“Why tell that story?”

“Because I thought it’d be a good idea, the best stories have a shard of reality, right.”

“A shard?”

I looked at Taury.

“What do you mean?”

“William, that was almost exactly how it happened.”

My eyes widened.

“What?”

“You didn’t realize did you, Grace and Maven simply recognized the story, but no, that was almost exactly what happened, right down to the curse I laid upon Mordred.”

My jaw dropped, then I realized.

“The Dream…”

“What about it?”

“When you entered it, I heard your thoughts then as well, maybe… maybe I got the story from your subconscious and didn’t even realize.”

“Maybe, but that was probably scary for Grace and Maven, not realizing how you knew that, but for me, it was downright terrifying.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s fine…”

Then I thought for a moment.

“Wait, so… the beast…”

“Is the Hunter. He and Morgan have come to blows for a long time, the one thing that your story missed was that Mordred and the Hunter merged together, sharing a body… I thought I killed him when I killed Mordred.”

“So… him being back…”

“And knowing my name…”

“Do you think Morgan was listening?”

“I hope not, as she would not be happy with you knowing that much…”

“How did she lose to… the woman?”

“Her name was Pearl, and the Hunter is stronger than both me and Morgan, knowing who he is… it’s a miracle I managed to save you the first time.”

“How did you win against both him and Mordred.”

“I entered a magical fury, as you figured out against the demon you killed, your magic gets greatly enhanced in a fury. In my fury, I destroyed him and much of the terrain around the lake, making a barren field in its place.”

“Hm… is it still possible to run into Mordred?”

“If we did, he’d barely be himself anymore. He’s likely crumbled into a simple beast.”

“I see… what did you look like back then?”

“You’ve seen my large form. I was certainly tall and fair, though I wish you described me a bit more intricately~”

I blushed.

“Well, I didn’t want to weird people out…”

“Ah… how flustered you are~ If you want, I could stay in this tree with you inste-“

“Stop flirting lovebirds. Some of us are trying to sleep.”

Grace’s voice startled us.

I snapped.

“How much did you hear?!”

“None of it, I just heard you two murmuring and assumed you were flirting. Stop, it’s irritating.”

“S-sorry…”

Then Taury smiled.

“So… wanna spend the night?”

“Maybe I’ll actually get some sleep that way.”

“I am quite comfortable.”

“I was referring to you not snoring when we sleep in the same area.”

She scoffed.

“I don’t snore that loudly, just for that, I’m sleeping in my cabin.”

And, just like that, I got absolutely no sleep.

_

I felt dead as I descended from my tree. I looked over at Grace, and she looked somewhat fine.

“How…”

“The moment I heard Wings imitating a rusty sawblade, I removed my ears. Made sleeping a lot easier.”

“Lucky… *yawwwwwwwn*”

“Excuse me, I don’t sound like a rusty sawblade.”

I looked at Taurael with a skeptical look.

I saw Ms. Maven walking out, and she looked about half as tired as I did.

“How’d you manage, ma’am?”

“If you are referring to the broken chain that is that **** pixie’s snoring, I’ve known her for half of my life, there’s a point that you just get used to it.”

“By the way ma’am, may I ask why you came here?”

“Well, Mr. Mist, I came to somewhat figure out a bit about you, but you don’t seem that interesting. No idea why Morgan is interested in you.”

“Oh… thanks for being open.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand the other council members wanting to be silent and hidden.”

“I agree… um. Would you mind if I asked something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Roman said that Morgan’s magic isn’t sustaining me like she claimed it was, would you be able to elaborate?”

“I could try… yep, that’s definitely not sustaining you… but I can’t tell what it’s doing. You’d have to ask Morgan or Roman to get the answer. I doubt even Wings could tell you.”

“By the way, how strong is Wings, exactly. Like… she was able to beat… yeah, but Morgan seems stronger when the two are next to each other.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Morgan is more powerful but remember that her power is also spread out across this entire forest. Wings’s power is solely in her, plus the magical fury greatly empowers the one who uses it. If they were to fight, Wings would win outside of the forest, or maybe edge her out at the lake, but anywhere else in the forest, and Morgan would win.”

“So, Morgan is more raw power, but it isn’t focused because of just how large she is?”

“Pretty much. That’s also why none of these trees get cut down, because as the trees die, so does she. It hurts her to even remove bark from one of these.”

“Can she die if her body dies?”

