Knight of Avalon
Chapter-5
Kay
Orkney, 2019 EoHQ:
In the ashen wasteland of what was once the bustling city of Orkney, a lone druid sat by a campfire.
"Brr… Kaldr…" The druid grumbled. He had put down a rune to keep the light rain falling around him from smothering the fire, but it still didn't make things better.
"No wonder you turned out so miserable, Aesc. You lived in an absolutely mood-killing climate." The druid spoke in a joking manner before one of the raindrops turned to a hailstone and struck him on the head.
"Gah!" The druid grunted rubbing his head. "Alright, alright. I guess even ghosts have feelings." He spoke before looking at a white wolf.
"Freki!" He called out as the wolf bounded over to him.
"Are the Wights gone?" He asked as the wolf nodded, before the two of them heard a distant shriek.
The druid sighed. "Ah, Mither. Still in pain, are you?" He spoke before getting up and strolling through Orkney's streets with Freki, and another white wolf that joined them.
At some points of time, the ashes in the air would convulse and turn into shapes of fairies happily dancing before fading away with a hiss into the wind.
Even in death, the Rain Clan wishes to go back to that day of joy again. The druid thought
As the druid walked on, one particular cloud of ash turned into a young fairy with a side-ponytail, draped in robes fitting for nobility, and wearing the signature Norn hat as indicative of practitioners of magecraft in Orkney, which was much more common than other clans.
Aesc was such a dorky little girl at that time. The druid thought with a smirk as he walked past Aesc's ashen image and headed towards the stump of the World Tree.
At the base, near one of the roots, he found an alien feminine entity standing there. The Priestess of the Alien God.
"Yo, how's it going?" The druid asked as the Priestess did not respond.
"..."
"Heh, pissed off your patron's little space tree couldn't tangle with our world's special island? Or maybe you're mad that I broke the tree like you broke Orochi back in Russia, and essentially stole your job?"
The Priestess looked at him.
"Oh, I just know this from the decrepit old…I mean, really wise god inside me feeding me information." The druid spoke before sitting down on a rock.
"Say, now that I think of it, you and I are the same. Both are in the end servants serving their respective gods. Guess the only difference is that I can actually have fun while doing my job…and maybe because I am both serving a god and am that god at once."
"..."
The druid shrugged. "But anyways, you've been staring at this tree for weeks now. Should I interest you in a question?"
The priestess looked at him.
"..."
"Alright. What the hell was up with Sombrero?"
"..."
"I'll take that as 'I don't know'. Which is fine. It just means whoever did some funky magic with Sombrero knows how to cover their tracks."
"..."
"Well, I see why you don't trust me. After all, the original Grímr was pretty much there to egg Aesc on into burning down Seyfert. In case you're wondering…Grímr managed to score some liquid flames from Muspellheim and handed it over to Aesc. Not even those Fantasy trees can survive the full force of Muspellheim's heat hitting their cores."
"..."
"But that's all in the past. The British Lostbelt is long gone. Now, only the Lostworld of the High Queen's fairy kingdom remains. So, shoo. You've got nothing to do here, and I've got lots. Go to your god back in South America and help her deal with its problems…"
"...Or should I say, make sure your god's little errand girl doesn't mess up her job."
The Priestess looked at him.
"Yeah, he knows. He knows who the true 'Alien God' is, and he'll be there to hound you when Novum Chaldea brings the fight to the Alien World. But for now, seriously, buzz off. We've got other things to worry about."
"..."
The Priestess closed her eyes and disappeared.
The druid sighed. "Welp, that's her gone. Good thing Seyfert's gone. The Apostle can be Chaldea's headache when it comes to South America. Right now…"
The druid's face turned serious.
"Tintagel's fallen. Artoria has begun her journey, and it won't be long until she comes here." He spoke.
"Huginn!" He called as a raven perched upon his shoulder.
"...Get to work." He spoke as the raven cawed and flew off, flying off with another Raven, Muninn, towards the southern direction.
The druid then heard low groans and turned around to noticed dark ashen shapes with water blades shuffling towards him, the Rune of Death inscribed on their heads.
Wights.
"Ah, can't have peace and quiet, can I?" The druid asked before runes materialized in the air around him, as he prepared to drive off the Wights.
"Are you sure?" Kay asked as Puck nodded.
"Sure as Morgan's spear. I got the layout of the cathedral mapped out and put it right here." Puck spoke, as a spectral three-dimensional layout of Salisbury Cathedral projected itself on one of Mike's tables.
Artoria, Kay, Puck, and Da Vinci sat around it, looking at the layout.
"This level of detail…it's as if you've been in the cathedral before." Da Vinci spoke as Puck chuckled.
"That I am. You're not so bad either at identifying several features of the cathedral."
"Hehe, well, I did spend years working on one of my works at the Duomo Di Milano." Da Vinci spoke as Artoria tilted her head.
"Doomoo dee Mylan?" She spoke as Da Vinci winced.
"Ouch, ignoring that butchering of my beautiful language aside, I do have a good idea of Gothic architecture that Salisbury Cathedral is modeled on. For that…" Da Vinci put down two circular pieces of metal made of gold and steel on the table.
"Puck's projection's been downloaded into them." She spoke before pressing some buttons as a holographic projection of Salisbury Cathedral came up.
"Use this in case you lose your way."
"Woah…you made this without any magecraft?" Artoria spoke in wonder.
"That I did." Da Vinci spoke chuckling.
"You really are a genius, Da Vinci!"
"Of course I am. It's how I always introduce myself." Da Vinci spoke as Kay shook his head.
"So, going by this again, Puck, you'll help me and Artoria sneak into the hallways near Aurora's throne room, where she takes her evening walks. We'll talk to her, explain the whole situation, and leave."
"Best case scenario…she chooses to listen." Da Vinci spoke. "Worst case scenario…we have the entirety of Salisbury's garrison looking for us. Whatever the case, I'll be there with the escape plan."
"Which you haven't revealed yet." Kay spoke as Da Vinci grinned.
