Sylvia jumped awake with a start at the pounding on her bedroom door. Pulling her body from her blue sheets she had barely enough time to reach for the blade under her pillow when Mordred shouldered the door with all his weight, throwing it opened before slamming it closed behind him.
"Quickly Sylvia! Morgan's followers are preparing to attack your family! We must flee before they get to you!" He pressed his back to the door in his full armor as Sylvia jumped out of bed.
"Is my father okay? My mother?"
"I do not know. Last I saw your father demanded I come to you to ensure your safety." Mordred answered. "Quickly! We must leave!"
Sylvia rushed to the door. "Then let us go!" She pushed him aside and pulled the door opened before rushing out. Mordred followed closely behind her as she led him through the halls of the stone castle. They passed portraits of all the Kings before Arthur and several suits of armor that lined the halls like endless warriors.
Eventually, as they made their way towards the main stairwell a group of red hooded men swarmed into the entryway with weapons drawn. They spotted the two of them coming down the steps and shouted up at them.
"There! The Princess!"
"Back!" Sylvia shouldered Mordred, pushing him back up. The two retreated with Mordred covering Sylvia from behind. They sprinted back down the hallway before being cornered by another smaller group of hooded men with bloodstained weapons.
Sylvia turned as the larger group came up behind them and began closing in as Mordred drew his sword and turned to face them. Sylvia pushed him towards the smaller group. "Clear the path!" She shouted at him before turning and collecting magic in her hands.
Thin beams of lightning jumped from her fingertips into the suits of armor that lined the hallway before they all jumped from their places and threw themselves at the hooded men. They screamed in fear as they were disarmed and cleaved apart, their weapons hitting the metal armor and doing nothing, as they weren't living things. Mordred followed up by rushing the three hooded ones who were blocking their way forward as Sylvia concentrated on her spell. Mordred managed to cleave through the first one who was completely taken by surprise that the Princess was a mage like her mother. However the other two engaged in a proper sword duel against the Knight who proved to be far more skilled, quickly dispatching the two of them near effortlessly.
He grabbed Sylvia's shoulder and pulled her away, breaking her concentration on the suits of armor as they disappeared around the corner. "I didn't know you could do that!" He noted as they rushed up a smaller flight of stairs used by the servants to get around quickly.
"I didn't either." Sylvia answered. "If we go up how are we supposed to get down?"
"There's a balcony by your father's study! We can use the windows to climb down onto the lower floor bypassing them completely!"
"How do you know?"
"Because I've seen you do it all the time to avoid me when you're trying to get into trouble!"
Sylvia chuckled, and followed him into the study. The two of them barricaded the door by knocking a few shelves over before they made their way to the balcony where Mordred closed the door behind them.
The hot summer sun pounded down on them, and Sylvia glanced at Mordred realizing that he was going to have great difficulty in his armor. She doubted the window would be able to hold his weight at all.
"Go!" He ordered, pushing her towards the edge as he put his back to it, watching the balcony door with his sword drawn. Sylvia climbed over the railing and lept onto the massive stained glass window, grabbing hold of the metal supports that held it all in place. She was hundreds of feet above the ground, and could see the battle in the courtyard as her guards were pushing back the hooded soldiers attempting to overthrow them.
She began to slowly make her way down, careful of where she was stepping and grabbing even though her heart pounded in her chest. The clashing of steel slowly becoming nothing but whispers as her blood rushed to her ears. She had done this a thousand times. But never had her life depended on it.
"Look out!" Mordred's voice bellowed over the white noise. She glanced up before glancing towards where Mordred was looking, where a hooded figure was now standing on the ramparts above the castle wall, about two hundred feet away from where she was with a bow drawn.
There was no way in hell he would be able to hit her. A bow at this range? It would be impossible!
He let the arrow fly and she had to quickly release her grip on the metal, otherwise that arrow would have slammed into her eye socket. She barely managed to catch herself on another piece of the frame, but in doing so her weight pulled that frame out of place, causing most of the window to crack. The piece came undone, and she found herself swinging backwards. Her back slammed into the stone just under the balcony where Mordred was screaming for her.
