Chapter 7:
At the edge of the village, atop a plateau, the group anxiously awaited Adelwald's return. From where he stood, Thomas observed the villagers enjoying a feast and dancing to music.
"I wonder what they are celebrating," he asked Christine, who had just appeared at his side.
"Peace?" she suggested, "Good fortune? Life? Does one really need a reason to celebrate such things?"
"I suppose so," said Thomas, "It's funny...Years ago, I left home in search of adventure. Now, I'd give anything to be like them again – That is, blissfully ignorant of all the world's horrors."
"I understand how you feel," said Christine, "It seems all of our lives changed the minute Soul Edge entered the picture. But I can think of at least one good thing that came into yours since you left..."
"Really?" said Thomas, wrapping his arms around Christine's waist, "And what would that be?"
"Must I really say it?"
The couple smiled and kissed each other softly.
"Whatever happens on this journey," began Christine, "Just know that I truly grateful for all that you've done for me. I don't think I could ever thank you enough."
"And I'm happy to have you by my side."
A short distance away, Harold sat on a large rock. Crawley joined him soon after.
"I say," Crawley said, taking a bite out of some dried meat, "This grilled sheep is positively scrumptious! This one gentleman, calls himself 'Aurich', is really quite the chef!"
"You seem right at home here," Harold chuckled.
"Why, certainly! I think I've finally found the place I'd like to retire to. It seems only fitting after the decades I've poured into Arthurian myth. Just imagine how many other hidden villages like this one exist in the world."
"Do you know of others?"
"My, yes! Are you familiar with the legend of The Wolf? Allegedly, the future founder of Wolfkrone stumbled upon a secret village buried deep within the forest, inhabited by Fay. Some say he even met with a beautiful maiden from the village, but their romance was short-lived, however, as he..."
"I'm sorry…'Fay'?"
"Yes! You know, Nymphs, Faerie folk, Elven creatures? Like Morgan from the legend of King Arthur."
"Elven creatures? Good God, I think you've finally gone mad!"
"Well, the people in this village appear perfectly human, but…A man can dream, can he not?"
The two men shared a laugh.
"Such good times," said Crawley, "It has been a pleasure seeing you again, old chap."
"Same," said Harold, looking down in sadness, "It truly has. I only wish our reunion could have been under better circumstances."
"Er," said Crawley, "What do you mean by that? Is something wrong, Harold?"
"Well, you see, I…"
Harold was interrupted by the sudden return of Adelwald on his horse.
"I have the map," said the young knight, holding up a scroll, "The castle lies buried inside of that large hill over there. The entrance is via a cave on the south side."
"Right," said Edge Master, "Come, let's..."
In the distance, the sound of galloping hooves and muted explosions could be heard.
"What was that?" asked Thomas, "Is it the Aval? Have they figured out what we are doing?"
As the galloping grew stronger, the sound of gunshots and clashing metal could be heard as well. From their vantage point, the group could see flames rising from the village. Additional silhouettes appeared over the horizon behind them.
"By God," said Adelwald, "We're being invaded!"
"By whom?" asked Thomas, "It can't be the BoP! How on Earth did they even find us?"
"You must protect this map at all cost," Adelwald said, handing the map over to Thomas, "Get it as far away from here as you can!"
"What about you?" asked Christine.
"I've one job" he said, drawing his lance, "To protect this place with my life. Now, go!"
As Adelwald charged towards the horizon, Thomas and the others bolted towards the village. Thomas glanced back and saw Adelwald and his horse get torn apart in a hail of gunfire. The mercenaries were closing in on them now.
"The Aval are getting decimated," noted Thomas, "What do we do?"
"We need to help evacuate the villagers," pleaded Christine, "Otherwise, they will never be able to defend themselves!"
"Agreed," said Edge Master.
As the group worked tirelessly to escort villagers through the narrow streets, mercenaries continued to pour into the village. Once inside the perimetre, the mercenaries dismounted their horses and marched the streets on foot, kicking down doors and killing anyone who dared resist them.
"If you find those pests," commanded Alura, "Kill them! We need only the professor alive!"
"This is bad," said Christine, "How could we let this happen?"
"THERE THEY ARE!" cried a random mercenary.
The group braced themselves for a fight as several mercenaries converged on their location. Fortunately, Geweldich and his men arrived on time to kill every one of them.
"You!" the Aval knight spoke with contempt in his voice, "You led these men here and doomed this village!"
"I can assure you," Thomas pleaded, "We've no idea how these men found this place! We covered our tracks well and..."
"This is no time to point blame," Edge Master barked, "These men will stop at nothing to find Crawley and the map to Camelot. We need someone to escort them away from this area!"
"Right," said Geweldich, "In the meantime, we'll hold off the invaders until more reinforcements arrive. Men?"
Two Aval knights nodded to Geweldich and began escorting Crawley and Harold to safety.
"Wait!" said Thomas, handing Crawley the map, "Take this and keep it safe."
As soon as Harold and Crawley were removed from the scene, another group of mercenaries closed in on the group. Geweldich and his remaining men worked alongside the trio to fight them off.
"HIYA!"
One mercenary swung his sword, nearly striking Thomas and getting it stuck in the wall of a building. As Thomas prepared to strike, the man kicked him in the chest, knocking him down, and causing his sword to slide out of his hand.
"Damnit," Thomas muttered, while trying to reach his sword.
"Aw, sorry 'bout that," the mercenary taunted Thomas while slowly approaching him, "Heheh..."
Nearby, Christine took on a heavyset mercenary wielding a hatchet. The man aggressively pursued Christine, swinging his axe in every direction. While dodging one blow, the axe struck the wooden door of a nearby house, almost completely shattering it.
