Ector called out without hesitation, "Merlin! What are you doing here? Wait, never mind that question, what do you know about our mission?"
"A servant of Nimue came to me to help you three…Hmm that had an odd rhyme to that statement, ah well, I digress. I, of course, accepted without question. I have a particular debt to repay her, one that may never be truly repaid." Ector pondered the last statement but thought it best to ask later.
"Will we be honored to have the legendary sorcerer join us in our quest?" asked Llewiquin.
"I will accompany you as much as I can be useful to you, but I will have to leave before the journey's end in order to protect our future king's crown."
"Shall I ask what that entails," asked Ector.
"Not yet, but rest assured all will be revealed before too long."
"Oh good, that puts all my worries aside."
"I wouldn't be so bold, you have yet to see whom you will face to achieve triumph in your quest."
Ector looked blankly at the wizard, "I could have gone the rest of my life without knowing that."
"Actually, this knowledge will be vital to this quest's conclusion."
"And now I am thoroughly confused."
The Fae prince spoke, "My friends, I hate to break up this thrilling conversation, but we still have a maiden to save."
The other came down the path until they came upon a small monastery, a nun was attending some of the plants that lined the pathway leading to the first building.
“Merlin, I thought only you use this path?” asked Ector.
“I do, these people use the road three miles up from here. They do not feel the need to go towards Avalon, too much connection with the old heathen past of Britannia.”
Merlin approached the woman, "Excuse me good sister, but we are looking for the Mount of St. George. Would you be so kind as to direct us to where this is located?"
The woman stood upright in fear at the name of the mount, "Gentlemen, I would beseech you all to reconsider that action. There are monsters of fierce and evil souls, unsurpassed by none other than Lucifer himself. It would be foolish for four men to lose their lives in order to try and kill such foul creatures."
Ector rode up next to Merlin, "My lady, it matters little how dangerous these beast are, they have a woman in their possession who is need of rescue, and as long as these abominations are terrorizing these lands, they will find justice at the end of my blade."
"And who are you who would give such an air of victory?"
"I am a man who believes that might does not make right. And this beast will learn this lesson personally before the next dawn rises again."
"I will pray to your memory when I hear of your fate. But God speed nonetheless. The creatures’ lair is about twenty miles west from here. Take care, and go with God."
The party traveled down the path, riding along the crest of a winding ridge, gradually lifting them far above the tops of the trees until they could see the sun setting down into the earth. The reddish hue of the bright star faded as the sky slowly turned from a rich pink and into a blanket of black.
Merlin turned to Ector, who was amazed at the sight, "The night predicts blood will be spilled tonight. Ready your sword, the night will be filled with great peril."
Ector turned to answer Merlin, but the mage was nowhere to be seen.
"Where has Merlin gone off too?" demanded Llewiquin.
"Have no idea!" cried Ector, "He said something about a red sun, and before I knew better he disappeared."
"It was very much like him to head out before the action began," Dagonet said calmly, "He always preferred to stay to the side, observe and report."
"This is fantastic! With him our victory was assured, but now we are left to the mercies of the world and its evil demons," the Fae prince was displeased at the mage's departure.
"As we haven't seen the thing that we need to kill, yelling and flailing like a crazed lunatic may not be the best course of action," Ector said.
Llewquin tried to calm himself, but the anger was difficult to manage. The men set up a fire by the camp and sat as they took some food before going to sleep. Ector took the first, watching the fire flicker back and forth with the wind. Thoughts of how much the world had changed filled his mind. A deep pit in his stomach began to pull down to the earth. A sense of fear grew as the night passed overhead. For the first since coming to Britannia, Ector doubted if coming here was a good idea.
He began wishing to be home again, back in the modern world, or what was his modern world. Far away from the threats of armed wars, dangerous quests against unknown beasts and a multitude of other worries that weighted down upon him. The stress was almost enough to make him cry when he heard a voice whispering to him, "With hope comes the light."
Ector turned unsheathing his sword, trying to find the person, but there was no one.
"I see the spirit of the earth spoke to you," grumbled Dagonet.
"What?"
"There's a legend of a spirit that inhabits the whole world, they know all, see all, and when needed, speak to those who feel lost and afraid. I had an uncle who swore that one existed. But he ws never right in the head. So I never believed him."
