Lady A: Hey everyone and welcome back to Rise of the Dragonwitch! First things first, a message to someone I have truly missed.
Fenrir! I was seriously hoping it was you! Shocked the living daylights out of me and I didn't know if it was you or not. I had to be certain. As for a profile, make one for Fan Fiction, please! The reason I haven't been on Edge World is because every time I try to log in, it locks up. Just completely freezes up the whole browser. In fact, my comp does that on almost all my online games now. *pouts* I haven't been able to get through long enough to send you a message to tell you what had been going on. I hope you can forgive me for just dropping of the face of the Earth like that. I never meant for that to happen.
Brief Recap: The identity of the mysterious man was revealed. Captain Benedict Strathem (pronounced stra-tem, the 'h' is silent), leader of the Blood Guard and Artimes's protector. She learns that the warmth she feels inside of her is her magic, though she honestly doesn't believe that. Benedict uses his magic to heal her and she fell asleep in his arms.
Looking Forward: Artimes discovers that Benedict is, in fact, real and not a hallucination. She forces herself to put the past behind her and learn more about where and when she is. Unfortunately, the more she learns, the more questions she has. She then decides to contact a very unusual source of information.
On with the show!
Chapter Four: Prophecies and Legends
Artimes awoke to the sounds of a fire crackling, her mind still heavy from sleep. She listened to the fire's natural melody as her mind became clearer. Images of the bandits and the dark haired man that saved her resurfaced and came to the fore front of her mind. Her eyes flew open as she bolted upright. Her eyes darted around the empty cave and she felt her heart ache. Had it been just a dream? Was he nothing more than a figment of her imagination? He had seemed so real and so kind. She forced down the sob that was rising up from her chest.
She jerked away when she felt a hand on her shoulder, her panic rising fast. She twisted around until her eyes landed on the man who had appeared from nowhere, saved her life, healed her body, and held her close. She looked into the steel blue eyes of Benedict, Captain of the Blood Guard. Relief flooded her system and disbelief danced in her eyes.
"You're still here?" She asked her tone breathless from her sudden movement.
He frowned at her before his facial features softened into one of understanding and patience.
"I made a vow to stay by your side. Why would I break such a promise?" Benedict countered.
Her gaze dropped to her lap, her cheeks rosy from embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had just blurted out her question like that. He must think she was crazy or perhaps deranged.
"I…uh…thought I had finally gone mad and was hallucinating. Sorry." She apologized.
His deep baritone chuckle made her blush even more but not in embarrassment this time. She had to admit that he had a very sexy voice, positively sinful really. No guy should ever have a voice that great because women wouldn't be able to resist such a voice which would explain why she had become addicted to the Sherlock series within the first twelve minutes of the first episode and why Benedict Cumberpatch was one of her favorite actors. It simply wasn't fair.
She jumped slightly when he knelt down in front of her and covered her hands with his. Damn it, why was she so damn skittish? This was the same Ben who had held her with no problems and yet now she was being all freaking paranoid. She swore a long list of mental curses in the direction of her ex and his friends.
"I swear on my honor that I will not harm you." He stated with conviction and sincerity ringing in every word.
She felt a pang of guilt at his statement. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. He had proven that already.
"I know. It's just…" She started but then trailed off, not really knowing how to express what it was she was feeling.
His thumbs rubbed soothingly across the back of her hands, relaxing her a bit. It was these small gestures of comfort that made her like him so much.
"Your physical wounds have been healed, but the ones to your heart have not." He replied.
She nodded. She felt really stupid and angry for being so damn jumpy, paranoid, and scared. Benedict had been a complete gentleman since she met him; he had saved, healed her, held her, looked after her, and protected her. He had been so patient, understanding, kind, and gentle, but because of the events that had happened recently, she was emotionally damaged. The whole situation irked her something fierce, because she had never been a damsel in distress and she loathed just how much those bastards had affected her.
