Nightside 11 - A Hard Days Knight

from an exploding soulbomb, but not a stab in the back from an enchanted sword.
    I’d always known this warrior crap would get me killed.
    I took a firm grip on Excalibur and smiled at the elf faces before me. There was something in that smile that gave them pause, but only for a moment.
    They all pressed forward at once, dozens of swords thrusting towards me; and I raised my gift and found Excalibur. Not the sword; but what it really was. It wasn’t like talking with another person or even some kind of being; but there was communication. Excalibur was an extension of Gaea, her will made manifest in the world of men. And for a moment, she bestowed her grace upon me. Instead of the sword urging me on, I took control, and Excalibur blazed up, filling the whole hall with its glorious golden light. The sword had always blazed supernaturally brightly, but this was more, this was the essence of light itself, the light that first blazed across the universe when a great Voice said, Let there be light .
    The elves screamed, in pain and horror and thwarted rage, and fell back, unable to face the terrible energies radiating from Excalibur. They turned and ran, shoving and scrambling and fighting each other, in their desperate need to escape a light they simply could not bear. The London Knights, dazed and awed by the light, let them go. In a few moments the hall was half-empty, knight after knight lowering his sword and looking round and wondering what the hell had happened. Excalibur’s light snapped off, and I shut down my gift and studied the blade thoughtfully. The Puck had been right. It’s not what you think it is. And it never was.
    Sir Gareth came over to stand beside me and clap me on the shoulder. “Well done, John Taylor! Always knew you had it in you. You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”
    “You have no idea,” I said. “Really.”
    There were dead and injured knights lying the whole length of the hall. Other knights were helping where they could. I saw Sir Roland kneel beside one still form in shattered armour, and Sir Gareth and I went over to join him. Sir Roland had taken off his helmet, and his bare face looked shocked, as though he’d been hit. He’d removed the helmet from the dead knight before him; and in death Sir Percifal looked even older. Certainly far too old to be fighting on a battle-field.
    “He shouldn’t have been here,” said Sir Roland. He sounded confused, as though unable to understand how such a thing could have happened. “He should have gone to the Redoubt, to be with the women and the children. But he was a warrior and a fighter all his life, and he didn’t know any other way. Even though he must have known it would bring him here, to this. Sleep well, old friend.”
    I remembered a wise old voice, saying Yes and No at regular intervals. A man who shouldn’t have been able to stand upright in full armour, let alone fight in it; but there was golden blood on his sword that showed he had. He shouldn’t have come here, but he had. Because he knew his duty.
    All across the hall, knights were putting away their swords, tending their wounds and each other’s, and clapping each other across the back and shoulder, laughing and shouting as they swapped tall tales of victory. Because it did feel so good to be alive after a battle even if old friends were dead. Given how outnumbered the knights had been, they were lucky to be alive, and they knew it. Not many people get to face an army of elves and live to talk about it. Hell, there are those who say the only way to win against an army of elves is to not be there when they turn up.
    Many of the knights grinned at me and waved and shouted. I was their hero now. I nodded back. They’d done well. Elves are killing machines, delighting in slaughter and suffering, and the knights had been holding their own even before I turned up. I’d never doubted their reputation. I’d only wondered what drove them.
    Sir Roland finally stood up and nodded to Sir Gareth, all business again.
    “Did all our families get to the Redoubt in time?” said Sir Gareth.
    “Yes. They all made it. I always said those regular panic drills were a good idea. I still can’t believe it, though: elves, inside Castle Inconnu. Unprecedented. Stark must have got them in, though I’m damned if I can see how. There’ll have to be an inquiry. As long as he’s out there, the castle is wide open to attack. We have to do what we should have done long before. We