Young Writers Society

“Jeez, man, you look like a freight train hit you.”

“Yeah, Brent, I was full on sprinting away from your buddies when I ran into Grace.”

“Ooh, yeah, running into an earth golem would definitely hurt.”

Then he thought on the other part of what I said.

“THEY CAME AFTER YOU?!”

“Yep.”

“****, sorry, man. I tried to convince them to wait until they knew if you were a threat or not.”

“Yeah, though that Jones guy tried to convince me that you were dead.”

“Yeah, he came up with a plan that if I wasn’t in school he could convince you and detain you and investigate you. I told him it was stupid and I’d have no part… of course, he never listens.”

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for Grace, they may have actually gotten me.”

“How’d she dissuade them?”

“She convinced them I was Morgan’s latest pet.”

“Yeah, that would do it.”

Then I thought for a moment.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“Morgan’s whole name is Morgan Lefaye…”

“And?”

“Was she at all related to King Arthur?”

“Hm. That’s interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that.”

Then Taury looked at us with a raised brow.

“Arthur? The brat who was crowned because he could pick up a sword? Yeah, Morgan definitely knew him.”

“…”

“What?”

“You knew King Arthur?”

“Yeah, heck I helped him in some of his missions. They gave me fancy titles and everything. Wish he could have had a more peaceful death, but, oh well, humans are quite fragile.”

“Wait, does that mean that you saw Excalibur?”

“Pfff. Saw it. I made the dang blade.”

“…”

I thought about what that meant…

“Wait, you are the Lady of the Lake?!”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that title. Yeah, I was called that. Had to make his replacement blade too when he broke the first one. That’s why I call him a brat. I put a lot less magic in that one too… Probably why he was killed…”

“Does that mean you have the original blade? Could you repair it?”

“Probably… why?”

“Wouldn’t having a legendary blade help if Morgan does decide at one point to kill me?”

“Hm… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”

Then she smirked.

“Oh, just admit you want something that I poured my being into. You’re such a flirt.”

I flash blushed.

“N-no it’s a serious thing. A legendary blade like Excalibur would definitely help.”

“Heh, I’m teasing you.”

“Yeah… though now that I think about it. I thought you were maybe twenty or so, but if you are the Lady of the Lake, then you’d have to be at least a thousand.”

“Oh, I’m over five thousand years old.”

I gaped at her.

“You do not look like a five-thousand-year-old.”

“Awe, thank you. My brother is only one thousand.”

“That’s a massive age difference.”

“Yep, even by fay standards, but remember, past one hundred, we don’t age.”

“One hundred?”

“Yeah, basically our version of a twenty-four-year-old.”

“So, it’s your prime.”

“Yep.”

I thought for a moment.

“Wait, I thought that both Morgan Lefaye and the Lady of the Lake wanted Camelot to collapse?”

“Oh, please, neither of us wanted the fall of Camelot. Frankly, both me and Morgan wanted it to last, but of course, Arthur was such a perfect king, that no one could agree on rulers after his death, so it collapsed.”

“What about Mordred?”

“Oh, him… he brought the second Excalibur in an attempt to kill me, but then he learned what the princess of the pixies could do when truly angry.”

“Oh…”

Then Brent had a question.

“Wait, didn’t Morgan Lefaye and Arthur have a romantic relationship?”

“Yep, Arthur was the only human that she truly respected.”

“Then wouldn’t Mordred have been…”

“Half spriggan? Yep. He was immensely powerful… But when I killed him. Morgan burnt his body before burying Arthur in her forest. She hated Mordred for what he did to the one she loved, then, much like Roman, she simply became detached. Growing more contempt, more hatred. Now, she is the monster you see today. The worst fear of humanity.”

“What does burning his body mean?”

“*Sigh* When a spriggan dies, they are usually ingrained into a totem. Croatoan is one such totem.”

“You mean that cryptic message was…”

“Yes, the ones who killed the settlers claimed to be the hands of Croatoan.”

“Wow… but what does burning mean?”

“Revoking the chance to become a totem is essentially stating that the spriggan was too horrendous to even deserve the afterlife.”

