The Iron Sword

by J. M. Briggs

“I thought it was only guys who thought like that,” Arthur teased, a smile returning to his face.

  He leaned down quickly and kissed Alex’s forehead before releasing her hand and going to the far side of his car. It was unlocked in a moment and Alex climbed in, trying to keep her teeth from chattering at the chilly interior. With an apologetic smile, Arthur started the car and cranked up the heater. They sat in the parking lot for a few minutes letting the car warm up as the last rays of the sun vanished leaving behind only violet traces above the mountain. Alex tried to enjoy the color, but it was too similar to the eyes of the Sídhe for her. There was an ache in her bones that she couldn’t understand and as Arthur carefully put the car into reverse she stretched out her legs the best she could in front of her.

  “You okay?” Arthur asked with a glance her direction.

  “I’m fine, just a little sore. Probably from not getting out and jogging or going to the gym lately,” Alex told him with a shrug as she tried to settle and get comfortable.

  “Maybe, but it’s probably stress too. We’ve had a lot to worry about.”

  “Finals weren’t that bad,” Alex laughed. “Not compared to everything else. Next semester when we all have to start taking our serious classes, then we can worry.”

  “Hey, we had upper-level classes this semester! You and Nicki had the King Arthur class and the Enlightenment history class. Those were both 300 level.”

  “Yeah, but they were really interesting and that helps. Of course, Merlin teaching a class on King Arthur is hard to beat.”

  “And next semester he’s teaching the bible,” Arthur observed with a chuckle. “That should be interesting.”

  “I wonder how much time he or Morgana spent in the Middle East during that period?” Alex asked with a smile. “Someday we’re going to have to get them to talk about stuff outside of the wars and magic.”

  “We’ve gotten them to talk about it some.”

  “Yeah, but not nearly enough. Three thousand years has got to produce some good stories.”

  “And probably some sad ones,” Arthur pointed out gently.

  Alex was about to reply when her phone began to chirp with a familiar ring tone. Arthur glanced her way, but Alex didn’t move to retrieve the phone. Instead, she snuggled into her coat and sighed softly.

  “Alex?”

  “My mom keeps calling,” Alex confessed softly, bumping her head back against the headrest. “I told her that I wasn’t sure I was coming home, but I can’t come up with a good reason.”

  “I hate it too,” Arthur told her gently, glancing over towards her. “But it’ll be okay, I promise.”

  “But it’s Christmas and I can’t even give them a lousy excuse for why I’m not coming home.”

  “I told my mother that you and I wanted to celebrate Christmas together,” Arthur offered gently. “You could tell you your folks that.”

  “No, they’d just invite you to spend Christmas with us. Mom likes you and all, but I think she’d be worried about us doing something that serious after only four and half months.”

  “Has it really only been a few months?”

  “We didn’t start dating officially until school started so a couple days in August, September, October, November and the first two weeks in December. It’s about four and half months.”

  “I count from June.” Arthur smiled warmly at her. “That was a good kiss.”

  “I’m not going to swoon for you, even if you are the hero.”

  “That’s one of the things I like about you.”

  Arthur turned them smoothly onto the smaller paved road that circled the lake before coming back into town via the older stone bridge to the east of town. The half-moon was high in the sky and provided silvery light that was glistening off the snow.

  “It’s so dark outside,” Alex frowned as she looked up at the slowly appearing stars. “Not really a good night for a drive.”

  “Maybe not,” Arthur agreed, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “But we needed to get out and I just thought it would be nice to leave town for at least a little while.”

  “You’re sweet.”

  “On occasion,” Arthur replied with an easy going smile. “We’ll just chat and drive slowly around the lake then we’ll go back to town. I promise.” He leaned forward and looked up at the moon with a small smile. “I know it isn’t a full moon, but hopefully the half moon will look nice on the lake.”

  “In the summer this would be more romantic,” Alex teased with a soft smile that she doubted he could see. “Without the worry about ice on the road.”

  “It was a sunny day, I’m sure the roads are okay, but point taken.”

  They didn’t talk about anything in particular as Alex watched the lights of Ravenslake sparkling on the surface of the lake; mostly the conversation focused on classes and the relief of another semester being done. Directly across from them, the town looked beautiful with flashes of color from the neon signs of 4th Avenue’s lakeside restaurants occasionally being visible. She thought that she could make out the Russell Gallery and hoped that Nicki was having a nice night.

  As they headed further east, Ravenslake faded out of sight, disappearing behind them leaving a darker view of the lake with the moon reflecting on it. Sighing softly, Alex felt herself relaxing and smiled over at Arthur. His eyes were focused on the road, but he glanced towards the lake every few moments. All around them, the thick trees of the forest were closing around them and the hills made it feel like they were in their own little world.

  Shivering, Alex paused as she heard a strange rustling sound from outside the car. Arthur slowed down the car as a flock of birds could be heard flying overhead. Her exhale misted in front of her as Alex leaned forward in confusion to catch sight of the birds flying at night. Alex looked towards Arthur and her eyes widened as his breath wafted in the air in front of him.