“No, as typical for one seen by many as a deity, the body which she talks to us with is an avatar. She is the forest itself. It would take the annihilation of her body and her forest to truly kill her. That’s why Roman is known as the only one who can defeat her.”

“Wow…”

“Yep, anyways we are hiking today, get ready.”

“Alright.”

_

We began the hike and wandered. We saw numerous animals, and I spied a few wandering fey.

“Now, there is a lake coming up that is repurposed as a swimming area.”

I felt an odd feeling coming up. Maven smiled at the students and put a finger over her mouth before fake whispering.

“In this place, supposedly, magic is at its strongest.”

We stepped into a clearing, where a massive lake lay.

Taury flew to a stop and smiled.

“The Lake to Avalon.”

“This is it?”

“Yes. That’s where it all happened, where I met Arthur first.”

Then she grimaced.

“And people are swimming in it.”

“Is it bad?”

“*sigh* No, it just kinda breaks the daydream. Also, that water is filled with mana blessed by the Dream. It’s the purest magic you’ll find in this realm.”

“Woah… why didn’t we just go here to heal?”

“Because swimming in the water and entering the Dream are very different.”

“Well, everyone, changing rooms are over there. Put on your swimgear.”

People cheered and lined up.

A few other campers were at the lake swimming in it.

Taury smiled.

“Now I get to finally try on that suit you got me.”

“That you picked out.”

“Yep.”

“Great…”

She grabbed it from the bag before entering the girl’s changing room.

I sighed.

“That girl will be the death of me.”

_

I was floating in the water…

Sure enough, it felt like I was in the Dream.

Magic flowed around me.

Grace swam around me.

“Why are you so stationary?”

“Can’t you feel it?”

“… Feel what?”

“The magic… it’s like this lake breathes it.”

“Huh… wonder why that is.”

Then a guy from the shore.

“HEY, GUYS, I FOUND A ROCK!”

“Good for you, Brent.”

“No, you guys need to see this.”

I sighed and swam back along with a few other students.

Then I saw the rock and froze. It had a mark like a sword was in it and an inscription written in English.

“Only the true king can pull this sword from the stone.”

“Woah… wait… isn’t that what William had in his story last night?”

I smiled.

“Heh, that’s a funny coincidence.”

“Yeah… coincidence.”

I felt like they weren’t quite buying it.

“Wait, could this actually be the stone Excalibur was pulled from?”

“That would certainly be cool, if it weren’t a tale.”

“I dunno, this is pretty interesting for a tale.”

I shrugged.

“You know how easy it would be to carve out a stone? It’s probably just from someone who thought it’d be funny to have a stone with that.”

“Yeah… that makes sense.”

A lot of people were disappointed, then Taury stepped out.

She was in her big form, but the wings were missing. I suppose that she assumed that she could pass off as a lone camper.

“Who’s that chick?”

“She’s hot.”

A bunch of guys started murmuring.

Brent leaned over to me.

“Isn’t that Wings?”

“Yep.”

“How is she…”

“All pixies have a larger form, since this is the lake to Avalon, she has more power here.”

“Huh… wait, so that was actually Arthur’s stone?”

“Most likely.”

“Woah…”

I swam in the water.

“Oh, hey William, fancy seeing you here.”

Of course, she had to act like she wasn’t with us the entire time.

“Good to see you too, Teresa.”

Quick thinking made a quick name. She blinked and understood. I couldn’t call her by her true name, nor could I call her Wings. But Teresa sounded random to others, but it wasn’t too random that she or I would forget it.

“Dang, miracle boy knows that hottie?”

“Think they’re dating?”

“Nah, she’s too hot for someone like him.”

“She is also not deaf.”

She smirked at the trio that immediately blushed.

“Eh, sorry.”

She smiled at me.

“It’s certainly been a long time since I was last here.”

She dived deep into the lake, and it’s magic melded, like it recognized it’s lady.

I smiled and released my magic. It felt right to do so.

The water shimmered on my addition and it melded and empowered.

Taurael surfaced and smiled at me.

“Woah… what’s happening?”

We looked around confused and then saw the water creating a current. It spun but didn’t form a whirlwind, instead a light moved through the water.

“Simial…”

“What?”

“Another of my knights. He stayed at the lake it seems.”

Then Simial leapt out, looking like a regular man, but I could tell that he had illusion magic over him.

“Hello, campers. Welcome to the Lake of Avalon. I noticed you all saw our model rock. It’s a fun addition to the experience. Legends say that magic echoes greatly. Come out of the water, people.”

