I looked at each of my friends and smiled. "I'm back."
"I knew you'd succeed," said Ethan, kissing my cheek. "We are unstoppable."
"Ooooh, get a room you two," giggled Christina.
Grace coughed. "If we're done with the foolery, Mma... are you ready to fight?"
I nodded. "For some reason, being in the body of Gamma the owl made me strong enough to withstand the fights. Anyways, let's go talk to the Lady. We have to end this."
The Lady of the Lake did NOT piddle around - she got straight to the point. "In the main hall is the Stone which King Artorius drew the Sword of Kings long ago under Merle's watchful eye. Meet me in the courtyard of the Keep of Ganelon and we will talk more there."
I went to the base of the stairs. "Speech! Speech!" hollered Christina.
I nodded. I knew we needed a pep rally before we risked our lives against the worst dragon ever in the Spiral, the Pendragon.
"This will... be our toughest battle yet," I said. "I won't mince words - there is a chance we may die. But if you are all willing... we will win. We will bring Avalon from the darkness."
"Woo!" Christina yodeled, pumping her fist.
"We will follow you to the end of death, my darling," said Ethan.
"Yes," said Grace. "We must rescue Rra Artorius."
No more talk, the time to act was NOW. We mounted up and rode to the Castle Avalon. (Actually, it was far easier to just warp to Caliburn and use the Caer Lyon Portal to get there.)
As soon as we entered the Outer Yard, we saw CHAOS. The Knights of the Silver Rose were viciously repelling the Horned Ones, subduing the Horned Brockets with their blades and shields. Ever Sir Robin did a chicken dance to taunt the deer knights into a rage and getting sniped by other knights. Queen Gwendolyn was calling orders and repelling attacks to her personage, while Sister Constance led a bunch of fairies from the Weirwood to distract the Horned Ones while fire arrows and leprechaun magic rained down on the enemy.
"This is a cool battle," said Christina. "But the Pendragon will note that."
"This is only a diversion," said the Lady. "I gave the signal when you left to the Knights and they created a battle that will be sung by epic bards... but the true heroes are you, the newest Knights."
I nodded. "Let's not let them down then, in we go!" (And yes, I totally made that whole battle scene up, nobody is there. :p)
I had a feeling that the Pendragon wasn't stupid enough to have ALL his evil knights fight the Order - after all, King Artorius was a military genius. The Lancers were surrounding the rock which had the Sword of Kings stuck in it. We would have to kill them all to get to it.
Even though Ethan was prisming the lot to Forest Lord them, I killed the Lancers in a more... gross way. 6_^ (You have to fight four of these guys to advance - they are stronger Horned Brockets with the same School.)
I touched the hilt of the Sword... should I? I gripped it and gave it a sharp tug. It didn't budge.
"I can't get it out," I said.
Grace and Ethan helped me tug on the sword, straining our muscles, but it was no good. The Sword of Kings remained in the stone.
"Oh for Bartleby's left eye!" groaned Christina, walking up to us and grabbing the sword. "How hard can it be to pull out..."
She yanked it out and we were thrown back in shock.
"What?" asked Christina.
"You... just pulled out the Sword of Kings!" I exclaimed. "Do you know that King Artorius did so and became the ruler of this world?!"
Christina's jaw dropped as she saw the blade in her hands. "I... I am not wor---"
"We can argue all day, Mma," interrupted Grace. She placed a hand on Christina's shoulder. "But every minute is precious. We will make Morganthe pay for humiliating you in Mirror Lake and hurting my world. Let it drop."
Christina dropped the sword.
"Not THAT," I groaned.
Christina slowly picked it up. "I'm not going to be queen, am I?"
"You are a noble knight," said Ethan. "And the hero who will save King Artorius from his curse. The Sword has given you approval when it denied it to us. It feels you are the most worthy."
Christina the tears from her eyes. "Thanks guys, let's kick butt!"
"An... interesting phrase," said a voice.
We bowed to the Lady of the Lake.
"Go upstairs and defeat the Horned Knights, then you can enter the throne room and face the Pendragon," said the Lady. "Good luck, noble knights."
"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" screamed Christina, running up the stairs. I sighed and shook my head a bit. (When you defeat the Hart Lancers, they all vanish so you won't fight any more mobs on that floor. Once someone pulls the Sword of Kings, everyone who is on this quest gets a Sword of Kings, which gives a power pip[like all weapons of this level], increases Armor Pierce by 2-4% and Critical Rating by 10-15% for your school and gives several wand strikes of your school, so Christina will keep the Sword but the others won't use it.)