"Do you think that I am a lunatic?"
"Well, the moon is full, and you seem like the type to be a little odd in the night."
Ector sat back down as Dagonet went to sleep. Trying to calm himself down was almost impossible now. It wasn't long before he heard another sound coming from the woods. This time is wasn't a serene voice, but a low growl. The growl was followed with a deep breathing. Ector felt a warm air hit the back of his neck. He quickly leapt to his feet, unsheathing his sword as a giant charged towards him.
The giant lunged at Ector as the boy screamed at the other to awaken. The two quickly rose to their feet as Ector and the beast did battle. The two swung and met each others blows with fury and wrath. The beast's strength knocked Ector back onto the ground, almost stunning the lad before the beast could place a killing blow. Dagonet threw a knife into the giant's shoulder, the creature crying in pain as it struck the knight, flinging him into a tree. The Fae prince, drawing out his blade, cried, "Death will be mine you hellish devil!"
But before he could strike the creature down, the giant grabbed Llewiquin, and began to squeeze the life out of him.
"Hey, fuck face!"
The giant and Llewiquin looked to see Ector, holding Caliburn in both hands, the light of the fire illuminating the fire in Ector's eyes and the glowing steel in his hands. "I'm not through with you, you ugly inbred shit."
The giant threw the Fae down onto the ground and grabbing his hell-mace charged at Ector. Ector leaped over the fire that was between them and the fire's flames circled around the blade and orbited around it as he passed by the pit. The two swung their weapons with all their might, a loud explosion echoing as the weapons met. The giant's mace recoiled hard, giving Ector a chance to thrust into the beast's leg.
He struck the giant's leg down, forcing the creature to kneel down, but before making one last swing at Ector. The boy dodged the blow, and screamed with zeal as he struck the creature dead. The others walked to the fresh corpse and then to Ector, whose grey eyes glowed with the thrill of the fight still burning within him.
"Are you all right?" asked Dagonet.
"I'm fine, what you two, you both took some serious hits."
"Our pride took a bigger than our bodies my boy," the Fae prince said glee, "I am now more than delighted to have a man of your worth with us. That thing was far better than a mere giant, and I more importantly, I owe you my life."
"No, I simply did what was needed."
"Still, we Fae do not let such favors go without repayment. Though I have a question, what is a 'fuck face'?"
"Oh, uh, nothing, never mind, it's an expression where I'm from."
"Ah, I see."
The group took a moment to recover from their encounter with the giant. Ector prodded the carcass with the tip of his sword, "I'm gonna go on a limb and say that he's dead."
"An acute observation, my liege," said Dagonet as he examined the body closely. He took a deep whiff of the creature's scent, "He lives in a cave not far from here, he has a scent of a moss that resides in this area."
"Well at least we now that we are close to meeting the rest of the foul creatures before this task is done," said Llewiquin.
They slept the rest of the night and in the morning were awaken to find Merlin standing over them. "Well it looks like you men had a exciting evening."
Ector groaned as his side ached in pain, "If that is what you want to call it, then yes, we had a fun night."
Merlin chuckled, "I knew you had your father's fire, and it seems that you have his sense of humor as well. The gods may still smile down on you yet."
Ector groaned again, "How soon are we going to find the lady in question, because I don't think I can take anymore of this abuse."
"Oh don't be a baby."
"You didn't fight a giant last night!"
Llewiquin placed the saddle in his horse, "My God, does the boy ever stop whining at the woman?"
"You weren't saying that after I saved your hide."
"But you were acting like a man then."
Ector mocked Llewiquin when Merlin smacked the king aside his head, "You're a king, you need to act like one."
Dagonet was becoming agitated with the childish bickering. "Now gentlemen, if we can return to the task at hand. We have a more pressing issue to contend with."
Ector supported the Knight, "He's right, there's probably more of those things out here. And lord knows what has become of this woman we're looking for."
The men quickly broke camp and journeyed farther down the path. Ector felt that something was following them. He turned to his left and saw a woman walking down through the trees. He turned to those, but they didn't seem to see anything. Ector turned back and the woman stopped, looked at Ector, and beckoned with him to follow her. Before he could ask Merlin, there was loud scream that almost hurt his ears. He spurred his sword to the direction of the scream, the others only noticing his departure after he disappeared into the woods.