LANCELOT

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Hey, that feels better,” Lancelot told her. “What are you doing?”

  “Practicing my skills.”

  “I thought you couldn’t do any magic on me.”

  “Apparently, I can do anything to you I want, if it’s something good,” Vivian replied, stepping away from Lancelot and admiring her work. “All you have left are some old scars from way back. I think you owe me.”

  Lancelot slowed the cruiser to a stop. The boat wavered on the water slightly. The San Francisco Bay Area, known for choppy seas day and night, remained uncharacteristically calm in the dimming haze of reddish light on the horizon. After pulling his tee shirt down, Lancelot kissed Vivian lightly on the forehead as he went by her. Having found some scuba gear on board, he wrapped a weight-belt around the bagged corpse with all the extra weight he could get on the belt. Lancelot figured that the belt held at least fifty pounds. He eased the body out the cruiser’s fantail and watched it drop out of sight.

  Watching him dispose of the body, Vivian felt the familiar desire sweep through her. Lancelot turned, seeing Vivian watching him, and gave her a little wave.

  “My back feels great. I guess saving your life a few times doesn’t offset my debt, huh?”

  “What have you done for me lately?”

  “What did you have in mind?” Lancelot asked in reply.

  “I want you to kiss me as if nothing else on earth matters,” Vivian whispered.

  “I can do that.”

  Enfolding Vivian in his arms, Lancelot drew closer to her lips with deliberate slowness. Vivian felt the heat between them, tasted the salty ocean air, and saw the final light of day reflected in Lancelot’s eyes. He opened his thoughts to her, their lips touching with the barest hint of contact. She closed her eyes, welcoming the need coursing through Lancelot’s every mental message, and the willpower it took to maintain only the touch of their lips. After a minute, Vivian shuddered, and pulled away.

  “Wow…” Vivian murmured with a shiver.

  “I have the running lights on,” Lancelot whispered, taking Vivian’s hand. “Let’s go down below, where we won’t get cold, and continue this.”

  Nodding, Vivian allowed Lancelot to guide her down into the plush lower cabin area. He stripped out of his tee shirt when they reached the sleeping area, and helped Vivian off with her blouse. He gripped her upper shoulders in the dull yellow light of the cabin, pulling her forward until the nipples of her breasts grazed against his chest. Animal passion surged through Lancelot’s thoughts, threading hotly into Vivian’s own molten desire. The swaying touch of her sensitive nipples meeting his skin electrified her. Lancelot bent forward so that his mouth sealed against hers, yet his hands continued to hold her rigidly still. Vivian moaned in ecstasy. She felt as if her entire being was focused through the two delicious points of contact, as Lancelot’s tongue explored hers with growing urgency.

  Lancelot grew so enthralled with Vivian’s scent of arousal that he growled with the desire to devour her. Vivian’s body writhed in Lancelot’s powerful grip, her knees nearly buckling.

  “No…no…more…” Vivian begged, still gasping for breath. She tried to pull free of Lancelot, but could not.

  “Oh, my God…” Lancelot muttered, kissing Vivian’s back tenderly, his face pressed into her skin, “you smell wonderful. Your thoughts… the feeling and scent were beyond imagining.”

  An hour passed within the gently rocking cabin, surpassing the intensity of anything that had passed between the couple before.

  “I…I…” Vivian began, only to be shushed with Lancelot’s hand.

  “I love you too…my lady,” Lancelot whispered.

  Chapter Fifteen: Meleagaunce and Morgause

  “Sir.” Charlie’s voice came over the intercom.

  Lancelot eased away from Vivian reluctantly. Vivian pulled Lancelot’s head back. Her lips grazed his, and the tip of her tongue glided lightly inside his lips. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him dreamily.

  “Sir?”

  Taking a deep breath, Lancelot flipped on the intercom. “I’m here, Charlie.”

  “Mr. Merlin has company, sir.”