"Just you wait. It's perfect for what we are about to do." She spoke. "I will be waiting outside."
"In which case, we'll have to head to the spire." Kay spoke. "In case there's an altercation, I'll defend you from the guards."
"Very well, even though there's a really high chance our plan might go awry, we should hopefully be able to make it through for at least a few minutes of Aurora's time." Da Vinci spoke.
"Alright, then we'll leave in the evening!" Artoria spoke.
"Oi, Urturia!" A fairy spoke up from another table. "More wheat ale!"
"S-Sorry, I'll be right there!" Artoria spoke as she walked off.
Soon, Kay spoke to Mike regarding their departure. Mike was of course a little hesitant, but at this point, Kay was convinced Mike would be able to take forward his business by himself. He had enough money to hire a human servant for himself.
As evening started giving way to night, the group headed out into the streets of Salisbury, which was alight with Lughesen street lamps as humans and fairies chatted about on the streets.
Despite their relatively short stay, Kay had sort of grown a bit attached to Salisbury's rather peaceful streets. Camelot was very, very noisy at night and often at his night strolls Kay would not experience the same calm he usually did back at the village.
He could feel the calm breeze, the relatively few people chatting about under the street lamps, the parties that took place in the multiple bakeries scattered across Salisbury that sold Salisbury's famous 'Honey breads'.
"It feels…peaceful." Da Vinci spoke as Puck laughed.
"Probably because of what Salisbury is. It was constructed by survivors of the year without hope in Cornwall who left their old city to establish a new one where they could live their lives away from the horrors of Cornwall. In the end, the collective desires of the fairies created it's own pseudo-domain manifesting in the form of a gentle breeze that invokes the feelings of peace and freedom. You can read more in Geoffrey's works."
"Geoffrey?"
"Famous human scholar from Salisbury. He did extensive research upon the Fae Era during the 12th century of the High Queen's reign."
"Anyways, we're getting closer to the cathedral." Puck as they reached a very wide road leading upto Salisbury Cathedral, with a lot of people chattering.
"Hm, Queens street." Puck spoke with a frown as Da Vinci tilted her head.
"Something wrong?"
"Same road where Morgan passed through for her coronation, to answer your question. Queens street is usually the quietest street in Salisbury."
"I do remember the emptiness when me and Artoria first came to the Cathedral." Kay spoke.
"But…there's a lot of people here." Artoria spoke.
"That's the problem. If Queens street is bustling, that means…" Puck's eyes widened as he noticed something on the Cathedral's spire. A yellow flag with the emblem of a human and a fairy holding up a windmill together emblazoned in black on it.
"I'm such an idiot. The Cathedral's spire has put up a flag." He spoke as Kay's and Artoria's eyes widened as well.
"What? I assume there's something I don't know." She spoke as Kay shook his head.
"Oh, this is bad."
"Again, why?"
"Queens street is only busy when there's word of a Lord of Britain visiting. It's custom for any high-ranking noble to enter Salisbury Cathedral through Queens street. And me and Artoria heard that…"
"MAKE WAY FOR HIS LORDSHIP WOODWOSE, DUKE OF OXFORD!" Yelled out a very tall Centaurus fairy galloping through the street, followed by what could only be described as a procession, guarded by Wulf infantry, Centaurus cavalry and elite Leo guards guarding a carriage pulled by a Centaurus coachman. In front of the carriage was a massive red bull with golden eyes and silver horns, fitted with armor, on the top of which sat…
Woodwose. Kay thought as Artoria froze up at the sight of the Great Father fairy moving through the street.
"Puck-!" Kay spoke as Puck immediately cast a veil of invisibility over them.
Woodwose passed by their position on the street, as Artoria stared at him in fear before he stopped.
His Leo guards immediately went on guard as Woodwose sniffed the air in suspicion and cast a side glance to where they were standing.
"Puck…" Kay spoke as a drop of sweat went down his head. He was not fighting Woodwose right now. Not when he still had no idea what the fairy was capable of.
"He won't detect us. Promise." Puck spoke as Woodwose's yellow eyes turned to purple and then to red as his pupils dilated, with an aura of fear washing over the crowd.
"W-Woah…" Da Vinci spoke with a shiver as Kay looked at Puck, who sent him a look of assurance.
"Woodwose! Go forward!" A high-pitched voice suddenly spoke as many fairies in the crowd turned pale.
Woodwose's eyes turned to normal as he gave an exasperated look to the carriage behind him before beckoning the procession forward.
"Well…that's a surprise." Puck commented as Kay noticed a red-haired fairy sitting inside the carriage.
"Who…?"
"Tam Lin Tristan."
"Ah. The psychopath who kills for fun?" Kay asked.
Puck nodded.
"But I heard she did not have good relations with Woodwose. What're they doing in Salisbury."
Puck shrugged.
"W-Wait, we're still going?!" Artoria hissed as Kay looked back.
"I actually agree with master here. This clearly is too risky if Woodwose is going to stay at the Cathedral as well. We should…"
"No."
"What?"
"Why do you think Woodwose is here?"
"...Perhaps he's here to visit Aurora?"
"With a small army armed as if they're expecting a battle?"
Kay frowned. Puck did have a point. The only fancy part of the procession was Tristan's carriage. Otherwise, most of the soldiers were dressed less for ceremonial purposes and more as if they were on some business here in Salisbury.
"And what would Woodwose, someone who's had a child of prophecy escape from under his grasp be doing in Salisbury, a city rumoured to have rebellious elements and be the closest major city where the child of prophecy could have taken shelter?"
Kay noticed Artoria smiling, which pretty much meant that she was absolutely terrified of the implications behind Puck's statement.
Kay frowned. "Woodwose will turn this city upside down to find the Child of Prophecy." He spoke.
"We can't stay here, can we?"
Puck shook his head. "Probably not."
"Well, we'll see that later. Keep moving." Kay spoke.
As soon as the procession went through the gates, they moved in.
Da Vinci immediately sent out her mechanical bird, which flew up into the air over the Cathedral.
"I'll keep an eye out from here. Are you sure your spell works, Puck?" Da Vinci asked as Puck nodded.
