The Golden Effect

Lancelot

EDITED.

CHAPTER 11 - LANCELOT.

It appeared that, even after only recently dying and coming back to life, that she would still be working herself to the bone by two employers: Gaius, and Arthur. Merlynn was suspicious that they organized working timetables so that when she was not doing something for one, she would be running errands for another. She thought that, on this particular day, she would be able to have a break but, once Gaius called her name when she was readying herself for sleep, her hopes diminished.

"Merlynn, I need you," no sleep for her tonight, "to go collect me some mushrooms." Merlynn could barely contain her groan of frustration. "Lady Sarah is feeling rather ill and I need to make a potion, but -"

"How can you be out of mushrooms, Gaius? I only collected some last week!"

"Yes, but the illness Lady Sarah has is affecting others, which has depleted the mushroom stock. So I need you to get some," he ordered. She was covered in mud stains and other dark substances she was too mortified to name, her clothes were torn at the knees from being on them for so long and she was exhausted - now he wanted her to get him mushrooms? At such a late hour? "It'll only take you five minutes out of your busy schedule."

His last words were riddled with sarcasm (as if he didn't know that she was working all the time for Arthur) and she felt like snapping at him, but she simply rolled her eyes and stormed off before she said something she'd regret. The forest was extremely dark at night, she noticed; of course, Merlynn knew it was dark in Camelot at this hour but at least she could see there. The tall, dark trees with thick branches that hid the sky from her view created even darker shadows. She hadn't bothered to bring a torch - her first mistake.

There was a sudden snarl from her left which made her pause in her never-ending search for Gaius' mushrooms. Frozen on the spot, she turned toward the noise and saw nothing but a large blur hovering a few feet away. It differed from the dark trees; it was alive, breathing and snarling and growling at her from the shadows. Her eyes had become accustomed to the darkness enough to pin-point the creature and it's shape. A tail whipped out from behind and, as it neared her, she could clearly see a razor sharp beak protruding from it's face.

Run.

As quick as she could, Merlynn swiveled on her heel and bolted away from the creature, trying to catch it off-guard by running in a zig-zag motion through the trees. It screeched in frustration and pursued her with more determination. A trunk stood in her path, higher than her knees but not completely difficult to jump over - however, she was forced to slow down before she vaulted, causing the creature to swipe and catch it's talons into her back. Merlynn cried out and rolled over the trunk, slamming hard into the leaves on the other side.

She could hear it, so close to her. It's talons clawed into the bark of the trunk above her head and, slowly, it began to climb over it toward her. Merlynn tried to remain quiet, but she could smell her own blood, and knew the creature would be able to get her scent too. A wave of hot air blew into her face as it roared - she squeezed her eyes shut. In seconds, the roar turned into a wail and she felt it back away from her. Merlynn re-opened her eyes and crawled back. A man was standing by her, a sword in his hand and a sack at his feet. He began to attack the beast, defending her.

She watched in horror as the sword snapped in twine when it made contact with the creature's flesh. It swiped it's claws out in defense and made purchase in the man's side; despite the obvious agony he was feeling, he ran over to Merlynn and lifted her to her feet, only to shove her back behind a tree to check for the beast - which had, all of a sudden, disappeared. She groaned at the discomfort in her back and peeked around the trunk to see nothing but the trees around them. As she got to her feet, she noticed the man holding his side.