Beyond the Crimson (The Crimson Cycle)

by Danielle Martin Williams

  Her eyes flittered to the familiar looking boy on his right, not quite understanding how she knew him but she did. A boy who for some reason held the magnificent sword in his grasp, a boy who looked an awful lot like her son, one who stood at the same height and shared the same squared jaw line and angled nose, so similar except for hair that was as golden as… UTHER! Gasping, she realized what was happening.

  She gripped the sparkling jeweled necklace at her chest, cringing with hatred. Uther and Igraine had hidden him! Merlin had lied! The baby was not a stillborn as he was said to be and worst of all, the deceiving wizard had raised HER son among this lowly bastard. She clenched her teeth, staring as her son stood by looking nothing more than bored as his birthright was stripped away in front of his very eyes. She should not have been surprised; he had always done everything wrong.

  She fought back the fury that began to rise, squeezing her small fists. She would put an end to this. She would put him in his proper place and clean up after his mistakes like she had always done. But Merlin…Merlin would pay for deceiving her this way.

  “Katarina,” a voice called from behind me. I turned to see Merlin looking frazzled. “Where is Bran?” he asked glancing around me and Elaine as we ate at a wooden table.

  “I haven’t seen him,” I replied but truth be told, I was wondering the same thing. Kay had met us in the dining hall not too long before to give me the new contraption for Chance, looking more pleased than even I was at how well it worked. His face beamed as he bragged about building it with Brendelon and showed me the revisions he made himself, and while I was more than thankful to him, I had yet to see Brendelon to thank him for his part in it.

  Merlin scurried out of the dining hall. I looked at Elaine, and she smiled. “I will look after Chance. Be careful,” she said with all sincerity.

  “Thanks Elaine, I owe you,” I said, giving her a big smile then I grabbed my backpack, hurrying after the frantic wizard.

  I followed Merlin out of the castle. It was still early but the sun was taking no mercy as it sizzled down, burning away the fresh bite of cool morning air. He headed towards the familiar stables, and like a lighthouse warning ships in the dark sea, the sun’s glare bounced off the shiny metal armor leading us to the impatient black-haired knight. Merlin picked up his pace, and I followed quickly behind. A young horse reared up at the sight of us. Bedivere put his hands up to calm it, but as it came back down on its front legs, it knocked him to the ground, right into a small puddle of mud. Brendelon doubled over in laughter, while Bedivere glowered at him, not amused. Irritated, he grabbed a glob of mud and flung into Brendelon’s face but he ducked only getting slightly sprayed with it.

  “Brendelon, enough of that!” Merlin called. “And Bedivere control your horse!” They both straightened up like two little boys in trouble. Bedivere looked down sheepish, and Brendelon fought to keep the smile off his face, but he was terrible at it. Bedivere turned back to tend to his horses, but made sure to give him a hard nudge with his shoulder on his way

  “Brendelon, come hither!” Merlin commanded angrily. Brendelon’s smile faded at the tone. He walked towards us across the damp grass as the mud squished under the weight of his boots, searching my face for any insinuation. I shrugged my shoulders, as clueless as he was.

  “We are not going to William Cole’s castle,” Merlin said resolutely, crossing his arms. “We have other important matters to handle.”

  His eyes flashed as the sun’s glare caught them sending of a magnificent shade of green. “I am leaving now whether you come or not.”

  “Patience is a fruit of the soul,” Merlin retorted.

  “And I have none of it,” Brendelon returned. “Those words might work on Arthur, but they will not work with me.”

  “You are to stay here and follow orders, and I will hear no argument of it; do you understand me, boy?” he shouted, pointing his finger at him, as he lost all the fruits of his soul. I flinched at his harsh tone, almost feeling as if he was a completely different person.

  Brendelon crossed his arms and shifted his jaw as he looked away.

  “Eyes on me!” Merlin barked, and the dark eyes turned. “You are to stay here,” he repeated.

  “Fine,” he mumbled, black eyes burning.

  “Fine, what?” he scathed.

