Meeting of Two Worlds.

“Who draws near?”

The call made Dagonet half grin. “Be at ease, Gawain. It is I, Dagonet, with Meagan.”

The two mounted knights nodded in greeting. “And?” Galahad demanded, his horse nickering softly and shifting restlessly beneath him.

“It is not good,” Dagonet replied. “Meagan needs her tools. She would pray over those she knew.”

“There is something glowing just beyond,” Gawain nodded to a circle of light.

Meagan smiled. “My circle of protection. I was within it when Lancelot came to invite me to meet you.” She moved towards the circle.

“So you do not simply believe in the Goddess, but you practice the arts,” Gawain stated. “Are you a sorceress? Perhaps you have enchanted poor Galahad that his heart yearns for you?”

Flushing Meagan entered the circle. Her things were as she had left them. Some of the food was missing, and she knew some nocturnal animal had stolen it. The Goddess would not have seen such a hungry animal as evil, and so would have let it enter. Once inside she bent to put her tools away and the food in the bag. There was static, and crackling, and she paused as her gaze fell on the two-way radio Mark had left for her.

“What is that?” Galahad eyed the radio as if it was the enemy.

How to explain what it was or did? “It is a form of communication where two people can speak to each other across some distance.” She reached for it, lifting it up as the white noise continued.

“Truly?” Galahad hesitated in nearing the circle, but was curious. “How does it do so?”

The static was interrupted by a long hiss, and then a grating voice. “Four by the Wall, three by the dead, and one roams.”

Ice touched her spine, and Meagan swallowed hard as the radio fell from her nerveless hand. The voice continued to gratingly hiss. “One by one they will fall. Where in the dark do the shadows lie?”

Meagan leapt to her feet, grabbed Galahad by the edge of his armor at the shoulder, and yanked him into the circle. As she did so she let out an ear-piercing scream that reverberated through the still of the dark night.
……………………………………………………

Her scream startled Galahad so he drew his sword as he pulled away from her, and searched the dark for any threat. She screamed once more, long and loud. When Gawain and Dagonet neared with weapons drawn she quickly drew them within the circle. The sound of horses’ hooves tearing up the ground in a race sounded like thunder nearing. Meagan paused to take in a few deep breaths.

“Where is it?” Bors demanded, turning his horse in a circular motion to look all about.

“Quickly, in the circle!” she ordered them.

Arthur leapt off his horse, his rage plain upon his face. “You toy with us?” he ground out. He shook with his anger.

Meagan drew herself up to her full height despite it being several inches shorter than his. “The shadows are here. They know where we are. They will attack. This circle could be our only hope of protection!” Her gaze moved to the other knights that were still mounted on horseback. “Please! Lancelot, I called to you across the veil. Won’t you trust in me? Won’t you trust that this circle can save us?”

His dark eyes locked upon hers for a few seconds. “I will.”

The others dismounted. Meagan grabbed her athame, and lifted the tip to the sky. “I am earth. I carry the seed and birth that which grows.” Her head fell back, her face lifted to the heavens. “Though water, fire, and air are not present, I beg you, Mother Goddess, to lend me your power and strength that I may keep us all safe. Make this circle strong, and let your protection fall upon us all. So mote it be.”

The knights glanced up as blue-white lightning streaked to the knifepoint. She did not flinch. The light emblazoned the blade, traveled down to her hands, and over her body. She glowed, her face lifted to the stars, and the men shifted when the light crept across the circle, pushing at the edges, dragging her herbs and salt until the circle not only kept the knights within, but their steeds as well.

Arthur could not tear his gaze from her. Her arms slowly fell open, her head lifted, and her eyes were blank and distant. Someone was calling his name, and he blinked and turned to see Lancelot pointing towards the trees. “What?”

“They come,” Lancelot announced.

The knights palmed weapons, bracing legs apart and taking battle stands. Their steeds snorted and pawed at the ground. Across the already dark night sped blacker forms. Like clouds they drew closer, Arthur swallowed hard. “Be ready, knights. Should we fall we shall fall fighting to the end.”

