Excalibur

Usually, on a mission like this, Lady would have sent Chopper. But despite the fact that he wasn't appointed on any other mission, she sent us. It must have confused Chopper himself too. But he might just have figured it out by now.

If Lady had sent Chopper on this mission, he'd have killed everyone here.

"So, how'd it happen?"

I'm sure there was no better way to ask this. Surely, something as great and legendary such as The Knights of the Round Table should have been able to withstand whatever stormed here.

"Despite what we like to admit, the legendary days of the Knights are long over", Bedivere admitted to me, in the kitchen, "We knew it when Merlin left us. And we know it now too. But Lancelot is too proud to admit it."

There wasn't suppose to be any hierarchy among the Knights, being from the Round Table. But it wasn't hard to see who the dominant one was. I, at least, found Bedivere to be the one with the most calm head. As such, it was easy to talk to him.

Bedivere, like all the rest of them, was a serious man. But there was a certain composure to him that made you think he wasn't riding on a high horse. He invited me to some coffee and let me accompany him to the kitchen. I realized that it must have been because there were things he couldn't say in the open because of a certain someone.

"It's a well known fact that there are 12 Knights. With Merlin gone, that wouldn't have been the truth anymore. But the king had already fallen. There was no need for us to exist. Lancelot refused to accept that. That is the sole reason we came to this secluded city."

Merlin was a renowned mage, the only one alive at the time. In this world, not everyone who was able to cast magic could be called a mage. That word was reserved for something supreme. Only a few were true mages and they all possessed extraordinary magic, something that even baffled the sorcerers of Norn.

Unlike the gods, who were gifted by other realms, mages were always human and their powers came from within themselves, not the outside.

As Bedivere told me, Merlin left the Knights when the king fell in battle. No one knew where he had gone. True to his word, he had gotten 'lost in the wind'.

"To fill up the numbers, we let a band of mercenaries join us", Bedivere explained, setting down a hot steaming cup in front of me, "They too had been ravaged in the war and were seeking solace in a safe place."

"A band of mercenaries?", I asked, a little unsettled.

"Yes, though they were barely a band anymore. They had taken in all sorts of people. So you could say they were just making do. The Beasts, I think, they were called."

There it was. Another reason Lady didn't send Chopper on this mission.

I suddenly became concerned if I should have left Sight alone with the rest of the Knights. But at least until there was still some coffee in my cup, I couldn't leave.

"My King ordered me to throw his sword into a lake. But...I couldn't bring myself to do it. My King knew I would fail, however. In the end, I did cast it into the lake. I thought I would never see that sword again", Bedivere looked tense as he recounted this to me.

It was as if he was reliving those same regretful moments again.

"But one of the mercs had the sword that I had cast into the lake. We were surprised, of course. Not just because it was the last relic of our King, given up to the lake as he wished, but also because never before had anyone been able to wield that legendary sword but our King himself. Her name was Silver, a frail young woman from some distant land. But she didn't know what that sword was called."

"The Excalibur?"

"Yes. That is the name. Well, what do you think we did with the sword once we discovered it?"

I sat and looked on at him.

"Once we had confirmed it was indeed Excalibur, Lancelot seized it from the girl. She protested, and so did the man who was accompanying her, Grey. But against the Knights, they couldn't do anything."

"Err, Bedivere, where is this going?"

"Where? Didn't you ask what happened here?"

"That is indeed what I asked", I said, "But what does the sword have to do with the charred city?"

"Seraph, is that what you said your name was? Wouldn't you like to know why we called for Valhalla even before this disaster occurred?", Bedivere said, getting up and collecting my empty cup too.

I could rewrite the state of this city, if he wished. That thought flashed in my head for a second, before I felt a chill run down my spine. I sat silently, tracing the roots of such conceited, careless thoughts.

"Yes", I said finally, "Please go on then."