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The Gallows' Wood
The inn was one of the most beautiful that Shrio has seen since his arrival in High-Rock. The hearth of the fireplace, made of beautiful cut stones, was vast. Hanging from the rack, a large cauldron of flame-blackened copper warmed a soup.
The "Horned Satyr" must have existed for several centuries. The girder supporting the floor of the upstairs rooms had seen thousands of customers pass by.
Yet the beauty of the place was tarnished. The regulars, who had all turned around in one movement to watch them enter, all showed the same fearful, tired expressions and above all... apart from fear and fatigue, they seemed to feel nothing else. People are too desperate to do anything but wait for the next blow, with the feeling that it will inevitably happen. They had to endure for a very long time with nothing they could do to improve their situation.
As neither Tohsaka, nor Saber, nor Shiro resembled the duke's Black Knights, the men plunged their noses back into their mugs.
The inn was completely silent again. We heard a sap vessel burst into the fireplace and the wind blowing outside. The atmosphere was sinister, tinged by the darkest renunciation. Small details, such as the chipped plates exposed on the china cabinet, the dust on the floor, the dirty walls and the slow decay that invaded every nook, exhaustion and despair seemed to have invaded to the inert objects.
Shiro hesitated, and then walked to the vast counter behind which officiated a big, concerned man. No longer polishing the wood with an old cloth, the man turned a face with a big moustache to the reincarnated Japanese. An old merchant habit made him smile, but the eyes remained suspicious:
- Welcome to "Horned Satyr" I am the owner, Gondyn Kingston. What can I do for your service?
Shiro replied with a more natural smile:
- Two bedrooms, a place in the stables for four horses and a meal.
This last word was followed by a rumble worthy of thunder. In a Pavlov reflex, the blacksmith and the Magus in red turned to the woman in plate armor behind them. The latter blushes slightly, feigning to have heard nothing.
Gondyn coughed in his fist to mask the laughter that illuminated his eyes for a moment.
- You are in the right place.
He turned to the one door open behind him:
- Clotilde?
A twelve-year-old, blonde, with her face strewn with frekles, came out. She wore peasant clothes including veil and apron.
- Yes, Father, yes?
- Take their horses to the stable.
- Yes, Father.
Gondyn faced his customers:
- Take a seat at a table, we don't have much to offer in terms of food... but you will have something warm.
Rin squished her eyes:
- The outskirts of the town of Crestshade seem to have been devastated. What is happening here?
The man hesitated for a moment:
- Taxes don't leave us much, and...
A regular stood up:
-Ergot contaminated grain in silos...
- The mildew devastated the fields, added another.
- We can no longer hunt or cut wood in the forest, offenders are hanged.
- The river came out of bed to flood the land.
- And there is an epidemic of leprosy.
- The mad hermit attacks all those who risk in the forest.
The innkeeper breathed a long sigh:
- I do not know what you have come to do in Verandia, foreigners, but you better not linger. This land is cursed. Such a series of catastrophes is not natural... it is as if all the curses of the world were falling on us one after the other.
Rin shivered instinctively. Angra Mainyu's work could not be better described. She clears her throat and then turned to Saber:
- We have come to this country in search of the sword of Lady Artoria.
The young female knight approached the counter:
- Tell me, madam, have you heard of a Reikr- a kind of blue-skinned orc- that would live in the region. He would be a wizard.
- You want to talk about Ned? What do you want from him, ma'am? I want to warn you, this wizard is using his magic to cause us the worst problems. His last act was to poison the well water... he's a bad person. Things were already difficult for us before he arrived, but since then everything has gotten worse. He lives in the forest, from where he taunts us, coming out only for bad blows. The city guards cannot follow him... because of the edict of My Lord the Duke.
Artoria had listened to the litany of unhappiness in silence. However, she replied with an angry voice:
- Good Man, I am a knight on a quest. Notwithstanding that I cannot leave my sword in the sheath when innocent people are being attacked. By my faith and by the name of Artoria Pendragon, I swear I will not know peace until I give this monster his last breath!
