Author's Note: OH MY GOODNESS!!! Thank you SOOOOOO much to everyone who reviewed!!!!!!! I never knew emails could make a person feel so good, but now my eyes have been opened!! You all had a hand in making this chapter come so soon, but I guess this has to go out especially to Ivory Novelist who gave me a personal endorsement in her story Gentle Apocalypse!! Hehe that was fun for me (to say the least!)...but ALL of the people who reviewed are very much beloved by me....there is individual responses to everyone at the bottom of this chapter.
Oh, and about this chapter....I'm sorry it's so short, but its crazy busy up here in Canada-this weekend is Thanksgiving for us so I have been put to work cleaning...blah...and also studying for midterms....also blah.....so yes, I was only able to squeeze this little bit in...but hopefully you'll still enjoy! Again, read and review---I am loving the comments everyone is making! AND THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
And now on with the show!!
Chapter Two
He watched with mounting horror as his friend crumpled into a heap at the feet of the Saxon. Suddenly the world stopped moving and time stood still for one long, sickening moment. All echoes of the battle flew from his ears, and the loud hammer of his heart in his chest over whelmed his mind. He felt himself gasp for breath, felt his legs move to urge his horse forward-and then everything snapped back into place. The sounds of the bleak morning rushed back to greet him like a tidal wave; metal clashing on metal; the groans of dying men calling to unseen mothers, children, wives; bloodcurdling screams of rage as men fought for their lives in the heat of battle. All of this whirled around him, and he heard it, but saw none of it. He eyes were trained on the Saxon standing above Lancelot-the man who now held his friend's life in his hands.
He tried to spur his horse into action, but the Saxons, seeing he was distracted, had suddenly rushed toward him and were now attacking him with renewed strength. Letting out a yell of frustration, he frantically cut them back, trying desperately to carve a path through them towards his fallen man. Pausing for a moment after plunging his sword hilt-deep into the chest of a man below him, he glanced up and saw Tristan fighting close to him on the ground. As always he was moving with liquid motion, his lethal long sword swinging low and fluid before moving in for the kill.
"Tristan!" He yelled while cutting down another man who foolishly sought to pull him off his horse during his moment of respite. Tristan's eyes flicked over to his commander before he swung his sword high and brought it down in a deadly arc, cutting his opponent down through his shoulder. He pulled his sword out quickly and turned towards Arthur, who called out, "Lancelot's wounded!" and he pointed to where he had last seen his friend. Tristan gave him a curt nod and began to run over to where Arthur had pointed.
The Saxons had begun to thin out, so Tristan found that he could move quickly over to where Arthur thought Lancelot might be. But as soon as he had reached the general area, a horn echoed across the valley. The Saxons immediately ceased fighting and retreated back behind Hadrian's Wall. Tristan watched in confusion as the opposition raced past him and quickly vanished into the distance. While Bors yelled insults at the retreating Saxons, the other knights stood in stunned silence for a few moments and then began to regroup around Arthur, who galloped over to Tristan.
"Where is he?!" he shouted as he reined in his horse and leaped off while the horse skidded to a halt. He stumbled a bit with the abrupt change in momentum, but steadied himself and ran to Tristan's side. "Is he wounded badly?" He looked around quickly, and when Lancelot was nowhere to be found, he looked at Tristan, his eyes flaming with fear and panic. Tristan shook his head in disbelief.
"I don't know where he is.... he was gone when I got here." Arthur stared at him for a moment and then spun to face the other knights. They all shook their heads as well.
"Haven't seen him since the beginning of the fight..." Gawain said.
"I saw him for a few moments..." Galahad said quietly "He was fighting like he always does..."
"Well scour the area, eyes open for any sign of him..." Arthur said. The others looked at one another, and didn't move.
"Arthur-"Dagonet began.
"No! I do not want to hear it-look for him before you condemn him!" His knights sighed and began to move slowly away from one another, stretching outwards in an ever-widening circle. After about an hour of careful wandering, they all came together again around Arthur, who was sitting on the wall, his head in his hands. "Anything?" he asked, his voice void of any hope. The men mumbled their negative responses and then stood in silence. Finally Bors spoke up, his voice gruff,
"Found these..." He held out Lancelot's swords to Arthur who raised his head and took them, placing them on the wall next to him. After a moment of silence he finally spoke, his voice full of grim determination.
"Well, if his body is not here, then he may still be alive. Saxons like slaves-that's probably one of the reasons they came...but Lancelot is sick-that's why he fell today and I blame myself for that." The knights protested that, but he held up his hand. "No, no I am the commander and I shouldn't have let him go. But what's done is done and cannot be undone...the point is that he's sick and a sick slave is of no use." He looked up at his men and spoke the next bleak words looking them all in the face. "They will probably kill him." He saw the expressions on their faces harden. They had lost comrades before, so they were preparing themselves for the worst. He got off the wall and stood before them. "I refuse to let that happen. I am proposing we go after him. This is not an order directly from Rome, so there is no oath binding you to this-"Bors let out a roar of rage.
