AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Two things that he considered himself to have in abundance. There was only one problem—the army he needed to raise would be of other elementals.
And he could not imagine that was going to go well.
There was one woman he could seek out that might not kill him at first sight—one who might be sympathetic enough to lend her assistance. But there was a chance that she would consider herself too stuck in the middle between the factions to truly choose, as had been the case so long ago. But if Lancelotcouldconvince her to join him…then others would fall in line behind her.
Because the Gossamer Lady was beloved by all. And that included, chief amongst all—Galahad.
* * *
“I’m not gonna burn down the village, you asswipe!”
Gwen couldn’t believe that somehow Merlin was even worse as a person than he was as a cat.
“Useless child!” Merlin huffed and bared his teeth at her, several missing from what must have been years of fighting. “Teach them to fear us!”
“No.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I won’t. They haven’t done anything wrong.”
“If you wait for others to strike the first blow, you will not live long.” He turned his back to her, stalking off. “Stupid—”
Cutting him off, she shoved her finger in his face, angrily pointing at him. He had to pull up abruptly to keep from crashing into her. She glowered. “You know what? I’m sick of you being such an asshole to me. It’s not productive. And it certainly doesn’t make me want to help you.”
“Helping me is helpingyou, don’t forget.” He glared right back. “Or else you’re stuck here until you get us both killed.”
Sighing, she shook her head. He didn’t get it. “Whatever.”
“I will speak slower for you. We need supplies. I am going to take them. With or without your help. That is simply the way of it.” He stepped around her, clearly done arguing.
Throwing up her hands, she opted to follow him.
They made it about fifty feet before a regiment of armed soldiers trotted up to them. They pulled their shields close as a man on horseback took up the rear.
“Stop!” The mounted man held up his hand. “Elementals, begone from here.”
“I told you.” Merlin shot her a look.
“Shut up. They’re just scared, and you’re not helping.” Gwen took a step forward and smiled at the man. “I apologize for my…uh…angry friend here, we mean you no harm.”
Merlin snorted.
She continued, ignoring him. “We’re just traveling through. We’re headed—”
“Do not tell them where we are going,” Merlin snapped.
“We would appreciate any help you could give us.”
“Help?” The man blinked, clearly not having expected that. His horse shifted nervously from one side to the other, eyeing Merlin warily. Honestly, Gwen didn’t blame the animal in the slightest. Merlin gave off aweird vibe.A weird and very not-human vibe, despite his current appearance. She wondered what he really was. But that was a conversation for another time.
“Right. Like, a horse, or supplies, or whatever you might be willing to spare.” She was tempted to ask for a cart, but they’d probably be doing a lot of camping, so it would just end up being a pain in the ass. She hadn’t ever gone camping in a medieval-esque world before. “A tent, food, supplies for sleeping in the woods. That kind of stuff.”
“We are elementals. We take what we need. We don’task,” her “friend” grumbled to her.
Glaring at him, she planted her hands on her hips. “And that’s probably why everybody fucking hates elementals. So, maybe you should try shutting up and having an ounce of empathy for once.”
Merlin muttered something under his breath but didn’t interject any further.
Turning back to the soldiers, she did her best to smile. “Sorry about that.”
“If we provide you with supplies, will you leave without trouble?” The man on horseback patted the creature’s neck, trying to calm his steed. “We do not wish to see our homes razed.”
