Child of Time: The Pendragon Line

Part 12: Steel on Steel

Tightening the grip on his hilt I turned towards the stairs and the heavy iron door. Watching each of my footfalls carefully I made my way up the short stone stairs and continued to silently peek into the next room. On the other side of the door was a large receiving room of stone. A burgundy and gold rug, the colours of Pendragon, was strewn across the room. A golden throne of magnificent proportions took on the far end; on the other was a large oak double door with two burly guards on either side.

They leaned against the wall picking at their nails with the tips of their swords and wearing nothing but cotton clothing fit for a peasant. Not like the full armour that the guards of Camelot wear, there was little no concern of attack on these men's faces.

Le Fay wasn't known for its riches and word of Morganas evil experiments with magic traveled far. Not too many people were eager to step foot in this dark, depressing castle. I could use this to my advantage.

Quickly I pushed open the door, surprising the two guards into a ready stance. Calmly I walked into the large cold room.

"My lords" I smiled, "There is hot stew simmering in the kitchen, please help yourself."

The guards smiled wide toothless grins to me as I held the door open for them to pass through the kitchen corridor.
"Oh, would you have happened to see the Lady Morgana recently? I would like to offer her, her nightly snack but no one knows where she has gone. She barely ate anything at all during dinner."

One of the guards waved his hand casually towards a long pair of stairs.

"She is in the old tower with one of her experiments. " He said hoarsely, eyeing the damp darkness leading towards the kitchen. "You think they would put some more torches down here those silly drudges."

"Old tower?" I asked innocently.

"Aye," he answered. "Not venture of there, if I were you I would stay far away if you value your life. One of our younger guards accompanied milady up there not two days ago and he haven't seen nor heard from him since."

"All the same, I would appreciate assistance finding it"

The guard raised a quizzical eyebrow and began to look me over more closely.

I chose my words carefully and composed myself into what I hoped was a grimace.

"I haven't been exactly on the queens good side recently...any opportunity..." I answered with a shrug, staring the man straight in the eyes as honestly as possible.

He smiled calmly and I let out an inner sigh of relief.

"I understand. We've all been there. The queen can be a hard woman to please." His companion nodded and waved his fellow guard forward down the stairs, eager for a hot bowl of stew.

"Go up the stairs and left through the bedchamber corridor. Hold to the perimeter straight down two turns and then move right and remain forward until you come to one of the old battlements and turn left and then straight until you come to a small nub of an entrance into a cramped winding stairway. At the top you'll find the entrance to the tower. I wish you luck and hope that you don't die."

"Although yer probably will" The other guard muttered under his breath, leading the way towards the kitchen.

I closed the door behind them and made my way towards the staircase, repeating his directions under my breath with each step.

After a few hours of wandering I began to become familiar with the layout of the castle. Too many wrong turns had taken me on a whole new adventure and I could feel the stressful urgency of time push itself into my torso.

The halls were barren and I soon realized that I was wondering through a path that was rarely used by the inhabitants of Le Fay.

It was like a shining miracle when I came to what must be what the guard has referred to as "the old battlement", which was nothing more than a small balcony with aged and broken cannon. With closer inspection I saw that in some places it had completely rusted through.

Picking up speed I jogged through the dark hallways. After a while I began to notice that there were no longer any windows to provide me with a view of the outside world. I must be venturing into the very center of the upper half of the castle.

My heart leaped when I came to what some may perceive as a dead end. In the very corner of the wall was an open passage way leading to a narrow flight of stairs.

I could feel adrenaline pulse through my veins as I began to climb, praying that I wasn't too late and I got a long needed view through a window at the position of the moon.

Archer's P.O.V

My ears were ringing and my vision blurred but I was alive. The grinning face of Morgana stared down at me. I had...or should I say was losing A LOT of blood. None of that seemed to matter, the pain of what she was doing to me was slowly slipping away along with any coherent or conscious thought.

I imagined I was back home, buying coffee from Aaron and joking around about my addiction to caffeine and expensive coffee bars.

I drifted back to where I lives and where I worked, how much I enjoyed helping people and I even thought about the stupid geese that chased me around the building as I tried to shoo them from the public entrance of the gallery.

How much I loved to walk through the park on my way home as the sun set over the lake.

The lake...that's where all this horribleness started and where I first saw Merlin and his dagger, or should I say...key?

A key that has now apparently opened its lock which according to Morgana was me.

Is this what this is? This glowing light, these strange writings? Morgana had said, "The key knows the lock in which it belongs"...it knows...

From some far off place I could hear a loud crash and muffled voices.

Slowly I began to awaken from whatever inner thoughts I had escaped too. I could feel the sudden withdrawal of Morganas talon-like fingers from my chest and felt cool night air rush into my wound.

Through my blood stained thin, night gown I could see the soft glow of the now calm swirling symbols, it was as though now that Morgana's magical influence was withdrawn that they were etching themselves permanently into my flesh.

As I further gained composure I became more aware of the battle raging around me.

"JEFFREY END HIS MISERABLE LIFE" Morgana scream echoed along the stone.

The reverberation of steel against steel rang out like a church bell.