The island shrouded in the mist of history

Excalibur!

This was a name that boasted of power, and more so when one recalled all the legends related to it; its mysteries endless.

Perhaps, for the first time in her life, Darcie was showing the expressions that a little girl like her ought to show on encountering such things. Her eyes were fluttering, her cheeks were gaining a rosy color, and her mouth kept opening and closing with every thought that passed by her brilliant mind.

"Afraid?" Madam Villanelle asked, raising an eyebrow.

Darcie tore her gaze off the space-bending sword and shook her head.

The older witch giggled and then pinched Darcie's cheek. "Just follow my lead," she said kindly.

There was still a considerable gap between the sword and the black pool's circumference where they were standing. With one step, Madam Villanelle stepped into the black liquid, the water rippling under her feet.

Darcie followed.

She looked down and saw her face rippling in the pool of black water. Her shoes were drowned an inch into the pool, yet there was no sensation of them getting wet. Even the surface she was standing on felt like a mirror to Darcie.

It was all too mystical and strange for even her to comprehend.

"Pretty, right?" Madam Villanelle commented, obviously talking about the black liquid. "It's called the Well of Eternal Fall. If someone were to step into it without fulfilling certain conditions, they would instantly fall into it, and would keep falling for eternity."

Darcie's heartbeat quickened and goosebumps stood up on her arms and the back of her neck.

This was just too scary.

However, Darcie wasn't scared, her mind still holding onto rational thoughts. "Certain conditions like your presence, mentor?"

Madam Villanelle said nothing, but a smile on her face answered everything.

They walked up to the pool's center, where the sword was hovering, tossing, and turning, sending out heart-palpating spatial ripples.

There were no more words and warnings. Madam Villanelle's hand lifted, reaching for the blue-yellow scabbard. The moment her finger made contact with the sword, both witches and the Portkey spun at their places, and disappeared.

Darcie had experienced her first Apparition only an hour ago. This, however, did nothing to prepare for the feeling of traveling through a Portkey. On some notes, it was even worse, Darcie concluded.

It was as if there was a hook stuck in her stomach, wrenching her forward cruelly with no kind intentions. The sensation of her entire being getting squeezed through a fist-sized tunnel was not something to be praised, either. Her cheeks flailed, her hair looked like thousands of white-golden snakes hissing at the void, and her eyes moistened.

When Darcie felt like she wouldn't be able to bear it any longer, her feet struck solid footing, and a distinct sound of splashing of water entered her ears.

"Good," Madam Villanelle praised, still holding Darcie's hand. "Better than last time."

Darcie took several deep breaths and propped herself up. She was still standing in a pool, her shoes drowned an inch into the water. But the liquid wasn't black here. It was clearer even than water, reflecting Darcie's face and the cloudy sky overhead.

Suddenly, Darcie heard a buzz, and she snapped her head up. In front of her eyes, there was a bee-like magical insect buzzing midair. It had a vivid sapphire blue color, and its wings were on its head, rather than on the back. Its size was around half an inch, and the rest of its body was like a blue hook, ending in a stinger.

By now, Darcie had just learned and read too much to not recognize it. "A Billywig!" she cried.

The magical insect startled at the noise and vanished as if it had too apparated. Its speed was too fast for the naked eye to perceive its trajectory.

This was just the beginning.

Cry! Roar! Hiss!!!

Great shadows engulfed the area where Darcie was standing. She craned up her neck and looked at the beings that had cast those shadows.

The shock was so great that she couldn't help but take a step back, her poisonous green pupils trembling at the sight.

There, with the vast sky as a witness, a copper-colored, and over 12 ft large, dragon was spitting fire at another flying creature. This second creature had the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle, and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion. Half the time it was crying like an eagle, and half the time it was roaring like a proud lion.

"Peruvian Vipertooth and Griffin…" Darcie mumbled involuntarily, drawing a long gasp.

By her side, Madam Villanelle sighed. "These two… are a headache," she complained, frowning. "Let's go, Darcie."

The little Malfoy walked out of the pool in a daze. She had yet to look down, her eyes following the two magical creatures as they disappeared on the horizon. Their cries, roars, and hisses reached her as if they were still over her head.

Then Darcie looked over her shoulder and saw the legendary sword now hovering above the center of the pool, gently folding the space around it like a drape.

Only then did Darcie get the chance to observe where she had arrived.

However, words left her heart when she thought of describing the charm of this place.

They were walking on a cobbled path, she realized. To her left, and stretched to the distant horizon, were sheets of meadows, forests with gigantic trees, and mountain after mountain, their tips dipped into a snowy ink.

In those fields and forests, Darcie saw prides of Griffins, herds of Hippogriffs, a giant Sphinx resting on a grassy mound with grand majesty, and towering pillars of rocks near the foot of mountains.

Suddenly, one of the rocky pillars stood up, and Darcie realized what it truly was.