"Puck." Kay spoke as Puck rubbed his hands together with a grin.
"Alright, time to get to business he spoke before turning into a stray dog and bounding towards the guards of the outer gate.
"Oi, shoo!" One of the guards spoke as Puck barked at them.
Meanwhile, Artoria used her magecraft to hide herself and Kay as they shuffled through the crowds on Queens street, quietly heading towards the gate as the guards tried in vain to chase away in Puck.
As soon as they were right next to the guards, Puck jumped up and bit at one of the guards' left arm.
"Gah! Stupid cur!" He cursed before drawing his sword as Puck ran away barking, drawing the guards away from him.
"Gate's locked. How do we…" Artoria spoke before Kay grabbed her and tossed her over the gate, slipped into spirit form and passed through the gate and then caught Artoria in his arms.
Artoria stared at Kay in indignation as he quietly settled her down.
"Like that." He spoke, with a slight smirk.
"Hello, can you hear me?" Kay heard Da Vinci's voice in his head.
"Loud and clear, Da Vinci. Puck's spell worked."
"Great! Just to tell you, there's a lot of Wulves and Centaurii patrolling the Cathedral grounds, so you'll still have some obstacles before you reach the Cathedral itself."
"Understood." Kay spoke as Puck suddenly popped into existence.
"Let's go." He spoke as the three of them walked through the grounds, hearing the muffled thuds of the hooves of the Centaurii fairies galloping about.
"Mu…I mean, Lord Woodwose." Baobhan Sith spoke as she noticed Woodwose looking at her.
"Don't you think it's rude that the airhead…"
"Lady Aurora."
"Ugh, Lady Aurora hasn't come personally to greet us."
"That's not how it goes. When you enter a lord's city, the lord is under no obligation to welcome you personally. Things like that are only annulled when the High Queen herself is visiting."
"Mother visits?"
"Of course she does. This is the place of her coronation." Woodwose spoke as the two of them walked through Salisbury cathedral.
"Say, what was that about intimidating the people? It's as if a d…I mean, you got your hairs standing up." Sith spoke as Woodwose looked at her.
"Good, at least you're keeping yourself in check, unlike in Camelot." He spoke with a low growl as Sith shivered.
"YOU ARE MY SUBORDINATE RIGHT NOW, BRAT! YOU WILL LEARN TO RESPECT ME!"
Woodwose's thundering words rang in her ears as she kept walking.
Ugh, why did mother put me up with this mutt. Sith thought as she kept on walking.
She hated it. Ever since she'd been under Woodwose, she hadn't been able to hear a single shriek of fear and pain. She hadn't been able to taste the blood of humans and fairies and she hadn't been able to dissect.
It was maddening.
I just want to hear something! Anything will do! Sith thought, trying not to let her hunger reflect on her face in fear of a reprimand by Woodwose, who for some reason could detect it.
"I am the Lord of the Fang Clan. I know the desire for blood better than you. I can smell your bloodlust, you know?"
Sith glared at him as Woodwose kept walking.
"Now, remember. You will greet her first."
"Do I have to bow?"
"No. You are the princess, you will not bow to any lord. All lords are meant to bow to you."
"Then why don't you?"
"...I only bow to Morgan. Since you're under me, I have no obligation to do so. But for the sake of upholding tradition, I would normally do so. Besides, bowing is seen as a sign of weakness within my clan."
"Hmph!" Sith spoke as the two of them reached Aurora's throne room, where a pink-haired fairy was standing.
"Good evening, Lady Coral." Woodwose spoke as Coral bowed.
"Good evening to you as well, Lord Woodwose."
"How are things at the orphanage?"
Coral gulped. "It's fine…Lord Woodwose."
"Something wrong?"
"...I found some wooden toys of Percival and round table soldiers being used by the human children."
At the mention of Percival, Woodwose narrowed his eyes.
"..."
"..."
"...Leave them be. But make sure they let go of this habit once they are old enough for training."
"The children selected for the Slave knight training will be sent to Camelot in a week's time."
Slave knights! Mother's personal servants! Sith thought. She loved the Slave Knights, they made the perfect toys when she was small, and the Captain himself was currently camping out outside of Salisbury.
"Excellent, then let us go speak." Woodwose spoke.
"One question, if you don't mind, Lord Woodwose?"
"Speak."
"Aurora noticed you exerting some of your mana upon the people and she wished to know why?"
Woodwose sighed. "I felt I detected something odd. Nothing more."
They entered the throne room to see Aurora seated on her throne with her guards, talking to a silver-haired fairy with wings wearing a strange crown.
Why's he dressed like some sort of king? So pretentious! Sith thought with a sniff before noticing Woodwose's eyes had turned red again with dilated pupils.
"That scent…why…?" He spoke with a growl filled with hatred as he stared at the fairy.
"Why does that scent feel familiar?" Woodwose spoke before a frosty breeze blew onto his snout as the lord gagged and shook his snout, his eyes turning back to a normal yellow.
"Hee Hee~ Got you, didn't I, Lord Woodwose?" Aurora spoke giggling as the fairy got up.
"And thank you, Oberon. I'll see to it." She spoke as Oberon turned around, bowed to them and walked off.
"You." Woodwose spoke as Oberon turned around.
"Yes?"
"...Who are you?" Woodwose spoke as Oberon smiled.
"I am but a humble actor, lord Woodwose. Forgive me for taking up your time." He spoke as Woodwose and Oberon stared at each other.
Sith now shivered as Woodwose's aura got even more intense.
"Lord Woodwose~ Manners~"
"Oh, apologies." Woodwose spoke before walking up to Aurora and kissing her hand, while Oberon walked off.
"What was that about, Lord Woodwose? Why obstruct dear Oberon like that?"
"Hm…I am not certain. He had the same stench as the mors for some reason, and…"
"Oh, dear Woodwose…" Aurora spoke stroking Woodwose's silver mane.
"The Mors War ended 1000 years ago. I thought you would have moved on by now."