  “Arthur, it’s cold,” Alex whispered, turning and looking out into the darkness.

  There was a pause of total silence, the car still rolling forward on the road. Then the headlights flickered just as Arthur applied the brakes. In the corner of her eye, Alex saw a dark purple distortion through the air outside the car like a shock racing towards them. Before she could shout a warning to Arthur, it collided with the side of the car, crunching the metal. The car lurched, sending Alex sliding towards Arthur and slamming her hip against the seat belt latch as the seat belt dug into her chest and shoulder. All the air rushed out of her lungs, but she couldn’t inhale as the car spun off the road, sliding into the far ditch with a shudder.

  “Alex!” Arthur called just before his hand landed on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  Shaking her head, Alex blinked and tried to inventory how she felt. Her ears were ringing, her heart was racing and her body ached from being tossed around. But she quickly answered that she was alright and began to wrestle out of the seat belt.

  “I can’t get free,” Alex grunted as she fumbled with the latch. Next to her, Arthur climbed out of his seat belt and reached over to help her. “No,” Alex protested before she fully thought out it. “Arthur something hit us, it’s cold. You have to be ready to fight.”

  “I can’t leave you like this!”

  “I have my dagger,” Alex told him, reaching into her bag and pulling out the sheathed weapon. “I’ll cut myself out.”

  The headlights flickered and the engine sputtered to a stop leaving them in silence. There was a soft crunching sound outside the car, followed by a multitude of odd groans and growls that Alex couldn’t identify. Arthur’s eyes were wide in the light of the moon and a moment later he nodded. He pushed open the driver’s side door which made a horrible scraping sound. Fighting off the icy chill settling over her body, Alex began to cut through the seat belt while keeping an eye out for anything coming at them.

  Alex tore the strap off her shoulder which protested the movement. Clamoring over the middle of the car, Alex slipped out of the driver’s side. Her feet sank into
the snow and a shiver racked her body. Stumbling forward, Alex used Arthur’s tracks to maneuver around the car. As she walked around the front, she spotted her boyfriend standing in the road, looking towards the lake. He was clutching his dagger in one hand and the other was holding something that she couldn’t see.

  With a burst of determination, Alex climbed out of the ditch and stepped forward onto the road as she searched around with frantic glances for the threat. She stopped short, a gasp escaping her as she caught sight of glowing red eyes peering out from the trees around them. There were eyes on the hill behind them and on the slope leading down to the lake below, dozens of them all watching and waiting.

  “Arthur,” Alex called in a low whisper. “Call your magic: we have to fight.”

  “That’s not what we’re here for Alex,” he replied softly, his eyes locked on the lake. “It looks like Chernobog made it here first after all.”

  Everything stopped. All around her the world fell away into darkness as the light of the moon dimmed and everything went silent. She couldn’t smell anything and only the chill of her jeans freezing around her legs and the slosh of snow in her shoes reassured Alex that the world was still there.

  The shadows around them began to lift and Alex stepped forward with shaking hands. Risking a look towards Arthur, Alex swallowed at the strange gleam in his eyes. There was horror, urgency, excitement and relief. She wanted to take some heart in the expression, but her heart suddenly felt constricted and she forced herself to look back at the lake.

  In the moonlight she could see strange ripples on the lake’s surface right at the center where the water was deepest. A dark shape was moving beneath the water and Alex couldn’t convince herself it was just a trick of the light. In the shadows around them, the monsters were making small excited sounds that sent a chill up her spine. She risked a glance back towards town and was just able to see some lights, but it was miles away.

  A rumble in the water made Alex turn back so quickly her neck crunched. The ripples were turning into waves as water bubbled up violently in increasingly large circles. There was just enough light to see something black seeping up from the depths like oil onto the water’s surface. A horrible smell like rotting meat filled the air making Alex gag. She could barely see the black sludge as it began to swirl together in the water. Then it vanished beneath the surface just as the bubbling stopped. The surface was still for a long moment.

  The water on the shoreline retreated from the rocky beach and Alex instinctively stepped back. In the shadows around them, there was a burst of noises like cheering. A mess of strange high pitched sequels and low grumbles that made her want to cover her ears. With the sound of an explosion, water surged forward and upwards as a massive shape rose out of the water. In the soft moonlight, Alex could see a tall humanoid figure rising forth from the waves. It was a thin and twisted with long skeletal limbs. Large talons glinted in the light, seaweed hanging from them as Alex struggled to process what she was seeing.

  “Chernobog,” Alex gasped, the name escaping her lips against her volition.

  Chernobog stood, his long form stretching out into the sky. He loomed more than twenty feet over them and slowly turned, causing waves of water to strike the shore. A sunken-in face like that of a corpse came into view; the black shining skin was stretched tightly over the bones of the face that were too sharp and wide, which gave the impression of horns growing out of its cheeks and chin. Glowing neon green eyes appeared, peering at them from the blackness. Chernobog smiled, revealing rows of sharp white teeth. A chuckle came from the creature and echoed around the valley.

