like pale skeletal hands an endless sae of trees sprung up around him.

Everything had a chalky white coating as Edwin lifted a leaf from the many under his feet. they were soft and didn't make a sound as he walked around the endless abyss, since the fog curled like smoke from a pipe clouding the scenery as far as the eye can see. It was an eery feeling created by the pure silence, since a forest would normally be filled with wildlife in the brush.

"Elaina!" Edwin called, hearing his voice echoing within the emptiness. Again and again, he called out her name and still there was no reply but he continued on in his search for her, as she was the one who drew him here needing to be found.

Then, in the distance there was a faint light touching the smoke to give it a subtle glow, which matched the gold colouring which had tickled Elaina's fingers. It was Edwin's honing beacon, knowing that it could be no one else but the lady herself and it inspired his legs to run towards it. it brightened the closer he got becoming more dazzling, like the intricate lacing of a fine ball gown enveloping the one person he had been searching for.

It must have been a protective barrier she was conjuring, between her and the depressing surroundings which darkened all around this place the weaker her physical body became. She was slumped on a boulder, her eyes shut and limp, but she was in her true form free from the poison marring her skin.

"Elaina," he whimpered.

Her dress was as light as the air, a periwinkle chiffon fabric, that was layered and draped around her neck, while pinned by gold clasps to keep it in place on her shoulders. If a wind was present it would lift and carry the cuts and layers to billow out like delicate butterfly wings.

Her eyes fluttered open, their green the only vibrance of colour to be seen.

Elaina's pink lips lifted into a smile, "you found me."

She was breath taking and Edwin had to take A minute to adjust to the sight of her, as she appeared to be like a woodland nymph, forbidden to be beheld by his mortal eyes.

"…I'm beginning to think I always shall."

She lifted her arm and invited him into her circle and luckily he easily passed through and joined her inside where she sat and he immediately took her face in the palm of his hands. The smoothness of her flesh was as delicate as a peach, which he feared bruising with his callouses from hard workmanship, but she did not discourage his touch and leaned into it.

"I was actually shocked to feel your presence," she admitted, "what is going on out there? I can't remember anything since being stabbed by the bandit. Then there were voices; you, Gaius, merlin, Gwen, Arthur, even dear Sam… an unlikely combination. I woke here and could hear you all clear as day."

Edwin had been correct and thanked Sam again for his gift to his Lady, because without it he may not have had this opportunity to speak with her.

"it was the lavender the stableboy gave you that triggered your magic and the grimoire inside of you knew how to wield its properties, to gain you some consciousness while your physical form is frozen yet ailing."

Elaina bit her full bottom lip and gazed at what lay beyond her barrier. She didn't know how she managed to make such a thing but was aware that this was the last part of her that was remaining alive with the preservation spell Edwin had used, mixed with the healing properties of the lavender. Once this was snuffed out, as would her life be extinguished.

"this poison is strong. I've been trying to learn about it and can't come up with much besides its ingredients being a dangerous mixture. The priestess who made it, she meant it for nothing else, besides death."

Before she had passed out in the arms of Arthur, Elaina's instincts had been triggered and she had managed to get a reading on the history behind the poison. Morgana had taken it from Morgause on one of her visits, but their eldest sister had taken it first as an inspiration from an old book of a priestess with a keen interest in potions. not a very nice woman to say the least; in her mind, women were who brought about innocence and purity by birthing life and thus she wanted them able to wield the power of unfathomable death.

with that knowledge something became clear to Elaina and she just wanted confirmation from someone besides herself to make it more real so she may better prepare.

"I'm dying, aren't I?" she asked sweetly, undaunted by the prospect, "funny, I'm not scared. Can it really be so different as to when I woke up here?"

Edwin bowed his head against Elaina's brow, with his hands tightening where they held her, "you're not going to die Elaina."

She closed her eyes and still could have some reading on the real world even while Edwin was connecting with her spirit like this. She had wondered about where her body was and actually why he had lingered around while the voices of some of her other friends had disappeared. She recalled them discussing remedies and seeking help to aid in her recovery.

