by LH Nicole
She parked and scrambled out of the car, grabbing her guardian in her arms when he met her halfway.
“I can’t leave you alone for one day, can I?”
Aliana laughed, hugging him tightly to her chest. Before the guys could question her, Dawn and Lacy pulled Aliana aside. In low voices, they demanded to know what had happened.
“We were attacked,” Aliana explained. “Galahad went crazy when Morgana blasted me into a bench.”
“She what?” Dawn shrieked, drawing the guys’ glances.
Aliana rolled the shoulder that had collided with the iron. A numb kind of tingle made her flinch. “I’m going to feel that one tomorrow.” She felt the lingering adrenaline start to recede.
“Aliana, you can’t brush this off,” Lacy insisted. “Something wasn’t right with Galahad out there.”
“I know. I’ll talk to him.”
“Girls,” Arthur interrupted. “Dinner is inside and we need to hear what Dagg has learned.” He looked Aliana over. “And you should have Merlin heal your injuries.”
She smiled. “Thanks, but I think Dagg can take care of it later.”
They turned and filed into the house, each taking a seat around the kitchen table. The Pixies set out plates of steaming shrimp scampi pasta, hot cheesy garlic bread, and roasted tomatoes. But no matter how good it all looked and smelled, Aliana couldn’t do much more than play with the food instead of eating it. Too much had happened in such a short time, and her worry consumed her.
“Enough already,” Dawn said suddenly. “Shouldn’t Dagg be telling us what he found out?”
Lancelot shot Dawn an annoyed look, but apparently Arthur agreed with her and nodded at the Dragon.
“I didn’t find my clan’s elder, but I did learn that he was last seen on the Isle of the Blessed several centuries ago.”
“Several centuries?” Leo asked.
Dagg smirked. “Time is nothing to a Dragon. And Silzik has lived longer than all of my kin.”
Owen pushed his half-eaten plate aside and asked, “Does anyone else find it odd that the Dragon we seek is in the same realm where we suspect Excalibur is hidden?”
The guys murmured their agreement.
“We’ll leave for the Isle in the morning.” Arthur turned his golden brown gaze to Merlin. “Is there a gate close by?”
The Druid nodded. “It’s not far from here, surprisingly. It’s in one of the old battle fields.”
Several of the guys started talking strategy while the others put together lists of things they’d need to bring with them. Aliana looked down at her food. This was probably the last real meal she’d get for a few days. She knew she should try to enjoy it while she could and forced down several bites of pasta and shrimp and half the garlic bread.
When everyone else left the table to do their appointed tasks, Aliana shuffled into the living room with Dagg in her arms. Her energy had faded nearly completely, and she was starting to feel her injuries.
“Sit down, Aliana,” the Dragon ordered unnecessarily. She wasn’t going to last on her aching legs for very long.
As she sank onto the soft cushions, Dagg settled on her knees, stretching up so his claws rested on her temples. His wings flared and his snake-like body glowed with silver-purple light. The light slowly wound its way around Aliana’s relaxed form, and a gentle burning targeted her aches and bruises, soothing them with a heated burst of magic. When the sensations faded away, Aliana felt better than she had in days.
“Wow, you’re better than Prozac!” she gasped.
While Dagg chuckled, Arthur entered the room. “May I speak to you for a moment, Aliana?” The Dragon smiled at both of them and flew down the hall toward Merlin’s room.
Aliana nodded slightly, worried about what the king would say next. She didn’t want a repeat of the night before.
“I want to apologize. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard on a topic I know is difficult for you. I never wanted to cause you pain or tears.”
The sincerity of his words soothed some of the hurt in her heart. “Thank you, Arthur.”
He nodded. “Obviously, I won’t say anything about what you told me to the others. I’ll keep your confidence.”
Aliana smiled, glad that they’d settled their awkwardness. Galahad walked into the living room from the direction of Merlin’s room. She needed to talk to her knight. “I’ll see you bright and early,” she told Arthur.
“Good night,” the king said as she went to Galahad.
