39. Blood Mage
"Hello?" Lucy called out to the familiar darkness. What was she doing back here again? Her breathing quickened and panic began to set in. The consuming darkness of the void was all too familiar, she didn't like this place.
''Anyone there?'' She questioned the void. Was she alone? Could anyone hear her calls?
"Welcome back my dear girl," Kharon spoke at last in his eerily ominous voice.
"Kharon?" Lucy asked, a bit relieved.
"Yes?" He replied.
"What am I doing back here? Last time I was here I was comatose for 3 days!" She shouted at the nothingness. She hated this place, she wanted nothing more than to be back with Arthur.
"This is a quick visit, I promise," he answered politely." But, please tell me where you are currently?"
"Why?" Lucy inquired skeptically.
"The void cannot see you, " he replied frankly, then added a moment later, "we were worried."
"I'm at Amora's in the heart of the Savernake Forest. She is going to teach me about my powers." Lucy answered excitedly. She wanted to get back to her aunt and finally learn the truth about her family and heritage.
"The third sister is alive?" Kharon inquired quite intrigued.
"Was this not known to you?" Lucy skeptically asked.
Silence. "No."
"How is that possible?" Lucy asked.
"Well, that is for you to find out. Vortigern sought out to kill all three oracle sisters before taking reign of Camelot and brutally killing his brother and sister-in-law. It has been believed for over a decade that the sisters were gone and if she can not be seen by me, then she cannot be seen by anybody, which an inherently powerful ability to possess."
"I appreciate your concern Kharon, but I don't think you need to be worried about her. She is just a little old lady who has a small cabin in the woods where she keeps to herself." Lucy replied, defending her poor, old, and lonely aunt.
"With power comes great responsibility, and hiding that power, such as hers, can be dangerous. Don't be a fool." Kharon's voice rings crisp and clear in her head.
She jolted awake and looked around. She was back in the tent with Arthur beside her and enough darkness in the sky that she could go back to sleep and still get some rest. She laid back down and stared at the inside of the tent. Arthur was sleeping peacefully beside her, steady breaths leaving his lips. She wrapped her blankets tighter before scooting closer to Arthur, desperate for his body heat to keep her warm. As she pushed up against his side, his arms instinctively wrapped around her and pulled her closer. Lucy found safety in his grasp and quickly fell back asleep, letting her worries and Kharon's warning slip away into the night.
"Good morning," Arthur greeted while tending to fresh food being cooked over the fire. His smile was natural and charming.
"Morning," Lucy smiled back at him. She loved seeing this side of him. He was rustic and masculine. He was completely in his element, cooking breakfast on an open fire. Was there anything he couldn't do and look good doing it?
"Amora brought the food, she said you would need the sustenance and energy for your training," Arthur said as he tended to the cast iron pan in front of him.
"I am nervous," Lucy confessed, the feeling residing deep in her gut for some unknown reason.
"I understand, but you can handle it, you are stronger than you think," Arthur reassured her before serving her a hash of eggs, potatoes, and bacon.
Lucy dug into the food hungrily, she felt famished and had an appetite that could not be satiated. About halfway in she suddenly stopped shoveling food into her mouth as she realized how rude she was being.
"I'm so sorry," she said swallowing her food, "I was just really hungry for some reason."
"It's okay. I like when a girl has a healthy appetite." He smirked.
She laughed and rolled her eyes, but she loved it. She loved this odd flirty chemistry that they had. She also loved spending time with him. At the castle, they were never alone, but out here, it was just them and Amora. Nobody knew where they were, not even the void apparently.
"I like this." She said, staring at him and taking this moment in. She wanted to remember it forever, just this simplicity and freedom she feels and capture it for forever.
"Thanks, I think I did a pretty good job."
"Yeah, the food is good too." She smiled at him then went back to eating.
They chatted back and forth for a couple more minutes before Amora came to fetch Lucy. Lucy left Arthur reluctantly but quickly grew excited about the lessons she was about to learn.
"Follow me," Amora said simply to Lucy then began walking away from the cabin and into the woods. Lucy followed behind her, with a million questions firing away inside her mind but her mouth was unable to formulate any of them. They walked for several minutes, getting further and further away with each step until suddenly Amora stopped. Lucy nearly ran into the old woman but thankfully stopped before doing so.
"Why are we here?"
"Two more steps that way, and my barrier ends. I want you to take three steps and sit." She explained simply.
Lucy looked up in front of her at the invisible barrier and thought 'how does she know it ends'. She took a few steps forward then turned around, facing Amora and sat down.
"You are now outside the barrier. You need to open your eye because you are not seeing what is in front of you."
"How do I do that? What am I not seeing?"
"You see nothing, only present, and past. You need to see all three, present, past, and future."
"Teach me how."
"I cannot teach, only show. The sight is a gift, only bestowed upon those who are worthy."
