Merlynn

Le Morte d'Arthur

Merlynn had to beg to go on the hunting trip. There had been some complaints from a couple of travelers about a horrific beast roaming the forest just outside one of the east villages of Camelot and Arthur had arranged a hunting trip with Morris and a few of his knights to go take care of the beast. Originally, Arthur hadn't wanted her to go, telling her that this trip was going to be too dangerous for her. When she complained loudly that she was a better fighter than Morris and had gone on several hunting trips with them before, Arthur finally caved and agreed to let her come along.

She followed Arthur closely, carrying his spear and an extra crossbow in case he or any of the other knights needed it. Five knights followed closely behind them, with Morris taking up the rear carrying extra bolts for the crossbows. Arthur stopped and knelt to the ground as the tracks they were following became deeper and more defined in the mud, indicating that they were closing in on the beast.

"Merlynn, spear." Arthur held out his hand and she passed it to him. Arthur adjusted his grip on the spear and slowly began moving in on the creature. Morris hurried to Merlynn's side behind Arthur and handed her a bolt for the crossbow she was holding. Morris drew a shaky breath and Arthur turned back to him and rolled his eyes. "It's probably more scared of you than you are of it."

Morris nodded and Arthur began signaling to the knights his plan. Two of the knights had split off to the right and Arthur was just telling the remaining three to head off to the left when a giant beast jumped out and hissed at them. Merlynn forgot what it was to move as it hissed at them, rearing up on its hind legs. Arthur dropped his spear and turned back towards the knights and started running away from the beast. This pushed Merlynn into action and she and Morris chased after him, the knights quickly following his lead. Merlynn's foot caught on a root of a nearby tree and she fell to the ground. She turned around to face the creature and hoped her magic could slow it down or something when she felt someone grab her arm. She turned to see Arthur pulling her up and a knight quickly came over to aid them before they started running again. Once they could no longer hear it's hissing, they slowed down to get their bearings.

"Have we lost it? Who's missing?" Arthur asked.

Merlynn looked around the group and noticed only four of the knights had followed them into the forest. "Where's Sir Bedivere?"

A scream came from the direction of the beast and they knew it was too late. The group took a quick breather before rushing back to their horses and riding back to Camelot.

Upon their arrival, Arthur called for a meeting.

"We led a hunting party out this morning to deal with the creature that many traveling citizens have complained about roaming the forest. We lost Sir Bedivere to the beast today. It was massive, with the body of a leopard and the head of a snake." Arthur told the court.

"The creature you describe has all the characteristics of the Questing Beast." Gaius informed him.

"Surely that's a myth."

"According to the old books, the appearance of the Questing Beast is supposed to foreshadow a time of great upheaval."

The King interrupted. "Gaius, that's an old wives' tale."

"Look, whatever it is, it's spreading panic. The people fear it will enter the city." Arthur cut in.

"Then we must kill it. Arthur, gather the guard together. You ride at dawn."

Arthur nodded at the King's command and the council dispersed. Merlynn and Morris followed Arthur out. Merlynn noticed Gaius lingering in the room and nodded to him in encouragement.

Merlynn left Arthur and Morris to go down to the armory and gather Arthur's armor and weapons to mend and sharpen as needed. She brought everything up to her room and was inspecting the blade of his sword when Gaius returned.