Abs walked past the store for about the fifth time. It was a little shop just outside center London and the reason Abs was interested, was the fact they sold all kind of fancy swords and other antique stuff there. It was rather expensive, though, and even if he had enough money, Abs had been brought up with the idea not to spoil it. �Just looking around won�t hurt� he muttered to himself , and walked in without further hesitations.
�Ah, you�ve decided to come in after all� a strange voice cracked in his ear. Abs looked around for the source of the sound and once he was used to the dim light he saw an old man who was curiously staring at him.
�Floy, don�t stare at him, that�s very inpolite, you know that� another voice came out of the half-dark. A woman stepped next to the man. She was very little and had several hints of grey in her black hair. Her face, however, seemed timeless. �You�ll frighten him� she chided the man, who was obviously her brother, even though his hair was completely grey, but his face as timeless as the woman�s.
�Sorry� the old man apologized. Then, falling into a strange broque, he continued:�What might it be yer after, boy-o?�
�Um� said Abs, who didn�t know what to say for about the first time in his life,�I wanted to buy a sword, actually.�
�An� who�s it yer after to slay?�the man joked. The woman shook her head but smiled anyway. �I�m Fenella� she said to Abs. �An� what might yer name be?�she asked, in the same odd broque the man used.
Abs grinned. �It MIGHT be Queen Elizabeth or Tony Blair, but you wouldn�t buy that, would you? My name�s Abs.�
Fenella smiled. �Yer a funner sorta fella� she replied. �Well,�she continued, dropping the strange tonque, �a sword. That�s possible.� She made a wide gesture with her right-arm. �We�ve got loads of those, as you see. Anything special in mind?�
�Not really� Abs replied. �I just bought meself a new house and it�s meant as decoration.�
The man sniffed. �That�s all they�re good for today� he grunted. �Back in ME days, we took up those swords, and we vanished all those who dared crossing our path..�
�Floy!� Fenella chided again.�Go to fetch some swords. You know what this gentleman might like.� When Floy had disappeared, Fenellla turned to Abs again and smiled apogetically. �He�s so tiresome every once in a while with his tales� she said to him. �Sometimes i wonder why i keep up with him, but he�s my brother, and he CAN be a loveable old sot, after all.�
Abs nodded his understanding, even though he started to doubt the sanity of the older people. Fenella all of a sudden grinned. �Oh, WE are completely sane, dear boy. We hoped you�d drop by about now, old chap. There�s something a friend of us wants you to have. As gift.�
Floy came back again, holding a long, beautiful sword in two hands outstretched to Abs.�Here it is� he announced, and hold it out to Abs, who held his breath for a second. Clearly visible on the sharp blade of the sword, in celtic design, was the name �EXCALIBUR� to read..
A bit dazed Abs left the store. He had insisted on paying the sword, but got it for almost nothing, in a beautiful holder of black velvet decorated with celtic design. He didn�t fully comprehend what just happened back there, how those two people seemed to know him. He walked back to his motorbike and carefully secured the sword. Two weeks ago he had gotten his license, so he was still a very careful driver. Abs shook his head and said to himself that spending half your life between rusty armor SHOULD make you just a bit strange and that Fenella and Floy were the perfect example. He put his helmet on his head and fastened his gloves, then drove away, heading home. Where he�d never arrive�
Because just around the corner, a black Miata didn�t seem to know the meaning of the word �brakes�. Abs saw the car too late in his dead corner, and although he desperatley tried to avoid the crash, the impact was hard and Abs grabbed the lemmet of the sword and closed his eyes, praying under his breath as he crashed through the window�
When Abs opened his eyes, he felt a bit light in the head, but not at all bad. �The crash wasn�t all that hard then after all� he muttered, and turned around in his bed to see where he was. He expected a hospital of sorts. To his surprise the room he thought to be a hospital�s, was apparently of wood. Stupefied he looked around. There was a small window through which he could see trees and grass. �Where the hell am I?�he said loudly.
�Why, on Avalon, of course.� A voice replied. As Abs turned to the source of the sound, he saw a woman standing in the doorway. She was quite small, had long black hair, green eyes and an odd blue tattoo between her eyebrows, in the form of a mooncrescent. She wore a long white dress with a black belt around the middle, and a moonshaped knife attached to it. �We found you in the Lake three days ago� she said. �You were more dead than alive. What�s your name, boy?�she asked, coming closer. Now Abs could see small lines around her eyes, telling she wasn�t as young as he had thought at first sight. �Em, Abidin.� He answered, for some reason using his full name instead of his nickname.
�Hello�she replied smiling. �I am Morgaine. Lady of the Lake, High Priestess of Avalon.� She stopped, gave him another smile, that somehow remembered Abs of a cat. �You are most welcome on Avalon, Defender of Britain.