"How is he doing?"Elaine asked, wading into the water alongside him, heedless of the weight of her skirts as they absorbed water.She pressed the back of her hand to Galahad's forehead and cheeks, sighing softly."His fever has already cooled significantly.Thank you."
"Thank me when he's awake and healthy," Lancelot replied."I've a friend coming to hopefully help us further resolve this matter.Go wait for him at the gate and lead him here."
She heaved and clawed her way back out of the water, then huffed in irritation, drew the knife at her belt, and cut the skirt off just above her knees.Another oddity, for that was a tale she'd told of something she'd done as a girl, after a cruel man whose suit she'd rejected had pushed her into the river while she'd been doing laundry one day.With the yards upon yards of fabric soaked, she'd had no choice but to cut the cloth away or die of drowning.
As she ran off, he turned his full attention back to Galahad.His warm skin was ashen and sickly, more gray than brown, but he wasn't quite as pale as he'd been just minutes ago, so the water was at least keeping him stable."Stay strong, Galahad," he murmured."Don't give up just yet."
"Lan…" Galahad said, then fell quiet and still again.
"Lancelot!"Merlin cried, and Lancelot looked up to see him and Guinevere racing toward him.They plunged into the icy water, Gwen immediately setting to examining him."What's wrong with him?Why does she act like she doesn't know this is a game?"
"I think their connection was killed, and they both were almost ghosted.Whatever happened fritzed her mind and made her forget this was all a game, and Galahad is lost somewhere, but not quite ghosted yet."
"Shit, shit, shit," Merlin said.
Gwen gestured sharply."Get him back to shore, I'll see what I can do."
In the earliest days of the full immersion tech that was ubiquitous now, abrupt power outages or other full disconnects could cause the person using the rig to be essentially lost, their consciousness neither in the game nor in their body, but lost somewhere between, a digital ghost.Thousands had died before the problem had been fixed, and people had been too afraid to continue using the technology for another ten-twenty years after that.It was one of the biggest technological disasters in history, and there was an absurd number of fail-safes installed in every rig to prevent it happening.
Practically the only way it could happen was a one in a million chance mistake or purposeful sabotage.Lancelot would bet everything he owned that Maleagant, angry at the losses already suffered, had gone for the expedient but cruel route of ghosting them.
Only it hadn't quite worked, for reasons they'd probably never know.Though what it had done was bad enough.
Once he had Galahad settled on the bank, still partway in the water to help keep him cool, Gwen snatched up the staff that she'd dropped in order to examine him.Now she knelt beside him, staff gripped tight across her lap, head bowed low as she whispered chants to focus her power.The crystal orb set in it began to glow, softly at first, and then with increasing brilliance, flickering all the colors that fire could be—orange, white, red, blue, green, and more, a rainbow of searing heat that spilled from the crystal and over Galahad, consuming him entirely.
Elaine dropped to her knees and pulled his head into her lap, crying openly, uncaring as the scorching light consumed her too.
Lancelot lifted an arm to block the blinding light, forced to turn his head away as it consumed the entire meadow—
And then was gone.
"Fuck me," Elaine said."How long have I been stuck here?"She looked around at them in bewilderment."What's going on?"
"Mother, I'm insulted you're asking all these questions instead of fawning over your miraculously recovered son."
Elaine huffed a tired laugh that turned into a sob."I can't believe how close I came to losing you.This is the last time I play any game with you, I swear to the goddess."
If Lancelot was at all given to fainting, he might have then from sheer relief.Instead, he moved to help them up."All right there, Galahad?"
"You know it," Galahad replied."Could do with food and sleep, but otherwise I'm all right.Though I don't know…" His eyes went distant, and then he sagged so hard in relief that Lancelot had to catch him."Our bodies are fine.Whatever happened, the emergency backups kicked on.Too late to save us entirely, but that's probably what kept us from completely ghosting.Fuck me."
Lancelot clapped him on the back."I'm certain Dred will be more than happy to do that.Shall we return to camp before more trouble finds us?"
Elaine, already wrapped securely in a happily-crying Gwen's arms, said fiercely, "With all the haste you can muster, dear husband.I said it back then, and I'll say it again now: I never want to see this stupid pile of rocks ever again."
"A wise lord heeds the wishes of his wife," Lancelot replied, motioning for Merlin to take the lead with proper light to guide them, while he as usual covered their rear.The very moment they reached camp, he was finally going to get some damned sleep.
Tormented
When Lancelot woke, it was still dark out.
That couldn't be right.He checked the time on his HUD, and sure enough, not quite seven hours had passed.It should be daylight.
Movement caught his eye, and he tensed, but immediately relaxed as he registered Merlin.
"Here," Merlin said, handing him a steaming cup of tea as he sat next to him on his bed."There was magic in the air around the castle, but not here, not when we went to sleep.When I woke just a little while ago, though, the magic had definitely spread.The fog will soon follow."He nodded in the direction of the castle.
Sure enough, the fog was closer than it had been before.Significantly closer."We should wake the others and get moving."
