Chapter 22–Dead men don't return
Okay chapter 22, I think there are about 9 chapter left of this season and then I will start focusing on the Charmed story again and possibly the season 2 of the story of Albion, that is if people want me to write another one? So poll is still up so vote people vote cause I will be taking it down when I finish the chapter after this and starting a new one. Not sure what yet through. Anyway I don't own Merlin, but Laudine, Kay and Elizabeth and all my characters. Enjoy…
Sir Pellinor was fairing a lot better than Sir Owain in the fight against Tristan de Bois. The crowd were massively behind him, cheering loudly as they went. I couldn't help thinking that maybe Gaius and I were wrong, maybe this knight was as human as everyone else was. That idea came crumbling down when Sir Pellinor managed to run the black knight through, yet he still didn't fall, "The sword went in, I'm sure of it," I heard Gwen mutter next to me.
"I saw too," I agreed as we continued to watch the fight. After that however the battle was quickly won by Tristan. As Tristan turned back towards us a gauntlet went flying through the air.
I held my breath praying it wasn't who I thought it was who had just thrown that. My hopes were dashed when Arthur spoke, "I, Arthur Pendragon, challenge you."
"So be it," Tristan replied in a dead voice.
"Single combat. Noon. Tomorrow," Arthur spoke the rules before Tristan turned and walked back to his spot outside the castle were he seemed to constantly stand when not fighting.
I walked into the council chambers just as Uther and Arthur were in the middle of an argument, "I forbid you to fight," Uther snapped.
"You want me to prove that I'm worthy of the throne. I cannot do that by being a coward," Arthur shot back.
"No, Arthur, this will be your death!" Uther snarled.
Arthur looked away from Uther and at me, "I'm sorry you have so little faith in me, Father," he said softly before leaving the room.
"Arthur!" Uther yelled after him.
"I will try," I promised bowing quickly before running after Arthur and pulling him into one of the alcoves, "When I asked you to make that promise I wasn't doing it for my sake it was for yours!"
"I will fight him, you can't stop me," Arthur said back like a child.
Elizabeth shakes her head, "No I can't, but did you see him fight today Arthur. The sword went right through him and yet he didn't die, how the hell does that even happen?"
"I didn't see…" Arthur began.
I interrupted him, "Don't lie to me, you were sitting right next to me! Arthur I didn't come back to Camelot just to watch you die, please. I beg you, don't do this."
Arthur reached forward and gently touched my face, "I have to, to back down now would make me a coward and I can't be the crowned prince if I am that."
I knew there was no point in arguing with him anymore. If there was one thing I had learnt about Arthur was he was suborn till the end. I leant up and kissed him, trying to pour in all my emotions, "I will find a way to help you, I promise," I vowed before taking off to Gaius' chambers. I entered to see Merlin and Gaius standing there, "If Arthur fights that thing, he'll die," I spoke upon entering both Gaius and Merlin turned to me.
"He is Camelot's strongest warrior. If anyone can defeat it, he can," Gaius defended.
Merlin seemed to be agreeing with me, "You said yourself, no mortal weapon can kill it. Which means we have to find a way to defeat the wraith ourselves."
"How do you propose to do that?" Gaius questioned.
"If no mortal sword will kill it... then I will," Merlin said running into his chamber to fetch the magic book, "With mortal magic."
"Merlin, it's too dangerous," I argued.
"We don't have a choice," Merlin shot back.
I reluctantly nodded my head, "I'd love to argue but you're right. I will go to the library and look up other ways just in case," I said walking out the door and down to the hall of records. I quickly whispered a spell to open the locked door before beginning to search through the old tomes.
"My lady, how did you get in here?" Geoffrey said coming around the corner.
"The door was open," I said shrugging.
Geoffrey shook his head, "No, I locked it."
"Well, someone else must've opened it, then," I snapped back getting in a bad mood.
He nodded accepting my answer, "What is it you require My lady?"
"I was looking for a book, for Gaius. He thinks the Black Knight is a wraith," I explained flicking through the pages of one of the texts.
"Then Arthur is in grave peril," he replied simple.
I bit my tongue to stop me yelling at him and took in a calming breath, "Which is why I'm here. I need to find a weapon that will kill something that's already dead."
"Well, I've read of such things in the ancient chronicles," he replied.
"Really? What did they say?" I questioned suddenly getting interested.
"Well, several fables speak of ancient swords," Geoffrey said.
"That can kill the dead?" I questioned.
"The swords the fables speak of could destroy anything, alive or dead," he explained.
"Can you show me one of these fables?" I asked.
