Sword of Light (18 page)

She gripped the jewel firmly with both
hands and thought of her cousin’s mocking smile. “Mordred!” she called, her voice echoing strangely as if they were underground. “Mordred, I know you can hear me! It’s your cousin Rhianna. I’ve changed my mind. I’ve brought Excalibur for you. I’m in the hawk mews at Camelot. Come and get it.”

At first she didn’t think the spirit magic would work without the Round Table. Then the hilt shuddered in her grasp, the jewel warmed under her hand, and the shadows beyond the mist began to spin. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, until she felt dizzy. Finally, with a hiss like flames licking a damp log, the path opened – a glowing spiral leading from the merlin’s perch out into the dark.

Rhianna’s palms began to sweat. She tightened her grip on Excalibur, straining to see
through the enchantment. If the dark knight came, she might only have one chance.

A draught stirred her hair, and she thought she heard someone whispering. “I am Rhianna Pendragon,” she muttered. “I hold the Sword of Light. This is Camelot where I am among friends.” But still nothing came down that path. Then she saw a movement in the shadows. She took a step towards it, then another…

Merlin sighed. “Either he’s not strong enough to travel yet, or he can’t hear you. Ah well, it was worth a try. At least we know we’ve got a bit more breathing space – where are you going?”

Rhianna was walking slowly around the spiral, holding Excalibur before her to light the way.

He killed your father
, a voice whispered.
He killed King Arthur
.

As she ventured further out from the druid’s perch, the whispering in her head grew louder and her hatred of the dark knight grew stronger, until she could think of nothing except taking her revenge.

“Rhianna Pendragon!” Merlin called behind her, beating his wings in agitation. “Come back here! Don’t go to him alone, you foolish girl—” She heard the merlin take off, but it was leashed to its perch and could not follow.

She went faster now, running around the spiral, afraid the druid might close the path before she reached the end. She felt a bit sick. Shadows writhed and twisted about Excalibur. Darkness breathed across the back of her neck. She hoped Merlin was right, and nothing evil could touch her while she held Excalibur. Then she stepped out of the mist
into a cold, dark place lit by smoky candles.

She stopped, blinking. She had come to a cave. In front of her, on a rocky bed, lay a boy only a few years older than herself. He had been terribly wounded. His right arm ended in bloody bandages where his hand should have been. One of his legs looked to be broken in several places. A sword cut had opened his cheek from ear to jaw, ruining his handsome face. But she recognised the green eyes, which were staring at her in alarm.

“How did you get in here?” He looked nervously at the spiral path, which sparkled in the corner of her eye.

“How do you think?” Rhianna said. “You’re not the only one who can use the spirit magic.”

When he realised she’d come alone, he relaxed slightly. “Ah, of course… you’re not
really here, are you? This is just your shadow. You can’t hurt me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Rhianna said, raising Excalibur and thinking of the black gauntlet that had gripped her wrist in the Saxon camp. “I hold one of the Lights. Want to test it?”

His gaze fixed on the shining blade, and his mouth twisted into a mocking smile. “So, cousin, you’ve decided to be sensible and bring me your father’s sword, after all?” He pulled himself into a sitting position and extended his good hand.

Rhianna gripped Excalibur tighter as the hilt twisted in her hand. “No,” she said, the hatred still burning in her veins. “I’ve brought it to kill you.”

She couldn’t see anyone else in the cave,
but Mordred wouldn’t be alone, not with those wounds. She wouldn’t have much time before his men came and found her here. Her heart banged. She stepped towards the shelf and raised Excalibur.

Mordred’s eyes showed a flash of panic. Then he smiled. “Good try. But you’re hardly going to manage what your father couldn’t. Who helped you get here? Your fairy friend? Not bad for a first attempt, but the spirit magic can be dangerous when you don’t know what you’re doing.” He jerked his good arm. The hilt jerked as well, turning the blade so that the sword swung down and almost sliced her leg open. Rhianna winced as it clanged off the rock, striking sparks.

The dark knight chuckled as he watched her struggle to control it. “Careful, cousin. Don’t
want to blood it, do you? That’ll break the enchantment. Then you won’t be able to get back the same way you came, and your friend will suffer too.” He smiled at her expression. “Bet you didn’t think of that, did you? So be sensible, eh? Give me Excalibur, and maybe I’ll let you live as my hostage. There’ll be a few conditions, of course, such as your friends opening the gates of Camelot to my bloodbeards, and surrendering the Pendragon throne to me.”