  Both Lancelot and Vivian shot up from where they had been reclining in each other’s arms. Upon looking out the window, Lancelot saw over a dozen forms milling around Merlin’s building.

  “Keep driving, Charlie,” Lancelot ordered, taking out his cell-phone, and dialing Merlin’s cell-phone. Merlin answered immediately. “I see you have company.”

  “We’re okay,” Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, “but I’m glad you’re back in the area.”

  “What do they want?”

  “Mallor, as Kara says he’s called now, wants a meeting. He claims he brought his gang along for protection from you. There’s only one thing wrong with his explanation: Mallor had them try to breach my spell before asking for the meeting.”

  “Are they all vampires?” Lancelot asked, holding the phone so that Vivian could hear too.

  “Yes, and Serge says he doesn’t know any of them. He thinks they’re freshly made.”

  “That will mean blood and bodies,” Lancelot said. “Is Meleagaunce, or whatever his name is, there with the vampires?”

  “No. He sent his wife in his stead.”

  “Same old fearsome Black Knight,” Lancelot drawled, laughing. “He must remember how his last meeting with me went.”

  “You never told me,” Merlin said, his voice showing interest. “What happened?”

  “He and a bunch of his men stopped me, hoping to steal Excalibur. Instead, I told him I’d give it to him, but he could only keep it if he killed me. I carved him up right in front of his men. I’ll wager he hasn’t forgotten that meeting.”

  “You…you gave him Excalibur, and still beat him?”

  “Modred killed Arthur, and Arthur had the damned bloody thing right in his hand,” Lancelot pointed out. “Oh…I see where you’re going with this. Arthur lost because he hesitated in killing his cursed offspring. With the way Sir Toad hated me, you figure with Excalibur in his hand, Meleagaunce should have killed me, huh?”

  “Jesus, Lancelot, you let Meleagaunce hold Excalibur in battle?” Vivian whispered, running her hands back through her hair. “Oh, good Lord, this explains a lot. I knew you had killed Meleagaunce. I didn’t know you allowed him to wield Excalibur. That was reckless, my love, and it changes everything.”

  “What could it change? I sliced and diced the prick,” Lancelot insisted.

  “Anyone wielding Excalibur in battle is marked by divinity,” Merlin explained. “It is both the curse and the blessing of the sword. The only reason Meleagaunce could use it in battle was because you put it into his hands. It was meant to tempt you into betrayal, or prove your worth as an emissary of the Lord. You returned it to Vivian without using Excalibur, thus freeing her, and opening up your future. In allowing Meleagaunce to battle you with the sword in hand, you enabled him to become a key player.”

  Lancelot snorted angrily. “I’ll fix it. I’ll slice Sir Toad’s head off, and have Serge rip his heart out. I’ll hold the asshole’s head so he can watch it happen.”

  Vivian covered her mouth, trying to suppress the laughter she knew would irritate Merlin.

  “I hear you, Lady Vivian,” Merlin inserted, taking a deep breath. “I’m glad someone thinks this is funny. There will be an Excalibur in this time frame. Because Meleagaunce held Excalibur in battle, he will have the ability to harness its magic, or pass it on to another. I understand now why he risked everything to push Modred and this doomed plan of his forward.”

  “Will it look the same?” Lancelot asked.

  “I don’t know,” Merlin admitted. “When it comes into play, Vivian and I will know it. There has to be something Meleagaunce had in mind for Arthur…something he thought would allow Excalibur to reveal itself. I’ll work with Vivian to decipher what it is. In the meantime, do nothing to the key players, Lancelot. That would be my counsel.”

  “Okay, so I go
out, see what Matilda wants, and kill anything but her, right?”

  “Madeline,” Vivian corrected.

  “Whatever,” Lancelot replied impatiently. “Well…Mage?”

  “You are indeed our wildcard now, Lancelot. I trust your instincts in this more than I trust my own. Do as you wish, and we will try and figure out the consequences later.”

  “Do you think Madeline is invulnerable too?” Lancelot asked.