“Woah, so… burning her own son…”

“See it like what my brother did. He loves me, but since he thought I killed our parents he was fully willing to kill or maim me on the slightest threat of me doing another wrongdoing.”

“Wow… that actually makes sense.”

“Besides, a fey’s greatest crime is killing family.”

“That makes sense.”

I had to consider this. Taurael, my roommate who has a crush on me, is the mythical Lady of the Lake, not only that, but she forged Excalibur.

“Wait… I thought dwarves were the smiths.”

Taurael snorted at my comment.

“Oh yeah, they like to pride themselves as the greatest smiths, but pixies can out forge them any day.”

Then Brent had a decent question.

“Wouldn’t your size have some problems?”

“Nope, we can get larger. It takes some magic power, but its not hard. Arthur, in fact, didn’t even realize I was a pixie for a long time because of my size.”

“Wait, then why do the fey call you Wings, and not something like Lake Lady?”

“The fact that I was the Lady of the Lake wasn’t well known, especially after my parents death, because many consider the Lady as the model pixie. Having a suspected murderer as the mythical Lady would not be good, so to most pixies and other fey, I’m just the Killer Wings.”

“That’s… sad.”

“Eh, I don’t care too much. I’ll tell when I’m asked, but I’m not really asked about it too much, as Morgan and Arthur’s relationship are a known thing.”

“Should I call you Lady Lake instead of Wings?”

“Nah, that’d be weird, I’m used to Wings.”

Brent smiled.

“Well, I’ll get in contact with Jones and tell him off. I was definitely right to tell him not to go through. I don’t think you two are threats at all.”

“Thanks.”

He walked off.

“Hmm. So, what about Avalon?”

“Avalon? Oh, right. That’s what Arthur called the Sylvian Woods.”

“The Sylvian Woods?”

“Yeah, where we went.”

“Wait… King Arthur went to that realm?”

“Yep. He actually had a nickname for me when he was there. The Shining Lady.”

“The Shining Lady?”

“Yep?”

“Was that because of the light that was on you in the forest?”

“Yeah, though it was dimmer back then.”

“What does that mean. If I may ask.”

“It’s basically a symbol of the Monarch. That was one reason my brother hated me being there, because he thought I was a murderer, but I still shone as brightly as my father once did.”

“So, you should be the ruler of the pixies instead of him?”

“That’s what the forest thinks. I frankly think I’m not worthy, as I failed to protect them.”

“What do you mean?”

“*Sigh* Until the death of the Monarch, the next in line serves as the bodyguard until the previous Monarch becomes a part of the Sylvian Dream.”

“The Sylvian Dream?”

“A Pixie’s form of afterlife. The Sylvian Dream is an event that extends to all realms. In that event, all magic has a massive burst. I made the original Excalibur during one. When a pixie has accomplished all they need in their life, they fly up into the fabric of the dream and eclipse, but instead of the deadly burst with a typical eclipse, it’s a shine that forges a new star.”

“Woah…”

“Yeah… a pixie dying before that is seen as one of the greatest tragedies, as they can’t exist through the dream anymore.”

“So… since many thought that you killed them…”

“Yeah… it’s more unforgivable than what Mordred did. The only reason I haven’t been killed myself is because some have stuck up for me, saying that there is no way I would have done it.”

“So, by letting your brother know what I had learned through my power… I saved you from a delayed death penalty?”

“Pretty much… thank you for that. You easily could have made the excuse that you used his name silently before telling him to stop, but instead you revealed your power and finally proved my innocence.”

“I honestly didn’t even think of that…”

“I see… But thank you anyways.”

“But, if I may, why does Morgan dislike you so much if you both knew Arthur.”

“*Sigh* She thought that I had a crush on Arthur, so she always considered me a rival, especially since I still hold both of his blades in my house.”

“And what was the actual thing?”

“We really were just good friends.”

“I can somewhat see her getting that idea as many authors portray you two as lovers.”

“Bleck.”

Then I thought for a moment.

“Could your mutual relations with Arthur have been why she stood up for you?”

She gave a thoughtful look.

“… Maybe…”

I finished eating my lunch and went to the next class, but she hadn’t stopped thinking about it.