Chapter 51: Things That Are Earned Are Later Tested
"Sleep? Who needs it? I can sleep when I'm dead." Gwaine replied.
The others laughed as Gwaine grinned. Anything to keep the morale up, he thought. Merlin though, Merlin only frowned, and it was only there for a second before he covered it up, but Gwine knew his friend well enough to know what fear looked like on him.
Merlin had his secrets, Gwaine knew that when he befriended him. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.
"Let's go then," Arthur said.
True to Merlin's word, Gwaine noticed that while the sun had long since set, the Perilous Lands still were lit with an unnatural orange light, almost like it was illuminated by a second sun, just hiding behind the massive, swirling, glowing clouds above them. There would be no need for the sorcerer's among them to light the way.
And it was hot here too. After the past few months of winter, Gwaine had been starting to miss the summer months; now, he wasn't so sure, he thought as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He almost envied Merlin and Morgana, who didn't have to wear the heavy mail and armor of the knights, dressed instead in black linen shirts and pants, and the black with red trimmed cloaks of the Sorcerer's Guild.
The ground under them was rocky, and littered with dead trees. The Perilous Lands had once boasted a rich forest, Gwaine presumed, before the Fisher King became injured, and brought his kingdom down with him. As their horses picked their way gingerly through a rough patch, even Leon admitted that it would be faster to lead the horses through rather than remain riding them.
The only thing worse than riding through the Perilous Lands, Gwaine thought, was walking through them. He focused on keeping one foot ahead of the other, and tried to put out the heat, and the fact that, despite his insistence to keep awake and on the quest, his adrenaline was starting to wear off fast.
There was a shout to his right, and Gwaine shook himself back to reality. Lancelot's horse had reared into the air, front legs flailing as he kicked himself out of what appeared to be a bog. Lancelot was nowhere to be seen.
"Lancelot!" Gwaine yelled, dropping his own horse's reins and rushing to the edge of the bog. Elyan got there quickly too, and grabbed Lancelot's horse.
Gwaine was about to dive in when a hand broke the surface of the foul-smelling pit. Quickly, Gwaine grabbed onto it and yanked with all his strength. Lancelot's head appeared, gasping for air.
Gwaine breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled again, maneuvering Lancelot to the edge of the bog and out.
Lancelot scrambled back onto solid ground, breathing heavily.
Merlin was at his side, and just behind him were the others, matching looks of worry on their faces.
Lancelot coughed, spat out water, and sat up. "I'm fine," he said. He looked to Gwaine. "Thanks," he said, "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"Maybe you should have." Merlin admonished.
Gwaine only clamped Lancelot on the shoulder. "Don't mention it," he said, giving Merlin a look. Merlin had been on edge more than usual since entering the Perilous Lands. He looked at his friend closely. Lancelot hadn't been well the entire quest. "Are you alright?" he added, his voice serious.
"Fine." Lancelot said, like a liar. Lancelot's gaze then traveled beyond Gwaine and above. His brown eyes widened.
Gwaine spun around. High in the sky, there was something circling. Wings like a bat, but bigger, much bigger.
And they were swooping closer.
"What are those!" Arthur yelled, unsheathing his sword.
""They look like dragons!" called Percival.
"Wyverns," said Morgana.
"They're related to dragons, but they aren't as smart." added Merlin.
"Oh too bad, and here I was really wanting to have a little chit-chat with them." Gwaine said, unsheathing his own sword.
The pair of wyverns, as if sensing that their tracking of their prey was up, began to dive.
"Hold steady!" Arthur yelled.
Gwaine's hand tightened around his sword. He pulled his arm back over his shoulder, his sword held aloft above his head.
Closer…closer… just a bit more.
Now!
Gwaine threw his sword at the closest wyvern, where it buried itself in its neck. The wyvern crashed to the ground with a screech.
Lancelot swiped his own sword at the next, leaving a long cut in its belly. The remaining wyvern flew into the sky, where it circled again, preparing to dive again.
"Nun de ge dei s'eikein kai emois epe'essin hepesthai!" Merlin roared, his voice low and rough. "Apérkhomai!"
The wyvern screeched again, and flew into the air, disappearing into the glowing clouds.
Merlin shrugged. "I honestly didn't know that that was going to work."
"Glad it did," said Elyan, sheathing his sword even as he looked to the sky, searching, no doubt, for more of the winged beasts.
