Knight of Avalon
Chapter-11
Aesc, Artoria
The Lush Fields of Cornwall, 1990 FE:
Cornwall. The great agricultural hinterlands of Southern Britain, were formed from the corpse of a beast that washed up on Britain from the Lifeless Sea shortly after its creation. The beast carried within itself immense amounts of mana that made the land created from its corpse very fertile. As such, the Wind fairies under the Great Wind Fairy Gwyn sent their human slaves to cultivate the land, growing wheat rich in mana that provided the normally well-nutrition fairies with even more strength. And so, upon Cornwall's fields, the Wind fairies built their capital.
But…the mana from the fallen beast also had it's side effects. And 7000 years after the Wind Capital's founding, those side effects were being felt by Wind Clan.
The very humans who served them had seen their bodies distorted and changed by the mana, increasing their size and metabolism until they grew into the first Giants. The Giants terrified the fairies, with their immense strength and innate resistance to Fae magic making for formidable opponents.
The Summer War had ended, but the peaceful fields of Cornwall would once again find itself on the verge of war. A war between Giants and Fairies.
And of course, there was one person who didn't want that to happen. That was Aesc the Savior, tired and weakened from her battle with the Northern Warrior Queen Mab but determined to wrap up this one last mess before she went into a deep sleep. With her companions, Aesc was heading to Cornwall. These so-called 'Giants' won't be allowed to wreak havoc as long as the mighty Avalon Le Fae was coming to them…
"GWAK!" A blonde fairy exclaimed as she lost her footing, falling face first into the ground.
Behind her, a young blue-haired rain fairy with red eyes started laughing loudly as he looked at the girl fallen face first into the ground.
Beside him, a short grizzled earth fairy growled and shook his head in disappointment at the fairy.
The rest, an Aquila fang fairy and a pink wind fairy, rushed to help her up.
"Aesc, are you alright?" The pink fairy spoke, helping Aesc up as she spat out the grass from her mouth.
"Yes, thanks, Totorot…ow…" Aesc spoke massaging her nose. Totorot put her hands to her hips and scowled at Aesc.
"Wha…What did I do?!" Aesc asked.
"Be more careful, Aesc! What do you think people will think if they saw the Aesc the Savior trip and fall face first into the ground like some sort of clown!"
"What do you mean? Aesc is a clown! This is just her giving us a performance!" Grímr spoke laughing as Aesc spotted a rune disappear from his hand. A rune that had a rope attaching her leg to it.
"You…" Aesc spoke with her eyes widening in anger. She opened her mouth but couldn't, as the fang fairy picked her up by the waist and covered her mouth.
"Mmph! Mhmm!"
"Now, now, Lady Aesc. No need for profanities." Wryneck spoke as Aesc's muffled curses came out.
Wryneck sighed, looking at the Earth fairy, Ector. "Sir Ector, perhaps not teaching her how to curse was a good idea." He spoke while holding Aesc within his massive arms.
"She needed something to assert herself with, Birdbrain!" Ector spoke. "If she acted all polite and shy, she'd be a doormat in #$%^& by now."
"Lady Aesc." Wryneck spoke a bit more sternly as Aesc crossed her arms, seemingly pouting as Wryneck put her down.
"Hmph. I'll get you back, Grímr." Aesc spoke.
"It's been 2000 years now, Aesc. I'd think you would have gotten over this and acted all mature."
"Aesc does act mature…" Totorot spoke up.
"Outside of our group, she's the kind, understanding hero who helps everyone. We all know the real Aesc whose curses would put the dirtiest of mouths to shame." Grímr spoke as Aesc called her spear back to her hand, charging it up with mana and pointing it at Grímr.
"Ah, ah, ah." Grímr spoke flicking his fingers as Aesc's mana disappeared from her spear.
"No abusing your magecraft teacher, Aesc." He spoke as Aesc scowled.
How does he always shut off my magic?! Aesc thought in frustration as she got up and coughed.
"Well, anyways…we still have some way to go to #$%^&. But keep this quiet, you all."
"Of course, Lady Aesc." Wryneck spoke. It was for good reason. Ector had gained quite a reputation as a powerful warrior in Norwich, Wryneck had become the Lord of Oxford only years before the Summer War began. Totorot and Grímr had remained relatively unknown, but Aesc herself wasn't exactly at best of terms with the fairies right now.