"Huh, so did I…It really is strange why that 'Oberon' invoked old memories of the Mors War. But never mind, it is good to see you again."
"Same here, Lord Woodwose. And oh! The princess is here with you! Good day to you too, Princess!"
Sith sniffed. "Hello, air…"
Woodwose's head turned around to look at her.
"I-I mean, g-good day to y-you too, Lady Aurora!" She spoke as Aurora giggled.
"Aw, I think you've been a little too harsh on our princess, Lord Woodwose." She spoke as Woodwose shook his head.
"She's making progress, at least." Woodwose grumbled.
"But anyways, I wish to inform you…"
"...That the Child of Prophecy is in my city?" She spoke as Sith's eyes widened.
The Child of Prophecy's here? She thought.
Woodwose blinked. "Then you know where they are?"
"Why, yes I do!"
"We're close to the building." Kay spoke as he and Artoria dodged Centaurii and Wulves to reach the Cloister, with Puck close behind.
"Alright, Aurora's throne room is right in front of the entrance to the Cathedral's spire, which houses a bell." Da Vinci's voice came in.
"Once she has entertained Woodwose, she will be leaving for her personal chambers. We will therefore have to confront her in those hallways."
"Got it." Kay muttered as they moved through the cloister's hallways and into the cathedral.
"Master, are you alright?" Kay asked as Artoria looked at him.
"O-Of course I am! Why would you think that?"
She's really terrified of Woodwose. Kay thought. They then would have to make sure Artoria didn't come into contact with Woodwose in that case.
"Da Vinci, where's Woodwose?"
"In the room with Aurora, although thankfully he'll be retreating to his chambers before Aurora leaves."
"Excellent. It would be really bad if we got caught by him."
They found many fang clan guards patrolling the grounds, but Artoria's magecraft and Puck kept them hidden as they moved past.
Soon, they reached the hallway leading to the throne room, which had a number of winged fairy statues standing with spheres in their hands.
"Alright…now we should…"
The doors burst open, as a bunch of hooded wind clan fairies clad in white robes and wearing light silver armor on their bodies holding a bunch of longbows in their hands and curved blade sheathed at their hips.
"What the…" Kay spoke as they noticed the fairies had them surrounded on all sides.
"Awel Souders, shit." Puck spoke as the fairies notched vacuum arrows on their bows.
God, that reminds me of Failnaught way too much. Kay spoke as he unsheathed his blade and Artoria raised her staff in a defensive manner.
"Awel Souders!" A voice spoke as Kay noticed Coral walk up from among the guards.
"Seize the human! Secure the Child of Prophecy!" She spoke.
Oh, shit. Kay thought as the Awel Souders released their vacuum arrows.
"MASTER, RUN!" Kay yelled as his hands ignited and he spun around, swinging his blade to send waves of fire that clashed against the arrows.
"Time to go!" Puck yelled as he grabbed Artoria and jumped out the window.
How did they know we were here?! Kay thought.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid the Child of Prophecy has been taken hostage by a rogue human knight." Oberon spoke as Aurora gasped.
"Is that so?"
"Y-You claim that blonde-haired country bumpkin is…"
"I'm not joking, Lady Coral. She is the Child of Prophecy, and she's being held hostage."
"Then we must make sure she is in safe hands." Aurora spoke with a frown.
"Indeed, the human knight with her must be vanquished if we are to take her." Oberon spoke. "They are here in the Cathedral right now, so we have the best opportunity."
Aurora put a finger to her chin and nodded to her Awel Souders.
"But be careful not to inform Woodwose. We all know that he and Tam Lin Tristan have different plans for the Child of Prophecy."
"Of course."
Artoria shrieked as she and Puck burst out of the window and fell upon the Cathedral's Belfry.
"Wait! What about Kay?!" She asked as Puck shook his head.
"He can handle himself!"
"DA VINCI!" Artoria screamed.
"What? You've been caught?"
"YES! GET US OUT!"
"Okay! Just give me a few minutes and I'll be there!"
"Da Vinci's coming." Artoria spoke with a sigh of relief before noticing some glowing red lines.
"DUCK!" Puck yelled as Artoria suddenly found herself standing far away from where she was standing, which now had glowing red strings converged on it.
"Aw…and here I thought you wouldn't sense me." A voice spoke as Artoria noticed the same Fairy in the carriage facing her, holding a small red bow in her hands.
"...Tam Lin Tristan." Artoria spoke as Tristan tilted her head.
"...Child of…Pfft! Really, YOU'RE the child of prophecy?" She asked laughing.
"You…keh…KEHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Artoria grit her teeth.
"Hey, stop laughing at me, hag!"
Tristan stopped. "Hag?"
"HAG?! What makes you think you can run your filthy mouth insulting me, you shit-eating pig!"
"If I am a shit-eating pig, then you are that shit!"
"Grr, not only are you weak and pathetic, but also empty in the head! Very well then, I'll teach you to respect your betters!"
"Bring it on!"
Puck simply stared as the two girls glared at each other with really intense hatred.
Kay summoned his water shield and grunted as the vacuum arrows struck against it, but kept moving.
As he got closer, the Awel Souders put down their bows and unsheathed their blades, which glowed white and had a gold guard in the shape of a dragon and charged forward.
One of them dashed past Kay and swung their blade at his neck, but Kay blocked with his sword and pushed them back before blocking another Souder's blade with his shield. The shield's watery surface latched itself around the Souder's, trapping them before Kay's flaming blade decapitated them.
Two Souders immediately thrust their hands as a gust of wind sent Kay flying back, who landed on his feet and skidded to a halt.
Their wind magic's making it difficult to get close. Kay thought before letting go of his sword and materializing a fiery javelin in his hand.
Kay quickly threw the javelins one by one, which travelled at immense speeds and impaled some Souders.
Two of them, however, managed to dodge the javelins and dashed towards Kay, channeling winds to increase their speed and reach Kay in moments.
Kay immediately thrust with one of his javelins and forced the two souders to back off for a moment.
Kay then threw his shield, which turned into tendrils of water and wrapped themselves around the souders, immobilizing them as Kay incinerated them with fireballs from his fist.