  Chernobog raised one of his hands and an icy wind blew all around them. High in the sky, the silvery wisps of clouds swirled together into thick dark clouds. A moment later, the clouds covered the moon and behind them, the last rays of the sun vanished beyond the mountains plunging them into horrifying darkness.

  27

  Broken Heart

  800 B.C.E. Northern Cornwall

  Dismounting from the exhausted brown horse, Arto looked around with a thoughtful frown. His home village looked normal, but tension was hanging in the air like a cold mountain fog. No one was moving to greet them despite the fact that they’d been gone for three months. His eyes scanned around carefully, taking in a few children playing in a yard and a woman weaving in front of her roundhouse, but none of them reacted to his return.

  He looked over at Merlin as the older mage dismounted and swung his staff down with a soft sigh. Merlin surveyed the village with a cautious expression despite appearing to be relaxed. Arto knew that his mentor’s brown eyes were searching for any details that might give them some warning as to what was happening.

  There were the usual sounds and smells, not all of them pleasant, but all expected. People were moving between the roundhouses, tending the animals in the small enclosures and Arto could hear the smiths at work. Smoke swirled in the area above the village from the furnaces into the bright blue sky.

  “I don’t like this,” Airril observed in a low voice behind him and Arto heard the familiar metallic scraping of a sword being pulled from a sheath.

  “Calm down,” Morgana ordered in a soft voice.

  Arto glanced back to see Airril standing protectively next to Morgana, her hand on the hilt of his sword to keep him from drawing it further. His sister was glaring at a local woman carrying a covered basket with downcast eyes moving past them. Her green eyes were cold and a frown had taken over her face.

  “What do you think?” Arto asked Merlin in a low voice. “We can’t leave.”

  “We certainly can,” Merlin corrected, leaning forward on his staff as he looked towards the hill the village was built around. “But I don’t think that it is necessary.”

  “Arto!” a voice called in the distance and Arto quickly realized that it was Medraut.

  Stepping forward, Arto patted the horse’s neck and shifted towards the paths. Medraut called his name again, his voice carrying over the muted village. A moment later his cousin came into view, striding down the main hill towards them. There was a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth, but his expression soon shifted to a more neutral one. Arto couldn’t help a flicker of irritation at the expression but banished it quickly. Medraut hurried over to them, the blank expression still in place. Arto watched as his cousin glanced around the village and then gestured for one of the younger men to take their horses. Again no one met his eyes even as a pair of men walked over and led the horses away.

  “Medraut what is going on?” Arto demanded in a low voice. “Why is everyone behaving so oddly?”

  “Arto I’m sorry,” Medraut told him in a soft voice that almost quivered. “Gwenyvar and Luegáed ran away together.”

  The words didn’t make any sense and jumbled around in his head. “What?” Arto asked after hearing Morgana inhale sharply.

  “We shouldn’t have this conversation here,” Morgana said urgently in his ear suddenly beside him with a protective hand on his shoulder. “Let’s get away from the listeners,” she told him with a nod towards the curious looking villagers.

  An odd look crossed Medraut’s face that Arto couldn’t read, but his cousin nodded and stepped to the side so they could access the path. The walk up the hill seemed to take hours. Arto could feel eyes on him with every step and even his sister’s presence did nothing to ease the tension. There had to be some kind of mistake; there just had to be. Perhaps Gwenyvar had wanted to go out and harvest herbs or simply get of the village for a bit. She had grown up in the mountains of the north and maybe the views of the plains had become too dull. That was possible, so why the accusations?

  Then thankfully they reached his roundhouse and Medraut pulled open the pelt and allowed them to enter. Arto couldn’t even muster a smile as he spotted his mother waiting for them. She stood from his bed with a sad smile and stepped towards them. Merlin said something that Arto could not hear to Morgana and turned back to the villagers with Airril at his side just be
fore the pelt fell back into place closing himself, Morgana, Medraut and his mother in the roundhouse.

  “What is this about Gwenyvar and Luegáed running off?” Morgana demanded, turning on Medraut quickly with a furious expression. Her anger or perhaps disbelief helped pull Arto out of his stunned silence.

  “Yes, how do you know that is what has occurred?” Arto asked quickly with a nod towards Morgana. “Perhaps he escorted her outside of the village. They could be injured and instead, you’re accusing them of something far worse.”

  “I am sorry, son,” Eigyr told him softly. “But I am the one who can confirm what Medraut told you.” She toyed nervously with her hand and did not look at him for a long moment. “I came to see Gwenyvar and found her packing a few things for a trip. I asked her where she was going; she fumbled for an answer, but then Luegáed came in. He seemed surprised to see me and said nothing, neither of them would meet my eyes. Gwenyvar picked up her pack and they left together. That was two days ago, and they have not returned.”