"Good work, Merlin." Lancelot said.
"Well, now we know what to do if we run into more of them." Arthur said.
Tristan yanked Gwaine's sword out of the fallen wyvern. Gwaine had buried it to the hilt.
Tristan handed back over to Gwaine, who accepted it gratefully. "Thanks," he said.
"Good throw," said Tristan.
XXX
The entrance to the Fisher King's castle was ornate, despite the centuries of disuse and abandonment. Almost untouched. Almost like magic, Tristan thought.
While not as big as Camelot's castle, the Fisher King's castle was large, with three tall towers jutting into the orange sky. There was a single, grand double door of stone that they stood facing. Around it, perched on top, were twin gargoyles, each the size of a large dog, with empty eyes, pointed ears, and razor fangs, their tongues sticking out in a permanent hiss. Around the sides of the door the gray stone was carved into the shape of various plants.
The door was made of the same gray stone, and on it there were carved words.
Tristan read: "I am a room with no windows or doors; neither floor nor ceiling. Those that choose me and do not know me gamble with their lives. I am an explosion and I am a flourish."
Percival stepped closer. "What the fuck does that mean?"
Merlin groaned. "I hate riddles," he said.
Tristan nudged Percival out of the way as the tall knight squinted at the words, as if they would suddenly rearrange and make sense to him.
A room without windows sounded like a basement, or dungeon, but even the worst dungeons still had a door, obviously, how else could a prisoner get in? Not to mention, how could a room exist without a floor or a ceiling?
"Stand back." Morgana said. She raised her hand to the door. "Eorðe ac stanas hiersumaþ me. Ic can stanas tobrytan. Hiersumaþ me!"
Nothing changed.
Morgana frowned. "I know I said that correctly."
"You did," Merlin agreed. He held out his own hand. "Eorðe ac stanas hiersumaþ me. Ic can stanas tobrytan. Hiersumaþ me."
Still, nothing moved.
Merlin closed his eyes, when he opened them again, Tristan saw the flash of gold of magic.
"There are wards around the castle," he announced.
"Can't you break them?" Leon asked. "No offense but you are the most powerful sorcerer to have ever lived."
"Normally I could, but these wards were set by another powerful sorcerer, not just once, but many times over."
"Like, over centuries?" Elyan said.
Merlin nodded once. "Yes."
"So that means that the Fisher King is still alive?" Percival clarified.
Merin grimaced. "Most likely."
Tristan pushed the conversation aside, focusing on the riddle again. Was it a real room, or a metaphorical one? A section of the mind, perhaps? No, that was ridiculous.
Tristan pushed the thought of a box-like room out of his mind, and focused instead on the rest of the riddle. Those that choose me and do not know me gamble with their lives. That could mean anything, surely. A monster? He eyed the gargoyles, crouched above him, hissing with pointed, stone tongues. They were said to be protectors, guardians of the building they perched on. Crossing one would be a gamble, surely?
But the use of the word "choose" gave him pause. There were two gargoyles at the entrance, yes, but they were identical down to each carved toenail. How was he meant to choose the right from the wrong when nothing set them apart? Was it all meant to be a gamble indeed? A game of chance, throwing his luck behind one of the statues?
Tristan didn't like those odds, and somehow he knew that whoever had carved the riddle wasn't a fan of chance either, rather, it was that of a clear, informed decision.
Tristan looked below the gargoyles, to the carving of plants. A room without windows or doors would be dark, he thought. What thrives in the dark? He scanned over the carved plants, not entirely sure if what he was looking for was there. And what of the rest of the riddle: I am an explosion and I am a flourish? What did that mean? Was there another word that meant the same thing, perhaps? Was-
His eye caught something. There, close to the ground.
Tristan crouched low, behind him, he could hear Merlin trying another spell with no luck.
Of course, he thought. The room wasn't referring to an actual "room", or even a place at all. It was a simple pun. If you choose it right, you could get food, if you choose wrong; poisoned. Flourish and explosion were other words for the verb version of the word…
"Mushroom." Tristan said, pointing to the small carving. "The answer to the riddle."
He felt everyone turn to him.
"Mushroom?" Arthur repeated.
Leon shrugged. "Worth a try," he said.
