Drea

I ran as fast as I could. By the time I reached the high road, my legs ached and my lungs stung. But I was too scared to slow down. What if those beings realised they'd missed me and came back after me to finish their job? I was barefoot and the rocks tore my feet to shreds but I hardly felt it over my fear.

While I ran, I thought about many things. Even before this, I thought I'd suffered enough. Not from real harm, just … pain inside. I'd thought no-one really understood what it was like to be me. I was always afraid that the others thought I was stupid, or ridiculous. And I was often so confused that within hours I could go from being happy to being angry to being sad and then back to being happy again. And there were all those feelings and thoughts and dreams that I never told a living soul about, not even Ailith, my best friend. Ailith was dead now.

Eric, my older brother, used to tease me about being so quiet and awkward but most often mum told him to let me be. When I sometimes despaired over it all she would comfort me and say I just felt this way because I was growing up and it was very normal. But I didn't quite trust her. She could not possibly know what I felt like, and when I looked at the other girls, they all seemed perfectly happy and harmonious, even Ailith. I felt miles away from them. But I had never felt so alone in the world, so anguished as I did now. They were all gone, all my loved ones. Why, why, why did I have to survive? If only they had taken me too. Then I wouldn't be alone and scared and ashamed to be still alive.

As I was running along the dusty high road I suddenly saw a group of four or five men on horses behind me. They must have come in from one of the smaller side roads. They were in shining chain mail and bright red, billowing sur-coats. Knights of Camelot. When they saw me, they exchanged a few words. Then one of them urged his horse forward in a gallop, catching up to me. "Stop!" he called. I got really scared. The knights were enforcers of the law. Had I done something wrong? Would I be punished for what happened in the village? Would they put me in a dungeon and let me starve? Silly thoughts you have when you are scared.

I hardly dared to stop and face the knight, but I was even more scared of being punished for disobeying. So I did stop and looked up at him. He was tall, really tall, and big. I shook both with exhaustion and fear. But as soon as he looked at me, I was less scared. He had a gentle countenance, calm and patient, and he had kind, blue eyes.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Ca – Camelot," I stammered.

"What for?"

"They're all dead. In my village. They were killed. My mum, dad, everyone …" Then I couldn't hold back the tears any more. I cried like a colic baby, finally letting go of my last scrap of dignity.

"There now," I heard the knight say quietly through my wailing. "Don't be scared. You're safe now. We'll take you to Camelot. You can tell me what happened on the way. Would that be alright?"

I gathered myself and nodded.

"Good. What's your name?" he asked.

"Drea."

"Don't worry, Drea. I'm Percival. I'll look after you. Alright?"

I nodded again. By the time he had lifted me onto his horse, I already felt myself falling in love with him. And that made me even more ashamed. My whole family had just been killed, and I thought about romance. That was definitely proof that I was insane.

I was not really afraid that he would sense how I felt. I was an expert in hiding my feelings, especially those I was ashamed of. He mounted up behind me and told me to hold on tight. The other knights had caught up now and the horses all broke into a canter. We would be in Camelot soon. On the way he asked me questions, to find out what had happened and possibly also to calm me down.

"How old are you, Drea?"

"Thirteen." Obviously much too young for him. But I couldn't help my feelings.

"What's the name of your village?"

"Clunsdale."

He kept his voice down. It gave a nice feeling of privacy and confidence. He waited for a few moments before asking a new question.

"Did someone attack you?"

"Yes, in a way," I said, not sure if I could even begin to explain those ghostly beings.

One little question at a time he managed to get me to tell the whole story. I was nervous whether he would believe it when I told him about the shadow beings, but if he did not, he hid it well.