Episode 31: The Light that Faded

Trevor and Mordred were still locked in battle as the two warriors clashed their swords together. The evil knight used his own broadsword to deflect Trevor`s. He clashed with him once again and in one swift movement, disarmed Trevor and took his sword, using it against him in one powerful strike. Trevor was pushed back from the strike, but was able to keep his footing. His sword was thrown back to him and he reached to pick it up.

Mordred scoffed. "Your swordsmanship skills are pathetic, compared to that of Galahad. He was the only one worthy of fighting me."

Trevor caught his breath. "Yeah, well I`m not Sir Galahad. I`m Trevor Collins and I`m the one who's going to take you down!"

"Well then prove to me that you are as worthy as Galahad."

The red paladin gave out a battle cry as he charged the evil knight. He swung his sword in a downward strike, but Mordred side stepped the attack and kneed his foe in the gut. Trevor groaned in pain as he dropped his sword. Mordred then picked him up by his throat. "Is that all that Trevor Collins has to offer?"

"Let me go and I`ll show you what I have to offer." He replied under his grip.

"The only thing that I have been shown is that the lot of you are only pretending to be knights. Since the beginning of this battle I have been left unsatisfied, for that I am ending this here. Starting with you red paladin." Mordred explained as he readied his sword in order to strike down Trevor.

"Let him go!" The silver paladin demanded as she came swooping down from the air with her Warhammer.

Mordred stopped his attack and threw Trevor as he dodged Katie`s attack. She landed and stood defiantly, ready to protect her little brother. The malicious knight stood un-phased as he smirked. "I was not done with him."

"Sorry but you are done and now you`re dealing with me! Katie retorted.

"Pesky paladin. Do you truly believe that you can defeat me?"

She pointed her weapon towards her foe. "You bet your ass that I will!"

He scoffed. "Quite cunning coming from you silver paladin. Lady Beatrix was never this persistent."

"She still must have been a great knight if she was chosen by King Arthur." She said.

"Then show me if that is true." Mordred said as he positioned himself into a fighting stance.

"Katie don't!" Trevor called out to her.

Before he could make his way to help her, his path was blocked by Erebeth. "You will not interfere red paladin!" The witch proclaimed.

"You know Erebeth, I`m getting really tired of you butting in on everything!" He exclaimed.

"I could say the same for you paladin."

Trevor yelled at the witch. "I don't have time for this. Now move!"

"I don't think so!"

Erebeth shot a stream of black lightning towards Trevor. As the attack was about to make contact with him, Jocelyn ran up and tackled him out of the way. The two tumbled out of the blast range and quickly recovered from the roll.

"Are you alright Trevor?" Jocelyn asked.

He nodded. "Thanks to you. How are the others?"

"Pretty beat up, but they`ll live."

"Well we have to end this quickly so that we can get them help." Trevor explained.

Jocelyn agreed. "First we have to get past Erebeth so that we can back up Katie."

"You can try! Vinea Tenebris!" Erebeth interrupted, while casting her spell.

In an instant, Trevor, Jocelyn and the rest of the team were engulfed in thick vines that sprouted from the ground. The paladins were unable to move, the vines that were restraining them were powerful and were not going to break easily.

Erebeth laughed. "There that should keep you from interfering."

"I can't break free!" Jocelyn said.

Trevor gritted his teeth. "Damnit!"

The red paladin looked towards Erebeth as she stood to the side and began to watch Mordred`s fight against Katie. Trevor noticed this and wondered why Erebeth kept them trapped, he watched his sister in battle as a feeling began to wash over him. This feeling made his stomach turn and he didn't like it one bit.

As Trevor and the others became trapped under Erebeth`s spell, Katie and Mordred were locked in battle. The two parried each other's strikes, Katie was able to hold her own against Mordred, but was unable to land a blow against him. She continued to use her Warhammer to try and break down his defense, but his speed and swordsmanship were too great. Mordred deflected her weapon aside and landed a powerful kick, which sent Katie tumbling backwards until she was able to stop herself.

"Pitiful!" Mordred exclaimed as he charged some dark energy in his hand and launched it at his foe.

