"I SWEAR TO THE Gods, I felt it. I knew it was here, I promise, I don't know what happened." Eurion wasn't one to cry, but she could feel her throat getting tight and her eyes growing hot. This was the one thing she was good for, the one thing she was so sure she could do to help, and it all fell apart, just like that. How the hell did it disappear like this? After they came all this way?
Morgana glared at her like she told him she planned to murder his family, but everyone else only looked confused.
"Maybe it didn't want us to find it," Giselle reasoned, and Eurion had never seen her look more discouraged. "Maybe it... left."
"But why would it leave?" asked Morgana. "We need it, why the hell would it do that? Our intentions are pure, we're in need, it called us all the way here, for God's sake. I don't understand."
She tried not to take his aggression personally, but it was difficult when he was so intense like this. "Listen, maybe we all need to just--"
Before she could finish, an arrow whipped past her shoulder and right towards Morgana. His reflexes were faster than lightning, and he caught the arrow inches before his face. In the dim light of Chalice's hand, she could see black smoke curling up from the tip.
"Booby traps?" asked Lionel.
Eurion had a sick feeling in her chest. "I don't think so, kid," she whispered. "I know what booby traps look like and this isn't it. Someone else is here."
Right on cue, another arrow shot through the air, this time making its way for Eurion. She was quick, but not quick enough to avoid it, and she closed her eyes to brace for impact. But it never came.
When she looked down, she found the arrow hovering at her chest, shaking until it finally dropped. Behind her, Chalice released a breath, and she looked to them with wide eyes.
"Was that you?"
The druid shrugged. "Probably."
"You know, I don't know about the rest of you but I feel like we should get the hell out of here before we all get popped full of arrows," Morgana said, and Eurion snapped back into action.
"Right," she said, tugging Chalice's wrist. "Let's go, hurry."
The group turned around, rushing towards the exit right as the arrows came flying their way. It was right in view when they were ambushed again. They could hardly see the men with the light, but even Eurion, completely human Eurion, could feel them there with their shadowy presence.
There was no time to be shocked. Kit and Selene drew their swords, and everyone formed a protective circle around Giselle and Lionel, preparing for the Shadow Knights to attack. For a long time, nothing happened. But the moment it inevitably did, it was a mess of swords clashing and a battle in the dark. Men of shadows were surely accustomed to fighting with no light, but no one else was.
They had to get out of this cave, at least they'd have the moonlight.
"Follow me!" she called out, slipping between two men and taking them out with a strategic flick of her blades. She knocked them to the side, tossing another Knight off balance, and she distracted them long enough for her companions to make their way towards the moonlit cliff.
Outside of the cave was much lighter, but it was a smaller surface. If they could keep up, the cliffs would be their friend, but if the Knights got the upper hand, it could be deadly.
Luckily for Eurion, she was too slick on her feet to stumble so readily. Chalice was, too, and naturally, so were the faeries. Kit and Lionel were the worst off on this cliff, so Eurion offered them a hand as best she could.
There wasn't an overwhelming amount of Knights, roughly an even battle, but whatever dark magic turned them into these creatures made them too strong and too fast. And against a group of such exhausted individuals, it wasn't a fair fight. It came clear very quickly who was winning.
With a loud cry, Selene was the first to use the cliff to her advantage, booting a Knight off the edge when he came for Giselle, sending him to a rocky death. Kit could do damage with Excalibur, but none of his attacks were deadly, so he mostly used the sword to defend while Eurion tried her best to attack. Giselle used her wings to get higher, baiting the Knights and keeping them occupied. If they continued to fight smart, maybe they'd have a chance.
Just when she thought things were turning up for them, a chill settled over the cliffs and everyone froze. The Knights dropped their weapons and from the looks of it, her friends couldn't lift theirs. Neither could she.
"Congratulations," Connor mused in a voice that made her stomach turn. "You found the Holy Grail. Oh, but you didn't, did you? I can show you what you did find, though. Her."
Nothing happened, and Eurion searched the crowd for whatever woman he was referring to. She saw nothing.
"Ahem. Her," Connor repeated, and fixed his Knights with a stern glare. "Boys, where the hell is she? You ruined the moment, I need the hag."
One Knight standing in the entrance of a cave shuffled his feet. "Uh, we lost her, Your Majesty. I'm sorry."
Connor approached, turning his head to examine the Knight. "You 'lost her?' What the hell do you mean you 'lost her?'"
His rage was quiet, composed, but Eurion could feel his blood boiling from here and it terrified her.
"She escaped. I knew she was more than a hag, but you didn't--"
The Knight couldn't finish, and he'd never be able to, because in one swift motion, Connor gripped the man's throat and tore it away with his deadly claws, sending him to his knees.
"I never did like you, Reilly," he murmured, wiping the blood on his hand onto his tunic. "Well, never mind about the hag. She led me to you, and now I'll finish you just as I finished that blubbering idiot. Who's first?"
Eurion still couldn't move, but she tried to gain control of herself, at least enough to defend herself and her friends. Her body refused to listen.
"I'll go first." It was Chalice, moving as freely as Connor. Of course. They charged at him with no weapon, but their hand was curled and aimed at his throat, and the King was suffocating on nothing. "What, too choked up to kill me? That's what I thought."
The Knights got free right then, but Chalice was too fast and they dodged the hits. Unfortunately that meant letting Connor go, and while they were occupied, he made his way to his younger brother, black eyes filled with hatred.
"You will pay for what you did to this kingdom," he seethed. "You will suffer like I have, and I'm starting with him."
