Mab helped her up and to the window. She pushed open the great glass doors and looked out across the moon Lothian. It belonged to her and Lot now. She and Lot had held elections over the last week while Uther had been preparing his army and court. Men had been nominated for the governing of Lothian. They were determined to run a democracy, unlike Uther. Surely, that was the best thing.
“Camelot will be at war with Hengist and that damned Cantus XII,” Mab said. Her soft words were hard to hear over the wind that picked up. The tide turned suddenly and the islands began to float and drift in the strong pulls and drifts. “It will be weak.”
Morgause closed her eyes and inhaled the air. The baby grew uncomfortable in the cool wind and began to struggle. She held him tighter, scared to drop him off the edge even though she stood far from it. Far out in the west, she could see Camelot glowing. It looked serene and peaceful there. As if nothing wrong could ever happen on its quiet surface.
“I can’t see anything evil happening there,” Morgause said. With her free hand, she unconsciously gripped her sleek, silver gun.
Mab was silent for a moment before she pointed out, “Your mother died there, Morgause. Uther killed her, like he killed your father. I saw it.” She put her hands on Morgause’s shoulders. “You can trust me. Uther has enslaved all the D.R.U.I.Ds and is building himself an empire. Someone must stop him.”
“Stop, Mab,” Morgause moaned. “You’ve justified yourself enough to me. I don’t hold you responsible for what Vortigern did, nor the side you chose. I don’t care about Uther or his enemies. I will not discourse with him or his men again. Lothian will be silent in these politics.”
“That may not be possible, but think on this, Morgause. You could take Camelot back.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“It was supposed to belong to everyone; that was Constantine’s wish. I know this. I was there as was Merlin. Vivian does not know all things, but I want her to understand. She is my sister by birth and could be an ally.”
“Stop stalling, Mab. What do you want?”
Turning to face Morgause, her eyes beginning to shine wildly, Mab said, “Take it back for yourself. Then give it back to the people.”
What Mab said made sense. If Uther had taken all of Camelot hostage for his own use, then there was nothing wrong with her liberating it and handing it back over to the people who were searching for a new life. They deserved freedom from a monarchy. Uther’s power-cravings needed to be put under control. She was the daughter of a warrior. She could do it.
“I’d have to contact Cantus XII, then,” she began. Mab saw the plans forming in her head. “We could be allies, perhaps.”
“What I had in mind could take years,” Mab interjected. But Morgause didn’t have years… “Yes, let’s make these plans, they’re very wise. You are a soldier.” She smiled encouragingly. “But what if in this grand scheme I can see you concocting, we put your son on the throne in the end? A son loves his mother and listens to her council. Or so a wise son does, an old book once said. You will have wise children.”
Morgause smiled down at little Gawain in her arms. “How can he be king? Uther will make the law so that his son becomes king. The people will follow him.”
A dark twist lighted Mab’s face. “There are ways, but what if the son of Uther’s son was your son?”
Horror flashed onto every feature of Morgause. She clutched the child in her arms to her chest as though to shield it from Mab’s evil plan. She shook her head furiously and took several frightened steps back.
“He’s a child! I can’t do that. What kind of monster are you? You repulsive, vile thing!” Morgause spun and ran back inside, tears of disgust and fear mixed with unknown emotions trailed down her face quickly. When she heard Mab following her, she shouted back in a screech like a hawk, “My mother’s son! Abomination! How can you say this to me?”
“Morgause, think!” Mab ordered. She no longer pleaded or suggested.
Morgause broke from her and dashed towards the door frantically. Touching the master control in the center of the room, Mab locked the door with a single flick of her electronic hand and the lights went out to a dull glow. In the red light, Mab glowed like a celestial being. Like all D.R.U.I.Ds.
