The Golden Effect

The Gates of avalon

EDITED.

CHAPTER 13 - THE GATES OF AVALON

Stealth. Agility. Arthur told her that those what was needed to become an adept hunter like he was, but that, of course, she could never have the skill to become a hunter. Merlynn didn't want to agree, though as she stumbled upon every twig to snap beneath her boot and rock to trip over, she was forced to believe it. It didn't help that she was hauling all of Arthur's hunting equipment on her back and on her arms, from the arrows to the sword to the dead animals that bumped into her back with a dull, wet throb and stained her tunic. She grimaced as the rabbits swung and slammed into her back individually; all she wanted to do was tug her tunic away from her back to stop the uncomfortable sticking of the blood.

Arthur was ahead of her with his crossbow hanging loosely from his hand, trying to ignore the incessant noises she made while he was trying to kill something - anything. So far, he had only caught three rabbits, which is only a quarter of what he was used to. He blamed this on the oaf behind him, so he decided to race far ahead of her to avoid all the sounds she made just so he could hunt properly. He regreted bringing her along, but admittedly he had forced her to make her carry all of his things - he didn't think that she would be scaring off all the animals with her clumsy feet.

He noticed a grazing deer ahead of him in the paddock through the trees and crouched down look with the crossbow aimed toward the creature. Arthur inhaled through his nose, and let out a long, slow breath from his mouth, finger poised gently on the trigger, ready to -

A figure crashed into his back and sent the arrow flying into the tree to the right of the doe. Arthur cursed and shoved back against Merlynn, who had undoubtably tripped again. She had also scared another animal off - again.

"What is it?" she asked, peeking over his shoulder.

He growled. Never again, he thought to himself as he glared at her pale face. "It was a deer, but you scared it off with all your clumsiness. You really are a buffoon, aren't you, Merlynn?" he barked. In that moment, he probably could have shot her with the arrow instead, he was so angry. But, then where would he be?

"I tripped over a branch, I didn't mean to," she apologised defensively. Merlynn shifted the dead animals on her back and lowered her gaze, avoiding his deadly stare - honestly, it wasn't her fault that all the leaves in the forest hid the branches and twigs that she tripped over. She was trying to keep sight of Arthur, and by doing that, left her feet vulnerable to stumbling.

"We're supposed to be hunting. It requires speed, stealth and an agile mind," he told her, possibly for the fifth time that day. Arthur leaned over and flicked the middle of her forehead, making her slap his hand away with a yelp.

"Oh, didn't even realize you had a mind to begin with," she remarked.

He was about to remind her that she wasn't actually allowed to mock him like that, but an earth-shattering scream echoed through the trees toward them. Arthur's head shot toward the sound. It was distinctly female and very much terrified. "Please... don't!" the woman screamed. "Help!"

Arthur grabbed the sword from Merlynn's hip, slid it into his own sheath and took off after the sound. He ignored the tangled branches and bushes that threatened to trip him and pushed forward while the woman continued to scream and struggle in the distance. He could hear Merlynn following a bit far behind, but he didn't care; he needed to help this woman in distress. Arthur headed into the denser part of the forest, where the trees were tallers and greenery sparse. The woman had long since stopped screaming, and was now huddled against a tree, pleading with the bandits not to hurt her.

Arthur lifted his crossbow and fired an arrow at one of the bandit's. It hit him directly between the eyes and he flew back away from the second cowering person, an older man in a cloak. He had no time to prepare another arrow; he let it fall forgotten to the ground as he unsheathed his sword and attacked the rest of the bandits that were now aware of him. Merlynn only reached the area moments later and ducked behind one of the thicker trees to watch the fight. She noticed one of the men attempting to sneak up on Arthur and reacted before she could think of it.