Wrought Iron, Book 1 of Merlin's Message

Chapter 10 - Preps

Swords, maces, shields, helmets, armor, knives, bows, arrows, spears, and more were arrayed against the glittering stone wall.

"Looks like a medieval yard sale," Mike observed.

"Yeah," Taeko remarked. "But no shimmering silver blades. The metal's all dark, nicked, and pitted."

"Well used stuff before it got put here," Dafydd suggested.

Taeko picked up a heavy longbow, then rubbed her fingers together and sniffed.

"Linseed oil," she observed.

Dafydd handled one of the simple conical helmets. Gavin and Mike were hefting various swords. All the metal sheened with some sort of bluish oily coating.

"Some kind of oil and heat treatment, I think," Dafydd observed.

Mike tested the edge of one blackened blade with a fingertip. "Sharp, though."

Gavin still tried to fill logic holes, but the mustangs kept getting out of the corral.

"Dafydd?" Gavin whispered off to one side.

"Yeah?"

"If you knew about this gate, why didn't we, or you, bring some modern weapons?"

Dafydd shrugged. "Two reasons. My Dad and Loomis cautioned against bringing modern technology to Avalon if it existed. And second, to tell you the truth, I didn't much believe any of this. Yeah, I saw the one manuscript and listened to those two professors all the time I was growing up. It was still hard to take any of it too seriously."

"Maybe we should back out of this and come back with better equipment," Gavin mused.

"Ahh, but I didn't say I brought nothing, did I?" Dafydd smirked and gestured for Gavin to follow him.

Dafydd pulled a duffel from the baggage pile and unzipped it, shining a penlight at the contents.

Five small matt black semi-automatic handguns lay in the bag, complete with belt holsters, spare mags, and many ammo boxes. Gavin picked one up, made sure it was clear and unloaded, and gave it a close look.

"Kel-Tec P17's," Dafydd said. "Shoots .22 Long Rifle."

".22's are a little lightweight, aren't they?"

Dafydd shrugged. "Maybe. But this model is simple, easy to use, and rugged. So they'll be easy to handle, even for Hannah. Also, I thought we should have a commonality of ammunition. And .22's are, yeah, lightweight so that we can carry a lot of rounds."

"Makes sense, I guess," Gavin said slowly.

"Look, Gavin. I've been there, you know. Everybody wants something big and scary. Not my style, okay? Besides, these are for self-defense. We're not on a hunting safari. Do you seriously want all of us weighed down like infantry troopers?"

"You put it that way, no."

"And the ammo I brought are fully jacketed .22 long rifle, not much different than your standard .223 or 5.56 mil-spec at close range. And besides, we're on a budget, remember? How much is an AR-15 going for today?"

"I don't know, a couple of grand?" Gavin responded.

"That's a fact," Mike chimed in, startling Dafydd and Gavin.

"Really?" Gavin asked.

".22's is what I used most back home. .22 ammo is cheaper and easier to get than the heavy stuff. Me and my Grandad had the 12 gauge shotguns and the thirty-ought-six rifles like most people around home. But a .22 does just fine for a lot, and like I said, it's a lot cheaper. Besides, shooting straight is better than a bigger bullet."