The man was already notching another arrow.
She pulled herself up so her arms were supporting her weight before glaring at the man who was drawing back his bowstring.
"Get off my castle!" She bellowed, her hand reaching towards the glass to her right before magic sparked across her fingers. She swung her hand towards the man and all the broken glass tore its way from the window before launching at the hooded figure. Several shards of glass were about as tall as he was, and they skewered him, throwing him off the stone wall in a gory spray of viscera and blood.
"Are you okay!" Mordred shouted down as he leaned over the railing.
Sylvia glanced over her shoulder where a few feet to her left and above her head was an arrow stuck in the stone wall.
"I'm okay!" She called back.
"Stay still! I'll think of something!"
Sylvia pushed off the stone wall with everything she had, causing the metal brace to swing back into the window that shattered at the impact. She flew through the air, landing hard and rolling across the shards of broken glass that remained.
She picked herself up, blood dripping down her arms. Her ribs ached and some were certainly broken, but she could feel them crack back into place. As she faced several hooded men who came charging inward with their weapons drawn, her hunched over form stood up straight as her wounds healed before their eyes.
"Witchcraft! Just like her mother!" One shouted.
"She's touched by the devil!"
"Kill the witch!"
They went to step forward and she collected magic in her hands and aimed towards them, daring them to attack her. There were four of them, with the fifth one standing back a bit to see what would happen.
There was another crash and Mordred rolled across the stone floor before standing back on his feet and drawing his sword towards them.
"Are you alright Sylvia?"
"How did you survive?" Sylvia asked. "That's a thirty foot drop!"
"Your mother enchanted my armor though I didn't think I would ever need it." He answered.
"Mordred is here?! The other Knights could be here too!" One shouted.
"They could be waiting for us!"
"Kill them!" The one in the back shouted. "Before the Princess can cast her spells!"
The four charged Mordred who managed to parry and hold off three of them while the fourth sprinted past and attempted to sweep Sylvia's legs out from under her. She jumped back and swung her arm like she was throwing something and the torch scone on the wall above her flew down, slamming into the man sending sparks and cinders flying over him. He patted them out with a growl as he continued to advance on her.
Mordred was trying to come to her aid, but the three other men prevented him from getting closer as they continued to attack him all at once.
Said fourth man went to stab her but she held her hand forward and the man was thrown off his feet where he skidded across the ground on his back almost ten feet away. Sylvia went to turn to Mordred to help when the fifth man closed the distance with her and slammed his sword into her stomach.
"Sylvia!"
Sylvia glanced down at the sword in her abdomen before looking up at the man who was glaring at her from under his black hood. He was an old man, judging by the wrinkles on his face, and his eyes were so filled with hatred Sylvia thought she had somehow crossed this man before.
"Devils like you have no place in our castles!" He growled.
Sylvia blinked. "Your castles?!" She snapped.
He blinked and glanced down at the blade making sure he had truly impaled her, even twisting the blade for good measure getting her to whine in pain before returning her gaze back to him.
She quickly brought her hand up to his face, palming his whole face in her hand. "This is my castle, and you've overstayed your welcome!" She snarled before slamming electricity into his face point blank. The man rolled across the ground, his face charred and blackened by the impact. She turned towards the fourth man who was staring at her in shock before pointing at him and sending another bolt of lightning into his chest. He slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the throne room with a wet THWACK like a slab of meat hitting a plate.
Mordred had since then slain the other three men who were staring in awe at Sylvia. He gripped his sword as he moved closer to her. "Are you well Sylvia?"
She lowered her hands before taking hold of the sword in her gut before pulling it out with a cry of pain. She gripped the hilt as she put her hand over the wound.
"I'm light headed." She confessed. "I think I've lost a lot of blood."
"He stabbed you."
"He skewered me." She corrected, glaring at him. "I need medical attention."
"But you're still standing."
