I Am...All of Me

When Kingdoms Fall (Lancelot!Shadow)

A/N: Happy July 4th, everyone! Here's a little bit of angst for you!
.......

    Everything Merlina predicted had come to pass. Weeks after King Sonic returned to his home world, a dark magic had seeped in the land, coating the sky in a dark, sickly violet. A deep fog drifted across the countryside, consuming fields and small villages.

    At first, the sky had been only overcast, like the premonition of a coming storm. Lancelot knew Camelot's time was limited when the clouds began circling each other. Every day, they spin faster and faster until a vortex began to shake the kingdom's foundations.

    And then malevolent knights emerged from the fog, and the Knights of the Round Table were called to hold them off.

    If this was what Merlina saw, he could begrudgingly understand the temptation to use magic to change Camelot's doomed fate. Now, the redeemed sorceress was channeling all of her power to find a way of escape for the people.

    Stay focused on the task at hand! he chided himself, adjusting his grip on Arondight before cutting through another "knight" that was neither alive nor dead, only a animated husk of a warrior.

      Gawain's voice boomed across the battlefield. "Lancelot! Fall back!"

     "I am rather preoccupied at the moment!" he shouted back, dodging another knight's sword and returning blow for blow until the creature was nothing but dust.

    The enchanted army had swarmed the fields surrounding the castle and the crown village. Most of the villagers had been evacuated in the castle, but the knights wouldn't able to protect them for long against so many.

    The fog drew steadily closer, forming a wall of gray and violet so high, no one could tell where it ended and the sky began. It was hemming them in.

    Even if the army was defeated in a single moment, Camelot would be swallowed by this world eater. This world would not last the night.

     "Lancelot!" Gawain's voice was closer now, "Merlina has opened a Gate to another realm! We must fall back!"

    The striped hedgehog growled and skated back to the castle, grabbing his comrade by his arm and pulling him along in a crimson blur. He didn't stop, even when the castle walls came in sight.

     Racing King Sonic during his short reign had been enlightening in many ways, like learning how, if he picked up enough speed, he could run vertically without gravity dragging him down.

     "Hold on tight, friend."

    "Why? What are you—Lancelot!"

    Gawain was used to the faster knight dragging him or any other knight along when necessary, but he was not used to the sudden shift in trajectory. When they reached the wall and finally stopped, he stumbled and shook his head to clear the nauseating dizziness that clung to him.

     From their perch, Lancelot could see villagers and knights running into a glowing white portal as large as one of the castle gates. Merlina's white and purple energy swirled around and through it, and he could see the human mage with her arm and staff outstretched. Even from this distance, he could also see her arms shaking and the wind ripping her once delicate braid to a tangled mess.

     A crack of thunder overhead, and Merlina stumbled. The portal flickered and shrunk visibly. Screams filled the air as the people moved even faster.

     A familiar, pale blue light coated over the rim of the portal, and it stabilized. Lancelot's heart rate quickened. Ruby eyes scanned back and forth through the dwindling crowd.

    Where, where, where is he?! Why hasn't he gone through yet?! There!

    A few paces from the human stood a young white hedgehog in silver armor. Cyan light shone from his extended hands and caused his quills to shine.

     Almost everyone was out. Just a little more.

     "Galahad!"

    Lancelot was beside him in the castle courtyard between one heartbeat and the next. He dared not touch him, but he stood just within his field of vision.

    Gold eyes met crimson. "F-Father! You need to hurry! We can't hold it for much longer!" 

     "If you drop it, how long will it hold on its own?"

    "It won't!" Merlina answered, "If we stop, it will disperse entirely in a matter of breaths."

    "What?" Lancelot whispered. Merlina gave him a sad sort of half-smile.

     "Consider this penance for the pain I caused all of you. I will ensure your survival at the cost of mine." Lancelot opened his mouth, but she continued, "I am at peace with this, Knight Du Lac." 

    Lancelot searched her face before giving a solemn nod. This battle would not be without sacrifice, and she had volunteered to be the lamb.

     Another crash of thunder, and both Galahad and Merlina cried out. The portal shrank to the size of a large door. The clouds swirled faster as the ever-looming fog curled over the castle walls. Only Galahad, Lancelot, Merlina, Gawain, and Percival remained.

    Merlina had made her choice. His fellow knights waited at the portal's entrance. But Lancelot could only see his son using his own inherited magic to keep the door open, even as his body shook from the strain.

    "We need to go!" Percival called. Lancelot didn't move.

    "Father, please, you must go."

   "I am not leaving you behind, son." He stepped closer, his hand outstretched but still not close enough to touch for fear of breaking Galahad's form. "Merlina can hold it long enough for us to get through."

    "Father, please—"

    "I will carry you, if I must! I will not lose you!"

   A single tear slid down Galahad's muzzle as a look Lancelot couldn't interpret passed over him. Not until it was too late for him to realize. His son's hand drifted slightly in his direction.

     "I love you, father."

    Lancelot ran forward. "Galahad, no!"

    But it was too late. Soft, ethereal blue light washed over him and froze him in place. Then, it thrust him backward towards the portal and his fellow knights.

    Two pairs of arms locked around him the moment the light released him. But Lancelot could only see his son with the same sad, knowing smile of a knight who knew his end was near.

     Lancelot fought against the arms binding him and dragging him away from his son. The pale hedgehog fell to one knee, but the glow of his hands remained steady.

     "Galahad!" he screamed, "Galahad!"

   Gawain and Percival pulled him backward, redoubling their strength when Lancelot's shoes sparked to life in an effort to escape their grip. They did not break their stride.

    King Sonic had recognized their unique personal strengths, but he'd also taught them that they were even stronger when acting as one unit.

   That unbidden memory at this moment made Lancelot want to curse his king's name, but he couldn't. He heard Gawain's labored breathing and Percival's muffled cries.
 
    "Please, I need to get to my son!" he begged. They knew this! They knew he would rather die in a falling world than be forever torn from his only family.

    White curved around the edges of vision and warmth like summer sunlight clung to his back.

     "No! No! Galahad!"

   He saw his son's mouth move, but he could no longer hear his voice.

    Goodbye, Father.

  Then the white engulfed him. All the while, he screamed his son's name.