AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
Mordred yanked his sword from Lancelot’s corpse. He felt no joy for having done it. He felt no relief. Only the calming of his rage. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gwendolyn faint. Eod was lying beside her, ears down and whimpering. And the wizard was there too. How charming.
It was no matter. He had business to attend to. “Enough of this. Enough ofallof this.”
The fighting in the field was over. The elementals, seeing their captain fall and the demon abandon them, had quickly fled. His knights were quick to chase them off into the woods on the backs of their metal drakes. He would leave it to them to finish defending his keep.
Mordred shut his eyes and tried to keep from screaming in frustration and rage. He had won, but it felt as though he had been robbed of so very much. Gwendolyn’s terrible secret had now come to light. Lancelot was dead. And the demon Grinn was now restored to power.
Avalon would be thrown back into the grips of war. Bodies of iron and flesh, stone and water, fire and air lay strewn about the field before him, riddled with wounds and covered in blood and stuck deep into the muck. How many thousands more would join them before it was all said and done?
What could he do to stop it, when he had done all he could think of in ages past? Fighting only led to more violence. Trust only led to more betrayal.
Grinn would be his first target. The demon had to be stopped. There would be no imprisonment for him this time—the demon would die. But what then? What of the elementals? There were twenty or more loose in the world, likely waiting to see how Lancelot and the others fared in their siege.
Would they choose peace? Would they join him in his quest against Grinn?
Or would they do what theyalwaysdid—resort to their warmongering ways?
Mordred knew there was only one way forward.
It was the only choice he truly had.
Turning on his heel, he headed back to his keep, stopping to crouch down and pick up Gwendolyn’s unconscious form. He should snap her neck, he knew. Twice now, the woman had betrayed him. Twice now, she had caused immense chaos in his world.
But he loved her.
And he had vowed that once he had her again, he would never, ever let her go.
Mordred was a man of his word if nothing else.
* * *
Gwen was somewhere soft and warm and comfortable. She didn’t want to open her eyes. There was a warm presence that she recognized quickly as Eod. She must be in bed.
It had all been a dream. A terrible nightmare. What a relief. Blinking her eyes open, she rubbed at her face with her hand. And didn’t hear the rattle of iron chains. Maybe that had all been a nightmare as well.
“Welcome back, sunshine.”
Squinting, still bleary from sleep, she lifted her head. The wizard was standing by her window, picking at a thread on the cuff of his robe. “Doc?”
“You fainted. Can’t say I blame you. Mordred brought you back in. Took the cuffs off, since y’know, you’re human now and there’s no point.” Doc shrugged. “Glad it wasn’t just a kink thing.”
“I—” She might have blushed if she wasn’t trying to grapple with everything that was going on. Gwen sat up. More accurately, she tried. She fell back onto the pillow, her head spinning dangerously. Groaning, she put a trembling hand over her eyes. She felt woozy and feverish.
“I wouldn’t. You’re going to be in a bad state for a while. I’m surprised you’re awake at all. Being split from a demon, especially like that. It nearly killed you.”
She was human again. That meant it hadn’t been a nightmare at all. “Lancelot…?”
“Dead. I’m sorry.”
She cringed, trying to fight the tears. Eod whimpered and licked her hand, doing what he could to cheer her up. “What about Mordred?”
“In his war room, with the other knights.” Doc sighed heavily. “He plans to take his army and hunt down Grinn. He won’t stop until that demon is dead this time. Although, I’m not sure that’s a worse fate than being trapped in an Iron Crystal.”
“The Crystal is destroyed.”
“Is it?” Doc’s sardonic question sent a chill down Gwen’s spine. “Is itreally?”