"Does my sister have the gift?"
"She can see glimpses, you shall see the whole picture."
"What if I don't like the future I see?"
"This gift is not for you nor about you. It comes with a hefty responsibility."
"So I can warn people what will happen, but I can't change anything?" Lucy inquired.
"Time, it is fluid like a river, yet solid like a tree. Its course can be altered along the way but in the end, its destination is always the same." Amora answered.
"Close your eyes, but picture the forest around you, see it without actually seeing it."
Lucy did as she was told. She visualized the trees and foliage around around her.
"Breathe deeply, focus on the details you want to be able to see and remember everything from your visions, this excersise will help with that."
Lucy took a couple of deep, calming breathes and filled in the details, but why did she need to be outside the barrier for this?
"Amor-"
"Shhh, girl. Focus and listen. Go back to your breathing."
Lucy took a deep breath and focused again. The image became clearer and she could see the grooves in the bark of the trees.
"Now change your perspective. Instead of looking through your eyes watch from above. See yourself sitting on the forest floor." Amora guided her.
Lucy began to do as she was told, her concentration holding steady. She looked down at herself sitting cross legged on the ground with nothing but nature surrounding her.
"Once you have done that, begin to open your eyes without losing perspective." Amora instructed.
Lucy's eyes fluttered open as she held on tightly to her vision. As her eyes opened she realized she was no longer in her body, but rather the astral plane. She could see the barrier Amora talked about. The barrier held an obvious shimmer and a faint outline of symbols and sigil that otherwise camouflaged the area Amora had protected.
"Are you still there?" Lucy asked. She couldn't see her aunt, but she could feel her nearby.
"Yes dear, I am here. Tell me what you see."
"I can see the barrier, it shimmers." Lucy answer.
"Good, your powers are strong. What I am going to ask you to do next is much more difficult. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"I want you to travel to Camelot. You must be aware of what is happening while you are away."
"Okay." Lucy nodded and began picturing the caste, her room to be specific. It was the place where she had spent he most time with Arthur and while his methods were unconventional, she had to admit that he had definitely he had grown on her.
"This will be much more difficult to see because you will be traveling so far away. Describe what you see when you see it. It will help you remember what you see." Amora guided her.
Lucy's astral form rose above them and flew out of the woods towards Camelot. The further away her astral form got away from her physical body the more strained she felt. She wanted to stop but she couldn't. She needed to master these skills and quickly.
She pushed through until she found herself staring up at the entrance of the castle that was covered in shimmer of sigils and symbols from head to toe. Lucy knew these spells and protections were invisible to the human eye, but she wondered how long they at been there. She tried entering the castle but the magick warding it kept her out.
"I'm at the castle, its covered in sigils and symbols that I don't recognize and they are keeping me out."
"Yes, father has always been a careful man. We must come back another day, when you are stronger." Amora sighed. The girl had shown considerable strength thus far, but held no knowledge of her heritage or the importance of it.
Lucy could feel the disappointment her aunt felt in her, and refused to let this trip be wasted. She pushed her astral form to go into the town and listen for gossip among the people. The marketplace held a plethora of conversations to listen in on, which served Lucy's needs.
"How long will the king be gone?"
"No one knows, some think he has abandoned his throne."
"King Arthur would never abandon his kingdom, he is a man of the people."
"Not if he was pushed from his throne. The mages did this. They waited for Vortigern to be defeated then they suddenly come out of the woodwork. I don't trust them."
Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing. In her moment of shock she suddenly was ripped back to her physical body and was subsequently hit with a wave of nausea and whiplash. She took a deep breath, slowly settling her stomach.
"Lucy, are you alright?" Amora called out.
"Yeah, I just need a minute." Lucy called back.
"Please hurry, you should not be out in the open too long, people may go looking for things they should not know about." Amora urged the girl.
Lucy scrambled to her feet with the voices of the villages faintly still in her head. She couldn't shake the feel of dread and worry as their words echoed in the back of her mind.
The king abandoned the throne. The mages did this. I don't trust them.
Amora caught the stumbling girl once she was inside the barrier and settled her down in a safe spot to rest.
"What did you see girl?"
"Nothing."
"Don't you start lying to me know. You saw something at the end, tell me."
"I didn't see so much as hear. People are skeptical of Arthur's sudden disappearance."
"As they should be. The King's absence could be perilous."
"Why couldn't I get into the castle?" Lucy asked, looking up at Amora from her place on the ground. The question bothered her in a way she couldn't comprehend. What were they hiding?
"Come, we must get back. I have more to show you." Amora instructed.
Amora helped Lucy back to the cabin at a steady pace. When they broke through the clearing Arthur immediately ran over to help Lucy inside where Amora could feed and hydrate her.
"What happened to you?" He asked Lucy.