She had been through so much crap in her life, but she had never given up. She always got back up, no matter how hard that was to do sometimes. She had never stopped being kind and trusting of others. She couldn't let this hold her back anymore. She had been spent four days in wallowing in the past, but no more. She was tired of running away or hiding from the things that wanted to hurt her. She had to face things head on like she used to. This was just one more obstacle to overcome and she would succeed.
She looked up at her dark haired guardian, a look of determination and resolve on her face. The first thing to do was to get information about where she was, when she was, and to learn more about this so called 'magic'. Perhaps they simply called it magic because they didn't know its actual name. She would call it magic for the time being. As for where, she had no clue, but as for when, she had already concluded that she was no longer in 21st century. She'd wager around medieval times, a time of swords and magic, but when exactly was she?
Moreover, something had been gnawing at the back of her mind for a while now. The voice from before had said that it was time for her to return from whence she came. Now if taken literally then that statement meant she was originally from this time and was somehow magically transported to the future and then magically teleported back. That sounded completely mad…could magic really do something like that? Could it actually defy the laws of physics?
"Where exactly are we?" She asked getting into a more comfortable sitting position.
When in doubt, ask a local for information. Benedict released her hands and also settled into a more relaxed sitting position.
"We are several miles from the White Mountains, in the kingdom of Camelot." He answered.
Her eyes widened at that information. Did he just say they were in Camelot? That would place her somewhere in or around the time span of the Arthurian legends! Another thing, he had said the White Mountains. She remembered Merlin saying that Ealdor was on the other side of the White Mountains in another kingdom. That was two things that lined up with the Merlin television show.
"Who is the current ruler of Camelot?" She asked trying to lock down exactly when she was.
"Uther Pendragon and his queen, Ygraine of the House of de Bois." He answered.
She mentally cursed. With Ygraine still alive that meant, if she were going by the Merlin show, she was right before the Great Purge, the war Uther raged against the magical world for the loss of his wife.
"What kind of king is he?" She asked her stomach tying up in knots.
Perhaps there was a chance to avoid the Purge if she could stop Nimueh from sacrificing Ygraine's life.
"He is a strict but fair ruler. He cares greatly for his kingdom and is respectful of the ways of the Old Religion." He answered frowning slightly but not remarking on her line of questioning.
Another fact from the show, the Old Religion. She had only ever heard it called that in the show and in the show, Uther had been respectful of the Old ways up until he lost Ygraine. She was beginning to wonder if the show was closer to the truth than the actual written legends. She decided to test out a bit of her knowledge. Benedict would tell her if anything was wrong.
"According to the legends of my time, Uther was a tyrant that blamed magic for the death of his wife. Given what you have told me, I have a pretty good idea where I am in the timeline." She stated glancing up at him to see what his reaction would be to the whole time travel thing.
"So the prophecy is true, you do come from the future." He replied his expression thoughtful and slightly awed.
Prophecy? So someone knew she was going to be dragged through time and into the past, but for what purpose? Why was she here and what did the rumbling voice mean by from whence she came? Was she really born in this time then whisked away to the future, only to return?
"Not according to the voice I heard before I came here." She countered her mind filling with the memories of the deep, rumbling voice and allowing it to mix with her magic to send it to the dark haired captain.
Benedict's eyes widened slightly.
"That voice. It is similar to Kilgarrah's." He commented.
Her mouth fell open in surprise. Was the Great Dragon real, she meant really real…as in actually existed kind of real? His eyes lit up with an idea, but would it actually work?
"The Great Dragon? So he actually exists?" She asked seeking confirmation.
Her dark haired guardian nodded and Artimes smirked.
"I have an idea." She stated rising to her feet and heading towards the exit of the cave.
If there was one person or creature in the whole of existence to have the answers she sought, then it would the Great Dragon, Kilgarrah. She could only hope that she could, in fact, summon him like Merlin could. It was the only she had to go on and she was a firm believer in hope.
Lady A: Voila! Chapter 4: Prophecies and Legends is complete! Things are about to get interesting so leave tons and tons of reviews and keep a lookout for Chapter 5: Riddles and Dragons! Stay tuned!