Tristan reached out and felt at the mushroom carving. It felt loose, under his hand. He pulled, and it lifted from the wall. He jumped back as the stone doors groaned, and then cracked, falling to pieces in large chunks at the ground. Underneath, were a set of wooden doors.
Arthur stepped closer, and pushed the door. It swung open. "Nice work," he told Tristan.
Tristan squared his shoulders. "And you fancy lot think that you're the only ones who get access to a comprehensive education."
"Actually I just think Arthur's been smacked off a horse in jousting tournaments a few too many times." Morgana snickered.
Arthur scoffed. "I never fall. Leon, on the other hand, falls on purpose."
"All for your benefit, sire." Leon countered.
XXX
Leon gazed into the dark of the castle.
"Léoht." Merlin said from behind him.
A ball of blue light appeared and floated over Leon's head and into the castle's hall. As Merlin tried to lead the way inside, Leon held out his hand, stopping him. "Wait," he said. "Something seems off." He turned to Arthur, "Do you remember Liddington?"
"Hard to forget it," Arthur replied grimly.
"What's Liddington?" questioned Gwaine.
"Liddington Castle," Leon explained, "was one of Bayard's strongholds, back when we were at war with Mercia. King Uther sent us to capture it. Everything was going well until…"
"Until we got inside and most of our men fell due to hidden traps." Arthur said. Leon nodded, and looked to the ground, searching for something that would meet his needs as Arthur continued; "The only reason I'm alive is because of Leon."
There. Leon bent down and picked up a sizable stone in his hands, roughly the size of his head. "I might be a nobleman," Leon said, tossing the stone in his arms, feeling the weight of it, "But I still had to work to get where I am. I'm the youngest of all brothers. My eldest brother will inherit everything from our father, and my other brothers, desiring lives of little consequence and a lot of revelry, married women with considerable dowries. I wanted to make something more of myself, and to be worthy of it too, not just gain it because of who my father is." Leon threw the stone into the hall. It hit the flagstones with a thunk, then, with a sudden groaning, the floor opened up, and swallowed the stone into darkness below, leaving only a thin path around the sides of the room.
"Did you know it was going to do that?" Percival said.
Leon shrugged. "Honestly I was expecting fire." He inched his way to the ledge, keeping his sword in front of him, tapping at the ground before he stepped there. Arthur followed behind him, then Merlin, Morgana, Elyan, Gwaine, Percival, Tristan, and Lancelot taking up the rear as they moved delicately around the perimeter of the castle's entrance hall.
"If I remember correctly," Elyan called out, "Your father was furious at you for leaving to be a knight."
"He was," Leon smiled grimly at the memory. "By the time he caught up to me though, I was already in the citadel and it's not like he could've dragged me back without offending Uther." They were halfway around the hall now, with the great expanse of black looking inches away from their feet.
"Why wouldn't he want you to be a knight?" Gwaine asked. "Isn't that what all men are supposed to want for their sons?"
"Not mine." Leon said, and left it at that. Now was not the time, he thought, to bare his soul, not with danger lurking in hidden corners. Best to keep focused on the task at hand, and not on the long-dead eldest brother, the first of the seven, gone when Leon was just a baby, the perfect knight, killed in an accident in a jousting tournament. And the father, who, according to everyone, was never the same, but whom Leon only knew as a shadow and a ghost.
Arthur knew, of course, they had been through enough together. Elyan might; his mother would have, of course, been in his family's service at the time of his brother's death.
Finally, Leon stepped from the narrow legend and into another dark hallway.
Merlin spoke up from behind him, "I can't see any traps ahead with my magic, but after the Impenetrable Forest and the door, I don't fully trust myself."
Leon nodded, thinking. "Can you create something that would trigger any traps?"
Merlin raised his hand. "Færblæd wawe!"
Leon felt the rush of cool air as it tunneled by him and into the dark corridor. Then all was still. Leon was about to take a step forward when fire brust through the hall from tiny spigots along the walls that until now had been hidden.
"There's your fire," said Percival.
XXX
Percival followed as they continued down the hallway, the scent of smoke still thick in the air. Merlin and Morgana had used their magic to crush the fire spigots along the wall, still everyone walked quietly, swords in hand, preparing for the next trick of the Fisher King's castle.
As for what lay at the end of their search, be it an ancient sorcerer or the Holy Grail, Percival wasn't sure. Most of the others seemed convinced that the Grail was here, but whether they were sure or were simply just hiding their doubts like him, he wasn't sure.
