His Guardian Angel 2

Chapter 11 - The Witch's Quickening

I wandered through the forest, Mordred sat atop Heaven as we walked back to the clearing I'd left Lancelot in. I had checked over all the other druids, and they'd informed me of what had happened. Apparently they'd been ambushed this morning and the knights had grabbed as many of the druids as possible, including Mordred. A few had tried to fight off the knights, as a group of them had run in the opposite direction, trying to get away from the camp.

Everyone who had been taken was alright, other than a little shaken up, and some sore wrists from having them bound in rope that the knights had. I let Mordred ride on Heaven as it was something he always enjoyed, and I wanted to put a smile back on his face, at least for a little while. I was worried about the reaction the young boy would have once we returned to camp, seeing as this was the only family he'd ever known.

Once we did reach the clearing, I noticed that Lancelot had a few other people with him, some of the younger druids, who were now sporting various bandages. The two groups reunited and I wrapped my arms around Lance, letting out a sigh, knowing that the next few hours were going to be extremely difficult. "Come on." I said, letting go of Lance and walking over to Mordred, who had managed to climb down, off Heaven.

Lance also hugged Mordred and I went over to the group of druids. "I am so sorry for what happened here, we'll do our best to honour your dead in the best way possible." I said, and the druids all smiled at me gratefully. "You have already done so much for us." One of them said, and I nodded sadly, not really believing them, but not wanting to ignore the compliment. "We should all get some rest, there should be enough here to salvage something to keep us warm for the night." Lance said, coming over and placing an arm over my shoulder.

I looked over at another place in the clearing and wandered over there "Da nobis alicubi somnum." I whispered, feeling my magic flowing through me, although I was already quite tired after the day's exhaustive activities. When I opened my eyes I saw that there were a few tents set up and enough wood to give us a fire that lasted at least a few hours. I smiled and looked back at the druids, who were all smiling at me happily.

"Here, you deserve to be comfortable tonight." I said. Everyone moved around, choosing their tents and setting down, a comfortable silence falling over the camp as everyone thought over what had happened. I sat by the fire, with Mordred's head on my lap as he stared into the flames. "I was so scared." The boy whispered, and I looked down to see him looking up at me, a tear running down his cheek.

I reached forward and wiped away the tear. "I know, but don't forget that no matter what, I will always be there to save you, I promise, no-one is going to harm you." I said back, getting emotional myself. I never wanted Mordred to experience anything like this, especially at such a young age. "Don't leave again." The boy said, sitting up more and burying his head into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him and let the boy cry into my shoulder as I pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"I'm not going anywhere." I whispered as the boy fell asleep in my arms. And I meant what I said, if Lance and I were going to leave again, there was no way that I was going to leave Mordred behind. We'd always wanted to take him with us, but I thought that he would be better with the druids, where he could learn to control his magic. However, now I was confident enough that I could teach him myself, and if Lance was with us, he could also be taught self defence.

"Are you alright?" Lancelot asked, coming to sit beside me. I looked up and sighed, reached up and wiping away the tears I didn't even realise had fallen. "I don't know. I wish he didn't have to go through this." I said, leaning my head on the knight's shoulder. "Me too." Lance said, wrapping his arm around me. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I watched as the other druids all gathered around the fire, all sharing a silence in respect for those who they lost today. And it wasn't too long before people started heading into tents to get some sleep.