Chapter 10 ideas.
Chapter 10
"It's a fucking children's book! What the hell is that fucking thing even doing here?!"
"Mordred, calm down. We're only guessing if what we now know is true or not."
"I agree with you here, Archer. Besides, there are so many details in the book that correlate with the events that transpired in the past couple of days. Drecken's motives and actions can now be explained as a-"
"But still! To put that much faith in a fairy tale is nonsense! How the hell can you explain that this fucking children's book has the answers to that bastard's actions? Especially to the King of all people?!"
"That depends on what you've discovered, Sir Mordred."
"Huh?" x3
For approximately an hour and a half, the trio of Sirs Mordred, Kay, and Archer were debating about the newfound revelations they have unearthed through the book, The Lion and the Witch. So far, there are two contrasting sides of the argument.
On one side is Kay, who believes that the book contains valuable information needed to solve the mystery that is Drecken. He also believes that this can be used against the madman to stop him before he can do any more evil.
On the other hand, is Mordred. Who, after listening in to the contents of the book, vehemently rejected the notion that what they just heard had anything to do with their current situation. She believed that this book was folly and just a fairy tale told to kids. And that the knowledge it has can't ever be useful in a time like this.
Archer, who read the book aloud to the two knights, just didn't want the night to end in bloodshed. So he decided to be the arbiter in the debate. He agreed with Kay that the book had facts. Facts that are needed that could explain Drecken's actions these past few days. But the redhead also knew that this is Mordred they're arguing to. She's more likely to cut someone up than it is to get cursed at by said Red Knight. And uptil now, the redhead is doing his best in keeping Mordred level headed.
That is, until Lancelot came into the library.
"Sir Lancelot!" greeted Kay. "Quite the pleasant evening, don't you think?"
"Good evening to you as well, Sir Kay."
"So," Kay replied, " What brings you here? It's quite unusual seeing you in a place like this. Aren't you supposed to follow a lead or something?"
"I was." came the reply. "I was passing by this room in hopes that I could find His Majesty here. Only to be greeted by you three bickering aloud." The Knight of the Lake was nonchalant at this point. No animosity directed to anyone.
"Well, unfortunately Arthur's not here. I'm afraid you'll have to find him in his chambers. I think he's there at this time."
"I see," he said, "Since the King is already in his room, I cannot find it in me to disturb what little peace he may have." As he spoke, he found a seat and took it, "In regards to that, I shall stay here, instead."
"Aw, great!" came the irritated voice of the Red Knight, "Another idiot to deal with."
"You shouldn't talk. Don't forget you're here because you got punished for being stubborn. Now that is an idiotic reason in itself." replied Kay
"Shut the fuck-!"
"Anyways." Archer interrupted. "Now that Sir Lancelot is here, I believe he would wish to know about our findings, am I right?" He asked the Knight to the Lake.
"I do." came the reply. He asked an open question. "What did you learn that we can use against Drecken?"
"Basically, the origins of his weapon. As well as his next targets. Which are also weapons." replied Kay.
"I see…" Lancelot placed a hand under his chin, "And how did you come to find this new information?"
"Through this." Pointed Archer out. In his hands was the book they were debating about an hour ago.
"A… children's book?" Lancelot asked.
"Bullshit, am I right?" Said Mordred. "These two morons kept on thinking that what we read can relate to our problems."
"And why are you so against the notion, Sir Mordred? It could be that this book was a real story passed down into something even kids can comprehend." Said Kay.
"That happens all the time, Mordred." said Archer, backing up Kay's theory. "You'll never know that your stories will become books for any age."
"But the fucking book told us almost nothing about how to beat the asshole!" referring to Drecken. "It only told us that my sword belonged to a dead boy."
"A dead Knight. You have to include that part, Sir Mordred. The child died with honor. Let him have his due respect." Replied Kay.
"... I believe this is the part where I request an explanation, correct?" Asked a confused Lancelot. He was clearly out of the loop at the moment.
"You missed nothing." Said Mordred. "The book is about how a Lion finds a child, trains him to kill a bitch. He dies. And get buried with all his shit."
"You missed the part where he defeats the witch," said Kay, correcting her. "And that the weapon the knight was killed with was the same enchanted spear that Archer saw Drecken use against you."
"You also missed the part where the knight that killed the witch used a bow and a shield. As well as another sword in pair with Rhindon." Said Archer.
"Whatever." replied Mordred, now annoyed. "The fact is, the bitch and the kid are dead. Only the weapons remain."
"What about the Lion?" Asked Lancelot "Where did he go?"
"The lion disappeared halfway into the story." explained Kay. "The lion's disappearance was attributed to the fact that he died. How it happened wasn't clearly stated. But in the story, he became a nonfactor in the end. Since he wasn't present when the Knight died."