Oh sure, Percival would go headlong into any danger for Arthur, for Merlin, for anyone here, without a moment's hesitation. He wasn't being cynical. He was being pragmatic. They had been wrong before, after all, going to the tomb.
But there seemed to be something more at stake now that there wasn't before. Arthur had told the rest of the Round Table, in confidence, of Morgana's vision. Merlin's life was on the line, and they were running out of time to make mistakes or be wrong. Perhaps to the others, the Holy Grail was in this castle simply because it had to be. Because the alternative was too dire.
Maybe that was why Merlin seemed so tense.
Then again, Merlin had a terrible habit of putting everyone before himself, so, perhaps not.
Leon held up his hand, calling their party to halt. They had reached the end of the hall, and before them was an intersection. From one end, Percival could see the shadow of something coming toward them.
"It's another wyvern." Merlin whispered. He stepped forward, past Leon and into the intersection.
Percival heard a growl and a hiss. Merlin raised his hand.
"Nun de ge dei s'eikein kai emois epe'essin hepesthai." he said, repeating the same words he had earlier. "Apérkhomai!"
There was another growl, but this time it sounded more strained. Percival watched as Merlin backed up towards them, still with one hand raised toward the shadow.
The wyvern appeared around the corner, its head held low. Seeing the others, its head perked up and another growl escaped its maw, cut short by Merlin interjecting, "Ithi!"
The wyvern lowered its head again and continued, moving past them without another complaint. At one point, if Percival wanted to, he could have reached out and touched the dark scales on the creature's side, but he didn't dare.
Once inside the intersection, he saw that there was a set of stairs to the left, and more dark hallways to the right and front.
"Let's keep going forward." Arthur said.
They started in that direction when Merlin called out, "Wait." He was standing still in the middle of the intersection. "We should go up."
Merlin must've seen the questions in their faces because he elaborated; "I just have a feeling."
"I feel it too." Morgana announced. She looked at Merlin. "It's… odd." Something unspoken seemed to pass between the two.
"Sounds promising." Gwaine said, walking back to the staircase, before gesturing for Merlin to lead the way.
Arthur and Leon followed right behind Merlin, with Elyan and Tristan next, followed by Lancelot and Gwaine. Percival followed after Gwaine on the staircase, just ahead of Morgana, who kept the stairs illuminated with a bright blue light that clashed peculiarly with the red glow coming in from the narrow windows.
Percival looked back at her just in time to catch Morgana checking over her own shoulder, perhaps looking for another wyvern.
"Everything alright?" Percival asked her.
Morgana whipped her head back around. She nodded. "Relatively," she said. "I-" she stopped herself, then shook her head. "I have a terrible feeling that I can't seem to shake."
"Is it the same feeling that's telling you the direction we need to go?" Percival asked.
Morgana shook her head. "Something else." she said, and left it at that.
At the top of the staircase, Merlin led them down another hallway, this one without any windows.
"Keep vigilant." Leon reminded them all.
A loud screeching came from above. Percival tilted his head up to the rafters of the hall, straining his eyes to see into the shadows.
There was a blur of movement and a loud thud that sounded like stone hitting stone.
"Forbærne yfel!" Morgana cried.
A wide circle of fire sprang up around them, encompassing the whole room and illuminating it, casting its light on the giant gargoyle crouching in front of them, who opened its mouth and screeched again, this time answered by several more cries and more thuds as it was joined by others of varying sizes, all amounting to perhaps fifteen gargoyles total.
They wasted no time throwing themselves into the fray, soon the sound of stone hitting metal rang through the hall.
The first gargoyle swiped at Percival, who dodged and cut up with his sword. The sword hit the gargoyle's neck, but did no damage. Shit, Percival thought, as all he could do was deflect as the gargoyle kept advancing, undeterred.
Around him, the others were making the same discovery.
"Merlin! Morgana!" He heard Arthur yell. "We can only hold them off! You need to destroy them!"
There was a Boom! From where Percival knew where Merlin was, followed by another closer to him.
"A little help here!" Percival called, smashing the flat of his sword against the gargoyle's stone face.
The creature tensed, as if readying to leap, only to break into a dozen pieces right before his eyes.
"Thanks!" Percival called, already whirling around in search for the next monster.
