The Flower of King and Knights

The Return Home

Bedivere took the golden piece from Hector and felt a deep fire burning from his soul.

"The traitor's sign."

Kay cursed the villain's name as Merlin looked around to try and find more signs of the enemy's presence. The air was filled with an evil presence that as beyond human thought. Hector felt a deep cold shiver run up his spine. The spirit of Death was present all around him. Birds were deadly silent as few flew above the bloody site. The tree's leaves began to darken as life seemed to leave them. Never did Hector feel such despair than what he felt now.

"Come, we shouldn't linger here," said Merlin, his eyes zoomed across the landscape quickly as looked for a safe path away from the site. The wizard's eyes glowed with a white shine as he surveyed the scene.  He point to a point in the forest, as a white misty path arose from the ground.

"This is where we'll go."

He turned to Hector, telling the young man to stay close to him as they entered the forest. The march was an uneasy one as they trekked across the forest. No one spoke as the world itself seemed to be infected with evil, an evil with eyes and spies that none could see or hear. After what seemed to be hours of walking, Merlin signaled the party to stop and kneel to the ground.

Merlin lifted his hand again as a low fog began to come the ground. Hector almost let out a gasp as Kay grabbed his arm. The knight gestured that everything was safe, calming boy down. The mist grew up to and then far, far above their heads. The party could barely see the forest around them as the fog thickened. A just, within seconds of the mist appearing, it was suddenly gone. But the forest was vastly different. The trees were of different species and shapes and sizes. They looked more like old warriors of an ancient war then they were parts of a landscape.

Hector turned to Merlin, "Where are we?"

The wizard said with a smile, "Why we’re in Britannia, my boy. We're home."

As they walked out of the forest, Hector saw a vast and broken mass of stone and earth beset by nature around the whole structure. Hector took a few steps forward as he gazed at the ruined site, "Camelot."

He rushed towards the great structure as the others bolted after him. "Hector come back you stupid bastard!" screamed Bedivere.

Hector neared what remained of the once mighty castle, he could see the extent of the decay that effected the prestige and splendor that it once had. The wooden gates, the intricate engravings, the elegance of Arthurian brilliance were almost worn away. Holes in the outer walls were big enough for Hector to enter without. Once inside the castle, the dust swooned around Hector’s feet as his steps echoed throughout the hallway.

Flashes of memories and people began to race in his mind. He saw ladies in elegant gowns walking past the great columns lining the hall. Knights and lords were talking amongst themselves and others. The boy stopped in the middle of an intersection of four major halls. Merlin and Kay caught up with Hector first.

The mage then called out, "Hector. Are you all right? Hector!"

Hector pointed towards the armory. "Over there, that’s Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth and Bleobris would practice. And over there, that’s where Galahad, Bors, Tristan and Palomedes would discuss theology and politics. And here Merlin, this is where you would make potions and ointments for knights, soldiers and even children who happened to passed on by." Hector lloked upon a dark corridor leading to a room shrouded in darkness, "And there..."

He went into the massive stone room. As if a thousand dreams and memories had returned to him he ran through each room until he arrived to one room. The room. The table was still in the center, a wondrously etched wooden top with a stone frame underneath. Somehow it was spared of the scars of decay and ruin that was evident in the rest of the castle. Hector's eyes began to water as he entered. He knew where each knight sat, Gawain, Tristan, Percival, Galahad, Lancelot, Kay, and all the other knights that he knew by heart. He walked over to one seat where the light barely touched, "There's father's chair."