Aesc frowned. She'd once hoped the Summer War would be enough to convince the fairies that she had no intention of taking their land and home from them as the Avalon Le Fae. That perhaps saving them from the invasion by Mab would be enough for them to accept her…
…But no. It was the same old story. Aesc would have to return to Orkney for her hibernation before another calamity struck Britain once again.
They are all ungrateful. They don't deserve a hero. She whispered in Aesc's mind.
N-No. They'll take time…they'll take time to come through. Aesc thought.
Do you really think so? She replied, before a bunch of voices appeared in Aesc's mind.
"Witch!"
"She only seeks to harm our his majesty Arthur!"
"She'll be the death of Camelot!"
Stop that. I know. Aesc thought.
All I'm saying is just give them time.
Really? Are you truly giving them time? Does your heart still believe in them?
Quiet.
"Listen to her later, Aesc." Grímr whispered in Aesc's ear. "We have a job to do."
Aesc jolted as he looked at Grímr smiling sweetly at her and looked back at the others.
"Let's keep moving." She spoke softly.
"Wryneck, could you tell us more about these 'Giants'?" Aesc spoke as they continued moving.
"According to my scouts, these Giants were former humans…who'd broken out of a ranch near #$%^& 2 months back."
"How did they get so big?" Totorot asked Wryneck.
"Mab. She'd sent some of her soldiers to Cornwall on a covert operation to resurrect the Great Sea Beast's corpse. They say a contingent of human knights stopped them, but not before the Northern Fairies activated it's mana-rich blood vessels."
Aesc shivered. The Great Sea Beast. Like Albion's corpse formed the Lake district, the Great Sea Beast's corpse formed the Cornish peninsula. Mab had intended to harness it's power to attack the southern parts of Britain while her forces were held up in the north. She'd called it…the Coinchenn in her tongue.
"The Coinchenn…as Mab called it, released huge amounts of mana from its body and spread to a human settlement nearby the spot where the ritual took place. Every single human's body increased 5 times in size and the 'Giants' were born. One of the giants led them to a breakout and escaped into the forest of Wales. Since then, they've been raiding Cornwall from the coast of Swansea."
"Intentions?"
"Freeing humans. Many human labourers have disappeared from #$%^&'s fields, and the Giants are responsible for it. The Giants take them away and release them into Mab's lands."
Aesc inhaled sharply.
"Doubt Mab will be looking for allies considering how hard you kicked her arse in the Summer War." Grímr spoke.
"But you can't deny the Giants would be interested in approaching her." Ector spoke. "Especially wither their king."
"Brân." Wryneck spoke. "Leader of the breakout from the ranch. He declared himself the king of the Giants soon after the escape and has many times sent messages to Mab in hopes of an alliance."
"Oh goodness, we just came out of the Summer war!" Totorot whined.
"Again, Mab has been refusing. It's only been 5 years, and she needs time to recover from both the costs the war has had upon her
"What's this Brân like?" Ector asked.
Wryneck frowned. "Quiet, but confident when he speaks, as my spies say. Powerful warrior too, supposedly having learnt magecraft at #$%^& before being sent to work at a nearby ranch. In all our encounters, fairy spells only got a little grunt out of him, and human magecraft did not affect him at all."
Aesc frowned.
"He's probably not like Mab." Grímr assured her. "I know your jaw still remembers Mab's kick, but she's special. I highly doubt even this King of the Giants is as resistant to magecraft as her."
…Maybe. Aesc thought, memories of the Summer war playing in her mind.
It had taken a toll on her. Not only the battles with Mab, her elite soldiers and her monstrous beasts, but also the sheer amount of brutality and lack of care her own side showed.
How many times had she reached to the Earth fairies to provide the army of the South with more enchanted weapons, only to be rejected and result in the Northern Fairies sacking Norwich?
How many times had she watched the Fang Clan soldiers, despite being Wryneck's, inflict brutality of untold scale upon the captured humans within the prisoner camps?
The Summer War…it eclipsed anything the Spring War had wrought. It had been so bad that it had convinced the fairies for the first time since the deaths of the great fairies that they needed to unite.
For her…the Summer war nearly saw her lose her friends as well as painfully fight Mab, someone who despite being the enemy, had been understanding of her burden.
