Legend

XX

Merlin covered the dead Watcher’s face with a piece of cloth, not able to bear the grimace of pain frozen on it and the eyes that seemed to be accusing the sorcerer. He looked up at the remaining Watchers, half of them wounded in the ambush.

The Grail had been taken by the attackers. Mordred’s men.

He had failed.

True dawn came with the sun. Gawain made sure he was close to Arthur as the king’s forces moved into the swamp. The terrain was not practical for deployment on horses, so they were left at the edge. Water rose up to Gawain’s midcalf as they advanced. As he had predicted, the swamp made moving as a single unit impossible. The king’s army was broken into smaller and smaller segments the further they went into the dense vegetation. Visibility was limited to ten or fifteen meters.

The sound of metal on metal echoed through the swamp from the right. Gawain drew his sword and kept his eye on the king as they continued to move forward toward the enemy.

Morgana saw the Guides arrive at Mordred’s tent with an object covered in a white wrap and she knew immediately what it was — there was no mistaking the outline under the cloth. Gawain was supposed to have retrieved the Grail from Merlin — obviously that plan had failed.

Two Guides remained on guard at the entrance to the tent as Mordred exited. There was already the sound of battle coming out of the swamp — Mordred had sent a skirmish line into it just before dawn.

Morgana decided to follow Mordred, since she didn’t expect the Grail to be moved anytime soon. She headed west and was soon swallowed up in the dense vegetation.

Gawain ducked under the swinging ax and drove the point of his sword into the man’s stomach with such force that the man was lifted off his feet for a moment. Twisting the handle, Gawain finished gutting the man, and then pulled the sword out, letting the unarmored peasant collapse to the ground.

So far all they had encountered were these peasants, who had obviously been given weapons and sent forward to die. A crude but effective way to further disrupt the advance of Arthur’s army. A pair of knights came lumbering toward Gawain, blue scarves tied around their right upper arms, indicating they were Mordred’s men.

With his shield, Gawain parried the strike from the man on the left and with his sword blocked the thrust from the one on the right. The force of the simultaneous blows staggered Gawain back a step, water splashing around his legs. He made an instant decision and charged, shield out, toward the man on the left, bowling him over, then spinning toward the other, sword blocking the blow that came toward him. With one foot on the chest of the man he had knocked over, pinninghim down in combination with the heavy armor, Gawain battled the second knight as the first one slowly drowned.

Gawain easily blocked the knight’s attack and battered the man with blows on his helmet until one blow knocked him unconscious. The second knight toppled over into the shallow water, to drown alongside the first.

Gawain looked up and realized that he had lost contact with Arthur during the engagement. He could hear the sound of heavy fighting all around. Cursing, Gawain splashed forward, in the direction he had last seen Arthur heading.

The Ones Who Wait carried the wounded Airlia back into the lake, toward the underwater entrance to their lair. While the top part of the base had been destroyed so many years ago when the Talons took out the array, the bottom half had remained intact. As water filled the center of the crater the survivors built a lock into a severed tunnel that had led to the top of the mountain. It was a most effective way to keep the entrance to their base concealed. They dived down with the Airlia, entered the lock, shut the hatch behind them, waited for the water to be pumped out, and then opened the hatch at their feet.

Once they were inside they made their way north along a cross corridor, carrying the Airlia with them. Hidden in a chamber carved out in the rim of the cavern was a bouncer— a craft able to tap into and magnify the Earth’s magnetic field as a source of propulsion. The Ones Who Wait and the Airlia got inside the craft and a camouflaged door slid open.

The bouncer lifted up and, once clear of the hangar, headed to the north.

Excalibur cut through armor as if it were made of paper. Arthur plowed into Mordred’s army, leaving a wake of corpses behind him. The chosen knights of the Round Table strove to keep up with him, but armed with lesser swords, they had a much more difficult time of it.

Arthur’s rapid advance came to an abrupt halt, however, when he reached Mordred, who was also armed with an Airlia sword, although it was not a key. Alien metal went against alien metal, wielded by human hands, guided by minds that were imprinted with alien personalities and thoughts. The two were well matched and blow after blow was exchanged with little damage. Occasionally a human knight would attempt to enter the fray, but by unspoken agreement, the two Shadows would cut the human down, regardless of which side he was from, and then go back to the personal combat. Slowly a mound of bodies grew around the two combatants.

This was the scene that Gawain came across when he finally caught up with the king. He approached slowly, looking for an opening. As he did so, Arthur stumbled over a submerged root and Mordred used the opportunity to strike hard with the point of his sword, punching through Arthur’s armor and grievously wounding him.

Arthur went down to his knees and Mordred pulled his sword back, preparing to render a mighty swing and sever the king’s head from his body. The blow never connected as Arthur jabbed the point of his sword into Mordred’s leg, cutting in deep, severing the artery. Mordred cursed and staggered, then drew back his sword once more to decapitate the king. This blow also didn’t connect, as Gawain’s sword deflected Mordred’s in midstrike.

Mordred shifted his attack from the wounded king to Gawain. Despite all his skill, Gawain was no match for the Shadow and the superior sword the other carried, even though Mordred was seriously wounded. Gawain was forced to give ground, step by step. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Percival and several other knights approaching the king.

Mordred’s blade punctured Gawain’s armor and seared into his flesh, just below the left part of his rib cage. Gasping in pain, Gawain desperately tried to mount a counteroffensive, attempting blow after blow at his enemy. It ended when Mordred put all his force behind a level strike that sliced through Gawain’s sword and smashed into his chest, severing the armor, and cutting deep into the vital organs.

Gawain remained still, caught on the blade for a couple of seconds, then Mordred jerked the blade back and Gawain fell forward into the swamp, splashing bloody and dirty water onto his opponent.

Mordred turned back toward Arthur and was surprised to see the knights carrying their king — and Excalibur — away. As he started to give chase, a hand holding a black dagger appeared out of the black water and slammed the slim blade into Mordred’s thigh. Mordred howled with pain, and the leg buckled.

Gawain stabbed again and again as his life blood poured out of the wound in his chest. His hand drew back once more, then paused and flopped lifeless in the water.