Reclaiming England. (Nano Novel 2016)

Chapter Five: Onwards!

       

   The two horses faced each other, each rider with a lance in his hand, each with his visor down.

  Young king Arthur sat with his visor down on his horse, the lance gripped in his hands. He faced King Pellinore, a knight who had taken to not letting other past unless they bested him in combat.

  Arthur had knighted a young man so he could joust Pellinore, but the King had bested him and sent him home badly wounded. Now the king, angered at the treatment of his knight and forgetting he was barely older himself, rode out to meet the lesser king.

  With a touch of their feet, the horses rushed towards each other, lances lined up. Each lance hit squarely on the other's shield, and Arthur's shattered.

Throwing the remains of the weapon down, he spun his horse around and drew his sword, ready to fight with that. Pellinore dropped his spear and drew his own sword.

  They rode at each other again, swords high and bringing them down. Arthur was rocked in his saddle by the older and larger man's blow, but he pulled his horse away, ready for another clash.

  Again they came, but this time Arthur was knocked from his saddle. He picked himself up, ready to fight on foot. His opponent leapt from his horse and handed his reigns to his squire.

  They clashed again, sword on sword, receiving and exchanging blows.

  Arthur ducked under the other man's sword, but Pellinore leapt back, twisting his wrist and sending his sword arching towards Arthur's head. The young Pendragon had no choice but to raise his sword and block the blow.

   As the powerful blow came down, Arthur's sword stopped it – but the sword shattered. He was knocked to the ground, holding the useless hilt in his hand. He was shocked at how easily it had broken – how quickly he had lost his sword. The sword he had pulled from the stone, the sword that had made him king.

  But it was the least of his worries, and Pellinore was holding his sword to Arthur's throat.

   "You fight well," he said. "Now, yield or I shall kill you."

  Arthur shot a glare up at him, though he couldn't know from behind the young king's visor.

  "I yield to no man!" he said, rolling from under the other man's weapon.

   He stood, bunching his fists and ready to fight hand to hand. Seeing this, Pellinore tossed his sword aside and they came together.

   But Arthur was young, and Pellinore far stronger than him. **It didn't take long before Arthur was pinned beneath his opponent, Pellinore's hands around his neck.

  He suddenly realise that he was going to die. He would be killed by a lesser king's hand, and the kingdom would be plunged into chaos again. But he didn't fear death; if it were his time he would go without fear.

But suddenly, Pellinore's grip relaxed, and he fell to one side, a soft snore escaping his lips. Arthur scrambled to his feet, staring at the other man in shock. Had he... fallen asleep?

   He turned, seeing a figure in the trees. The figure came into the light, and he recognized him as Merlin. The wizard had saved his life.

Maria was on her feet and out the door almost before Callum had finished speaking. Her sleepwear flapped loosely around her arms as she rushed through the house and too the outside door, her heart beating wildly.