"Avalon Le Fae…you really are fighting for the wrong fairies."
"You carry their hopes and dreams as well, don't you?"
"In another time…we would have been the greatest of friends."
Aesc sighed dejectedly.
She truly did not want another war…not after what the Summer War did to her mental health.
Peace must be forced, Aesc. If love and kindness do not work…use fear and power.
No…
You have far eclipsed them. You can end all wars in Britain if you only just…
STOP!
…One day, you will listen. You will know that I am right.
She then went silent.
"...esc! Aesc!" Aesc heard Ector yell out her name.
"W-What…oomph!" Aesc gagged as Ector slapped her back.
"Focus! Look!" He spoke as Aesc spotted a bunch of fir trees…
"Wait a minute…" Aesc spoke, blinking. Those weren't fir trees. Those were massive humanoids, standing about 10 metres tall, clad in scale-mail armor and holding massive spears with an iron tip.
"Well, there's our first giants." Totorot spoke.
"Bloody fairies!" One of the giants screamed.
"They're goin' ta kill us!" Another spoke.
"Get 'em!"
"And here I thought we had a chance for diplomacy..." Wryneck spoke somberly.
"Should we use lethal force?" Grímr spoke.
Think about a possible war, later, Aesc! Aesc thought before smiling.
"Not now. We'll use it if there's no choice. First let's rough them up a little and do some 'forced diplomacy'."
Ector laughed. "Finally! It's been days since you have been anything other than a wet sock, Aesc!"
"U-Uhm…let's just fight." Aesc spoke with flushed cheeks.
Aesc took a stance with her spear as water coiled around it's blade and her eyes glowed blue, Grímr lit up runes in the air around him as he twirled his staff with two spectral wolves appearing around him, Wryneck's expression went from a calm one to a fierce one as his greatsword lit up with blood-red flames, Ector brought out his golden axe and slammed it against the ground to send minor shockwaves and Totorot spun strings of wind from her spindle.
But before they could charge at the giants, Aesc spotted someone charging from the side.
They were human, clad in dirty iron armor and wielding a medium-length sword that looked a little worn out.
Aesc's eyes widened as the human charged straight towards the giants.
"Who the bloody hell…"
"Hey, hey!" Aesc called out in concern, but the human kept on charging.
One of the giants turned to him as the human swung their sword, cutting a deep gash in the giant's shin.
"Agh!" The Giant exclaimed falling to his knees before thrusting his spear at the human at surprising speeds. The human dodged the spear and jumped onto it and ran up to the giant's head, impaling it with his sword.
Aesc blinked as the giant fell back dead, before spotting another come up behind Jack.
"...!" Aesc turned her body into water vapours and quickly travelled towards the human knight.
Before the giant thrust his spear, Aesc reappeared beside the human knight, tackling them out of the way. The two of them rolled on the ground as the giant looked around in confusion.
"Who the…huh?!" The human knight exclaimed, staring at Aesc in shock as she got up.
"Are you mad, human?!" Aesc yelled at him. "Be more careful!"
"I am careful! Listen, they're pretty resistant to fae magecraft…"
"Don't worry. We'll handle them!"
"Will? Not Might?"
Aesc grinned. "Well, we can't really work on probability right now, can we?"
"Later!" Aesc spoke as the others arrived.
"HRAAAHHH!" Ector roared as he slammed down his axe with even greater force, shaking the ground more violently with his earth fairy magic as the giants found themselves off-balance. Totorot's wind strings and Grímr's runic chains wrapped around them to hold them in place.
Aesc met eyes with Wryneck as the two of them jumped towards the giants, Wryneck flying through the air with his wings as he slammed the flat side of his greatsword against the giants with enough force to knock them unconscious.
Aesc, on the other hand, created water mirrors around the heads of the giants and went through them, emerging with water forming around her legs into extremely hard coating as she hit the giants with spinning and axe kicks, as well as shooting water droplets that were tougher than iron crashing against the giant's faces.
Soon, the giants lay incapacitated, their faces swelling from Wryneck's sword bashes and Aesc's kicks while Aesc's group stood around them.
"Another win for us!" Totorot spoke jumping into the air.
"Thanks to Aesc being an unruly thug." Grímr spoke wrapping an arm around Aesc's shoulder as she smiled sheepishly.
"Grímr, maybe you could relax with the teasing.