He had a brief astonished silence. Commoners were not accustomed to seeing a knight... let alone a knight who wanted to help them. Generally, aristocrats defended the widow if she was pretty, the orphan if he was of noble lineage. If a poor man begged for food, a little money, they could beat up "the insolent" that did not push themselves fast enough from their path.
This is the true face of the proud Breton knights; the fact of being "born well" made them look at the rest of the men from a mountain of arrogance.
- What noble and courageous words!
Saber turned to the man who had just spoken; he was sitting alone at a table. His clothes were better than the other regulars. To tell you the truth, he looked more like a big bourgeois with his fur-lined sheet dress.
He stood up and bowed.
- Madam, if you would be so kind as to share my meal.
He had uttered magic words and Shiro had an amused smile when he saw the eyes of saber light up:
- Thank you. Sir?
- I am Edwor Moorhart, one of the aldermen of Crestshade, Madam.
The three teenagers sat down. A woman, still young, but worn out by a hard life, came to serve them a clear soup, little more than water where some listless vegetables floated. The disappointed pout of Saber did not escape Moorhart:
- The famine rule, Lady Artoria. Our children have an empty stomach and you will only eat better at the duke's table... who has never known hunger.
- I understand that, Good Man Edwor.
- You said you were a questing knight?
- My sword has been taken from me and I am trying to recover it.
The alderman nodded:
- I do not want to interfere in the quest of a noble lady, but may I ask why you are looking for Ned the Reikr?
- Without going into detail, he has something I need to find my sword. Something he stole.
- This is very similar to him, Madam.
Edwor Moorhart plunged his hand into his purse and spread five gold coins on the table, a real riches (1) especially in this impoverished and starving country.
- The city councilors promised a reward of twenty-seven Septims to anyone who would defeat Ned the Reikr and brought proof of this. Take these five gold coins as a down payment.
After their meal, the three young people went upstairs to their rooms. Artoria seemed angry:
- This is my entire fault... I have not thought about the consequences of my wish!
- Indeed, it is!
Saber turned to Rin, who offered her a sad smile:
- Do not forget, however, that you were stuck in the Grail with Angra Mainyu. It is the deceitful spirit, the spirit of evil. I doubt that it is possible to remain in his presence without offering him a loophole that he can exploit. You would have ended up saying something he would have considered a wish and... It would probably have resulted in an even worse catastrophe. Luckily, Angra is stupid.
Shiro scratched his head:
- I don't know why you say that.
Rin looked at him for a moment with astonishment, the air of saying: "No, are you kidding me?" Only, Emiya continued to look at him filled with incomprehension. Tohsaka ended by sighing:
- Because you're as stupid as he is, Baka! If Angra had reincarnated you together on the other side of Nirn, he could have worked in peace while you and Saber had perfect love. Instead, what did he do? While you were still in the Grail, he explained to you what his real intentions were... that sound like a teenage boy who's too proud of him... are you sure he's not your evil twins?
Artoria approved seriously:
- It was incredibly stupid for Avenger to declare his intentions to his enemies. Out of impulsivity, he sacrificed the advantage of surprise.
Shiro had an embarrass smile. Once again he had not thought about all this, merely reacting to immediate circumstances.
It was the longest night, the one that would turn the child who had entered the priory into a knight. Under the frieze shirt that was Gonderic de Bel-Amant's only garment, he felt the wooden floor that was killing his knees. And, in my tired eyes, the swirling flame still dimly illuminated the symbols of the Nine Divines. The night was drawing to a close. Through the stained-glass windows, the first glimmers of daylight slid silently into the darkness of prayer and doubt that enveloped the squire.
Hunger and tiredness held him. However, during his long night of vigil, the bread and the jug on the altar remained intact. The whole night, they had taunted him, inducing him into temptation after three days of fasting. But neither hunger, nor thirst, nor fatigue weighed on him as much as the uncertainty of the task to be performed.