She took Galahad’s hand and led him up the stairs to her room. “Are you really okay?” she asked the second the door was closed. “What did Morgana mean when she asked if you were having trouble containing yourself? Does she have something to do with your freak out?”
Galahad sighed heavily and sat on the edge of the bed. “It had nothing to do with Morgana or her magic.”
Aliana crawled onto the bed next to him, lacing her fingers with his. “Then what was it?”
“I watched my whole family die.” His blue gaze held her emerald one captive. “First it was my parents, when I was a child. Then my sister…” He shook his head, his hands gripping hers more tightly. “Seeing you hurt, seeing you at Morgana or Mordrid’s mercy is terrifying. I can’t lose you the way I did them.”
Aliana leaned into her brave, deeply wounded knight.
Galahad sighed again and kissed her forehead. “I know I can be overbearing at times, but please understand. I couldn’t save them. I wasn’t old enough to help my parents, and I wasn’t with Sophvira when she was attacked. I won’t let another person I care about die because I was unable to protect them.”
Aliana’s heart broke. “But who protects you? I get how you feel, truly I do. But Galahad, sometimes you have to be willing to let others protect you too.” She cupped his cheek and turned his face toward her. “You’re not the only one who doesn’t want to lose any more loved ones because they were powerless to help.”
He took a breath and straightened, releasing one of her hands to tangle his fingers in her chocolate waves. Their foreheads rested against each other. “Thank you,” Galahad whispered, kissing her lips lightly. “For calming me down earlier. I didn’t realize how out of control I was.”
“Any time, handsome.” Aliana leaned in, capturing his lips with hers.
Dawn and Lacy spent the majority of the next morning freaking out about traveling to another realm. Lacy seemed to have a school-girlish excitement while Dawn appeared more worried. The air was humid by the time the twelve of them found themselves across the memorialized battlefield and into the surrounding forest where an ancient, knotted oak tree served as a gateway to the Isle of the Blessed.
When they’d packed into the cars that morning, Merlin had reminded them again that he and Lancelot wouldn’t be able to join them because of Titania’s punishment. They were only coming along to be sure the rest of them made it through the gate. Those two stayed at the back of the party, but as soon as they came within ten feet of the tree, the sky turned midnight black, and lightning shot down. Two wailing, ghostly figures leeched out from the tree and went straight for Merlin and Lancelot.
“Banshees!” Merlin shouted.
The knights immediately sprang into action, drawing their weapons to defend their friends. Every one of them tried to cut through the Banshees, but none of their blades hurt the otherworldly creatures. Not even Arthur’s Elven blade had any effect. Aliana summoned her magic to attack, but Merlin warned her off with a harsh command to stop.
Confused, Aliana fell back with Lacy and Dawn, who were between Owen, Percy, and Leo. “Use your magic!” Aliana shouted at the Druid.
Merlin shook his head as he and Arthur tried to cut down one of the spirits again with no success.
“Wade, look out!” Dawn shrieked. All eyes immediately turned toward the laid-back knight. One of the Banshees came toward him as he stood by Lancelot’s side.
Finally calling on his power, Merlin hit the ghost with a blast of radiating orang
e magic before it could attack his brothers. It wailed, the cries so loud that everyone fell to their feet, clutching their ears against the violent sound wave. Merlin’s attack gathered within the spirits and exploded outward with a deafening bang. When the assault on their ears ended, Aliana looked up to a horrifying sight.
Merlin, Lancelot, and Wade lay sprawled on the brown grass, barely moving and moaning in agony. They were covered with blood and blackened burns.
“Wade!” the three girls cried at once, rushing to their fallen friend.
11
My crazy stupid, lovable big brother is lying on the ground like a corpse from a war film. I can’t lose him! After the fighting in London, I thought I knew how real and dangerous this quest business would be, but now I see how naive I was. I’ve let my feelings for Percy and my excitement for adventure blind me. But my gut tells me I’m supposed to be a part of this, that I need to continue on to the Isle. That scares me. Since when is this quest more important to me than my big brother?
