Chapter Two: Caught Again

My name was being called by the young children who danced around the boiling pot of their dinner.

"Show us again, Polly." One of the older boys begged stopping his dance in front of me. "Show us the thing you did last year for All Hallows Eve."

I laughed and shook my head, shaking my dark curls out of my face as I did so.

"No, I don't think I shall this time." I smiled at him, shifting my burden of the basket of herbs to reach forward and ruffle his hair. "It's only for special occasions. You wouldn't enjoy it so much if I did it all the time!"

A young, female version of this long, brown haired boy came running up after her brother and she tugged on my spare hand, staring up at me pleadingly.

"Oh, please Auntie Polly!" She begged, swinging herself on my arm. "Please please please do it for us! We've been ever so good, haven't we Grandmama?" She now turned her pleading eyes on the old crone who walked beside me with her own basket of herbs and spices and medicinal objects.

The old crone (Whom everybody in the camp called Grandmama) was in actual fact this girls grandmother. But everybody was family here, or so it felt like some times, and most people forgot who their actual relatives were. I loved that it was like that, as I never felt like the one alone person. I was always 'Auntie Polly' or 'My grand-daughter Polly' or 'My best friend Polly.' Sometimes I was even 'My sister, Polly'. And that was the way I liked it.

Grandmama nodded at the girl, a half smile playing about her lips.

"Of course you have, dearest. Aren't you always?"

The girl nodded eagerly and swung even harder on my hand.

"Go on, Aunt Polly. You know you want to!" She squealed. "You always want to do more magic once you've been to the lake!"

I tilted my head to the side and reluctantly conceded her point with a slight nod. She was right. And I had been down to the lake before I had begun gathering herbs. But I wasn't sure if I should leave Grandmama, at her ancient age, to carry both baskets of heavy herbs. And besides that, I had to give the money to Aileen, the woman who had first taken me into her home.

Sometimes, I found a small bag of money in the hole in the old weeping willow down by the lake.
That willow tree, that lake, was our special place, Emrys's and mine. He had told me to always go there if I was ever upset, and one day he would once more come find me. The hole in the weeping willow is where he left the money for my upkeep, even though everybody in Camp accepted it very rarely as I had become very useful with a bow and arrow. I earned my own keep. However, as I had no way of reaching Emrys his money was left unreturned.

I would sit there, kneeling by the lake, and calm myself. I would trail my finger tips across the water to try and revitalise my magic. I would look into the water just to remind myself I wasn't that young, defenceless girl Emrys had found on the battlefield that day. The waters were sparkling and magical. I loved them. I could watch anybody I wanted from them just by waving my hand over it. People knew just to let me be when I went down there. Well, all except Grandmama, who had found me earlier that day and demanded that I help her gather some more herbs for Camp.

"Yes, of course you must show the children your trick, Polly." Grandmama proclaimed. "I have noticed you haven't been practising your magic as often. Perhaps this would put it to some good use!"

I cast a look at the small children who were now staring at me hopefully. Then back at Grandmama uneasily.

"I don't feel comfortable using my magic for this." I told her uneasily through a whisper. "I am scared."

Grandmama raised a gently mocking eyebrow at me and she unceremoniously dropped her own basket to the floor and wrestled mine off me.

"You are always scared about doing magic before you do it, Polyxena." She told me stoutly. "And I have seen visions about you. You have no cause to worry about anything for now. You do not have to hide your magic, as you had to from your father and King Arthur. Here, you are free." She gestured towards the young children who were no longer dancing around the pot but instead eagerly looking up at me. "Go. Play, Polly, and be happy."

She somehow always came out with these words of wisdom, and though they were frequent they always had the desired affect on me. Smiling back at her, I turned back to the children and raised my hands softly, gracefully. My eyes burnt with the power I sought. I lightly watched my fingertips move in the air with my burning eyes, and almost instantly colours began spraying out of them. Sparkles of white, blue, red, green and purple sprinkled out of my finger tips and floated eagerly off of their own free will towards the children, pulling themselves together to form the shapes of various animals that played with each other and the children.

The children's squeals of delight was enough for me to know I had done the right thing. I laughed and clapped my hands together as I watched my creations spin and turn, dance and glide, leaving trails of light and sparkle behind them. They danced around the camp for a bit, pouncing on each other and playing before they rolled around in the air into the woods. The children called after them, laughing, giving chase. I laughed as well, sizing up my skirts in my fisted hands and running after my little playing creations and their enchanted audience.

They pranced around the woods and I kept the children in my minds eye, even when I followed a creature they did not. I could see their colours, taste their little embers of magic. Some of the children's embers, children who's family were naturally magic, were brighter and easier to follow. The others, the ones who did not come naturally to magic but still practised it, were a bit harder to keep track of, but I still managed it.

If anything, I could still hear their squeals of happy laughter.