Eurion's stomach dropped when she heard a sword cutting through flesh, but she couldn't turn her head to see. Giselle let out a strangled cry, and she knew that couldn't be a good sign.
"You killed my father, you dirty traitor," he growled. "But what else would I expect from a fucking pixie?"
Chalice was barely holding on now. If only they had their memories, they could've won the fight right away and stopped all this. Eurion just needed to get free, if only she could figure out how.
"Ooo, that hurt, didn't it?" Connor asked Kit with a laugh. "Hmm, maybe I should get your son next, shall I?"
Lionel was right next to Eurion, and she could see from the corner of her eye as he wiped the blood from his blade, eyes staring down at the boy.
Come on, Eurion.
The sword raised, and she prepared herself for the impact, but before it could finish its swing, something caught it.
A woman caught it. In her hand.
She was tall, with light olive skin and dark brown hair that fell down to her waist in waves. Her clothes were made of rags, but she was one of the most beautiful women Eurion had ever seen in her life. It made her stomach turn. And that wasn't even the best part.
The sword hardly even scratched the woman's hand. She caught it like it was a staff, no trace of pain in her eyes. And then, without blinking, she crushed the metal and yanked the disfigured weapon away from Connor, tossing it over the cliffside.
"It's you," he breathed. "I thought you were a hag!"
"I'm a sorceress, you moron, and my magic is elevated by the Gods. You could never win against me." She leveled her face with him. "If you dare try to kill my son again, I will call upon every God in the sky, every magic on the Earth, every spell in the books to take away everything you love and turn you inside out and back again so I can skin you alive. Do you understand me?"
Oh, Gods.
"I--"
"Do. You. Understand me."
Eurion could see him shaking, violently enough for her to worry about the rocks breaking away beneath their feet.
"Yes, ma'am," Connor shuddered, taking a step back. All his men had stopped by now, leaving a wide-eyed Chalice in their wake.
The woman cast her gaze over the group. "Call off your men and leave this place before I cut you all in half with a mere thought."
If she was anyone else, Eurion would've thought she was bluffing, and she was sure Connor would've, too. But the strength with which she destroyed his sword and the viciousness with which she threatened him, there was no doubt in her mind that she meant it.
One brave Knight charged for her, but he learned his lesson as soon as she incapacitated him in one stroke and kicked him over the edge.
"Retreat," Connor bellowed, weaving around them and towards the darkness of the cave. "I'll get my revenge, Kristofer. You know I will."
The Knights vanished into the shadows, and finally Eurion could move. Giselle and Kit rushed to Morgana's side as he fell to the ground, ignoring the woman in favor of helping him. The Seelie tried to heal him, but he turned her away.
"You don't have enough strength for me," he told her.
"No," she argued. "I always have enough. Please, let me heal you."
He wouldn't have it, but before he could get too stubborn, the woman stepped in. Everyone cleared a path for her and Morgana looked at her in fear as she placed her hands over his side and chanted.
Morgana screamed out, but by the time she was done, he looked healthier already.
"Thank you," Giselle said, slack-jawed.
That was when they all got a good look at her. Kit stared at her with a mix of shame and surprise, and Eurion could take a guess why. Chalice's eyes searched her, like they were trying to remember something, and she prayed the memory would come.
The biggest reaction, though, came from Lionel. He stared up at the woman with tears staining his cheeks, unmoving, waiting for her to notice him. When she did, she pulled him into an embrace.
"Lionel," she breathed. "I missed you so much. Gods, I missed you."
Kit took a step forward. "Sera?"
She didn't pull away from her son, even as she turned her head to look at him. "Kristofer. I'm glad to see you've kept our son alive. That's the most I could ask for."
Ouch.
"Sera, I had no idea, I--"
"Don't," she said, finally standing up to face him. "I don't care what you're about to say. I'm over it, I've been over it forever. And it wasn't your fault I kept it a secret from you. The world didn't need to know the bastard prince had a bastard of his own."
Kit's eyes were sad as they switched between his son and Sera, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "I'm still sorry. I was irresponsible. And I still am. I'm not a good father to him, and I'm sorry."
"I didn't expect you so be," Sera said. "I didn't send him your way to raise him well, I did it to keep him alive. He had a better chance with you than he had with me, because you know how to fight."
Eurion blinked. "You stopped a sword with your bare hand. Kit couldn't do that."
"A mother's instincts turn us into Gods," Sera told her. "I could only ever do things like that when Lionel was in danger. But my instincts can only go so far. He needed someone who could protect him on purpose."
Chalice was the next to speak. "You're like me."
Sera turned to face them, looking them up and down. "I'm nothing like you."
"You're a druid," they said. "Not a sorceress. You came from Fells, where I come from. I hear it's a beautiful place."
Eurion beamed. Even if Chalice didn't remember everything yet, they remembered Fells. They could see it in Sera. This was progress.
Sera didn't seem so satisfied, though. "I thought I'd never hear that name again."
"Where's the Grail?" It was Morgana, back on his feet and aggressive as ever. "I don't care about backstory and whatever weird history you have with us. We need the Grail, and I'm not leaving until we have it."
"Oh, that." Sera studied the group one more time. "It's not here. It's never been here. It was just a really powerful spell that led you to the place."
Eurion froze. "What? Why? So we could get ambushed?"
A smile grew over the woman's face, a smug one, like she knew something they didn't. And it was true.
"No, not that," she said. "It's because I'm the only one that actually knows where it is, and you're the only ones I trust to find it."