Jump Chain Gothic 5 - Merlin
Part 18
Camelot. Albion.
In the burial vaults that were deep underneath the citadel, a shadowy figure made her way between the tombs, she was looking for the final resting place of a specific knight. Not just any knight would do, she needed one whose spirit hated Uther as much as she did.
Nimueh could kill the king directly, but she didn't simply want him dead, she wanted to destroy him, to ruin him. To make Uther watch as everything he cared about was destroyed. Which was what she had been forced to go through during the Great Purge.
Eventually, she found the tomb she was looking for. This knight had been family to the king during his life and when Uther struck him down. Now the knight would champion her in death, and finally get the revenge he'd longed for so much while still breathing.
Nimueh needed a moment to prepare herself. Raising the dead was no easy task, even for someone with her sheer amount of power and wealth of knowledge.
"Gehíere mé'wan cniht áwæce. Beo strangra ond steacra for brecþ wáne. Úprærest wærc, Uther Pendragon!"
The tomb cracked open, and a hand that was clothed in a heavy looking black gauntlet reached upwards. Nimueh smiled in glee; soon they would both have their revenge.
Sir Tristan de Bois would fight once again.
(Line Break)
Camelot. Albion.
I looked over and smiled as I saw Morgana who stood with Uther and a small group of knights while they waited for the ceremony to begin. Today was the day that Arthur would be proclaimed crown-prince, and therefore one step closer to the throne that was rightfully his.
Looking around some more I noticed that the newest knight, Sir Owain, had caught Maeve's eye. She approached him and smiled flirtatiously.
"So, Sir Owain, I hear you actually landed a blow when you fought Prince Arthur during your final test," my cousin commented.
Owain smiled, clearly pleased to be getting attention from a noble lady, even if she was from a minor family.
"That's correct, my lady" he said.
This made me frown as I was now realising that the first man who might be a promising prospect for marriage to my cousin was going to die tomorrow. Which would upset my cousin quite a bit, hopefully I would have to deal with that.
"I'm sure the kingdom will be that much safer, now that you've joined the knights of Camelot," Maeve said.
She was giving the young man all the signals as far I could tell, the smiles, the batting of the eyelids, the whole playing with the hair thing. Apparently some aspects of flirting remained the same regardless of what century you were in.
"Have no fear," Owain assured "I would never allow any harm to come to you".
"I'm sure" my cousin replied,
Anything further that Maeve might have said was cut off when the doors opened to admit Arthur, who was wearing chain mail, a red cape and his crown. Which made look a little silly in my view, but the court seemed to see things differently.
Maeve returned to her place by my side while Arthur walked down the hall and knelt before his father. A few moments later Uther held out a scepter and the ceremony began.
"Do you solemnly swear to govern the people of this kingdom according to the statutes, customs and laws laid down by your forebears?" Uther asked.
The king was speaking very formally right now, as she should be as this was very serious.
"I do, Sire," Arthur answered.
"Do you promise to exercise mercy and justice in your deeds and judgements?" Uther continued.
"I do, Sire" his son said.
Uther held out the sceptre, so that it was now level with Arthur's shoulder.
"And do you swear allegiance to Camelot, now and for as long as you shall live?" was the final question.
Prince Arthur reached up and took the sceptre, grasping it firmly.
"I, Arthur Pendragon, do pledge myself the protection of this kingdom and its peoples" the prince promised.
Uther smiled proudly.
"Now, being of age and heir apparent, from henceforth you shall be Crown Prince of Camelot" Uther declared just before leading the court in a round of applause.
Arthur rose to his feet and looked around at the court, and I could see that he was smiling. There was a lot of clapping and cheering.
Suddenly, an armoured rider on a black horse crashed through the stained-glass window at the far end of the hall. The rider's black armour bore the scuffs and scratches of countless battles, and his face was concealed by an imposing great helm. He carried a black shield, which had a white falcon painted on it.
That was a crest that did not belong to any current knight known here in Camelot, but I knew who it belonged to and what this dramatic entrance meant.
Arthur and many of the knights drew their swords. A few of the servants fled, as did some of the courtiers, but most just backed away so that the knights and guards could do their jobs. I was even holding Caliburn just in case this undead creature went on a rampage rather than issue a challenge.
The black knight advanced down the centre of the room, and halted in front of the king as he rode I noted that his horse seemed normally enough, which in itself was odd because it had just come crashing through a window, and aside from that horses tended to be able to sense the unnatural and shied away from it.
Before anyone spoke or took any action the black knight made a move, he threw down his gauntlet, which was how a knight issued a challenge.