“I can make it alright,” she murmured in the darkness. “I can make it so that you don’t even know. This child,” she appeared right beside Morgause now and reached out, touching her temple. Morgause trembled and Gawain began to cry softly. “This child was created by Merlin. He helped Uther seduce your mother and used Avalon DNA inside Uther to create the thing you say is a babe. It is more Avalon than perhaps even you. Don’t think of it as… your brother. Think of it as an opportunity. It is hardly any blood relation when it comes down to it.” She added on as an afterthought, “And your new son could pilot Excalibur. That mecha would more than guarantee you any victory.”
“Merlin?” Morgause interrupted her. “He’s not unlike you then, is he? Is that what we are to you Avalonians? Pieces to be played against each other?”
“Morgause.” Mab smiled now and shaking her head. “You are smarter than this. You are a woman who has taken lives in battle. You have performed executions. You have stolen from enemies before your sleep. You were a spy and an assassin.” She touched her shoulder to tell her not to interrupt. “You are already so corrupt. Your hands are so covered in blood, you stain everything you touch.”
Gawain let out a gasping cry then, his red hair like a bloody sun in the dim light.
“You are already damned.”
Mab expected to hear girlish sobs, but she was pleasantly surprised. A strangled, guttural laugh emitted from Morgause instead. The insane laughter rose and broke into a long, strong guffaw. She lifted her hand away, a little in astonishment, as hysterics took over Morgause. The baby screamed at the sound as though begging to be released from the stranger he now found himself in the arms of.
“Mab, you speak such wicked truths!” she chortled. “Uther killed my mother and father and I am a damned woman. I am not even fully human because my mother could not be bothered to carry me and so had me made up in a lab with elements not of humans to have me grow faster and wiser than most.” She spread her arms, her veins glowing like Mab, and smiled. “I have been awake sixteen years and look as though it’s thirty. But a lifetime of death follows me from life before the sleep. It won’t stop! I don’t have time, Mab.” Another fit of laughter took her. “Damn it all, I’m a monster! A dying, desperate monster!”
Because of the ruckus, a guard outside came in and switched on the lights. Concern marked his face as he quickly caught the falling baby that tumbled out of Morgause’s manic arms.
“Ma’am, are you alright?” he asked.
Morgause’s eyes were by far no longer sane. Her face was wild.
“I’m fine!” she cheered. “Mab has just given me a splendid idea. Bring me some liqueur. No, never mind, I’ll use Lot’s.”
Composing herself dramatically, she walked like a queen across the room and took up a crystal bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid. She raised it up.
“To thrones, planets, wars, blood, and above all: to damnation and fornication!”
Mab winced as she watched the woman drink. “You consider my plan?”
Morgause sighed, pouring a second shot. “No, you slag. I’m a killer. I will kill this child. No one stands between me and my revenge. Death, death, more death. I’m a killer.”
21
The Second War
Merlin stood still as stone before his new king. Uther outfitted himself in glittering red armor after the likeness of a dragon. It was formed of refrectium from the new mines of Camelot. It reflected most laser attacks and could stop anything but a straight shot from an armor piercing bullet made of the same material. His air-locked helmet doubled as a space suit should he need it to. Simply for decoration and status, he had a red cape with his crest blazing in a rare golden thread on his back. He had at last proclaim
ed himself king. Merlin had been gone for it, burying Igrain far away near a D.R.U.I.D refuge.
“You are telling me this now?” Uther demanded. “I am on the brink of war with another planet.”
“Uther, I thought you’d want to know.” Merlin couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice at the fact that Uther didn’t seem to care. His heart went stone cold against any threats that may come. “I’ve brought your son as well.”
“Son?” Uther spun around, a new look in his eye. He averted his gaze quickly. His head hung low. “I cannot take him, Merlin. I am not fit to be a father.”
He had not expected this. “But, Uther, he is your son. If you intend to keep the peace of Camelot, you must have an heir. He is a blessing in this time.” The plans were not unfolding how he had expected them to. “The people love you, Uther. You have given them everything they could want. You truly have.”
He meant it. Before, he may have just spoken the words to calm Uther, but now they were true. Uther had taken a terrified people and had led them through a rough beginning with grace and leadership.
“You really are their king now. Show them how strong you are.”