Kay then raised his gauntlet to block a bunch of vacuum arrows shot from the other Souders before he willed his water shield to turn itself into a wall and block the arrows.
Kay shot fire from his feet to propell himself upwards and launched another javelin that exploded against the souders, scattering their line.
Kay then willed the water into ice and shot ice spikes forward, killing many souders, although three of them managed to deflect many of them.
Kay then heard Coral chanting something and ducked as some sort of vacuum formed above him, trying to suck out his air and charged forward.
He met the three souders, with the first one swinging at his leg and the second one at his neck.
Kay raised his armored boot and stomped down on the first one's sabre before grabbing his sword's blade with his other hand and parrying the second one's blow and then bashing the hilt against their temple, stunning them.
Kay then dodged to the side as the third souder swung their leg to send a gust of wind as sharp as a blade which left a gash on Kay's armor.
Huh. Watch out for those wind blades they send with their kicks. Kay thought as he willed his water to separate the other two as he moved to the stunned souder.
The souder was unable to put up a strong guard and Kay's sword was able to knock his blade off his grip, before one quick swing cut off their heads.
Kay's water turned back into his shield as he blocked a number of strikes from a souder, raised his leg to dodge another wind blade before bashing his shield against the souder and pushing them back.
The third souder tried to put some distance with a defensive guard, only for Kay create a fire javelin on his blade and thrust forward, catching the souder by surprise.
However, the javelin bounced off the armor and Kay cursed before charging forward, cutting the souder's body in half with another swing from his sword.
Kay quickly raised his shield and crouched as the final souder's sabre struck it.
Kay swung, but the souder suddenly dissipated into mist.
Kay raised his gauntlet as a number of quick strikes suddenly hit it.
Guh! That stung! Kay thought before narrowing his eyes.
"...!" Kay immediately jumped up with another jet of flame from his feet as the souder materialized again with their robes on fire.
Kay landed and immediately headbutted the souder, his helmet breaking the Souder's nose before Kay ran them through the neck with his sword.
The souder spat out blood before Kay kicked them back.
Coral merely frowned as Kay stood in front of her with his bloodstained armor.
Kay then heard growls before he noticed Wulves and Leo guards come up, the wolves crouched on three legs with the fourth paw holding a greatsword while the towering Leo guards stood upright with golden axes in hand.
The Leo Guards roared as Kay scoffed.
I've done enough. Now, I need to…
"AAAAHHHHH" He then heard Artoria's scream and a familiar howl.
Kay's eyes widened.
"ARTORIA!"
Few minutes ago:
Artoria sent discs of light at Tristan, which were immediately cut down by red strings.
Artoria growled as Tristan launched a number of arrows with a smile.
Artoria gasped and fired up her divine patterns, a ball of sweat going down her forehead as she pointed her staff's rear end and fired off a projectile of energy clashed against Tristan's arrows and moved at her.
Come on! Artoria thought, but Tristan merely cut it down with more strings.
Artoria clumsily stumbled to the side as Tristan tried to trap her with more strings.
"I can see your panic, pig, huhuhu." Tristan spoke before pulling out something.
Artoria gagged as Tristan held a jar of blood in her hand before crushing it, creating a sphere of dark glowing bood from which she fired more projectiles.
Artoria projected a shield to stop them, but ran as they broke.
"HIYA!" Artoria yelled running at Tristan who merely smiled as spiky tentacles suddenly erupted from behind her.
Artoria's eyes widened before she raised her staff as one of the tentacles knocked her back.
Tristan formed a long string in her hands and suddenly launched at Artoria at immense speeds, trying to blitz her with sharp strings threatening to cut off her body parts.
Artoria slammed her staff to the ground and sent out a weak pulse of energy that Sith casually dodged before sending her tentacles at Artoria, knocking her to her backside and sending the staff of selection flying out of her grasp.
Ow… Artoria thought as she went to grab the staff, before screaming in pain as Tristan's heel landed on her hand.
"Aw…was that all you got, pig? Well, I shouldn't be really disappointed." Tristan spoke with a 'tsk' as she further dug her heel into Artoria's hand.
"GAH!" Artoria shrieked.
"Ooh~ Let's see….There!" Tristan spoke twisting her heel as Artoria's hand dislocated with a pop.
Artoria grit her teeth as she tried to bear the burning pain of her hand getting dislocated.
Damn it. I'm not letting her get to me! Artoria thought as Tristan leaned down next to her ear.
"So, pig? Ready to submit?" She whispered as Artoria spat in her face.
"Yuck!" Tristan exclaimed wiping her face. "Oh, now you've done it…" She spoke before prickin Artoria's arm with her fingernails and drawing out a stream of blood.
Tristan twisted and shaped the blood into a red doll and then summoned a bunch of needles.
"Perhaps you'll like a play hosted by my doll, hm" Tristan asked as Artoria looked at the doll in fear.
Get up, Artoria! Her mind screamed at her.
How could she be the Child of Prophecy if she couldn't even put up a fight?
"Now…" Tristan suddenly dodged a bunch of knives flying past her as she looked at Puck holding a bunch of knives.
Artoria got up and clutched her dislocated hand before applying some healing magecraft to pop it back into place.
"Oh! That hurt…" Artoria groaned before picking up her staff.
Puck vanished and appeared behind tristan, snatching the doll from the air and incinerating it.
Tristan formed a string into a spike and swung it at Puck, who vanished and appeared far away and sent more knives at her.
"Cease this at once, thief!" Tristan snarled as she trapped puck with her strings, only for him to turn into a murder of crows and fly at her.
"HAHA! You think that scares me?" Tristan spoke shooting all crows down one by one before Puck reappeared.
Tristan shot more projectiles at him, as Puck raised his hand and the projectiles turned into pidgeons.
"Ooh~ you're good!" Tristan spoke before…
"TAKE THIS!" Artoria screamed as her staff, charged with energy, slammed against Tristan's head.