Behind him, the sound of the lock rang. The light ran on the slabs, carried by the step of those who entered. Motionless, his heart pounding, Bel-Amant heard the men stop just behind my back.
- Stand up, my son.
- Yes, my father.
Dressed in plate armor, Bel-Amant was led before the bishop, girded with the Toril (the "crown" of a count) and carrying the heavy sword he held from the time of Saint Gregory. As in a dream, the young man knelt down to hear his father recite the oath of chivalry. Each time the bishop finished enunciating one of the duties, Bel-Amant replied by swearing never to commit the fault. Duty to the overlord, duty to the commoners, duty to widows and orphans… There are so many. But Bel-Amant simply replied: «I swear». And deep down, he prayed to Mara that She would keep him under Her protection and save him from ever having to act against my oaths. Already monsignor began the last part of the ceremony. He explained that if Gonderic missed one of the commandments on which he had sworn, his shield would be tied to the tail of a mad horse and dragged in the mud. Then his name should never be spoken again.
The heavy sword then struck Bel-Amant on each shoulder, echoing against the dark steel of the shoulder pads.
The banquet had been heavy with the most opulent victuals that the Count's table was able to offer to its guests. Gonderic de Bel-Amant had slept little that night, yet the excitement which was his exceeded that which he had still had as a child, of the expectation of the first buds or of the first snows.
Heavily loaded with the weight of his armor, helped by a page, Bel-Amant saddled up while a squire handed him his emblazoned shield.
- You thought it through, asked his father.
- Yes, my lord.
- Then I can't keep you.
- Yes, my lord.
- Do you know the dangers of your quest?
- Yes, my lord. In the Gallows Woods lies the blue-skinned Reikr. This evil wizard has one of the fragments of the Corvus Crystal. Whoever gathers the three fragments will be able to reconstruct the crystal and banish the evil that haunts the ancient Kingdom of Rivenspire.
Gonderic did not specify that he who restored the Crystal could raise the crown of Rivenspire and restore the ancient kingdom to his benefit.
The Count of Bel-Amant nodded gloomily:
- Yes, you know. Your head knows but not your arm which is like a just forged sword and which may be broken at the first blow.
- My spear is strong, my shield too, and I would rather see my heart break than the desolation continue to spread from the castle of the tyrant Atrum Galliasta. To ask me to give up is an affront to all the brave knights who died before me and are waiting for their souls to be rescued from these haunted woods.
The Count sighed:
- Then go, my son.
Gonderic saluted with his horn, then with the spear before entering the drawbridge, followed by the squire Blaise on his own mount.
The first leagues covered from the castle of Bel-Amant allowed to discover a flamboyant autumn landscape. Wind and water mills were present on the shelves and streams. The road was joyfully crossing narrow bridges peacefully controlled by the count's militia, and in the villages the commoners were not too thin. The peasants who worked in the fields were strong.
The first night passed without incident. The provisions for which the saddle horse was loaded and a few small pieces exchanged for a fowl had allowed an acceptable meal. Bel-Amant set up camp near the Gallows Woods preferring to enter in the light of day.
However, the knight was awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of Blaise, his squire...
Taking his sword, he jumped out of his tent. Above them, in the night, a cauldron was flying in the sky! He boarded a witch in a black dress and pointed hat. Her skin was green and warty. Her gray, dirty, tangled hair floated behind her in the wind.
Laughing, the horrible shrew threw a flask that broke against the squire's chain mail. There was an explosion of green smoke and when it dissipated... Blaise (2) had disappeared. Entangled in his armor and clothing, a wolf was desperately struggling.
After turning into the sky, the witch was already coming back. This time, she grabbed a bag of fine fabric. Gonderic de Bel-Amant tried well to dodge the attack. Nevertheless, he was hit. Immediately, Gonderic found himself surrounded by a cloud of sand... Surprised, he yawned, his eyes suddenly clouded with sleep. Unable to resist, he released his sword...
