The Union of Avalon and Briton

by Anime Princess

Legends tell of Arthur's many sisters. Well, they aren't legend but fact. This is the story of Arthur's family and how they reform their family bonds through love, life, death, and war.

21. Chapter 21

The Union of Avalon and Briton 21

The spells in the story are not all mine. Some I got off a story from another author here called Calliann. Some spells are from Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: More Techniques of Natural Magic by Scott Cunningham and Everyday Magic by Dorothy Morrison. Other spells I borrowed from the writer Patricia C. Wrede, and still others are from a videogame-I don't know the game's name, but I got it from some sort of game. Some rewritten spells are from Green Magic: The Sacred Connection to Nature by Ann Moura. A few ARE mine though! A part of a chant is from Lady Alexia V and her story Dark Red. Some of the Dark Gods are from a web page Beltane information comes from and, the main web page, a few words are from Harry Potter, and the web page Temple of the Sacred Spiral. Another spell, in this chapter actually, is from the book Spell casting: Practical Magick for Daily Life by Sister Moon. Guinevere's comments about the God Bran and the scripts under his head are from Druid Magic From the Age of Arthur: The Lost Books of Merlin by Douglas Monroe!

As always, King Arthur is not mine and none of the characters belongs to me either. They are all apart of the Arthurian Legends. I am only using these characters, as fun activities in my spare time so please, don't sue me!

The Knights listed are TRUE Knights of the Round Table-I found the names of all the Knights listed on different websites!

Arthur's eyes widened in shock as Lunete's words registered. He gapped like a grounded fish that flopped around for breath as his sister pulled from her traveling bag a stone sundial meant for magical spell work exclusively.

Lancelot asked with wide, worried eyes, "Are you sure about this? Last time you did this you fainted and were out for three days!"

Elaine smiled lovingly at the man who had claimed her heart when she was naught but a child and said sweetly as she placed her left hand on Tristan's forehead and sat down on the bed beside him, "I've grown more powerful since then, my love. Do not worry for me."

Lancelot nodded, and bit his lip. He was worried, but he knew she survived the last time she attempted this spell, so he tried to curb his instincts to protect her from all harm.

As Aithne opened the only window in the tiny healing chambers to let in the fresh, early, spring winds, she added, "Now, we must summon Morgana. She must travel on the Breath of the Goddess to get here quickly enough to help Tristan."

Arthur snapped out of his shock and demanded, "Why doesn't the candle's magic heal him."

Aithne sighed, and said warily as she sat down and stared into an empty mortar and pestle set that was resting on a side table beside Tristan's bed, "The Fates' will has already been denied once. Dagonet's life wasn't meant to be saved-according to Elaine's vision. She changed his fate when she sent Lunete to your aid on the lake. Morgana will have a tough time of persuading the Fates to leave Tristan life alone."

Arthur's eyes closed as a painful jolt of understanding rocketed through him, and made him collapse into one of the chairs that lay around the room. Dagonet was supposed to die, and if I understand correctly Tristan's life is forfeit too. I wonder if any more of my Knights were supposed to die too…

He grimaced and answered his own question, "If the candle's magic isn't working, its because The Fates are determined to take one of my Knights in payment for the one that has already been held from them."

Dagonet jumped to Lunete's side and demanded gently as he knelt beside her and cradled one of her soft feminine hands within his giant ones, "My fate was to die?"

Lunete smiled softly at him and said as she cradled his face between her hands, "Dagonet, your life was saved by Elaine when she sent me to your aid. I do not regret it, but we are paying for it with Tristan's life. We must work hard to save him or Dermott's father will die."

Elaine cleared her throat and intoned as she held the sundial in her right hand,

"Time stand still, I command you!

No minutes pass until we are through,

Doing what we must do.

Time stand still, I command you!"

The Knights watched with weary eyes as Elaine and Tristan were ensconced in a warm cocoon of white light. They knew that for now, that time was frozen until Morgana arrived-in the hopes that she could convince the Fates to leave Tristan in the Living World and to not sent him into the world thereafter.

Gawain sighed and sat down as the extreme exhaustion overtook his adrenaline filled body like an avalanche of snow devouring a small forest. He winced as his shoulder plagued him with sharp pains and rivulets of lifeblood flowed down his chest making it feel sticky and sensitive.

"Now what?" he asked as Isolde mechanically handed out to the Knights a warm wet cloth to wipe away some of the blood from their faces and arms.

Lunete, after she finished checking Elaine over for magic fatigue, said briskly, "Now, we summon Morgana and heal you all."