What he saw instead, was Gwaine, land blow after heavy blow on another gargoyle, until with a crack, his sword snapped in two.
The gargoyle moved to pounce.
Percival didn't think. He only yelled, "Gwaine!"
The other knight turned around, and Percival threw his own sword to him, which Gwaine caught and swiped at the gargoyle just in time.
"Look out!" Percival turned in time to see another gargoyle pounce at him, only to be exploded in a burst of lightning and scattered stone.
Morgana lowered her hand.
"Appreciate it," he told her as she then turned to the gargoyle Gwaine was fighting "Astryce!" she said, and the gargoyle exploded just like the others.
"Is everyone alright?" Arthur called, as they regrouped around the scattered and broken stone.
Around him a chorus of "yes's" replied.
"If you are wounded, don't be proud about it." Morgana said sharply. "There's no use suffering when we can heal you."
Sheepishly, Gwaine and Elyan stepped forward, Gwaine with a cut on his arm, Elyan with one on his hand.
Merlin and Morgana quickly healed their injuries, while Gwaine caught Percival's eye. He held up the sword.
"Thanks." Gwaine said, rotating his arm as Merlin stepped back.
Percival walked up to him. "Looked like you needed it," he said.
"Looked like you still needed it too," said Gwaine, slapping him on the back. "Here," he held it back to Percival, who shook his head.
"I got a knife," Percival said, "You're no good with one, I've seen you enough times on the sparring field to know that. Just don't break my sword."
"Fine." Gwaine said, "But I make no promises."
Percival took his knife out of its sheath. It was long, the blade only a little shorter than his forearm.
"Where to next?" Elyan asked, squinting up into the rafters of the hall again.
XXX
Elyan peered into the dark above them, half expecting more gargoyles to swoop down.
"We keep going straight, there's another stairway through the doors." Merlin said, answering his question.
Elyan nodded.
"Can you see any monsters when you look ahead with your magic like that?" Tristan said, the hint of accusation in his voice.
Elyan winced, but with an ease that reminded everyone what Merlin used to do before he was Court Sorcerer, replied "No. Not unless they're directly in the path. Sometimes you're just going to have to think for yourselves."
"Sorry." Tristan said, wincing in turn. "I didn't mean to be short with you."
"We're all tired." Elyan said, stepping in. "And we all know what is at stake with this mission. But we're almost through it. We'll be back home by tomorrow."
"Hopefully." Merlin said, his voice low.
"Is everything alright Merlin?" questioned Arthur.
"You seem especially on edge." Gwaine added.
"I'm fine." Merlin insisted. "As Elyan said, there's a lot at stake right now. Now, we have to keep moving, let's go."
Merlin turned on his heel and started walking down the hall, leaving everyone else with no choice but to follow. Morgana quickly moved so that she walked next to Merlin, rather than at the back of the group where she had been. If there was a conversation happening between them, it wasn't one that ears could hear.
Merlin wasn't the only one on edge. While it was true that Lancelot regarded his position as a knight with the utmost seriousness, he wasn't above the usual banter. But for almost the entire trip, even before the Impenetrable Forest, he had been reserved, quiet, and distant. A fact that became all the more clear when he had fallen into the bog. That hadn't been like Lancelot at all.
Come to think of it, Lancelot hadn't been himself since the first night of the trip. When Arthur had shared the news that Gwen was pregnant.
Oh.
Gwen had told Elyan about what had previously happened between her and Lancelot, but it hadn't occurred to him that the other knight still held feelings for his sister, after all this time. Perhaps to Lancelot the idea of a child was the final blow, the firm ironclad seal between Arthur and Gwen.
If that was the case, then Lancelot was keeping a tight grip on his jealousy, and therefore, Elyan kept it to himself for the time being. Lancelot was a man of honor afterall, not to mention his friend. There was no use pouring salt on a fresh wound either.
True to Merlin's word, there was another staircase at the end of the dark hall. At the top, there was a landing, and a metal gate that separated that landing from another hallway.
"Now what?" Percival asked. He grasped the gate and rattled it, but the bars were thick and unrusted.
"There's a lever there," Leon pointed out.
Arthur grasped at the lever and pulled. Slowly it moved in a quarter of a circle until it hit a click. With an answering groan, the gate rose, opening up space for Elyan and the rest to move into the hall.
Elyan turned back to Arthur.