"I see…" Lancelot said. He then went on to ask, "I believe Sir Archer said something about a set of weapons the knight used against the witch. Do they hold any significance in our mission to capture Drecken?"
"Yes, Sir Lancelot." Replied the redhead, "The weapons I mentioned earlier could be Drecken's next target."
"And since the weapon we now have through Mordred and Archer is enchanted. It's safe to say that the other weapons are enchanted too." added Kay.
"How can you say that, Kay?" Asked Mordred. "The book didn't even tell us that they were magical, much less important."
"Well…I believe I can answer that." The trio looked towards Lancelot. Who then said, "Earlier this day, I received word from Lady Guinevere that the Count of Glouchedon reported an incident where a man burned down a monastery with everyone in it slain. The culprit was Drecken"
The Knight of the Lake let the trio digest the new information before continuing.
He then said, "Drecken burned ten villages before fighting Sir Mordred and Archer, correct? It seemed to me that he was just doing the things a usual madman would do. But with this new discovery I think…"
"What? You think he's isn't just a crazy bastard?" Asked Mordred. Clearly showing her headcanon of the man. She's been thinking that Drecken was just a lunatic all along.
"Could be." Added Kay. "I too, now see that he had a pattern. In all the villages before the one Mordred went to, the first thing he did was confront the village elders. Could be for gathering information. And the burning of the villages after can now be explained as a way to hide evidence about why he was there."
"Both of you are correct." replied Lancelot. "The fact that Drecken even considered going to the monastery could be because he found out that information about the other weapons' whereabouts was stored in it."
"The fact that he left none alive means that he got what he wanted. And that he didn't want anyone to tell the tale…" concluded Archer.
"All that matters now is we have a lead!" Said Mordred now excited. "We can finally put down the fucker!"
"While that's true, Mordred. We haven't figured out which weapon he's going for." Said Archer, "There's a bow, a shield, and another sword. Anyone of them could be leagues away from Camelot."
"Now that we've concluded our findings, we must report this to the King." Said Lancelot.
"Yeah, yeah. We know." Mordred said as she stood up from her chair and started walking out of the door.
"It's already midnight so I'm just gonna go home now. We'll talk more tomorrow." and then, the Red Knight is gone.
"I guess that's it then." Said Kay, "I'll go as well. See ya tomorrow, Archer and Lancelot." And as he said that, the Tall Knight went out of the door.
Archer decided to go to his room too, when he was stopped by the Knight of the Lake.
"Wait. I need to speak with you." His eyes became dark, his posture signalling tension.
Archer was unfazed by this disruption, he was anticipating this encounter the moment Lancelot entered the room. It had to come someday.
"Yes?" the redhead asked
"It's about the King. And your duel with His Majesty."
"And what about it?" Archer inquired
"Sit down and we'll talk." With that said, the Knight of the Lake took a seat.
Deep down, as he took the seat opposite the Knight, Archer thought of one thing.
'This'll take a while.'
Somewhere...
"She's truly awake! And scared for some reason."
"Yeah, I can see that, Gaheris. Don't talk about the obvious."
"Shut up, Gareth. What do we do, brother? Do we ask her what happened to her or-"
"Don't talk about anything related to that. Both of you, Gareth and Gaheris. It will only make her fear us more."
"But brother-!"
"That's final, Gaheris. The only thing both of you will do to her is to tend to her wounds. Don't talk about anything personal. Got it? And Gareth, see to it that you help your brother out."
"Yes brother."
"I will do so, brother. Let's go, Gaheris"
"Right!"
After the Knight of the Sun was greeted to the sight of a now awake lady, he tried to get her to speak. Asking her about who she is, where she's from, and what happened to her. Only to be pushed back by the shaking hands of the lady, struck with terror at the sight of Gawain. The poor lady must've had severe trauma from her encounter with Drecken to react in such a way. The lady, in response to her fear of the Knight, desperately shouted for help, but nothing came out. The multiple wounds on her neck caused her to lose her voice. If the several attempts at shouting with barely any voice coming out indicated anything to Gawain.
The walls of the room the Knight and the lady were in were thin enough for the young squires of Gawain to hear the commotion and burst into their brother's room. The lady's fear doubled at the sight of the newcomers. She tried to make a run for the door in an attempt to escape, thinking that the Knight and Squires were evil men. As she neared the door, Gaheris and Gareth restrained the lady to avoid more injuries while Gawain did the talking. And after a few minutes of talking some sense into her, she calmed down enough for the two Squires to let her go. But her posture and look on her face says that she's still untrusting towards the trio.
Right now, the Knight of the Sun was gathering intel into the identity of the woman. It's better that way. Because there is a chance that she'll be too traumatized to tell him anything. So far, he only knows that she's a nun from a monastery that was attacked by a madman. He didn't get the name of the culprit, but from what he can gather Gawain theorized that it could be Drecken. The same man who burned those villages weeks ago.