Despite having the magic sword of Artorius, Christina still needed a little help from Ra. ;)
(Stronger Fire Deer Knights whose name I forgot. Grace nuked them with Tempest. Like the Hart Lancers, these guys disappear when you defeat four of them.)
The great doors to the Throne Room opened and we saw a glimpse of the might Pendragon. We huddled. "Okay, I have a plan." We went over stuff and then strolled into the throne room.
He saw the blade Christina wielded. "Is that the Sword of Kings? Never in this age did I think that it would be raised again. Come, let me test it against my razor fangs!"
"Your Highness," I said softly. "I know it's you, King Artorius, and I know what Morganthe---"
"I think he's not interested in talking," groaned Ethan as the Pendragon unleashed dragonfire upon us.
He tried to heal me but a dispel stopped him cold. "This guy is powerful, watch out!" he said. Just then, the Sword of Kings replaced our weapons. It was like it wanted us to win!
(Pendragon has two gimmicks he uses instantly after you select the first turn commands - he casts a priority Mass Entangle on everyone who is in battle and then casts a Fire Dragon... and the Damage over Time tick DOES NOT WEAR OFF FOR THE ENTIRE BATTLE unless you Triage it off, or...)
"Taste your own medicine!" I shouted as I cast a spell I didn't think was useful. (Use Shift. If everyone casts Shift - unlikely as there are no Shift Treasure Cards - he'll get hit with four DoT ticks that will cherry tap him. The big problem is that means you can't Feint or Hex him.)
We unleashed our strongest spells - Gnomes, Basilisk, and even Tempest, but he was still standing. I didn't want to do too much damage...
"Banzai!" shouted Christina. "Time to finish him off!"
"NO!" I cried.
Christina hurled the Sword of Kings, which boomeranged around and gashed the dragon's head with a huge cut. I cringed. (If anyone attacks with the Sword of Kings' normal attack, Pendragon will use a priority natural attack ON HIMSELF. Also, whenever someone casts an attack spell while he Sword of Kings is equipped, a weak ice wand attack will hit Pendragon. He is Death and has 13400 HP, so be aware of that.)
The dragon screeched and his horns fell off, turning into what I knew was the Horned Crown as I had seen in it in the tapestry. The dragon transformed into a familiar face... King Artorius!
"I wasn't gonna kill him, I'm not a regidical maniac," laughed Christina.
"How did you know..." I asked.
"The Sword knew where to strike," said Christina. She knelt before the king. "Are you okay, Arty?"
I sighed. Someone had failed to teach this girl manners.
"Thanks," muttered Christina.
"It is nice to see Avalon again with these eyes," groaned King Artorius. "I fear... this is my final hour."
"No!" said Christina. "I am NOT failing again." She got up. "Ethan, do a miracle! You're a blasted Life Wizard, for the Spiral's heart!"
Ethan sighed, knelt before the wounded King, and did a diagnosis. He got up and shook his head. "If I had been trained by the late Sylvia Drake, maybe... but the curse completely destroyed his muscles and us beating him up as a dragon didn't help."
"Yes," said THAT voice.
"The curse is fatal," she said.
"We have to do something!" I cried. "If he dies..."
"There is a way," said the Lady.
I nodded.
"There are two great wyrms which feast on the roots of the World Tree," said the Lady. "Steal their venom and you can concoct a potion to rescue King Artorius. But do not dally, I can keep him stable but only for so long."
"You should stay here and keep King Artorious healthy," I told Ethan.
"I won't be much help to the Lady," sighed Ethan. "Besides, we're a team. And I can concoct the potion, but you? I don't know."
I grinned. I knew he was worried about me. "Okay, but keep us alive! We can't save the King from his own death if we die ourselves."
"The Sword of Kings will aid us too!" said Christina.
We entered and saw the dragons which I recalled seeing from before. I shuddered... now we had to defeat them. I took a deep breath. "Let's go."
The battle was very dangerous and I nearly screamed several times when Ethan got hit...
But he got up and healed us all up. (The Black Wyrm is Myth and the White Wyrm is Ice... but both have only 12500 HP and have no gimmicks so don't get scared.)
Grace took out the Black Wyrm with her sea dragon...
And Medusa came to exact defeat on the White Wyrm. Once they collapsed, we extracted venome from them both. Ethan began mixing them together with muddled roots of Mother Oak.