"AGH!" Tristan grunted as she fell to one knee before Artoria swung the staff and sent a wave of magical energy that sent Tristan flying back.
"Gah!" Tristan tumbled across the Cathedral's belfry and got up.
"That was dirty. As expected of a pig." Tristan spoke standing up as Artoria and Puck stared at her.
Tristan's eyes suddenly glanced behind Artoria before she smiled.
At that moment, Artoria noticed a shadow looming over her and the mana around her heat up.
"Look out!" Puck yelled as Artoria turned around to see a large paw heading towards her, before her world turned upside down as she found herself looking at Woodwose's snout, his purple eyes staring at her.
Woodwose had come up behind him and had grabbed Artoria by the legs, raising her to look at her.
Artoria's eyes widened in terror, as she started seeing flashes of Tintagel in front of her eyes.
"AAAHHHHH!" She let out a scream as Puck charged at Woodwose.
He threw knives at Woodwose, but they all bounced off from a strange force field around Woodwose's body.
"Hmph, you lack the power to penetrate this barrier." Woodwose spoke before backhanding Puck out of the way.
"Kyah!" Artoria tried to electrocutre Woodwose, but the electricity simply avoided him.
Woodwose's eyes turned red and he roared right in her face, Woodwose's saliva landing on Artoria's face as his roar simply froze every cell in Artoria's body.
"Much better." Woodwose spoke to a frozen Artoria. More of Puck's knives bounced off the force field around him as Woodwose simply raised his hand and brought it down as Puck suddenly fell to the ground, being pressed by an unnatural force.
"None of you can harm me. Best you surrender." Woodwose spoke dismissively.
"We got her, Woodwose! We got her!" Tristan spoke with a cheer.
"...That's odd. Where is…" Woodwose suddenly tossed Artoria away.
Artoria tumbled as she heard a metallic clang and noticed Woodwose holding Kay's sword with his palms.
"There you are, Knight of Tintagel." Woodwose muttered as he dashed Kay against the roof, cracking the stone underneath him.
Kay unleashed a torrent of fire on Woodwose, who grunted in surprise as Kay jumped up and swung his sword at Woodwose's head.
Woodwose leaned back and Kay's sword left a minor gash on his snout.
Woodwose's eyes widened as a paw slammed against Kay's shield and sent him flying back.
There was only stunned silence.
"Wha…WHAAAAAAT?!" Woodwose bellowed.
"How did you get past my barrier?! How did you manage to penetrate my skin?! What magic is that blade enchanted with?!" He spoke as Kay took his stance.
"Master, are you alright?"
"..."
"GRAAAHH!" Woodwose roared as his eyes turned red and a red aura of flames began radiating from him.
The atmosphere began igniting with flames from the sheer heat being produce by Woodwose's mana.
"Da Vinci, any time now…" Kay spoke in alarm.
"Ooh, you've done it now!" Tristan cheered from the background as Kay looked at her.
Underneath his helmet, Kay scowled at the sight of the fairy that has taken his comrade's name.
But that was overwhelmed by his concern over Woodwose's aura as flashbacks of a familiar battle raged in his mind.
"Da Vinci…" Kay spoke as Woodwose crouched down, ready to spring forward as Woodwose's soldiers began arriving.
"I'm HERE!" A familiar voice yelled as a bunch of explosions rang out on Salisbury Cathedral.
Kay's eyebrows shot up to see Da Vinci seated in some sort of flying contraption, dropping firestone bombs on the cathedral. Woodwose
That's her escape plan. He thought.
"How'd you like it? Puck introduced me to some interesting stuff to work with." Da Vinci's voice came in her mind.
"Quickly, to the belfry!" Kay ordered as Da Vinci's contraption descended towards the belfry.
Kay then grabbed Artoria as he and Puck ran across the belfry's roof, as vacuum arrows bounced off of Kay's shield shot by Awel Souders, while Puck managed to ward off Tristan's arrows.
They then heard Woodwose's roar.
Puck suddenly turned around and wove a web of flames. Woodwose's beam of energy slipped into it, completely nullified.
"WHAT?!" Woodwose exclaimed.
"What the…you can do that?!" Kay asked Puck.
"Hehe…I'm not exactly normal, per se. Let's keep going." Puck spoke as the two of them jumped off just as Da Vinci flew by, with Kay plopping Artoria down to a seat behind Da Vinci.
"GO! GO!" Kay spoke before incinerating more arrows with a wave of fire as Da Vinci directed her flying contraption away from the Cathedral, dodging arrows and Woodwose's enraged energy beams.
On the way, Kay noticed Puck concentrating with his eyes glowing green.
"Aurora! They're flying with wind magic! Quick, bring them down!" Woodwose barked out to Aurora who had arrived on the scene.
"Well, that's odd. I can't detect any magic to nullify. It's as if nothing's wrong." She spoke.
Woodwose grimaced, as the contraption disappeared into the distance.
All was silent as the Oxford soldiers stared at their duke with fear.
"Lord Woodwose…perhaps you should…" Aurora spoke as she noticed the temperature spike again.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Woodwose let out an explosive sigh, his very breath igniting the air with blood-red flames.
He looked at a Leo guard.
"Send word to Camelot. Tell her majesty that the Child of Prophecy has escaped Salisbury."
Tristan frowned in the general direction of where the 'pig' had escaped.
I'll get you next time, pig. I hope you do better than that pathetic show you put up. She thought.
Next morning, Da Vinci had landed on a grassland in the road near what should have been the city of Birmingham in Proper Human History.
Artoria, Kay, Puck and Da Vinci stood with their arms crossed.
"Phew, that was a long trip." She spoke shaking her head.
"For some reason…Aurora wanted us arrested. So it's safe to assume she's not on our side, despite all the rebel rumors." Kay muttered.
"So, Salisbury's no longer a safe space now for us." Artoria spoke as Kay looked at her.
The night's events had left her mentally exhausted. After that humiliating defeat against Tristan and then getting the full force of Woodwose's rage, Artoria had been frightened to her core.
"Give us some space." He spoke as he took Artoria to the side.
"...How much?"
"What?"
