Arthur's Point of View

The Hollow Forest

Earlier

Her blood poured down my arms and body as I quickly set her down. “You’re gonna be fine! Camoa will help!” I looked around the clearing to all the trees as I shouted for the Druid once more. “Camoa! Camoa please!”

The Druid was the only option. I didn’t trust Arceana, and they themselves came to Camoa for help. With Lucia’s natural healing capabilities, this is the best option. They’re all useless anyway, nor could they be trusted. Camoa was the only choice to save Lucia and she was fading fast. Whatever they did to her, should she try to escape, it was meant to kill her. That was likely how they kept both Lucia, and Alwin, subdued.

She began to cough, and blood came from her lips as she shook in my arms. The ground had snow, which was cleared as I set her down. Immediately, I pushed down on her wounds to stop the bleeding. The girl cried out in pain as she yelped and tried to push my hands away. However, despite how much I wanted to stop hurting her, it was the only way to save her. So, my hands pushed down even more.

“I know!” I said with a nod as I kept my hands firmly on the wound. “I know it hurts, but you need to fight through the pain.” My voice was shaking as I realized she was on death’s door. “Camoa!!!” The name left my lips and the surrounding plants fluttered in the wind from the volume I used.

Sobs escaped her lips as her bloodied hands tried to push my face away. She flailed about weakly as her hands merely slid across my face as she tried to fight against me. Pained grunts were all she let out at this point as her lips trembled as they turned blue while her face paled.

“Listen to me,” I told Lucia as tears poured down her cheeks and sides of her head. “I need you to focus on your magic. I’m gonna pour some of my energy into you, and you need to use it to help close your wounds.” She didn’t seem to be listening as she continued to cry, and more blood came from her lips. “Lucia, you need to listen! Get ready!”

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Desperation hit, and my energy poured into her. She cried out in pain, as her flailing turned into her trying to move my hands away from her. However, as my energy poured into her, I looked into her eyes as I saw all the light from them fade.

“Lucia?”

Her tears stopped as they had already stained her face along with trails of blood. My eyes widened when the shaking of her lips stopped while her hands fell limply to her side. I watched as her chest no longer rose and fell with her breathing and went deathly still. My child’s eyes lidded slightly as her body completely slumped underneath me.

“Lucia!?” There was no response even as I started to pour of my energy into her. “You need to focus! Come on!” I shook her, and even though I was touching her most grievous wounds, she didn’t respond. “He-Help! Camoa!!! Kandma!!! Anyone!!!” Moving my hands from her stomach, I lifted her into my lap as I put one of my hands on her face. “Come on, baby girl.” My forehead rested against hers as I tried to put more of my energy into her. “Come on.”

“…” There was no response as her dead eyes stared at nothing.

Tears started to pour down my cheeks once more as they dripped onto her face. “Lucia?” Her name left my lips shakily.

Camoa's Point of View

The Hollow Forest

My name had been called. It was nothing new, but it was a rare occurrence. As was the one who called it. Normally, I knew the exact moment when Arthur Pendragon would enter the forest. However, this was different. He appeared without warning, and there was a disturbing urgency to his tone. A desperation for his cries.

As I phased into the clearing from one of the trees, my eyes immediately set upon the scene. A man holding onto a girl as he sobbed uncontrollably. Undisturbed snow surrounded them except for the crimson-colored snow underneath them. Lady Lucia was likely the reason he called for me.

“Arthur.”

The man let out the most heart wrenching cry I’d ever heard. Wincing, I covered my ears from the sheer volume as waves of snow shot past me. Eventually, he stopped, but he panted almost like a beast readying for a hunt. Standing, he slowly walked over to me. However, as he did, his form started to change.

I watched as his fingers elongated into claws. Armor began to appear on his arms as he handed her off to me with blue streaks of energy imprinting on his skin. He softly put a claw on her face as I stood there frozen while several vines helped me keep Lady Lucia aloft. Arthur had completely changed his appearance to something I had never seen before but heard about from the forest. It was far more intimidating than I thought possible.

Without another word, a portal opened, and Arthur disappeared. It wasn’t moments later when the forest floor began to shake rhythmically. Almost like giant footsteps were approaching. Whatever animals were in the area began to flee as the steps got closer. However, I ignored them as I began to look over the maimed High Elf.

“What happened to you?” I whispered as I summoned my magic.