Galahad protested, "Summon her then! We can wait to be healed."

Aithne snorted and said dryly with a dark glare, "Gawain can't. Besides, you and the others are going to go and retrieve our children from the caravan…or else."

Galahad gulped and nodded as the others snorted at him for caving in so easily where Aithne is concerned.

Bors stretched and said, "Let's hurry this up then, I want to go get my bastards before they get to far ahead of us."

Lunete ordered in a professional tone, "Lancelot and Gawain take off your armor and tunics. The two of you are wounded the worst. The rest of you, go get our children"

Lancelot started to protest, but stopped when Arthur raised an eyebrow, placed his hand over the hole in his armor, and pushed down slightly.

He yelped as a sharp jolt of pain roared through his chest and made him fall to his knees.

He conceded with a dark glowering, "Okay, okay, just don't do that again!"

Gawain and Lancelot watched Galahad's lover pull out two candles, thread, and a sharp needle. When they were bare from the waist up, Aithne turned to them and said, "Get on the beds."

They rolled their eyes but complied as Lunete filled the white marble mortal with water and said strongly,

"Power of water, wind, and earth,

Cast the spell to show its birth,

Cast me away to the one I seek,

Priestess Morgana is the one I seek!"

The water churned for a brief moment, and then it cleared. It revealed a beautiful woman with golden brown hair with natural blond streaks and blue eyes.

Her face, while curious was poised and regal as she asked, "What is it that you need of me Lunete?"

The lover of Dagonet, the Priestess who controls fire and metal sighed and said, "We need you to come to the Wall, Morgana. Tristan's life is in the balance and Elaine has him within the Time Spell. We need your power to save his life. Will you come?"

Morgana nodded and said seriously, "I will. Make the preparations. I'll be there as soon as possible."

Lunete nodded and said, "See you soon, sister."

Morgana ended, "May the powers of Avalon guide you."

Lunete poured the water out the window and dried it as she said, "Now, we wait."

When she turned around she smiled. Whilst she had been conversing with Morgana, Lancelot and Gawain had followed her directions and the other Knights had too-they were gone.

Morgana sighed as the waters from her washbasin cleared up and showed nothing more than the bottom of its white marble bottom.

She heaved a sigh and said to herself softly as she walked into her chambers and smiled-her three-year-old daughter, Nora, was sleeping so innocently like one of Arthur's angles, "What kind of trouble have those boys gotten into now?"

Her dearest daughter yawned cutely and rubbed her eyes with her fists and asked sweetly, "Mummy, what you doin'?"

Morgana sat down beside her youngest child. Then she pulled open the drawer to her side table and pulled out a small chest that was locked with magic. This was the only thing in her room that her children didn't have free access to, and for good reason-it was filled with Belladonna and other herbal poisons.

"Mummy?"

Morgana sighed and answered her daughter's unasked question, "Mummy has to go help her cousins at the wall. I'll be gone for many days and you and your siblings will have to stay with cousins Emogen and Branwen, okay."

Nora nodded silently as her mother quickly gathered a few dresses and a travel bag from her wardrobe.

When her clothes and other necessities were packed, she held her hand out to her daughter, and said, "Come, lets go get your brothers and sister, so I can place you with your cousins and head out quickly. I fear time is of the essence and Tristan's life hangs in the balance."

Morgan knew that her tiny daughter didn't understand what she was saying, but talking helped her to curb her own panic. As she quickly gathered her four children and handed off into the care of her younger cousins, Emogen, daughter of Viviane and Branwen, daughter of Niniane, she walked her horse out of her stable room and into the courtyard.

Emogen, a beautiful woman of twenty-seven summers had straight blond hair that she always plaited into a think rope of a braid and amber brown eyes, Her face was round yet slim, but her lips were full and pouty-many a man dreamed of kissing her simply because of her full lips, smiled tightly and said, "Good luck cousin…"

Morgana, as she finished saddling her horse, raised an eyebrow and waited for her younger cousin to finish her broken thought.

Emogen blushed slightly and ended in a soft whisper that traveled on the wind to Morgana's ears, "…and tell Gawain hello for me."

Morgana smiled brightly and said teasingly, "Don't you worry cousin, I'll tell Gawain of your love for him."

Emogen gasped and exclaimed, "You will not!"

She faltered and asked in an uncertain tone, "Will you?"

