Clifton and Bruno reunite
Steve Bruin
meredith lahmann
::Avalon::
Sir Gawain had paced for hours as he considered what was happening. He’d been guarding the Grail for literally hundreds of years now. He had never understood why time seemed to have stopped here and it had taken long years before he had simply accepted it. Then the strangers from another world had come, not so much another world as another time. Or was that true? Avalon had always been a different place, its inhabitants were all fey folk, some good, and some like Morgana were evil. He suspected that when the queens of Avalon had intervened to save Arthur, they’d also come to realize that Morgana would always pursue him because of her relentless hate. They’d also come to realize that the Holy Grail was a force beyond their power that must never fall into her hands. Gawain suspected that it was also the reason that he and the few remaining knights had also been brought here. They had all sworn to protect their king and to serve God. While many had done so with their lives, some had gone to Morgana’s side. He and those who served here had remained true to the end of the Great Battle. Most had lain in their own blood waiting to die only to be whisked here.
When he was a child and all through most of his life before then, Avalon had been fairly easy to approach, but even in the last days, it seemed to have drifted away. Over time, the knights ad their families had formed a theory that somehow Avalon had been tethered to earth by belief, and as people ceased believing , the Faerie isle had drifted further and further away. Whatever had happened, they’d been alone for centuries until the newcomers arrived.
Gawain stopped pacing and walked to the courtyard. He summoned a page to gather all the knights. When they arrived, he briefed them on Morgana’s deception of the newcomer officer.
Gawain: Let’s divide. Half of us will guard his majesty, the rest will go to the chapel of the Grail. In the end. As ye all know, we guard it and Arthur with our lives.
:: All nodded and made quick work of dividing. Gawain started toward the chapel when he saw the MacLarens standing anxiously near the edge of the courtyard.::
Sir Gawain: Eh’m afraid ye will have to go to your quarters. It’s apt to become dangerous here. Morgana is making another attempt on the king and...another vital ….
Gavin: She’s going after the Grail isn’t she?
Sir Gawain: startled: Who told ye of that?
Gavin: We told you that you and the king are part of our culture. Literature has told us your stories for thousands of years, including the Holy Grail. It is the cup from which Jesus drank at the last supper, is it not? It is the most sacred artifact of Christianity. Many believe it just legend. I, for one, do not. I simply thought it lost.
Johann: nodding: I agree. How can we help?
Sir Gawain: after a long pause: I ken ye three are nae like the others, in several ways. Ye are what we call fey. Ye read thoughts and know things others do not. Ye also are Christian. Your others dinna share that faith. Alright, come with us to the chapel. We will enter first. If I’m mistaken and the Grail doesna want ye in, the door will close before ye can come in. If it let’s ye in, you will join us in praying.
Johanna: Thank you. So, can it not protect itself?
Sir Gawain: I have no doubt it can, but we are expected to stand against evil, aye? If we did not do that, why would it grace us with its presence.
Gavin: So what will happen?
Sir Gawain: We will see. We will pray including for the safety of your Mr. Clifton. His soul is in danger though I sense he is a good man.
Johanna: He is. I’m relieved you see that.
:The other knights smiled.:
Sir Bedivere: who had not spoken before: The captain is more than a little fey himself.
Sir Gawain: seeming a bit embarrassed: Let’s not tarry.
:In short order, they had entered an exquisite chapel. Johanna gasped at its beauty and at the sudden sense of divine presence. A simple cup sat on the altar. Light emanated from it. No candles, no other source of light illuminated the small room. She felt an overwhelming peace and saw her brothers and the knights equally affected.
Sir Gawain knelt and the others followed his example. Despite the sense of peace, Johanna began to worry. Shouldn’t they be doing something beside just praying? She’d been shocked to see the knights disarm just outside the chapel. How would they defend the Grail if Morgana got passed their normal defenses? What would happen to the king, the young families who lived here? What….
The sound of hard boots sounded in the Hall. Johanna and her brothers started in alarm, but each found a gentle but restraining hand on their shoulders from whatever knight knelt next to them. Johanna felt a sudden, nearly overwhelming sense of power. The light in the room suddenly blinding, a great clap of thunder nearly deafened them. The floor shook. She felt herself thrown, no not thrown, carried at astounding speed. Before her mind could begin to assess what had happened, she found herself in the shuttle, her brothers and Clifton in their places with Odyssey right in front of them.
"The battle is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." --Patrick Henry
"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
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