For a few moments, there was total silence. Then Arthur sheathed his sword. He bent down to pick up the gauntlet, but Owain beat him to it, as I knew he would.
"I, Sir Owain, accept your challenge" he said.
The knight's head turned to Owain so that the wraith could make eye contact with the young man. Not that he had eye if my memory served.
"Single combat. Noon tomorrow. To the death" said the undead thing.
With that he turned his horse and rode away.
(Line Break)
Camelot. Albion.
After the ceremony, Arthur and Merlin went to the prince's chambers, and they were soon joined by Morgana.
"He shouldn't have picked up the gauntlet!" Arthur was soon saying.
Merlin was worried, but also confused, as were many others about what was going on. This stranger had come from nowhere it seemed, yet he clearly had a grudge against the rulers of this kingdom and the knights who served them. Arthur just seemed to be angry about the whole thing while Morgana was mostly concerned.
"So put an end to it," Morgana urged.
Arthur sighed, he felt so helpless.
"The challenge has been taken up, the fight cannot be stopped" he said.
"Then fight in his place," Morgana suggested.
If only it were that simple the prince thought.
"I can't," Arthur said.
"Why not?!" Morgana demanded to know.
"Owain picked up the gauntlet" the prince said "Owain is the one who must fight, that's the Knight's Code".
To Morgana that didn't matter, but she wasn't a knight. Arthur understood that while he could order Owain not to fight, if he did so then he would lose a promising young knight just as surely as if he died, as Owain would be thought of as a coward. His honour would be destroyed and he'd lose all faith himself. His life as a knight would be over, and that might be worse than death.
"He knew that," Arthur added quietly.
With that the prince turned his back on the king's ward, telling her that this conversation had come to an end.
"But it's a fight to the death!" Morgana said, very worriedly.
Arthur did not look back.
"I know" was all he could say.
Morgana fumed as she left the room. Clearly I'd disappointed her.
(Line Break)
Camelot. Albion.
Morgana turned to Gwen, who had been watching her mistress pace the room in silence. Ever since she'd returned to her room all her ladyship had done was fret and pace the room.
"Doesn't he care at all?" the king's ward
The serving girl wasn't sure if she was being addressed, but she answered the question anyway.
"Of course he cares, my lady, but he is bound by the law," Gwen said sadly. "As are we all".
Morgana stood still for a moment, looking troubled. Then she walked over to her vanity, opened a small box and pulled out a red ribbon. "Give this to Owain in the morning. Let's hope there's some truth to that superstition about having a lady's favour. For now I want to be alone".
Her ladyship waited until her maidservant had left before picking up a cloak, and heading out of her room. She hadn't given up yet. There was one more person she could talk to about all this madness.
(Line Break)
Camelot. Albion.
Not long after I'd returned to my room I found myself employing one of the lessons that Nimueh had taught me somewhat recently. Only this time I wasn't trying to connect to nature, and hear its rhythms, rather I was trying to sense what was going in and around the castle.
I was doing this because I wanted to try to sense the Wraith that was currently standing not that far from below my window. I had a perk to help with this sort of thing, but I didn't seem to be sensitive enough to mystical things to feel the Wraith. Perhaps I simply needed to develop my powers further.
All I could feel at first was my own worries and concerns, and then something did register, and I turned to see that Nimueh was here. But she hadn't come in through the door, I'd have heard the door open and close, which meant that she could have been hiding in her waiting for me, but that would have made Cameron react as a bodyguard should in such a situation.
Oddly my Terminator didn't react at all, it was as if she couldn't see Nimueh, who was currently standing right in front of me. Then when Cameron walked right through Nimueh I understood what was happening here.
"Some sort of astral projection?" I asked "Either that or I'm going crazy".
My teacher just smiled in response to that.
"What do you want?" I asked.
She wouldn't have gone to all this trouble just to show off her powers.
"Just to tell you to stay out of my way" Nimueh said "Remember that you owe me and all I ask from you is to stand aside and let my champion do its work".
I would have spoken more, but my Terminator interrupted me.
"Who are you talking to?" Cameron asked me.
I shushed her.
"You mean stay out of the Wraith's way" I said to Nimueh.
She smiled again.
"You won't be able to stop him" she told me "He'll kill you if try".
Nimueh didn't know that I owned a sword that had been imbued with the power of dragon flame, and that sword could destroy the Wraith.
Perhaps we would have spoke more on the matter, but this was when someone knocked on my door and Nimueh vanished while Cameron went to find out who was knocking. She'd opened the door, and Morgana entered my chambers.