"Oh, absolutely not, Aesc!" Grímr spoke laughing.
"We'll take them to $#$ for questioning. Gwyn would be eager to meet them." Wryneck spoke.
Aesc then turned to the human knight, who was looking at them from the side.
She walked up to him, the knight in turn regarding her with curiosity.
"Who are you?" Aesc asked.
The knight stared at her before puffing out their chest and resting his sword against his shoulder blade.
"Call me Jack."
Totorot perked up. "Hold on…Jack as in…Jack the Giant Killer?"
"Yes, indeed! I am the invincible Jack, the killer of Giants! Protector of Cornwall!"
Aesc exchanged a look with Wryneck.
"Uhhh…Who?"
Nameless Woods, 2019 EoHQ:
"Here we are." Puck spoke as he, Da Vinci, Anice and Artoria appeared in front of the nameless woods.
A drop of sweat fell down Artoria's forehead as she looked at the ominous shadows creating a void-like darkness beyond the trees.
The Nameless Woods. A Forest that had swallowed what was once of the clan capitals of Britain, shrouded in so much mystery that no one even remembers the name of the Old Wind Capital.
The Nameless woods stretches throughout most of Cornwall. I don't know how we're going to find Ritsuka within all of this. Artoria thought.
As if reading her mind, Da Vinci turned to her with a grin.
"Well, Helga showed us a neat trick for that!" She spoke. "You see, her people have this way of tracking a person's consciousness called a 'hugr' with a spell. Puck learnt a special spell from her to track Ritsuka's hugr."
"Uh, okay…hugr." Artoria muttered as Puck turned to her. "You can learn them later, now…"
Puck took a deep breath as he inscribed some weird rune shaped like an 'R' in the air.
"Hugr…Ritsuka…Meistarinn fylgjuna…"
"Uhhhh…" Artoria spoke. "That sounds a bit like Old Orknö…"
"Helga calls it a 'Kenning'. If you want to track a person's Hugr, you need a name and a Kenning that describes their deeds. And according to Helga, 'Meistarinn fylgjuna' roughly translates to 'master of spirit companions', which is the closest thing we could come up with for servants."
"Huh, does that mean I'm a maystarin filgoona?" Artoria asked excitedly.
"No, what you are is terrible at pronunciations." Puck replied back.
"Hey, I don't know this language!"
"Then why don't you learn it instead of sneaking off to stuff yourself with food!"
"...!" Artoria's cheeks turned red as Anice patted her back.
"Don't worry, Artoria. You'll improve, I'm sure. Ms Helga will help you out, won't she?" Anice asked with a smile as Artoria nodded.
"Y-Yeah, thanks."
Puck scoffed as he looked back at the rune which was glowing brighter.
Da Vinci looked at it. "Well, that's pretty impressive for your first try. You sure you haven't done this before?"
"Nope. Now before we enter." Puck placed his fingers against Da Vinci's temple, glowing green.
"There. Now for the rest of you…" Puck spoke putting his fingers against Anice's head as well.
Artoria waited, but Puck just turned around.
"Hey, you didn't do that for me!"
"What do you mean I didn't? I just did!" Puck spoke as Artoria blinked.
But he…put the spell on me… Artoria thought.
"Oh, I didn't realise."
"Great, now let's go."
As soon as they entered the forest, Artoria's surroundings became much darker as the shadows seemed to lengthen around them. Artoria's mind became a little fuzzy but nothing serious…
…And then she heard soft weeping.
"Eek!" Artoria jumped as she looked around, trying to see where the weeping came from, but it seemed as if it came from all around her.
"Artoria?" Anice asked in concern as Artoria looked at her.
"Y-You can't hear it?"
"Hear what?" She asked as Da Vinci and Puck looked around to frown at her.
She can't hear the weeping… Artoria thought. Were the Nameless Woods already driving her insane?
With the weeping softly echoing in her ears, Artoria followed the others as they light of the rune guided them through the forests. Sometimes Artoria would see glowing stick-like figures of yellow light with two arms zipping between trees, curiously floating out to observe them before going back in.
"Will O' the Wisps." Puck spoke. "Be careful, they can try and remove my spell to help the Woods erase your memories."
"They don't seem to be getting close." Anice spoke.
"The Rune. They're probably thinking it's one of their own leading us astray." Puck spoke.