Geoffrey thought for a moment, "Well, let me think. Yes. Mmmm..." he said turning behind him to search the shelves, I couldn't help but tap my foot impatiently, "This is the Chronicle of Beltain. Now then... Ah, here we are. "Sir Marhaus looked upon the great sword, begotten in the dragon's breath and found it passing good.""
"What did you say?" I checked making sure I heard right.
""Sir Marhaus..."" Geoffrey began to quote again.
"No. No, no. No, no. Not about him. The dragon," I interrupted.
""The great sword begotten in the dragon's breath..." Geoffrey quotes the section I needed.
I didn't wait for him to say anymore taking off towards the place I knew Merlin would probably be, Arthur's chambers, "Thank you," I called out as I went.
I burst into the room, "I'm trying to warn you, Arthur," Merlin snapped.
"And I'm trying to warn YOU, Merlin!" Arthur yelled swinging his sword near Merlin's head.
I shot into the room and stood in between Merlin and the sword, "That is enough! You know maybe for once in your life you should listen to people rather than threaten them!" I snarled at Arthur as he lowered his sword, "I need to borrow Merlin and I think you should go to sleep Arthur. Tomorrow you have to defeat an extraordinary knight, who it seems, just won't die!" I grabbed Merlin's arm and pulled him out of Arthur's chambers, "I know what we need, but first who makes the best swords?"
"Gwen's father," Merlin answered immediately.
"Then we need to see Gwen. We need the best sword her father has ever made," I said walking quickly down to Morgana's door and knocking before pushing Merlin forward.
Gwen answered almost immediately, "Merlin, My lady. What are you doing here?"
"We've come to ask a favour," Merlin began.
"Yes?" Gwen encouraged.
"I'm not sure how to ask it," Merlin said moving his feet awkwardly.
"Ask, Merlin. You know I'd grant you anything. I mean, not anything. Obviously, not anything. What is it you want?" Gwen rambled.
"We need a sword. The strongest sword your father's ever made," I spoke up knowing we were running out of time.
"What for?" Gwen questioned looking confused.
"To save Arthur," I said simply.
Gwen looked between Merlin and I before nodding her head, "We can get one now," she said.
We walked back to Gwen's house in silence before sneaking in. Gwen pulled out a sword from under her father's bed, "My father's been saving this. He's always said it was the best sword he's ever made."
I balanced it in my hand checking it weight, "It's perfect," I said in awe.
"He'll kill me if he finds I've taken it," Gwen whispered quietly.
"He'll understand. You did it for Arthur," Merlin smiled at her.
"I knew you were proud of him really," Gwen said smiling back.
"We have to go Gwen. Thank you so much," I said softly to her before we ran out of Gwen's house and back towards the castle.
"Now where?" Merlin questioned.
"We need to go and see the dragon," I said simply.
It didn't take long to get down into the dungeons, by now we seemed to have perfected it. Kilgharrah was waiting for us when we entered the cave, "Merlin, Elizabeth!"
"Do you know why we're here?" Merlin questioned getting down to business.
"It may surprise you, Merlin, but my knowledge of your life is not universal," The Dragon said back, you could hear the smile in his voice.
"It's to do with Arthur. His life's in danger. He will die, unless I can make a weapon that will kill the dead," I spoke up.
"So what do you come to ask of me?" The Dragon questioned.
I floated the sword out in front of Kilgharrah, "Will you burnish it, to save Arthur?"
"The dead do not return without reason. Who has he come for?" The dragon asked.
"Uther," Merlin replied honestly.
"Then let him take his vengeance and the wraith will die without my aid," Kilgharrah replied coldly.
"But it's Arthur who's going to fight him. We will not let him die for his fathers' sins," I argued back.
"A weapon forged with my assistance will have great power," The Dragon said seriously.
"I know," Merlin replied quickly.
"You do not know. You can only guess. You have not seen what I have seen. If you had, perhaps you would not ask this of me," Kilgharrah said calmly.
"What do you mean?" Merlin inquired.
"In the wrong hands, this sword could do great evil. It must be wielded by Arthur and him alone," Kilgharrah ordered.
"I understand," Merlin said.
Kilgharrah voice raised, "You must do more than understand. You must promise."
"We promise, now please Kilgharrah," I begged. Kilgharrah seemed to accept what I said. We stepped backwards as Kilgharrah breathed fire onto the blade. The sword seemed to glisten in the light.
"Heed my words. The sword was forged for Arthur, and him alone," Kilgharrah said before moving the sword back towards us. I grabbed the handle and exited out into the corridor.
I handed Merlin the sword, "Tomorrow you give this to Arthur, say it was a present from me if you have to, but get him to take it," Merlin nodded, "Now get some sleep Merlin. I sense we'll need it."