A Giant!

All of those rocky pillars were Giants. Perhaps it was a tribe, Darcie reflected.

Under the leafy darkness of distant forests, she heard thunderous pounds of raging hooves, and then several Centaurs appeared in her sight, chasing a Manticore, who let out a soul-shaking cry as hundreds of arrows pierced into its body.

It was hard. It was just too hard for Darcie to look away from this sight, as they kept walking, and then turn her head to her right.

Sure enough, the sight was as grand as the last, if not grander.

There was an enormous lake, with large villages built around its edges. A horde of Flying Seahorses was jumping in and out of the water, and a long tentacle of a Giant Squid was trying to catch them. Purple toads croaked in shallow pools, and on small trees, Darcie noticed a few Clabberts; a magical tree-dwelling beast that resembled a cross between a monkey and a frog.

The villages were nothing to be overlooked, either.

Darcie saw humans, house-elves, goblins, and, if she wasn't mistaken, Pukwudgies.

Chirp!

The sudden call brought Darcie's attention to the path ahead. A plump, fluffy-feathered, and flightless magical bird was crossing the cobbled road, with two young chicks following its steps.

'Diricawls,' Darcie recalled the name of the creatures.

They waited before continuing with their stroll, the young Malfoy failing to shake off the stupor she was in.

An enchanting giggling noise then caught up to them from behind.

Darcie and Madam Villanelle stopped and turned around to greet the beings to whom these giggles belonged.

There were three fairies, each carrying an earthen pot filled with water. Or that's how Darcie perceived them, for they were just too beautiful for them to be called ladies.

These "fairies" had moon-white skin, and their white-gold hairs were like a milky waterfall, sprinkled with a touch of sunset.

Darcie knew who they were, for even if she hadn't met one, she had read about them extensively.

Veelas! The word popped into her mind.

"Oh!" one of the veelas drew a gasp, and she flew towards Darcie. This flying was not true, as this Veela was indeed walking, but it was just a perception that her grace projected in others' eyes.

"Is she half-veela, Villanelle?" the Veela asked, tracing a finger on Darcie's cheek. "She's so pretty." Soon, even the other two Veelas also flocked around Darcie, commenting on her appearance.

"Hmm, she does look like one, doesn't she?" Madam Villanelle giggled, winking at Darcie.

ROAR!!!

The quaking roar shook them all out of nowhere.

Darcie's head spun to her left, and at the top of a mountain, she saw a black speck of light.

This black speck threw itself into the air, and in no time, closed the gap that could very well be over dozens of miles.

Darcie, with an open mouth, saw the black speck becoming a colossal black dragon as it flew by them, and then disappearing on the other side, turning into a black speck again.

"That…" Darcie mumbled, astonished. "… was a Hungarian Horntail."

Madam Villanelle then shared a few more laughs with the Veelas as if the matter with the dragon was nothing new to them. Then they set off towards the unknown destination once again.

Where had they arrived? Darcie asked herself for the first time after arriving at this place.

She kept looking all over, and the more she observed, the odder this place became.

This place was just too big, and yet, Darcie could see a mist, denser than white, surrounding this piece of earth from all around like a cage.

Darcie was still thinking about asking it directly to her mentor when a loud chirping noises caught her attention.

The cobbled path they were walking on was taking a sudden left turn a few dozen meters ahead. On the side of that turn, there was a palm tree. Those chirps were coming from a nest housed over a branch of that tree.

There was something more than magical about those chirps, Darcie noticed but failed to put her finger on it.

It was then she saw fire.

It was then she saw the sun.

And it was then she heard it, singing a song of blazing heat and power; of majesty beyond beauty.

A Phoenix flew down from the celestial dome and landed on the branch with the nest.

It looked down, and Darcie could've sworn it was looking at her.

She couldn't hold it in any longer. "Where are we, mentor?"

"And here I thought you would never ask," Madam Villanelle giggled. "We are at a piece of history that only a few had the fortune to pass by, young lady. A place, ever-shrouded by the mist of ancientness and immeasurable might. This is the island where myths were created, died, and buried, but not lost."

Darcie's heart was pounding, and a name was surfacing in her mind as her mentor kept talking. A name that could shake the entire world, magical and non-magical alike.

"Excalibur was forged here…" Madam Villanelle declared, her tone now becoming reminiscent. She stepped forward, bringing Darcie with her, and then took the left turn.

A magnificently vast white castle-like tower was looming over the world at the end of this cobbled path, Darcie saw. And there was a short archway before the tower's entrance.

In front of that archway stood a white-colored beast, with a Chinese dragon's head, dragon-like whiskers, two draconic horns, and a horse's body, with scaled back.

A white Qilin! Rarest, even among its species.

"We are at…" Madam Villanelle continued, her entire aura changing to become regal and the most splendor, "… Avalon!"