Batman & King Arthur:
Paladin of Gotham
by Matthew Snee
Chapter Three:
Finally, Affelette and Korone retired to their tents and the rest of the men went to sleep, save for a few sentries. The Batman found a place to lay down away from the warriors and settled onto his back to look up at the starless sky. He was tired; but he knew sleep was dangerous. He was a light sleeper even at the safest of times, but he wondered if he could get away with any sleep in a situation such as this. Using a technique he learned as a young man in Korea, he dosed slightly, but always with part of his senses guarding him in the real world.
After a few hours of this, he noticed quiet, measured footsteps coming towards him. But as this interloper came close, the Batman sprung awake and knocked him off his feet, casting the man onto the ground where Batman climbed atop him and grasped his throat.
"What is your business?" the Batman whispered forcefully, not wanting to wake anyone else.
"If you want to live, you'll come with me," the man croaked. He was red-headed, with a long, twirling mustache.
"Why?" asked the Batman.
"Merlin," breathed the red-headed man.
Batman nodded and loosed his grip on the interloper. He climbed off him and let the man up, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. It seemed as no one did.
They looked each other in the eye. Then, the man turned, and Batman followed. They crept silently through the camp. The Batman wondered if this was a trap. If so - he decided he had no choice. If this was an exit, he had to gamble with it.
The bypassed the sentries and made their way up the beach, where the red-headed man had two horses waiting. They mounted the horses and rode off, just as an alarm went off in the camp.
"Do you think they'll follow?" joked the red-haired man.
"I think they will," said Batman.
"They'll suspect murderous treachery," replied his companion.
"Then we better hurry."
They rode.
"Who are you?" Batman asked.
"I am Durant," said the red-haired man. "Servant of Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable. I've been waiting for you."
"Do you know who I am?" asked the Batman.
"Of course! You are the Paladin of Gotham!"
"Paladin of Gotham?" Batman repeated.
"Yes! You've come from the kingdom beyond the Western sea, to help us!"
Farfetched, yes, but was it as farfetched as a time traveler?
"Yes," acknowledged Batman. "That is where I have come from."
"I'm afraid Merlin has disappeared though," said Durant. "Apparently, he was betrayed by his lover, Nimue."
"I have heard the same," said Batman, regrettably. "Unfortunately, he is my only chance to get back to my own land."
"Well, perhaps you will be killed and won't have to worry about that!" joked Durant. He looked back behind them. "They're following. Perhaps you will be killed sooner than later."
"Where are we going?" asked Batman.
"I know of caves further up the shore. I know them well. If we can reach them, we are saved."
"Sounds like a dead end," said Batman.
"It's no 'dead end', as you say," promised Durant. "There is an entrance... and further in there is an exit that leads us to the forest to the East. But only I know the way. They will be lost if they follow."
Batman smiled. "Sounds good," he said. If he believed in providence, this would be a perfect time to thank it. "If Merlin is dead, and Arthur is away, what is our plan?"
"Once we bypass the cave, our plan is to head to a village to the North East which is immortally loyal to the court. There, my men are waiting."
"Has Mordred seized the castle?"
"He has. There is word he has had his way with the queen."
"And what are we to do about that?"
"We are to rescue her of course," said Durant. "That's why you're here, is it not?"
"Yes," agreed the Batman. "That is why I am here."
"Is it true they call you the Dark Knight?"
"It is true," admitted Batman.
"But you fight on the side of the just?"
"I do."
"Why do they call you that?"
"Because I instill fear in the hearts of evil men."
"Well," said Durant. "I should like it you brought fear to Mordred and his men."
"So would I."
"What is it like, in the kingdom beyond the sea?"
Batman thought about it. "It is home," he said.
Durant laughed. "Well, we'll see if you survive to make it back!" He slapped the back of his horse and launched into a greater gallop.
The Batman did the same.
Soon they came to the cave, on an outcropping of a cliff to the North. They dismounted and led the horses forward, and Durant explained it would be difficult with them in the cave, but they would need them afterward. It was dark, and while the Batman's eyes were used to it after years of practice, Durant lit a torch and led the way in.
The cave was vast, a hidden treasure of the Earth. Immediately, Batman noticed a familiar sound above him, and a familiar smell in his nose: he looked up at the roof -
Bats.
It was a satisfying omen. The creatures crept above them, wings fluttering, whispering shrieks.
"Frightening things," said Durant.
"Yes," agreed the Batman.
They made their way through the cave. Their footsteps echoed, their breath was hesitant. Finally, about an hour in, Durant commanded they rest.
"Are you hungry?" he asked Batman.
"I am," the Dark Knight replied.
"Me too." Durant pulled a bow from his horse and shot an arrow at the roof above them. A dead bat fell to their feet. "Supper," said Durant.
They made a fire and cooked the carcass.
"Do you think they will follow?" asked Batman.
"They might. But they are a superstitious and cowardly lot - I imagine they would be spooked by such a place and turn back."
Soon they fed on the bat. Batman tore the stringy, slight meat between his teeth and welcomed the flesh into his stomach. It was strange, to dine on such an icon of his persona. But he marveled that he had never done so before. So the bat sustained his heart, now it sustained his belly.
"What is your name?" asked Durant, as they chewed.
"Bruce," allowed the Batman.
"Well, Sir Bruce, we are in the thick of it now. I don't know how we are all going to survive this one. It feels like the days of the Round Table face a dark wind."
"I will do my best to rescue the Queen," said Batman. He knew his Arthurian legend well enough to doubt the king's survival at the end of all this.
He wondered then if he was changing the past by being here, or if, by philosophy, it had been written in time that he had always come here, and that the past included him in its calculations. Batman decided it didn't matter - when one was this far back in the past, the future was less than a wisp of a glimmer.
"Should we be off then?" asked Durant, once they were finished eating.
"Yes," said Batman. "I am ready."
"New god and old god smile upon us, I think," said Durant, the food in his belly obviously making him newly confident.
Batman thought of the creature he had just eaten. It was as though he had sacrificed some part of himself to himself. But he did not let this thought trouble him for long.
They began again to navigate the cave.