Rhianna gritted her teeth and raised Excalibur again.

“The Pendragon throne belongs to King Arthur! You betrayed him. And Elphin didn’t send me here. Merlin did. He’s escaped your mother’s trap and he’s a druid so he knows plenty about spirit magic. I don’t care about keeping the blade clean any more, because my
father’s not going to wake up if I take it back to Avalon, anyway. You told me that, remember?”

Her eyes filled with tears at the thought, and the sword shone brighter.

“All I have to do is call, and a hundred of my bloodbeards will come running,” Mordred warned, scrabbling backwards on his bed. “You won’t get out of here alive!”

“Maybe not,” Rhianna told him, shifting her grip on the hilt. “But neither will you.”

She’d never killed anyone before, but how hard could it be? He obviously couldn’t walk far on that leg. One stab to the right place, like Sir Bors had shown her in weapons training, and then she’d run. If she couldn’t get back along the spiral path, there had to be a tunnel leading to the surface. Excalibur would light her way. With Mordred dead, she could call on the
strength of the other ninety-nine knights, steal a horse and gallop back to Camelot before anyone caught her…

The sword, influenced by the dark knight’s spirit, was still fighting her, but Mordred seemed to be tiring. She took another step towards the rock bed, and her cousin paled. He groped for something on the floor.

Sweat trickled into Rhianna’s eyes. It was no good. She needed more control over her sword to do this properly. She didn’t want to make a mess of the death blow, but how could she stop Mordred’s spirit from turning the blade? Lord Avallach had told them only unforging Excalibur would cleanse it of Mordred’s influence. Then she heard Merlin’s voice in her head:
Excalibur wore Arthur out, even before he stupidly knighted Mordred with it
… Maybe she
could get her cousin’s spirit out the same way it had gone in. She turned the blade and brought it down flat on Mordred’s shoulder – first the left, then the right. “I unknight you!” she called in a ringing voice. “From this day you are no longer a Knight of the Round Table. Leave my sword!”

She had no idea if it would work, but Mordred shuddered and the hilt stopped twisting in her grip. A clean, pure wind blew through the cave as Excalibur’s white jewel blazed, forcing back the shadows. The spiral path in the corner of her eye sparkled brighter. She thought she heard the druid’s voice say, “Oh, well done, Rhianna Pendragon.”

She grinned and took hold of the hilt
two-handed
. The sword no longer fought her, but pity stayed her final blow. Now she had unknighted him, she saw only a boy in pain,
lying wounded and helpless in a dark cavern. She blinked the sweat out of her eyes. Would her father kill an unarmed boy?

She hesitated a moment too long. Mordred’s hand swung up from the floor clutching a black mirror. He turned the glass so that the sword’s light flashed back into her eyes.

She saw the stables she’d left behind in Camelot, the horses plunging and snorting in terror as large dark wings beat through the stalls. At first she thought it was another trick. Then, very faintly, she heard a frightened neigh.

Her head spun. “Alba!”

“That’s right, cousin.” Mordred laughed at her confusion. “You should have made sure your friends were safe before you brought the Sword of Light out of Camelot. The shadrake likes to hunt between worlds, and it’s pretty angry now
it’s free of the druid’s spirit. Without Excalibur, there’s nothing to stop it attacking those you so foolishly left unprotected. I’d hurry, if I were you.”

Now the dragon was swooping into her mare’s stall. Rhianna raced back along the spiral, Mordred’s laughter echoing in her ears. “Next time we meet I’ll be armed and mounted, cousin!” he called after her. “Then we’ll see how brave you are—”

She didn’t hear what else he said, because the path closed at her heels as she leaped into the mews, Excalibur still blazing in her hand. Her spirit jerked, as if she’d woken up too fast. The merlin was flapping upside-down from its perch, screeching at her, but there was no time to stop and explain. She raced through the storm of feathers and along the passageway to the stables.

She looked quickly for the mist horses, and to her relief saw them safe and unharmed in their stalls, though they were shivering and sweating with fear.

“Where did it go?” she asked Alba.

“I AM UP HERE, PENDRAGON!”

The creature perched on a high beam, looking down at her with a glittering eye.

