by Ines Johnson
"Should we go back to the Tor?" she asked.
"No," I said. "The knights already went back and searched the hill. Merlin and the Banduri were long gone. But going it alone, that's the wrong way. God, I sound like an After School Special."
"I didn't go to school."
"Trust me, you're better for it." But here's the lesson I think we're supposed to learn."
Viviane tread in the moonlit water. The night critters paused in their leg rubbing and croaking. The wind hushed its whispers and left the night silent for a moment. All awaited my sage soliloquy.
"Actually, I'm not a hundred percent certain of the moral to this story. But I'm pretty sure it has to do with community, and working together, and trust. Because that's what we got wrong the first time. We should've called for backup."
Vivi nodded enthusiastically. But I got the feeling she didn't know what I was talking about any more than I did. What I did know was that I wasn't leaving this place. At least not yet.
I'd done a scary thing back in the Throne Room. I'd let down my guard and let those men see me vulnerable. And they'd rejected me. But I hadn't died.
Most of the knights saw that I had what it took to stand next to them. They just needed to trust me enough to stand behind them as well as beside them. I just had to prove to them that I would make the right decisions when push came to shove.
And since well-thought out, impeccably-researched, scientifically-logical decisions were not my forte, I was probably screwed.
I turned back to Vivi. Her eager expression reminded me of Morgan's when she begged me to go hunt Merlin. "Vivi? Are you sure that spear will cure you? It stripped Merlin of his power. And Morgan… she hasn't woken up yet."
Vivi's expression turned somber. "This isn't magic I want to have. If the spear will break the binds, I will throw myself upon it."
I still wasn't convinced. The feeling of being near Morgan's barren body, and Merlin's hollow cavity sent a shiver down my spine. "Maybe we could do magic shoes like in The Wizard of Oz."
"I don't know of any place called Oz? Is it on the ley line?"
Before I could answer, the ground rumbled. I heard a splinter from one of the wooden slats of the drawbridge.
"What was that?" I asked.
"There's something dark coming." In the waters, Vivi wrapped her arms around her frame. "All I can see is black and blue."
I stood. Off in the distance, coming up the streets that led from the town, I saw a crowd of figures moving towards us. The bodies were all tall, hourglass shapes indicating that they were women. Their forms were all draped in flowing fabric that shimmered in the moonlight. Even from this distance, I could make out her red hair.
Erwen led a group of two dozen Banduri down the street towards the castle. They walked up the hill. Dozens and dozens of women. It was like a suffragette march. Moving slowly behind her was Merlin. He looked even worse for the wear. Sickness swirled in my gut as they moved closer and I saw something even more awful.
In their hands, they each held a rock. A large, blue rock. Bluestones.
"Do not worry," said Viviane. "They cannot breach the shield."
The shield? I turned and looked up at the castle. It shone brightly in the moonlight. I didn't need to blink to shift my view from magical to human. I saw it as clear as if it were day and I was mortal.
"Morgan," I breathed. "Morgan isn't helping to hold the shield any longer. We're all vulnerable. Camelot is under attack."
Chapter Nineteen
"We have to warn everyone," I said hopping up. But when I looked down it was only to see my reflection in the water. Only a tiny swirl remained in the otherwise calm waters, like the last dregs going down a drain. Viviane had deserted me yet again.
So, I was zero for two with my inspirational, team rallying speeches tonight.
No matter. Still, I knew I couldn't embark on this quest alone. Backup was a must this time. I ran back across the drawbridge shouting as I went.
"Raise the drawbridge," I shouted as I felt the sickening heat of the bluestones held in the priestesses' hands.
Baysle poked his head out through one of the gaps of the battlements as I made my way up to the gatehouse. I saw fluorescent lights flickering in the palm of his hands. For a moment, I wondered if he had hidden talents of a wizard. Then I heard the bleeping and blooping of a video game and realized it was a handheld device.
Boys were the same no matter their environment. Even when the opportunity to fight a real-life battle presented itself, they still kept their gaze fixed on a screen preferring to fight a fictitious battle of pixels.
Baysle sneered at me, raising one eyebrow in a near perfect mimic of his sire. "What have you done now?"
"We're under attack."
"That's impossible. Camelot's never been under a-"
Baysle's smirk faded when he lowered his gaming device and looked out at the horizon. The Banduri had made it past the sword in stone attraction and were headed toward the lowered drawbridge. But then he squinted his eyes and his face relaxed.
"Those are just a bunch of human women," he huffed.
I didn't have the time or the patience to deal with a kid's ignorance. Unfortunately, he was bigger than me and his bulk was blocking the doorway to the gate's entrance. His eyes narrowed at me as if he knew what I was planning. He crossed his arms over his chest and puffed up his chest, making himself bigger.
My first instinct was to go for his most vulnerable parts. But he was still a kid, and he was technically a part of the group I was trying to protect. Which meant kicking him in his jewels would be counterproductive to my end goal.
But I still needed to get this big oaf out of my way. If booted force wouldn't do it, I'd just have to use another skill. Taking a deep breath, I focused on the anger boiling in my gut.
