Stand Tall

Part Sixteen: Her and She

Chaos engulfed the great hall. Waves of soldiers rushed against the great She, but most went down in vain. They didn't stand a chance. Dane and Brit alike hurled themselves against Her bony talons, only to be slashed to the cold stone floor. The small band of warriors grew weary, hesitating to carry out their orders. Merlin froze. From the original din had arisen an even more deafening silence, and Grendel's mother took advantage of their collective pause. Her sea-colored irises flared a violent shade of autumn-leaf-orange, and the soldiers were thrown to the wall, crumpling out of consciousness. Only one remained, standing tall at the room's center.

"Leave them alone. This is between you and me," Braith spoke confidently.

"Du lyder som præcis din far," (You sound exactly like your father) the She thing laughed.

"One final question," the lady of Dane dared ask. "Are you my mother?"

The She smiled, showing off far too many teeth, but when She spoke this time, the young warlock could understand too. "Your mother... was a fool." With another angry flare of Her magic, Merlin was sent across the hall as if thrown by a giant animal. "Det er, hvordan du ønsker at spille? Så må det være." (That's how you want to play? So be it.) the creature growled, back to Danish, and Her body began to shift. To change. To grow. Within seconds, Braith was staring down a dragon, twice as tall as her and shining a brilliant gold. She came at the girl with as slash of Her metallic claws. Sword iron cracked as the blade made contact. Merlin watched helplessly from where he'd landed at Arthur's feet on the sidelines. Braith had no time to advance - only to defend against the monster's frequent lashings out. Not long after the first blow, the Dane girl's sword splintered off it's hilt. Grendel's mother grinned in triumph with Her dragon fangs, and shoved the Dane to the ground.

"No," Braith whispered, so low not a soul could hear.

"Enhver sidste ord?" (Any last words?) the She thing asked with Her mind, pinning Braith under a giant gold foot. The girl's mind reeled trying to think of an escape plan. She didn't have one. This made her think about death, and death made her think of her own, and her own death made her think of Merlin, who in turn made her think of heartbreak. Aha! Break! She'd thought of her last word.

"Byrde," the Dane said in her home tongue, magic flooding her senses. The grin on the She's face melted into shock. Snap! The creature's claws that held Braith cracked and splintered, causing the monster to rear back in pain. A scream like a thousand boiling kettles woke some of the unconscious knights, who were shocked to see the creature before them. Braith leaped to her feet, grabbing a shard of the broken sword. The girl was heedless of the edge that cut her palm. All she saw was the creature's mortality, the strange golden blood that seeped from where Her claws had been. Grendel's mother knew the little girl had weakened Her, and was becoming increasingly desperate. Broken blood vessels gave Her eyes an eerie metallic sheen, pure insanity radiating from the convulsing pupils. Every warrior and King She'd fought had given up by this point. They would be dead under Her claws - anyone would be. Except the girl had to have been a magician. Took one to know one, after all.

A searing pain interrupted the creature's confusion, as the shard of sword was thrown at Her neck. But the aim had been incorrect, missing Her jugular by inches, it barely slicing the skin.

And She knew she had to do something. While Braith paused to assess the damage done to her hand, the She thing acted. Her dragon skull slammed into the Dane girl, knocking her down, and back a few feet, skidding until she was a mere stone's throw from the others. The great She lunged, a cat-like leap perfectly positioned to put her maw over the girl's head.

But Merlin's instincts kicked in, and it was as if it was all happening in slow motion. He grabbed Excalibur from the bewildered Prince's hand, and didn't stop to think.