"Aye." Sylvia nodded. "A gift from my mother."
"Magic?"
"Indeed. I'm healing myself. Do you need any? Are you hurt at all?"
"No." He answered, examining the woman before him. He had seen her do incredible things and was well aware of her magic, but something seemed wrong. "Are you... are you sure you're alright?"
"No. I won't be. Even this magic has it's limits. If we don't get out of here soon my life will be at risk." She answered. Blood dripped from between her fingers but even she knew the wound was healed. But she was correct, she did lose a lot of blood.
She went to walk towards him but paused, seeing how tightly he was holding his sword. "Mordred? Are you-."
"Move your hand."
"What?"
"I want to see the wound. Move your hand."
"What does that have to do with-."
"Now Sylvia!" He pointed his blade forward, at the woman he had been protecting for so long.
Sylvia glared back at him for a few short seconds before moving her hand out of the way revealing the healed skin as the blood dripped away. "I told you, I was healing it. Now let's go before more come and find us!"
"What are you? You did not summon magic. It healed on it's own." He stated
"I did heal it. Quickly now, we have to-"
"You will answer me!"
"Then stay here and die, but I would like to live to see another day!" Sylvia growled, walking past him and heading for the door to leave. However she was cut off as several more of the hooded figures pushed their way in just as she was leaving, with one cleaving his sword across her shoulder and upper arm.
She scrambled backwards, and Mordred charged forwards to deflect more blades and protect her. He managed to keep them at bay long enough for Sylvia to close the doors with her magic and throw benches in the way to barricade it.
She collapsed onto her knees and let out a shaky breath. "What the hell is happening? Why are they attacking? What did I do? What did father do to make them hate us so much?" She whined, holding her hand over the bleeding wound on her arm.
"Are you really a devil?" Mordred asked.
"I am the daughter of Arthur and Gwe-"
"Sylvia, do not play games with me! I need to know!"
"I am not a changeling! I am their real daughter!"
"Sylvia!"
"I am not a monster!"
Mordred watched the horns curve over Sylvia's ears as her skin darkened. Wings opened up behind her as a tail curled up around her leg. She glared up at him before noticing the wing over her shoulder as he stared down in shock.
"I am not a monster." She repeated. "I am the daughter of King Arthur Pendragon."
"You're a demon..."
"I am."
"You're not... you're a..."
"I am the daughter of-"
Mordred moved quickly, swinging his sword overhead. Sylvia barely had the chance to throw herself out of the way, but the damage had been done. She screamed in pain as the weight of her wings was stripped from her. She rolled across the broken glass and screamed again as she turned and saw her wings laying in the shattered pieces of the window above her.
Mordred dashed forwards, swinging his blade again. This time Sylvia raised her own sword, the same one that had stabbed her, and parried his strike. She blocked, swung again, countered, and slashed her blade across his chest plate, getting him to stumble back in shock. She kicked out her leg, tripped him, and as he fell she slammed her sword into his chest with everything she had. The blade cutting through his armor and running him through.
She pinned him to the floor then scrambled away, letting out another scream of pain. Blood flowed down her back from her wound, and mixed with the broken glass that surrounded her.
The door exploded, and a knight in golden armor sprinted through holding a shinning spear.
"Lady Sylvia!" He called running forward.
She scrambled away from him, pressing up against her father's throne as the tears poured down her face. Her tail coiled up under her like a horrified and wounded animal.
The man tossed his spear to the ground, fell to his knees and ripped off his own helmet revealing the salt and peppered hair and blue eyes of Sir Lancelot. "Sylvia my dear, it's me. We must get you to safety!"
Sylvia's eyes found Mordred as his hands gripped the sword pinning him to the floor as he weakly tried to pull the weapon out. Lancelot held his hand out towards her and she took it, allowing the knight to pull her against his chest. She heard a few more knights rush into the room before calling to him, telling him they needed to run. Before she knew it she was being lifted into Lancelot's arms and carried out of the throne room while Mordred cursed and roared after them.