AN: Another Saturday evening means another chapter for you. It's not really a long one but moves the plot along. You'll get a few double chapters in the future, but this is it for now. A special thanks goes out to Aldryne21. Thanks for your lovely words:
Chapter 5 – The Beast and the Sorcerer
For a moment Arthur's breath was caught in his throat when the beast towered over him. It was nowhere near as big as The Great Dragon that somehow had escaped from under Camelot months ago, but its size was impressive nonetheless.
Its body was covered with greenish scales that sparkled in the sunlight, it had two enormous, beige coloured, silver-tipped leathery wings and a long tail. Its deep green eyes glowed devilishly at Arthur. But what made the prince tremble was the tremendous jaw with apparently hundreds of small, needle-sharp teeth sitting in it. One bite would mean certain death, and of course, as luck had it, swords would be useless against this monster. Why had he even thought that this could be easy? Why would it be? This was Camelot after all, everything just had to be difficult.
But the prince had a phrase that he kept repeating in his mind that helped him in situations like this. It went something like 'show no fear, we'll get through this as always, everything will be all right, just show no fear'. It did a great deal to soothe his nerves and to preserve his sanity.
When Arthur had arrived to the lower town just minutes ago with a handful of knights, the streets had been full of people running in all directions screaming, but now it appeared strangely quiet and deserted. Only the growling of the creature could be heard and the prince's commands.
While he prepared to strike he spotted a man standing not far from them. He had been so concentrated on the beast that he hadn't even noticed him until now. He had a long grey cape with a hood over his head, his mouth was moving and his eyes were glowing with a suspicious gold colour.
How could he forget about the man? Sir Leon had told him about the sorcerer, the one that surely controlled the creature. He was probably the answer to Arthur's prayers.
He signalled to Sir Vidor and Sir Caridoc to catch the sorcerer while he would battle with the beast alongside his remaining knights.
The dragon stilled for a moment, then to everyone's surprise it just flew away.
The prince took a deep breath and looked around to make sure that all his knights were unharmed and then he decided to concentrate on the sorcerer. If he really was the puppeteer, his father would be proud if he caught him.
When the man realized that all eyes were on him, he started to run.
"Catch him! He mustn't get away!" Shouted Arthur without missing a beat.
The knights chased the sorcerer from alley to alley when finally they closed in on him at a dead end. Luckily for them the man seemed to be a stranger in Camelot and didn't know his way around too well.
He turned around as Sir Vidor and Sir Caridoc inched closer.
"You're making a mistake, Arthur Pendragon." The man declared calmly.
"Seize him!" Arthur gasped holding his side.
Sir Leon stepped next to the man restrained by the two knights and removed his hood. The man was in his forties, but his hair was already turning silver, on the right side of his neck an ugly, blackened wound gaped at the world, slightly crawling up on the line of his jaw. Even the bravest knights withdrew in disgust by the sight of it.
The events of the past few minutes caught up with the prince. He was out of breath and suddenly he felt tired.
The sun was setting low on the horizon when they finally got to the cells. Arthur decided that questioning the prisoner should wait. When he reported the capture of the sorcerer to his father he was satisfied to see pride glistening in his eyes. He did not speak of the dragon. It had vanished, so what would have been the use? If it appeared again, they would deal with it then, but not before. For now, he was content with the thought that with the 'puppeteer' out of the way, the beast was gone for good.
He went back to his room and almost shouted for Merlin when he realized that his manservant was probably still tending to the sick in the physician's quarters, just like Gwen.
Arthur thought about going there to see if he could help with something. Even two of his newest knights were there who had gotten sick earlier, and his presence would have been welcome, but he couldn't bring himself to think about anything else but to lie down for a minute.
When he finally collapsed on his bed, an unfamiliar weakness washed over him and within moments he fell asleep still fully dressed in his armour.
The beast opened its awesome jaw just seconds before Arthur was prepared to strike it down. Clouds hid the moon in the midnight sky, leaving the streets devoid of light. The beast growled triumphantly. Even nature was in its favour, for its green eyes glowed and Arthur was sure it could see perfectly in the dark while he was trying to find his way about blindly. The next moment he screamed out loud when sharp teeth pierced the skin of his upper arm and blood splashed on his face. His own blood.
He woke up from his nightmare panting, covered in sweat. He could still feel the unbearable pain in his right arm , where the beast's bite had made contact. He clenched his teeth as to not cry out loud and grabbed at the non-existent wound. When he did, a pain even greater washed over him and he nearly passed out. He felt it, and it was right there where the creature marked him in his dream. His eyes snapped open so he could look at it. He winced as removed his chainmail carefully.
In a circle almost as big as his palm the skin was missing. Black rotting flesh took its place, but Arthur had no time to dwell on the meaning of it because unconsciousness came to claim him once again.
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