"I'm not in Camelot, am I? where are we going, where are you taking me. Not to Morgause!"

She had thought that they might have wanted to take her to her eldest sister as she was the poisons creator and had already proven adequate in reversing the effects of such damning concoctions, such as with morgana. The high priestess might have that access to do so, however Elaina had known of her sister's nature through her upbringing, that her death to Morgause would be the adequate end to Elaina's apparent betrayal over both her sisters.

She would not help in healing Elaina, but she didn't want her friends to waste their time in seeking it, or to put themselves in harm's way by confronting her.

"no, we aren't taking you anywhere near her. trust me if I ever see her or morgana, I will make it so that they get a taste of this curse they put upon you."

being the man he had become now, the threat did not suite Edwin. It pleased her so much to see the change in him and growth of character. He looked stronger as his mindset had developed from experience, taking it as a learning curve rather than a traumatic event to shrivel in defeat of to make him a monster.

Who he once was, is what her sister had become, so where he had taken a step forward, Morgana has taken a step back.

"morgana has become so blind to everything but hatred. I remember when you were much the same and Look at you now. did you find some light?"

Edwin had heeded the wisdom of Elaina and his mother. It took him to the door of an elderly couple, who brought him back to strength after travelling for so long when he had parted from Elaina. At the beginning, He had been mute to their conversations and distant when they tried to get close, though without much other option he remained in their home and in that time he learnt what he could about them.

A man and woman without a child of their own they remained recluse and doted only on one another for decades. Alone, their lives had been hard but it also meant that they kept a law to themselves. They judged more on character than they did of history and the judgment passed onto others by society. He respected them for that and soon felt inspired to work the farm alongside the man, cook with the woman and read to the two at night. Edwin felt comfortable in their simplicity, while the quietness of peace calmed his soul.

In response, his dreams they too settled to sweet things he could enjoy rather than scream himself awake from. Physically he was stronger, his core more susceptible to trust and when it was broken, it didn't fracture his sight when he looked at the world.

He left them with fondness and travelled for months and months taking his healing abilities to those who needed them. The generosity of his patients sustained Edwin, and whether the outcome was good or not, what he found was that he enjoyed influencing the lives of humble folk, who deemed him godly not for his magic, but his knowledge and willingness to help. They looked beyond his scars and clasped his hands in gratitude, undeterred by him and accepting.

There was just something missing.

"I've felt some," he admitted, "But nothing compares to the light of the very sun. I'm glad to capture its warmth again being with you. The woman who puts the wicked onto a noble path by her unshakeable faith in the broken."

He tucked a curl behind her shell-like ear. Her hair had grown passed her shoulders; it had been difficult to tell when he visited her, as she often wore it up but here the tendrils were free to fall where they wanted to the middle of her back. They shone like the hard exterior of a conker fresh from its spiked shell, hues of brown and red mingled together.

His stare if Elaina was honest, terrified her. it was a fantasy that he creates in his head of her, where it made her feel like she had this expectation to live up to, that wasn't real forbidding Elaina to be herself, less she ruins his dream. It denied her the ability of having flaws and to be wrong on issues. That she could be clumsy, stubborn like a rock and deserved to be yelled at for her stupidity or unwarranted flares of anger.

It is but a bold claim his love, but he did not know who she was, even now as her life was drawing to an end.

Edwin was not stupid, he could see that no love had grown inside her for him, to the same magnitude of that which he bears for her. but he did not care if to love her only meant heartache for him. To hold her was like taking a beautifully crafted knife as he felt that tiny part which rejected him, however he would rather bleed than not to feel her in his arms. He joins among the other martyrs of unrequited love.

"…that is why I say, we are not going to let you die."

A person of riches and another who has no possessions, they are woven just the same with blood, flesh and bone. Nothing mattered as death favoured no one and was unpredictable often in its choice to seize who they could. Fate does not obey the wishes of a mortal, it is simply the threads in the fabric of time that cannot be plucked less the picture is spoiled and unfinished, never changed.