  “I heard you,” he growled in response.

  Merlin glanced him over. “Take off the armor, you will not be in need of it,” he said a bit quieter then nodded his head and scurried off towards the castle, mumbling something to himself. Brendelon waited until he was out of sight then I saw the wicked half-grin and knew it was trouble.

  “What are you up to?” I asked closing the gap between us careful of the damp spots that had not dried yet in the hot sun.

  He smirked. “First, hand me your bracelet,” he said slyly, pointing to my wrist.

  I glanced at the bracelet. “Why?”

  “I need it.”

  I clenched my jaw, I understood where he was going with this; he was going to run, and he was planning on leaving me behind. “I’m going with you,” I said stubbornly.

  He lowered his eyebrow, not amused. “No, Katarina. You are a weight with no need to be carried.”

  “Then you can’t have my bracelet,” I said, knowing perfectly well how much I sounded like a brat.

  He grabbed my arm roughly. “I could just take it from you,” he growled menacingly close to my face.

  I gulped. “I’ll scream bloody murder and tell everyone your plan,” I threatened.

  His eyes flashed, but his lip curled upward sadistically. He raised his hand to my neck. “I could silence you,” he said darkly, coals burning into me.

  I should have been terrified, but I wasn’t because for some reason it caused embarrassing places on my body to tingle. I put my hands behind my back holding on tightly to the bracelet with my other hand. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  In one quick motion, he had a bear paw wrapped tightly around my wrists, pinning them behind my back. His fingers wrapped around my neck firmly but he didn’t squeeze, keeping his sinister eyes peering into mine. I shouldn’t have found this attractive but I did. “It would not be hard,” he threatened. “Give it to me.”

  My breathing was escaping me; I could feel myself tremble, but I wasn’t afraid. It might have been the heat of the sun but my whole body burned. I kept an even stare, remembering what he said about fear giving others power. “I’m not afraid of you,” I whispered.

  He rolled his eyes and clenched his jaw, sliding his hand from my throat to the back of my neck, gripping my hair roughly and tilting my head slightly upward as he leaned in to my ear. “You are going to be the death of me,” he muttered. Then he released me and stepped away. My chest heaved as my breathing returned. I looked up to his defeated, irritated face and smiled triumphantly, finding it difficult to not gloat of my success.

  “Fine,” he muttered, crossing his arms and not making eye contact, slightly pouting. “You can come.”

  I couldn’t help smiling. It might have been a small victory, but any victory with the raven was worth being proud of.

  “And thank you for building that contraption for Chance,” I added.

  His shoulders went rigid. “Kay did it,” he grumbled, looking away. “He has a soft spot for cripples. I had nothing to do with it.” He turned away from me but my smile stayed because I didn’t believe him one bit.

  *****

  “Hold here, Katarina,” he commanded. I pulled back on the mare’s reigns bringing her to a stop. We had ridden for most of the day, and had only stopped a few times along the way to let the horses drink and rest, but we were still nowhere near William Cole’s castle. I was grateful for the stop, regardless of the reason. My body wasn’t use to riding horses; my legs felt cramped up and my lower back ached from sitting on the saddle for so long.

  He slid off his horse with ease, eyes intent on the surroundings. The sun was already getting lower in the sky, cooling the air. A hawk
hung gracefully above us, and I saw his green eyes watch it carefully, suddenly it swooped down near us, and he took a timid step back as a quick look of revulsion flashed across his features.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  His eyes snapped down to mine and widened. “Huh?” he asked dumbly, taken off guard.

  “The hawk,” I said. “You seemed nervous…”

  His face contorted into disgust. “Why would I be afraid of a feeble hawk,” he huffed.

  “I didn’t say afraid, I said you seemed nervous,” I pointed out.

  He shrugged his shoulders as he averted his eyes to the left. “Sometimes hawks destroy messenger birds,” he mumbled awkwardly as he wandered off the path towards the forest trees, kneeling down to observe markings on the ground.

  “Do you think someone sent a message?” I asked as I followed him, still curious as to why he reacted that way.

