Hey guys! Wow those reviews come in pretty quick! Thank you so much! Well I've come to a decision about Dag…you will have to wait and see to find out though…
Here we go…and I'll update till I get 32 reviews.
Last time:
Arthur simply slowed his horse and Lancelot did the same next to him. Concerned for his friend Lancelot asked, "Arthur, are you alright?"
Arthur simply looked at his closest knight. "I will be. But Germanius has taken two very valuable things from me. A man I thought to be close to my father."
Lancelot simply nodded and the caravan continued on.
Liliana was enjoying the company of Galahad, Gawain, Bors, and Dagonet. She had forgotten how they used to jest to make the missions go faster. Arthur would usually strive to keep his self-control but his eyes would glimmer and occasionally you would hear him snort with trying to contain his amusement. Lancelot would from time to time give a smart remark, and Tristan only spoke when it was to improve the silence. She was now sitting in front of Gawain once again after being snatched suddenly from Galahad's horse, she turned to Bors.
"So Bors, still have the flock of ten?" Liliana began, "Or have we expanded your litter?"
Galahad and Gawain both started to chuckle and Dagonet merely smiled. "Well missy I got eleven now. He's only 'bout six months old."
"Are you sure he's yours? Don't have a resemblance to Lancelot at all?" she teased him. Galahad and Gawain both let out loud barks of laughter at the inquiry, a jest that had been going on for the past ten years.
"All Bors," he said smiling proudly. Liliana simply laughed at him, at times he acted like all he cared about that his children would soon be good fighters, but she knew that inside he loved them deeply.
"How fairs Vanora, good I hope?" Liliana questioned. She had missed her dearest woman friend.
"Liliana she wants to marry! And give the children names!" he looked at her, almost shocked that a person would want to do that.
"No! Names? How barbaric can one get?" she taunted. Galahad, Gawain, and Dagonet all started snicker at Bors annoyed and slightly embarrassed face.
"Gods above…" came Galahad's soft whisper as he looked straight ahead. Liliana turned her attention to what lay before them. Ice, sheer ice that covered more then one hundred yards. The knights gigged their horse to where Arthur was standing with Tristan, the sound of the drums beating faintly behind them.
Arthur turned to Tristan, "Is there any other way?" he knew it would be a dangerous and hazardous task to get all of these people across safely.
Tristan simply gazed around and shook his head. "No. We have to cross the ice."
Arthur looked around overwhelmed. Looking towards his knights and sister he told them in a weary voice, "Get them all out of the carriages. Tell them to spread out."
Liliana gently treaded across the frozen lake, about an arms length next to her Guinevere was doing the same. Around her, her brothers at arms were carefully leading their horses across the lake. The horses were skittish, however the knights' calming voices were settling them every few steps. She glanced to her left to see Lancelot gently stroking his horse's muzzle and calming the beast by kindhearted words. Behind her she could hear people nervously taking sharp intakes of breath every time the ice groaned with the weight. Liliana was beginning to get nervous and unconsciously began walking in between her brother and Lancelot, a place she automatically went when discomforted.
Arthur and Lancelot both glanced at each other when they noticed Liliana coming in between them. She had a habit of doing that when she was worried or scared. With more moaning of ice Arthur held his hand to stop the caravan from moving any further. He heard his knight's inhale pointedly as the Saxon's drums could be heard in the distance. He sighed and turned towards his knights.
"Knights?" Arthur simply posed mournfully.
The knights all looked at each other at the same time as Guinevere gently slipped out of the group to head back to the carriage.
Bors smirked as he looked at each of his brothers and sister and then to his commander, "Well I'm tired of running. And these Saxons are so close behind, my arse is hurting."
Tristan added, "Never liked looking over my shoulder anyway."
Dagonet smirked as Gawain remarked, "It'll be a pleasure to put an end to this racket."
"Yes I have been getting quite a headache from all the incisive clamor," Liliana added in.
Galahad added in, "We'll finally get a look at the bastards."
Dagonet already preparing for the upcoming battle simply stated, "Here. Now"
Liliana could not help but to glance over at Lancelot and to distinguish his reaction. She saw that he was frowning at her brother and shaking his head disapprovingly. She heard her brother speak to Jols and then speaking to Ganis.
"Ganis, I need you to lead the people. The main Saxon army is inland so if you track the coastline until you're well south of the wall, you'll be safe," her brother commanded the serf who looked astonished of the numbers that they would be fighting in.
"You're eight against two hundred!" he cried.
Liliana smirked as Guinevere made her way through the crowd holding their weapons, "Nine. You could use another bow."