"Nothing, I just over exerted myself, that's all." Lucy ansered as they got her to a chair where she could finally rest. She already felt her physical strength come back, but mentally she was exhausted.
"You need to be more careful, this seems to be happening too often." Arthur berated her with deep concern.
"Yes, and it will continue to happen until she learns to control the power of her magick." Amora informed him curtly. Arthur looked back at her with hesitant trust. He hated seeing Lucy like this, yet he too remembered the bruises and injuries he sustained in his training growing up with George and the boys.
"Just promise me you will be more careful?" He asked, his desperation slipping through. She meant a lot to him and he felt useless that there was nothing he could do to help her.
"She will be fine in my care. You are dismissed." Amora answered for her, and pushed Arthur out of the cabin. Lucy weakly sent him a reassuring smile. She loved him, but she needed answers from Amora. A conversation best suited away from him.
Lucy's mind was spinning, as if she didn't have enough to worry about, the added responsibility of leading the King away from his castle made her feel even more guilty. She knew she shouldn't feel responsible for it was he who decided to follow her, but his absence still left Camelot vulnerable, and that it was. It's people were growing doubtful of his return and with the castle blocked from her sight, she had no idea about what was truly going on, but maybe Amora did.
"Why did you take me outside the boundary to do that?" Lucy asked, straight to the point.
"I was worried that you wouldn't be able to see through the protection spell and I was right, you couldn't see me standing inside the circle. You are still an amature, you have much yet to learn."
"Is that why I couldn't see inside the castle?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, and if they are Merlin's protection spells then they will be much stronger than mine." Amora answered.
"How do I learn to see past them?"
"You can't, you can only break them and put up a new one, ideally it helps if your spell is stronger than your enemy's."
"Is the castle safe?"
"It is, for now. But you have much to learn and we must focus on that right now." Amora urged the girl.
"How long is for now?" Lucy asked in a panic. Maybe she should send Arthur back now, and keep the city safe.
"I will tell you when it is time for you to return, but please, let us get back on task." Amora answered.
Amora spent the rest of the afternoon with her going over the basics of spell casting and directing her magick. While seeing was a special ability only her bloodline could master, there was a plethora of other, everyday kind of magick that she could do too. Lucy was inspired by how much of the craft was based around healing and health and not just power and immortality. That was one of the differences Amora described between Light and Dark magick.
The day was long but Lucy was glad to head back to the tent her and Arthur shared, with the strong desire to curl up beside him and go to sleep. As she approached the small camp, she found him cooking food over the fire and a smile spread across her face. He was more than she ever could have asked for, yet she wouldn't trade him for the world. She wanted to send him away, but she was too selfish to give him up. He provided her with a sense of comfort she didn't know she needed until right now.
She sat down quietly next to him and watched as he prepared the evening meal.
"How was training?" Arthur asked, looking over at her.
"It was long, and exhausting. There are so many aspects and complexities to understand. I just hope I can master it enough to stop my sister and whatever it is she is cooking up." Lucy answered honestly. She knew something big was coming, she just didn't know what.
"You are not alone. We will get through this together." He reassured her, plating her up some food.
"Do you worry?" She asked, letting the meal cool before digging in.
"All the time, but I try not to let it control me." Arthur replied, dishing up his own food. "But keep in mind there is a lot in this world for which you cannot control. Don't waste your time worrying about those things because you cannot change them."
"I was thinking..."
"You have been thinking all day, I think you should eat and rest. We can think more tomorrow."
"Maybe your right." Lucy smiled, eating more of her food.
"I know I am. I'm the King remember." Arthur joked. They finished their food in comfortable since. Lucy enjoyed Arthur company and at the end of the night when they laid down together he pulled her close where she safely slept in his arms.
"Don't be a fool." The words rang clearly through Lucy's mind right before she fell asleep.
Author's Note: 3000 words
Yay! I updated.
I promise I didn't forget about you guys! I just want you guys to know I have been working really hard on this chapter, I was trying to get it out earlier but I couldn't allowed myself to deliver something half-assed. But seriously, not a day goes by that I don't have a notification (or 10) from this story, I.e. the 100 I had today! (wattpad) Whether its someone adding my book to their reading list, a vote, or a comment, I see it all. It truly blows my mind, I have fans and people reccommend me to their friends! That is awesome and you guys are great! I come from a small town so I never expected much when I started this. A huge shout out to those who have been with me since the beginning, you guys are troopers!
Work has been much better, and I have even cut back on my overtime which means I should have more time to keep writing. I have been working on a lot of personal goals for myself and writing is definitely one of them. My other goals include working out more, tracking my diet for nutritional value purposes, and managing my mental health. It's all a lot of work but as a great man once said do one thing everyday that will make you better tomorrow.
Anyways, keep it up guys! You rock!
-Surviving