The Lost Knight

It began with a black banshee's scream that woke the entire castle. Murmurs and cries echoed the corridors, followed by commotion of steel and stone contacting. The sounds grew intense and more frequent as my door burst open.

"Sir Lancelot, we're under attack!" A young knight exclaimed! I quickly leaped from my bed and began dressing myself in chainmail.

"Tell me, young knight, what of our enemy?" "I know little, but the guards have fallen!"

"Then we must act fast, has the King been notified?"

"Aye, he is seeing to it that his subjects make it to the safety of the dungeons!" Just as he finished his dialogue, the stone walls burst forth, sending me flying across the room. The young knight helped me up so I could look out at the hole that was once a sturdy wall. Great balls of smoke and ash rose in great plumes from the ground, sending entire buildings crashing down.

"I can’t see any catapults; how large they must be to travel such a distance!”

“Sir, we must arm ourselves!”

I followed him as we navigated the cramped and narrow halls. I saw servants crying over their master’s bodies, as many did not survive the bombing. I made it to the courtyard where my fellow knights were mounting their steeds. The King entered the courtyard from the gate, carrying a wounded Merlin on his back.

“The Kingdom has been evacuated. The enemy has enchanted catapults and invisible arrows they fire from the tips of their swords!” The King proclaimed, “They are the strange hunters we fought the month of late. Merlin was struck in the head by one of the invisible arrows, but his magic has protected him, for the most part.”

“I shall take him to safety, your majesty!” My young companion volunteered.

“So be it. The rest of you, we are at war!” A series of snaps echoed throughout the courtyard, and the King fell down forward and landed on his face. A pool of blood gathered under him and reflected the enemy retreating from the gates.

With great rage we chased the attackers well past the outer Kingdom. I rode fast and I rode true, without any care for my companions, lost in pace. I nudged my steed to go faster than she has ever gone before, and I felt her beg for slack on the reigns. In any other circumstance I would oblige the kind beast, but the crisis did not allow it.

The King is dead, and the murderers ride just out of my reach! I unsheathed my sword and held it down towards the ground as I rode into the setting sun. The fugitives turned right towards the creek, and I knew just where to cut them off! I scaled a transition of mountainous boulders and leaped above them into the stream. My horse cried in agonizing pain as it flailed in the shallow water, its legs surely broken. I made my way to the muddy shore where the assassins struggled to keep their steed's footing. I saw horror in their eyes as they bore witness to my sacrifice.

I was cut fast and true, releasing the saddles from the horse's backside, causing the men to fall down into the mud. One of the men raised a circular dagger to my head, one I have never seen in all my travels. He pulled a small lever and a click echoed amidst the chaos. For a minute he stood confused towards the alien dagger, and I took the opportunity to dismember his wielding hand. The man sank into the mud crying from the pain when a woman tried to smash a large sack over my head. I ducked, spinning around as my sword sliced into her abdomen. She fell to join her partner in crime.

All that remained of the strangers were three warriors, who began enchanting in a familiar yet odd language. Although it was with a twisted accent, it sounded like "Requesting extraction on our position!"

Upon the incantation, brilliant blue and yellow sparks began floating all around us. I searched for the fire, but there was none. And as quickly as the spell was cast, I found myself crashing down onto a bed of armor!

"Get out of the way!" A thick foreign accent shouted from a strange yellow carriage. I made my way to solid ground and stood perplexed; for a minute I stood in the middle of the lane confused at the sight before me! It was a sea of carriages without horses, all seemingly wanting to move. I thought these men to be quite foolish, and if this is the future the old wizard told me of, I will not have it!

Yet as I returned from whence, I came, the enemy began traveling the journey I just overcame with utmost haste. Fearing for my life, I ran atop the yellow carriage and began leaping from carriage to carriage. I cared not for what was behind me until a large mass soared majestically above me! The metal husk crashed in an explosion of shrapnel and glass just yonder.

I was trapped between my mysterious foe and the sight of ultimate destruction! I turned to face my challengers and yielded; "I don't understand this sorcery!" I yelled at the three warlocks stepping forth, "What have you done to me? Is this the fate of his majesty?!"

"You defended your king well," a woman responded, "but this is no longer your fight, nor your time."

"You expect me to believe this wicked illusion!"

"For your sanity, I suggest you forget this ever happened," A man spoke. I gazed up at his dark skin and observed a being of great beauty.

"Your skin is of the night; have you been cursed?" My curiosity began to overcome me.

"This has gone on long enough, send him back," a third demanded. "He has seen too much; this day will haunt him. As a knight of the round table, he can change history as we know it."

"Then we must kill him to hide our crime!"

"No!" One of the women protested. "The Time Wardens will have detected us by now, we must do what is right for history! King Arthur must remain a myth, and with him Lancelot!"

"Please, have mercy!" I begged in vain. The dark wizard raised a circular sword at me and fired with the smite of God.