The Flower of King and Knights

The Black Site

The trees were marked in black scratches along the trunks as the group neared Morgan's unholy site. Ector was unsettled by what seemed to be nature itself in fear. Kay patted the boy on his shoulder. "It's all right son. These woods have seen worse, they're just a little on edge is all."

"I hope your right Kay. If this is the signs of what Morgan can do, I don't want to know what her limits are."

"Be ready for the worst." The knight's face showed the stark reality of Ector's new world. "King Arthur's few faults was rarely seeing the darker side of human nature."

Merlin examined the site of Mordred's resurrection carefully. "My God," the mage said to himself, "She even sacrificed the men who helped in the ritual." Merlin noticed a sharp insert into the ground. He placed his fingers along the edge. The tip of something sharp, something to anchor Mordred’s body for his soul to find. Oh God no, she didn’t! he thought to himself.

Ector could see the fire mark on the ground and where the men had grabbed the earth in their futile attempts to avoid their fiery demise. The ashy center of the extinguished pyre reeked with a vile scent that repulsed everyone. Merlin took a whiff of the ash and was in a state of careful concentration.

Kay looked around to the other smaller fire pits when he shouted. "You! Show yourself!" He bolted after a creature running away from him. Ector followed suit and Bedivere was close behind. Merlin shook his head and casually followed his companions.

As the knight charged after his prey, he felt a new sense of youth through his whole body. The years slowly crept up to him, and only through the hunt of a new foe did he feel like his young self again. As the trees rushed past him he lunged at the man ahead of him as soon as he was in reach.

The man fell with a thud as Kay tackled him. The knight pulled out a small knife, "Let me see those hands lad if you want to keep your head."

The boy, the same age as Ector, quickly showed his hands to the knight. The boy was trembling, "If you're going to kill me, do it quickly."

Kay immediately began laughing as he turned to Bedivere, "Hey look at this! The boy thinks he's ready for death." He sheathed the knife as he spoke to the boy. "Listen son, when you've seen death the same way we have, then you can talk of death with such 'cool' manners."

"Why were you following us?" asked Merlin. He was behind the boy, startling him.

"How did you get back there?" the boy asked.

Bedivere said coolly, "Don't ask, it's just best to leave things like that alone."

 "Well, I saw you leave the city, and, well, I followed you," the boy replied.

Ector was confused by the boy's response. "Wait, Merlin, I thought you said the whole city was effected by Morgan's spell?"

"I wasn't in the city last night. I was coming back from the coast with some supplies for my family's shop when I found the city."

Ector felt his heart sank as the boy spoke. "Were you able to find your family?"

The young man looked away from Ector as tears formed. "I found them in their beds. I once had a wife and three beautiful children. Now I have nothing."

"What's your name son," asked Kay.

"It's Ulrich, my father arrived here after our lord Meccus was slain back in the Rhineland."

Ector's eyes bulged as he turned to Kay and Bedivere. The two men looked as if they would tear Ulrich apart, limb from limb. "You're a Saxon?" Bedivere hissed.

"Yes," Ulrich answered, slowly backing away from the two massive knights.

"Oh, let me at this little bastard!" Kay began unsheathing his sword as Ector stopped him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting rid of a Saxon bastard, I think that explains itself quite nicely."

"He's an unarmed man!"

"So was Lamorak when thirty of these things attacked him. And he still killed them all."

"Bu, wha,...You’re Saxon!"

"By blood, I wasn’t actually from there."

"You're a loony!"

"Listen, kid, you didn’t spend most of your lifetime fighting these bastards. You didn't lose good friends because these guys saw this land as real estate. This boy..."

"Is a boy!" argued Ector, "He wasn't a part of that generation. Hell he just lost his family to that whore Morgan. And you want to take his head off."

"I'm simply going to ease his suffering."

"Like hell you are. Put the sword back."

Kay found the order difficult to follow.

"Put, the sword, back, into, the sheath. That’s an order from your king!"

Kay sheathed the sword, but he still looked at Ulrich with malicious intent. Merlin who had enjoyed the little banter walked up to young Ulrich. "So my boy, what exactly were you planning on doing to two knights, a wizard, and the heir to the house of Pendragon?"

Ulrich was shaking as if he was having a panic attack. Ector walked up and repeated the question. "I don't know, I...wasn't thinking."

"An honest answer, and humble one at that," replied the wizard.

"Great, so now what do we do?" asked Bedivere.

"Simple, we return home to consider our next move. See with whom we can ally ourselves and more importantly whom we should avoid."

"I know some of the knights have joined monasteries, others were still living in Gaul and Lancelot’s domain after the war between him and Arthur, and others I know little of their fates," said Kay, "I think any still living would be eager to take up and the sword for their king once more."

"Don't force them into it," Ector said. "I don't feel comfortable with making them return to this occupation after...well, you know."

"No need to worry, my liege. It won't take much to convince them to return to the fray."

Merlin ended the discussion between all. "Then it's settled. We ride to Camelot! And then we may get something to eat. I'm famished."

"What about the Ulrich? Is he coming with us?"

Ector shrugged, “I don’t see why not.”

Merlin turned to the young man. "Coming?"

Ulrich nervously shrugged and joined the company.