Camelot

Fifteen - Training

Fifteen – Training

 

I saw the ruins of the Isle of the Blessed as the boat grew closer. Uther had attacked it during the great purge as it was one of the placed that held extraordinary magical power, just like the Crystal Caves. The castle was now a pretty ruin, with green vines growing along fallen stones. It looked magnificent and I could only imagine how beautiful it would have been before the purge.

Once the boat had smoothly hit a small dock I stepped off the boat and the minute I gathered myself I knew that I was not alone on the island. Someone else with a lot of power was here too, someone who knew the ways of the old religion.

“Hello Emalia,” said a cool female voice.

I turned to see a woman, dressed in a tattered pink gown. She could have been mistaken for a poor village girl, with her matted dark brown hair and clothing, but I felt the power that radiated off her. She was a sorcerer. She studied me with large blue eyes, as though waiting for my response, a cool smile on her face.

“Who are you?” I responded, keeping my voice calm.

“I am Nimueh,” she responded.

I immediately felt a shiver run down my spine. This was the sorcerer who had been targeting Camelot for all these weeks, trying to destroy the very place I called home or at least used to call home.

“You seek the power of the old religion,” she said. “I feel it already within you, yet you wish to become stronger. You wish to be a high priestess.”

“Yes,” I replied, feeling nervous at the way she seemed to know everything about me.

“I’ve seen you before,” she continued. “You are the wife of Arthur Pendragon.”

I begun to back away, hoping I could get back into the boat and blow up a gale with my powers and get out of here. If Nimueh saw Arthur as an enemy then she would see me as a threat, which meant I would be disposed of. When I turned my head slightly I noticed that the boat was gone. I was trapped here.

“I will not kill you Emalia,” she said. “You are no danger to me.”

“I did not know that this island was claimed,” I said. “I merely came here to-,”

“Oh I know why you’re here,” she smiled. “Come.” She beckoned me with a long, pale arm towards a stone archway.

I followed her, curious to see what she planned on showing me. While Nimueh had been targeting Camelot for weeks she had not directly attacked me and something told me she would remain on good terms with me.  

She led me to what would have been a courtyard, with a wide stone table. This is probably where the high priestesses would have practiced their enchantments and probably where Nimueh practised hers now. While I thought this was our end destination she continued to walk, leading further and further down until we were in a cave like room, with a large bowl in the corner.

“I left your husband in a cave trying to get a morteus flower,” she smirked, her eyes narrowed in an evil glare. “Let’s see how he faired.”

She stood over the bowl and began muttering words so quickly that they were illegible to me. The water begun to swirl and I watched fascinated as Camelot appeared on the waters surface. Nimueh was a very talented sorcerer.

I saw her scowl as the castle of Camelot took place. Clearly she was expecting a different image to appear after her incantation. I wondered if she had left Arthur in a fair bit of trouble in the caves and she was expecting to see him dead.