Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

Both parties will promptly share any liabilities that could negatively impact the success of the partnership.  (ie- outside deals that would conflict with this Contract, relevant curses/spells, or particularly dangerous enemies.)

When possible, they will deal with these liabilities as a team.  If this is not possible, it is up to the effected party to solve the problem quickly, logically, and with as little bloodshed as possible

Clause 15- Liabilities to Partnership

 

Midas would never leave her alone in Celliwig.

Not ever.

Gwen stood in the middle of the marshy street, her heart pounding as she looked around the horrible town.  Her husband was gone.  So was the wand.  Midas had taken the wand and left her alone in Celliwig.  And Midas would never, ever, ever leave her alone in Celliwig.  Not if he could possibly help it.

There was only one possible explanation for his absence:

Dark Science.

The Scarecrow must have finally found a way to put the formula into the air.  He’d taken control of all the Bad folk, stealing their freewill. High-jacking their minds. He’d kidnapped her husband.  He’d stolen Merlyn’s wand.  And unless some miracle had occurred, he’d probably abducted Avalon, too.

He was going to use them to enslave Camelot.

That wasn’t just Gwen’s worst-case-scenario theory of why she’d woken up alone.  It was absolute fucking fact.  She had hard, rational, irrefutable evidence to back it up.  All she had to do was look at the blank, marble-eyed stares of the citizens surrounding her.

All the Bad folk in Celliwig --and that was a hell of a lot of people-- were standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a perimeter around the town.  Keeping her in.  Didn’t they have even one Good folk in this dumb village?  Apparently not.  Or maybe they had fled.  Either way only the frozen army remained, trapping her there until the Scarecrow had finished with his vile plans.

Too bad for that birdbrain that Gwen was never, ever, ever going to let that happen.

Firming her jaw, she unzipped her knapsack and pulled out the gun she’d packed.  She didn’t have time for this shit.  She had to get to her family and no one was going to stop her.  There was probably some simple, awesome, logical plan to defeat this trap without resorting to violence, but Gwen was too frantic to think of it.

She was going with force.

Pushing past the armed felons surrounding her hadn’t worked.  They’d tossed her back into the center of town like she weighed nothing, at all.  Again and again.  Trying to find a weak point in their line had wasted several hours of the morning.  The Bad folk weren’t moving or blinking, but they knew she was there and they weren’t letting her by.  She couldn’t slip between them.

But she could step over them.

The last thing Gwen wanted to do was hurt anyone, but she wasn’t about to let Midas and Avalon die.  A few blown out kneecaps was a small price to pay, in the grand scheme of things.  The men holding her would no doubt agree, if they weren’t all being remote-controlled by a lunatic.  In a way, she was saving their lives.  She was going to stop the madman who planned to destroy the kingdom and make them robots.  They’d probably even thank her later for taking such a practical and Utilitarian worldview.

Probably.

Shit.

“I am so sorry about this.”  Gwen told the man standing in front of her.

Not that he could respond, what with being hypnotized by evil and all.  She’d selected a target who looked healthy enough to recover from the injury and kind of like a scumbag.  She felt less guilty about shooting someone in the leg, if her victim wore a t-shirt that suggested it was a great idea if a woman copulated with a drunken pig in a trucker hat.

She took aim at the dickhead’s shin, chewing her lip nervously.  People recovered from bullets to the shin all the time, right?  It seemed like a really safe place to get shot.  Witch-practitioners could heal non-fatal bullet wounds with a bit of magic and some herbs.  This was not a big deal.

“Just so you know, I’m really not a violent person.”  She assured the guy, steeling herself for what she had to do.  There was no choice.  Her baby needed her.  “Things just keep happening to me.”

He didn’t respond.  Huge surprise.

Even if he wasn’t drugged into a fugue state, she almost certainly wouldn’t want to hear anything he had to say, anyway.  Odds were, it was going to be unpleasant, given what she was about to do to him.

“Sorry.”  Gwen squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

The guy toppled over like a fallen oak, but he was still alive.  She could tell by the screaming.  That was a really good sign.

“Sorry.”  She blurted out again and took off running through the space he’d conveniently opened up in the human wall.  “It’s for the greater good, if that helps, at all!”

It didn’t help.

The guy kept shrieking and the sound seemed to awaken all the mean sons of bitches around him.

Heads turned to stare at her in horrible unison.  The heads of everyone, all at once.  It was the creepiest thing she’d ever seen.  The creepiest thing she’d ever heard soon followed.  An unearthly wail rose up from the mindless men.  An animalistic blood cry.

Okkkkkayyyy, that was worrisome.  She hadn’t expected any of the other human statues to even notice that she’d shot someone.  They sure hadn’t notice anything else she’d done.  Even when they’d been tossing her back from their line, it had been with vague robotic movements.

This was so much more.  So much worse.  The Scarecrow must have programmed in some kind of failsafe, in case Gwen got through his trap.

…And she’d just triggered it.

Moving as one, the entire population of Celliwig lunged after her, like a pack of wild dogs.

“Fucking hell!”  Gwen moved faster, already knowing she couldn’t possibly outrun them all.  Why hadn’t she gotten a horse?  She should have gotten a horse!