Liliana watched as Ganis' face turned hesitant to leave. "I'd rather stay and fight," he proclaimed.
Liliana walked over to him and out her hand on his shoulder, "You'll get your chance soon enough." Ganis seemed to trust her on this and nodded reluctantly.
Arthur turned to the mercenaries and gave them a hard look and an authoritative tone of voice, "This man is now your captain. You do as he says, am I understood?"
The mercenaries just shook their heads yes while the leader said, "Yes sir."
Arthur watched them walk away and then turned back around to find his knights all preparing for the upcoming fight, Guinevere gathering her weapons from Liliana.
Liliana felt eyes on her and turned to find Arthur looking intensely at her. She held his gaze sadly for a few moments before turning her attention to Lancelot who had just walked up to her.
"Ready?" he asked her placing a hand on her shoulder.
Embarrassed at the way she had yelled at home before, Liliana simply nodded and walked over to where Guinevere was standing.
"Come out alive my friend," Guinevere whispered to Liliana whole placing a sisterly hand on her shoulder, "They would not be able to take losing you twice."
Liliana simply nodded and looked to where her brother had just finished talking with Alecto. Thoughts running through her head were ones of sadness for the knights; from her estimation they would have been free right now. She would have been free. She shook her head of these thoughts as she watched the convoy move across the ice and ride down the path. Her heart almost broke when she watched Lucan wave sadly to Dagonet and him return the wave with a small sad smile.
After the caravan was out of sight and the knights plus Guinevere had gotten their weapons organized, all nine of them simply stood on the ice waiting for the Saxons to come upon them. The drums were beginning to get louder and everyone was getting tense and wound up for the upcoming attack.
"Hold until I give the command," was Arthur's statement to them all. They all nodded in consent.
Everyone watched on baited breath as the army came into view and settled themselves on the other side of the ice. Liliana could see their leering faces and they noticed two of their adversaries were in fact women. Guinevere and Liliana simply glared at them, letting them know mentally they would regret their thoughts.
Lancelot broke their revere when he spoke to Guinevere who was standing to his left, "You look frightened."
Liliana who was standing in between Dagonet and Galahad leaned forward only to see Lancelot smirk at both her and Guinevere, "That's a large number of lonely men out there."
The rest of the knights simply looked at Lancelot in amusement until Guinevere delivered a sharp reply, "Don't worry, we won't let them rape you."
All the knights chuckled quietly to herself as Liliana muttered, "That was a good one."
Their mood became serious as they watched a Saxon archer fire an arrow that landed only halfway to where they were standing. Noticing that their arrows were not going to hit Arthur instructed his knights, "I believe they're waiting for an invitation. Bors, Tristan, Liliana."
Liliana nodded as she placed an arrow in her bow. "They're far out of range!" she heard Guinevere protest. Smiling to herself she took aim and waited for her brother's command.
"You believe you can still strike them that far off?" she heard Lancelot ask her from where he was standing. She saw some the knights and Guinevere look at her with questioning looks. Her brother simply nodded and stared ahead of him.
Smirking she replied, "I could have hit them a few paces back actually."
She heard the knights chuckle and saw from the corner of her eye Guinevere give her an incredulous look. Lancelot simply gave his trademark smirk, she was second best only to Tristan and even then she gave him a run.
"I trusted as much," was her reply.
Arthur smirking at Guinevere gave the signal for Bors, Tristan, and Liliana to release their arrows. Everyone watched as the arrows flew through the air and struck down their targets. Both Liliana and Arthur turned to Guinevere with identical smirks and raised eyebrows and were meet with her cold glare at being wrong.
Turning her attention back to the battle before them, Liliana watched as the Saxons began marching across the ice towards the knights.
"Aim for the wings of the ranks. Make them cluster," were Arthur's orders as they began firing at the Saxons. Liliana fired with dead aim at the Saxons, her arrow never missing. She watched as the Saxons began to become confused and cluster together to get out of the range of arrows.
She watched as the Saxons tried to regain their ranks and continuously march forward. Looking to her brother, she saw him kneel and press his ear to the ice, eyes widening.
"It's not going to crack. Fall back Fall back!" he shouted. "Prepare for combat!"
All the knights picked up their weapons and prepared for the fight that was to come. Guinevere, still shooting, cast a nervous look to Liliana who nodded back encouragingly.
With a yell, Liliana's attention quickly switched to Dag as he was running out on the ice with his battle axe in his hands.
"Dag!" Bors yelled.
"Cover him!" were her brothers orders, the knights began to shoot at the firing Saxons who now aimed for Dagonet. Liliana however stood frozen. She had a decision to make, she left her brothers once, was she going to do it again? No.