Rhianna warily pointed her shining blade at the dragon. “I thought I told you to go back to Annwn?” she said, opening the big doors to the courtyard so it could get out. “Go – and this time don’t come back unless I say so!”

She ducked as the creature spread its great wings, afraid it would try to kill her now that Merlin’s spirit no longer controlled it. But it swooped low over her head without touching a single hair and lifted its legs to avoid her sword.
“I CANNOT HARM A PENDRAGON,” it boomed, “SO I WILL GO. BUT YOU DO NOT YET WEAR THE CROWN. WE WILL MEET AGAIN.”

The dragon flapped out of the doors and away over the wall, where it vanished in a glitter of dark stars. Excalibur finally stopped blazing, and the jewel cooled under her hand. As the light faded, she saw a familiar figure in the courtyard smiling at her. He wore a ghostly crown that glittered in the starlight. “
Excalibur is yours now, daughter
,” he said. “
Use it well
.”

Pleasure flushed through her. But before she could ask how long it would be before he returned to his body in Avalon, the ghost vanished into the night.

Alba nickered to her in relief.
Where have you been? I am glad you are back
.

Rhianna dropped the sword into a pile of hay and flung her arms around her mist horse’s sweaty neck. “Oh, my poor darling… I’ll never leave you unprotected like that again to go chasing after Mordred, I promise!” She shuddered as she realised how close she’d come to getting her horse and her friends killed.

Cries from the mews broke into her thoughts. A little guiltily, she remembered the druid. She went back through the passage and counted the frightened hawks, relieved to see the shadrake hadn’t eaten any of them. She helped the flustered merlin back on to its perch. “Merlin? Are you still there?”

“Of course I’m here,” said a grumpy voice. “Where else am I supposed to go? Back into that shadrake’s body? No, thank you. Not when, every time you see that creature, you send it straight
off to Annwn. You’re lucky it didn’t make off with my pathfinder again, or you’d never have got back from Mordred’s lair…
I unknight you
? Wherever did you get that idea from?”

“I’m not sure.” She grinned. “Worked though, didn’t it?”

Merlin grunted. “Foolish slip of a girl! If you’d blooded Excalibur in there, you’d be in Morgan le Fay’s clutches by now, and then what would we do?”

“I’m not that stupid.” Rhianna said, remembering how close she had come to doing exactly that.

The merlin fluffed its feathers and fixed a pale eye on her. “Hmm… I’m not so sure. You took your time
unknighting
him. Still, at least you’re safe from Mordred’s influence now, which should make things easier when I’m fit
enough to fly again. This body’s such a fragile little thing. Who’d have believed it would come to this? I, Merlin, last of the druids, reduced to sleeping in a mews! You’ll have to ask the hawkmaster if I can live in your room, of course. It’s quite acceptable for a princess to have a small hawk, even one who doesn’t gallop about the countryside hunting dark knights and dragons – hold out your arm.”

“I don’t think I want you in my room,” Rhianna said as the bird hopped on to her wrist. “You tricked me! And you’ll make a mess.” But she fought a smile as she gathered up the jesses that tethered it to its perch. The merlin looked so small and pathetic that she couldn’t stay angry with it for long.

Footsteps hurried along the passage towards them.

“Rhia?” Elphin said as he joined her. “Are you all right? We were worried when you ran out of the chapel like that! We saw that shadrake out in the courtyard. I think the mists opened again, but the creature flew off before I could fetch my harp.” He handed her the sword, which he had rescued from the hay. “Is Excalibur…?”

“Excalibur’s fine.” She took the sword from the Avalonian prince and sheathed it, not yet ready to think about what had just happened. “I’m fine, too. I’ll explain later.”

The merlin’s feathers were making her nose run. She made to wipe it on the sleeve of her dress, and someone thrust a square of soft material into her hand. Arianrhod. She smiled at the girl and blew her nose on the cloth instead.

“Who were you talking to, Damsel Rhianna?” Cai asked, puffing up last. “Your fairy horse again? At least you got us out of that chapel. The priest would have gone on and on otherwise, and I’m starving! The feast’ll be starting soon, and we haven’t even swapped presents yet… what are you doing with that silly hawk?”

The merlin had gone quiet since she sheathed her sword. The druid’s powers must be limited, or maybe he was just too tired to talk any more. Rhianna spotted the little hood lying on the floor, next to the pathfinder. She grinned as she fixed it over the protesting merlin’s head.