Men were all around her.  Dirty hands clawed at her, ripping at her coat, trying to stop her.  These people were dangerous and mean, even when they hadn’t been compelled by a monster.  Now they were worse than Henry the monkena.  Less civilized.  More cunning.  It was as if the men’s bodies had been awaken, but all their filters had been turned off.  Vicious and conscienceless, they fought to bring her down.

“Stop!”  Gwen turned to shoot another man in the leg, forcing him to let go of her arm.

He released her so fast that Gwen fell to the ground.  Mud squished beneath her, as she scrambled to her feet.  The sticky mire was so deep it made it hard to move and she had to move.  The men were boxing her in, again.  Only this time they weren’t just going to stand there.  They were going to hurt her.

She looked around trying to find an avenue of escape, but everything looked the same.  Filth and angry faces and rundown buildings and…

Midas’ house.

Gwen’s frantic eyes fell on the hideous structure like it was a lifeboat in the middle of the sea.  Midas’ house was Midas’ house which automatically made it feel safer than anyplace else.  Plus, it had her father’s magic inside.  If she could reach it, she might be protected.  Gwen headed for it as quickly as she could.

Men kept coming for her.  She shot three more, two in the legs and one in the arm, but then her gun clicked empty.  Damn it, why hadn’t Galahad bought her extra bullets?!  He was clearly not perfect and she was going to tell him so, if she somehow survived this nightmare.

She’d reached Midas’ front lawn when her luck ran out.

A man with a beard and sunken features tackled her, driving her to the ground.  Gwen let out a terrified cry as he began tearing at her clothes in a frenzy, his eyes still horrifically blank.

“Stop!”  He was stronger than her, but skinny.  She managed to kick free, half-stumbling, half-crawling towards the porch.  She needed to reach the house.  She needed to find some kind of weapon and…

Then Gwen saw him and knew she was about to die.

The most dangerous man in Camelot.  The person no one alive could beat in a fight.  A villain of such grisly renown, that the invincible Kingpin Midas had hired him on as a goddamn bodyguard.

Trystan was here.

She looked up at his emotionless face and froze right there on the ground.  Even if she could somehow escape the other Bad folk, she would never get away from him.  No one could.  The formula was controlling him and so Gwen’s life was over.

He stopped directly in front of her. There was a double-bladed axe in his massive hand, already red with blood.  He looked like every demonic gryphon stereotype that King Uther had railed against.  Death itself, come to collect its final payment.

“It wasn’t your fault.”  Gwen whispered, because King Uther had been an asshole.  Gryphons weren’t demons.  Trystan was a deeply honorable man.  He would blame himself if he ever came out of the daze and remembered what he’d done to her.  “I hope you can hear that.  This wasn’t your fault, Trystan.  You’re part of my family and I love you, even if you kill me.”

His head tilted to one side.

“If you somehow break through this, please save Midas and Avalon.”  If Trystan was here without Avi, then the Scarecrow did indeed have her.  That was scarier for Gwen than knowing she was about to die.  Tears welled in her eyes.  “Please find them and keep them safe.”

The bearded man was rushing towards her, again.  Gwen heard his frantic, excited breathing.  She turned her head away, cringing.

…And was promptly showered in something wet.

What the hell?

Her eyes popped open, gaping down at the blood soaking into her coat.  Was it hers?  No it was the bearded guy’s. …Who no longer had a beard, because he no longer had a head.  Trystan had just chopped it off.

Gwen blinked at the morbid sight and then looked back up at Trystan.

“You are a terrible fighter.”  He told her flatly.  “I will begin training you, as I train the child.  Only slower, because you are far worse than she is.”

Gwen’s mouth opened, closed, then opened again.  “The formula isn’t controlling you?”  She got out, shocked that she was still alive.

“It does not work on my kind.”  He reached down to lug her to her feet.  “Stay behind me.”  His axe swung out, killing two more men.  Another guy dashed up and was cleaved in half, his torso split right down the middle.  More blood splashed out like a fountain.

Gwen’s mind was whirling, but she shook her questions aside.

Nothing mattered except finding Midas and Avalon.  She barely noticed as bodies hit the ground at her feet.  Paying attention to this fight was as pointless as paying attention when Midas played catur with the wizards.  The outcome was inevitable.  It was Trystan versus the entire town and Gwen had no doubt who would win.  She didn’t even bother to arm herself.  Trystan was taking care of this mess, so she could focus on what really mattered.

“Tell me exactly what happened with Avi.  I woke up and Midas was gone.  Was it like that with her, too?”

“Yes.”  The word was a snarl.  The next man who crossed Trystan’s path served as a fleshy outlet for his frustration.  The axe-blade slammed through the guy’s body in a series of brutal, angry hacks.  “I went to awaken the child and she was missing.  Then, the rest of the staff attacked me.  It didn’t take much deduction to know what was going on.”

Gwen covered her face with both hands, trying to hold back her tears.  Suspecting it was one thing, but actually hearing that Avalon had been kidnapped…

Oh God.

Oh God.

Oh God.

