Sword of Darkness

by Kinley MacGregor

  "We could all sneak into—"

  "Nay, you can't," Merlin said, her voice filled with sympathy. "If any more than four magical beings travel through the portal together, it'll alert her instantly to your presence. And she will be able to draw her army straight to you to fight. Why do you think Kerrigan took you into the future to begin with? He knew that Morgen would be limited to how many could open the portal at a time and step through it to fight. Not to mention, the future negates the dragons and gargoyles, who tend to set off military alarms."

  Seren raked her hands through her hair. Her frustration reached out to Merlin, but there really was nothing she could do to help either of them.

  Her eyes burned as she met Merlin's gaze. "Then what would you have me do?"

  If Merlin had her way, she would save Kerrigan. However, that wasn't an option. "Do as Kerrigan wanted. Stay here, marry one of our knights, and raise your child."

  Seren's eyes flashed bloodred. But it lasted only a heartbeat before they returned to green.

  Before her eyes, Seren seemed to calm down and come to terms with her decision. "Fine then. If that's they way it's to be…"

  "It is," Merlin said sternly.

  She watched as Seren turned her back and left with Blaise in tow, but even as the woman walked from the hall, Merlin knew that Seren hadn't given up.

  "She's going to try and rescue him alone."

  Merlin glanced over to Elaine, who was standing just inside the back doorway in the shadows. Elaine's red hair was pulled back into a severe braid. True to form, she wore the armor of a knight, but instead of carrying a sword, Elaine carried a small bow.

  "I know."

  Elaine stepped forward into the room. "Are you not going to stop her?"

  "I can't stop her," Merlin said as she walked over to the table where she'd left her cup of wine after Seren had barged into the room. "She has the power of two Merlins and the resolve of a woman who wants only to protect what she loves."

  Elaine scowled. "If Morgen captures her—"

  "Nothing in life comes without risk."

  Elaine's eyes snapped with inner fire. "This is more than a risk. She gambles with the entire fate of us all."

  "Relax, Elaine. She might very well succeed. After all, Seren has already done the impossible. She's done what even I couldn't do."

  "And that is?"

  Merlin smiled at the older woman. "She's returned Caliburn to us. More than that, she's turned Kerrigan away from the blackness that has consumed him for all these centuries."

  Elaine sneered. "It was his choice that he serve Morgen."

  Merlin swirled the wine in her golden cup. What Elaine didn't know was that she could see the future in the dark liquid. She saw it plainly. "Yes and no. I made a mistake when I sent you and Galahad to him after he found the sword and activated it. I was young then. Too young perhaps to understand that I chose poorly."

  She looked up to meet Elaine's angry glare. "Given the way his choices were presented to him, I can't really fault Kerrigan for his decision. I would have chosen Morgen myself."

  Elaine huffed at that. "You're making excuses for him."

  "Perhaps. But if you're so concerned that I'm making a mistake now, then go with her."

  Elaine narrowed her eyes as she took the cup from Merlin's hand and returned it to the table. "I will. But I'm only going for one reason."

  "And that is?"

  "If Morgen goes to capture her, I'm going to kill Seren myself."

  While Blaise stood behind her with a disapproving scowl, Seren could feel the feral demon within as it clawed and demanded freedom. For once she didn't try to restrain it. She would need it if she were to succeed in this.

  Dressed in the red tunic she'd made for Kerrigan, which was covered by a black jerkin and black leather breeches, she pulled Caliburn from the wall and strapped the sword to her hips.

  "Garafyn!" she called, summoning the gargoyle to her side. "If you can hear me, then I would ask you for a favor on Kerrigan's behalf."

  "He won't come," Blaise said. "We'll have to steal your medallion back from Merlin to summon him."

  She snarled at him. "We wouldn't have to steal it back if someone"—she gave him a pointed look—"hadn't given it over to her." She moved away from him. "Garafyn!"

  She was just about to believe Blaise when the air around her stirred.

  Two seconds later, Garafyn and Anir appeared before her.

  "What is your damage?" Garafyn asked irritably. "Did it not occur to you that we might be occupied? You know, it is possible for even masonry to have some fun from time to time. God forbid."