Arthur released the lever, and within a second, the gate had crashed back to the floor.
"Shit." Arthur said. He shook his head and pulled the lever again, the gate once more, opening for him.
Merlin stepped back to Arthur. He raised his hand at the lever, before shaking his head.
"It's the same magic that was on the front door of the castle." Merlin said. 'I can't use my magic to hold it."
"We can go back, try and find something to keep it propped open." Tristan suggested.
"We don't have time!" Arthur pointed out.
"What if we hold the gate open?" Percival suggested.
"I don't think even you're big enough for that," Gwaine said,
"And besides, how would we get back out?" Leon said. "If the gate comes down after us, we're trapped on the other side."
"We can find a different way out," Morgana insisted
"Do you want to risk that?"
Elyan shook his head. The way he saw it, there was only one way out of this. He crossed back under the gate to his brother-in-law. "I'll hold it," he said. "Arthur will go on with the rest of you, and I'll stay behind."
"Fat chance," Arthur said. "I promised Guinevere I'd look out for you."
"Funny," Elyan said, taking his own grasp on the lever, "I promised her the same about you." Seeing that Arthur wasn't letting go, he looked him firmly in the eyes and said, "trust me."
Reluctantly, Arthur released the lever. "If anything happened to you, I-"
Elyan cut him off before he could finish his sentence 'I wouldn't be able to forgive myself', saying instead, "If anything happens, you can name your child after me."
Arthur smiled in spite of himself. He clapped Elyan firmly on the back. "There are worse names, I'll admit." With a final nod, he left, and went under the gate.
Arthur turned around one last time. "If we don't make it back-"
"You will. I'll be here," said Elyan.
"Wait." Gwaine said. He looked between all of them. "The dwarf we met when we set out for the Grail the first time."
"Grettir." Merlin said. "What about him?"
Lancelot stepped forward. "He knew Elaine was the key to finding where the Grail was. She's the reason we're here."
"But what did he say before that?" Gwaine said.
"I have a feeling you're going to tell us." Tristan said.
"He said each of us brought a different strength to our quest." Morgana said. "And that we would need each of our strengths to get to our prize."
Gwaine nodded. "He called Arthur 'Courage'. And if leading a quest into the Perilous Lands isn't courageous, I don't know what is."
"Merlin was Magic." Leon said. "He got us through the Impenetrable Forest, and Gwaine was Strength; he saved Lancelot's life and killed that wyvern."
"Tristan used his Wit to solve the riddle on the castle." Percival said. "And Leon his Diligence to pass the traps."
"Percival gave me his sword at great personal risk," Gwaine said, holding the weapon in question aloft. "That's Generosity, and now, Elyan. You were Trust, and now we're trusting you to keep the gate open until we return, and you're trusting us to, well, return. We've been going in the order that Grettir addressed us in, too. Which means…"
Everyone turned to Lancelot.
"I'm next." Lancelot said, "Loyalty."
XXX
Lancelot shifted under the sharp gaze of everyone's eyes on him. "Well," he said after what felt like an eternity, but couldn't have been more than a few seconds. "We're not going to be able to put me to the test if we don't continue. Merlin, which way?"
"Left." Merlin said.
"Good."
"Lancelot!"
He turned at the sound of Elyan's voice.
"Be careful." Elyan said, his face grave. "Now that we know what's happening…" he trailed off, but Lancelot could read in his face what was unspoken. He knew then, how Lancelot still felt about Gwen, of course he did.
"Don't worry," Lancelot said, emphasizing those first two words. "I'll tell you all about it when we come back for you."
"Can't wait." Elyan said.
Lancelot turned back around and then to the left. He heard the others behind him now, no doubt the same questions in their minds as his own.
How would his loyalty be tested?
With a jolt, he wondered if Arthur knew about how he felt. The thought made him feel ill. Merlin knew, and if Elyan had caught on as well…
But no. Arthur would have said something. Lancelot was sure of that, recalling how he had dragged Merlin's sorcery out in front of all of them at the Castle of the Ancient Kings, what seemed like a lifetime ago.
"Are you alright?" It was Merlin, at his side, as if he had read his thoughts.
"I told you earlier, I'm fine. Truly."
"And what if I told you that I don't believe you?" Merlin countered.
"Fine." Lancelot said. Two could play this game. "I'll tell you when you tell me. I know there's something you aren't telling us too."
