Pendragon's Blood

Part 7 - In Which Morgana Reveals Herself As a Threat

Biting back another gasp, I unsheathed my sword with shaking hands.

She's lying, I told myself. She's just saying that to make her army feel more confident. She's just boosting morale, that's all it is.

Right?

There were cheers among Morgana's assembled crew as they felt more refreshed and courageous, just like I'm sure Morgana had wanted. She sat perched there one the laps of two men, smiling with superiority, like she was already the queen of Briton.

While watching this spectacle, a growl formed in the back of my throat and I shifted myself in a more ready position, balancing on the balls of my feet. If the boys weren't going to show up, I swear on Briton I would take her down myself.

Morgana held up a hand to silence the noise of her crew. "We still have a possibility that one of the Knights of the Roundtable is on our side. He's taking a while to decide where his loyalties lie, but I think he's as good as ours."

One of our knights? I thought, the sinking feeling in my stomach rising then settling in my chest - a hard pressure that felt suffocating. I slid my sword back into its scabbard, and slowly backed away from the tree, deciding to find the boys before even thinking of a surprise attack. They needed to know about the rat in the castle.

Crack!

I froze, staring down at my feet that just loudly snapped a twig in half. I cursed under my breath.

"What was that?" Morgana snapped in a hushed tone, her head swinging toward my direction. She stilled, tensing when she saw me. I turned around and fled up the hill just as Morgana screamed at her troops, "after her! Stop her!"

I was almost to the top of the hill when an arrow shot by me, hitting a tree as I passed by it. I shied away and put on a burst of speed, deciding not to waste my breath on screaming. I risked a glance behind me and almost shrieked at how close Morgana's guards were closing in. My hand grabbed my sword's hilt as I cleared the top of the hill. Gawain and Mordred weren't there, but the horses Hunter and Strider were.

The horses stamped and neighed anxiously as I dashed up to them. I quickly untied Hunter and hopped on top of him, and used my sword to cut Strider's rope in half. I snatched the remaining rope that dangled from his halter and tied it to the saddle strap. "Ya!" I shouted, digging my heels into Hunter's side, making him bolt forward with Strider keeping pace beside us. Directing the horse in a north-eastern direction, we galloped away, putting more distance between us and Morgana's men.

I saw two figures heading my way on a path front of me. The boys. They waved their hands in the air once they noticed me with the horses, and I cut Strider completely loose from the saddle, and he continued to dash forward, only stopping once he reached the boys.

"I found them!" I shouted to them, leading Hunter to circle around the boys, using my sword to point where I just came from. "They're coming!"

Without a word, Gawain mounted Strider and Mordred swung up behind me on Hunter's back. We spurred the horses back up the hill I came from, swords unsheathed and ready. I gritted my teeth when the men came into view. Instead of stopping before the small army, we plowed straight through the middle of the group, scattering them as they tried to avoid us. Mordred jumped off the horse and immediately started to have a sword fight with two men while Gawain stayed on his mount and used his sword to take out some of the others.

I gripped Hunter's reins in one hand and with all my might, swung my sword vertically, scoring a hit on one of the archers shoulders. He screamed, dropping his bow and toppling to the ground in pain. With gritted teeth, I turned the horse around and plowed again through a group of men heading toward me. I felt Hunter stumbled beneath me as he ran over one or two guys, but he quickly righted himself.