While the sands of Morpheus carried him to the land of dreams, the knight of Bel-Amant had one last thought for his quest which ended tragically at the first bad encounter. However, what could an honest knight do against a flying witch and her infamous concoctions?
Shiro used to get up early. The day was not yet up when he left his room to go to the stable. Busy dressing the horses, he could hear Clotilde participating in the morning tasks. The young man offered to carry her bucket while she went to draw water from the well. Nevertheless, the little girl refused vigorously while blushing.
Once again, the amber-eyed blacksmith had broken an innocent girl's heart. However, it was not the most serious. As the reincarnated Japanese returned to the inn, he heard a piercing cry.
Turning around, he saw the bucket overturned in a large puddle of water, but no Clotilde in sight. Except that a creature similar to an orc ran away, rolling a barrel in front of him. A pair of legs was waving out of the barrel!
Attracted by the screaming, Gondyn Kingston appears at the window of his inn:
- Ned the Reikr!
Then, looking at the barrel, he turns pale!
- He takes away my Clotilde! My poor little girl! I offer twenty Septims more to bring her back alive...
Shiro Emiya, the "hero of justice", did not wait until he was offered gold to run after the Reikr.
- Tell my friends! I am!
Shiro sank into the forest. The majestic oaks with branches covered with red leaves formed a real roof above his head. The damp trunks covered with spongy mosses were like walls on either side of the trail, leaving only their infinite uniformity and the ground covered with rotting leaves.
There were no signs of life apart from ravens circling in the sky. Their croaking was the only noise.
A thick fog finished limiting vision. Proceeding cautiously, his two Chinese saber in hand, Shiro sneaking from trunk to trunk, on the alert.
On the way, he discovered the abandoned barrel but no trace of Clotilde. Emiya leaned to observe the ground, looking for traces. He was examining footprints moving south when his instinct pushed him to... counter.
Kanshou blocked a two-handed axe. The man who held her was dressed in rags; the long, gray beard was tangled with twigs, crazy eyes, hallucinated.
Shirou tried to reason with him. Only, the old man had obviously lost his mind. He spewed pieces of sentences without follow-up or logic. It must have been the "mad hermit" that the regulars of the "Horned Satyr" had spoken of the day before.
The young Japanese was a Magus, an archer and a talented swordsman. An old man should not have been a very difficult opponent to beat... However, it only takes a few weapons passes for Emiya to realize that he was wrong.
The mad hermit reminded a little of Berserker!
The insanity gave him incredible strength. Despite the reinforcement that Shiro had applied to his muscles, the blows of the old man forced him to retreat. In the middle of the way, they fought and sparks burst out when their weapons met. Elusive and quick, the Japanese attacked with one hand, blocked with the other, leaped out of the mortal circle formed by the axe-head...
This was a superb demonstration of his particular style. However, his blows did not bear points! His opponent was a formidable fighter. His technique was sketchy, visibly learned by use, without a teacher. However, perhaps because Shiro was reluctant to kill, the mad hermit took the upper hand in this fight. His blows boiled down to great movements of his fearsome axe, from the left or from the right, when he did not climb it above his head in a vertical attack.
- Gandr!
The black projectiles, haloed with red light struck the hermit. An ordinary man would have been defeated... but more was needed for the lunatic. With mad eyes, eructing and drooling, he stepped back a few steps while holding his hip. Rin, who had just attacked, bowed her arm as Saber rushed forward. The young woman had only an ordinary sword - Shiro having not had time to trace Caliburn- and her blade broke against the ruthless force of their opponent. Shaky, she trimmed her shield which received a deep notch.
Emiya shouted when he saw the madman rushing against her unarmed friend, but she showed no fear. When the old man struck... Saber threw himself aside, fanning his enemy's arm in the process. Then, in a graceful movement, she swirled the man over her, turning his ass over his head... before throwing him to the ground. Stunned by the shock, the hermit did not have time to sketch a movement before Artoria finished it by forcing the stump of her sword into his throat.