  “No,” he said bluntly, still observing the marks. It was infuriating, I didn’t want to have to keep pressing him for answers but he was unwilling to share any unless I did.

  “Then why did you seem nervous?” I asked irritated.

  He ran his hand along the dirt path as the right side of his mouth slid into a smile and he looked up at me, putting a finger to his lips. He held his two hands up and mouthed, “Stay” to me, eyes wild with anticipation.

  I nodded in compliance, moving closer to the mare as if she would protect me from whatever he was tracking. He held his sword pointing forward as he moved into the trees and large bushes. Soon he was hidden behind the green cover, all I could hear were the soft sounds of his boots crunching through old twigs and a few birds chirping.

  I waited, looking back up into the sky for the hawk still wondering about it, but it seemed to have disappeared. The darkness was beginning to creep in rather quickly, shadows coming out of their hibernation, lurking around me. It was silent and unsettling so I faced the open field to my right that appeared much less intimidating. Brendelon’s horse trotted a few steps in front of my view, tempting me with the bow that hung from the saddle. Reasoning with myself that it would be a good distraction, I grabbed it and pulled back on the string, suddenly itching to test out my skills. I knew the arrows were for hunting, but I doubted if he would miss just one, and I could always go fetch it after. I plucked the arrow from the sack and set it up on the bow the way Bedivere had shown me, but from behind me I heard a sudden scuttle, followed by a loud crack. I whipped around to see a white dust cloud slowly rise into the air from the depths of the trees.

  “B-Brendelon?” I called wearily, as I scurried across the dead branches and leaves to where he had walked, still holding onto the bow and arrow and taking no heed to his warnings. I found him about thirty yards off; he was doubled over, trying to stand, but gravity worked against him. I ran to him as he struggled to find his equilibrium, unable to get on balance. He stumbled around finally falling to his knees as he leaned forward using the ground for stability.

  I stopped dead in my tracks a few feet from him as my eyes finally fell on her. She was definitely of the fairy people; I could see the blue moon on her forehead. She was just as Brendelon had described: small, pixie-like, and dressed in fur clothing. The twilight gave her skin a glow, appearing almost translucent. Suddenly it became very cold to me, and I found myself missing the warm comfort of the scorching sun. She turned her head slowly to me, eyes transfixed. My heart skipped a beat, and I was instantly filled with adrenaline as my instincts anticipated the danger.

  “What did you do to him?” I yelled at her. She tilted her head delicately to the side and studied me. Brendelon suddenly twisted painfully gasping for breaths.

  “Leave him alone!” I shouted, watching him clutch to the sides of his head. I was overcome with protectiveness once again and before my brain could register my actions, I pulled the bow up, aiming the arrow at her. After all, she did not know if I would be accurate or not. She was obviously powerful, but I didn’t care. “So help me I will kill you if you don’t stop hurting him!”

  “You are not of this realm,” she said slowly, cocking her heads to the left, studying me once again.

  “I’m from the future and know things your feeble mind could never comprehend,” I blurted out.

  “The future,” she gasped, as her eyes darted around.

  “Yes and you do not want to cross me.” I tried to match the malicious tone I had heard so many times from Brendelon, but I feared my wobbly voice gave away the truth of my bluff.

  She shook her head. “He is the one you should fear. He should never have escaped.” Her expression turned dark once more.

  My eyes narrowed. “Escape?” I whispered. “How do you know that?” I demanded, lifting the bow higher.

  “Do you not know what he is capable of?” Her lip quivered slightly. “He will destroy us… all of us.” I blinked at her words, they sounded too much like Theol’s.

  She stepped forward so lithe-like the branches under her delicate feet did not even crunch under her weight. She grabbed his hand from the side of his head, revealing a dark metal cuff around his wrist that barely caught the last bit of the sinking rays of sunlight. Gently, she showed me the other hand with the matching cuff. I gasped understanding now why he grabbed his wrists. “This is black magic,” she continued stepping back as she looked up into the dark blue sky that was slowly being sprinkled with salted stars. “It is a bond with the dark one.”