"Course we're going! He'd do the same for us...besides, I'm not gonna let the little bugger have all the fun!" Arthur smiled and then looked at the rest of the men.
"And the rest of you?" he enquired and they nodded their agreement. "Thank you." He said, and couldn't help a wave of pride from washing over him. He moved through them and mounted his horse. "We have to move quickly...but first we ride back and get the others." His men nodded again and moved to get their own horses. Then turning and riding into the midday sun, they left the battlefield that had now become a graveyard for so many others. Arthur turned one last time to see the bodies strewn before Hadrian's Wall and prayed that Lancelot wouldn't be the next to join them...
ok, again, I know it was VERY short....I promise more and BETTER for next time!!
And now reviewer responses:
Techno Snape: Thankee kindly...even I'M not sure what he's gonna do to get Lancelot out of this predicament......but I do have a bit of an idea....and it should be good-thanks for reviewing!!!!
Shauna: Oh my you are so funny!! I know exactly how you feel because my computer crashed over the summer and I felt so detached from the world—and when I read your review, I was also sneaking some computer time during school, so I definitely knew where you were coming from. After I read your review I immediately began wrapping up this chapter. Everyone's review pushed me to update, but yours really pushed me over the edge-so thank you! Haha no rescue for Lancelot yet! You didn't think I let him outta trouble THIS easily, did you? And yes, he is a lot like Legolas (and co-incidently Ioan and Orlando are two of my favourite actors!!) hopefully you get more computer time soon...and hopefully I updated in time!!! Thanks so much for reviewing!!!
Elventears: Thank you for reviewing!....I hope my update didn't take too long...
Szhismine: hehe...eep is such a cute looking word...Thankya for reviewing!!!
Allegra: Thank you for saying that this is a "story worth continuing"...seriously, I am so insecure about my writing...lol...and yes, I know, I'm all about the cliffhangers!! Thanks so much for reviewing!!
Unni: No I do not want you dead!!! Haha yours was a funny review, so thank you for making me smile!! But I am sorry if you can't concentrate in school....but I can never concentrate in school, so at least we're there together! Sorry if this update wasn't very quick....or long.....I'll try to do better next time! Oh, and I always like to see Lancelot in trouble because then it leads to a fabulous rescue! He's so pretty we WANT to save him....anyways, THANKS for reviewing!!
Goody: Thanks so much for saying that the dialogue and stuff was good...when writing about characters from other movies or books, I always worry that I'm not portraying them correctly, so thanks!! And thank you for reviewing!!
mrs jdhappiness: Yes, yes I am evil...MUAHAHA!!...hehe sorry...I am sooo happy that you like my lancelot!! I love him aswell and put much love and work into recreating him!! Thanks for the review!!
Disassociated: The gushing is great, but I also love those who will tell me when something is wrong...and the thing is that I COMPLETELY agree with you....after I posted I read it over and thought it moved a little too fast....but I am pretty much a perfectionist when it comes to my writing, so I was wondering if anyone else thought that too. I think this one might move a little too fast too, but the upcoming chapters should be better....it's hard to write action because you don't want it to be boring....but I think that the last chapter might have come off a little cold, you know? Not enough depth into the characters......anyways, sorry to be venting this all out on you, but as I said, I am a perfectionist.......ANYWAYS, thanks so much for reviewing!!
Freakazoid: I know, I know about the whole "Lord" thing....my problem is that I've been reading Bernard Corwall's "Warlord Chronicles" (which is a trilogy about Arthur) and the knights in there are ALWAYS calling him Lord....so that kinda snuck into my writing....oops!! You may notice that there's none of that in this chapter..so thanks so much for pointing it out...I wanted to go the movie route instead of the book route so thanks!!
Jemiul: Thanks so much for reviewing!! Sorry if the update took a little long....I'll try to be quicker next time!!
One and one is two: The day is worth living!!?! That is the highest praise anyone has EVER given me!! So THANKS!!!
Camlann: You couldn't tell this was my first fan fiction?? YAY!!! Success! Thanks soooo much! And if you ever write a fanfiction of your own, let me know and I'll read it and review for you!! Oh, and as you might have noticed, Arthur is going to get the "others" meaning NEW knights!! That was thanks to you-you convinced me!! Thanks for reviewing!!
Ivory Novelist: hey again!! Ive already gushed all over you about how much I love your writing and thanking you for telling others about my story so I wont say any more........ok, one more time...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
xStarryEyedx: ooOOooo I'm glad my writing got you riled up! That's what I'm here for! Hopefully this chapter answered all your questions...oh wait, maybe I don't want that.....because then you won't feel the need to read anymore! ....MUST....BE....MYSTERIOUS.........hehe anyways, thanks for reviewing!!!
I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!! THANKS AGAIN!!!!!