I stood impatiently at the side of the arena waiting for Merlin and Arthur to arrive. It didn't take long before Merlin sprinted over to me completely out of breath, "Uther…taken Arthur's place… has sword."
It was then I saw Uther enter the arena, the crowd murmured in surprise, "You can have what you came for. The father, not the son," Uther said as he stood in the center of the arena facing Tristan.
"As long as he wins, I no longer care," I whispered to Merlin as one of the guards removed Uther's cape. There was a signal then the fighting began. Both of them seemed very evenly matched. I winced a few times when the blows came far too close to Uther's head. Uther knocked off Tristan's helmet revealing a mummified face staring back at him, I gasped even though I was expecting it. Tristan then seemed to go back with more power. Uther lost his sword and Tristan had him on the ground, but his sword got stuck into Uther's shield. The time it took for him to pull it out gave Uther the advantage. Uther grabbed the dragon sword and ran it through Tristan. There was smoke and Uther staggered backwards. We all watched as the fire seemed to spread from the inside of the wraith to the outside, ending it an explosion.
There was silence in the stadium as everyone tried to work out what was going on, before Uther got up slow and removed his helmet. It was then the crowd began to cheer and Uther tossed the sword to the ground. I turned to Merlin, "Grab the sword."
"Where are you going?" He questioned.
"Arthur," I replied simply before taking off into the castle and to Arthur's room, it was locked so I whispered a spell, causing the door to open just as Arthur seemed to be waking up.
He took in the sight of me smiling brightly at him, "What has happened?"
"You slept through the fight, Uther took your place. He won, the knight is dead," I explained just as Uther entered the room.
"You had Gaius drug me! I was meant to fight him!" Arthur yelled at Uther.
"No, you weren't," Uther replied simply and calmly.
"But the Knight's Code is very clea..." Arthur began.
"Be damned! I believed you would die. And that was a risk I could not take. You are too precious to me. You mean more to me than anything I know, more than this entire kingdom, and certainly more than my own life," Uther argued.
"I... always thought that..." Arthur said in confusion.
"What?" Uther questioned.
"That...I was a big disappointment to you," Arthur finished.
Uther looked shocked for the moment, "Well, that is my fault, and not yours. You are my only son. And I wouldn't wish for another."
"I heard you fought pretty well," Arthur said changing the subject.
"Thanks," Uther replied.
"You should join us for training. Sort out your footwork," Arthur smirked.
Uther let out a laugh, "I'll show you footwork," He said before playfully knocking into Arthur.
I just shook my head at them, "Well as long as you're both okay I will excuse myself," I said walking towards the door.
"Elizabeth," Arthur called just as I was about to leave the room. I turned back around, "I'm sorry for all I said."
"It's okay," I smiled at him, "Everything turned out well in the end and that's all that matters," I saw Merlin standing outside, "We need to see the dragon."
Merlin nodded and we made our way down to the caves, "So, does Arthur live?" The Dragon questioned.
"Yes, the sword worked. It was incredible, amazing," Merlin said.
"As I promised," Kilgharrah said.
"But..." Merlin began.
"Yes?" Kilgharrah questioned.
"Things didn't quite go according to plan. I mean they did, except... It wasn't Arthur who wielded the sword. It was Uther," I explained softly.
"No!" The dragon roared out in anger.
"I tried, but he just took it!" Merlin tried to explain, "Uther's the King. I couldn't stop him!"
"The sword was born of the old magic. You have no idea of its power. In the hands of Uther, it will bring only evil," Kilgharrah shouted.
"We'll get it back," I promised.
"You have betrayed me. You are not ready to be trusted," Kilgharrah growled.
"No!" I yelled back at him, "We protect Arthur, not you or the old religion, Arthur! And as long as Arthur is still alive, then we have done our duty. We'll take the sword and put it somewhere were no mortal can find it. Until the time is right."
The dragon glared at me but didn't say a word. Merlin and I walked out quickly, "Where are we putting it?" Merlin questioned me.
"The lake of Avalon," I explained
It didn't take long for us to reach the lake. Merlin and I stood at the side looking over it, "Are you sure we should do this?" Merlin questioned.
"Yes," I said softly, "When Arthur is king we shall bring it back, but now it's too dangerous."
Merlin nodded before pulling the sword out of the fabric he hide it in and threw it into the lake. We watched as it created ripples on the water surface before disappearing into the darkness below.
Okay, not a lot of Elizabeth-Arthur moments in this one but the next one will be full of them and a moody Arthur so all is good. I hope you liked the chapter, please review and let me know what you think.
Until next time
Artistic-Blue-Eyes
Xxx