So, we followed his instructions.

“They say that the lake will return to its true splendor when the lady herself returns.”

Then he saw Taury and blinked before continuing.

“Does anyone have any questions?”

One guy raised his hand.

“Is this lake visible by the entrance?”

“Nope, bit deep into the woods for that. Why?”

“Because our friend here got the inscription on the rock exactly correct.”

“Huh, that’s cool, coincidences are quite funny, aren’t they?”

“I suppose…”

Simial spoke to the students more as more people got more enthusiastic about it.

“Now, before you all return to swimming, please know that if you see something there, report it to me, please don’t bother it. Some people have found relics and attempted to steal them.”

Then his eyes opened. It was quite menacing.

“Don’t try…”

Of course, it was a pretty creepy warning from the lifeguard, but for me it made perfect sense. This was a knight of Avalon, and from the sounds of it, the last one at the lake. He would not take lightly the theft of his home.

So, we reentered the water and Brent and Amy shivered.

“That was a bit creepy at the end there.”

“Nah, he’s just doing his job.”

“Makes sense.”

One guy from a different group clearly didn’t feel as threatened by Simial’s warning as when he tried to leave.

“Hey, good sir. There seems to be something that snuck into your pockets.”

The guy turned at the smiling guy and shivered.

“Mind giving it back? The relics can be dangerous.”

The guy smiled like he thought that Simial was bluffing.

“And so can I.”

Simial was no longer smiling.

The guy shivered and reached into his pocket making Simial smile again.

“WATCH OUT!”

The guy, instead of pulling out the stolen relic, pulled out a gun. Simial simply smiled and sidestepped the bullet before palm-thrusting the guy’s chin.

We heard a sickening crack, then Simial reached into the pocket, pulling out a necklace.

“Next time you try stealing from this lake, I won’t be so merciful.”

It had an emblem that clearly wasn’t from anything I’d seen before.

Brent leaned over to me.

“Okay, I had my suspicions, but that guy is definitely a fey. No human is that agile.”

Simial took the necklace and tossed it back into the lake where it floated for a moment before a fishlike hand snatched it.

“Return it to its place.”

Then he smiled and returned to his lifeguard post before murmuring.

“There’s one every year.”

Now, pretty much everyone had figured out that it wasn’t a good idea to snatch relics.

Taury had a massive grin on her face.

The pixie looked at me.

“Wanna see who can hold their breath longer?”

“Sure, why not?”

We went under the water and I saw absolute beauty. Most likely most people couldn’t see this, but I saw many merfolk swimming around.

Many were hiding, so maybe people could see merfolk usually.

“Woah… that’s… beautiful… wait, how am I talking?”

Taury giggled. It was beautiful.

“The water is pure magic; you naturally meld it around you. How do you think Grace is able to swim here? Normally she’d sink like, well, a rock.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“For nonmagical beings, it simply flows like water, but for us, we can’t sink or even drown unless we deliberately try.”

“Wow…”

I looked at her.

“The magic here really likes you.”

“Of course, I helped it get here. It recognizes me.”

Then one of the merfolk swam up.

“Could it be? It is!”

He turned and shouted.

“Our great lady is back!!!”

The water moved fluidly, and the merfolk whooped in joy.

“But, who’s the human?”

I swam a bit back.

“Don’t worry, I’m no threat.”

They blinked. Then I remembered. Humans don’t typically have magic. They were likely not prepared for me to be able to speak in the lake.

“Could it be a human?”

“No way, he spoke, that means he has magic.”

“Then what is he?”

“Could he be like Arthur?”

I blinked.

“Like Arthur?”

Taury sighed.

“Arthur had fire magic, that’s why a lot of people thought that Excalibur was fire instead of light.”

“Woah.”

“Lady, are you… friends with this human?”

“Urm, yeah.”

“Wonderful, Lady, may you please restore your magic to this place if you truly returned.”

“Of course, but where are the other knights? I only saw Simial and I know where Alvane is.”

One of the mer cringed.

“My lady. Other than the six that died in the fiend’s assault, several more fell after your disappearance.”

Her smile faded.

“I see, how many are known?”

“Alvane, Simial, and Jelzal.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes, my lady. There was a conflict after you left.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. The council forced you to leave.”

“I know, but still…”

“My lady, the stone is waiting.”

Then the merman swam deeper. Me and Taury followed.

As she swam deeper, the magic grew stronger, then at the bottom was a green gem.