I know some of you have been wondering what Arthur has been up to while Merlin and the others were busy fighting bandits...so here he is! :) Hope you like the chapter, reviews much appreciated :)
Chapter 29
The Flying Beast
Arthur should have thought twice about riding through the night when Leon had warned him about strange, magical beasts on the edge of Camelot.
There was always some sort of monster lurking in the shadows, on the edge of the Kingdom or right in the centre of it. It was like you could never be rid of the magical beasts, no matter how many times his father sent him out to defeat them, or ordered that they be executed, they still lived on.
But Arthur was too focused on finding answers to think about the dangers that could be lurking round every corner. He had spent the first night of his escape riding as far from the castle as he could before dawn came. He was far enough away by the time the sun rose that he didn't hear the warning bell, but he knew it would be ringing clearly through the early morning streets, and when Uther realised it was his son who was missing, he wouldn't have much time to find answers in the Kingdom until they caught up with him. Still Arthur keeping himself disguised by wearing his helmet, took time going around the outlying villages the whole day, asking if they had seen a mysterious blond woman by the name of Morgause pass by. Or anyone else strange for that matter. Some answers were just shaking heads with wary eyes, but others said they thought they may have seen something. They weren't sure, but there had been an awful lot of people heading to the border between Camelot and Ealdor recently. Arthur rested briefly before making the decision that the border was where he must go. Even if it meant riding into Ealdor itself.
But he also heard warnings of this mysterious beast.
"We have seen something flying through the night, Sir," said one frightened peasant woman when he tried asking he if she had seen anything or anyone mysterious recently. "Great wings and great claws. It has taken away some of my sheep. We are too far away for the King to care about, and it doesn't appear every night, but it's out there, somewhere. You should be careful."
Arthur nodded and thanked the woman, feeling real concern now for the strange creature that people had spotted. Yet still the urge to find the answers and keep a distance between him and his father was too great, he had wasted enough time during the day, so Arthur still decided to ride through the night. Besides, the woman said it didn't appear every night...His focus set on his task, he soon forgot about the danger.
Unfortunately, this was one of those nights where the mysterious flying beast was hungry.
The flying beast may not be as mysterious to Arthur as others would have thought. He had faced one before, a Griffin. But he knew from personal experience that they were not easy creatures to kill.
This Griffin was pruning its feathers with its mighty beak when it heard the sound of hoof beats thudding against the ground. A few miles away, but close enough for the creature to hear it, and the Griffin's stomach growled with hunger. A few sheep does not keep it going for long, it wanted a larger meal.
Spreading its great, dark wings against the black night, the Griffin took off into the sky. Searching for its new prey.
Arthur felt the great beast before he saw it or heard it. A great rush of wind passed over him, rumbling with power. He felt the wind sweep past him, the cold air seeping through the gaps in his armour. But he knew this was no wind, the air had been still until then, and he just had a feeling, creeping into his bones, that this didn't have anything to do with the weather.
Then he heard its cry. A great shriek ringing through the silent night, high above him. Arthur glanced around, but of course could see nothing but darkness, only a few twinkling stars. Fear of the unknown crept into his skin and made him shiver more than the cold. He urged the horse forward, suddenly remembering the beast he had been warned about. He could feel himself sweat beneath his armour despite the cold.
The creature was here, somewhere, but he couldn't see it.
The night fell silent again for so long that Arthur wondered if perhaps the beast had just merely flown over him and hadn't noticed he was there. He would be safe as long as he kept his face down and kept moving as fast as he could.
But then he felt it again, a great rush of wind, but this time he knew it was the beast swooping above him, it felt closer this time too. Arthur imagined the claws of the monster just brushing over his helmet. He lowered himself down even further, his helmet also touching the horse's neck, and took one hand off the reigns to and reached for his sword.
The beast cried out again. Arthur still didn't know where it was coming from, but his horse reared up in panic. He clung on for dear life, searching the darkness. The creature could be just ahead of him, or above him, or behind him. But Arthur and his horse could have been the only living things for miles around.
In the starlight Arthur thought he just about saw a great silhouette swoop past just in front of him. He wasn't sure what the creature was trying to do, but knew it wouldn't be long until the beast attempt to catch its prey and tear him into pieces. He drew his sword.
Arthur dared to slow his horse a little to give him the opportunity to gaze around and look for the creature. His sword glinted silver in the starlight, but that was all he could see.
Arthur was just thinking that perhaps the creature had changed its mind after all, it wasn't interested in targeting its prey now, perhaps it was tired of chasing them or was intelligent enough to know that the sword in Arthur's hand could hurt it and decided to find an easier meal.
But then the Griffin swooped through the air again. Arthur saw it just in time and ducked down. He felt the great claws of the flying beast just scratch the top of his helmet. That was a lucky escape.
He turned round in his saddle as fast as possible and tried to strike a blow at the creature, thrusting his sword up into the dark sky. But the beast moved too fast and had disappeared off into the night already. His horse panicked and once again picked up speed, taking Arthur by surprise and almost throwing him off the saddle.
The second time the creature came to attack Arthur just about saw it coming, and prepared himself to fight. As the beast flew over him he managed to jab its stomach with his sword.
But the blade made no effect on the monster, it was as if it was wearing armour of its own. Griffins could not be harmed by mortal weapons.
Arthur suddenly realised he had no defence, and his horse was close to throwing him off once and for all. His best bet was to try and reach shelter, perhaps in a forest or wood, somewhere where the monster could not reach the ground. The open field was too dangerous. He urged his horse forward, hoping it had enough energy left to get him somewhere safe.
The Griffin swooped down again, and in a vain attempt Arthur tried lashing out with his sword again. But this time the blade met one of the creature's claws, knocking it out of Arthur's grasp.
The creature then turned swiftly around and this time its claws knocked Arthur's helmet. The strength of the blow even through the metal made Arthur's vision blur and he almost lost his balance. He clutched desperately onto the reigns to stop himself from falling.
Arthur heard the beast's cry and could only try to duck down as it swooped towards him once more. But this time he could not get away. The beast's claws hit his side, cutting right into the armour. Arthur felt warm blood trickling down his clothes beneath his armour. Something knocked his helmet again, harder this time. Arthur would have considered himself lucky his helmet hadn't come off, but he was too dazed to think of such a thing, and it was no providing him any protection against such powerful blows.
When the beast came a final time Arthur knew his time was up. He could no longer hold onto his horse as the creature crashed into him, its claws slicing through his armour as if it was parchment and throwing him through the air.
It felt like an age to Arthur for him to hit the ground, as if he was falling from a great distance. He dimly wondered if the beast had done more damage to his head than he thought, he couldn't feel any pain, everything was turning numb as if with cold, and he didn't have the energy to feel afraid or prepare to fight. His helmet, knocked loose by the beast's blows finally came flying off, revealing to him a clear view of the starry night sky.
Arthur considered it was quite a nice thing to see before he died, as finally he crashed to the ground.
Arthur was barely aware of anything around him as he lost consciousness. He thought he could feel blood seeping out of him, trickling down his face, he imagined it soaking the muddy ground where he lay. He heard the creature's cry was more, but this time it was greeted by another shrill cry, and then another. He briefly wondered if there was more of them.
But there was nothing he could do to fight against more beasts, he couldn't even pull himself up off the ground. Arthur just watched at the starry night sky and let the darkness take him.
