“Kraak still thinks that Galahad should wait for the Raven Boy,” the King of the Raven Kind repeated but Galahad would have none of it.
“And get soaked by that storm, I don’t think so. You go if you don’t want to get your feathers wet but I’m staying here, Kraak.”
“Kraak will stay,” Kraak grimly told the boy.
Galahad climbed to his feet and unsheathed his sword from its scabbard, as he walked over to the huge Mist Warrior the boy was aware that the storm clouds were now directly overhead. It was as if, the boy thought to himself, the clouds had stopped to watch his combat with the Mist Warrior which, unbeknown to the boy, they had.
Galahad stopped in front of the warrior and looked up at its huge helmeted head, it seemed as tall as a tower to him.
“Let’s do this,” the boy told the Chaos Warrior, for that was what the huge warrior truly was. This was not some insubstantial shade that could not harm him and Galahad was about to find that out in a very short time.
The boy warrior walked around the Chaos Warrior but it did not move, ‘It’s as if it is waiting for something’, Galahad thought to himself. Then the ‘something that it was waiting for’ happened, there was another huge roll of thunder and a bolt of blue lightning lanced down to strike the Chaos Warrior. For a moment the mighty being ran with a cold, hard fire and then, very much, as a Titan awaking from deep sleep the Chaos Warrior started to move. At first the movements were staccato and it was as if these muscles had not been used for many centuries. There was the cracking of bones and the rustle of hard leather armour as the Chaos Warrior slowly and relentlessly came to life while still running with the hard, blue fire of the Lord of Chaos.
Gradually, in front of the boy’s amazed eyes, the Chaos Warrior came to life and the boy was aware of two ice-cold white eyes that gazed from the Chaos Warrior’s helmet. Apart from their strange colour the thing that Galahad noticed most was the implacable hatred that flared out from them. It was a hatred for the whole world and for him in particular, Galahad decided. At the back of the boy warrior’s mind was the worrying thought that this opponent was totally unlike anything the Raven Boy had brought before but he chose to ignore that instinct.
With a slow but threatening movement the Chaos Warrior lifted its sword and shield and waited contemptuously for its opponent.
“Impressive,” Galahad told the Chaos Warrior.
Without warning the huge warrior attacked the boy. The Chaos Warrior was immensely strong and drove hard against Galahad. Galahad parried the blow and his brain was rapidly assimilating everything that it needed to defeat the huge warrior. The boy gave ground while putting up a stern defence. The creature was powerful but the boy had known that from his first sight of its massive torso and heavily muscled arms but it was slow, certainly slower that Galahad and certainly not as skilful. Its brains, as Merlin had said, in another battle in another time against the Dark Lord’s Minotaur, were in its biceps.
This was a strange test that the Raven Boy had set him, the boy thought to himself, for while being hugely intimidating the warrior was nowhere near as skilled as Achilles. In fact Galahad was certain that Achilles would have ‘killed’ it with his first attack. The Chaos Warrior’s moves were also predictable and as Galahad continued to allow himself to be driven backwards he was rapidly learning the warrior’s pattern of moves and assaults.
Galahad felt his back come up hard against one of the tourney field’s defining statues and he decided that it was a time to give the warrior some of its own medicine. In one blindingly fast move Galahad spun away from the Chaos Warrior so that the Creature’s sword clanged uselessly against the stone statue. Then the boy warrior came at it in a series of attacks that even Achilles himself might have been proud of. Galahad’s sword formed an almost impenetrable shield as the speed of his moves made the weapon blur and flash around him. At first the Chaos Warrior stood its ground and if it was surprised by the speed of the boy’s attacks it did not register in the cold white eyes.
Then the boy drove hard at the Chaos Warrior crashing his sword hard time after time into the Creature’s shield. Grudgingly the Chaos Warrior was driven back by a boy who was, at the most, only half its size. The boy warrior suddenly switched his attack to the Chaos Warriors head and the blade of Galahad’s broadsword crashed heavily against the Creature’s helmet. So powerful was the boy’s blow that the Chaos Warrior’s helmet spun from the creature’s head and Galahad was left staring at a face that had been dead for a very long time and it hadn’t been good to look at when the Creature was alive.
