Page 8 of Secrets of Avalon

Panic surges through me and I tug on his arm. He sags against me. Blood trickles from his mouth. “No. No. No.” I frantically wipe away the blinding tears, searching for a wound that needs pressure. There are too many. His entire shirt is soaked red.

“Dad, no. Please,” I beg, cradling his head in my lap. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t open the door. I’m sorry. I’m broken.”

He coughs weakly and looks up at me, meeting my gaze and shaking his head slowly. “N-not…” He struggles, blood choking his words. “Not broken,” he manages to say. “Y-you just don’t un–” Another cough racks his body, then stillness.

A profound, deafening stillness.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!” My cries fill the chamber, echoing and multiplying and surrounding me in my own grief. What’s left of my heart shatters into a thousand pieces.

My family is gone. I'm left with nothing but the crushing, overwhelming guilt—the knowledge that I brought death down onto everyone I loved.

“Well, well,” a cold voice cuts through my sorrow, “you are a difficult girl to pin down, Melinda Mayweather.” A tall, dark-haired with a rifle steps forward. A half dozen laser points dance over the front of my shirt. “Thank you for leading us to this special place. We couldn’t have found it without you.”

His words strike me like a punch to the stomach. Betrayal, loss, and an overwhelming sense of failure engulf me. He’s right. I’ve led them here, to this special place. Even though I didn’t get the door open this time, it doesn't mean they won’t eventually figure it out and destroy whatever it’s protecting.

Not only have I failed my family, but perhaps an entire other world. My heart sinks further, the last fragments of hope slipping through my fingers like sand. Everything my family tried to protect me from. They died for nothing. The Inquisitors have me. And now they have the door to Avalon, too.

Episode 2

CHAPTER 4

Touch of Madness, Taste of Destiny

Hawke Stormblood

“Perhaps he had a stroke? We should call for a healer or perhaps his mother,” Wraith Shadowbear is looming over me. His normally golden brown eyes glint red and one corner of his mouth twitches with the beginning of a smirk.

“I think he’s fine,” Destrien says, awkward mirth lacing his tone. “Just–”

“Fuck you, Wraith!” I wave an arm at the burly dream-walking, energy-siphoning, asshole. “I didn’t have a stroke.”

I’m not sure how I ended up on the floor, though. My head is swimming and my magick is thrumming inside my body like I touched one of the World Tree source wells.

Touching a Realm doors shouldn’t have this effect on me. Or anyone. The doors are just portal covers. The portals themselves are wormholes we built. The vision I had shouldn’t have been possible…

“You’re one the one acting like a fucking loon, Hawke.” Wraith extends a hand and I grasp it, allowing him to give me enough momentum to jump to my feet. “You were yelling and shouting. It sounded like you were talking to someone. Then you hit the floor like a sack of flour. You’re scaring the children.”

Wraith reaches over and touches one of the dragon locks, stroking the metal like a man would worship a woman’s body. My blood heats, suddenly angry that he might see the woman in my vision.

But nothing happens. He looks right back at me, a questioning look in his eyes, waiting for me to explain. Which I’m not going to do.

Because I can’t. Without sounding completely crazy. And I can’t afford for anyone to suspect I’m not in control any more than they already do.

“Upir children aren’t scared of anything,” I say, straightening my coat and frowning. I peer past him at a group of Upir women and children who paused during my incident. The women are covering their mouths politely hiding their smiles, but the children are snickering blatantly. I grunt. “So terrified.”

The partial smirk becomes a full grin and Wraith laughs. “It is good to see you old friend, though I have to say,” he pauses and looks at the Earth-Realm door again, “I’m still curious and will press you for details later. I see your brother is about to piss in place to get you away from me, so I’ll let him.”

I open my mouth to accuse his people of causing the vision, but I don’t want questions. I don’t trust the Upir as a whole, but I do trust Wraith. The Table chose him as a Knight. He pledged to the World Tree. We are brothers in a way only Knights understand. And I really don’t want anyone to know I was seeing things. If the High Council were to find out—I’d be done. Executed. Eliminated.

“Brother,” Destrien urges from behind me.

I tip my chin to Wraith. “See you later, old friend. Be careful with my castle.”

Wraith’s eyes warm. “Always.”

I follow Destrien from the Hall, my mind swimming with questions. Am I losing my mind? Was the woman real? Was she a hallucination?

We rush down corridors, through several sets of doors and out onto the bridge that leads to the tower where the Round Table resides.

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