~Lacy
WADE LAY TWISTED at awkward angles with lacerations and burns everywhere. Merlin and Lancelot looked even worse at first, but they were more fortunate than Wade. Within minutes their wounds had almost completely healed.
Aliana was ready to use her magic to try to heal her friend, but Merlin stopped her. “You’ll need all your strength on the Isle. Lancelot and I will see to him.”
“Not on your own, you won’t. I’m not leaving Wade to the two of you,” Dawn objected, wiping a stream of tears from her freckled face.
Wade seemed to regain consciousness for a brief moment but quickly fell back into darkness. Pieces of ripped skin stained the edges of his silver Pendragon cuff, and blood trickled onto it. Aliana’s gut twisted as she worried this was a sign of the future for the Knights of the Round Table. She shook her head, dislodging the haunting thought. She couldn’t think like that right now!
The rest of the guys helped Merlin and Lancelot get Wade onto a magical stretcher that Merlin had summoned. As they saw to their fellow knight, Lacy and Aliana pulled Dawn to the side.
“I can’t leave Wade like this,” she protested before either of them had a chance to speak.
“Of course not! I’d never ask you to.” Aliana wrapped her arms around both Lacy and Dawn. “I completely understand if both of you want to stay behind with him.”
Lacy sighed shakily but shook her head. “I need to go with you. I don’t know why, but…” Her words trailed off.
“Don’t worry, Lace, I’ll take care of Wade,” Dawn assured her.
Aliana gave her a stern look. “You’ll need to be careful. Morgana and Mordrid could still attack you guys at any time.”
“We know why this happened,” Lacy hissed. “Apparently Merlin and Lancelot aren’t even allowed to be near a portal to one of Titania’s realms. Those two put us all in danger and almost got Wade killed. They should’ve never left the house. But Merlin insisted.”
“I’ll keep on trying to find out what secrets Merlin’s hiding while we take care of Wade,” Dawn promised.
With that settled, Dagg helped Aliana open the portal to the Isle of the Blessed, and the new Round Table found themselves four members short in a beyond beautiful new realm. Aching for Wade and Dawn, and even the frustrating Lancelot and Merlin, Aliana followed Arthur and Percy as they led the way.
The ground was covered in jeweled tones of brown earth and green-blue grass. The trees stood in such an orderly fashion that Aliana imagined them to be worried Titania would get upset if they were one inch out of place. The fallen leaves on the ground were shades of orange and pink while those on the many trees were a rainbow of colors against white trunks. A current of magic danced through Aliana’s body, singing to her like an offering. She felt stronger—her magic brighter—and she had no lingering feelings of being drained from opening the portal.
Following the directions marked on Merlin’s map, they made their way over a beaten trail that crossed a large, rolling valley with fields of flowers and strange plants.
“We should reach the cliff opening soon,” Percy said, looking back over his shoulder.
They still had no idea where to start looking for Silzik, so Arthur had suggested they start by finding a Fae village. There they could ask if anyone knew where the Dragon might be.
Aliana readjusted the bow and small quiver of arrows slung across her back. All of them, even Lacy, were decked out with weapons. Just because Queen Titania had helped them before, it didn’t mean they were necessarily safe in her realm. Everything was a possible danger, according to the guys.
“There it is!” Galahad said, pointing to a large cliff face rising above another hill. Their pace increased. Aliana was sure they must be as anxious as she was to get some food. They’d have to hunt for their dinner, Arthur had warned her. She hoped there’d be fruit and vegetables to eat. She didn’t like the idea of killing a wild animal and then…she shivered, unable to finish the thought.
As they reached the cliff and entered a small cave, the guys split up. Some left to gather kindling and wood for a fire while Galahad and Owen searched for dinner. Arthur and Dagg remained with Lacy and Aliana to set up camp.
All the guys seemed more at ease since they’d entered “the land of heroes.” They always brimmed with confidence, but this sense of ease seemed to go deeper than that. This was their element, traveling through dangerous lands on a seemingly impossible quest with the fate of the entire world on the line. Aliana felt a pang of familiar worry sting her chest. What if she couldn’t be the Destined One they all expected her to be? What if she messed up and caused them to fail? It had been a while since she’d felt these doubts. She’d hoped she was past them, but clearly she wasn’t.
