Young Writers Society

Or before. Lol. Sorry about that, I edited =)

Morgan crouched warily just outside the kitchen door, watching as Ryder and the little squire boy hurried past. They were leaving the castle in a hurry, apparently.

Morgan scowled fiercely as the smell of fresh food wafted towards her from the kitchen doors, causing her empty stomach to rumble. She had to get food, and soon.

Closing her eyes, she muttered a quick spell, the first one she had ever learned, that allowed her to see what was around her, through walls and around corners. It helped keep her alert - and alive. Seeing that all there was inside the kitchen was a young, rotund kitchen knave chopping vegetables, she crept in, smoothed her hair, and straightened, facing the boy with a smile.

"Hello, there, young lad," she said, striding forward sensuously. "Couldn't you spare a bite to eat for a poor hungry lady?"

The boy gulped, staring at her face, then her bosom. Morgan resisted the urge to pull the neckline of her black dress up a little and spoke again to draw the boy's attention away from her neckline.

"I'm new here at the castle, you see, and -"

The boy nodded. "I know that, m'lady. I'd certainly remember meeting you."

Morgan laughed, a tinkling, breathless sound. "Thank you - I'll take that as a complement. So, what say you to a little bite to eat?"

The boy fetched her a large piece of bread, some cold meat and wine. Morgan ate as quickly as she could without seeming ravenous, trying to ignore the fact that the boy was watching every bite she took as it traveled from her fingers to her lips.

"Thank you so much," she said when she had finished, smiling brightly. "I won't forget you, I promise that."

While the boy was still bowing and stammering, Morgan swept out of the kitchen, using her spell to know which way to turn. Finally she ended up in a remote corner near the castle walls, where no-one ever came, if she could judge by the spider-webs that stretched across every surface.

Closing her eyes and frowning in concentration, she widened her area of sight from the earlier spell she had cast. Slowing spreading out, she fought against the darkness of her eyelids and what she couldn't see like a fish swimming upstream, until her sight had reached the forest. She frowned even more when she saw who was crouched there, playing in the grass.

The little brat. Arthur himself. What was Merlin thinking, letting the brat run wild when he knew Morgan le Fey was close at hand? But Arthur wasn't playing. He was looking for something. And coming towards him was Ryder and that young page boy, both looking very solemn and very hurried. Something was amiss. Morgan drew her consciousness back in to it's original size and hurriedly engaged her stored floating spell. Drifting up, over the walls and down, she was running as soon as her feet hit the ground towards the forest.

Merlin paced restlessly next to his tree home. He would glance up every time he turned, searching the trees for movement. Still, the boy did not appear.

"Where IS that boy?" he muttered to himself. Finally, he coud take it no longer and started off in the direction of Arthur's favorite hang-out. A small patch of ground next to a shallow stream...

Merlin cursed. How could he let himself be so stupid? At the stream this morning with Senna...that was Arthur's favorite spot to be. Thankfully he had not been there then, but who knew now?

Snapping his fingers, Merlin disappeared in a smal puff of white smoke, only to reappear moments later next to the stream. He looked arund quickly and spotted Arthur and a two other people he recognized from this morning. Senna was there too.

Morgan raced forward through the trees, using her increased awareness to dodge the swift, on-coming branches before they scratched her.

She stopped abruptly as she crashed out of the woods and into a small clearing. There was Arthur, there was Ryder and the page, just as she had...

"Ballocks," said Morgan flatly. Directly in front of Arthur - was Merlin. His hair and beard wild and his clothes torn, he still managed to look imposing. Morgan sucked in her breath, taking a backwards step.

"Go back to the North and stay there, Morgan," said Merlin, quiet menace filling his voice. "Don't interfere with Arthur's destiny."

Morgan laughed, voice wavering only a little. "Destiny! His destiny is to be a farm boy, milking his mother's cows somewhere far away from here. He has no mark of royal blood on him."

Suddenly, Morgan spotted a small flash of white underneath a pile of leaves. Dashing over quickly, she snatched the white thing up - it was a letter!

Senna watched as the lady picked up the letter. Ryder's eyes looked it over and he frowned.

"Well now, thanks for finding that letter, Miss, I've been looking for it for awhile." Senna smiled,

"HA, the likely hood this letter is yours is quiet low." The lady laughed,

"That is my letter," Ryder said coldly, the lady smiled at that.

"Acctually, this is your letter." Senna pulled the letter from her pouch. The lady's smile disappeared. A small bird landed on Senna's shoulder.

Please retreve that letter. She said to the bird. It swooped away and snagged the letter. But didn't make it far with out freezing in place.

"WHAT did you do to him?" Senna demanded walking towards the bird. Forget the letter, if that bird was hurt this lady was in trouble.


*Ok, didn't want to mess it up to much. So if that letter is important. Maybe the bird can dissappear to somewhere unknown and they all go searching for it and the letter.*

Eleanor Fawkes

Two letters? This was getting more and more confusing so I decided to merely observe and kept a particularly close eye on the two letters. The first of which was currently held by the exotic, blue eyed woman and the second was clutched within the beak of a bird that was currently frozen mid-flight. More magic. Oh and then of course there was this strange man who had appeared out of nowhere and I was almost ready to believe that he was the legendary Merlin after such a feat.