Liliana, grabbing her shield, began to run out towards Dag. "Liliana!" was heard in the background but she kept running. Sprinting to cover him, she placed herself and the shield covering Dag. She could feel him grunting with everything he had as he hacked the ice with his axe. Suddenly, an arrow embedded itself into his back, Dagonet minimally faltered.
"Dag! Liliana!" was shouted by Bors.
Liliana barely noticed as Dagonet got shot again and a well shot arrow made its way through the shield, nearly hitting Liliana's hand. She heard Dagonet give one more mighty heave as the ice began to divide, and he collapsed from his injuries as well as the exhaustion that had overcome him.
The ice began cracking all around her and she watched as Dag fell into the ice. "Dag!" she cried.
She turned to see her brother and Bors sprinting towards them just as she plunged in after Dagonet.
The ice was so cold she could barely comprehend where she was. Opening her eyes and seeing Dagonet weakly struggle to swim, Liliana made her way over to him. Grabbing his heavy cloak, she began propelling herself to where she thought the opening was, her mind clouding over with every second that passed. Suddenly she was able to see the patch where she and Dagonet had fallen through. Pushing Dag towards the light she began to kick with fierceness that she had no idea she still had the energy to have.
She suddenly felt herself and Dag come into the air as they broke through the surface. She saw her brother and Bors searching for them and their eyes immediately going worried when they saw both herself and Dag break through the water.
"Liliana! Dag!" shouted her brother as she tried to push the knight over to him. She watched as both Arthur and Bors grabbed the knight and haul him out of the water. Arthur turned back, extending his hand to her when she suddenly felt herself being pulled under again. She gave a surprised "Ah!" and disappeared under the surface.
She felt a hand on her ankle and twisted around to see a burly Saxon dragging her down into the dark depths. Kicking and twisting she tried to get him off with no avail. She began to weaken as she ran out of breath and began to succumb to the darkness enveloping her.
Arthur's eyes were moving all around where Liliana once was. He had seen her for a few moments and then she was swallowed up again by the water. Bors and Gawain were both tending to Dagonet, trying to get his giant knight breathing normally again.
He felt Lancelot slide beside him as he too fell to his knees in search for Liliana. His foolish sister, she should not have run like that, although she may have saved Dagonet's life.
"Arthur I do not see her," Lancelot said with a panicked voice.
Making up his mind on what he must do, Arthur took off his cloak, sword, and armor as fast as he could. Lancelot looked at him with a questioning look before he figured out what his friend was about to do.
"Arthur, let someone else go. If you do not return..." his voice drifted off as he thought of what the knights would do without their precious commander.
"Do not have those thoughts. I must do this. She is my sister and I will not let it end this way," with one last glance to Lancelot and looking around at his knights, Arthur dove in the frigid water to try and locate his sister.
Suddenly, she felt the water around her churn as she felt someone grab onto her wrist and heave her upwards. Unexpectedly she was at the surface once more and being dragged up onto the ice where she was promptly wrapped in cloaks.
"Liliana! Liliana please! Stay with us!" shouted Gawain as he tried to warm her freezing body.
Arthur, who himself was wrapped in cloaks after jumping into the water, and shivering like a madman leaned over his sister, trying to get her to stay awake. Rubbing her frozen arms and legs, struggling to get her warm, Arthur beckoned her to stay with them, "Liliana, fight it! Fight it I know you can! Do not close your eyes!"
Not able to keep her eyes open any longer, Liliana submitted herself to the shadows that beckoned her while the knights shouted for her to stay awake.
Guinevere meanwhile, struggling to keep her emotions from spilling over aimed a meaningful arrow at the leader of the Saxons, but because she was so overcome with anger and hatred, she missed by a fraction, hitting another soldier instead as they began to retreat. She looked back to the clamor going around her best friend and Dagonet and ran to join them.
Bors was screaming at Dag trying to keep him alive, "Dagonet! Stay with me! Dagonet! Stay with me!"
Galahad, checking the knight's injuries told him gravely, "We need to get him back to the caravan quickly."
Nodding Bors began to hoist Dagonet up and make his way swiftly towards the path the caravan went with Gawain following him. Meanwhile the rest of the knights looked on to where Liliana lay. Lancelot had her head in his lap willing her to wake again, rubbing her arms and pressing kisses to her forehead. Arthur, looking very lost shouted at her to open her eyes. Tristan and Galahad stood back a ways staring in shock at their sister in arms. Guinevere went to Arthur and began rubbing his arms to warm him up.
