Arthur Pendragon sat at the round table, now brilliantly clean, for a long moment. He was focusing on his knights, which were nothing but shadows to him. Arthur could not even count the shadows, and it was unusual for his all-knowing mind to have such shadows. Perhaps it was because he was not meant to know who his knights were, but at least he knew where they were.<br/><br/>The King took note that most of the knights were now concentrated in one spot. He could sense a dark presence lurking in the area as well, but could not place who or what this presence was.<br/><br/>Giving up on following his knights for the time being, he had faith that they would be just fine on their own, if the presence were to make itself known. Stepping out of the castle and onto the grounds, Arthur looked around at Avalon. He took a deep breath, but the only smells were of mold and decay.<br/><br/>Walking around the side of the castle and into the courtyard, Arthur found Excalibur waiting and eager for him like a dog. He summoned Excalibur from its chamber within the earth, and held it high. Summoning his long lost companion, of which the books had not written.<br/><br/>A few yards away from where his sword had returned to him, the earth began to raise, like a tiny mountain. Dirt fell from the higher most point, like lava off of a volcano. Suddenly, a black equine maw appeared and the rest of the dirt slowly fell away, revealing a well-muscled black mare, that was unlike any other. This horse, had fangs.<br/><br/>~ ~ ~ ~ ~<br/><br/>Lysonna dressed herself in the lite leather armor that her father had brought for her. Once it was on she hugged him. â€œDad, this is so weird, I don't want to leave...â€ She laughed at herself, and her father gave her an understanding look.<br/><br/>â€œIt's alright, you'll be home safely some day,â€ he said, with a slight smile.<br/><br/>â€œBut... What about you? You're... human,â€ Lysonna said, though it still sounded weird to her calling someone else a human. Until just a few minutes ago, she had thought herself a human, but in reality, was only half.<br/><br/>â€œI know, but don't worry about me. If it is meant to be, I will survive, but if not,â€ he shrugged.<br/><br/>â€œDon't talk like that!â€ Lysonna said, and silence fell. She looked at the sword and bow that was amongst the other things in the large box that her father had showed her. Hesitating, she finally picked them up. â€œI guess... I will see you when this is over,â€ she told her father.<br/><br/>Smiling sadly, her father nodded. â€œIf something happens to me, remember that I love you, and am very proud of you.â€<br/><br/>With tears in her eyes, Lysonna quietly left her home. As soon as she stepped outside, she froze. There was a wolf that would have been beautiful solid black, if it hadn't been for the red stripe down it's back. Lysonna remembered them being mentioned in her bed time stories, and correctly identified it as a hellhound. The half-human was frozen like a deer in the headlights of a car. All thoughts of her weapons had gone from her mind, and she felt helpless, and it looked to her as if the hellhound was attacking someone, and that someone was losing.<br/><br/>~~~~~<br/><br/>The dark figure hiding behind the shrubbery cursed under his breath. The target his leader sent for him to assassinate was now out of his reach. He stalked around the outside of the mansion, looking for a weakness.<br/><br/>He finally decided to crawl through a second-story window, in hopes that everyone was on the first floor and so wouldn't see him. The Shadow Mage, hoped that there wouldn't be many lights inside, so he would have plenty of shadows to manipulate.