The explosion threw Katie into the air, she yelled as she waved her arms and legs from the momentum. As she landed back down to the ground, she rolled violently while her helmet came off. She hesitated for a moment before she was able to move again. Katie strained to push herself up, but was unable to. The previous attack gravely injured her, she was covered in dirt and soot as well as her armor being shattered in some places. She pushed herself once more and was only able to place herself on one knee, coughing up blood during the effort. Katie felt like she was on her last legs, Mordred easily took her down and she couldn't even land a single hit.

The malicious knight made his way over, looking down at her. "What a shame, you had me excited there for a moment. Alas you're nothing but a disappointment like the rest of your team."

Katie coughed up some more blood before speaking. "I-I'm not done yet." She protested, taking a swing at him.

Mordred blocked the punch with ease. "A meaningless effort, but you have spirit." He then grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up. "Now, will you be willing to give up your stone? Or will you protest like the others?"

Katie squirmed in the air under his grip. "G-go… to hell."

He sighed and shook his head. "I see, very well. Answer me this then, what do you value most in this world?"

"W-w-what?" She struggled to say, trying to release herself from his hold.

He asked again. "What motivates you? There has to be something in this world that gives you purpose."

Katie didn't say a word as she only looked towards the direction of where Trevor was trapped. Her brother continued to look on fearfully as he continued to try and break free. Mordred turned to where she looked and noticed the red paladin.

"Ah, so your brother is your answer? What a thoughtful older sister, perhaps I should strike him down in front of you? "

She continued to struggle. "N-no d-don't!"

Mordred pulled her in closer. "Don't worry my dear, I wouldn't dream of it. You on the other hand."

Before Katie could say anything, her eyes went wide as Mordred impaled her with his sword. The weapon went straight through her armor, piercing through her abdomen and protruding out the other side. Katie gave a low moan of pain as blood dripped from her mouth; staring into the eyes of Mordred as he smiled maliciously at her.

"NOOOOO!" Trevor screamed in agony. Thrashing around at the vines holding him back, desperately trying to escape.

"KATIE!" Jocelyn yelled, as she too was unable to free herself to try and save her friend.

Mordred whispered into her ear. "Don't act so surprised my dear, but this was bound to happen. You saw this coming, didn't you?"

Katie looked down at the sword that pierced her and back to Mordred. "T…the black shuck." She painfully said.

"That is correct."

Katie began to think back to all the times when she saw the evil apparition. She knew that the creature was trying to relay a message, but she had no clue that it would lead to this. She turned out to be right about the bad feeling earlier and now there was a sword going through her. The silver paladin used both her hands to grab the body of the sword and used whatever strength she had left to try and pull it out of her.

Mordred scoffed at the sight. "Even when facing death, you still try and fight? A noble effort but meaningless all the same."

He pulled the sword out of Katie himself as she groaned in pain again. Mordred followed up by instantly throwing her in the air and as she came down, he slashed her with a powerful strike. Katie flew through the air like a ragdoll, eventually slamming into one of the trees and hitting the ground with a heavy thud, de-morphing in the process.

"Oh my god! Trevor!" Jocelyn called out to him. "We have to get to her!"

"KATIE! KATIE!" Trevor yelled, still unable to break himself free.

Mordred sheathed his sword as he walked up to his companion. "Release them Erebeth." He told her.

Erebeth gave him a confused look. "Now why would I do that?"

"They no longer pose a threat."

"How can you be so sure?" She asked, uncertain of his answer.

Mordred raised his voice at her. "Just do it!"

Erebeth decided not to argue and did as he instructed. "Very well."

With a wave of her hand, the vines that entangled the paladins released themselves and set them free. In that instant Trevor dashed over to his sister, leaving the others behind. He skidded to a halt as he approached her, kneeling down and lifting her in his arms.

"Katie! Katie are you okay? Can you hear me?" He desperately asked.

She moaned in pain as she tried to respond. "I-I…"

"You're going to be alright sis. J-Just don't move." He said as he examined her.

All of a sudden, Jocelyn came up behind Trevor and also kneeled next to him. "Oh god…." She was speechless at the sight of her friend.

Theo and Sasha came over as fast as their injuries would allow them too, along with Peter whose arm was put into a made shift sling. They all stood over their comrade not saying a word considering the dire situation that she was in.

Trevor held his sister tightly as he started to shed some tears. "Katie you're going to be okay. I'll…. I'll…. oh god what do I do?" He asked himself shocked.

Jocelyn studied her best friend's injuries. Katie had scrapes and bruises all over her body, her clothes were ripped and torn, along with being covered in dirt and grime. The most notable injuries were the stab wound that went through her abdomen and the huge gash that went across her chest.