Now armed with a traced version of Caliburn, Artoria had taken the lead of their small troop. The first fight had been a shock to her. With the life of little Clotilde at stake, Saber did not have time to lecture Shiro for rushing forward without waiting for them. No doubt he too had thought of the child at first but... my God, would he never stop terrifying her by his impetuosity?!
After a half-hour walk, daylight broke through between the trees and a pale autumn sun appeared, repelling the thick fog. In front of the trio was a small clearing.
Hearing a howl of distress, Saber warned, turning in the direction of the cry. Seeing Clotilde drawn inside a hollow oak, she leaped forward. Unfortunately, although she reacted with her usual vivacity, the King of the Knights found no trace of the child except a piece of cloth torn from his dress. The kidnapper and his victim seemed to have vanished.
As Shiro began to search for footprints, without finding anything, Rin reminded them:
- You forget that Ned is not just a goblin, he is a formidable sorcerer.
From a bag hidden under her skirt, Rin took out a small velvet purse. She drew from it three runes that she infused with Prana, focusing on as she remembers the face of Clotilde:
- Berkano!
When she threw the three carved pebbles, they began to hop, sinking into the woods to the west.
After another half-hour walk, Rin, Saber and Shiro reached a clearing near the river flowing to Crestshade. The place was inhabited, a cottage built in a large tree.
As they approached it, a man straightened himself in a big rattle of chains:
- Stay away from these cursed places. This is the home of an infamous witch who holds me in her power. By the immortal Aedras, flee while you can!
With her blade in hand, Saber approached, his eyes sweeping away:
- Who are you, sir?
- I am the knight Gonderic de Bel-Amant.
He pointed to his neighbor - completely naked and shivering in cold:
- This is Blaise, my squire.
Saber bowed her head.
- I'm Knight Artoria Pendragon, this is my friend Rin Tohsaka, a Magus and...
Rin Tohsaka glanced at her neighbor and cut Saber off:
- You can call him "Idiot" and he answers it, right, you moronic idiot?
- Rin, groans the Japanese.
Artoria coughed in his fist.
- This young man's name is Shiro Emiya. Don't listen to Rin, she is furious and can be quite stinging.
A little surprised by the behaviour of the newcomers, the knight of Bel-Amant blinked several times:
- Uh... you heard what I said? There's a witch.
- I heard you, Sir. However, as a knight, I cannot allow her to get tough.
In two moves by Caliburn, Artoria blew up the chains that adorned the prisoners' wrists. By releasing her victims, she also angered the witch.
A large cauldron suddenly appeared through one of the windows. An old, decrepit lunatic used it as a flying vehicle. Stretching out a hand filled with excessively long nails, she spat out a magic formula that plunged the clearing into absolute darkness.
Rin, Artoria and Shiro couldn't see anything... worse, the spell wasn't just a defense. A greater and greater anguish embraced them. The two Magi reacted in the same way. Realizing that a magical energy was polluting their bodies, striving to lead them to fear and madness, they opened their Magic Circuits to drive them away under a flood of Prana.
On the contrary, Artoria set out ahead to get out of the affected area.
As the King of Knights stepped into the autumn light, she realized that the spell formed an area of darkness ten meters apart. In the sky, the witch returned to them. The old woman held out her hand throwing a flame. Artoria did not flinch... for the projectile of fire died when it touched her. The magic was ineffective against her, her Dragon Core protected her!
Shiro, out of the trap of darkness, exchanged his twin swords for a great black bow. He made appear an arrow and nock.
Normally, the Magus never missed its target. However, the wind began to swirl around the flying cauldron repelling the projectile.
- Beware of her potions, cried Bel-Amant.
- Potions?
- Yes, it is thanks to them that this treacherous woman defeated me.
Rin joined them, supporting Blaise, who was pale after his stay in the spell of darkness. Seeing the evil flying cauldron returning to them, Rin murmured an incantation:
- Es ist groß. Es ist klein.