"So they're harmless?" Anice asked.
"No. Maintain too much eye contact…" Puck spoke glancing at Artoria with a grin. "...And they'll think the Rune isn't working and will come over to wipe our memories themselves."
Artoria shivered as they kept on walking. Soon, Puck began cracking jokes to lighten the mood as they went on.
"You know…this place is full of pixies. They love stealing blonde hair." Puck spoke as Artoria's hand went to her hair in concern.
That only made Puck smile wider. "And they love stealing from girls with twin tails."
"P-Puck…stop scaring me…" Artoria spoke as she looked around her in a little fear.
"Aw…is the Savior of Britain scared of Pixies?" Puck asked as the others giggled while Artoria fumed.
"Grmph…grrr…" She grumbled as she walked in front of Puck.
"I'll lead you all then! I'll be at the fro-AAAHHHHHH!" Artoria screamed as the rune lit up a wooden face smiling at her.
Artoria threw up the Staff of Selection in the air in terror before realising what she'd done and caught it, fumbling with it before she jumped back and charged up a spell.
"Hold on there, little miss!" The wooden face suddenly exclaimed. "I didn't mean to scare ye!"
Artoria lowered her staff as she looked at the wooden face. "S-Spriggans?"
In the rune's light, more wooden faces appeared from within the trees.
"Gah, I can't see. Why do my eyes feel like they're burning?" One of the Spriggans groaned.
Da Vinci looked at the rune. "I think a little light isn't doing them much good."
"A little what?" one of the spriggans spoke.
Anice tilted her head. "Light."
"...Light. So that's what's burning our eyes." Another spriggan spoke with their eyes shut.
"Do you not know what light is?" Artoria asked.
"Well, if you call that horror 'light', then we suppose yes. Ever since we were little saplings, we've lived in the comfort of the woods. This 'light', we used to think it was nothing but a fancy little joke the Pixies came up with, hehehe…" The Spriggan who scared Artoria spoke chuckling.
Artoria stared at the Spriggans. "Y-You've lived in this darkness all your lives?"
"Darkness? What's that?"
"..."
Artoria felt her gut twist a bit. She was aware of the fairies that dwelled in the forests. But the Nameless Woods were a dark place devoid of light. To think these Spriggans had lived like this all their lives, unable to distinguish light from darkness…
"What about the Will o' the Wisps?"
"Those phantoms? They're annoying critters, I tell ye! Always buzzing around our trees and disturbing our naps! Worst is that we can't even see them so their blasted sound is all that we hear!" A gruff spriggan growled.
Da Vinci and Artoria exchanged looks.
"Um, do you remember your lives?" Da Vinci asked.
"Ohhhh…I see. Ye're asking about these woods' little trick, eh? Nay, we don't really feel a thing. We do get a good laugh out of the outsiders though. Oh, ye should see their expressions when the woods get to them!" The Spriggan spoke laughing.
Anice gulped.
"Anyways, have you seen a red-haired girl?" Da Vinci asked as the Spriggan tilted his head.
"Girl, ye'll have to be more specific."
"Uh…" Da Vinci pulled out a picture of Ritsuka from her pocket.
The Spriggan squinted his eyes as his hand stretched out from the bark of the tree and grabbed the picture.
"Oi, isn't that the redhead we saw with the ghost knight a few days back?" A spriggan beside him asked.
"Yes, yes…I do remember the ghost having his eyes closed and the girl's little black dress."
"She had that same confused expression as well!" A spriggan spoke laughing.
"Do you know where they went?"
"Well…that's the kicker. They've gone to the Old Wind Capital." The Spriggan spoke.
Puck sighed. "Ah, now that's bad."
"It is?" Da Vinci asked.
"The little wind fairy's right, ghost girl." The Spriggan spoke. "The Wind Capital is a bit of a spooky little place. All sorts of nasty creatures living there, not to mention the Chosen Knight and their blade waiting to cut ye into little pieces."
"The Chosen Knight?"
"That's what all those folks from Camulos…"
"Camulos?"
"Oh sorry, I forgot it's called Camelot in this day and age. That's what all those folks at Camelot call them. Say they they were 'chosen' for something by the bloody High Queen herself."
Morgan?! Artoria thought in surprise.
"For what?"
"We don't know. Just a rumor. Besides, we don't really talk about the old forgotten capital here. Bad luck."