"Trevor, we have to get her to a hospital." She told him, trying to keep her composure.

Looking distraught he nodded. "R-right, don't worry sis we're going to get you some help." He reassured his sister as he moved to pick her up.

As soon as he tried, Katie yelped in pain. Trevor quickly placed her backed down looking even more distraught than before. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Maybe it's not such a good idea to move her." Theo commented.

"It's more than likely that she suffered a lot of broken bones. With the way she slammed into the tree." Peter informed.

Suddenly Katie violently coughed up blood as everyone watched. "Katie! What's wrong?" Trevor asked.

Jocelyn scooted closer to her. "She's coughing up too much blood. I think she might be bleeding internally."

"What the hell do we do?" Oli asked.

"M-Maybe we should call Mason?" Sasha added.

Katie then spoke up, the pain obvious within her voice. "I…. don't think it would still do any good."

Trevor smiled at the sound of her voice. "Thank God. How are you feeling sis?"

She coughed some more before responding. "Honestly…. like shit. I can hardly move and…I'm in so much pain." She clutched her stab wound. "That's a pretty nasty s-scar huh?"

Trevor gave a weak smile. "I'm sure it won't look so bad once we get it fixed up." He reassured her, moving some hair from her face. "You'll be as good as new in no time."

"Y-You say that…. like it's going to be easy."

Jocelyn kissed her friends' hand. "You shouldn't speak and move so much love. You have to keep your strength up."

Katie gave her a weak smile. "I-I appreciate the concern b-but..." She violently coughed once more, moving her hand to cover her mouth.

"Katie!" Trevor asked worryingly.

Once she finally stopped coughing Katie removed her hand from her mouth and looked at all the blood. "Damn…that's not good."

Jocelyn looked to Trevor. "She's getting worse. We have to do something."

"It's… too late to do anything." Katie responded. "I-I can feel it." She told them as tears started to fill her eyes.

"D-don't say that love." Jocelyn replied, squeezing her hand.

"Yeah…just be quiet." Trevor added, holding his sister closer.

Everyone else continued to watch in silence as their friend continued to worsen. Even from afar, Mordred and Erebeth left the paladins alone knowing full well the outcome of the situation.

"I-I'm glad I was able to…know all of you." Katie struggled to say, looking towards where Peter, Oli, Theo and Sasha were standing. "You were all…. great friends."

"Please…just stop talking sis." Trevor told her as he began to shed some tears of his own.

Katie coughed again and looked towards her best friend. "J-Jocelyn…. please take care of T-Trevor."

Jocelyn began to cry and nodded, kissing her friends' hand once more. "I promise love."

"Trevor…. I-I'm sorry that I failed you." She told him, caressing his cheek.

The red paladin squeezed her hand. "Failed what? You did nothing wrong."

Katie smiled. "I-I lo…" Before she could finish her sentence, her hand slipped from her brothers' grip. Everyone watched in horror as Katie took in her last breath and the life leave her eyes.

"Katie?" Trevor called to her, caressing her cheek. "Katie?" He continued to call her softly, staring into her lifeless eyes. No matter how many times he tried to call out to her, Trevor got no response back.

From afar, Mordred and Erebeth watched with amusement at the sight of the fallen paladin, "Quite unfortunate for you red paladin." Mordred called out.

Trevor looked up with searing hot tears streaming down his face. He had completely forgotten about the two of them and saying nothing, only stared at them with hatred. Mordred caught the look in his eyes and smiled. "Yes, just like that red paladin. Let this be a lesson to you and your team. If any of you stand in our way again, you will all suffer the same fate."

None of the paladins said a word to the evil knight, too distraught about Katie to say anything. Mordred once again smiled. "I believe they understood the message. Let's go Erebeth."

"Very well." She replied and in a cloud of black smoke the two disappeared, leaving the paladins in their sorrow.

Once they left, the paladins continued to grief. Jocelyn felt Katie`s hand grow cold as she let go and buried her face in her own hands, crying over her best friend. Sasha wept into Theo's shoulder as he placed a comforting arm around her. Oli and Peter looked to each other, saddened over their comrade. Trevor continued to hold his sisters' lifeless body in his arms, crying hysterically. In the end, this was the most devastating blow to the paladins. Mordred had broken them.