The only one he can trust as a valid source of information are three people. The mayor of the town, the information post, and the innkeep.
He can't go to the mayor without risking the discovery of his identity. The last thing he needs is attention. He can't go to the post since it's currently midnight. The inkeep… well, there isn't anything that's stopping Gawain to go to him. The innkeep, it is.
He goes to the first floor of the inn to see his target cleaning up the bar counter. And as the innkeep was cleaning, the Knight sat on a chair close to the innkeep. Gawain ordered a drink to start up a conversation.
"Innkeep. A glass. Anything you deem good will do."
"Aye. Will be there in a moment."
The inkeep grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass cup. He placed the cup in front of gawain and proceeded to pour out some scotch until the cup was half-full. As he was placing the scotch back in its place, the inkeep said,
"The woman you're with is awake, isn't she?"
"My, aren't you quite perceptive." Said Gawain, "What made you say that?"
"Well," He then walked back to the Knight, "You're here. It must mean that you want to know more about her."
"And how do you know about her?" Gawain's eyes narrowed, "It isn't normal for an inkeep to be invested in such matters. Especially matters that are unrelated to his own tavern."
"I know that it can earn me money." Replied the innkeep, poker face and all. "Everything I can give you will cost you money." A smirk appeared on his face, "But since it's unrelated matters, I guess I'll leave. What I know won't even help you, anyways."
As he was about to leave the counter, he heard the familiar sound of coins dropping onto his table. His smirk grew to a smile. But he removed it as he turned to the Knight.
"Glad to be doing business with you too, Mr. Smith" Said the innkeep, calling Gawain by his given alias.
"Tell me everything you know. Nothing must be left out." Said the Knight.
"I can't promise you that, but I guess this should cover it." Pocketing the silver coins, the innkeep continued. "The lady is a victim of a massacre that was caused by Drecken."
"I knew it." Said Gawain. "Have you found out why?"
"Inklings of reasons and theories given by my customers have come to mind. Some say he did it because of special hatred of some kind. He was reported to kill the elders first in all the villages he went to before burning them. All except one, that is."
"Others drunkenly said that he did it because he found a map to some ancient treasure protected by the elders he killed. While it explains why he goes for the elders, it doesn't explain why he had to go from village to village. He could've just gone directly to the treasure after all. I wouldn't trust this reason to be fact. It was from drunkards after all. "
"The last I've heard is from the crazy lot at the back. They say he's the Antichrist or something. Don't mind that, it's just useless rabble. You did say to tell everything after all."
"Hmm…" said Gawain, still digesting the new information. So far, everything could be plausible reasons for Drecken's actions. But he needed more intel to make a conclusion. So he changed the subject.
"Was there a body count of all the dead in the monastery?" Gawain asked
"There was." replied the innkeep. "Most of the faces were either scorched by the fire or mutilated by Drecken. They managed to tally the numbers nonetheless."
"How many died?"
"About 200. A fourth were children and elderly. The rest were of age."
"Was there anyone missing?"
"No one. Except your friend upstairs."
As the inkeep said that, a few thumps from the far corner of the ceiling were heard.
"Quite the lively lot, don't you think?" the inkeep said while smirking, he knew what room that was. It was "Mr. Smith's"
"Do you have a name?" Asked Gawain. Clearly meaning if the lady's identity was known.
The inkeep grabbed something from underneath the counter. It was a flier.
"This was given to me a few hours ago. Everything about the lady is in here." he said
As Gawain was about to grab it, the innkeep kept it away from him. The inkeep then said.
"Not yet. It comes with a price."
Gawain threw 3 copper coins on the table and snatched the paper from the innkeep's hands. He'll look into the details of the flier later, but he now has a name. Agatha.
"That's all for today, I guess." the innkeep said while getting out of his counter. "You know where I'll be if you want to do more business with me." the innkeep went into a door beside the counter; and with that, he's gone.
Gawain then felt the fatigue catching up to him, so he decided to go to his room. To which he was greeted by a sleeping Agatha and Gaheris watching over her.
"Brother!" the squire whispered, "Where'd you go?"
"Gathering information. I found out everything about her. I won't tell you tonight, but maybe in the future." As Gawain was talking, he was preparing to lie down on his bed.
"I see…" Gaheris replied. "Did you find out her name?"
"Her name is Agatha. You should go to sleep now, Gaheris. We'll continue our journey to Camelot with haste tomorrow morning."
"Alright then." Gaheris walked to the door, opened it, and as he was about to go out, with a smile, the squire said,
"Goodnight brother."
"To you as well."
And with that. The Knight of the Sun closed his eyes.