"fate is a fickle thing to tamper with Edwin," Elaina warned.

The sorcerer was aware to be cautious without Elaina telling him so, as he had once tried to shape it with his own hands and nothing went how he expected or how he had wanted. His story unfolded just as it had meant to and it was fortunate that it had been graced with someone good to have a role in it, so that the darkness was just clouds blocking the starry night sky.

So that's how he decided to view this whole mess, just as some clouds…

"yet it's a challenge worth fighting against, as I cannot believe this is how the world intends to finish off lady Elaina."

Elaina reached for the spot that she had been stabbed. The pain of course did not exist here, but she recalled to the extent it had troubled her until she fell unconscious in Arthur's arms. The man she had taken the blow for, who was well and alive without the men on the road coming back to try again to do to him what they had to her.

"saving Arthur was worth it."

Edwin rolled his eyes at the mention of the prophesised prince who carried this amazing destiny so many had told him about. He was a prince like many before him, some he didn't know the names of and didn't care to, but for some reason this prince of Camelot was made out to be something special above the rest, though Edwin could see absolutely no difference in them.

Who gave this prophecy is what he wanted to know. Had they actually met him? because all Edwin considered the prince to be was a stuck up idiot.

Even so, this destiny had created a cycle which Edwin had been included in.

"but there will be more standing in his way and more who would risk their lives to save him. I don't want you to get lost in those numbers because what is it worth, the life of one prince?"

Elaina's gaze grew distant and again she said those words which seemed to be the driving force for everything, so much so that Edwin could see through the excuse it had become for her.

"…Albion. He is going to bring about Albion."

With a shrug, Edwin thought that Camelot did not seem so different now as it did those years ago when he first appeared. Magic was condemned and fear was instilled in the common folk of those who used it, as he saw in the eyes of the stable boy Sam who looked at Edwin like he had come face to face with a monster.

Cause was there for Arthur to distrust Edwin but even so, if it had anything remotely to do with sorcery, the prince rejected it like his only defence for what he did not understand. Such insecurity did he and his father have for something that could overpower a sword and brute strength when used correctly and by the right person. Often magic could offer invincibility without the armour and could snuff out life without a drop of blood spilt.

The religion of the triple goddess made it so followers grew into their own potential to perhaps surpass its idols, while now man is settled to follow a religion that demands obedience.

druids retained an animalistic approach to the circle of life being as nature dictated and got called heathens. Yet now, Christianity demanded its followers to be better than they are in fear of what awaits them in the afterlife and that sins can be so easily forgiven by absolution and confession. Then if ordained as a monarch, somehow their actions are that of a higher power and needs no explanation or forgiveness.

The world is constantly changing and if you refuse to welcome it, then you are the damned, to be left in the dirt as others climb the ladder of power and influence.

Albion promises balance, but Edwin thought it an impossible thing with all that he had witnessed.

"I've seen no proof in that. You should see how he looks at me. the mere mention of magic, the idea of what we are doing even to save you, it wrecks him with fear for what his father would do. He denies it but it is there. his distrust in sorcery is paramount. His is not a life I am willing to sacrifice yours for."

Elaina couldn't take what he said sitting down. She was growing impatient with Edwin and the claim he put on her and made Elaina feel like her actions were that of a foolish girl rather than the grown woman she was. It wasn't a simple thing she did and she knew the extremes and had accepted them as she had admitted to him, while waiting here for that death to come.

She walked and toyed with the barrier she had somehow created and like water it rippled with her touch, but she couldn't press through to the other side where Edwin had come from. Thus, she couldn't hasten the approach of her life's ending to save her friends their journey until the time was right for her to go.

"it isn't your choice. it is my life to do with what I choose and I decided to lay it down for a noble cause…unlike the path of those who share my blood."

She didn't know why she added that last part, yet the barrier reflected her appearance and behind she caught a glimmer of morgana and Morgause when she said it.

