The Green Shield of Camelot

[Isabelle]

My goblin companion and I were walking down the road. I kept following my heart, seeing where it would lead me, while my green-skinned friend stuck close, curious where my travels were taking me.

“So what is that heart thing?” He asked after many minutes of silence.

“It’s my soul.” I responded.

He gave me a cocked eyebrow.

“I see, and do all souls come in valentine’s shapes?”

“It seems to be leading me somewhere,” I stated, ignoring his sass, “Figured it’s probably something important.”

“You know, for a secondary, you’re not very cautious. Following random signals is a good way to wind up dead.”

“Secondary?” I asked.

“Ah, right, you’re new.” He stated, face palming a little bit at my lack of knowledge. “There’s primes, that’s people that are summoned by Omni, and there are the secondaries, they are summoned by the primes.”

“Omni?” I responded, my head whirred from the large amounts of vague exposition all at once.

“Yeah, you know, Omni, the head honcho. He’s the god that created this world.”

“Oh.” My experiences with godlike beings haven’t been all that fantastic to be honest. Most of them have tried to kill me. Of course, I wasn’t going to admit that now. “So what are the significance of these ‘Primes’ outside how they got here?”

“Well, like I said, they could summon stuff to this world, everything from objects to people. It’s how you got here, and if you kill them, they just come back, unlike us Secondaries.”

I gave off a slight shutter.

’Does this mean my determination doesn’t bring me back if I die?’ I thought.

“And before you ask, you are most certainly not a prime. Omni has little reason to summon scrawny children like you.”

“Uh, thanks.” It was clear my companion wasn’t one for pleasantries, but I was glad he was at least filling me in on what to expect.

The following steps were filled with silence as I focused on the path ahead, my companion just watching, waiting for whatever comes. But then I was hit with a sinking feeling.

I hadn’t felt it since my time in the underground. It was an urge to fight, it was a urge to kill. I thought it was something wrong with me, I thought it was my own fear taking over, but the more I felt it, the more it felt like an actual presence within me. It was like someone or something was there. The feeling had returned, it was somewhere out there in this world.

I froze in my tracks as my mind spiraled into a chaotic mess. It was a mixture of confusion and fear, uncertain why that presence was not only outside of my body, but it feels like it’s taken form, it feels like it could feel me too.

’Am i in danger?’ I thought to myself. With the revelation that I could die now, this is the worst news I could have possibly gotten.

My goblin friend was showing signs of genuine concern.

“Are you okay kid?” He asked, his head tilted on the side.

I took a deep breath in, held it for a second, and took a deep breath out.

‘Wherever she is, she is not here. Just focus on the task at hand.’ I reminded myself.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” I said, straightening myself out.

I continued forward, trying hard not to think about what I just found out. I almost tripped over a vine in my path my mind was wandering so much. I couldn’t help it, I mean, how would feel if one of your scariest emotions had manifested itself somewhere else?

I was happy when I came across the distant sight of a village, and it appeared my soul was leading me right towards it. Time spent in a rustic small town is probably what I needed to clear my head. A sign nearby told me the name of my destination.

“Berry Blitzkrieg.” I read out loud. “What can you tell me about-”

I looked all around me, but my goblin companion had already disappeared.

I was alone.