"We did it, we did it!" chanted Christina as she did a jig. (Oppa dance. ^_^)
"Okay, that's enough," I scolded. "We have to get out of here before those dragons heal and ambush us. Ethan, you done?"
"Yep, this should work, I used some herbs Madame Wu gave me," said Ethan. "Let's get up!"
Ethan quickly administered the treatment to the regent.
"Is he..." I began to say.
"He's breathing normally," said Ethan. "He'll be fine, just needs a few days of good hard rest."
"Woooo!" screamed Christina as the leonine king rose up and smiled.
We bowed deeply to him. "Your Highness!" We followed him out of the throne room...
And found the Knights and Queen. We gasped.
"The Horned Ones fled as soon as the Pendragon was defeated and the Horned Crown destroyed," said Queen Gwendolyn. "We easily recovered the Castle."
The group praised our deeds.
Christina took the sword in her hands and held it up. "Your Highness, this sword belongs to you. I only wielded it briefly to save you and I will return it now." We were a bit shocked by this.
The King chuckled and pushed it back. "No, the Sword of Kings belongs to you now, Wizard. When I pulled that blade from the rock years ago, it was under the council of Merle Ambrose, which I heard while you were fighting those wyrms for my cure is your mentor. The Sword has a mind of its own and has chosen you to be its new owner, to protect the Spiral from that foul arachnid, Morganthe. You will need all the aid you can get to deal with that witch, so I bequeath the blade to you."
Christina blushed. "Your majesty, I... am honored. I will try to keep it by my side always." She sheathed the blade.
"Now come, let us celebrate this victory," said the King. "Stay the night and rest for the battles ahead. You will need to be ready for your future adventures."
"Well, if it's from you, your Majesty... how we can refuse?" I laughed.
We spent the night and enjoyed a lot of good food and drink, then slept in soft beds. If there was one thing the people of Avalon are great at, it's having parties! ^_^ (More story content, nothing happens like that.)
"Thanks," I said. "But we need to return to our Headmaster and tell him his home is healing."
"Do so, Merle Ambrose will be proud to have trained you to become so powerful and do what he could not," said the Lady, smiling. "I will return to the Dolorous Tower, which I have made into my home now. If there is anything you need from me, please let me know."
"We will," I said.
"I'm going to warp back to WC to talk to the Headmaster," I said. "You three should take a nice long rest."
"What about Morgie?" asked Christina. "I didn't see any of her icky lackies. I mean, she should have found us out, seeking this thing..." She waved the Sword of Kings. "And tried to kill us before..."
"Let's not think about it," said Grace. "We will deal with the Dark Lady soon enough. For now, we should enjoy our repose and get strong for later..
The others warped away but I got on my pogo and hopped leisurely through the recovering world to Caliburn, took the Spiral Gate and hopped back to Wizard City to Ambrose's office.He was ushering out one more student as I arrived.
"Ah, Sierra!" he said. "I see you have returned."
"The others are okay, I sent them home," I said. I told my story of chasing the Sword down and Christina owning it and everything else. I was verbally tired when I was finished - I am not a good summarizer, I tend to tell everything.
"I'm glad you're happy," I said. "I know that Avalon was where you were born, and to think Morganthe did so much damage..."
"You have seen the visions of the past in that ghostly realm in the Other Side," sighed Ambrose, shaking his head. "Yes, it is true, Morganthe was a terrible apprentice, always trying to learn dark magic. Like Malistaire, she had a lust for power... but unlike him, she had nothing she loved more. I wish to keep this a secret but... she discovered Astral Magic in Ravenwood and tried to learn it. Malistaire and his wife stopped her and saved Ravenwood from becoming destroyed by such power. The fact that she stole Astral Magic from Celestia... this doesn't bode well!"
"I didn't know all that," I said.
"I had hoped getting her away from Avalon would subdue her desires but I was sadly mistaken..." sighed Ambrose. "And when the people of Zafaria called upon us to save them and I found her behind it all, I had no choice but to punish her and seal her Deck... which she recovered. At least now we have a weapon to protect the Spiral! I will use all my powers to divine her dark plans before another world is harmed!"
He put a hand on my shoulder.
"You have given the others a respite, Sierra," he said. "Go rest yourself. I will contact you when I have finished my divinations."
I nodded and left...
But I won't ever forget the adventures I had with my friends in Avalon!
TWO WEEKS LATER...
CYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! :(
[To be continued---?]
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