She was a blur as she and her daughter ran though The Black Forest agilely leaping through the trees and over logs that lied in the way. Trees were nothing more than a mass of green and the wind stung her eyes as if she was on a horse and her dark hair blew wildly behind her. She had one idea to give her daughter a chance to break free. The Princess was tired,hungry,and in dire need of medical care she couldn't run forever like this so she made the difficult decision to separate. She made a motion with her hand instructing her to run a different way the monster that was lumbering after them stayed on her heels exactly as she thought for she was the Queen and its only way to ascend to the throne. She could hear the snapping jaws of the beast behind her as she barely kept out of its reach. Suddenly, there was a break in the treeline and she ran towards it. She didn't care what awaited her in the clearing anything had to be better than the huge wolf behind her. She felt something hard collide with her side and then she was flailing through the air.
"If I knew you were going to The Black Forest to hunt I never have came along." Merlin complained.
"You say that like you had a choice." Arthur reminded him, "Besides were would you have expected me to go?"
"Grwenwall Forest is not that far away." Arthur raised an eyebrow at him, "Are we talking about the same Grwenwall Forest? The one on the other side of Camelot? The one that would have taken a full day's ride to get to and back? Merlin had forgotten that little detail. "What are you so nervous about?" At that moment an ominous chill found it's way though the wind.
"What?" Merlin asked a few octaves higher than he should have and immediately covered it with a clearing of his throat which sounded totally fake, "Nothing." Then a sound caught his ear and he whispered, "What was that?"
"Oh no." Arthur's face fell and looked back at Merlin.
"What?" He asked and started to turn around.
"Don't!" Arthur caught Merlin's shoulder and struggled to keep his voice low.
"What is it?" Merlin could barely get the question out as panic began to rise in his eyes.
"You've attracted a Chimera right to us with all your complaining."
"A Chimera?"
"Yes, but they usually run in pairs I wonder were the other one is?"Arthur gasped.
"Where did it go?" Merlin tried to stay calm as he fought the urge to run and scanned the woods. Suddenly, he felt something collide with the back of his leg and he let out at yelp.
"Merlin, that was me." Merlin turned to look at him still clutching at his heart, "There are no Chimeras. Now will you close your mouth you're scaring all the real animals away." He sighed and groaned, "I don't want to be out here all evening." Just then he saw something flying threw the trees. "What is that?" He signaled his men to be ready as something thudded to the ground in front of them. Slowly, from the trees a huge black wolf-like creature made its way to the dark mass that lay unmoving on the ground. Merlin watched in horror as dark mass began to move and he realized the dark mass was a woman and she was injured at that. She sat up with her back towards them facing the monster and scooted her little by little away. Arthur heaved the wooden spear into the air and it hit it's mark piercing the beast through its shoulder. It screamed out in pain as it hobbled for a moment a wound like that would have surely brought down any normal wolf but they soon realized this wolf was unlike any normal wolf. It rose up on two legs like a man gripped the spear in one clawed hand and screamed as it yanked the spear out. Its eyes turned to the hunting party as most of the men ran in fear. Merlin couldn't blame them and he would have gladly joined them if at was for Arthur steadily holding his ground. The remaining hunting party through their spears and the woman fell back to the ground and did her best to cover up. The beast roared a last time and ran back into the trees.
"Ma'am, you are safe now." She looked up and saw a handsome, young man smiling down at her, My daughter, she thought, I need to find my daughter."My daughter, please, help me find her?"
"Of course we will."
"Thank you." She allowed him to help her to her feet, "Thank you," Her green eyes flickered to the other men in his group, "To all of you."
"Merlin, find the other men who ran off and tell them I understand why they ran and no one will call them cowards if they choose to come back to Camelot."
"Yes, Sire'."
"Okay, lets go find your daughter." They entered back into the trees Arthur rode by her side as she retraced her path. Keeping her eyes casted on the ground she walked slowly and cautiously. She obviously wasn't from around Camelot nor from any of the surrounding villages he could tell that from the way she wore her pants, they were so tight that Arthur could swear he could see her muscles in her thigh through them, even the sword on her hip had a strange curve to it unlike any blade he had ever seen and he couldn't help but wonder about the effectiveness it had; and her skin was so pale, that she looked like she actually glowed in the suedo-darkness of the forest.