  “I’ll ask Kara. Hold on.”

  Merlin came back on a few minutes later as Charlie kept the limo circling the neighborhood. “Kara’s not sure, Lancelot. She says Modred was the only one she knew was invulnerable.”

  “Okay, sit tight, and I’ll go and parley with Sir Toad’s bitch. Tell Serge to stand by. Merlin, if you have any outside building lights, would you turn them on? I do pretty well in the dark, but I’m not a vampire.”

  “I’ll light it up,” Merlin agreed, and disconnected.

  “Charlie?” Lancelot inquired over the intercom.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Let us out a block down from the building, and then you take off until I call you.”

  “Understood, sir,” Charlie answered.

  Minutes later, Lancelot and Vivian exited the limo quickly. Taking Vivian’s arm, Lancelot walked quickly toward the now well-lighted building.

  “Stay close to me like a second skin,” Lancelot said, handing Vivian the silver bat she and Merlin had created. “Take this. These things move quickly, remember?”

  “It’s been a while,” Vivian admitted, gripping the bat. “I-”

  Lancelot pulled Vivian abruptly to the side. He lunged expertly toward where Vivian had stood, burying his silver-bladed knife to the hilt in a wild-haired vampire’s chest and withdrawing it instantly as the creature screamed and fell to the pavement. Lancelot retreated, searching for any movement as he spun around the now crouching Vivian. Seeing nothing out of place, Lancelot hurried forward with Vivian close behind, and slit the screaming vampire’s neck. Acrid smoke spiraled in lazy wisps from the creature’s ghastly wounds.

  “How do you…” Vivian began to ask, but was hushed up by Lancelot.

  “Don’t speak, Viv. Listen and watch.”

  “Hold up. I can deal with this.” Vivian handed Lancelot the silver bat.

  Holding her arms up with her hands reaching to the sky, she muttered an incantation in Latin. Lancelot saw the molecules of air coalesce around her and shimmer into a faint blurry fog. When the air cleared once again, Vivian lowered her arms and smiled at Lancelot.

  “Let ‘em try it now, Monte.”

  “Good. This should be interesting.” Lancelot started toward the building after handing Vivian the silver bat once again. “Watch where you swing that thing. I’m the one without fangs. Okay?”

  “Good to know. You never used to be such a pussy.”

  Ahead of them, near the building, dark-clothed figures gathered around a red-haired woman, waiting for Lancelot and Vivian to arrive. The vampires moved restlessly, smelling blood and weaving around the woman protectively. Morgause looked just as Lancelot remembered her. She employed the same impatient supercilious glare that Lancelot had erased from Modred’s face. Madeline, as she called herself now, gestured imperiously at Vivian.

  “Look who’s here: the lake-sprite and her knight in shining armor,” Madeline declared, laughing. “Sorry about Rafe. He became impatient.”

  “No problem,” Lancelot said, streaking at the vampire nearest Madeline, and slitting its throat before grabbing Madeline by the hair. She cried out as he pulled her close. The silver blade dripping vampire ichor he held poised at her throat. “I’m a little impatient myself.”

  A vampire rushed Vivian, only to burst into flame as it grabbed hold of her. The others, moving to follow up the attack, backed away from the smiling Vivian. Calmly, she walked over and smashed the head of the vampire Lancelot had sliced, as it writhed on the ground holding its smoking neck wound.

  “Is anyone else getting impatient?” Vivian called out, twirling the bat in her hand.

  “Don’t do this, Lancelot!” Madeline pleaded. “You don’t know the damage you’ve already caused by killing my son!”

  “I’m listening,” Lancelot whispered in her ear, “but I get bored easily. You don’t want to bore me. I don’t know if you’re invincible, but I’m willing to do a little experimenting.”

  “In…in allowing Meleagaunce to hold Excalibur in battle, even in defeat, you enabled chaos!” Madeline blurted out rapidly as Lancelot’s hand tightened on the handle of his bloody knife. “You set this all in motion. Modred will be reborn. There must be a truce.”

