Arthur II Book III Chapter 11

 

Chronicles of the Knights and Ladies II

 

11.

 

Peace had reigned in the land but some settlements lived in fear not of the raiders with steel blades and rock-hard ax heads but the venomous dark creatures were seen to terrorize the locals. It was the time to call on the knights but not all were able to fight the demons. Not all who wanted were brave to do it.

Well, for some they lived for it.

The Green Knight stepped into the ruins of once was a castle but defeated of its Lord, it was the lair of bandits and later scavengers to then the condition of nearby ruins and rubble. The Green Knight had stepped across the dry moat on the single tree trunk that he had dragged there to form a bridge.

“The will of God is the strength of Man” Earlier Jaseth in the Green armor felt the will to lift the tree trunk and then tossed it over. Once the moat was able to be crossed, Jaseth had picked up the heavy halberd in his right hand. When he was stepping over the moat, he felt the eerie feeling in his body. He reached out with his mind to the amulet hung on his neck given by Sir Bernlak of Haus.

“I shall not falter in my quest.” Jaseth took the steps across the moat. He saw below him in the moat the lost souls who had not left the ruin. He ignored them and walked past the stone walls to the yard. There were no more halls there nor stables or servant quarters but rubbles lest for one item that still stood well there. The well was intact with the rope and bucket.

Jaseth walked to it and peeked below. It was darkness below where the sunlight will not reach even though it was noon then. He stepped back and swung the halberd on the wall.

“Show thy self!” Jaseth called out. The impact on the well echoed into the depth of the well, and the purged of dark clouds appeared over the well to form a canopy over the well. A dark form appeared over the well.

“And you come forth on my command.” Jaseth looked at the dark form which was formless and then reshaped into the form of a siren. “Are you not far from the sea?”

Jaseth though young and held less experienced in the battles with demons, he, however, had god tutors from the monks before he left with Sir Bernlak. He had during his apprenticeship learned exorcism and was to join in the rituals. With his new role, he had taken on the evils on his own.

“Jaseth of Haus.” That name had stuck with him. “You may have donned the armor and the amulet, your skills in the battle with demons remained raw.”

“I have no desire to terminate you but I would ask you remove the souls here.”

“Remove? I am a siren. I collect the souls for my use.” Sirens are known to sit on the rocks or swim by the ships on the sea to lure the sailors to jump overboard. Once they do it, the sirens will take their souls and send the carcasses to the sea predators. They kept the souls for themselves like trophies.

“I asked no more but will do what is needed.”

“Hold your blade, Jaseth of Haus. I will yield.” The siren rose higher and then it shrieked at the knight but Jaseth had seen the attack. He had the beeswax stuffed into his ears and swung the halberd but not at the well. He swung it on the dark cloud and shattered it. The sunlight shone through and the siren screamed. It flew at the well, but there stood Jaseth with the halberd. It turned and flees to the wall where slight cover it offered from the sunlight.

“Let me go back. I will burn in the sunlight. I will dry…”

“And withered like the pants without water. I know your needs as akin to the fish out of the water.” Jaseth glared at it. “Spare the souls and you may get redemption.”

The siren released the captured souls and Jaseth offered a bucket filled with water. It is faced with termination or salvation in the water there. It swam in and was offered a cover on the bucket. Jaseth lived to his words and at dusk, he released the siren into the stream.

“You may swim to the sea and be on your way.”

“Thank you, Jaseth of Haus. You are kind. I was entrapped by the Lord by the lure of his charms. He imprisoned me till his death. I was discarded into the well where I remained its prisoner. It was years later that I regained my power and exact my vengeance.”

“I am not to terminate you for you are a lost soul. You will do your service at sea as you were. You will lure the seamen who are sinners. Now be gone and one day, you will be pardoned.”

“As I am today.” The siren swam away.

“A noble gesture, Sir Knight.” Jaseth heard the voice but had not seen the person. He reached for the halberd and called out the challenge.

“Show thy self or I will flay you of your soul.”

“Emotions will be your sufferance one day, Sir Knight. I am here.” Jaseth turned to look and saw the beautiful lady standing there in the white gown. “I am Morgan Le Fay.”

“I am ….”

“Jaseth of Haus, the Green Knight. You have taken to rid the land of demons. You were the apprentice of Sir Bernlak of Haus.”

“You know much of me, Lady Le Fay.”

“Morgan will do.” Jaseth heard the name and the amulet on his neck vibrated which tells him, she was more than the name given.

“I am a witch, as you are to know. I believed you want to harm me but I pose no threat to you.”

“Harm? I have no such intention. Not all witches are evil.”

“As not all knights are noble.” Morgan retorted. They both laughed. It was the first lines that may set the relationship.

Or doomed it.

“I have come for your life, Percival of Efawg.” Cwi stood at the front of the group that barged into the hall.

“And whom have you brought here?”

“Your parent’s slayer.” Fisher King stepped forward. “Gornement, his successor to the estate stands by me.”

Fisher King was an elderly figure with a gray beard that covered his face and like Gornement; he was also wide at the girth. He held a broadsword with both hands.

“Gornement, once my mentor in the sword now stands with the slayer to my parents. How do you speak on your sins?”

“Aye, Percival. I was once your mentor and also your father’s friend. As did Fisher King was to your father then. We rode and fought in battles but there is one misdeed he has done that you may not know. Your father betrayed us all when he married the daughter of his enemy. Your mother is not of the land but the Picts.” Gornement said.

“Aye, your father went against our wishes and forced upon us to accept it. We had to for he was the all-powerful Lord of Efawg.” Fisher King adds on. “I rebelled against him even though we were family.”

“We would have forgiven him but your mother plotted against us. She wanted to take apart the relationship of us three. Fisher King had her slain and kept her head in the case which he told your father that it contained the Grail.” Gornement continued. “Your father had a fascination with the Grail but he was not allowed to see it. He had Fisher King by his side to ensure the Grail was kept here. Little was he known what it contained?”

“Why kept my mother locked in that case?” Percival asked.

“She was a witch, Young Efawg. I could not have defeated her without the help of the Nine Witches.” Fisher King revealed it all “It was the enchantment on the case to keep her there from returning until…. She was to be joined by your father.”

“And you took your time with my father. You ate his food and drank the mead from his table, and yet you were …”

“We were truer of kin. We were close to him than his brother.” Gornement said. “As I was to you with your father away, I was his friend and a close to a father to you.” Gornement was the closest to a father than with Young Percival. “Your mother was the one who …”

“Uncle, say your piece to them,” Percival called to his uncle who brought him there but there was no sound heard from his rear. He turned to look and found only Adriane standing there.

Percival turned to Adriane.

“Was it a dream or ruse you did to bring me here? And made me stay? As you did with the image of my mother when I was young at our play?”

“Yes, Percival. I did it but for a reason. Today, you can reclaim back Efawg as it was rightfully yours.” Adriane told him. “Take your vengeance for your parents.”

If vengeance was to be sweeter then the nectar of the bees would have tasted bitter.

“No…” Percival screamed out.