"You seem to be really relaxed about it." Da Vinci spoke.
"Well…that's how it is with us Spriggans. We're a positive bunch. We don't really feel sadness or anxiety about anything. We've cried out all our tears already."
"Cried out your tears?"
"Oh, ho, ho! It's quite a funny thing, ye know! We always have this odd little dream of crying out red tears, wobbling around like drunkards before we wake up to the same old thing - our neighbour's ugly face." The Spriggan spoke as the others burst into laughter.
"Red tears?" Artoria asked.
"Red tears, yes. And here the Pixies said tears are supposed to be like water! I suppose red tears exist as well."
"I-I see. Thank you." She spoke.
"Of course, of course, you can thank us once you become a part of the forest as well." The Spriggan spoke as Artoria gave it a slightly terrified look.
The Spriggan's then melted back into their trees.
"...Let's ignore that last statement and move on." Anice spoke.
Da Vinci nodded. Artoria looked at the trees one last time.
The Spriggans. Cheerful creatures, but with a disturbing story behind them. Ector had said that even though they were peaceful, the Spriggans were the most terrifying part of the nameless woods.
"They're a constant reminder of the tragedy that befell the Old Wind Capital, as well as a foreboding of your fate should you stumble upon the Wind Capital. Even if you manage to enter the nameless woods, you can find your way out with a lot of difficulty. But the Wind Capital? Oh, mess up badly and there's no coming back."
"If Ritsuka went to the Wind Capital…that's bad." Puck spoke.
"From all that I've heard, yes. But again, Ritsuka has survived much worse. I highly doubt she has spent much time in the Wind Capital, considering how big the Nameless Woods are." Da Vinci spoke.
Puck nodded. "If you say so, Duhbinci."
Da Vinci gave him an evil eye as Puck smirked slightly before the group continued forward.
Artoria noticed Anice walk up beside her, as an awkward silence set in.
Does she want to talk? Artoria thought in confusion as both she and Anice contemplated striking a conversation, but being too shy to speak out.
The awkward silence continued until Artoria decided she would take the initiative.
"Anice?" She called as Anice looked at her.
"Yes, Artoria?"
"What happened to you before you met Boggart?" Artoria asked.
"Well…I met him as soon as I came to Sheffield. Before that…I travelled with three changeling brothers - Rob, Wag and Winky."
"Huh, and where are they now?"
"Well, I still see them around in Sheffield, so…I guess they're all settled?" Anice spoke with a smile.
"How are they, by the way?"
"Oh they're just gentlemen! Apparently, they found me asleep just about a few kilometres away from the Nameless Woods and took me in. I saved them from Black Dogs and we'd become friends ever since."
"So, you woke up on a nice green field?" Artoria asked with a frown.
And then there's me, having to escape with Kay from Tintagel as Woodwose obliterated it with incinerators. Artoria thought. Anice's looked a lot more peaceful compared to what she had to face in the beginning.
Speaking of Kay, Artoria did wonder how her servant was faring in Gloucester. With Murian's wacky rules, She hoped Kay didn't get into trouble.
"You're concerned for Sir Kay, aren't you?" Anice asked.
"A little." Artoria replied.
"A little? You must be confident about him."
Artoria smiled softly. "I most definitely am! He's just…ugh, he's just like one of those heroic knights from Clammer's folk tales. He may be a bit of a jerk, but he's the strongest and smartest person I've seen…"
A strong servant with a useless master. A part of her mind whispered.
Artoria shook her head. "...Yeah, he's just great. Have you ever had a companion, Anice?"
"Well, Rob, Wag and Winky did say I had a 'guardian angel' of sorts."
"A guardian angel? What're they called?"
"Oh, they're not human. Rob said they were a white wolf?"
"A White Wolf?" Artoria spoke.
Puck stopped.
"...A white wolf." He spoke, his relaxed expression going completely serious as he looked at Anice.
"Y-Yes?"
"...Tell me more about this white wolf."
"U-Uhm…"
Artoria suddenly heard distorted barking as black dogs emerged out of the shadows, their rotting blue mana lighting up the darkness.
Puck immediately threw three knives at blinding speeds, impaling the black dogs, while Da Vinci fired off her gauntlet, which shot forward to smash into the jaws of the black dogs.