Lancelot saw the hurt in Merlin's eyes, but the rest of his friend's face remained unreadable. Gods, Lancelot thought with surprise, he's gotten better at this. One of these days he might actually be able to tell a half-decent lie.
"I'll tell you once we make it out of here alive and back to the citadel." Merlin said, but he sounded unconvinced.
"Fine." Lancelot said. As Merlin kept walking straight, a flash of grew caught Lancelot's eye from the corner of his vision. "Wait." he said, stopping and turning toward it.
"Lancelot-" Merlin started.
The room was lit by several large windows, the orange light illuminating the space and a massive tree in the center of the room, growing out of the stones itself. It should have been impossible, there was no dirt, and even if there was, there was no living foliage for miles around them.
So magic, it must be.
"Lancelot," it was Arthur's voice, "What are you-"
Lancelot crossed over the threshold of the room, and a stone door slammed shut behind him.
Lancelot snapped back into himself, feeling as if he had just come out from a fog. "Shit," he cursed, trying to find an opening, or some way to open the door, but to no avail.
"Hello, Sir Lancelot," came a woman's voice.
Lancelot whirled around, but no one was there.
"Here," said the voice. Coming from close by the tree.
Lancelot approached it, looking into the branches for the sigh of another person. "Hello?" he called.
"Here." the woman's voice repeated. Lancelot looked to the trunk as it began twisting around itself, until the face and shape of a woman began to emerge from the bark.
Ahh, so not in the tree, from the tree.
Lancelot lowered his sword. The woman's skin still took on the appearance of bark, and her hair was like branches, scattered with green spear-shaped leaves. Only the top half was visible, at her waist, she merged again with the tree trunk. Her arms were slender, and she had high cheekbones and a youthful face. Despite everything, she was rather still pretty, Lancelot admitted.
"Hello," Lancelot replied, "How did you know my name?"
"I've been waiting for you," she said. "You're here to set me free."
"I am?" Lancelot asked. "Who are you?"
"No one has asked me that in a long time." The woman smiled. "Laudine," she said.
"And how did you come to be here?"
"You mean stuck in a tree? The Fisher King, of course. He was my teacher, my lover, and he betrayed me. My magic was becoming too powerful to rival his own, so he tricked me and trapped me in here, cursed to live forever, separated from my magic."
"Separated from your magic?" Lancelot asked. He thought about Sefa, how her father had binded her magic when she was young. But Sefa had been able to break that spell herself, and it was never exactly gone from her.
Laudine pointed to another end of the room. There sat a large crystal, glowing with the same unearthly blue light that Merlin and Morgana's magic did when they cast certain spells. "I need that crystal." she said. "My magic is trapped in there. Bring me the crystal, bring me my magic."
Lancelot paused. It was almost second nature to him to assist someone in need, but then again, "How can I know I can trust you?" He asked, "Why does it have to be me, I came here with Emrys-"
"Emrys doesn't want what I can give in return. But you, Sir Lancelot, I can give you your heart's desire. It's an even trade."
Lancelot thought immediately of Gwen. "No." he said. "I know what my heart's desire is, and having her will only hurt others. Besides, she's happier without me, and she has a child on the way."
Laudine laughed. "No, no, I won't control anyone," she said, "or change any of their hearts. I'll simply rewrite the past."
"I don't understand." Lancelot said.
"You couldn't win her because you were exiled. But what if you weren't? Isn't that what you've always wanted? An opportunity to be able to be closer to the woman you love, to be able to win her over properly?" Laudine leaned out as far as she could, staring him deep in his eyes. "She'll want you, she'll love you. It's such a simple thing."
Lancelot shook his head. "You don't have to give me anything."
"But I do," she said, "I have to give you your heart's desire in exchange for my own. Magic is a game of trades. Knowledge for power, power for energy."
"I can't give you what you want then," Lancelot said. "My loyalty is to my king-"
"Your king will never know! He'll marry the princess from Nemeth just like his father always wanted him to, and he'll be content. Bring me the crystal."
Lancelot looked at the crystal again, walking closer to it. It came up to his knee, it would be fairly easy to pick it up, he thought.
No.
He walked closer to the tree. "I'd rather die." Lancelot said, simply.