"How scared are you?"
"..."
Artoria gulped.
"That bad, huh? Then let me ask you something else…" Kay put his hands on Artoria's shoulders.
"Are you fine with continuing this path?" He asked gently as Artoria's grip on the staff tightened.
"...They're so strong…"
"..."
"Tristan…s-she used magecraft…"
"What?"
"She used magecraft…she's just like me. I felt her aura, and it's also weak for a fairy. And yet…she just completely humiliated me."
"..."
"A-And Woodwose…" Artoria gulped again as she started trembling.
"I-I…have to face that monster…t-to…t-to…"
"Calm down, you're not going to be seeing them for now." Kay, smiling softly at Artoria.
"If you don't feel like you're up to the task…then you can tell me. If you want to run away and hide, not try to save Britain…I will have no objections."
"B-But I am the Child of Prophecy…"
"I don't care. My master is not the Child of Prophecy, but Artoria Caster. Your wish is my command."
Artoria stared at Kay in silence before she closed her eyes and opened them again.
"No. I'm not going to run away."
Kay nodded. "If that's what you want, then so be it." He spoke before wrapping an arm around Artoria's shoulder and bringing her back to Da Vinci and Puck.
"Alright!" Kay spoke.
"Since Salisbury's no longer safe, we need to find another city to stay in. Preferably one that is openly rebellious this time."
He looked at Puck. "And we…"
"Don't say it. I'm sticking with you."
Da Vinci tilted her head. "Wait, why?"
"Why, the more the merrier! Last night was the most fun I ever had in ages! I'm staying with you!" Puck spoke as Kay nodded.
"Alright then. The more the merrier, I guess."
Puck hummed. "Well, there are many cities that don't like Morgan. There's the northern fortress of Edinburgh…but it's an extremely far away and we'll have to move through the forest of Yorkshire as well as the Lake District."
"There's Londinium, but Oxford has all routes monitored by its soldiers. There's a high chance we might run into Woodwose again if we headed there."
"Gloucester's neutral, but that's the problem. We don't want neutral cities, we want rebellious cities. In which case…"
"Sheffield's our best option." Kay spoke.
"Yes. The Hill fort of Sheffield was constructed during the Mors War and is a part of the Warrington belt that was heavily fortified agains the northern fairies during the Spring and Summer Wars. And right now, it is possibly in open revolt."
"Then…that's our spot. But has Sheffield seem smack dab in the middle of Monarchist territory."
"Yes…that's a slight problem. Sheffield, along with Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds, constituted the 'Four Fortress Cities of Warrington', and the other three are heavily dominated by the Fang Clan, not to mention…"
"Manchester is personally owned by Tam Lin Gawain. Staying in Sheffield will attract her attention." Artoria spoke with a sigh.
"Again, that is a problem. But Sheffield is the toughest one out of the Four Fortress Cities. It is ruled over by Boggart, who is said to be almost as strong as Woodwose and could probably take on Tam Lin Gawain by himself. Plus, Sheffield's army is quite a sizeable number, so in an altercation, Sheffield won't go down without a tough fight."
"Great, then we'll head to Sheffield. The Da Vinci flying machine's bust, so…hehe." Da Vinci spoke as Puck shook his head and waved her off.
"Don't worry about that. I have ways." Puck spoke. "Give me your hands."
The four of them grabbed each other's hands before Kay's stomach lurched as their surroundings changed.
Now, they stood on a small hill, overlooking a city spread out across a much taller hill with layers of powerful stone walls.
Wait, did we just… Kay thought in confusion as Puck stepped in front of them.
"...Welcome to Sheffield, ladies and gentlemen. Now if you could please pick up your jaws off the floor and come. We have a rebellion to instigate."
A/N: Welp, Kay and Artoria's plans go horribly wrong and they're forced to leave Salisbury for the time being. Salisbury ends here, but don't worry, we'll return later on in the story. Plus, we get Kay wrecking some fairies and Artoria getting wrecked by Baobhan Sith. I can understand why Sith became a pushover once Artoria started ringing the bells, but I feel Artoria's and Sith's rivalry could have been taken somehwhere.
And, we never got much exploration of Artoria's fear of Woodwose. I mean, considering her reaction to the burning of the Forest of Wales, you would think she would have similar traumatic memories of facing Woodwose, the same dude who literally ordered the massacre of her village, but no. Woodwose just...becomes a really strong enemy, that's it. He doesn't become the monster that would lie at the root of Artoria's trauma from the beginning of her journey, the 1000 year-old Protector of Morgan's Britain who she would have to overcome to topple Morgan. Honestly, it's a little disappointing.
Henceforth, I'm putting Woodwose and Sith together on the quest to hunt Artoria. She will have to get past them on her journey to defeat Morgan.
Kay vs the fairies...see, I like taking a more realistic approach to fight scenes. I avoid having my characters doing flashy twirls or armor being essentially paper, because of how much tension can be built the moment you decide to have the characters fight more realistically (Although, in all honesty, Kay here is fighting realistically with fate lore, not IRL lore. The techniques I'm having Kay, a 6th century warrior, do probably won't be applied to European swordfighting until the 14th century, so eh.)
And yes, it might seem like Kay and Artoria might meet Chaldea sooner than expected, but that's not the case. Just because they met Da Vinci doesn't mean they'll meet Ritsuka and Tristan just yet. That's still some time away. Da Vinci will just remain a member of the sort of 'adventure group' Artoria's gathered.
And anyways, now the gang's in Sheffield, and we all know what's in store for them there.
That's all for now, folks. We begin the Sheffield arc next chapter.
Hope you guys enjoyed and Constructive Criticism is appreciated!
Foot Notes:
Wights: Information is unavailable at the moment. Will be revealed during the Orkney chapters.
Founding of Salisbury: Salisbury was founded in 1 EoHQ at the end of the Year Without Hope. It was considered to be the 'light of a new future' by the survivors of the Great Calamity's aftermath in Cornwall, the old capital of the Wind Clan. Salisbury's special status as the first city to be constructed in Faerie Britain under Morgan's reign had Morgan choose Salisbury Cathedral as the site of her Coronation after the Winter War ended.