"You're a quick one," the man chuckled, "Ain't ya?"
"You haven't seen anything yet," Christine quipped.
Christine went on the offensive, but the man blocked each and every one of her blows before delivering a vertical strike that knocked her back.
"That the best you got?" he asked, shoving Christine back.
"No," she replied, "This is!"
Christine kicked the brake off of a nearby push cart, sending it rolling towards the mercenary. To Christine's surprise, he caught the cart with both of his hands and tossed it aside with all of his strength.
"Aw, génial," thought Christine.
"My turn!" he said, charging toward her once more.
Once again, Christine dodged the man's attacks until she found herself backed up next to a burning house. After glancing over at it, she had an idea.
"There's nowhere to run, doll," the man chuckled.
"Wasn't planning on running," she said.
Christine plunged the tip of her rapier into the side of the burning house and dragged it along the wood, flinging burning embers into the man's face.
"GAAAH!" he screamed.
Christine used the distraction to impale the man. She then kicked his fallen hatchet, sliding it next to Thomas.
"Thanks," he said.
Using the axe, Thomas blocked what was to be his opponent's final blow. After kicking the man back, Thomas rolled towards his fallen rapier and picked it up. Before the man could retaliate, Thomas had stabbed him to death. While looking over at Christine to thank her, he noticed someone approaching her from behind.
"Christine!" he shouted.
Christine turned around and saw the attacker. Before she could respond, Geweldich appeared from behind, impaling him with dual swords. As the man dropped dead, Geweldich connected both swords at the hilt.
"Your weapon," she said, "It's…"
Geweldich glanced up at Christine and nodded before returning to battle.
Elsewhere, Harold and Crawley observed the chaos around them as the knights continued escorting them out of the burning village.
"This is all my fault," whispered Harold, "I caused this!"
"Excuse me?" said Crawley.
"I have to correct this," Harold continued muttering to himself, "Even if I die trying. I just hope you all can forgive me!"
Suddenly, Harold swiped the map from Crawley's hands and bolted from the scene.
"Harold!" Crawley called out, "Just what do you think you're doing, man?"
"HEY!" yelled the knight, "Get back here!"
"Nevermind him," said the other knight, "We still need to protect the old man!"
As Harold made his way through the burning village, he passed by Thomas.
"Harold?" said Thomas, cutting another man down, "Has he gone mad?"
After hesitating momentarily, Thomas abandoned the battle to pursue Harold.
"No, Thomas!" said Edge Master, "We need you here!"
Edge Master and Christine attempted to follow Thomas, but were blocked by another group of mercenaries, this time accompanied by both Fenrir and Alura.
"Aw," said Alura, "Leaving so soon? Things were just starting to get fun!"
"This is madness, Alura!" said Edge Master, "Innocent people are dying for your selfish pursuit! It doesn't have to be this way!"
"You're right, it doesn't" Alura laughed, "But death is really all Fenrir and I know. And while your stupid friend leads us straight to the tablet, I will take this opportunity to revel in the glorious chaos. Fenrir?"
Fenrir nodded and cracked his knuckles before turning to pursue Thomas.
"Leave her to me," said Edge Master to Christine, "Go find Thomas!"
Suddenly, Alura leapt into the air and slammed her ringbade down on Edge Master who blocked the blow with his staff. Alura spun the ringblade around her body, keeping Edge Master on his guard.
"Take this!" she cried.
Alura swung her blade upwards, but Edge Master dodged the blow by somersaulting. While standing back up, he twirled the staff around his torso.
"Oooh," said Alura, "You're good; I see now why they call you the 'Edge Master'."
"I'm only getting started…"
Meanwhile, as Christine pursued Fenrir through the village, she drew her sword, hoping to strike him from behind. However, Fenrir had managed to turn around and deflect the blow on time. He then followed that up with a punch to the face that knocked Christine to the ground and bloodied her left eyelid.
"Ugh!" she grunted, clutching her face, "Now what?"
Before Fenrir could deliver the killing blow, Geweldich stepped in his way and blocked the impact with his lance.
"Go," he said, "Find your husband. I will deal with him."
Christine nodded and ran from the scene. Geweldich pushed Fenrir back and the two combatants circled each other slowly.
"Danish, right?" said Geweldich, splitting his lance in two, "I believe your people have a saying: Et dristigt forsøg er en halv succes."
Fenrir scoffed.
"You face but a fraction of the Aval's power," Geweldich continued, "Once the full might comes crashing down on your heads, you will regret having trampled on Camelot. But for now, you face me. And if I have to die defending this place, then so be it."
With that, he and Geweldich charged each other and clashed.
Outside the village, Harold approached the cave leading to Camelot. Severely weakened by his illness, Harold coughed and wheezed into his forearm, bloodying his sleeve. Despite that, he pressed onward.
"Harold?" cried Thomas, who was not far behind, "Damnit, what is he doing?"
Thomas reached the cave and looked inside. The interior was well-lit by lanterns suspended from the walls, but there was no longer a sign of Harold.
"These lanterns," Thomas thought, "They're...Lit? Of course, the Bird of Passage must have invaded the town as a distraction while the rest of the mercenaries headed for the cave. Whatever happens, I cannot let them find Harold!"
Thomas made his way through the opening and found himself in a long tunnel, which grew steeper and narrower as he progressed inside.
"Harold?" Thomas called, "Lord Green? Where are...WOAH!"
One misstep caused Thomas to fall on his back and slide down a particularly steep drop. After a few seconds of sliding, Thomas hit the ground, which crumbled beneath him, sending him tumbling down several feet and knocking him out.