It's true what they say, death does put things in perspective and she had thought about her sisters a lot while waiting here. The shame she carried not in them, but herself for not being able to change them. She wished to have had that ability to do so and couldn't help but feel that her mother was right all along and that she Elaina, was the weakest link in the trio. By what they had done, Elaina thought that she would be forgotten or that maybe history would bind her to them as something evil too. However, to die saving a prince was something worth remembrance she was sure and maybe outweigh the darkness of her sisters with that pure act. Perhaps if word got out that she possessed magic, it would work in her kins favour that not all those who are sorcerers are bad people, if she herself saved a prince and a son of King Uther. Could she cast them in a more positive light for when Albion begins?

Tears started to fall and she almost laughed maddingly for all these excuses she has strung along while being here. But Edwin…Edwin could read her like a book.

"you're trying to escape from how your sisters have made you feel these past few years. you're running from it, because you cannot take the pain they cause. This is no more than a suicide act."

Elaina was trembling. The pain she had endured from that physical wound when stabbed, she had found it had given her some release of the internal pain she had felt since Morgana's betrayal and Morgause entrance into her life. It was like at last she had something to see to prove her turmoil that people couldn't just simply tell her to get over, as mental and emotional scars weren't as visible yet just as deadly. That stab wound and the poison were a visual representation of how much she has suffered and they should understand now why she wanted to be released from it and give her that mercy.

If it made any impact on morgana and Morgause then all the better, for then they too can see that her choices to go against them wasn't easy and as much as they were fuelled by pain, as was she yet they were ignoring hers and making theirs out to be greater.

Slowly Edwin approached this fragile doll fearing when he embraced her that she would disintegrate immediately into dust.

When they were children, nothing deterred her. her back was made of stern stuff and she could carry the world on her shoulders and believe it to be whatever she wanted it to be and if it wasn't so, her sheer determination and stubbornness shaped it into that vision of hers, no matter if logic went against her. Should she wish to fly, goodness she would have found a way, then if failure ever was an occurrence, she would bounce straight back up again from the impact of its fall without a scratch.

This was a whole new side to her he did not know how to handle, accept instinctively with pity. Edwin wanted to stay here with her knowing he could protect Elaina as long as he held her close, allowing her to forget her fears and be led from the solitude of her pain.

"you dedicated so much of your life to morgana that now she is gone from you, Elaina you have no idea what to do with yourself."

Her hands came up behind his back and clutched him, needing Edwin like he anchored her, to let out her pent-up emotions which she had kept at bay. Edwin was giving her that security to reveal to him what she hadn't been able to show to anyone else because they had known only half the story.

"I didn't know that to be alone and to feel lonely could be two separate things. In Camelot I am surrounded by a sea of people but lately I cannot connect with them and register their faces for human beings. I've only wanted morgana, my sister, and without her I feel incomplete, like I have spent years trying to help her become this person that I forgot that along the way since childhood, I had meant to be forging myself a future also. Now I don't know who I am, besides a helping hand in creating Albion and even then, I am not a key player. What purpose in life do I have? I have none and I have been drowning without a breath of air. the prospect to be like this forevermore is unbearable, I can't be weighed down in my steps by this stone in my ribcage that just doesn't beat. I don't know when I last truly smiled or laughed… or when I last truly lived."

Edwin listened to her words with a familiarity as she was who he had been, clinging to the want and need for his parents. Her words echoed his perfectly and it took him back to when their roles had been reversed.

He smiled sadly, as it seemed Elaina had been the pillar of strength for many that no one cared to look at its foundation and so it was always bound to fall.

Edwin rested his face in her hair, inhaling her scent and allowed Elaina the liberty to keep talking.

"…I'm a waste to the earth. Just please go back and tell Arthur and merlin to go home. Back where its safe for them and leave me behind. Find a meadow somewhere and bury me there or beside my father, it really doesn't matter to me. I've come to terms with everything."