  Seren frowned at his odd clothing. He wore some type of red and black form-fitting material, the likes of which she'd never seen before. Cocking her head, she reached to touch the shiny cloth. "What is that?"

  Anir answered. "Star Trek costume. We've finally found our niche—twentieth-century science fiction conventions. We not only blend, but we keep winning the costume competitions. Talk about getting booty…and I mean that in more ways than one."

  Seren gave him an arch look. Was that even English he spoke? Unwilling to waste time asking about it, Seren chose to ignore it.

  "Why did you call us?" Garafyn asked.

  "I need you. Kerrigan is in trouble and I need to return to Camelot to—"

  "Whoa!" they said in unison.

  Garafyn shook his head. "You can forget it. I'm not ever returning there again. Ever…ever…ever."

  "Please," she begged. "Kerrigan needs you. I need you."

  Garafyn narrowed his eyes. "And I don't care."

  "Aye, you do."

  Seren turned at the new voice to see Elaine nearing them. She'd met the woman only a time or two, but she knew from experience that Elaine was standoffish. She had an intensity that was sometimes hard for the men to take. She also expected only the best from people and tended to be a bit unforgiving.

  "Greetings, Garafyn," Elaine said in a cool tone as she joined their small group. She looked him up and down. "My how you've changed."

  Garafyn curled his lip. "Don't start on me, Elaine. A lot more than my appearance has changed. I no longer feel any kinship with you or the others."

  "Really?" Her voice was thick with sarcasm. "I would never have guessed it, given how all of you turned on us."

  Garafyn rolled his eyes as he sneered at her. "Yeah, we turned on you…" He narrowed his gaze menacingly. "Use your head, woman…and I use that term loosely. Who's the friggin' gargoyle here and who isn't? Don't you think that if we turned on you, Morgen would have rewarded us with something more than this damned curse?"

  Elaine's expression didn't change. "Given that it's Morgen…No."

  Anir scratched his head with one claw. "She has a point there."

  "Shut up, Anir," Garafyn snapped.

  "Sorry, but she does."

  "And I don't care," Seren said between clenched teeth as she added her own glare to theirs. "Right now, the only thing that matters to me is the fact that Kerrigan is suffering because he helped us. Now, who is decent and caring enough to help me rescue him?"

  Garafyn let out a snide laugh. "For the record, that's not particularly motivating to those of us who pride themselves on being indecent and indifferent. Just FYI."

  Seren clenched her fists and made a sound of disgust. "I don't understand half of what you said, but I don't care. Give me your key to open a portal to Camelot and I'll go alone."

  "I don't—"

  "Give me the key," she said, letting her demon show.

  "Wow," Garafyn said at the sound of her demonic voice. "That's pretty damned scary. Good tone, and the red irises are a particularly nice effect."

  He held the medallion out to her.

  Before she could take it, Blaise did.

  Seren growled at him.

  Blaise stared her down. "Don't give that Kerrigan look to me, young lady. You don't know your way around Camelot. I do, and I'm not about to let you go alone."

  "I'm w
ith you," Elaine said, much to her surprise. Elaine didn't strike her as the type of woman to do something so foolish.

  But in truth, Seren was glad not to be going alone.

  They all looked at the gargoyles.

  "Only four can go without warning Morgen," Elaine reminded them.

  Garafyn let out an agitated breath. "I might as well be the idiot. This kind of noble stupidity is what got me cursed to begin with. Maybe I'll get lucky and Morgen will actually kill me this time."

  "I would argue," Anir said, "but I'm still young and that really attractive redhead at the Star Trek party was making eyes at me." He clapped Garafyn on the back. "I've too much to live for. Good luck."

  "I really hate gargoyles," Garafyn growled. He turned toward Seren. "All right, princess. Let's go die."

  "Let's not," Elaine said. "But if we do get into trouble, I say we sacrifice the gargoyle."

  Seren thought Garafyn might have made a face at her, but with a gargoyle one was never sure if it was a face or just his natural countenance.

