Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

Excalibur [2]

Standing on the edge of the tournament grounds beside Gaius and Merlin, Arwen looked on along with the crowd. Two knights stood before the King. Sir Owain adorned in the red colours of Camelot while the unfamiliar Knight looked as black as the midnight sky. Arthur remained beside Owain, most likely whispering advice into his ear before stepping back and calling out the rules.

"The fight shall be to the knight's rules! To the death!" The Prince announced to the crowd before moving over to take his seat in the stands beside his father. While he did, Sir Owain and the Black Knight took their weapons, bracing themselves for the beginning of the fight. And so Arthur called for it: "Let the battle commence!"

The Black Knight attacked as soon as the words were spoken, his sword instantly clashing with Owain's shield, the sound resonating through the grounds. In the beginning, his blows were endless, Owain on a constant defence, rarely managing to send a blow of his own and even when he did, the Knight dodged it with ease.

Arwen flinched back as yet another blow from the Black Knight hit Owain's shield, the force of it bringing Owain to stumble back as he almost lost his footing. But luckily he managed to recover in time, continuing to defend himself from the Black Knight's merciless blows. Finally there was a small pause in his attacks, giving Owain a chance to go in for a blow of his own. But as if he had seen it coming, the Black Knight skilfully parried the blow while with his foot he pushed against Owain's shield, this time successfully knocking him to the floor.

"Get up, get up..." Arwen's hands clutched onto Merlin's arm as she watched. Jumping in relief as he did and the fight continued on.

"One well aimed blow!" Arwen could hear Arthur's loud voice guiding his knight as Owain was brought to his knees by the strength of the Black Knight's sword smashing against his shield. And Owain listened.

"Yes!" Merlin exclaimed happily, a large smile appearing on Arwen's face as they saw Owain's blade pierce through the Black Knight's stomach.

But nothing happened...

The Black Knight merely spun his sword in his hands, completely unaffected by the stab as if it never happened. And using Owain's surprise, the Black Knight continued his assault, harder and more brutal than ever.

"No, no, no..." Arwen whispered in worry as she watched the Black Knight bring Owain to the ground, hitting his head with enough force to throw his helmet off and surely knock him out. He raised his sword high into the air, and Arwen couldn't watch. She buried her head in Merlin's shoulder, unable to keep her eyes on the Black Knight as he brought the sword down, piercing through Owain's heart and killing him on the spot. The reaction of the crowd echoed through the training grounds, plunging it into silence right after. Owain was dead.

The sound of footsteps against the gravel made Arwen look back to the Black Knight as he came to stand before the King and Prince once more.

"Who will take up my challenge?" The Knight asked and threw down the gauntlet to the ground before the royals' seats. Arthur stood from his seat in determination, ready to accept the challenge, however Uther taking hold of him before he could have done so gave another knight the chance to do so himself.

"I, Sir Pellinor, take up the challenge."

"So be it." The Black Knight's deep voice sounded, and the challenge was sealed. With nothing more left to say, he picked up his sword and made his way from the training grounds.

As he walked towards them, Arwen found her eyes looking down to his stomach. And even though the colour of his tunic would have made it hard to distinguish whether there was any blood, Arwen was experienced enough to see there was none. There was no sign of him being stabbed.