst out again. Staring at her princess in dismay, the young woman forced back tears. "I cannot leave you. My duty–"
"Your duty is, and always has been, to protect the power that this world needs to survive," the princess replied harshly. "Will you fulfill it, or die rather than have to fight?"
As the princess had expected, Arienne bristled. "I am no coward," she said indignantly.
"Then go, my child," the princess whispered, closing her eyes. "Go, and carry with you our legacy. Tell them we survive..."
"What do I do when I leave?" Arienne whispered, her voice, for the first time, childlike and frightened.
Vivian's eyes fluttered open. "You will know," she said soothingly. "Go now. They come–"
With a great gasp, the princess stilled, her unseeing eyes still staring into Arienne's. Yet again forcing back her tears, the younger woman leaned forward and kissed the princess's forehead.
"As you will, my liege," she breathed, and turned away, hoping that the secret path to the docks still remained.
The woman moved quietly through the wilderness, a slight breeze swirling around her, her boots leaving no imprint on the muddied ground. Without sound or pause, she navigated with seeming carelessness through the underbrush around her, leaving no trace behind of her existence.
It had taken her three years to find this place.
The last of her fellows had died six months prior, after a close encounter with giant half-eagle, half-lion had left him wounded. Arienne had tried to stop the bleeding, but she had never been good at healing magicks, and the wound had quickly become infected. She had tended him for weeks, but the man had passed all the same. It was a small mercy that he had died in his sleep.
His dying words were much like Vivian's.
Tell them we survive...
It made little sense to Arienne, on some levels – all of her fellows had, in fact, died. But she understood, as so many others did not, the deeper message.
Arienne was not intended to pass on any message at all. She was, instead, to leave a message to be found.
Go, and carry with you our legacy.
And finally, after years of searching, she had found the hallowed ground.
Closing her eyes, she felt for the ever-present connection that the princess had gifted her. Softly, she breathed a prayer of thanks, and smiled as Vivian's face flashed through her mind.
Her smile quickly turned into a frown. There was precious little time left, she knew. She could feel the connection fading. The longer she waited, the harder it would be, and the less she would be able to accomplish.
And so, she stepped forward, moving with a simple grace to the top of the mountain that stood within a ring of peaks. She could feel it as soon as she stood there – the place was special, created by the powers for this very hour. A gentle power tickled her senses, as if something great had been forced to lie dormant, needing to be unlocked –
She bowed her head in preparation and, for the first time, allowed tears to fall from her eyes. The sky darkened overhead as she reached within herself, finding first her power, then the connection –
Thunder rumbled in the distance as she began to chant, her voice, usually soft and sweet, quickly overtaken by a rough, otherworldly sound. A single bolt of lightning struck the ground at her feet, creating a blaze that would burn for miles, destroying, cleansing the countryside. Flames sprang up inches from her face and still Arienne did not stir from her trance.
As her voice rose in volume, pixies darted out of the woods and stared. Unicorns cantered towards the mountain, whinnying their distress as they tried to reach the girl enclosed within a ring of flames. Her voice continued to rise, the sky to darken, and lightning flickered all around her, soon forming a blinding dome of light. Her feet lifted off the ground and her eyes glazed over as the power jolted through her.
Lightning flashed again, hitting the top of the dome, and both dissipated. As Arienne was lowered to the ground, her chanting ceased, to be replaced by one phrase repeated over and over.
"Tell them we survive," she said hoarsely as her legs gave out beneath her. "Tell them we survive. Tell them..."
Lightning still reflected in her violet eyes, Arienne collapsed to the ground.
Hesitantly, the forest creatures approached, the unicorns startled somewhat by the heat of the ground beneath their hooves. They nudged hopefully at the young woman.
Throwing back their heads, the unicorns screamed their dismay at the skies, and the rain began to fall. Steam rose up from the ground where Arienne lay, her duty finally fulfilled.
All around, voices began to whisper on the wind.
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