  The bond transferred, I thought, remembering Merlin’s words. She turned her light eyes to me, raising an eyebrow.

  “I cannot save his life this time, too much is at risk.” She looked around carefully, and I noticed that behind her confidence she was terribly frightened.

  “I’m not going to let you hurt him,” I threatened keeping the arrow aimed at her. Her bright eyes looked up at me, slightly amused and then she blew white dust from her hand that circled around me, slowly falling to the ground. Her face scrunched in a panic as she took a step back.

  “Who are you?” she whispered.

  I blinked, not understanding her sudden alarm. “I told you I am from the future; my intellect is far above yours, now release him from your magic!” She lifted a hand, and he stopped twisting in pain, but he still remained motionless on the ground with only his back moving up and down in a steady rhythm.

  “No, you are something else,” she said quietly, eyes widening into a panic. “I need to find her.” Her eyes searched as though the person she was speaking of was merely hiding among the brushes.

  “Who?” I demanded, wondering if she meant Morgaina.

  She whipped her gaze back to me and all the fear I once saw was gone. “Consider this a gift,” she hissed.

  Suddenly thunder cracked loudly in the sky and he let out a painful moan, against my will my head jolted to the sound and in the same instant she was gone.

  Her words left me in complete disarray, but I did not have time to think on them. I pushed on his shoulders, trying to wake him from whatever sleep he was in but he wouldn’t budge.

  “Brendelon!” I panicked but he stayed motionless.

  The forest was enchanted; he had warned me of that. I looked back up into the sky and saw the hawk again but this time it was swooping lower coming so close that I finally realized it wasn’t the hawk from earlier at all. It was a black bird, larger than a crow, with a long rounded black beak. It landed a few feet away from us, turning its head to the side and watching me with its beady black eyes. The eerie feeling escaladed, and I shuddered unwillingly. The bird blinked rapidly, tilting its head in small twitches watching Brendelon on the ground, long fingers entwined in his disheveled raven hair… raven? And then it dawned on me. I whipped my gaze back to the disturbing little creature and realized it was a raven. His words of ravens bringing ominous messages sounded through my ears as the bird stepped closer to him. I thrust out my arm to shoo it away. It jumped back and let out a nasty caw at me, and I pulled my arm to my chest, frightened that it would attack.


  “Scram!” I yelled at it, throwing a rock into its path. It blinked it glowing eyes at me once more then took flight giving me the teeniest bit of relief.

  I had a feeling deep down there was something relevant with the raven; it seemed too eerie and too symbolic to simply brush off as coincidental, but it was already getting darker, we were becoming more vulnerable, and the only thought on my mind was to get him out of here and back into the open field, away from these fairy folk, and away from whatever darkness drew him here. I yanked on his arms, but he was far too heavy. Panic twisted inside of me. We couldn’t stay here. If she was afraid, then we should be afraid too. I glanced back at the direction of the horses still on the road. He would hate me for this, but I had no other choice.

  I gently led my horse through the dead brush, trying to clear out a path as we walked back to Brendelon’s hunched form. I knelt beside him, trying one more time to wake him but he stayed perfectly still.

  I used all my strength to roll him over to his back, carefully making sure his shield was underneath him. I sat gasping. He was already big, but his armor made him even heavier. I crawled back over to the mare, grabbing the rope off the side of the saddle and tied it carefully around his boots, checking the knots to make sure they wouldn’t come undone. He was really going to hate this. Quickly, I tied the other end to the saddle, yanked on her reigns and dragged him across the forest floor.

  I tried to go as slow as possible, to not hurt him anymore than necessary, hoping his armor and the shield would be enough to protect him from any road rash. The blackness had completely taken the sky by the time we made it to the safety of the open field, where his horse still patiently waited, but whined when he saw us approach. I grabbed his horse’s reigns too, pulling both of them as far from the forest as I could without leaving the open field. Though I felt safer in a place where I could see oncoming fairies and creatures, no place felt quite safe enough.