  “Is that what you were here for? A truce?” Lancelot asked, exchanging glances with Vivian. “Why the hell would we want a truce? Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t kill all of you, and let the Lord Almighty sort it out later. We’ve been under deadly attack since we joined together. If you wanted a truce, why didn’t you bargain for it before?”

  “We…we are who we are,” Madeline admitted. “In destroying us, you will destroy Arthur. Granted, we are the dark side of the coin, but trust me: if you kill us, Arthur will die.”

  “What proof do you have of this?” Vivian scoffed. “You didn’t seem to care one way or the other if all of us died, including Arthur.”

  “We weren’t going to kill Arthur. We need him, just as you need us.”

  “I killed Modred, and nothing changed,” Lancelot pointed out.

  “Let me show you,” Madeline urged, her eyes trying to meet Lancelot’s from the position he held her. “I can provide a future vision of Arthur without the dark side to struggle against.”

  “We will have enough enemies for Arthur to face. I will lead by example,” Lancelot replied. “He will become strong, and-”

  “You know nothing, Lancelot,” Madeline cut him off fiercely. “He will grow to be a teenager you will not recognize. Arthur will abandon everything you teach him, and accomplish nothing of his possible future. If you give him over to us, we can-”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Lancelot interrupted impatiently. “Tell your gang here to leave the area, and I will see this vision you claim foreshadows Arthur’s future. Tell them to take what’s left of their comrades with them.”

  “But I-”

  “They can’t save you or protect you, Madeline. Send them away.”

  “Very well,” Madeline agreed. “Victor!”

  “Yes, mistress.” A vampire reluctantly emerged from among his colleagues. He watched Vivian carefully, ready to bolt if she made any move toward him.

  “Take away what is left of our casualties and leave. Tell Mallor I will be with him as soon as possible,” Madeline told the vampire confidently.

  In moments, the vampires were gone, having taken the vanquished remains with them. Lancelot released Madeline. She touched her neck gingerly, and her hand came away bloody.

  “You bastard! Did you have to cut me? I’m invulnerable, not invincible, and I don’t heal instantly.”

  “Well wahhhhhhh…” Vivian mocked her, chuckling. Having grabbed the startled Madeline, she put her hand on Madeline’s neck and closed her eyes in concentration. The slight wound closed and healed under Vivian’s touch. “There, bitch. Quit whining and show us something worth your life. Keep a civil tongue in your head, or I’ll use this bat to make you into a doorstop.”

  “Is Mallor invulnerable?” Lancelot asked, nodding in appreciation of Vivian’s threat.

  “Yes,” Madeline answered, rubbing her neck.

  “Why didn’t Sir Toad come himself, then?”

  “He…he knew what you did to Modred.”

  “So he sent his woman?” Vivian questioned in amiable disbelief. “Oh, that is precious.”

  “He trusted Lancelot’s honor,” Madeline reacted bitterly. “Apparently we overestimated our adversary’s moral compass.”

  Both Lancelot and Vivian laughed at Madeline’s slighted tone.

  “You are r
eally something, M,” Lancelot said finally. “I take no lessons in honor or morality from demons. Demonstrate your ability, or I’ll show you how far down the road I really have come.”

  “Here is Arthur if the legend survives,” Madeline said, spreading her arms out, and lowering her head. “What has happened so far, until the death of Modred, strengthened the would-be King.”

  Lancelot and Vivian watched as a small area of atmosphere in front of them flickered into scenes depicting Arthur as Lancelot remembered him. In the vision, Arthur stood at attention with Lancelot, dressed in the uniform of the Marine Corps. Lancelot held out a hand, his heart racing in anticipation, so real was Arthur’s appearance…so identical to what the First Knight remembered from ages ago. Grim determination and pride shone from Arthur’s face. The vision disappeared, leaving Lancelot clutching at it desperately.