Beyond the Crimson (The Crimson Cycle) (34 page)

She hissed loudly and in
less than a half-second gripped the back of my hair with her claws, pulling me to my feet and yanking my head upward to expose my throat, her cold dagger pressed at the base.

“You destroy it
and I will destroy her! I do not need black magic to slit her throat!”

He stopped, vulnerable
, and she knew it.

Her mouth coiled into a smile, but her dark eyes looked at him with disgust
. “
Weak
prince,” she spat. “Now, trade me the sword.”

His face twisted into a snarl as he lowered the sword. He swept his hand out to the side to throw it
, but it stayed attached almost as if it were glued.

Morgaina
laughed. “It is bound to you whether you want it to be or not.”

His face contorted with hate for her.

“Yes,” she cooed, stepping closer to him. “Let your hate make you strong, and succumb to my demands. You stand with me, Raven!”

I watched as a blackish vapor now reached out from its place on his forearm,
slowly creeping to his shoulder; he couldn’t pull his eyes away from it. It was consuming him.

“No, I stand with Arthur,
” he growled and suddenly with a forced expression on his face, he released his long tanned fingers from the Black Sword, letting it drop to the ground, and falling to his knees beside it, breathing deeply. “You do not control me Morgaina,” he huffed, “and I will kill you for hurting her.”

“You are a fool, Brendel
on!” Ravenna rebuked. Morgaina flicked her wrist forcing the sword to move into her grip.

He stood t
o his feet, tightening his eyes. “I will spend my whole life to make certain Arthur never touches that sword.”

Trumpets blasted from the distance but no one dared to look. We all knew it was a warning from Mordegrant; t
he warband was moving forward.

“Well, that will not be for long,” she snarled.

She held up her hand and like a magnet the bracelet jumped from my wrist into her grip, suddenly glowing magnificent shades of purple and green. She grinned wickedly, as the skies darkened into an eerie gray.

She said something low under her breath and the black vapor dropped to the ground, appearing to be like a snake, slithering quickly toward the wide-eyed knight. He stepped back
, but it gripped his ankles, flinging him face forward into the ground, twisting his hands behind his back. He growled and viciously fought to get back to his feet, rolling and twisting his body trying to stand up, but ended up in a position with his knees bent underneath him and his left cheek flat on the ground, right cheek deepening its crimson streak.

“Stop!”
I screeched, wanting to run to him, but the guards had me in their grasps once more.  

She ignored me, watching his shoulders heaved a
s he fought to catch his breath. “Well, this is quite different from last time.” She smiled and took two long slow steps toward him. “Here is something you will remember.” She snapped her fingers and the large beautiful frame appeared.

His eyes widened.
“No!” he hollered lashing back and forth again.

“Ah, Brendelon the beautiful…” she cooed walking closer to him. He looked up at her with almost pleading eyes. She stroked his cheek, and he writhed under her icy touch. “There is nothing you fear more than losing your freedom, but we would not want such flawless beauty to go to waste, now would we?” He clenched his jaw so tight I could see the muscles bulge.

She snapped her fingers again and this time the frame opened up. It was different from the vortex that brought us here. It was as if the frame came to life like it was an open door one could just walk through and end up on the other side, only we knew there was no other side; it was only a frozen eternity.“It is time for you to return to where you belong.”

He gritted his teeth.
“I know where I belong,” he growled at her. I lunged forward fighting against the guards, wanting nothing more than to claw her eyes out, but the guards were much stronger than my fury and this time they were on ready.

Then suddenly the center of the frame began to swirl in a strong but slow motion and his body began to slide as it sucked him closer.

“What are you doing?” Ravenna panicked.

Morg
aina gave her a warning look. “Do not cross me Ravenna.”

“We had an agreement!”

“And I will keep my half!” she growled in response. “If he will not be controlled, he cannot be trusted. You will have your power and Merlin dead, just as I agreed.”

Ravenna clamped her mouth shut, but her eyes gave away her dist
ress as she watched her son squirm on the ground, trying to anchor himself with his body.

Morgaina knelt beside him and put up a
hand, holding the force still. “Submit to me,” she demanded.

“No,” he boomed again, kicking his legs to the ground
, trying to back away from the portrait.

She shook her head.
“You risk your life out of love, yet none of them would do the same for you. They
knew
how to set you free, but they chose not to.”  She leaned in closer, her voice barely above a whisper. “They knew all along, and they chose
Arthur
over you. Not even
one
would sacrifice his life to save
you
.” She stood to her feet.

He lashed out at her, but she stepped back, lowering her hand and once again the force
slowly pulled him closer. He twisted left and right, trying to fight against it but it was too strong.

“This is your last chance,” she warned.

“Focus,” Merlin shouted out. “You know what is good in your heart, follow it. She cannot touch that.

He glanced frantically at Merlin, who gave him a sincere look then nodded his head upwards to the sky
, and at the same moment, a small white bird swooped down. “Repentance and forgiveness set you free,” he whispered, “but you must mean it in your heart. I know you will do right,” he added. 

Brendelon’s eyes lingered on the bird then he lowered his gaze to Merlin. T
he clouds in his eyes began to clear and he nodded back, forcing his knees under him, no longer fighting the pull but allowing himself to slide forward, then he turned to Morgaina. “You are wrong Morgaina; Arthur told me there
was
one
.”

Her eyes tightened
, and she tilted her head to the side as though she did not quite comprehend.