Uther swallowed and walked away to a large window that overlooked his new military base. They were in what would shortly be the throne room for Uther and his court. After this war, Uther had great plans for Camelot, but now those plans were seeming more like a burden.
He breathed slowly. “This war will be too dangerous. The boy cannot stay here. I don’t want him put in harm’s way. Perhaps he and Igrain can leave this planet. Just for a time.”
Merlin’s eyes shot up at that. He had been hanging his head out of respect for Uther and in shame. A new surprise had taken him now.
“I am sorry, Uther,” he began. “But Igrain, your wife, is dead. You are all the boy has now. I thought you would have known.”
The king walked to the open window and waved his arm helplessly. “Look out there, Merlin. Battalions of men. Armies of Avamecha. An enemy I don’t even know at my gates. How could I have known?” His voice had changed. Merlin had expected it to be strong and forceful, but something in him had broken.
“All of this has distracted me from that which I had.” He shook his head, his eyes turned yellow from the odd setting sun. The weather had been changing strangely over the last few hours. “I was distracted from that which I stole. I know what I did was wrong. I knew it even when I did it, but my greed would not let me stop. It was as though all my hate for Galois had come out in a moment of malice. Years of jealousy from our academy days. It’s not even right that I should still carry that burden. Those days were literally hundreds of years ago now. But for us, the sleeping ones, it was only days it seems.
“And here I am, creating another academy. Setting up a monarchy. All the things I hate.” His voice caught in his throat and he stopped. “I can’t change it. It’s all I know.”
A ray of orange sunlight broke over the purple mountains. The trees on them had begun to turn blood-red and bright yellow. It appeared that a kind of autumn was coming to Camelot. No one knew what the time of year was when they landed or if Camelot even had seasons. The first Constantine, if he had any notes on the subject, had not left them to his descendants. There were no instructions or guides for how to live, just to live and thrive.
“The sun rises orange now,” Uther said. “A change is coming. The D.R.U.I.Ds are studying the weather and say that something of a winter is coming. That is what it looks like. They cannot say what the winter will be like. Will we all freeze? Will this earth turn too far away from its own sun and die, killing us all?”
Merlin’s heart broke at hearing Uther’s hopeless spirit. Uther had the research; they knew the winters were livable. It’s why they were here. The king was becoming irrational.
He walked beside the battle-ready king and said, “Will you take your son?”
Uther stood silent, still watching his new world gird itself for battle. “I cannot,” he said simply. “I have made myself the people’s king and I must do my kingly duties. I have brought this new burden onto myself.” He wouldn’t even look at the baby.
“Will you at least hold him?” Merlin begged, holding the baby out. Uther’s eyes twitched and he fought to not glance at the child. He almost looked, but then closed his eyes and clasped his hands behind his back in a resolute decision. “Will you name him then?”
Outside, an alarm sounded. A long, whaling sound that rose and fell. Merlin jumped and clutched the child like a mother would. Over each section, red lights flashed and the mecha suddenly ignited and stood up.
“Cantus XII has come too close to our atmosphere,” Uther said. He pushed his cape over one shoulder and took his helmet under one arm. He checked all his weapons and then started off toward the door. “They’ll be on us in minutes. Merlin, get to safety, I’ll have Nimueh with me for the battle. She’ll know what to do.”
“Uther, no, you don’t have to fight!”
Cursing, Merlin ran to find someone to take the child. He called to Vivian in his mind, but she did not reply. He tried Nimueh, but she responded quickly that she was busy with war preparations. Running through Castle Pendragon’s halls, he heard another set of alarms go off. This one he recognized as an air-raid siren. Cantus XII had already launched their attack and were inside Camelot’s atmosphere.
When Merlin got into the hangar, he spotted the only familiar face he thought he could trust.
“Ector!” he called to the engineer at the hub of the master control platform.
“What is it?” Ector asked as Merlin dashed up to him, paler than usual with the baby in his arms.
“I need you to do something for me,” he panted. “I must find Uther. This battle is too dangerous. We don’t know who we’re fighting or what they can do and yet he won’t stop.”
