Swords & Spells (Book One):The Magic of Emrys

The Moment of Truth (Emrys)

Emrys was starting to regret leaving in the dead of night. She hadn't gotten a chance to try to apologize to Reuben or even say goodbye to Morgana. The most she'd been able to do before starting the journey was hug Silas and make him promise to have her favorite soup ready when she returned so they could celebrate.

She hadn't thought about it much then—she'd only been fueled by her determination to go and get back as soon as she could—but now, two days into their three-day journey, Emrys found herself dreading her inevitable return to Ealdor.

Hunith wasn't much help in that matter, regaling Emrys with all of the things that had happened since Emrys had left for Camelot, a fact that still remained unbeknownst to her mother. Every time Hunith asked Emrys where she'd been, Emrys desperately tried to change the subject. She told her of other things, though—of finding Baelfire and her growing magic. Still, Emrys found it difficult to avoid revealing anything about her true whereabouts.

She wished she could tell her mother all of her stories about Arthur, about all the good times she'd had with Reuben and Silas, about some of the things she'd survived. Well, maybe not so much that last part.

The sound of a twig deliberately snapping broke Emrys out of her thoughts. She glanced at her mother and motioned for Hunith to be silent. Emrys grabbed the sword beside her—the only one they had between the two of them for protection—and walked away from their little setup.

More and more twigs began to snap around her as she continued moving deeper into the woods. Emrys swallowed back her fear, thinking of Arthur as she walked forward. Almost immediately, her stomach clenched up in knots, which didn't do her nerves any good.

Emrys held her sword high in the air, trying to steady herself with a long exhale. "Calm down," she told herself. "Relax. You're okay."

Another twig snapped right behind her, the sound quickly followed by someone saying, "It doesn't seem like you're doing a very good job of convincing yourself."

She would've been scared if she didn't recognize the voice immediately: "Arthur!" Emrys whipped around, forgetting about the sword in her hand.

Arthur managed to duck underneath her unintentional attack, but only barely. In the dim moonlight, she could see him glare at her. "Put the sword down, Emrys, before you kill someone, would you?"

Emrys was too happy to see him to feel embarrassed. She couldn't stop herself from going up and hugging him. "You're here," she whispered against his chest.

Arthur stiffened for a moment before relaxing into her arms. "You didn't really think we were just going to let you go alone, did you?"

"We," Emrys repeated. She pulled away from him as more twigs began snapping behind him and saw Morgana and Reuben as they began to come into view. "Y-You're all here? Why?"

Reuben gave his sister an awkward smile and said, "Figures you wouldn't just be grateful."

Morgana wrapped Emrys up in a hug. "You didn't seriously think we would just stand for our father's decision, did you? We came to help, Emrys!"

If she'd thought about it, she would've taken other measures to ensure they didn't follow her. Because, while she was relieved to see them all, Emrys also couldn't help but feel a sense of dread overtake her.

Because, Emrys realized, this meant she could no longer use her magic to save Ealdor.

~

Though she still didn't like them in the slightest, at the very least, Emrys could admit that it was nice that the others had brought horses. It made travelling with their stuff much easier and, if Emrys was completely honest, she was sick of walking.