Shard of Galahad: The Camelot Prophecies

Shard of Galahad

The Camelot Prophecies (extract from Armor Quest)

by

Lady Antiva

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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Armor Quest

The Camelot Prophecies

Copyright © 2012 by Camelot Hobbies

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It was a time of darkness. Upon the shining land of Bretunia the blood of Arthur Pendragon had been spilt, and the mighty sword Excalibur fallen from his cold hand. Arising to seize the throne of the fair city of Camelot came the dark witch, the Dragon Queen, the Fairy Morgan, come to claim the prize in the wake of her brother’s death. Morgan Le Fay had with her the poverty-stricken and anarchy-maddened; the weak-minded and mercenary; the cruel and avaricious. Assisting her were the powerful Dragonlords, seven in all - Xerxes, the Red Dragonlord; Vydraken, the Blue Dragonlord; Cariolanus, the Yellow Dragonlord; Impiron, the Green Dragonlord; Breune, the Brown Dragonlord; Orlordin, the Indigo Dragonlord; and, most powerful and enigmatic of them all, Na-sheol, Dark Prince of Sheol, Black Dragonlord. With this army, she tore through the land and swallowed it, and the shadow of her power crept closer and closer towards weakening Camelot.

Upon that ailing throne sat a monarch troubled and weary - Constantine du Cador, named King after the death of Arthur. King Constantine had with him his young wife, the lovely, gentle Queen Variana; and their naive, impetuous son, Crown Prince Uriel Loron, called by the childish name of Aubriet by those who knew him well. A knight-designate of the Round Table, and ambitious and restless, the youth was tall and strong and fair of face and limb. As the proud land of Bretunia flinched with each blow the dread Queen inflicted, the young prince formed a resolution he determined would save his kingdom - he would go out and seek Excalibur, and the Archmage Merlin, and bring them back to Camelot. King Constantine would not hear of it, but young Uriel Loron would not be deterred - one night he saddled his horse, gathered his effects, and left the castle under the cover of darkness. Henceforth he called himself, not the Crown Prince Uriel Loron, but merely the humble young knight, Sir Aubriet.

In another part of fair Bretunia lived a young man not so splendid, nor so grand - in a poorly home he lived, deep in the distant forest of Edela. A makidon, young, talented, trained by old Sir Ector in the ways of life and death - Tosham was his name; he knew no other. In search of the venerable master and his young apprentice came the noble Sir Delyus, and his companion Sir Claude, to urge them into aiding King Constantine; Sir Ector being old and weak, Tosham alone was sent with them. But the gallant company was waylaid by Lord Breune and the sorcerer Pleonodis; Sir Claude was captured, Sir Delyus killed. Tosham alone escaped.

In the humble town of Northshire did the makidon find a haven; while there, the young makidon met a strange little personage who called himself Riadok. Hardly over adolescence, this odd, clumsy young mage, apparently talentless and somewhat foolish, later encountered - also seemingly by chance - the travelling Sir Aubriet. The three traveled together to Old Yew Forest to seek Excalibur, only to be bid to perform a task in return for the great sword.

Together with a Galan sent as their escort, the High Priestess Estella and childhood companion of Tosham, the company traveled to the desert land of Talmissra, far away. There they went to the magical Tower of Dreams, where they met the young, mysterious mage, Sheja, minion of Qua-Seth and apprentice of Merlin. All were sent forth to seek the scattered articles of the magical Armor of Light, once worn by the powerful being known only as the Knight of Light. The enigmatic Tower of Dreams and its great portal powers aided their journey immensely.

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The Shard of Galahad

And it came about that all that is left to assemble the Armor of Light is the Final Article – the Shard of Galahad. Tosham, Estella, Riadok and Aubriet met again in the Great Portal room of the Tower of Dreams. The Tower was really becoming such a comforting, familiar place that it was almost like home. Tosham found himself actually dusting the little bookshelves in his chamber the way he had in his dormitory in the Makidon training house, and had to remind himself quickly that this strange shimmering tower in the middle of the vast magnificent Great Desert was not really home. Home was a land of green forests and rolling plains, many leagues away.

Sheja was brisk and businesslike as she manifested herself once more in her insubstantial young girl’s shape. The Life Medallion materialized suddenly around Aubriet’s neck as she appeared. All right, you look much better now, she approved. It’s time to get going. They went through the by now familiar ritual of opening the Gateway once more.

Tosham, Aubriet, Estella and Riadok, you are to go to the Night’s Pentagram in the Swamp of Nightwatch, in search of the Shard of Galahad. The doorway is open.

