AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eod moved to stand over her, ears forward, alert for any new danger.
Mordred had a desperate need to cause someone a great deal of pain. Luckily for him, Lancelot was riding toward him. It was time to settle the issue of the Knight in Silver once and for all.
Caliburn or not—Lancelot was about to meet his end.
At leastonetraitor would suffer this day.
Mordred would see to it personally.
TWENTY-SIX
Gwen woke up feeling like she had been hit by a literal truck. Someone was licking her face with the exuberance and socially unacceptable nature that told her it had to be Eod. Or rather, it had better be Eod. “Good boy,” she mumbled, trying to push the head away from her. Her words slurred together.
Everything ached.
Literally everything.
Her limbs were trembling as she pushed up to her knees. A strand of her hair fell in front of her face. She almost brushed it aside before realizing it was brown.
Her hair wasbrownagain.
That only meant one thing. Letting out a wavering breath, she tried to calm her rampant nerves. She was human again. She wasn’t an elemental anymore. And that meant she was now extremely fragile in this world of superhuman creatures.
Speaking of which—it looked like the return and prompt disappearance of Grinn had shaken the elementals. They had turned and fled for the forest, opting to retreat.
The crash of metal on metal very close to her quickly pushed her attention elsewhere. She could worry about being a squishy mortal another time. Because right near her were two men fighting to the death.
Two men she knew very well.
Lancelot and Mordred.
To the tune of the concerned whimpers from Eod, she struggled up to her feet. She had to stop them. Shehadto. Otherwise, one of them would die. And her money was on Lancelot. She tried to step forward, but a hand caught her arm.
“Don’t bother.” It was Doc the wizard. He was watching the fight with a grim expression. “This is inevitable. And has been for a very long time.”
“But—”
“I know. But you can’t save everyone. And right now, I’d worry about saving yourself first.” He sighed. “I, for one, am impressed you’re standing. Adrenaline. It’s a hell of a drug.”
“I can’t just stand here and do nothing.” She tried to step toward Lancelot and Mordred again, but the wizard kept her back. Not to mention Eod was now standing between her and the violence like he was a sheepdog and she was his flock.
“You’ll just be putting yourself in pointless danger. Those two need to end things in the only way they know how.” He handed her his walking stick to lean on. “Stay here with me.”
She was human, after all—and still chained up. There was nothing she could do to make the two men stop. And knowing her luck, one of them would accidentally kill her. There was a lot of sense in what Doc was saying, she just didn’t like it. She leaned heavily on the wooden stick. “This is stupid.”
“Yup. Welcome to Avalon.” Doc finally let go of her arm. “You might want to sit down before you—”
Her knees gave out abruptly without warning, and she found herself quickly sitting once more in the grass. “Ow.”
“—collapse.” The wizard huffed a laugh. “You poor thing, you’ve been through the ringer today, huh?”
She ignored his casual banter. “Tell them to stop. Get them to stop. Please.”
“I wish I could, kid. I really do.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Tears were filling her eyes again.
“Watch and wait.” His hand fell on her shoulder. “Even if it hurts.”