Then he looked at his m
other who stared at him blankly. “I forgive you,” he said. “I forgive you for all of it.” Then he bowed his head, and his mouth began moving rapidly.

The sun shoved the dark treacherous clouds, fighting the gloom with its rays of light, brightening the land it kissed, each color extending its brilliance with the passing moments. The pull weakened
, and I watched as all his lost pieces finally fell into place. His body came to a halt as he remained on his knees, eyes closed, mouth moving, only less than a foot from the frame.

“No,” Morgaina murmured, eyes frantic as she watched her spell slowly dissipate. Ravenna stepped forward as though to help her but suddenly stopped
. She stooped down, and grabbed something off the ground. She slowly turned it over in her hand, opening her palm just long enough for me to see the crumpled white flower.

The black dust slithered its way back up to the sword, releasing its hold on him
, and his green eyes flashed up. “I am not alone Morgaina, the blood was paid.” The mischievous smile crept up his lips. “And your black magic will never win.”

             
Her face contorted. “You have already done enough,” she sneered. “The sword is awake, and I will kill Arthur with or without you.”

             
A noise sounded again, and Morgaina glanced over her shoulder as about a hundred men, mixed between Arthur’s army and Mordegrant’s approached. “You will lose, dark prince,” she threatened. “Curse or no curse, I
will
make you suffer for your defiance. Kill him!” she roared, pointing at him, as she turned to the black guards. They immediately succumbed to her demands drawing their swords and moved forward.

             
“No!” I screamed as Merlin thrashed about hollering.

             
“Do not touch him,” said a soft whispery voice, and suddenly the black guards froze. I looked over to the distracted, yet beautiful face of Ravenna, who stood perfectly still with her left eyebrow raised and eyes widened but staring into nothing. The only thing that moved was her delicate hand as it rolled the smashed white flower over and over in between her elegant fingers.

             
“What do you think you are doing?” screeched Morgaina staring at her in disbelief, but Ravenna’s face stayed motionless.

             
“He is
my
son,” she said, almost to no one. Brendelon’s eyes flittered to her, confused, but she didn’t notice because it was almost as if she was in a different world. “My son,” she repeated softly to herself. Then she finally snapped out of her stupor and glanced up at Morgaina determined. “He belongs to me, and I will not let
you
take him,” she declared forcefully.

             
“You are a fool to cross me Ravenna!”

             
Her head was tilted downward as her sinister eyes rose, just as terrifying as her son’s. “I know black magic too,” she hissed, “and I am a
PENDRAGON
!
You
are nothing! It is my nature to succeed!”

             
“It is your nature to let love be your downfall,” Morgaina seethed, pointing at Brendelon. Then suddenly a dark gust shot forth from Morgaina’s palms into Ravenna’s path but it was suddenly stopped before it reached her. Ravenna tilted, then slowly shook her head slowly back and forth, in mock disappointment. “Is that all you have, pathetic daughter of Gorlois? You should be thankful my brother put him into his grave before he saw what you turned out to be!”

             
Morgaina’s shoulders moved up and down in strong breaths, as her eyes turned murderous. “I will send you beneath the earth for that,” she whispered. She ran forward with the Black Sword in her grasp, ready to take Ravenna’s life. Ravenna’s eyes widened slightly but before she could reach her, Brendelon lurched forward, wrapping his arms around Morgaina’s waist bringing her plummeting to the ground. She hissed and slithered away from him like a snake, holding the Black Sword in front of her. He slowly backed away from her, as he pulled his own sword from his sheath.

             
“Halt!” boomed a voice, I looked up and had never in my life been would I have thought to be so thankful to see the towering form of Gawain, with Bors at his right, trotting forward on their steeds and the warband behind them. “Do not move any further, evil serpent,” he continued, “or it will be your head!”

             
“Gawain, separate the men from Mordegrant’s, he is against us!” shouted Brendelon, keeping his eyes carefully on Morgaina.

             
Gawain’s eyes widened but the other men heard the command and slowly the horses moved to two different sides, a sea of gold and a sea of crimson. Gawain held his sword out, only a short distance from Mordegrant. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked keeping a wary eye on him, carefully glancing back and forth between Brendelon and Mordegrant.

             
Mordegrant’s horse stepped forward, as he laughed deeply in his mask. “Has he not told you?” he questioned, keeping his face directed at Brendelon.

             
“Tell me what?” Gawain boomed.              

Mordegrant laughed again. “Aye
, tell him… son.”

             
Gawain’s hazel eyes went wide. “Son?” he choked out. His eyes pierced through Brendelon’s back. “Mordegrant is your father?” he spat out disgustedly.

             
“Force Arthur to retreat,” Brendelon demanded, ignoring the question, as he kept his eyes on Morgaina. Merlin thrashed about but it was to no avail. Gawain saw him too, he scrunched his eyebrows together.

             
“What have you done, Bran?”

             
Morgaina laughed this time. “He has sparked Arthur’s undoing.” She gripped the Black Sword tighter. “He is a traitor, and he will be the end of this pathetic warband,” she hissed.

             
Gawain glanced over his shoulder quickly but then he laughed, and everyone turned to him surprised, everyone except Bors, who seemed rather entertained himself, but worked to keep a straight face.

             
“Bran is a great many things, most of those things being bad, I will give you that, but a traitor he is not,” he mused. He glanced over his shoulder once more to the rolling hills to the east and there in the distance I could see an army coming forth. “We knew you to be the traitor Mordegrant, although I was quite surprised to learn of Bran’s parentage.” He raised an eyebrow.