Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

Lancelot and Arwen [4]

Arwen found herself standing in a dark hall, narrow and tight with only a few torches lighting up the stones which surrounded them. She thrashed against the hold two of Hengist's men had on her shoulders, a third standing behind her to make sure she doesn't manage to escape. But nothing she did yielded any results. Not before the doors in front of them started to rise, and she soon realized where she was.

She was in the tunnel leading up into the cage of the banquet hall. She could hear the cheers and screams of the bandits long before she could see the cage itself. But once she did, she also saw another person trapped within it. Pushed inside by the men, she fell on her hands and knees next to him, and their eyes met, his horrified at the sight of her still there. Still trapped.

"You thought she got away. No. You failed her. And that must hurt you more than I will ever understand." Hengist stood by the bars of the cage in front of them, taunting Lancelot while the men laughed all around him.

The two still within the cage made quick work of dragging Arwen over to Lancelot, her back now pressed against his as they tied their hands together with rope. Forced to remain like that, neither could move, neither could do anything in an attempt to save them. With each passing moment, this seemed more and more like the end.

"What do you say?! Shall I spare them?" Hengist asked as he walked over to his own table, standing on a podium above the rest of the men and looking down into the cage with a pleased look while all around him men chanted, encouraging the death and the kill.

"I am sorry. This is all my fault." Arwen called out to him, turning her head as much as she could. She felt a tear slip down her cheek as she came to understand that there was no hope for them. Not only will she die, but she'd dragged him into it with her. She never should have put him at risk, no matter how much she wanted to escape.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You reminded me of who I am. I will die with faith in my heart. That is worth more than anything." Lancelot said in a firm tone, she could feel his hand take a hold of hers as they sat together, her head leaning back on his shoulder.

And then the familiar call came, Hengist barking the final instruction. And the door lifted again. The screeches of the wild and ugly beast can be heard over the chanting men as it jumped into the cage, right beside them. But first it focused on the screaming crowd, all cheering for their deaths.

Lancelot tried to move, but Arwen only gripped his hand tighter, shaking her head and hoping he takes the sign. She could remember reading about the creatures that were entirely blind, led only by their smell and hearing. But even if she'd managed to come up with a way to use it to their advantage, it was already too late

With Lancelot's movements, the Wilddeoren's attention turned on them and soon it began to stalk towards them. Both Arwen and Lancelot tried to scoot back, build a distance, and get further away from it as it snaps its jaws at them, making Arwen flinch back as it gets too close.

But before it could get too close, a man suddenly jumped into the cage, landing right between the Wilddeoren and Arwen, his sword slashing at the beast in an instant. And only when he removed the cloth covering his face did Arwen realize who it was. "Arthur!" She breathed out in surprise.

Using his sword, the prince cut the ties holding Arwen and Lancelot's hands bound and neither of them hesitated in jumping to their feet. Lancelot eagerly accepted the sword that Arthur handed him before pulling Arwen to stand behind him while they fend off the Wilddeoren.

"What are you doing here, Lancelot?" Arthur called out the question, his voice rising above the bellowing crowd and beast alike as they stood shoulder to shoulder.

"I came to save Arwen. What about you?" The man who'd once been a knight replied simply, wondering the same thing as the blonde standing by his side.

"Likewise." Arthur answered as they worked together on pushing the Wilddeoren back. "Get behind us." He added, pushing Arwen further back as they retreated while slashing at the creature.