“I know,” Ector said sadly. “I’m lost as to what to do to prepare. We’re sunk if we don’t figure something out and I’ve never been clever enough for that.”
He barked some quick commands as a few pilots panicked as they saw Cantus ships coming in on the radar.
“You’re a good man, Ector,” Merlin said. “I need you to leave. Flee to the nearest planet and wait until this war is over. Take your wife and family and go. And this,” he held out the baby, “I need you to take this and guard him with your life.”
“But Merlin,” Ector started. “I’m a young father, I can hardly handle my own son Kay, and my wife passed away just after landing here. I don’t know what to do!”
Merlin grabbed Ector by the shoulder as the first explosion went off near the purple mountains. People screamed and began scrambling for their lives, yelling commands. He glared into his eyes.
“The past and future of mankind depend on this child’s survival, Ector. Do as I say, please.” With that, he shoved the child into Ector’s arms and hauled them both through the hanger to a pod door and shoved them inside. “Get your son and get off planet. Do not come back until I come to you. Do you understand?”
“I’m the chief engineer,” Ector screamed in panic. “I am needed here.”
“Go!”
Jamming the keys harder than necessary, Merlin plotted the destination for Ector’s homestead and pressed the launch button and the countdown began.
“You’re a great pilot. Don’t get shot,” he said as lightly as he could.
Ector still looked full of fear and doubt as the pod launched.
Merlin ran again, this time looking for Uther.
***
The Cantus beings did not have mecha, but their armor proved a match for the simple artillery and the stronger mecha. Normal bullets and lasers could not pierce it. The armor also gave them strength to match and the large mecha were at a disadvantage as the Cantus beings were far smaller and faster with their teleporting techniques. When a Cantus being got too close, a mecha could not even fight them and the being broke in through the cockpit to kill the pilot easily.
They had come down in
loud machines with ducted coaxial propellers on all four sides. Some were running on an orange fluid that leaked out while the engine’s fusion took place. All were painted to look like they had been charred and burned or were covered in flames. This could only be understood when they learned that Cantus XII was a fiery, burning planet, always in an industrial revolution. Because of this and the rich mines of Cantus XII, they were always prepared to fight and try out their weaponry.
The air raid proved to be the most devastating. The Cantus ships flew over, dropping explosives of their alien elements onto Camelot’s surface. The orange glowing liquid ate at everything in its path, caught stone on fire, and began to dissolve the grand buildings and city streets that were not yet black with use.
The faster, lighter mecha were commanded to launch into the air and take down the air assault any way they could. This was done by pilots leaping high up and flying to the aircraft. They would try to grab ahold of the craft and rip its engines asunder or tear the wings off; anything to make it crash and cease its merciless attack. While some mecha were attacking thus, other rapid-fire aircraft zoomed in from behind and would pelt the mecha into submission or until it fell, exploding on the ground below.
On the ground, men in armor like Uther’s fought with power-blades or replicas of Vortigern’s massive propulsion gun. It seemed to be the only thing that would dent the Cantus beings’ armor. The body count sky-rocketed as the angry aliens tore through Camelot’s masses.
A lone speed-bike zoomed through the carnage, too fast to be stopped and too fast for human reflexes to be piloting it. Merlin raced away from the fight, keeping an eye on Calesvol, Uther’s new mecha, as he departed. There was only one way to end this fight before it was too late and that way lay trapped in a mountain far from the fight.
As he left the city around Pendragon, it became evident Cantus attacked everywhere, not just the city. Unlike what Hengist had said, he didn’t simply want revenge on Uther. He ravaged the entire planet out of rage for his lost brother. Above him in the sky, Listenoise glowed softly, not willing to dirty her hands in Uther’s war. Merlin had hoped that Pellinore would have come down and talk Uther out of the war, but it was clearly too late and Cantus had moved too fast.
A New Home: A Sci-Fi Arthurian Retelling (The Camelot Project Book 1) Page 16