After a long moment she came across the spot where she and her daughter separated. "Come on, She went this way. My plan was to lead it off then I could come back for her, but since my plan didn't go well and since it couldn't kill me it'll definitely go after her and she can't die before she ascends to the throne."
"So she's a Princess?"
"Yes, and my only child. her full title reads Princess Gwenivere of Underlan."
"Princesse Gwenivere?" Arthur smiled as the Title struck a cord deep within himself because he smiled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject, "Sorry, but I've never heard of Underlan."
"That isn't surprising. Not very many people have heard of it."
"So I take it that you are the Queen of Underlan."
"Yes, my name is Gailynn." She hated walking at such a slow rate, she wanted to break away from him and run as fast as she could and find her daughter before the monster did. Suddenly, she heard the monster howl and Arthur fought to keep the horse calm as it reared on his hind legs.
"Oh no."
"What is it?"
"It found her."
"Jump on." He told her extending his hand and even though she could run faster on her own two legs than a horse could run on all four. She took it and jumped behind him. She held tight to Arthur's back as the horse broke into a full gallop. Though the horse was fast she still hoped against hope that they would get there the beast had a chance to do any irreversible damage.
Suddenly, they saw another pale woman lieing at the base of a tree. "There she is." Gailynn slide of the horse and ran towards her but before she reached her daughter the wolf-like creature lunged out from behind the tree and snarled. With slobber dripping from its fangs like an animal but standing like a man. For a long time, no one moved not Gailynn; not the monster; not Arthur who sat high on his perch; nor did the outstretched Gwenivere lieing between them. With a flash of fur it swung a clawed hand at her face slapping her to the ground with a squeal.
Arthur hopped down from his horse with his sword unsheathed, "Gailynn, you alright?"
"I'm fine, keep it busy!"
The monster hunched and howled as it started to sway back and it snarled like a dog before it bounded into the air and aimed straight for his throat. Instinctively, he put the blade between its muzzle and his face which stopped it from munching on his flesh but not from its weight which toppled him to the ground. Arthur struggled against its weight to get his leg free and kicked it hard in its stomach. It yelped and jumped back. In one fluid movement Arthur got to his feet as the monster snapped its huge jaws at his legs which Arthur easily dodged and swung his sword at the perfect time for it to bite into its muzzle. It whined and staggered back and snarled once more as a perfectly straight, red line, dripping with blood.
Suddenly, another howl cut through the darkness catching its attention and Arthur's horror. He looked back at Gailynn, who had moved to Gwenivere's side with her back towards him.
"There's another one of these things?" Gailynn looked back at him, "Uumm...actually..." More howls from all-sides began to echo around them.
"Okay."
The monster whipped its head back towards them and snarled in frustration and ran off back into the trees.
"Trust me we don't want to run into a pack of those things. Packs are viscous and fast and they seem to read each others mind."
"Then let's not stick around. Will you get the horse while I get her?"
"Okay." Gailynn said and ran off to fetch it leaving him alone with Gwenivere.
Arthur looked down at her and was struck by the unconscious Princess's beauty. He knelt beside her but before picking her up he noticed something red dribbling from the corner of her mouth and without thinking twice about it he wiped it away and after Gailynn made it back with the horse in toe. He and the rest of hunting party made it back to Camelot before sunset though without supper and two new passengers.
Arthur made a stop by Guis' first and gently laid the Princess on a bed in the castles' hospital room.
"Who is this?" Gius asked Merlin.
Merlin shook his head and shrugged, "As far as I can tell she", he motioned to Gwenivere, is her", he motioned towards Gailynn, "daughter." She been asleep since he found her in The Black Forest."
"She" has a name."
"Which is what, Arthur?"
"Gwenivere." He answered, "She is a Princess of a foreign land and "her" name is Gailynn the Queen mother." "Your Grace." Guis bowed, "Arthur, has your father allowed this?" "I don't know yet and I really don't care. I couldn't just leave them there, especially her." He said stroking the side of the princess's delicate face,"She's in dire need of medical attention. Will you look after her?"
"Yes, of course, you know I will."
"Thank you, Guis."