“Now that is not a pretty sight,” the boy warrior told it.
The blow seemed to sting the Chaos Warrior into fresh action and using its powerful muscles it drove hard and viciously at the boy once more. Galahad had the speed to avoid the heavy swings and thrusts from the Chaos Warrior but the boy noticed with some concern that the apparently long dead warrior was not tiring and Galahad’s own sword arm was now beginning to ache ferociously from the Creature’s heavy blows. The Chaos Warrior swung heavily at Galahad’s head and although the boy warrior blocked it easily such was the weight of the Creature’s strength that its sword ran down the boy’s own sword and cut into Galahad’s arm. The boy warrior reeled away from the Chaos Warrior and was stunned to see blood running down his arm from the wound that was high up on his right arm.
“That is not supposed to happen,” Galahad heard himself say and for the first time he realised that this fight was for real and that he could very well die here. This was not one of the Raven Boy’s Mist Warriors and whoever or rather whatever it was this Creature fully intended to kill him. The boy was barely conscious of the fact that the storm clouds which were in fact the Storm Clouds of the Lord of Chaos had halted over the Great Stones and Avalon and were waiting for the boy’s death before moving on to destroy Camelot.
“Kraak,” Galahad yelled at the King of the Raven Kind, “Fetch the Raven Boy, there’s more than I can handle here.”
“Kraak, said to…..” whatever the raven was about to say was drowned by the loud clash of steel on steel as the Chaos Warrior drove hard at the boy.
“Kraak just do it,” Galahad shouted at the top of his voice. “Now,” he yelled while blocking another massive blow to his head.
With a powerful thrust of his large wings Kraak drove into the sky towards Camelot and the hills of Avalon where the raven knew that the Crystal Cave lay and that, the King of the Raven Kind knew, was the most likely place to find the boy enchanter.
Galahad turned away another of the Chaos Warriors powerful thrusts which, this time, had been aimed at his stomach. The Creature seemed to have gained greatly in strength at the sight of the blood that it had drawn from the boy. Once more Galahad blocked the thrust but he knew that he was tiring and the sweat was pouring down from his matted hair so that it partly obscured his vision. Out of the corner of his eye Galahad could just see the raven as it became a distant speck on the horizon.
“I just hope that I’m still alive when you get back,” the boy warrior said to himself and once more stepped back to avoid the massive swing of the Chaos Warrior’s sword.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE HIILS ABOVE AVALON
The boy and the ghoul were stood on the hillside and they were watching the swirling and twisting of the thunder-laden clouds that were driving hard across Avalon. Every now and then the clouds would take on the aspect of a huge face that was impossible two to three miles across.
“What is that, Raven Boy?” Grim nervously asked.
“I don’t know,” Merlin replied, “I’ve never seen anything like it before. I know one thing though, it’s not good.”
“Dark Lord returns for Raven Boy?” the smelly ghoul questioned, his bones rattling with fear as they always did at the mention of the Dark Lord’s name.
“No,” Merlin said emphatically, “If it was him then I would know and don’t forget his Dark Forces cannot enter Avalon while I’m still alive. No, Grim, thi
s is something completely different. Look something’s coming this way.”
The boy enchanter pointed at a black speck that was on the far horizon and which was travelling very fast and straight towards them.
Grim peered across the valley but his eyesight was not good at the best of times, “Grim sees nothing,” the ghoul said.
“Then take your eyeballs out and give them a clean,” Merlin told Grim, “Look there.”
“Grim still sees nothing,” the ghoul repeated but then he did see something and it was just as the boy had told him – a black speck that was travelling very, very fast towards them. “Grim sees something, perhaps it is dragon,” Grim finished hopefully.
“No, it’s too small for Draago,” the boy enchanter said and then he recognised the ‘black speck’ for what it was. “It’s Kraak,” he said with a hint of relief in his voice.