Magic circuits came in life on her legs. With strengthened physical abilities, she ran like the wind, jumping sideways to avoid an attack before turning her arm out. A "gandr" volley made its way to the sky.
Realizing that she was dealing with a heavy hand, the witch fled.
The witch's lair was burning, fueled by her evil beverage and black magic books. If this monster were to return, she would have to rebuild her entire laboratory before he could start harming again. While Shiro was using a flaming sword to spread the fire, Rin and Saber had spoken with the two men they had saved. The King of Knights summed up what she had just learned:
- You want to bring the Corvus Crystal together? This is also our own goal.
She raised a hand, warning the question of Bel-Amant:
- We have no claim to the throne of Rivenspire. We just want access to the tomb of Corvus Direnni.
Gonderic frowned at her:
- Why?
- My sword is guarded by this mage.
- Your sword, Milady?
- A long story... but I can prove myself; no one can handle it but me. If you wish to accompany us, I would not oppose it, Sir Knight. In any case, your quest can only succeed with our help.
From her bag, Saber took out the first fragment of the Cristal. Gonderic swallowed. He understood that he was before a galant knight who far exceeded his valor.
- Lady Artoria, it would be a great honor for me to follow you. You have saved me from a terrible fate and I owe you a debt of gratitude.
The King of Britain made a careless gesture, as if her exploits were unimportant:
- Think nothing about it, sir.
Rin and Blaise had gone to fetch the horses and weapons of Gonderic de Bel-Amant. The group of five people resumed its advance in the forest. Guided by the runes of the Magus, they reached a bridge at the beginning of the afternoon.
The place couldn't be more sinister.
The smell of decomposition permeated the atmosphere. Cautiously, the knight of Bel-Amant checked the attachment of his sword and let his spear fall back into the attack position. His companions had stopped speaking. On his own horse, Blaise was even tenser than the nobleman he served. Shiro had invoked weapons for him and Saber. Rin searched the bushes with her eyes, fearing an ambush.
At the end of the bend, the path stopped on a bridge just wide enough to let a horse pass. Along the banks of the muddy and stinking river that it crossed, sickly trees were languishing under the weight of the hanged. The ravens were replenished with corpses, the oldest of which were nothing but heaps of bones piled up in the midst of armor and rusty weapons.
At the entrance of the pontoon, between two heaps of yellowed skulls, a magnificent knight in shining armor stood guard. Its plastron, its helmet and the least of its plates reflected the sun like a mirror. His steed had the hair of a whiteness of snow as its coat and the plume of its rider. The shield of the knight had the same polish and showed no emblem. The gonfalon attached to his lance was also white, without any drawing.
In any landscape, he would have seemed out of place. In this sinister one, he seemed completely… unreal.
Bel-Amant expected the knight-mirror to charge them, but he made no aggressive gestures.
Artoria then spoke:
- Knight of Bel-Amant, the bridge keeper has no aggressive intention. I have an excellent instinct for this kind of thing. Why don't you try to talk?
After a moment of hesitation, Gonderic nodded. Turning to the strange mirror-knight, he raised his hand in a greeting:
- Sir Knight, how much is the toll?
- The bridge of truth demands only the truth.
Shiro jumped, turning to Gonderic, then to the mirror-knight. The two men had exactly the same voice. But Bel-Amant didn't realize it. He watched the dead knights reduced to skeleton in rusty armor that flanked the bridge of truth:
- Why … did they die?
- They killed themselves.
- What do you mean?
- They had brought with them what should kill them: lust, the taste of luxury, cowardice, violence…
Shiro stepped forward, showing the hangmen:
- Do they too?
With difficulty, the knight-mirror bowed forward:
- Braggarts, bandits, thieves, rapists… They killed themselves.
Gonderic resumed the speech, without noticing the air of deep reflection of Tohsaka:
- Could you name yourself, sir?
- You know my name.
-I have to go to the other side.
- Pass. The Corvus Crystal fragment you're looking for is on the other side.
