Episode 11: Part 1
As early evening set in, the five knights gathered near the warm fireplace of Kristen's antique shop to ward away the darkness and chill of the winter weather outside. While they sat, Stephen related his odd story and his meeting with the Court of Stars while a small pot of vegetable stew finished cooking over the fireplace.
Just as Stephen finished his story, he looked down and noticed a small lanky gargoyle walk up to the fireplace with some large cups and fill them with soup from the pot. He blinked in surprise as he watched the gargoyle known as Scratch hand the soup cup to Laura and receive an affectionate little pat on the head from the Winter Knight.
"Is that… you guys have a real live gargoyle as a pet?" Stephen asked in astonishment.
"Two actually," Connor smiled as he handed a couple small crackers to a second shorter pudgier gargoyle. The little creature named Yum-Yum sat down by the Summer Knight's feet and happily began munching on his snack.
"Where did you get them?" Stephen asked in wonder while staring at them.
Quinton shrugged, "Oh, trust me. It's a long story so we'll tell you later."
Everyone watched as Scratch ambled over and began to squawk quietly at his counterpart, seemingly berating Yum-Yum for making a mess on the floor while eating his crackers. Before long, the two little creatures began to scuffle and roll away, wrestling around on the floor in the midst of a petty gargoyle argument.
"Don't mind them Stephen," Kristen sighed as she sat down with her own cup of soup, "Those two aren't completely housebroken yet."
No sooner had she said that was when a crash was heard in the corner causing her to wince. After suppressing a small grumble, she turned to the newest Silver Knight and looked him over curiously. "You said that the Court of Stars has officially convened. The Four Courts have officially decided to come together to take action? Have they mobilized any military forces?"
Stephen shook his head, "I wish I could say but they didn't tell me much at all. As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one they sent to help you."
Kristen crossed her arms and gave a pensive frown to herself, "If that's the case, then the Courts are likely still mired in political arguments. I wish they would have notified us, or at the very least gotten input from the Druid Councils but I suppose we'll have to make due in the meantime."
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around this Changeling thing," Noelle said giving a slightly apprehensive look toward Stephen, "I mean, it must be a bit of a shock learning that one of your parents might have been an Elf or some other faerie creature, right?"
Stephen grimaced and wrung his hands, "I'm still trying to process a lot of things… and it's made me start asking a lot of questions about myself and who I am. After all, how would you feel if you were just told you were some half human freak and that made you just the right person to fight in a supernatural war?"
Everyone else fell silent and looked to their own rings. While the other knights were in fact fully human, they had happened upon their powers and duties by sheer accident. While they were still bound in some ways by the geas enchantment of their rings, the four of them were not directly connected to the fey or beholden to the wishes of their respective Courts either.
Stephen looked somberly into the crackling fires, "There's still a lot I don't know, but what I do know is that if fighting these Fomorian monsters will give me answers and a means to grow powerful, then that's what I'm going to do."
Laura eyed him for a moment before clearing her throat, "Speaking of the Fomorians, Leanansidhe had nearly overwhelmed us with a horde of her undead monsters called the Sluagh. Kristen, she was using a magical cauldron of great evil to animate them. Do you know anything about what that might be?"
Their Druid mentor sat up and furrowed her brow, "Of course… it must be the Tenebrous Cauldron… even I thought it was just a myth."
Everyone sat quietly and listened as Kristen got up and brought over her tome of lore from the shelf, "There was an ancient Welsh myth of a powerful artifact called the Pair Dadeni, or the Cauldron of Rebirth. According to the Mabinogi writings, this magic cauldron had the power to restore life to slain warriors. Other stories of magical cauldrons have existed in folklore and one of them that my Druid order learned about was an evil one called the Tenebrous Cauldron."
"Is there anything in there about how we stop it, or destroy it?" Quinton asked hopefully.
Kristen grimaced and shook her head, "Not exactly. The myths vary widely so we'd need to do a lot more research to find any common threads or potential weaknesses."
Quinton ate a few spoonfuls of soup before handing his cup to Scratch to finish. "I'm also a little worried about what Balor and Leanansidhe are going to do with the cauldron. I mean, the Fomorian objective is easy enough, but it still seems a little too simple and direct… at least for Leanansidhe."
"Agreed," Laura chimed in, "I think it's important we try to think ahead and plan for other strategies the enemy might be able to use while controlling the cauldron."
The others fell silent and sat in contemplation before Connor finally rose to his feet, "All right then… there's a lot to do so we might as well try to be proactive. Noelle and Quinton, why don't you two stay here for now and help Kristen work out a way to counter the Cauldron-Born. Laura and I will go out on the first patrol and keep the Fomorians away from the local cemeteries. Stephen, how about you… hey, where do you think you're you going?"
Everyone turned to see the Silver Knight had risen from his chair and began to slip on his coat, preparing to leave the shop. He glanced over and regarded them coolly, "I'm going home. Just let me know when the bad guys show up again and I'll take care of it for you all."
"Wow… and I thought Laura could be a little full of herself sometimes," Quinton whispered to Kristen in an aside.
Even though the Winter Knight didn't hear Quinton, she frowned and stood up from her chair, "You can't just up and leave Stephen. There's a job to do and another battle to prepare for."
"That may be," Stephen answered patiently, "But it's not exactly my business to worry about it. I'll handle things on my own terms… in the way I see fit."
While normally known for her quieter gentler disposition, Noelle even narrowed her eyes with a sharp hint of annoyance in her voice, "What is your problem Stephen? We're not the enemy here."
"And you're not exactly friends either," the Silver Knight retorted with a shrug, "You four might have your own loyalties and ways of doing things, but I answer only to the Court of Stars. If Mr. Walsh over there wants to issue battle orders, then fine. I still have no obligation to listen or follow them."
