Chapter 10

Galahad donned his armor and summoned his golden dragon. He had wished never to do so again in his remaining years. But fate had other designs for him, it seemed.

Zoe stood by the door to her home, leaning against the jamb, concern etched on her delicate features. "Why must you go?"

"She is searching for Mordred. I must ensure she does not free him." Letting out a breath, he turned back to the house and decided he wished for another kiss goodbye.

"You assume she will find him. And you assume she has the means of destroying the Crystal." Zoe shook her head. "You have proof of neither. Why are you so concerned?"

"If there is one thing I have learned about Lady Gwendolyn, it is that the impossible seems to follow her wherever she goes." He leaned down to kiss the Gossamer Lady.

She met his embrace, her hands resting upon the golden armor that covered his chest. "I hope you are wrong."

"As am I. But I cannot take that chance. None of us can. If he is set free…I loathe to imagine what will follow. None of us will be safe." Summoning his helmet, he turned back to his dragon. It glimmered in the setting sun, all shades of gold, amber, red, and yellow. The beast was restless, his claws digging into the dirt.

"In that, I fear I must agree with you." It was Zoe's turn to let out a weary sigh. "But she is a smart young woman. Empathetic to those around her. She will listen to reason."

"She is also fighting to save the man she loves." Galahad climbed atop his dragon, settling into the ridges on the animal's back. "Which is what worries me."

Zoe could not argue with him on that front. She simply nodded, and waved farewell as he kicked his dragon, spurring the animal into action. It was eager to go, leaping from the ground and taking off into the sky with a heavy beat of its metallic wings.

Galahad knew what it was like to be separated from his true love. How many times had he sat up at night, exhausted but unable to sleep, wishing for his Gossamer Lady?

How many times had his mind and his heart dueled for supremacy? One begging him to kill Mordred and free his lady love, the other half reminding him that he had sworn an oath to the Prince in Iron.

Never mind the curse that kept him obedient.

He had never reached a conclusion, so the matter had never been tested, unlike Lancelot.

But in his weaker moments, he had come close to attempting to kill Mordred, if it meant a chance to see his Zoe again. In the darkest moments of the night, the answer seemed so simple. But in the clear light of day, the certainty had always fallen away.

Gwendolyn was under no such oath. She was a woman of honor but had no code to guide her. She was also far younger and perhaps found it hard to believe the horrors and atrocities Mordred was capable of performing.

She was also a witch. The extent of her powers was likely unclear even to her, let alone the rest of them.

No.

She was dangerous.

She would have to be convinced.

And if he could not convince her? She would have to be stopped.

At all costs.

Gwen didn't know where Mordred was taking them. These were his dreams—and while before he hadn't seemed to have any control over them, something about that seemed to have changed. The world melted away from them as the scenery shifted. They were no longer in the woods, surrounded by trees and Arthur's knights. They were standing inside the ruins of Camelot.

"Somewhere familiar. Somewhere without distractions. We will both need to focus, for this to work." Mordred turned to her, and she watched as his armor melted away, his gauntlets dissipating. Palms up, he asked for her hands.

She didn't hesitate. It was so strange to feel his skin against hers. She was getting so used to the metal. "Mind clueing me in on what we're doing?"

"I am trapped within the Crystal. But you are in the waking world. You are my link—my tether. I can use your awareness of Avalon to see outside my prison." He grasped her hands and gently pulled her closer. "In theory."

"In theory." She arched an eyebrow.

"This is uncharted territory, my love." He smirked. "I am doing my best. If you have another suggestion, I would be glad to hear it."

No, she was out of ideas. Especially since Galahad had refused to tell her where the Iron Crystal was. Letting out a grunt, she shrugged. "Fine. Let's try it. Worst-case, we stand here like a pair of morons."

"Precisely." He rested his forehead against hers and shut his eyes. She did the same. "I want you to focus on remembering your surroundings, the place where you fell asleep. Picture yourself there. Wake up, just a little—just enough, so that you are in both places at once. I can?—"

"Stop."

The unexpected voice cut Mordred off. Only, it was a voice that Gwen recognized.

She blinked in surprise, turning to face the newcomer.

It was Mordred.

