The Stain of Mordred part 23.

The Mage.

George was led back to his cell and heard the door locked behind him, the room was small and underground and only a small light gave illumination and soon after the door was locked the light went out. Sitting down he relaxed and tried to send out his senses through the stone floor but wards were placed around the cell preventing him. Since being taken into custody by Gareth George had not been searched but he carried no weapons, only the small silver sickle charm on a chain around his neck he always wore and some pouches containing dried herbs used for healing. As a means of plotting an escape they fell short of any sort of master plan.
Laying on the cold floor he relaxed and began to let his mind drift into a trance as he searched with his mind and experiences for a solution to his imprisonment.

George found himself sitting by the lake back in Avalon, the sun just starting to rise so mist floated over the lake and covered the land beyond in whiteness. From the mist he saw a small boat float towards where he sat, a single figure wrapped in dark blue robes of a priestess in the boat. As the boat got closer he stood ready to help the figure from the boat but it stopped within touching distance of the shore and the figure threw back the hood to reveal a beautiful young woman who smiled at him.
“Welcome Priestess!” George said with a grin. “It’s a bit of a dramatic entrance and you look far younger than I remember. ”
“You are the Mage George? This is a memory from your days in Avalon that I made you forget until the right time.” she said softly. “If you remember the first time you met me in the cove I insisted that we had met before but you had no memory of it. This is our first meeting and I’m hoping you will become everything I see you can become. Time can be a strange thing within the realm of Avalon, especially if you are powerful enough to navigate it’s flow.” The priestess said kindly. “You will remember this dream many years from now so you can free us both and maybe save yourself and the land.”
“I don’t understand, when did we meet this first time?” George said.
“We have a link that hasn’t arrived yet for me, I have seen your memory of what you thought was our first meeting in the cove but I don’t know you. I found you through the mists of time as one that could save Avalon. You have the mark of the White Dragon on your soul, that is how I found you. Just trust me that time runs in many ways. We are of different times but soon we will meet in the same time.”
“I know so much about you from years of talking but not who you are my priestess, what is your name?” George asked.
“I am Morgan le Fay, sister to the king.” she reached out her hand, “Take this and wear it always, when the time comes you will know how to use it. Once free go to the lowest chamber of the caverns and return it to me in the mirror. Only you can set me free from my future imprisonment and in return I can help you in your battle against what my son will become.”
George reached out and she dropped a silver pendant into his hand, it was shaped like a sickle. “My lady I am no fighter, I was a doctor who became a healer and has started to train to be a Mage of Avalon. I know nothing of battles and war.”
The boat started to retreat into the mist and her voice came back to him
“I see that you will be the last Knight of the Round Table and not all battles need a warrior, sometimes to win a war you need a healer.”

George’s eyes snapped open and he looked down to his fist and the light that shone out from between his fingers. Opening his hand he looked down on the pendant, one he could never remember receiving although he suspected somehow his priestess had given him. With a smile he knew what to do and standing up he walked to the door and placed the pendant against the lock, after a moment he heard a click and pushed the door open.
Walking into the corridor George pushed the door shut behind him and looked around, the pendant still in his hand.
George felt a slight tugging from the pendant, almost like a magnet drawing itself to metal, the sickle was pulled to the left and he set off down the corridor, mumbling a spell that could hide him within the shadows of the underground tunnels. Following the pull of the pendant he travelled further down under the earth following tunnels ever downwards until finally he reached a small chamber. As he entered torches came alight and a large copper mirror stood before him. Walking up to the mirror he held out his hand and placed the pendant to the surface and watched as the copper began to swirl and his priestess appeared. She looked far older than he had ever seen her, her hair streaked with grey but she was still beautiful and noble.
“I thank you Sir knight, my son thinks he outsmarted me when he trapped me within the mirror but he always underestimated my ability to see the future and influence at least some events.” the image of Morgan Le Fay said from the mirror. “He never realised I would find someone to help me outsmart him, that I had out played him.”
“Events like our shared dreams back in Avalon? I really hope you have a secret exit as I doubt we can get out of here by going up and through the house. I’m sure Mordred will have means to stop his guests from leaving without permission.” George said smiling with happiness at their meeting again.
“Your pendant is the key that will release me from this mirror. You think the power I spent setting this up I’d miss out how we get to safety my love.” Morgan said with a smile as she reached out and grabbed George’s hand with the pendant and dragged him into the mirror.
“My love, you say that often but I always feared to hope it was true.” George asked shocked but happy.
“Did you not realise I’d fallen in love with you while we met in the cove, I do hope I’ve not misread your feelings in that they were returned.” Morgan Le Fey said, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
“I loved you from the first time we met in the cove.” George replied not believing what she had said. “I never dared to hope.”
“We are out of time for now, one day if you manage to live up to your destiny we will meet at the right time and I will explain everything I have had to do to try and save the land, if all goes well we will have all the time in the world together once this is over. Now let’s leave this mirror, I’ve been stuck in here for far too many centuries, although it was my sacrifice in order to help you now.”

To be continued.