I took a few steps back. Baysle proved he had a few more brain cells than I expected when he frowned at me instead of smiling in triumph. I crouched like a track runner. Counting in my head, I took off, launching my body up and over Baysle's head.
This time, I only had my weight to deal with on the takeoff and the flight. The landing was a different story. I tucked and rolled as I shot into the gatehouse. Having no brakes, I came to a dead stop on my ass. Thank God there was no one there to see it.
Shooting to my feet, I reached for the lever to raise the drawbridge. It seemed like forever before I heard the cranking of the gears to lift the bridge. But by then it was too late.
I looked down out the glass-less window to see that the priestesses were already filing around the inner rim of the moat. I knew in my soul that something bad would happen if they completed a circle.
I opened my mouth to begin shouting for the knights to take up arms. But then I saw that there was an intercom. I pushed the red button.
"Grab your shining armor boys and get moving. We're under attack."
I shoved my way past Baysle, who still stared dumbfounded down at the women encroaching the boundaries of the castle. Before I'd even gotten back down to the bottom of the guard tower, men were filing out of the castle doors.
Their swords and shields were raised. Then those same weapons lowered when they got an eyeful of their opponents.
"They're women," said Percival.
"It's them," I said. "The Banduri, the ones who hurt Morgan. Merlin's with them. They have the spear."
Six bearded jaws crinkled in confusion as they looked out at the feminine bodies preparing to face off against them.
"What are we supposed to do?" said Geraint. "We can't fight women. We're knights."
"You don't have to fight them," I said. "Just don't let them form a circle with the stones. It'll weaken our magic and the protections over the castle."
Already, they were halfway around the base of the castle. It should take the two dozen women just a couple of minutes to make their way around the entire structure. Which in theory, would mean they could be easily blocked or diverted or stopped before they met in the middle.
In theory.
If you added to that theory a half dozen battle-hardened, large men with swords and shields intent on protecting their turf, it should be an impossible task for those women to join in the middle and complete said circle.
In theory.
However, a major stipulation in the theory involved men who took an oath to never do harm to any woman. So, the results were a failure. In fact, the results were a comedy of errors.
Percival blocked the path of one of the priestesses. But his blocking looked like a bad football play. She dodged right and he followed. She faked left and, when he went to follow he kept his hands out to the sides instead of grabbing at her. With his hands out to the sides, he lost his balance and fumbled, falling to his knees. She slipped around him. Percy shot up, ready to head after her, only to be confronted with the next priestess in the lineup. And the exact same play repeated.
On the other end of the field, Tristan was faced off with two priestesses. One got around him. Unlike Percy, the younger knight did reach out. And when he did, his hands landed on the woman's boob.
She gasped, outraged.
Tristan pulled back his hand and apologized profusely, only to have his nose get a pummeling. I knew the direct hit didn't hurt him. But the kid stood there flummoxed. He held up his hands, as though completely unwilling to make another move against the women.
This was not going well.
As I watched the priestesses evade the knights, I got a sick feeling in my belly. My head fogged and my eyes watered. Wiping away a tear, I looked up to see Erwen approaching me, a huge blue rock in her hand.
Everything in me told me to take a step back. But I didn't. I held my ground and faced my nemesis.
"Don't try to play hero, Van Ass. We all know where that always gets you. You on your ass with your friends hurt."
"Why are you so mean? Did your mother not give you hugs as a kid?"
"No, she didn't. She did a study that showed hugging and social bonding produce aberrant emotional responses in children."
"That clears up so much," I said. "Then let me approach this logically. These knights and those witches have been protecting the world from some really ugly stuff for centuries — millennia. There are things on this planet that will eat your soul and drink your bones. I've seen it with my own eyes. Did you ever consider that this power was given to us by Mother Nature to protect humanity?"
"Of course, I considered that."
"Oh. And?"
Erwen shrugged. "Doesn't change the fact that you have something that doesn't belong to you. Now it's time to give it back."
Erwen held up the rock. She opened her mouth. I took a moment to note that her lipgloss color was Ruby Roo Retro Matte from MAC. Erwen pursed her lips and blew. A cloud of blue dust blinded my eyes and choked my airways.
I felt myself falling. It seemed to take forever for me to hit the ground. The last thing I remembered was that I seriously had to give up on my attempts at these inspirational speeches.
Chapter Twenty
When I opened my eyes, my head was foggy. My ass hurt. My body was being dragged.
I felt strong arms come underneath me and drag me up and away. I looked up into the stern face of Geraint.
For a moment, my brain protested. I was certain he was dragging me to Erwen to give me as ransom. But he dragged me back towards the castle doors.
"That was stupid," he said.
"Stupid? Ballsy? I have trouble distinguishing the two."
"We don't have time for jokes," he said. "Get on your feet. We need every man."
I played his words back in my head and then my face split into a grin. "Did you just call me a man?"
That had to be high praise coming from him.
"I'm sure you'll do something even stupider to make me eat those words shortly." Geraint handed the blunt end of my grandfather's sword to me. It was an olive branch. With a sharp point.