By now Quinton rose to his feet angrily defending his friends, "Connor and Laura took leadership of this team because they earned that right and because they gave us their trust too."
The Summer Knight placed a calming hand on Quinton's shoulder and stepped forward to address Stephen. While he was clearly angry as well, Connor spoke in a hard but level tone, "Listen Stephen, if you want to act like a huge jackass and not be part of this team, then fine. That's your choice. You might think you're really powerful, but I'm here to tell you that the Fomorians are dangerous and they won't hesitate to kill you. The only way we're going to survive this war is by working together… even if we don't always see eye to eye."
He glanced over toward Laura who gave a silent nod of approval, remembering how the two of them had once come to blows before resolving their own differences. Stephen remained unmoved and walked past Connor before opening the door, "If that red-headed witch shows her face again, I'll join in the battle. Outside of that, I've got my own things to sort out right now."
Connor quietly scowled as he watched Stephen leave while the two little gargoyles hurried over to join the Summer Knight. Scratch made a rude face toward the departing form of Stephen while Yum-Yum blew a raspberry at the Silver Knight's back.
After the tension in the room had died down some, Laura cleared her throat, "Quinton, why don't you take my place and join Connor on the first patrol instead."
The Spring Knight raised his eyebrows in confusion, "Where are you going?"
Laura walked over to the coat-rack and put on her winter coat, "I'm going to go and talk to him."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Noelle asked with a skeptical look.
"I'm a big girl," Laura replied firmly, "Besides… I have an idea."
Connor crossed his arms, "You really think that you'll be able to reach him?"
The Winter Knight opened the door and gave a nod, "I do. I think I might be able to find some common ground… but we have to at least try, don't you think?"
"Good luck Laura. Keep us posted," Kristen called giving a supportive nod from her chair.
As Laura closed the door and departed, the other three could only exchange quiet looks filled with reluctance and uncertainty.
Meanwhile, at the far edge of the snowy valley, Leanansidhe growled as she stalked about the small cave she had taken temporary refuge in. A handful of spriggans worked to polish the sinister looking Tenebrous Cauldron while a pack of the undead Cauldron-Born stood guard at the cave mouth. She had not expected another knight to appear, much less one sponsored by the Court of Stars. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed a new plan and that plan would require more help.
Ideally, she needed more time to gather lost restless spirits of the Sluagh to turn into physical warriors but with the knights on the alert, she would be hard pressed to increase her ranks for a full on assault of the town. As she paced, she looked toward her last remaining spriggans before eying her new Cauldron-Born.
That was when an idea struck her. She walked over and pulled aside one her spriggan servants, "You there! Come with me. I have a special assignment for you. I'm going to need you to go back to the Underworld and fetch something for me. Do you think you can do that?"
The spriggan cowered and gave a submissive nod.
"Very good," Leanansidhe smirked as she stopped to admire the Tenebrous Cauldron, "Even if they have a new ally, the knights won't know what to do next."
She heard the spriggan chatter again, seemingly asking a question before the fey woman lashed out and gripped the foot soldier's neck in a crushing grip, "Will I inform Lord Balor of the new knight? Of course not you fool! Do you have any idea how badly he'd react to news of the Four Courts organizing?"
She tightened her grip and fixed her menacing eyes on the beady ones of the minion, "Return to the Underworld and do as I asked you. Do not speak of this development to anyone. Is that understood?"
The spriggan nodded and feebly choked out an affirmative sound before the general released him. Leanansidhe watched in silence as the spriggan scuttled away into the shadows before turning back to the cave-mouth. One way or the other, she was determined to defeat the knights and secure the valley for her Fomorian master. If that involved using deceit or underhanded tactics, then so be it.
The next afternoon, Noelle Moreau sat at a long wooden desk in the antique shop poring over some books with Kristen while Connor worked to tidy up the store. The store had just closed for the day and the last customers had just walked out the door. Although it wasn't quite dinner time, the winter skies had already grown dark prompting an early nightfall set in over the rest of the snowy valley town.
As Connor finished reorganizing the shelves, both Scratch and Yum-Yum worked together to push a broom in the corner and be helpful too. From where they sat at the table, Kristen leaned back in her seat and rubbed her eyes after a while of studying, "I think I'm starting to go a little cross-eyed. I haven't found anything remotely helpful about the Tenebrous Cauldron in these texts."
She glanced over and gave a hopeful look toward the Autumn Knight, "Hopefully you've had some better luck?"
Noelle chewed her lip as she flipped a couple pages of the tome she was reading, "I don't know… maybe. I decided to approach this from a different angle and looked stuff up on that original cauldron you mentioned… the Pair Dadeni. In the old story, it was actually destroyed by a warrior who snuck inside of it and destroyed it from within… however he lost his own life in the process. I wonder if the Tenebrous Cauldron would be vulnerable in a similar way."
"Well... it makes sense," Kristen admitted with a thoughtful look, "After all, the life force of a living being would be a good counter to the deathly power of the artifact."
"If that's the case, the question becomes how do we get a living being to willingly sacrifice itself to destroy that thing?" Connor asked as he began to walk over and join the two girls. "I'm pretty sure no sensible person is going to be lining up for that duty."
Just as he stepped forward, the two gargoyles accidentally pushed their oversized broom right into the Summer Knight's path causing him to trip and fall face first into the ground. Connor sat up and gave a mild groan, as the two little creatures began squabbling again over whose fault that was. Kristen could only shake her head and give a sigh as Noelle walked over to help Connor up, "That's another good question we need to figure out. For now, we'll just have to hope Laura is having a better go of it in trying to talk Stephen into being more cooperative."
"Well Kristen, let's all hope you're right," Connor said before picking up the broom and using it to gently swat the two gargoyles and break up their petty squabble.