She was sniffing at the stream running from her nose and nuzzling her eyes in his tunic to soak up her tears. She didn't draw back though, she just kept arguing to herself that her decision in death was final, mumbling on about how everything will be better without her there and her friends will get over her loss quick enough and how fine it would be to see her father again…

She was almost clever enough to convince herself in the truth of any one of her claims, ignorant of what she actually had built her life around…

Edwin lifted her head off his chest, his hands grasped on either side of it so she could not turn away and break his stern stare, needing her to return the favour now and listen to him instead.

He could not conjure visions in the minds of others like she could, but he could create one well enough just with his words as he had witnessed much in the devotion Elaina inspired in people to give her life meaning, as it did not revolve around one person alone even if that was her sister. Those faceless beings as she called them, they were more than just followers of a noblewoman, instead they were like children in awe of her kindness and generosity and he wanted Elaina to see herself through their eyes.

"do you have any idea how many you have inspired, how many more people other than those two sisters of yours who utterly adore and care for you. People who you give purpose to like Sam who professes he would not know where he would be without you and others who are grateful just at the sight of their lady Elaina because she acknowledges their existence. Gods, you have said it yourself what it is that gives you purpose, 'to love the broken' an angel for the outcasts."

Someday Elaina will bring to those a fairer world and which will not be a constant battle of life or death depending on who they were. An age will shine bright, allowing a truce to happen so that all can stand before the sun no matter who they were born to. until then hope will be relied on in Elaina and if there is no sun in the meantime, then she can show them the stars in the darkness, as she did Edwin.

For a moment, Elaina flickered her gaze at the atmosphere beyond her barrier, the fog having grown much thicker and she grimaced. Edwin could say what he liked to her, but the power to live or die was not hers.

"it doesn't matter. You can't stop this poison running through my veins."

The entire time he had been linked with her consciousness, the barrier seemed to have gotten smaller. If he had to guess, his freezing spell was wearing off again which meant his time here was needing to be cut short and he did not know if Elaina would have the strength to draw him back in.

For an instant he was terrified that this would be his last words with her, but he shook his head to get the unwelcome notion out from it.

"that is where you are wrong."

Elaina smirked at Edwin and tried to make a joke as she had soured the reunion with her depressive and sorry state. Not the memory she would like him to have of her and who knew how her physical body looked on the outside. Not portrait ready she was sure.

"oh really, what do you have to prove that statement, a remedy to cure all ills finally?"

If only he did and Edwin winced at the cruel joke that he had created for himself by once proposing such a notion and now wishing for it more than anyone could have, but it had been all a fabrication to come back and bite him.

"sadly not. All I can do is plead to the triple goddess that she will save you."

That was a remarkable thing to say in Elaina's opinion. Not much is asked of the goddess but instead people serve and carry out her bidding, to try and appeal to her better nature. Elaina couldn't even think how you could go about asking the goddess for anything without a high priestess who were an extension of the deity and Edwin had already assured Elaina that he wasn't going anywhere near morgause.

As Elaina racked her brain for meaning, she jolted suddenly like she had taken another hit from something sharp and painful with things becoming blurry as the barrier nearly evaporated around them.

"Elaina I must leave you to repeat the freezing spell!" Edwin shouted but Elaina clung on longer to him.

"not until you tell me what you are planning!" she demanded, her knuckles white as they tightened their hold as she truthfully had lost a little of her vision to see him properly, as the effects of the poison were trying to claim her mind.

Edwin was terrified at how short time was for him to get back to his physical form and perform the spell, so he didn't object to what she asked.

"the waters of the Great Lake. The waters will wash away all your pain, I promise."

She was a grimoire still and no doubt her powers were flooding her with information about the place he spoke of, but fortunately he had done good to tell merlin to strike him.

Edwin was just watching as the dread started to take over Elaina and her eyes widened with what she had pieced together about the lake, when a sudden hit to the head dispersed her figure and he blinked to see in his sight the servant boy instead.

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