Laudine laughed. "Maybe you will," she said. "Because I'm afraid I can't let you leave until I get what I want." The branches of the tree shook with fury. "Afterall. One of you is slated to die today, so why not you?"
One of the larger branches swooped down and swiped at Lancelot. He ducked under the branch and rolled out of the way, close to the crystal.
"What do you mean?"
"Weren't you wondering what Emrys was hiding?" she said, "He's already been told. One of your company is going to die here in the Perilous Lands." She lowered her branches. "Of course, it doesn't have to be that way. If you give me my magic, and I rewrite time, none of you need ever to have stepped foot here at all. Arthur would have sent someone else to meet the Green Knight, too busy preparing for his wedding to the princess, Rome would never amount to a threat during his reign, and Amata would only be an easily manageable thorn in his side. All of you get to live, and you get to be happy with the woman you love."
Lancelot paused. That was what Merlin had been hiding? Why hadn't he said anything? And, was it really that simple?
"What about the prophecy?" Lancelot asked, "It was because of that trip that Arthur became King and Merlin's identity as Emrys was revealed. What would happen there?"
Laudine rolled her eyes. "Who cares? Haven't you given enough, Sir Lancelot? When do you get something in return? Aren't you tired of being a pawn in another's game?"
Lancelot's hand tightened around his sword. "I'm not a pawn," he said, "I'm a Knight of Camelot." He drove his blade into the crystal, shattering it into pieces.
"No!" Laudine screeched, and became silent. Lancelot turned to the tree to see it wither and die right before his eyes, until it quickly, in a matter of seconds, became an empty, dead husk.
Lancelot approached it. He was unable to see Laudine in the tree, but still he said, "Thank you, I understand now."
The stone door opened, and the others rushed in, weapons drawn, Merlin and Morgana with lightning at their fingertips.
"What happened here?" Arthur said, taking in the dead tree, the shattered crystal.
"I passed my test." Lancelot said. He felt light, almost. Lighter and freer than he had in years. He took a deep breath. "I guess this means that Morgana is up next."
"Passion." Morgana said, "What could that mean?"
"I think that's for Merlin to find out and then not tell us, since he's a gentleman." Gwaine said.
"Gross." Arthur said, skewering his face up.
"We'll figure it out when we get to it," Leon said, "Meanwhile, we have to keep moving."
"Leon's right," Merlin said, "We're almost there."
Lancelot spared one last look at the broken crystal at his feet. Something inside him was telling him to pick up one of the shards, and he obeyed it without quite knowing why, pocketing it before he followed the others back out into the hall. There, he turned his gaze to the back of Merlin's head.
One of your company is going to die here in the Perilous Lands.
Next Chapter: Secrets of the Holy Grail (coming 12/3)
AHHH!
Hey, remember how I gave you that list of the attributes from chapter 44 in the author's notes, and was like "this is a tool that will help us later." yeah. As for Morgana's… we will see. (technically you will see, I have already written it.) See, my author's notes aren't completely trash! Occasionally they have their reasons.
Anyways, um, if you hated the riddle that Tristan deciphers, just know that I did ask all my friends to "give me your best riddle" to which one friend said "what is a room without windows or doors?" I liked the mushroom imagery and thought I could work it into the story, so I ran with it and spiced it up a bit, thinking about how mushrooms can either be poisonous or a healthy food (or if you're like me, a gross food), but you have to be smart about picking them, and then I looked up synonyms for "mushroom" to sneak in and twist around, but then thought I meant "to mushroom" as in the verb, and gave me "explosion" and "flourish". So. That was fun.
Another name for this chapter is "Your Writer discovers that she struggles with writing group battles" The fucking gargoyle scene. Ugh.
I'm especially proud of how Elyan and Lancelot's pieces came out here though.
Also, as you can see, I'm taking November off from posting. Don't worry; I have up through chapter 54 written out now, and I'm still very much excited about this story and finishing it through now that we're close to the end, however, the rest of this month and part of the next is crazy for me- I have some professional writing things coming up through the pipeline that I need to prep for (as well as my usual teaching job) and as well as a little emotional/mental break from the craziness that's going on in my life rn. Maybe one day I'll post exactly what's been happening in my life while I've been writing this, but in the meantime know that your kind comments have really gotten me though some really shitty times this the past year and I'm thankful for them. I'll see you in December, and in the meantime, i hope the rest of your autumn is wonderful and kind.
-Sarah 3