"Please, please, please wake up. Stay with us Liliana," Lancelot whispered. "Come back to us." He began rubbing her body, trying to ignore her lips were turning an icy shade of blue. When she still refused to awake he looked to Arthur, who was shivering with the cold. When their eyes meet Lancelot knew what to do. Pressing his mouth to hers, and parting her lips he breathed his existence into her, hoping to whatever gods were listening that she would respond.
The gods must have heard his plea for her eyes shot open and she began coughing up water, gasping for air. Grinning broadly, Lancelot swept her into his arms, nearly crushing her.
"Don't ever leave me like that again. You've done it to me far too many times," he chided as he began stroking her face. Nodding in comprehension Liliana looked over Lancelot's shoulder to see her brother, drenched and shivering, simply staring at her with a small smile on his face, behind him Guinevere with tears in her eyes, her hands still trying to help warm Arthur.
When Tristan took notice that she was still fighting to hold onto consciousness he spoke, "We need to get her out of here now."
"Both of them," Guinevere corrected, nodding to both Liliana and Arthur. Helping the commander stand, Guinevere placed one of Arthur's arms around her shoulder while Galahad did the same with the other. Tristan, rode ahead to prepare the Roman's wife for the patients she was about to receive.
Lancelot scooped Liliana up in his arms and as she laid her head against his chest he spoke, "Keep awake. I don't want you leaving me again."
Liliana simply nodded too tired to protest. As her head began to drift downward Lancelot shook her awake, "No. None of that," and again she nodded. "I mean it. I could not bear to lose you over again."
Liliana kept trying to will herself to stay awake, but she was so tired. When her head drifted down the second time she was once again jolted awake, "Liliana I mean it! Please for my sake stay awake. I know you are mad for what I did when you were gone but-"he was cut off by a soft voice.
"No."
Puzzled, Lancelot questioned, "No?"
"No." she repeated. The little speaking she was doing was making her very tired. She took a deep breath and forced her eyes to remain open. "We both made mistakes."
Nodding in understanding Lancelot kept walking towards his horse. "I have something to tell you." Liliana simply stared up at him, willing him to continue. "Liliana, for a long time now, that is, ever since we were younger, well, I...guess I...you know..." he muttered off into oblivion.
Amused that her knight could not get the right words out gave him a small smile, "When your ready, Lancelot, when your ready."
Lancelot sighed and nodded, handing her off to Tristan as her mounted his horse. Once he was settled her placed her in front of his and galloped his horse back to the caravan.
Once he arrived he jumped down, putting Liliana in his arms and sprinted to where Fuliciana was standing, waiting for him.
"Inside," was all she said to him as he rushed past her, laying her on the bed of fur. He had noticed that she had begun to shiver almost violently. Looking to the other end of the wagon he saw Dagonet being tended to by Gawain and Fuliciana. Arthur sat in a corner being aided to by Guinevere, who had gotten him into dry clothes and was now feeding him a warm broth the keep illness away.
As soon as he set Liliana down Fuliciana rushed over to her and shooed him away so she could tend to her. Arthur motioned for him to come over, "Lancelot get these people moving. I do not want the entire Saxon army to be upon us," glancing up to Guinevere he continued, "I should be out to help you shortly."
Nodding Lancelot strode out and mounted onto his horse shouting orders for the caravan to begin moving. When they had been going at a steady pace for a while he slowed back to walk by the wagon containing his commander, his brother at arms, and Liliana. He was not sure what to call her. He was so close to admitting his feelings but became nervous. It scared him to be nervous around women especially this one. She had been his best friend and he now found himself unable to tell hew how he really felt.
After he had been riding alongside the wagon for a few moments Fuliciana stuck her head out, apparently looking for him.
"How do they fare?" he asked hopefully.
She looked up to him, sighing as she did, "Arthur is fine. He is simply dressing himself and will be out shortly." Lancelot nodded at that. There could never be anything wrong with Arthur. Arthur was Arthur, he could never die. Continuing Fuliciana went on, "Liliana, she has slipped into a deep sleep. I do not know how long she will remain there but she should awaken. With the help of Guinevere we were able to attain her to end her shuddering." Again Lancelot nodded.
He was almost afraid to ask about his fellow knight but courage and worry for him probed him on. "How is Dag?"
Fuliciana looked to the earth and shook her head. "Dagonet suffered great injuries and..."
Sorry guys couldn't help it! You'll find out whether or not Dag lives or dies...I've decided and have half of the next chapter written so you'll have to wait to find out! i dont feel 100 about this chapter which annoys me...oh well tell me how you think it went!
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