A dark tendril stabbed at the circle, and sparks flew. A tormented scream tore through the night, and in response the horses shrieked and reared. The knights quickly caught at bridles and tried to soothe the beasts before they tramped the humans in their fright. Again and again the shadows jabbed and poked at the circle, but the power of the Goddess held.

“Heathen!” a voice screeched through the radio. “You cannot hold forever! The glory of God Almighty will tear into your pagan heart, and your souls will be ours!”

Shock made Arthur’s sword arm lower. The shadows invoked the name of God? It could not be. The shadows were evil. God was not. “How dare you speak the name of God!” he choked.

Amused and cold laughter rang into the circle through the radio. “Naïve fool! God does not suffer the unrighteous. He does not suffer the heathens. He will cleanse this land, and we shall aid Him.”

“No,” whispered Arthur, backing away. He would have stepped out of the circle, but Meagan’s hand snatched at his cape and held his steadfast. He stared at her, too stunned to do anything else. “God does not act thus. He does not…”

“No, but many who claim to follow His words do,” she replied, and her voice was low and commanding. “It is not the God one worships, or the faith one follows, it is the one who wields it as a weapon that lets in evil.”

He understood now. More than he had. He had tolerated the faith of his men, but had never tried to understand it. Now he knew that it was not the God or faith that a man believed in that was dangerous, but the heart of the man who believed them. For in that heart he twisted it, and made it to suit his own purposes, be they good or evil. “God forgive me, I have been so blind!” he choked. He moved closer to Meagan. “I have wronged you. I ask forgiveness, and pray you can find it in your heart to do so.”

“Can we discuss this when we’re not fighting to save our souls?” she asked.

He noticed now the sweat beading her brow, and the drop of blood that fell from her nose and landed upon her top lip. Her skin did not only glow, it was pale, almost ethereal, and her face was strained. Pain lit her eyes, and her now saw how tense her whole body was. Their weapons would not defeat the shadows. He knew this. “Knights!” The men automatically glanced quickly at him, but then returned to gazing at the shadows. He knew they listened. “Steel will not aid us now. We must help this lady. Our strength, our belief, must go to her.”

“How?” Gawain demanded.

Galahad grasped Lancelot’s hand, ignoring the way the other man balked and tried to pull free. “We must hold hands to connect ourselves.” His other hand took Meagan’s. “We are here for you,” he whispered to her, his eyes caressing her face.

The light did not grow brighter, but the strain upon Meagan’s face eased as each knight connected and suspended disbelief to lend her his strength and support. Arthur was the last to join. “God lend us your strength,” he prayed.
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Galahad’s teeth were gritted, and he cried out in pain when Meagan fell to her knees. The other knights were groaning, and mumbling or cursing in strained whispers. The weight of her as she swayed and sank more nearly toppled Galahad, and his knees quivered and threatened to give out completely. He had faced battles, and yet never had he felt so tired. He had been wounded, and yet never had he felt so weak. And the shadows continued to lunge at the circle and howl in rage and pain. And the circle continued to hold, though the light of it flickered, and the knights wondered how much longer it could hold.

“Mother… forgive me,” Meagan whispered, swaying forward and nearly collapsing. “I can’t hold on much longer.”

“You do not need to,” Arthur rasped. “Dawn comes.”

Every eye turned to watch the lightening of the sky at the horizon. Black turned to stormy gray, and from there to a smoky-blue, dusky mauve, and finally to pale lavender and rose. Golden light flared, and gilded the tops of the trees far away. The shadows shrieked and beat at the circle, ramming into it with a rapidity that unnerved the occupants within. The light of the circle flickered with each hit, wavering in power. It collapsed, Meagan fell forward, bringing the knights down to their knees, and the shadow lunged forward.

Sunlight sped across the remains of the Wall, and touched the knights and Meagan. The shadows gave one last wail of outrage, and receded hurriedly, unable to make the final kills. Calmed once more the horses stepped over the broken circle and began to graze while behind them the knights and the lone woman lay sprawled upon the warming grass, unmoving.