To complicate matters further, Lady Claire came darting into the clearing.

"Stay away from the bird if you don't want me to crush it," The sorceress commanded as the blue eyed woman stepped towards it.

"Stay away from that bird or I'll crush it," Morgan warned fiercely. The woman froze as still as the bird Morgan was holding in place, and Morgan relaxed. Now what? If one letter belonged to Claire, then what was the other letter, and how had Arthur gotten it?

Using the magic spell, she started to carefully draw the bird towards her, careful not to crush it or let it loose as she pulled it towards her. Then, abruptly, she felt a sharp twang on the spell, and it broke, coiling back and striking her. She put her hand to her cheek, sucking in her breath at the sting of the sharp magic, and watching helplessly as the bird flew away, still carrying the mysterious letter.

Morgan whirled around, glaring at Merlin and Arthur, who was cowering behind the old wizard.

"All right, brat. Yes, Arthur, that means you. What was in that letter? Apparently you're the only one among us who knows, so please share," she snapped, all pretense at pleasantry gone.

The rest of the group paused momentarily and all eyes went to the boy.

Eleanor Fawkes

While all attention was directed towards the young boy, I edged closer to the blue eyed woman. She turned away from the youth and at first I thought she had guessed my attention but she averted her eyes to the sky and watched after the bird with a fond smile on her face. In one fluid motion, I leapt forward and took the letter from the startled woman's hand before hurriedly retreating towards where Ryder and Lady Claire stood.

"I... I don't know what was in the letter," Arthur admitted but most of the group had already switched their attention back to me.

"Another letter?" the sorceress snapped, her gaze drinking in my figure. I took another step back, clutching the letter firmly.

"Good lad," Ryder complimented me as he placed a solid, calloused hand upon my shoulder.

"Go on then boy, open the letter and read it out," The wizard who had been referred to as Merlin commanded.

"But it's my property!" Lady Claire protested.

"Not necessarily. It could just as easily be Arthur's letter, there's no way of telling without reading it. Go ahead boy." I turned to Lady Claire unsure of what to do.

Morgan cursed as she watched the bird fly away. Now some flighty forest sprite would be the first one to see it.

Merlin had raised an interesting point, Morgan thought, watching the squire's hands as they clutched the letter. Perhaps the bird had flown with Claire's letter, and the one they had held some mystery.

"Well, open it, boy, don't just stand there staring," Morgan snapped at the squire.

The squire glanced at her, then his eyes widened. "You - you're the one who...who was in Lady -"

Morgan gestured quickly with her hands and the boy's hand went to his throat. "Yes, you saw me in Lady Isabelle's train a while back. Now open the letter." She gave a little twinge on the spell and the boy gasped, then she released it so the squire could speak again.

He looked at her, eyes wide for a moment, then looked down.

"Don't do it, Fawkes," hissed Lady Claire.

Fawkes paused for only a moment before, with one eye on Merlin, he gently broke the seal on the letter and unfolded it.

Morgan hesitated, not wanting to stay around Merlin any longer than she had to, wanting to chase after that bird and get the other letter - but curious about the letter Fawkes held. She edged to the trees at the end of the clearing, where she could still hear but escape would be easier.

In a light, steady voice, Fawkes began to read.

Althea couldn't believe what had happened in a matter of minutes! All of these people-- the people that were there only hours before-- were back, all arguing over something that the odd boy had been holding. And apparently, the other thing that the bird had. She was sure she could get whatever the bird was holding in a matter of minutes. She would merely have to call upon her mother to talk with forest nymphs. They could surely get the letter for her. But it was the letter right in front of her that was posing the problem.

She carefully watched all of the people argue over who was to open the letter; she watched people use magic and-- that woman! The beautiful-eyed woman was using magic! But it looked like she was hurting someone. People don't use magic to hurt. They shouldn't. They couldn't. But was she?

It appeared so, and it unsettled Althea. That wasn't how magic was to be used. She watched the boy who held the letter. His fearful eyes and trembling hands made her pity him. That beautiful-eyed lady wasn't so beautiful after all and who knew what she would do to get the information in that letter.

Without thinking, Althea ran, in her natural form, straight towards the boy with the letter. She halted right before she ran into him. He jumped back, startled by her appearance, and she used that moment, when his grasp on the letter was just loose enough, to take it right from his hands. She didn't waste another second. She whistled and the sound echoed for miles. Several of the humans around her even buckled over, in what appeared to be pain at the sound that came from Althea's lips.

She took another step back and watched the trees, in the distance, begin to move and shake. The forest nymphs were coming and she wasn't going to stay around and wait for them. Althea took off, running in the direction she thought the bird flew, and disappeared among a clump of bushes.

Edit:

Senna ran after Althea, her wistle not affecting her. Nightmare showed up and she jumped on his back racing towards Althea. She landed in front of her as Nightmare pulled to a stop.

"Why did you do that?" She asked timidly, she had never talked to Althea before, seen her once or twice but never seen her.