Lughesen street lamps: In 1902 EoHQ, James Lughesen, the human servant of a fairy businessman, decided to do away with the old Firestone lamp system that lit up Salisbury, and hired blacksmiths from the Guilds of Norwich to create iron pipelines connecting Salisbury's households and street lamps. Once connected, the fairies used the mana pool located below Salisbury cathedral, to pump magical spells generating electricity through the pipelines, first applied to the street lamps which came to be known as the Lughesen street lamps. It was certainly a remarkable invention considering Fairy Britain lacked the level of understanding of electricity as compared to Proper Human History.
Honey Bread: A delicacy from Salisbury made from bread produced by Salisbury's mills as well as honey imported from Edinburgh through merchants from Norwich, invented by human bakers in 1848 EoHQ. A sweet delicacy enjoyed by several upper-class households in tea time, while the middle-class and lower-class enjoy it as Salisbury's confectionaries that also serve as restaurants. It is said that honey bread is even enjoyed by the High Queen herself in her personal time...although no one can actually confirm that information other than the servants of Morgan's palace in Camelot.
Geoffrey of Salisbury: Born in 1105 EoHQ in Salisbury, Geoffrey was a scribe working at Salisbury Cathedral, during which he got to the habit of studying history. Geoffrey is known for documenting several events happening in Faerie Britain in his time and for publishing works that offered a wealth of knowledge about the Fae era, his most famous book being 'History of the Lost Fae'. Unfortunately, the High Queen clearly was not amused about Geoffrey's attempts to record history and had his books burnt, while Geoffrey himself was executed in Queens street at the age of 55. Rest assured, some of Geoffrey's works still live on in Murian's library in Gloucester as well as oral traditions among humans.
Queens Street: Queens street was built at the time of Salisbury's founding for Morgan's procession. It holds a great deal of ceremonious importance.
Flag of Salisbury: The Flag of Salisbury represents the unity between humans and fairies, as Salisbury is considered the most liberal and egalitarian out of the cities of Faerie Britain. It is interesting how it maintains such good relations with the more conservative and pro-human slavery city of Oxford.
Centaurus: A type of fairy belonging to the fang clan that is clearly Faerie Britain's version of Centaurs. Centaurii are quite powerful fairies whose stamina is nigh unmatched. They serve as the cavalry units within Oxford's as well as Camelot's army.
Leo: Fairies that resemble Anthropomorphic lions which serve as the elite troops of Oxford. They usually fight with axes and have a great deal of strength and the ability to shapeshift as well. The strongest of Leos is Boggart, second only to the Great Father that is Woodwose.
Awel Souders: Salisbury's main troops, who have served the wind clan since the beginning. The Awel souders are expert marksmen, often using longbows to shoot vacuum arrows created from their wind magic. The Awel Souders also carry sabres, which fit their agile fighting style. The Awel Souders can augment their speed with their wind magic and can even send blades of wind that can cut through steel. They are dangerous, even to servants.
The Warrington Belt: The Warrington Belt is an area cutting through the middle of Faerie Britain that separates the North and South. The Warrington belt has a very bloody history, being the site of the worst of the Spring and Summer Wars, to the point that the corpses of the faeries would go on to form the Forest of Yorkshire. It is perhaps the bloodiest part of Britain.
The Four Fortress Cities of Warrington: Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield were built along the Warrington belt to serve as frontiers against the northern fairies and later on the Mors. They are Southern Britain's first line of defense against any disturbances in the north, although the Fortress cities lost their significance ever since the Mors War ensured Mors popped up further south from them. All four cities are controlled by the Fang Clan, although Sheffield, under Boggart, is now possibly revolting against Morgan.
Response to Reviews:
Kleave Guy: I will neither confirm nor deny that. You'll see when I reveal them.
Seeking the Miraculous Dream: Well, with the gang going to Sheffield, it looks like the chances of Kay meeting Mash are much higher now.
Anton980: Thank you. I always like fleshing out the histories of the storylines I make fanfiction out of. It's something of a habit I have as a lover of History and mythology.
Hatred and Love: He definitely will get pissed. But Kay's reflection on the Lion King is still some time away.
THOTSLAYER9000: Really? I honestly haven't seen many fanfics that call Britain 'England', but thanks.
NotSpecialDude: Again, I will neither confirm nor deny your theory. You'll just have to see when we get to the Cernunnos fight.
King0fP0wers: That will be sort of redundant, since Chaldea also sort of travels around Britain until Morgan is deposed. Having Kay travel and then have him travel with Chaldea feels like a waste of time, in my personal opinion.
And hold on, I didn't say that Slave Knight beat Barghest, per se. He just stalled her. I don't want to introduce this sort of 'Gary Stu' OC who people might start hating. Barghest still won that fight, but she won it after a difficult struggle.
Again, as nice as that is, I have the Blaidd aesthetic planned for someone different.
Guest: Well, you hate Thotslayer a lot more than I do, I'll just keep myself out of this conversation.
Dxhologram: Baby steps first. We need some time before we really get into the sibling fluff between Artoria and Kay.
Love-To-Peace: Probably, but after this story is finished.
Felab: Silly Artoria, indeed. Morgan isn't just your auntie, she's your sister-mother.
TalonScythe: Yep, I feel it would be redundant to have Kay and Artoria go solo at this point. And there's going to be quite a plot shift as a result of Artoria not going to the nameless woods.
About the LB7 rewrite...yeah. I don't think having some parts of Ka'an survive would really mesh well with the storyline, considering how important it is to Camazotz's character and how important Ka'an's sacrifice will be to my LB7 rewrite when I get down to it. I'll be fleshing out LB7's history a lot more because from a palaeontological view, LB7's setting makes absolutely no sense, which gives me the chance to flesh out and tweak the lore and sort of remove the overly wacky aspects of LB7's story. Again, my nerdy obsession with dinosaurs and natural history is really going to be present when I get down to publishing the future LB7 fanfic.