Another Mordred. Not the one standing next to her, in his horrifying iron armor. This one was human. His hair wasn't iron, but blond. His eyes were green, not shades of molten rust. And his armor looked similar in style to King Arthur's. He held Caliburn in his hand, head held high. "You will stop here, fiend."

"What the actual fuck—" Gwen's eyes went wide.

Her Mordred chuckled darkly. "Yes, I had supposed this might be the final test." He took a step forward, summoning his own blade. It was in stark contrast to Caliburn's beauty and simple, clean lines. It was jagged and rusted like the rest of Mordred, the sections of the blade that were missing only making it look all the more dangerous. No, not dangerous—fiendish.

The human Mordred met the elemental's challenge and prepared for a fight. "You shall die here, monster. I will not allow you to spread your plague upon Avalon any longer."

"Hold the fuck up—" Gwen stormed in between the two men. "Will one of you explain what's going on?"

The human Mordred was the one who spoke first. "There is still goodness within him. Within me. There is honor and duty. There is a part of my conscience that clings to the promises I made to Arthur so long ago."

The iron Mordred scoffed. "And if I am to be free—then I must kill the part of me that clings to the path that I mistakenly sought for so many centuries. If I am to set foot outside the Iron Crystal, I must surrender entirely the man I once was."

"But…why?" She furrowed her brow.

"Because only then will I be capable of doing what is required…" The iron Mordred shifted his gaze to her. "To protect you."

"No, no—this isn't about me. This isn't, this?—"

The human Mordred interrupted her. It seemed he liked to do that. "You are correct, in part. No, this is not about you. This is about killing the corruption that has spread in me. If you free him, the bloodshed will be unlike anything Avalon has ever known. I deserve to die in here, in this prison."

His iron half laughed cruelly. "What a coward I have been. The answer has been in front of me for so long. I tried my best to find a middle ground, to negotiate a truce in my own heart. Imprisonment was better than death, surely. Yet when the seasons stopped and the clouds covered the sun, and the world lost its color, I still somehow believed my actions to be just. Please." He took a few steps to the side, circling his human self. The blond Mordred swiveled to watch him. Gwen had the option of jumping in the middle again and stopping the fight, but something told her it wouldn't matter. This fight was coming, one way or another. It had been coming for a very long time.

And everything depended on who won.

"If I am freed, they all must die. They will come for us. They will never let us rest. They will hound us until the end of time, or until we both lie dead." The elemental shifted his grip on his sword. "To be free, I must embrace the darkness in my heart."

"Which is precisely why I must stay here and perish. My soul depends upon it. That kind of slaughter is beyond cruel. Better I die." Human Mordred raised Caliburn, readying for the fight that was about to begin.

The sound of steel on steel followed. It was…so bizarre, watching Mordred fight with himself. Both figures moved identically. They had identical strengths, identical weaknesses. Good versus evil. Duty versus love. Soul versus heart.

Gwen didn't know who she wanted to win.

Both of them, honestly.

But that time was long gone. That wasn't an option. It was clear this was a fight to the death. The ringing of the metal was deafening as the swords clashed. Blade met armor. Fist met face. Neither side was winning. Neither side was losing.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to use her magic to stop the battle—but she had no power here. All she could do was watch and avoid getting crashed into.

A chair wasn't so lucky, as the human Mordred threw his iron self through the furniture, smashing it into tiny pieces as the weight of the enormous knight turned it to kindling and splinters. The Prince in Iron rolled onto his side, spitting blood onto the ground. He didn't get up.

The human Mordred wiped some blood from his split lip. "You can stop this, Gwen. You can make this choice for me."

"I—I can't—" She shook her head. "I can't tell you to…to go on a murderous rampage, and I can't tell you to stay in here and die. I love you. Both of you—all of you." She bit back tears again, her voice cracking from the effort of it.

"And you need me." The Prince in Iron watched her keenly from where he still lay on the floor. "Can you really watch as I dissolve in here, consumed by my own mind?"

She wavered. "No."

"Can you condemn all the elementals to a certain death?" his human half countered.

Shutting her eyes, she wanted to scream. "No."

"It's all right, Gwendolyn. I am going to win this fight." The knight walked up to her, the echo of his footsteps on the stone walls surrounding her. She couldn't look. But when he placed his fingertips to her jawline, gentle and sweet, he tilted her head up to him. There was such love in his eyes, such kindness. This was the man he had once been, long ago. "And you will be all right. You and I can dream together. It will be a slow, painless death. And after that, you may dream of me whenever you like."