"Cause, she would kill him for it." Althea snapped. Senna smiled,

"I thought you people were heartless," Althea's face darkened, "I'm proud to share a forest with the likes of you. Now I'm almost positive that letter isn't Ryders. So the information in it is not what they want. The bird has it."

"How do you know that?" Althea demanded,

"Becuase, if that was Ryder's letter, it would have tip of red wax on the right corner. His letters always do. But neither him or Lady Claire have ever pained attention to that. The forest spirtes put it on the letters as a joke to see who will notice. At least the two child ones. That was brought in by Arthur. His are never marked." She replied,

"Your point?"

"We should give it back. The other letter is far away more then likely." She sighed, "I'm only concerned it is mad at me

The bird is fine,and not mad Nightmare said,

'I must find him' She replied,

No, Nightmare replied, she smiled, it was Nightmare alright,

Why not?She demanded,

I know where he is, but will not tell anyone. The letter is not to be opened. He replied,

And why not?

I don't know that is what the forest spirte said. She sighed,

Can I acompany them to find it, to make sure they dont make a mess of my forest?

Yes, but do not say a word about knowing anything I told you. She nodded, and looked back at Althea

"The letter isn't to be opened," She said more to herself, then she looked at Althea. "We have to make sure it isnt, not the one you have but the other. We have to protect it."
OK, putting a twist, but Nightmare isn't about to tell anyone for anything .

Eleanor Fawkes

"You useless boy!" the sorceress exclaimed, clenching her hands into two tight fists. I felt my hands leap to my throat once more and I collapsed to my knees as they began to cut off my air.

"Enough!" Merlin commanded and suddenly I was free to lean forward and gulp in deep breaths of fresh air while simultaneously coughing violently. Ryder knelt down beside me and pounded my back harshly but that seemed to do the trick.

"Thank you," I croaked.

"Why you interfering old man!" the sorceress screached angrily. "But no mind. I shall get the other letter!" And with that, she darted off in the direction the other two had taken.

"I hope those others find it first," Lady Claire murmured.

"Why, miss?" The youth beside Merlin demanded.

"They can be trusted to return it and anything is better than Morgan getting her hands on it," Lady Claire decided.

Morgan darted into the forest, searching for the little bird.

Stupid Fawkes, stupid Merlin, stupid Ryder, stupid everyone. I'm the only one in the whole forest who was sane, Morgan thought, breathing heavily and pushing strands of hair out of her face.

"Where are you little bird!" Her voice sing-songed raggedly and she staggered slightly. She was exhausted. She hadn't slept for four days, and was beginning to feel light-headed. She was stronger than the average woman, but even Faeries need sleep.

"Come to me, my little winged friend," she said, her voice cracking.

Abruptly she stumbled, fell down, watching the leaves rush towards her face helplessly, unable to react quickly enough. Pain shot through her neck as her head struck the ground sideways. She knew nothing was badly hurt, but she would definitely be sore for a while. She tried to move her arms, but couldn't summon the strength. Lying there, her vision swimming in front of her eyes, her neck aching sharply, she relaxed, gave up. She couldn't continue now, not like this.

Revenge could wait for another day - revenge on Arthur, on Merlin, on Claire.

"Who are you? Pretty lady." A light, childish voice spoke close to Morgan's ear. She couldn't open her eyes, for some reason, they felt so heavy, she couldn't open her eyes, she couldn't open them.

"Who's there?" she thought she murmered.

"Pretty lady...mama, pretty lady needs help!" The child left her side, and soon Morgan could feel a larger presence at her side.

"What have you found, dear child..." the woman's older, mature voice sent comfort down Morgan's spine. "Good child, thank you. My dear lady," the woman addressed Morgan, "allow me to extend my hospitality towards you."

"Why should you...why should you help me?" asked Morgan heavily.

"You are of the faiery blood -" said the woman, surprised. "you are one of our kin."

*Reviving!*

Merlin strode over to Lady Claire. He cupped a hand to her ear and whispered, "Lady, i fear that if Morgan gets that letter, no good can possibly come from it. We must find it, with all haste."

He motioned Arthur to come stand by him. The boy obliged and trotted up next to Merlin, gazing around at all the people. Merlin couldn't help a small smile.


*I dont have much, but i hope it's enough to bring it back*

Eleanor Fawkes

"Shouldn't we hurry if we want to stand a chance at reclaiming the letter?" I asked, amazed that no one was moving yet.

"Just a moment, my boy. Now Arthur, I have another lesson in magic for you. This is a very simple locating spell. Watch how I perform it." Merlin flicked his wand in a smooth, precise action and all of a sudden a thin tendril of crimson, almost like a trail of blood, snaked out of the black tip and into the forest.

"Okay, off we go then," Merlin announced, already striding away. Arthur was the first to follow, obediantly trailing at his heels and then Claire hurried after him, Ryder at her side and I had to run to keep up.

"Don't we need a plan?" I suggested. "Only, I don't think the girl who took the letter will return it directly."

"Well of course not, Fawkes, but that doesn't matter as long as we keep Morgan away from it," Ryder replied.