Then, I heard something. Not from where I was, I was too far, but I could hear something the children could hear. Horses hooves against the muddy forest floor, beating to the sound of some invisible drum. There was more of them that I could count and I could barely control the agonized wail that threatened to pass through my lips. Through the children I could sense the riders intention, their lust for a never ending fight, their want of bloodshed but their fear and their worry as well.

Overloading emotions did not stop me from also feeling the children's obliviousness. They were too happy chasing their dreams, my magical creatures, and had not yet fully comprehended the noises that they heard.

I was panting heavily as I grasped my skirts in fisted hands and ran in my bare feet across the twigs and leaves, cutting my feet on some sharp stones.

"Alice!" I yelled. "Daniel, Ivan, Sarah!" I shouted all their names as loud as I could, hoping they would hear me and stop in their tracks.

Eventually, one by one they did, turning towards the sound of my voice. I came across them at a running pace and knocked right into young Alice who had been the closest too me. I could see in my minds eye Knights Of Camelot now, riding in fear away from some creature they had disturbed.

Then I heard the cry, the screech of an angry dragon and the flap of its wings. It could kill us if it found us in an unguarded area. So could the knights of Camelot if they found us.

"Quickly!" I cried urgently at them, tapping on Alice's cheeks to keep her focused and tugging on Ivan's hands to stop him wiggling. "Do you hear that? That is the sound of an angry dragon and knights of Camelot. We are no longer safe here."

Ivan trembled in my hand and Daniel stepped closer to his sister and cousin. The other children paired up, clearly scared at the urgency in my voice.

"Go, now, back to the camp." I waved my hand towards my creations, my eyes burning hotter than ever, and instantly they began to run back through the forest. "Follow my creatures. They will not steer you wrong. Trust in them and therefore trust in me. Quickly, I will follow."

I just had to make sure I hadn't left any signs of magic around.

The children nodded their heads and set off with energy only the youthful possess. Everything was getting closer. The dragon was circling over head, blocking out the sunlight, blocking out everything. It's screech defend me and I knew it sensed me though it could not tell where I was.

"Meyha nahke joro!" I hissed up at it threateningly, cursing the stupid knights for disturbing its slumber. Usually we druids got on very well with it as long as it had had the right amount of sleep.

It looked down at me, its bright, glowing eyes seeking me out in the middle of the forest floor. I could hear the knights. They grew ever closer. The dragons great wings flapped and for a moment we were one. I could sense its fear, its confusion, but most of all, its wisdom. Like Grandmama, it held wisdom that I could not even begin to imagine, and like me it was confused and afraid about the situation it now found itself in.

"Go!" I yelled up at it, starting to run myself, following the train of broken twigs down back towards the camp. "Leave! They'll kill you if they find you!"

The dragon made a bellowed squawking sound, then I heard the great beatings of its wings and its magical energy reached out to touch mine. Then, it was gone.

Branches scraped against my face and arms, I could feel blood seep out of the cuts and bruises, my magic flowing with the blood, fear, exhaustion. The village, when I finally stumbled into the camp, was in panic mode, parents ushering children, packing up everything, the boiling cauldron having its contents spilled out across the crisp autumnal earth. Everybody could hear the riders hooves, absolutely everybody, and I could sense each individual rider though. One felt familiar, a warm glow like a treacle sweet, orange in colour and beautiful in the sensation. But I didn't have time to fully recall who it was, too busy trying to protect my family. I could see the riders now, with their red capes flying behind them, bent over their horses and ready to kill, their eyes menacing. My family was screaming, the children were crying, my magical creatures having disintegrated into dust and no longer able to help sooth the smallest of children.

Now, the riders yelled as they stormed our camp, and I could take it no longer as some of them swung themselves down from their saddles and unsheathed their swords. My eyes, which I hadn't noticed had squeezed themselves shut of their own accord, flew open and surveyed the scene before me.

"Færblæd wawe!" I screamed, my eyes burnt with the magic, my soul thumping to an invisible force. I flung my hands out, time slowed down, and a massive explosion occurred that had the soldiers stumbling backwards. Then, everything stopped. The smoke stopped drifting, the wind stopped moving, the voices stopped screaming.

The world turned dark. I spun round. My body turned weak.

I started to collapse, my knees buckling, my head spinning. I felt it as I hit the ground, recognised the pain but didn't actually feel it. There was a buzzing in my ears. And ache in my bones. A pain in my blood.

The light began to fade from my eyes. I felt myself drop back.

But not before I saw a dark head, protectively leaning over my body.

"Emrys?" I murmured weakly, barely able to hear my words myself.

Then, my Emrys was gone. I felt myself being lifted from the ground by a man with a shadowed face and a head of sunlight.

Certain that now was the day I was too die, and sure I had saved my druid family, I felt myself drop limply into his arms. Allowed my head to spin, for the sickness and the pain to take hold of me. Welcomed the darkness as it enveloped me, and welcomed me home.

Black.