The endlessly deep void surrounded him. Then there were stars and clouds. Dust, rocks, and light. Then came the figures of unimaginable shapes. In mere moments, they created three spheres, the largest of which was placed at the center. He saw life blossom and die, civilizations rise and fall. He saw himself, his brothers, Repanse, The Lady. He watched silently the world age and drown itself in blood and fires. He saw constellations dancing around him and morphing into new unique shapes. He saw stars exploding and galaxies colliding, giant mysterious clusters of dark magic devouring all that came close, even the light, and then painfully slowly fading away. He could have sworn he was in this void for thousands of thousands of years, but only for couple of moments at the same time. Then the light appeared and nothingness faded into the scene of a waterfall.
He found himself bowing to a figure coming out of the lake. Am I dead, it finally came to him. A Grail knight sees the Lady of the Lake one in a life and once after. He remembered being blessed by her many decades ago, which means his errant quest has finally come to its end. He did not remember what happened to him that brought him there, but he knew whatever happened was now over and he did his best. A true Grail Knight would never fail the laws of chivalry, and so did not Henri.
He felt a wet hand swiftly touching his silver hair. A finger slided down his chin and tried pulling his head up. Did the Lady decide to bid her knight a farewell with this? Or perhaps was she inviting him to join her in the lake? That was a fate he could never have hoped for. Confused, Henri resisted. He looked at the clumsy bare feet of his Goddess and wondered how they could not look as what banners and paintings depicted. Then he felt her falling on the knees, head down on his hip. Warm tears running down his neck.
'My lady?'
'I'm so sorry,' he heard a strangely familiar voice sob.
'You- you don't have to, my Lady. I have done my duty.'
'Henri,' he felt her hands constricting his chest. 'I did not ask you to. I failed to protect you.'
When his arms went around her back, he looked to the left and noticed clumsy bowl cut hair.
The realization struck him. Was she the Lady? He had never seen his commander and most trusted friend as an incarnation of his beloved Goddess.
'Repanse?'
He felt her left hand rub the back of his head. His heart sunk when he thought of what might have brought her to him.
'Are you also dead?'
'I wish.'
He suddenly pulled himself out of her hugs, grabbed her by shoulders and looked right into her watery eyes.
'Never should my lady say that about herself.' Repanse made a few gasps before breaking the silence. 'I wish I died and you lived.'
'And who will protect the people? Who will fight for peace? Who will banish Chaos and other foes of Bretonnia?'
She reached her right hand to his cheek.
'And who will be there with me?'
Henri laid his palm on hers. When she leaned to him, he did not resist. And when her lips touched his, he did not say a word. She desperately kissed his lips, cheeks, neck, breathing heavily. Henri sat immobilized, unable to respond. Of course, he knew about her feelings. He also loved her, but just as a teacher loves his best student or a father love his daughter. He have never desired her, for there was only one woman he gave his soul to.
Repanse looked at him with her deep blue eyes, silently begging for an answer. She must have noticed it with the sorrow in his eyes.
'I love you. I can not live without you. Henri, please, go back or take me with you.'
'He can't.'
The voice came from under the oak tree. There, a womanly figure stood in the shadow of the crones. She came to the sunlight swiftly, her dark hair devouring the pouring sunrays. Her pale skin, reflecting the light, appeared almost gloomy. Henri remembered her.
'But you can give each other a soft goodbye.'
He and Repanse instinctively tried pulling out their swords only to find they didn't have any.
The Sorceress grinned.
'You shouldn't really be treating me like this after such gift. The mercy I showed you, sir knight, both of you now, is something I would hide from my followers and my son.'
'No more time for desperate actions, my lady-' Henri began, but Repanse could not be calmed.
'Bring him back.' She stood proudly, having put her sorrow and broken heart aside. Her hope was one of the many reasons Henri followed her.'
'Put your pride aside, child.' Morathi blew her a kiss. 'Five hundred years is a remarkable lifespan for a Bretonnian peasant girl. Having been so generously blessed by Lileath, I would understand how to address Morathi.'
Repanse rushed to Morathi and stared right into her cold eyes. 'Bring him back.'
Hag Sorceress smiled to her bravery. 'See, he is not just there yet for me to bring him back. He is somewhere in the middle, under my control. Besides, I would hate to see your pretty face in tears once again.' She leaned forward and kissed Repanse. Henri wondered was it the stubbornness that restrained his lady from leaning back or was it Sorceress's foul magic immobilizing her.
'So it is in your power to return him to me?' Repanse kept on standing her ground. 'Safe. Unharmed. Same as he was.'
As Henri felt constricted and suffocating, he saw playfulness disappeared from Morathi's eyes. Repanse rushed to Henri, standing on his knees. 'Please don't,' she begged. Henri wished he was dead. Or did not go there in a foolish attempt to slay her in the first place. He already saw what trap has the Hag set for his lady.
'Say something nice,' Morathi cheered.
Repanse fell to her knees and crawled to the witch. 'I'll do what you say if you bring him back. Please. As he was. Morathi-'
'Swear on something you love.'
'He is all that I ever loved. PLEASE.'
Henri really wanted to die near this lake before Repanse would get caught into Morathi's webs. He no longer felt himself struggling to breathe. He felt the emptiness and the void surrounding him once again.