In fact it was indeed the King of the Raven Kind and the raven was hurtling across the sky at a great speed. Merlin waved his arms to attract Kraak’s attention.
“Kraak, Kraak, over here,” Merlin yelled to his friend.
The huge raven obviously saw the boy for he swiftly changed direction and landed on a rock that stood next to Merlin. Kraak was almost totally exhausted but he managed to gather enough strength to deliver his message.
“Raven Boy must come quickly,” the raven said and the deep concern could be heard in Kraak’s voice, “Galahad is fighting….”
Kraak didn’t manage to say any more for Merlin cut across the raven’s words, “That’s not possible, I would need to be there for the Mist Warriors to appear,” the boy enchanter told his friend.
“Mighty, mighty warrior,” Kraak continued, “It has caused Galahad to bleed.”
Merlin was appalled by the news, “To bleed, then it can kill him. Kraak how badly is Galahad wounded?”
“Kraak does not know but there is great enchantment as well. Dark, dark enchantment, it is like the end of the world.”
Merlin made an instant decision and knew that he was about to try something that he had never tried before and it could well blast him out of existence if it went wrong.
“Grim, when Draago comes here tell him where I have gone, I must go to Galahad,” the boy enchanter said.
Kraak had managed to get more of his breath back, “It is too far,” he said the hopelessness of the situation sounding in his words, “Galahad could already be dead.”
Merlin shook his head, “No, he’s not, I would know if he was. He’s still alive.”
“It is too far,” the King of the Raven Kind repeated, “Even you can’t fly, Raven Boy.”
“No, I can’t,” Merlin said bleakly for he knew that he was just about to try something that he really shouldn’t and something that he was well aware could cost him his life, “But I can do this.”
With that Merlin thrust out his arms and spoke in the Spell-Speak of the Old Magic. It was powerful enchantment that should only be used by an Elder god and the boy just hoped that there was enough of his father, Mithras Invictus, in him to keep him alive.
‘Attente gorusce mei attard unt beyide mei acarte usk – NUNENTE’
There was an instant response to the Calling Spell of the Old Magic. To the amazement of the ghoul and the huge raven there was the sound of a massive rushing of god-driven wind. The whirlwind thrashed around the boy enchanter and then in an unbelievably bright explosion of golden light Merlin completely and totally disappeared.
“Raven Boy has gone,” the ghoul rather obviously said and, for once in his life, the King of the Raven Kind was also totally lost for words.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
AVALON
THE GREAT STONES
To say that Galahad was struggling would be an understatement but the boy would not give in and importantly he had suffered no more wounds from the Chaos Warrior. Galahad had very quickly worked out the Chaos Warrior’s moves and defences and they were certainly not in Achilles’ class. The trouble was that the Warrior was immensely strong and seemed not to tire which could not be said for Galahad. The boy’s thick straw coloured hair was matted with sweat and occasionally this sweat would run into his eyes and obscure his vision. Blood was also running freely from the deep cut in his arm. Galahad made a mental note to himself that if he, and it was an ‘if’, survived this encounter then he would have his hair cut.
Once more the Chaos Warrior launched a heavy attack on the boy. Galahad blocked the sword swing easily but the blow landed with such force that a jarring ran up his arm and for all his skill the boy warrior knew that he could not keep this up for much longer and then the end would be only too inevitable. The Storm Clouds of the Lord of Chaos were now immediately overhead the tourney ground where Galahad was struggling to stay alive. Thunder crashed down as the Lord of Chaos brought his full Power to Avalon, blue lightning lanced from cloud to cloud and then arced down in a vicious spiral to burn to a cinder anything and everything that stood in its way.
Galahad ducked as a particularly loud peel of thunder crashed above his head and in that instance he saw his chance. The Chaos Warrior was holding his sword and shield high and Galahad drove his sword with every ounce of his strength straight up into the Chaos Warrior’s chest. It was every inch a killing blow and the boy waited for the Chaos Warrior to stagger and then to fall.