Normally I would be pleased if she made such a late night visit to my room, but I figured that this about Sir Owain's death, which was now only hours away. I could do something about the undead creature, however if I did then Merlin wouldn't make Excalibur, and Arthur was going to need that weapon in the future. So Owain had to die, and I had to allow it.
If I did something to save the young knight then Merlin might never make the sword, and that could be really bad for the future.
"You need to do something" Morgana began to say.
I should have expected this.
"No I don't" I told her "And I won't do anything".
She seemed shocked to her that.
"But it's a fight to the death!" she protested.
I nodded.
"The only way to stop Owain from fighting would be lock him up in the dungeons, or to hurt him so badly that he couldn't fight" I explained to Morgana "and even if you did that then someone else would take his place, there's nothing to be done".
She didn't take that well, and stormed out of the room. Leaving me to rub my very suddenly tired eyes.
(Line Break)
Camelot. Albion.
The next morning, Owain came to Arthur's chambers in order to prepare for the duel. Merlin helped the young knight with his armour.
"You've never fought in mortal combat before," Arthur warned. "It's different. It's not like the training I've been giving you".
"Yeah, I know," Owain replied
He was too confident, and that worried the prince. Owain simply didn't understand how serious this was. In any effort to get his point across Arthur grabbed Owain by the shoulders and turned him around.
"Listen to me!" the prince commanded "The problem is that we've never seen him fight. You have to quickly get the measure of him".
The young knight just didn't understand how much danger he was in.
"But I have the same advantage," Owain pointed out. "He's never seen me fight".
"True," Arthur conceded, albeit reluctantly.
"You've watched me," Owain said.
Arthur nodded.
"And?" asked the knight.
Arthur hesitated only for a moment before clapping Owain on the shoulder.
"And I know no one braver" said the prince "Remember, all it takes to kill a man is one well-aimed blow".
There was a knocking and the door opened Gwen walked in, she was carrying the red ribbon that she'd been given just last night.
"The Lady Morgana asked me to give you this token" she said to Sir Owain "She wishes you to wear it for luck".
Owain took the ribbon.
"You can thank her for me, and tell her I shall wear it with pride. But I won't need luck" he said,
Overconfidence could get a man killed. Gwen knew this as well as Arthur did, and so she worried as much as he did.
(Line Break)
Camelot. Albion.
I heard drums as Arthur led Owain into the arena. The boy was still alive, but it was as if his funeral had already started, and the sober mood fitted such an occasion. Normally duels between two knights were a chance for entertainment around here, this time things were different.
The black knight was already there, standing in the arena as stiff as a statue. Meanwhile Merlin and Gaius stood by the arena entrance, on hand to treat the wounds of the victor, the loser would be beyond their aid. But perhaps not beyond mine.
"Now remember," I heard Arthur said quietly to Owain, my enhanced senses picking up the talking "Find the flow of the fight, and try to control it".
When they arrived in the center of the arena, Owain faced the black knight.
"The fight shall be to the knights' rules, and to the death" Arthur announced.
After saying that he walked away to join his father in the royal box, were the king and Morgana were sitting. Her ladyship refused to look at me, she was upset that I'd done nothing to aid the young knight.
I turned to see Owain remove his cape and don his helmet. I could see that Morgana's token was tied on the right sleeve of his chainmail. When I was younger I might have been jealous, but now I just didn't care about such small things.
"Let battle commence!" Arthur called out.
The black knight immediately began swinging relentlessly at Owain, who held up his shield to block the attacks. Owain managed a few swings of his own, but for the most part he remained completely on the defensive. Which was not good as he was reacting rather than acting.
Owain continued to parry the black knight's blows, still unable to launch a proper attack of his own. Eventually, the black knight kicked Owain in the chest, and Owain fell down. He just barely managed to dodge the black knight's next strike, and staggered back up to his feet.
"One well-aimed blow!" I heard Arthur yell
Owain was brought to his knees by a powerful move made by the black knight. Owain held up his shield to fend off another blow, and stabbed the black knight in the stomach. Owain quickly withdrew his sword and stood back up, thinking that he had won.
The black knight did not even flinch, and there was some confusion in the crowd, a few of them had seen Owain stab the black knight and now expected the fight to be over. Yet the black knight had already resumed his offensive, and was knocking Owain to the ground once again.
Then the fight did come to an end, the creature that I knew to be a wraith, lifted his sword, and brought it straight down into Owain's heart. The crowd gasped, and I heard a few women scream.
Soon the black knight walked over to the royal box, and threw down his gauntlet again.
"Who will take up my challenge?" it asked.