She handed Dagg rocks as he built a ring of stones to contain their fire. While they worked, her gaze drifted to Arthur. He paced at the cave’s entrance, no doubt keeping an eye out for signs of danger. If she failed to be good enough, Arthur and his men would pay the greatest price of all.
“Hey.” Lacy tapped Aliana’s shoulder, jarring her out of her worry-filled thoughts. “You okay?”
Aliana nodded, trying to smile. She was glad her friend was here. At first none of the knights had thought Lacy or Dawn should cross the gate. But at the last minute, Arthur had agreed that since the girls must be connected to the prophecy—it was too much of a coincidence that they each had a magical element in their DNA—they should come along. Lacy’s element was unidentified, so it was possible she had a tie to this realm and one of the magical creatures or races that inhabited it.
Lacy opened the large drawstring packs Galahad and the guys had been carrying. She pulled out several sleeping rolls, blankets, a few dinner plates, and several sacks of the Pixie wine Sabine had insisted they take with them. “What do you think Merlin would’ve said if he knew we’d be drinking tonight?” Lacy wiggled her eyebrows. “I know it’s not alcoholic or anything, but…it is Pixie wine—magically delicious.” They both broke down in shaking laughter. It felt good to push the angst aside for a moment.
“What’s so funny?” Arthur asked, returning to them from the cave’s entrance.
Aliana took a breath to calm her laughter. “Nothing. Just making fun of Merlin.”
Arthur grinned. “That was one of our favorite pastimes in Camelot. For such a strong Druid, he sure is easy to heckle.”
“And why are we making fun of our missing Druid?” Percy asked as he and Leo set down large armfuls of dried branches and twigs.
“Because we can,” Lacy told her boyfriend, pulling out the last of their supplies.
“Has anyone had any luck puzzling out our mystery poem?” Dagg asked, drawing the group’s focus back to the current issue.
“I was wondering,” Leo said, his brogue seeming a bit thicker since entering the Isle. “Is it possible that your Dragon, Silzik, is the ‘guarded by teeth and claws’ reference?”
Galahad and Owen entered the cave just then. Two small creatures hung f
rom their hands as well as a full bag.
Lacy gasped and turned away from the animals. Aliana bit back her own queasiness. She wasn’t a vegetarian or anything like that, but she preferred to not see her food in its cute, furry form before she ate it. Percy took the animals from the two hunters and set to cleaning them outside.
“You were saying, Leo,” Arthur said.
The Highlander picked up his thoughts from a moment ago. “We all agree that this Silzik being here is not a coincidence—”
“But the poem also says that it’s only guarded until dawn’s light,” Dagg reminded them, cutting Leo off. “Once a Dragon claims a thing, either as his or to guard for another, they don’t relent in protecting it. I would think it’s more probable we’ll have to face a Golem or a Gargoyle.”
“A Golem?” Aliana asked.
“Golems are usually inanimate creatures until their territory is threatened,” Dagg explained. “Their skin is rough and grayish like the rocky, mountainous areas they inhabit, so they’re often mistaken for boulders.”
“Do you think Golems were the things throwing those rocks at me back in Avalon?” Aliana asked, remembering her near-crushing test.
“Most likely,” Dagg answered.
Lacy dropped her head into her hands with a frustrated growl. “Great, so how do we fight a big, stone monster?”
“Galahad, Arthur!” Percy hissed from just outside the cave’s entrance. “You need to see this.”
All the guys were instantly on their feet, their hands on their hilts and ready to draw their weapons as they rushed to the cave’s entrance. Aliana picked up her bow and quiver. Lacy grabbed her set of long daggers.
“Lassies, stay back!” Leo ordered in a low voice, drawing his twin katanas.
Surprised by the quiet knight’s harsh order, the girls glanced at each other and paused.
“What’s going on?” Aliana asked in a whisper.