It was with an air of total disbelief that the boy saw that the Creature did not even flinch and when Galahad pulled his sword out of the Chaos Warrior the blade did not have one drop of blood on it. It was then that Galahad knew that this was a fight that he could not win and would only end in his own death for the creature that stood before him could not be killed for the simple reason that it was already dead
The Storm Clouds seemed to lower themselves from the sky and it was as if they were eagerly expecting to witness the boy’s death. Galahad glanced up briefly and thought that he could see shapes and figures moving around the ever darkening sky. Then all the Storm Clouds of Chaos rolled into one impossibly huge face and Galahad was staring at the Monstrous Being that was the Lord of Chaos. A deep sound like a heartbeat was emanating from the figure and it was so loud that it echoed off the Great Stones of Avalon to set off a cacophony of noise that drove against Galahad just as firmly as the Chaos Warrior ever did.
The Chaos Clouds moved again and the whole enormous figure of the Lord of Chaos was revealed. The figure ran with anger and a miasma of malevolence so vast that it seemed to pollute the very air around the Great Stones of Avalon. The heartbeat grew ever louder as the immense figure became more visible. Galahad felt that not only was his body being beaten into submission by the Chaos Warrior but his very soul was under threat from the huge figure of the Lord of Chaos that bore relentlessly down on him.
Desperately Galahad battered away with the last of his strength at the Chaos Warrior. If he was going to die then the boy swore that he would die fighting. Gradually the Forces of Chaos drove the boy warrior backwards so that he came up against the Stones of the Dragons’ Teeth that stood at the very centre of the Great Stones of Avalon. It was here that the boy had decided that he would make his last stand and die.
The Chaos Warrior seemed to read the boy’s mind and attacked him with ever more powerful blows. Galahad blocked every one of them but his sword was now slippery in his grasp as the blood from the wound in his arm ran down onto the sword’s hilt. The Chaos Warrior lifted its sword above its head and roared its challenge. It was the first sound that the Creature had made and it was all the more chilling for that. Galahad lifted his own sword to ward off the killing blow but he knew that he barely had the strength to hold his sword let alone block the Chaos Warrior’s attack. Galahad knew that this was now his place to die – and it was in that moment that Merlin appeared amongst the Great Stones of Avalon.
There had been a howling wind that had for a moment drowned out even the sound of the heartbeat of the Lord of Chaos and then there had been a flash of towering golden light that was too bright for the eyes to
look at and then the boy enchanter was there. The Chaos Warrior paused and a look of complete confusion crossed what passed for its face and Galahad took the opportunity to spin away from the Chaos Warrior to put the Stones of the Dragons’ Teeth between himself and the Creature of the Lord of Chaos.
“What are you doing?” Merlin shouted over the noise of the storm of the Lord of Chaos to the boy warrior.
“Trying to stay alive,” Galahad shouted back and if he had not been so utterly exhausted he would have given the boy enchanter a very withering look.
“Where did that thing come from?” Merlin pointed at the Chaos Warrior.
“You tell me,” the boy warrior shouted back equally forcefully, “I thought that he was one of yours.”
“Well he’s not,” Merlin emphatically replied.
“Can’t you do something about him?” Galahad asked while moving around the Dragons’ Teeth to ensure that he kept them between himself and the Chaos Warrior.
“I’ll try,” Merlin shouted back, “But there are other problems.”
“Like what?” Galahad asked as he couldn’t see anything more important than the Chaos Warrior that was now once more making a determined move towards him again.
“Like that,” Merlin said pointing up at the huge and malevolent figure of the Lord of Chaos.
“Well at the moment,” Galahad told the boy enchanter with some force, “This is my main concern,” he pointed his sword at the Chaos Warrior, “It’s trying to kill me in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Then do something about it,” Merlin suggested.
The Chaos Warrior had closed on the boy warrior once again and Galahad was only just in time to block another fearsome thrust.
“I am trying to,” he coldly informed the boy enchanter.
Merlin and the Land of Mists Book Three: Galahad Page 12