  Blaise held his hand out. The medallion was wrapped around it. Seren covered his hand with hers, then Elaine and finally Garafyn, who still looked as if he didn't really want to do this.

  They faded from Avalon, then appeared in a small, empty room in Camelot.

  Elaine grimaced at the black and gray color scheme of the spartan place. There were no chairs or bed. It looked like an empty storage room.

  "First time back?" Garafyn asked Elaine.

  She nodded. "Can't say I like what Morgen's done to the place."

  "Can't say I like what Morgen did with my face, either…"

  For the first time, Seren saw pity in Elaine's eyes as she looked at Garafyn. "I don't know," Elaine said charitably. "You look pretty good as far as gargoyles go."

  "Yeah, right. I make a pass at you…"

  "And I start chiseling off vital parts of your anatomy."

  "Exactly."

  Lifting the cowl of his black tunic, Blaise cracked open the door to look out into the hallway. "All right, children," he whispered over his shoulder. "Let's stay together and try to remain inconspicious."

  Seren lifted the cowl to her cloak at the same time Elaine did. They made sure to keep their faces lowered and hidden by the hood.

  They looked at Garafyn, who stared back unblinkingly. He'd dissolved his clothes so that now all he wore was a small gray loincloth. "What?"

  "Are you going to walk around like that?" Elaine asked.

  "Oh yeah, like a gargoyle in a cloak wouldn't stand out in this place. Trust me, no one's going to look at me. Hell, Morgen can't even tell us apart." As if to prove his point, he ambled out of the room first. "Besides, I'm not walking around in an ensign's Star Trek uniform. Those guys always get killed."

  Shaking her head at the surly beast, Seren followed with Elaine and Blaise just behind her.

  The castle was eerily quiet. No one was about. It was as if the entire place had been deserted for some reason.

  "Is this normal?" Elaine asked.

  Garafyn snorted. "The creepy factor, aye. The quiet part, no." He glanced about nervously. "Where is everyone?"

  No sooner had he spoken than a loud roar went up at the end of the hallway.

  "Something's happening in the great hall." Blaise led them toward the noise. When they reached the end of the hallway, he opened the large oak door a tiny degree before he squeezed through it.

  One by one, they followed suit until they were all inside the great hall where they could see a large crowd, staring at the center of the room.

  Seren couldn't see much due to her short height and the fact that she didn't dare lift her head for fear of losing her cowl. But as they made their way through the crowd, she realized that she could probably be naked and no one would notice her. Everyone's attention was focused on whatever was happening in the center area.

  "What's going on?" she whispered to Blaise.

  "I'm not sure." He continued to move through the mass that was busy shouting unintelligible words.

  All of a sudden, Blaise stopped short. Seren collided with him. She looked up to see his face drained of color while he stared over the heads of the onlookers.

  Standing up on her tiptoes, she turned to see what held him captivated and felt her own heart sink at what she saw.

  At first she didn't recognize the body on the floor. Wearing only a pair of ragged and torn black breeches, the poor soul had been beaten and whipped until he barely appeared human. Swollen welts and bruises distorted every part of him. But as he lifted his head, she recognized Kerrigan even though both of his eyes appeared to be swollen shut.

  Even Elaine cursed under her breath.

  "Get up!" Morgen shouted at him before she kicked him in the ribs. "Fight, you worthless dog."

  Seren saw red as her powers flowed through her. Infuriated, she pushed her way through the crowd, even though Blaise was trying to hold her back.

  Unable to take it, she paused at the edge of the crowd with Blaise still attempting to pull her back out of sight. She shrugged off his grip and pushed him away.

  Morgen shook her head at the sight of Kerrigan before she turned away from him and manifested a sword in her hand. "Masden?" she said to one of her demon knights. "Care to be the once and future king?"

  With an evil laugh, he took the sword from Morgen's hand.

  Kerrigan forced himself to his feet even though his arm was broken from Maddor's "gentle" touch. Every part of his body ached, but he refused to die on the ground like a beggar. Morgen might have returned him to the life of a slave, but he wasn't going to die like one.