Some of the black dogs slipped into the shadows to dodge Da Vinci's gauntlet and reappeared to attack Artoria, who charged her leg with mana and kicked one away before sweeping her staff to smack another away.
"Artoria!" Artoria heard Anice call out as she bumped a black dog towards her. Artoria summoned a disc and cut it in half.
Artoria then created balls of mana in her hand and threw them like bombs around Anice. Artoria then shot a bolt of mana as the mana balls exploded killing a bunch of black dogs and allowing Anice to get into a better position.
"Thanks!" Anice spoke before using her Shield's cross-like blade to cut down a black dog.
"Don't mention it." Artoria spoke before winding up her staff and swinging it upwards, slamming into a black dog and launched into the air before Anice jumped up and slammed it to the ground with her shield.
Artoria and Anice exchanged a look before high-fiving each other with two grins on their faces as the black dog dissolved.
"We need to run!" Puck spoke as he stabbed his knives into the ground, sending up sharp vines that impaled a bunch of black dogs.
The rune started dashing forward as Artoria and the others followed suit, Da Vinci's gauntlet holding off the black dogs by slamming into them. Some of the Black Dogs sprang out of the group's shadows to attack, but Puck seemed to predict that as he cut them down as soon as they emerged.
Artoria saw flashes of yellow light as the Will O' the Wisps joined the chase as well, curiously floating by the side as they observed the chase unfold in front of them.
"How do we get them off us?" Anice spoke.
"The Wind capital. We'll have a better time fending them off than in these cramped up woods." Puck spoke, as their surroundings started getting a little bit lighter as the dense forestry began giving way to trees being spaced more widely.
"Almost there…!" Puck spoke as they kept on running, but then Artoria tripped over a stone and twisted her ankle.
"AGH!" Artoria screamed as she fell to the ground, burning hot pain stinging her leg for a moment as she turned around to see the jaws of a black dog heading for her.
Artoria's eyes widened before closing in fright, as she stretched out her hand. Black and blue flames shot out again, darting around with a mind of it's own as it burnt down the black dog and two more.
"...!" Puck immediately rushed to her side and pressed his hand against Artoria's stomach as Artoria's world span around in delirium, before clearing as Puck quickly cleared away the corrupted substance within her body.
The other black dogs attempted to lunge at them, before a bright light shined in Artoria's eyes, driving away the black dogs away from Artoria.
Artoria blinked rapidly, looking back to noticed…
"A pumpkin?" Artoria spoke as she looked at clearly a pumpkin floating in the air, with triangular eyes and a smile carved into it, inside was a bright yellow light just like the Will O' the Wisps.
"..."
"..."
"...Are you alright, miss?" The Pumpkin spoke floating over to Artoria as Puck helped her up.
Artoria limped on her leg as Da Vinci walked up and examined her leg.
"I-I am. Thanks."
"Don't mention it. It's been a long time since I met people safe from the Nameless Woods' effects." The Pumpkin spoke in a deep but soft voice, filled with melancholy.
"Thank Puck for that." Artoria spoke as the Pumpkin turned to Puck.
"I see. But even then…I do hope you are not going where I think you are going."
"We're looking for a friend of ours. A red-headed girl with a red-headed man in armor. The Spriggans said they came in this direction."
"Hm. The Spriggans, you say? Those are a talkative bunch, but they're rarely dishonest. If they saw your friend go this direction, then they are right."
"Did you see her?"
"No, I did not. But I am not All-seeing, so they must have slipped from my sight."
Da Vinci looked at the rune. "It's still pointing towards this direction."
"...Are you sure? You must be aware what lies ahead of you?"
Artoria frowned. "But we cant just abandon our friend. Not when she's alive?"
"Really? Certainty, not probability? There are many things within the city that can kill you quickly."
"We can't afford to think she's dead. Besides, even if I don't know her well, she's strong enough to survive."
"...He. What a curious response. But oh well, if you say so. Follow me." The Pumpkin spoke as it floated forward.
"Excuse me, but we didn't catch your name." Anice spoke.
The Pumpkin slowly turned around.
"Right…my name. Just call me…Jack. And…"
The group came out into a massive clearing with humungous trees creating a canopy over it, allowing a lot of light to shine through as opposed to the darkness of the woods.