Arthur immediately rose to his feet, intending to avenge Owain, but Uther grabbed his shoulder and forced him back down. Another knight picked up the gauntlet and pretty much ended his own life.
"I, Sir Pellinor, take up the challenge."
"So be it," the black knight said.
With that the black knight walked out of the arena, clearly unhindered by any injury.
(Line Break)
Camelot. Albion.
Arthur followed his father into the council chambers.
"Why did you stop me?!" Arthur yelled
He was furious, that was clear to see, and his tone of voice was loud to say the least. Yet those few within earshot made an effort not to hear what was being spoken about.
"We have to give our knights the chance to prove themselves," Uther replied.
He was avoiding looking at his son. The king felt guilty about this, but he'd sacrifice as many knights as required in order to protect his son.
"Have you seen how this stranger fights?" Arthur objected.
"And Sir Pellinor is more than a match for him!" Uther countered.
The prince did not agree.
"He's not recovered from the wounds he suffered at Othanden!" Arthur pointed out.
Uther finally stopped moving and turned to look at Arthur.
"I can't help that" the king said.
"So you send him to his death?" Arthur asked.
"It was his choice to pick up the gauntlet!" Uther reminded his son. "I am not to blame".
With that he walked out through the other end of the council chambers. Arthur watched him go, silently fuming in poorly lit room.
(Line Break)
The Fortress of Ismere. Albion.
I smiled as I looked at the body before me. It could be called a corpse, but since it had never been the body of a living person I wasn't sure that corpse was the right word for it. Still it was just a body, and nothing else, there was no life in it.
The technology behind my latest creation came from the Stargate verse. This body was not that unlike the forms of the Kull Warriors, I could have even brought it to some sort of life with the Ancient Healing device, but what I'd have then was sort of undead zombie thing as the tech was too powerful to use on humans, dead or alive.
As to why I had a sort of dead body lying on a slab in my lab, well that was because it happened to be a clone of Sir Owain. It was identical to the now dead man. I just needed the body of the original guy, so that I could recreate the wound.
That part should be taken care of soon as one of probes would soon have found Sir Owain's body and then it would beamed here. Then I could copy the wound and send the clone back to the tombs below the castle while the real Sir Owain was brought back to life in a Goa'uld Sarcophagus.
With a flash of light the mortal remains of Sir Owain appeared before me, and I quickly got to work.
"Cameron I need you replicate an exact copy of what he's wearing" I ordered.
I could have undressed Owain, but there was no need for that, and little time to waste. I had Cortana beam the body into the Sarcophagus as soon as I copied the wound. When Cameron came back into the room I had her dress the dead clone, and sent it back.
Someone with experience with modern medicine would upon performing an autopsy notice something up with body, such as the totally empty digestive tract, and the fact that the teeth were a bit too perfect, which someone like Gaius would notice. However I didn't worry about that as even if Gaius did notice that something was wrong, there was nothing connecting me to either bodies, nothing that the locals could understand.
It would have been simpler to just take Sir Owain and bring him back with the Sarcophagus, before returning him to Camelot. But given Uther's hatred for magic he wouldn't simply accept Sir Owain's return as some miracle, he'd either have Owain burned at the stake or go a witch hunt looking for some who could be behind Owain's return to life.
So last night I'd come up with a long term plan to save Owain, mostly for Morgana's sake, now that his body had been replaced I would bring him back to life in the Sarcophagus, which should take a few hours, and then I'd stick him into stasis until after Uther died.
King Arthur would be more accepting of Sir Owain's amazing return that his father could ever be, and Owain wouldn't remember my involvement in his rebirth, or how he returned to life, so he should be able to get on with this life in a just a few years.
Assuming of course that the Sarcophagus did its work. To find that out I'd just have to wait and see, and if it didn't work then at least I tried. I knew that the rules which governed this reality, concerning life and death were strict, but that was when you messed with the balance using magic. Technology didn't work like magic, so it should be okay.
For now I had something else to busy myself with. Because of the wraith my persona as the black knight wasn't really going to work out in the long run, not that I'd ever meant to it, and now I would need to reinvent myself for the round the world trip.
I couldn't travel as a knight of Camelot as I might need to visit some places here in Albion while spending time with Morgana, and I didn't want any word of my activities to get back to Uther. Given how quickly I could move around he wasn't much of a threat, but the king did command armies and could hire assassins, so there was no sense taking risks. Plus it could complicated our return in the future.
Moving into the armoury, which was full of medieval weapons and armour, that were made from materials vastly superior to the simple steel of this time. I could easily put something new together, now I just needed to pick a colour and go with it. Thankfully I had a lot to choose from I could easily replicate what I needed.