  He held his broken arm to his side as he faced the knight who'd once been human. Now there was no humanity to be found in the beast that faced him. Masden was all too eager to end his life.

  Morgen sneered at Kerrigan. "Look, the slave is trying to be kingly." She moved to stand before him. "But once rubbish, always rubbish."

  Kerrigan snarled at her. "Fuck you."

  She backhanded him.

  Kerrigan laughed at the blow he couldn't even feel over the rest of the pain of his body.

  Hissing, Morgen drew back and turned to face Masden. "Kill him."

  Kerrigan held his ground as the man came forward with his sword raised. If he had a sword, he'd at least make the bastard pay somewhat for his death. As it was, there was nothing he could do except run, and he wasn't about to give Morgen and the others the satisfaction of laughing at his cowardice.

  There for a time he had been a king. He would die with his honor intact.

  He braced himself for the fatal sword strike.

  Just as Masden reached him, Kerrigan saw a flash an instant before the killing blow was deflected from his body. Out of nowhere, another figure wrapped in a black cloak appeared with a sword.

  With the skill of a trained knight, the small form twisted around and forced Masden back with attack after attack.

  Who would dare defend him?

  Stunned, Kerrigan couldn't understand what was happening until the cowl fell back from the combatant and he saw the long blond braid. Saw the determined face of what to him was the most beautiful woman in the world. Love and joy welled up inside him as he looked upon the impossible.

  "Seren?"

  She didn't respond as she drove the knight back toward Morgen, who was now laughing.

  "Oh, this is rich," Morgen snarled. "Look what has returned of her own free will to our company." Her eyes were light with triumph. "Big mistake, little girl. Big mistake."

  With one fell swing, Seren killed her challenger, then turned on Morgen with a glare. "Shut up, bitch. I've had enough of you."

  Morgen gaped an instant before she shrieked. Throwing her hands out, she shot a blast at Seren, which his little mouse deflected without effort. The blast headed into the wall, above the hearth, where it left a large, black, smoldering hole.

  That only increased Morgen's anger.

  One minute she was before Seren and in the n
ext, she was directly behind Kerrigan.

  Seren turned about to see where Morgen had gone. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the dagger in Morgen's hand.

  "You want him, whore? You can have him…dead." Quicker than anyone could move, Morgen cut his throat and shoved him away from her.

  Kerrigan fell straight to the floor.

  Everything seemed to slow down as Seren flashed herself to Kerrigan's side. He lay on the floor with one hand against the vicious cut on his neck that had come close to decapitating him as blood rushed from the wound, over his hand.

  "God's mercy," she whispered as tears filled her eyes. "Nay!"

  Morgen reached for her. The instant she did, Seren threw the evil queen back against the wall as the demon took over her body entirely. There was nothing human left inside. Nothing even humane.

  A wave burst through the room, knocking everyone, even Morgen, off their feet.

  Her heart breaking, Seren fell to her knees beside Kerrigan, whose face was pale.

  "Kerrigan," she whispered, her voice its normal tone.

  He couldn't speak from the damage done to his throat. He reached his bloodied hand toward her face, then fell back as his eyes turned dull.

  Kerrigan was dead.

  Seren screamed out in pain as her grief shook her to the core of her soul. The demon cried out in anger, demanding vengeance. And the two coalesced into a swirling maelstrom reminiscent of a tornado as it ripped through the room. Demons, gargoyles, and Adoni went flying.

  "Seren! Stop!" She recognized Blaise's voice, but it did nothing to lessen her pain or her resolve.

  Throwing her head back, Seren called out to the darkest powers for something she knew she had no right to ask.

  Yet it was something she had to do.

  She would not let Morgen win. Not this time. The bitch had done enough harm in her lifetime. For once the good side would win.

  Her eyes rolled back in her head as ancient, forbidden power roiled through her. Primordial and cold, it chilled her through and through as she gathered Kerrigan into her arms and placed Caliburn over him.

  "Atiera gara tuawaha ethra verus tiera." She didn't know where the words or power came from, but she whispered them over and over again as dragon's breath swept through the room and covered them all.