I took it from him and we both turned back towards the fray. My joy from the tiny bonding moment was short-lived. Priestesses lined the front of the castle grounds. I couldn't see behind the castle, but I knew that the priestesses had completed their circle. Mainly because all the knights were standing in a cluster at the entryway as the last line of defense.
Everyone in town was inside the castle. Well, actually they were all piled into the Great Hall, peering out through windows and doorways. I saw faces young and old standing defiantly, ready to do whatever was necessary to protect their own.
I turned away from the witches and looked towards the knights. Lance and Gawain stood at the forefront. Tristan, Percival, and Geraint moved to join them. I made ready to stand with them, but I felt a hand hold me back.
"Stay here," said Arthur.
"I can help."
"I know. You need to stay and protect the people. No one gets past this line. Can I trust you?"
Once again, he peered at me with those steel gray eyes. No speech. Just a question.
I knew it was a test. I knew the correct answer that would grant me high marks. But it wasn't the test I wanted to take. I wanted the final exam, the one that would mark me as a knight, the one where I got to save the day from the frontlines and not from the sidelines.
Nodding my head in agreement made me more nauseous than when Erwen had blown the blue powder in my face. But I did it. Then I stepped back and let the men go ahead of me.
Gwin stood in the doorway to the castle. I saw her lips moving in a chant. I felt the air thickening as it did when she opened a ley line. But where there would be a strong wind coming from a ley door, there was only a whisper now.
Stress and strain were clear on Gwin's brow. Her neck was damp with sweat. Tears streamed from her blue eyes. Her shoulders slumped as though a heavy weight was deposited on her entire body.
"I can't hold it," she panted. "The stones are making me weak."
"Here let me help you, child." Igraine came out of the castle and put her hands on Gwin's shoulder.
Gwin and Igraine held hands. Their lips moved in sync as they chanted. I couldn't hear the words, but I felt them in the pit of my stomach. I felt the magic that surrounded the castle ebbing and flowing like the tide. But the tide was low as those bluestones worked against them.
More women left the safety of the castle. They linked hands and stood side by side, back to back with Gwin and Igraine. Their lips moved in sync, picking up the chant to strengthen the protective charm. Deep inside, I knew their collective powers wouldn't be enough to hold back the carcinogenic effects of the blue kryptonite.
The children came next. Young witches from teens to adolescents filled in the gaps between the adult women. Their high-pitched voices joined together to defend the ones who'd taken care of them all their lives.
And then there was me. Standing in front of them with my grandfather's sword in my hand. But when I looked down, the weapon had slipped out of my hand. My feet moved on their own towards Gwin. I took my cousin's hand in mine. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know how to shield.
"The magic is inside you," said Igraine. "In your gut, in your heart."
The sounds of the children's voices filled my ears. The sight of Igraine on one side of me and the dressmaker, Minerva, on the other side of me, and the knights making a barrier in front of all of us; that sight overwhelmed me. I shut my eyes and the magic surged up from my gut and pounded in my heart. I gripped Gwin's hand as it poured out of my body, so fast that I couldn't control it. I just opened myself up, willing to do whatever was necessary to protect these people, my family.
The magic in me knew how to protect the things it held dear. I felt it flooding out of me and around everyone in this town. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the protective shield extending beyond the people, beyond the knights, beyond the castle and pushing its way towards the waters surrounding it. It met resistance at the edge of the waters where I knew the priestesses were standing with their stones.
My magic mixed with that of everyo
ne in the town and it shoved at the blue toxin. I felt the spirit, the soul of every person all from Gwin's strong heartbeat to Igraine's firm hand to the children's glowing souls.
With one last push, the power surged through me. There was an explosion of energy from the untouched well inside of me. Then there was an explosion outside of me. I looked out towards the moat and saw blue dust spilling into the air and falling to the ground. One by one, the bluestones exploded.
Like I said, I didn't know how to be subtle.
Cheers went up from the people of the town. I felt myself being embraced inside the oversized cocoon of protection that I had made. All around, I felt arms embracing me. Kids hugged my legs, adults wrapped their arms around my waist, my shoulders.
So, this is what heroism felt like. I kinda hoped we got invaded on a weekly basis because euphoria was the best mind-altering substance I'd ever come into contact with.
Finally, I noticed that there weren't many male voices mixed in with the cheering. I looked to where I'd last seen the knights. They all had their backs to me. Had they even seen my awesome feat? Why weren't they cheering my heroism?
I huffed as I glared at their backsides. Then I noticed that the men were no longer fanned out. They were all clustered at one point, pushing at the invisible shield.
Lance tried to slice the air with his sword, but the tip screeched against the void like nails on a chalkboard. Gawain thrust his shield at the same space and jerked his arm away in pain. My heart stopped when I saw the reason they were trying to break free of my protection.
Arthur was on the outside. Erwen stood before him. The Spear of Destiny was lowered to his neck.
Chapter Twenty-One
I left the embracing and cheering and made my way over to the knights. I reached down and picked up my sword where I'd dropped it. The magic in my veins hummed at my fingertips like a livewire as I walked over to the edge of the protective shield.
"What have you done?" Lance demanded. "We can't get out."
