There was a stirring, a sense of companionship. A sense of partnership, of not being alone any more. A moment of tension of evaluation and then finally peace. Trisha felt herself wake up, whole once more.

Sir Lancelot road through and sat at the table with the other lords. He spoke to them, telling them of the upcoming floods of shadows. Of the endless attacks already forming. Trisha listened scared but calmed by the man. They could do it, they could stop the flood.

They couldn’t. The gates had been breached. There were too many, it was too much. She had to say good bye to the weak, they were forced to leave them behind. Trisha gave her Grandma one last kiss before going, abandoning her. Her heart ached with the pain of leaving her, ached with the death of everyone on the journey after. Camelot, it was their back up plan. The place where they would move too, but the road was hard. Too hard, only a few escaped. Of her family, only she escaped.

The despair of losing them came back to her. The Despair of losing Sir Lancelot soon followed. Why did it have to be this way? Why did she lose everything? Everyone? Her heart ached with loneliness.

It wasn’t all bad. The shadows weren’t all evil. She always knew that in her heart. When she was young, much younger, she had come across a lake. One side was safe, but the other, the further she wandered became almost frightening. But a creature from the lake, long, beautiful rose up. With teeth sharp and pointed and hair long, a mermaid. Somewhere she felt she should be afraid but all that came out of her mouth was, “You are beautiful.”

The mermaid’s accompaniment, a shark like creature was cute in Trisha’s eyes. Instead of fear she felt play, awe, and this seemed to please the mermaid and her companion. Instead of scare, the mermaid spoke to her, and they spent time trading tales of water verses land. And Trisha felt contentment.

Her cousin was screaming. Trisha felt distress, and stood moving from foot to foot, not knowing what to do. Her mother had left to get warm water and towels, leaving Trisha to be with her and her aunt. Her aunt smiled knowing the pain, having done the same thing with the one now laying in the bed. “Shhh relax. It will be over soon.” Trisha couldn’t help but wonder and admire how calm her aunt was. The easy she dealt with the soon to be mother’s cries.

“Good good.” Sir Lancelot called out to them as he oversaw their training. They were forced to climb up a mountain that was hardly less than a vertical drop. Trisha powered through it. There was not choice in the matter, she would climb even though her legs burned. Sir Lancelot didn’t even seem to feel the pain of their training. She was sweating and this did not feel lady like at all but she would do it without complaint.

No, she could not let him pass this place. She stood strong horns lowered and charged, fighting, protecting. She would not let him pass. This was her space, her gate. Inside was the grail. She must protect it, she must she must.

She waited. Waited a long time, ages it felt like, wondering what will happen, when? She was alone, and hated being alone. She didn’t know. She could not move, could not get free. Bitterness flooded her, what could she do? How could she escape? There was no escape. Pain flooded her core. She was shifting. Changing. No! She resisted, trying to keep her shape. Nothing could stop it though. A moment later she could not see, she could not feel, and then bindings once again.

Her poor poor friend. Such hardship, trying to protect to prevent chaos. To hold the line she was assigned. Trisha felt a tear flow down her face and then another. Not for herself not for her lost loved ones, but for her friend still trapped inside a weapon.

For a moment there was a struggle between the two. Her weapon was stressed, hurting, crying from loneliness and failure. The same pain Trisha had been going through moment before. But there was the king, and though it may not save anything Trisha knew for whom they must fight. Yes they, Trisha reached out to her weapon and embraced her. "Shh it's ok, I will take care of everything." there was quiet and then she was back... she knew which gate was hers, it could only be the light one. The one of protection. The one still able to see good in the world.