Morgana simply smiled like she was a cat who had just swallowed a canary, and Emogen felt her heart speed up in panic. Morgan had a habit of saying one thing to you and then later on doing the exact opposite when she was alone. Emogen sighed, there was nothing she could do though-she would be here on Avalon and Morgana would be at the wall with Gawain.

Branwen, who held the back of the twin's tunics so they wouldn't run around and cause the horses into a skitter with their sword fighting acts, said with a laugh, "You will send Donella's and my love to Arthur and Lancelot, right cousin?"

Morgana smiled sweetly at her baby cousin and said generously, "Of course, I'm sure Lancelot and Arthur will be pleased to hear of Dona's and your love."

Branwen smiled happily and said with concern coloring her voice, as the shadows grew just a bit longer, "We should cast the spell now."

Morgana and Emogen nodded with confidence and agreement.

Branwen bent down slightly and said in a strong, authoritative voice, "You two WILL stay put, understand?"

The twin, twelve-year-old boys who had recently arrived from the mainland where they stayed with their father, nodded solemnly and said as they raised their right hands in a vow, "We promise cousin Branwen."

The seventeen-year-old beauty nodded sharply and said as she pushed her shoulder length, chestnut-red hair out of her sapphire blue eyes and peachy oval shaped face, "Good."

Morgana chuckled and said with a wide smile as they formed a small triangle around Morgana's white horse, Lóchrann data Bandia, or Goddess of Light, "I bet my twin terrors have you thinking twice about having children of your own, right?"

Branwen gave the golden brown, blond streaked hared woman an exasperated look and said, "Let's just get this finish so you can get on your way."

Morgana laughed lightly as they raised their hands and formed the shape of a triangle, then reached into their side pouches and pulled out a handful of white sand. They raised their hands that held the handful of sand into the air parallel to their shoulders.

As the wind started to waft delicately and the sand started to flutter through the wind currents, the three intoned,

"Great Mercury hear our plea,

We these sisters three.

Let time stand still about this Avalonian matron,

Until we reach the Knights' abode.

Let her feet travel quick as sand,

Trickling through your mighty hand.

Hadrian's Wall has called us home,

For it is to Arthur we now roam.

Guide us on the path ahead,

Lead us quickly to our dear Knight's den!"

The remaining Priestesses watched as the sand, instead of falling gently to the ground, floated around Morgana and her horse in a protective circle. They watched with satisfies eyes as the sand shined a soft yellow color and then the yellow aura broke away from the sand and fused with the horse and their Mother on High's sister. Then the sand glowed light blue as the aura and sand glided and coated both woman and beast. The second the gleaming sand touched their skin, the aura vanished and the sand fell innocently to the earth.

Morgana smiled and said, "I'm off."

Galahad was never so grateful as to be out of Aithne's glare as he was just then. His lover and the mother of his only son scared him at times. One wouldn't think it: him being a fierce and battle hardened Sarmatian Knight and she a simple Avalonian Priestess, but Aithne had quite the temper that could quell even the most dangerous of men-he and Bors learned the hard way once a very long time ago-before Ferrell was born.

Dagonet snickered as he watched Galahad shiver and asked, "Boy, are you that scared of your lover?"

Galahad glared at the elder Knight and said adamantly, "I am when she gets like that! We might not have seen them in seven years Dag, but I know her as well now as I did then. Aithne is a sweet, wonderful woman, but et on her bad side and even YOU would run for the hills of the Northern borders!"

Bors added and Arthur burst out laughing, "I agree! That little lass had to have been taking lessons from my Vanny! It's uncanny how both of them can quell any protests from us and order us around like they were the bloody Queens of Briton!"

In an attempt to change the subject a bit and at the same time, tease his poor, loveable Knights, Arthur said casually, "You know, when it comes right down to it, my sisters, cousins, and I can trace our bloodline all the way back to the first ancient Queens of Briton."

At the three's shocked stare, Arthur shrugged and ended, "Briton was a matriarchal hierarchy before Rome came and changed the very culture of the people who lived here."

Galahad and Dagonet grinned at one another behind Bors' back. Their commander was expertly leading Bors into a trap that was worth a months worth of teasing-at least!

Bors stuttered, "So you saying that our women are well within their rights with their orderin' us about like they do?!"

Arthur grinned and asked instead, "Do you REALLY mind being ordered around, or are all those bastards of yours just make-up sex babies?"

Dagonet, Arthur, and Galahad roared with laughter as Bors, the father of eleven, tried to worm his way out of the elegant trap Arthur had set up for him.