She disappeared, and the amulet of summoning sparked to life. Well, let’s go! she said impatiently.

One last look around the comfort of the Tower, they stepped into the doorway.

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Swamps are much-maligned places. Most people imagine them to be large, muddy, marshy areas full of assorted noisy, bloodthirsty insects, when in fact they’re really...

...well, large, muddy, marshy areas full of assorted noisy, bloodthirsty insects. But that’s not all there is to most swamps. Swamps are marshy and insect-infested for a reason - swamps are hotbeds of life. Besides the insects, there are the plants, of course - the wet, semi-underwater climate supports the sort of trees and greenery that drier or wetter places just can’t handle. Small fish and a multitude of different amphibians make their home in swamps - salamanders, newts, dozens of frogs, the occasional lizard. Slimy things have a great affinity for swamps, because slimy things are basically wet things, and you can’t get much wetter on dry land than in a swamp. Leeches are the most infamous inhabitants, closely followed by the mosquitoes, which breed like - well, like mosquitoes - in the algae-covered still waters that run deep.

Of course, there’s the occasional will ‘o the wisp. The will ‘o the wisp isn’t just your average fairy, though frankly speaking your average fairy is quite mischievous enough in itself. The will ‘o the wisp is a malicious little thing whose favorite trick is to lead people on a merry sojourn through the less-than-human-friendly swamplands, posing as a lantern or spot of candlelight. Of course, the will ‘o the wisp doesn’t frequent just any old swamp. Low-grade swamps just have clumps of shimmery marsh -gas to do simple tricks; the Wills aren’t quite that juvenile. These are highly-specialized malicious spirits, with the highest capacity for mischief and trouble-making, and only turn up in places where they can really do some good damage.

Naturally, the Swamp of Nightwatch was absolutely crawling with them.

But since the days of the Round Table, the Swamp of Nightwatch had been sparingly patronized by would-be treasure-seekers and power-hungry idiots, and the Wills were frankly bored to the innermost depths of their non-souls. They prowled the moist foliage half-heartedly, throwing a spark here and there from time to time to scare the fireflies that were thronging over the colorful sprays of flower-buds in the mangrove and banyan trees. The moon moved sluggishly through the swollen black sky. In the distance, a loon screamed and fluttered off, a battered black shadow against the moonbeams.

There was silence...at least, as much silence as you can expect from a swamp teeming with nocturnal insects in the dead of night, which really wasn’t all that much. One of the Wills gave a long, shivery shimmer, possibly its equivalent of a yawn.

Spshhh-squish.

One by one the Wills spun about. The sound had come from somewhere at the southernmost outer perimeter of the swamp, just where the soil started to become mud. There were muffled squishes and squelches, and low mutters.

Spshhh-squish.

The second one came from vaguely the same direction. The Wills shivered in excitement.

Spshh-squish. Great. Just great. A young man’s voice, hovering somewhere between the high-pitched squeak of childhood and the smooth-toned richness of adulthood.

Spshh-squish-clank-CLONK-POW! OW!

Sorry.

Why do you always have to land on me?

It wasn’t my idea.

Sheja! A muted, rather accusatory jingling sound followed this.

She said it’s your fault for falling underneath me.

Why do I even bother? More jingling.

I’m not telling him that, Sheja. Irritated clinks and clicks. Well, I’m not.

Tosham found Estella somewhere underneath a drift of pungent-smelling swamp-weeds and yanked her out as best he could. He was ankle-deep in cold, noisy mud, protesting squeakily at its being so unceremoniously stepped in. I presume this is the Swamp of Nightwatch? said Estella breathlessly. There were several twigs stuck in her hair.

Oh, no, I’m sure this is the Great Desert, said Sheja sarcastically. Look, we haven’t any time to sightsee. Night’s Pentagram is deep in the swamp-

Of course, where else would it be? muttered Aubriet under his breath as he listened.

-so we have to start off as soon as we can. I want all of you to tie yourselves to each other so you don’t get lost. This is a dangerous place, and if we get separated there’s no chance you’ll be able to get out again. Tosham, there’s a rope in your belt. Use that to tie yourselves together. Now I won’t help you any more than I have to in there, she continued as Tosham proceeded to shake out the rope, and that includes any battles, fake trails or the Wills. So you’d better keep your eyes open.

What are the Wills? asked Aubriet.

"Will ‘o the wisps. They’ll try to make you lose your way and go round in circles. You’ll not even know they’re at work unless you look sharp and notice that you’ve been passing the same place over and over. Now all you have to do is walk in a straight line, right through the swamp - if you have to wade