34. In Love and War

Lucy headed in the only direction that lead anywhere, north. The sea-locked city kept her options limited but she remembered the forest north of the city and it reminded her of the one in her dreams. She hoped she could find answers there.

When she left the castle her horse galloped quite heavily trying to put as much distance between her and the castle as possible. She knew that after her encounter with Mága in the library that they wouldn't be far behind her. She pushed her horse hard until the castle was out of sight, then she focused on skirting around the city and reaching the forest where she would have much more cover.

Focusing on the path before her she almost didn't notice the hawk that flew above her, as if it were following her. She looked at the bird more closely and suddenly felt a presence that was much stronger than a bird. She locked eyes with the bird and gave a mental push and suddenly the presence disappeared, the bird blinked then soared away.

She wasn't surprised, she was well aware of Mága's abilities but she didn't actually think what she did would work. She shook her head and focused, pushing her horse harder to get ahead. Getting around the city would be the hardest part. Camelot was quite vast and Lucy didn't want to attract extra attention to herself. She carefully edged the city until she had made it around and then galloped towards the forest. Breaking across the tree line Lucy felt relieved, the dense tree growth and foliage would provide great cover for her to stay hidden, potentially make camp, and hopefully find her sister.

She wouldn't walk away from this mission a failure. She needed to do this not only for her sister but also for herself and Arthur. How can she truly give herself over when she sister was still out there, probably helpless and scared. She wouldn't give up easily.

After hours of riding, finally reaching the forest and continuing on even with a worrying feeling developing in her gut, Lucy finally stopped to make camp. She was somewhere deep in the forest, after dark, all alone. She quickly gathered some materials and used the skills she learned at her short time at the academy and was able to successfully start a fire. The chill of the night finally staved off, she dug out something to eat and Merlin's journal. She was banking on finding a secret weapon that she could learn to save her sister and protect herself and Arthur from future harm. She nibbled on a piece of meat while she cracked open and started scrolling through the journal looking for something easy she could try. One of the first things she came upon was scrying with fire.

The entry depicted a ritual very simular to the one Mága performed to look for Mary.

All she needed was to meditate, control her breathing, stare into the fire and chant use the same mantra that Mága used. Easy peasy Lucy thought.

She settled in front of the fire, focused on its flame and chanted.

"Blazing fire as you dance,

Give me now the secret glance.

Call upon my second sight;

Make me psychic with your light.

Blazing fire shining bright,

Give me now the second sight."

She repeated the words, over and over but nothing ever came. No visions overtook her senses, yet she chanted until she couldn't speak anymore and her mind and body was exhausted. The day had finally caught up with her and all she muster up was curling into a ball, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth and prayed for sleep to overtake her before she had to keep running/chasing. She couldn't believe that she could mentally push Mága out of the bird but she couldn't master fire scrying. The task seemed simple enough yet, her she was, curled up in a big ball of failure. How was she supposed to find her sister if she didn't even know where to look for her? Overwhelmed and exhausted it wasn't long before Lucy felt her eye lids got heavy and she welcomed the comfortable darkness that came with sleep.

She was surrounded by an unfamiliar darkness. It was empty and undefined but in the distance she saw someone riding on a horse, talking to themselves. The figure came closer and she just watched warily, where was she?

"That stupid girl. I can't believe she would come into these woods at night. Does she know how dangerous this place is at night? Lions, snakes, bandits, the list goes on." It was Arthur, she recognized his voice. She got closer to him and could easily see everything he was doing, but not where he was. It was obvious he was in the forest with her, given his complaints; but how far behind her was he.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, he was coming after her and looking good doing it. His golden locks reflected the moons light and his blue eyes sparkled. Why couldn't he have been ugly? That would have at least made him less charming. She didn't need a savior but if she ever wanted one it would have to be him.

She looked around some more and in the opposite direction was another figure, this one much further away. She wasn't sure what she was looking at but it very closely resembled a dragon with a hooded figure on its back. The large beast flew faster towards her, causing Lucy to run. She had never seen a dragon before nor questioned whether they were real or not because obviously they were a myth. Despite that knowledge she didn't want to get close enough to find out. Whatever it was, it was bigger and meaner than her, and it could fly. Lucy ran back towards Arthur, she needed to find him. She needed his help.

Author's Note: Double Update! See what I did with the chapter names? All is Fair In Love and War? Eh? I thought it worked out pretty good. Anyways,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just like to say I pretty much hate the holidays, my family is pretty usual. But this year I have a lot to be thankful for which of course includes you guys! I love everyone of you so much, you really mean the world to me! So please enjoy 2 chapters!

Thank you all so much!

Love you lots!

-Surviving