The knight-mirror then turned to Saber:
- King of Knights, I offer you the friendly greeting of Le Fey and congratulate you on winning this event.
- I did nothing, the latter replied. "The credit goes to Gonderic de Bel-Amant".
Gonderic was increasingly surprised by the turn of events. Artoria was not. In her first life, in the legendary Brittany, Galaad, Perceval and Bohort had won a similar event. Many other Knights of the Round Table had failed... including the most prestigious.
- Who are you, finally asked the Knight of Bel-Amant.
Without answering, the strange knight removed his helmet. The amazement left Gonderic speechless. He saw himself as in a mirror. The man had his face. "They killed themselves." "They brought with them what was to kill them." Of course!
- I understand, I don't want to fight myself.
- It is wise; to fight against oneself can only lose.
Slowly, Bel-Amant's double cleared the bridge to allow him to pass.
He was dazzled when his horse put his hooves on the old stones. As the travelers touched the other shore, Gonderic turned around. Not a trace of the Mirror Knight. The trees and the river had regained all their health, more hanged and robins were now singing where the ravens had been.
However, the knight's companions were even more surprised by the changes that had taken place at his home. Her armor had become so polished that she looked like a mirror and her once-gray horse had become a dazzling white.
Rin agreed, understanding the meaning of the ordeal imposed on them:
- By refusing to fight his own ugliness, Gonderic domesticated it.
Shiro shook his head, understanding nothing.
- But who was this strange knight?
- A Fatys, a fairy knight, replied Artoria. "They sometimes test mortals".
Saber shook her head. Lancelot, "the best of knights" had failed a similar test. Gonderic de Bel-Amant was probably promised a great destiny. She sighed, haunted by the memory of a black knight devoured by his own anger... and a burning underground parking lot...
The night had fallen for several hours when Rin's runes stopped in front of a well dug in the clay. Around the old masonry, turned six wolves that surrounded Ned the Reikr. The sorcerer was hiding behind the little Clotilde bounded and terrified.
Artoria Pendragon stepped forward, pointing Caliburn at the goblinoid:
- Ned, I beg you to let this child go.
The Reikr did not even answer content to pull out a long knife from under his fur clothes and bring it closer to the little girl's throat.
Saber glanced at Shiro, who nodded, and then at Rin who approved. Then she smiled:
- Starlight (Convergence)!
The King of Knights raised Caliburn to heaven. Loaded with mana the sword began to radiate a golden light... which exploded in a violent flash. All the people were stunned and dazzled unless, of course, Shiro and Rin. They knew Saber well enough to understand her plan.
The redhead Magus had leaped forward with his reinforced leg, crossing the ranks of the wolves that were frantically rolling on the ground. He snatched Clotilde from his whimpering captor and walked away.
It was the turn of Tohsaka:
- Fiexering Eile salve!
Ruthless, Rin did not give their enemies a chance. A rain of "Grandr shots" fell on them. It was over in an instant.
They then explored the well. The place served as a den for Ned. A swiveling slab at mid-height allowed access to a cave. The Reikr had accumulated all the loot stolen from the inhabitants of the region. There was a lot of old furniture and useless objects, even food.
Recovering from her emotions, Clotilde pointed them to a corner where she had seen the sorcerer dig. His real treasure included a magic chainmail, potions, gemstones, some gold coins and a real fortune in silver ones.
But above all, they found the second fragment of the Crystal of Corvus. It fit perfectly with the shard that Merlin had given Shiro.
They only had one piece left to find... the best kept.
(1) Most video games use the gold coins (like the "septim" that we see in the Elder Scrolls series) as if we found them on the ground or in the purse of a roughneck! Five gold coins is the price of a plough horse! For the ordinary peasant, it is the equivalent of a life's savings.
(2) The French name "Blaise" comes from Breton "Bleizh" which means... wolf! The transformation may not be totally risky. This kind of "coincidence" is a common place in Arthurian stories.