"But—it wouldn't be real."

"I will always be with you. One way or another. Because I love you. And I will always be in your heart and in your mind, even after I am gone. You must let me go, Gwendolyn. Please."

When she went to protest, Mordred's human half kissed her. It was filled with so much love, so much kindness, she finally lost her fight with her tears.

Could she really say goodbye?

Could she really let Mordred die?

The human Mordred lurched in front of her. She blinked in confusion, and pulled her head back to see what was wrong.

Four tips of clawed fingers jutted from the knight's throat. The iron Mordred had snuck up on him from the back…and rammed his fingers straight through his human counterpart's neck.

Blood began to run from the gashes and disappeared underneath the knight's armor.

Gwen gasped and staggered backwards.

The elemental ripped his claws from the knight's throat. The blond Mordred collapsed to the ground in a heap. His green eyes glassy and empty. Dead.

"To think I was ever such a fool." Mordred flicked his hand, sending bits of gore to the stone beside him. He cracked his neck to one side and then to the other. "Well. Now that is concluded, shall we pick up where we left off?" He smiled at her, a devious flicker to his eyes. "There is nothing to stop us now, my love." He reached his hand out for her.

This was all her fault.

And she'd come too far to stop now. Mordred had done this because of her. He was becoming this monster for her. She couldn't turn her back on him. She couldn't reject her love for him. Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, sending a new line of tears down her cheeks, she took a deep breath and steeled herself.

"I am as I ever was. Only now, I am no longer split by indecision. No part of me has died today, my lady."

"Tell that to the guy on the floor." She gestured aimlessly at the corpse.

"He was not real. Simply another figment of my tortured mind." Mordred stepped over his own fallen self to pull her into an embrace. "This was merely…a rather spectacular internal debate."

Maybe. Or, maybe it was something more. She didn't fight him, but rested her cheek against his chest, feeling the ridges of the twisting vine artwork that covered his jagged armor. He stroked her hair gently. "I need you to wake up, just enough to allow me to follow. Describe to me where you fell asleep."

"In a clearing by a fire. I made a bedroll out of some fabric I summoned using my magic. I don't know what I'm capable of yet." She shut her eyes again, trying to recall all the details.

"I look forward to helping you find out," he murmured, his voice a low rumble that she felt just as much as she heard.

"I fell asleep watching the stars. They're so different to the ones from home, but they're just as beautiful." She pictured them, flickering high above. She could feel the ground beneath her, the lumps in the grass and the one rock she'd managed to miss, which was digging into her thigh. The fire had died and was now just flickering embers.

Mordred was quiet for a long moment. "I am somewhere I cannot see the stars. I am deep under the ground. I am…submerged." His voice sounded far away and dreamy. "I—" He stopped suddenly, and barked a laugh that jolted her out of her half-awake state and back into the dream.

He let go of her to turn toward the ruins of Camelot. "Of course!" He laughed hard as if someone had just played a brilliant prank on him. "Of course! How could I not see it before?"

"I—Mordred?" She swallowed a lump in her throat. Had the rest of his mind shattered?

"I have been trying to tell myself where I am this entire time. I have known it, somewhere, buried deep." He sighed and stared up at the broken beams overhead. "I truly am an idiot. Where else would they hide me? Where else would Galahad send me? To Camelot, of course." He turned toward her and closed the distance between them in a split second. He placed his palm to her cheek, the metal of his claws resting against her skin. His expression was so intense it scared her. "There is a lake, deep beneath the castle ruins. I am there. The entrance is in the tomb. Come find me. Come set me free. And then nothing and no one will ever stand between us again."

He kissed her, his mouth so insatiable and needy that it left her stunned. So wild that it shattered her dream entirely and she woke to find it was early morning, the sun just starting to peek through the trees, the birds around her singing their songs, blissfully unaware of what she'd been through.

She rolled onto her side once more in the clearing. Her head was swimming. She felt woozy, like she'd been drinking all night. Slowly but surely, the world stopped wheeling and she could breathe without fearing she was going to throw up.

Could she set the monster free?

Could she turn her back on the man she loved?

This time, she knew she'd have to make a choice.

And there would be no going back.