As the group of four crested another hilltop, they smiled in relief. The caravan wasn't as far ahead of them as they had originally thought. There in between to hills, nestled in the small valley, was a circle of ten covered wagons and twenty Romans on horseback. Arthur turned to Bors and nodded.

The older Knight nodded back, reached to his side, lifted an ivory horn engraved with the symbol of the Castus family, the dark blue dragon, and blew one sweet long note.

Almost as one, a hundred heads turned towards them and a Roman, who had decided to remain in Briton to live out his life in peace on horseback cried out with glee, for he and many others recognized the banner fluttering from Dagonet's fisted hand, "It's Arthur! They won!"

As the four skid down the hill, amongst the delighted cheers of the people, Arthur raised his voice and said proudly, "The Saxons have been defeated! Rome has left us! Briton is FREE!!!!!!!!!!!"

As they dismounted, they found themselves buried under the weight of two and a half dozen children-most belonging to Bors and his ladylove, Vanora.

Ferrell jumped excitedly into his father's arms and shouted, "You did it! You beat the mean, ol' nasty Saxons!"

Galahad smiled largely and said as he hugged his son close to his heart, "Yes! We won!"

Arthur watched silently, but happily, as his baby sister and best friend's twins stared solemnly up at him. He smiled and said as he opened his arms to them, "Have no fear Rose, Orrin. Your mother and father are well. Elaine couldn't be here because she is needed to help heal those who required healing, and Lancelot was slightly wounded during the battle and Sister Lunete wouldn't let him leave the healing chambers until she had seen to his wounds. They are both alive little ones."

Roselyn and Orrin cheered and threw themselves happily into Arthur's arms. He laughed and spun them around in joy. He finally got to meet his niece and nephew.

Then his eyes found a set of alarmingly familiar gray one, but they were found on a drastically younger face. He froze and said softly into the twin's ears, "I must see to Dermott. Get to the wagons and see to it that you stay there, understand?"

Orrin grabbed his twin's hand and said in a tone full of promise, "We will uncle."

When he was sure they had followed his orders, he turned to Dermott and sighed. Dermott bit his lip and tilted his head down towards the emerald grasslands.

As he shook in his attempt to hold in his sobs, Arthur knelt down beside him, tilted his head back up with gentle pressure on his chin, and said softly as their eyes met, "Do not cry cousin. Your mother is well and is at the wall helping heal all those who need it."

Galahad, who had joyfully ignored most of the gathered people, felt his heart start to break at the sight of Arthur and Dermott staring each other in the eyes. He sighed and held Ferrell closure as he cast his thoughts back to the memory of Isolde's panicked fear and Tristan's serene face, which was deathly pale with blood loss. He couldn't imagine lying near death when he had a son to love and care for, but if what Aithne, Elaine, Lunete, and Isolde said was true, Tristan was mean to die, and they were challenging the Fates themselves to bring Tristan back from the Elysian Fields.

Not that I wouldn't challenge them myself for Tristan's life, I would! But I have no place in the world of magic except to father the next generation of Avalonian Priestess' it seems. I just wish I could help them more! I don't want Tris to die!

Dagonet sighed and said, "Come, let's help ready for the return trip. Arthur needs to talk to Dermott alone."

Galahad nodded thoughtfully and with one last glance at the two cousins, he turned to other business-his thoughts not far from Arthur and Dermott though. Bors and Dagonet were the same.

As he stared into the green eyes of his cousin, similar to is mother's in the fact that they both held sparkles of deep life lessons, Dermott said softly, "Father feel in battle, didn't he? That's why he isn't here, right cousin Arthur?"

Arthur placed a hand on Dermott's shoulder and said truthfully, "Yes, he did fall, but he hasn't crossed over in the Fields-not yet. Your mother and our family are doing all they can to help save his life. They've even called for Morgana to come and plead for his life. If anyone can bring Tristan back from the Fields safely, it's Morgana. Do not lose hope yet, Dermott."

Arthur ended with a small smile as he said powerfully and faithfully, "Tristan is one of the strongest men I know, and he won't let anything come between you, your mother, and him-not even death."

Dermott smiled softly and knew what his uncle-cousin said was true. But, he was also pragmatic like his mother and said softly with watery eyes, "But he could still die."

Arthur sighed, pulled his cousin in for a hug, and said in a sadden yet comforting voice, "Yes, he could."

Sorry this took so long! But I wanted to finish Reunion whilst I was so close to the end of the story! Avalon is mean to be a much longer story-line and I thought that once I finished Reunion, I could put all my imagination into the following chapters and not spilt my muses between the two stories.