Underneath the canopy…was a city that seemed to stretch on into the horizon, with architecture similar but even grander than Salisbury's. Four extremely tall windmills could be seen poking out in the background.
"Welcome to the City of Gwyn."
A/N: It's been a neverending cycle of posting one chapter and then becoming a lazy bum afterwards. This time, I won't promise a consistent update, but I'll do what I can to get chapters out. My semester's about to end, so I'll be slow a bit longer. But after that, I'll make the effort to get back into the flow again, especially when I have a winter school with Oxford coming up. I'd hoped writing the Oxford segments of the story while I am at Oxford university just for a bit of satisfaction, but with me slacking off, that's not going to happen. Shame.
Interesting thing is that what brought me back was a reddit post. I saw it only a few days back, but seeing that someone is recommending one of my fanfics somewhere just...really felt good and rejuvenating. So, nerdlion290 (Sorry if I got that wrong), thanks for the recommendation.
Now, while Aesc/Morgan is my favourite character within LB6, it's mostly because of her backstory at the time of her death rather than her handling throughout the story. I'm sorry, but in all honesty, I did not feel like the writing behind Aesc/Morgan was very good up until her death. It's not that her characterization is stupid, it's just...the execution is wobbly. I guess its more to do with a pretty important gap in Aesc's story: How did Aesc exactly handle having Morgan's memories? How did she become like Morgan? I feel like the relationship between Aesc and Morgan was an important detail that should have been explored further. All in all, Aesc became a victim of one of LB6's biggest flaws - It's narrative being a mixture of it's old storyline and it's new one. Sorry Oberon fans, but I think Nasu's decision to write him and the calamities in really had an adverse effect on the old storyline with Morgan as the big bad.
But anyways, I decided to include more Aesc flashbacks to mirror her journey with Artoria's in response to my disappointment with Nasu's handling of Morgan in LB6. And with that, we head to the Wind Capital, since Cornish folklore deserves a bit more exposure.
Hope you guys enjoyed and constructive criticism is appreciated!
P.S. : Happy Diwali to everyone! I'm sitting on my dad's work desk in a kurta writing down this A/N as the sound of fireworks bursting is coming from outside. It's the Festival of light and hope, so stay positive everyone.
Foot Notes:
Gwyn: One of the six great fairies and the lord of the wind clan. Gwyn was the last surviving Great Fairy until his death in 1990 FE. A human knight was blamed, but some believe the real killer was someone else.
The Coinchenn: A great beast that retreated to the depths of the seas in the time of Sefar's desolation of the Planet. With Cernunnos' death and the creation of Britain, the Coinchenn was killed and washed up on towards the southwestern edge of Britain to become the Land of Cornwall. Later expeditions to study the Coinchenn's corpse, indicate a spear wound to its heart, but no other clue has ever been found.
The Spriggans: Husks of wood who used to be the people of the Wind Capital. After the calamity of tears, the bodies of the fairies became the Nameless woods, and their bodies reawakened in 1990 FE to form the Spriggans, husks of wood who can no longer remember their past lives except for vivid dreams of the Calamity of Tears. These dreams may be a secreet yearning to regain their souls. Having lived in the darkness of the woods for so long, they have forgotten the concepts of 'light' and 'darkness'.
Will O' The Wisps: Phantoms of yellow light, the missing souls of the Spriggans that haunt the woods, acting under the Nameless Woods' domain to wipe the memories of lost travelers.
Clammer's Folk tales: John Clammer, A human from Gloucester who lived around 1651 EoHQ, wrote a bunch of stories to entertain young children in the human ranches. Unfortunately, Clammer's stories attracted jealousy from his fairy masters and the poor man was poisoned in a Faerium Ball in 1657 EoHQ.
Jack the Giant Killer: ...
Response to Reviews:
Axel The Moon: That's fine. Let's see if you got it right.
Pelican117: What can I say? I just love Norse mythology. It's just like Nasu's boner for High Middle Arthurian lore. As for the Celtic elements, I can only do it in the places where they are heavily present. Blame Nasu for making LB6 that way. It's not the 'British Lostbelt', it's the 'Nasu's Fairy Fanfiction' lostbelt, so celtic elements are difficult to do in this story.
Guest: Yeah, I saw it. They're called 'NICK HURR'. Besides, I cared very little for his insults before and I doubt I'll care any more than I did when they say them now as NICK HURR.