“I have to get my baby back.”  She couldn’t even breathe without Avi.  “I have to get Midas back.  I have to.  They’re my whole world.”

The Scarecrow wouldn’t kill them right away.  There was still time.  She just needed to keep calm, and think it through, and not panic …and then defeat a megalomaniac who had a magic wand.

She was definitely starting to panic.

All the desperation Gwen had been trying to suppress since she woke up threatened to boil over.  She was hanging on by a thread, not sure if she was about to start sobbing or screaming.  Her teeth began to chatter, even though she wasn’t cold.  Her mind played a slideshow of the horrible things the Scarecrow could do to the two people she loved most.

“Trystan.”  Her voice cracked.  “Trystan, I can’t think I’m so scared.  What if something happens to them?  What if he hurts them?  I need them.”

“As do I.”  For someone without emotions, he was doing a great impression of a man on the edge of a mindless, killing rage.  Past the edge, actually.  A misty veil was obscuring his face, so his features vaguely resembled an eagle’s.  “I will not lose another clan.”

Gwen cringed at the gory mess he made out of the next armed citizen who came flailing at them.  The guy ran right into Trystan, bounced off his sheer bulk, and was then basically liquefied.  Gryphons weren’t really about aiming for the leg.  Especially when they were upset.

Gwen patted his arm comfortingly, ignoring the sticky blood coating it.  “These men are enthralled, you know.”  Trystan’s obvious turmoil actually helped her to stay in control.  He needed her to be strong.  Her whole family did.  She had to do this.  “The Scarecrow is controlling them.”

“Their motives are immaterial.  All who try to kill me, end up on the wrong side of the grass.”

“They have no idea what they’re even doing.”

“They’re horrible people, even when they are aware!”  He roared.  “Their lives and deaths mean nothing, compared to yours.  I need to get you out of this fucking town, as quickly as possible, and they are in my way.”

“Just… maybe you could wound them, instead?  Fight them in a nonlethal way?”

He rolled his eyes and sliced off an attacker’s arm at the shoulder.  “Happy?”  He demanded, as the guy collapsed into a fetal position, screeching in blood-curdling agony.

She flinched, watching the severed appendage twitch.  “Ecstatic.”

“Good.  If I pick you up, will you fly without hysterics?”

“I’ve never had hysterics a day in my life, Trystan!”  Although she was damn close.

“Many of your kind have hysterics when they fly.  You’re a strange and earthbound people.”

“I’m fine with flying, okay?”  She took a deep breath, trying to concentrate.  “All I care about is reaching Avalon and Midas, as fast as we can.  I don’t care if we have to ride a goddamn pegasus, we’re finding them.  Now.  They have to be at the Dark Science lab.”

“Where is that?”

“It’s a separate building, behind the palace.  Which has really, really great security, because I burned it down once already.  The Scarecrow rebuilt it, better than ever”

Trystan snorted.  “Non-lethal battle tactics always reap such futile results.”

“Not helping, right now.”  She snapped.  “Just let me think of plan and we’ll go get Midas and Avi.  I know there’s a way.”

“I will go get them.  You will stay behind, because you are small and useless.”

A redheaded guy tried to grab Gwen.  Trystan stabbed him through the stomach, viciously twisting the blade.  She’d give his chances of survival a solid ‘maybe,’ but Gwen had always been kind of an optimist.

“What do you mean ‘useless’?”  She snapped.  “You’ve been calling me a ‘remorseless killer’ since we met!  What the hell’s changed?”

He flashed her a look that suggested she was a staggering moron.  “You are now j’aha.”

Damn it, she really needed to learn the gryphons’ language.  “What does j’aha mean?”

“My sister.”

A huge, tank of a guy raced at Trystan from behind, trying to seize hold of his wings and wrestle him to the ground.  Trystan didn’t even bother to turn around to eviscerate him.  He somehow chopped the man in half with his back turned.

“I don’t think that one will live.”  He told her without much remorse.

Gwen ignored that, processing his translation of j’aha for a beat.  “I kind of killed Arthur, you know.”  She announced, crossing her arms over her chest.

He grunted, unsurprised.  “I know.  I suspect he threatened the child and you reacted as any worthy mother would.”

“He tried to throw her off the balcony.”

Trystan’s eyes narrowed.  “It’s a badge of honor to slay such a man.  You should boast of it with pride.”

“My point is, I’m not a violent person.  …Unless I’m forced to be.  And then I’m going to win.”  It was a promise.

Trystan shot her a speculative look.

“I’m coming with you to save Midas and Avalon.  There is nothing you can do to stop me.  I know that palace and the lab and the Scarecrow.  He wants me to marry him.  He’ll use them as bargaining chips, against me.  I’m sure of it.”

“I will gut that birdman with my bare hands, before I let him touch you.”  It was a snarled vow, made all the more vivid by the body he was tossing aside like a Frisbee.

“I appreciate that.  But, my point is, I have cards to play that you don’t have.”  She gestured in the direction of the castle.  “Not even you can kill all of the King’s Men alone, and rescue Avi and Midas, and stop the Scarecrow from unleashing God-only-knows what else.  You need me.”

Trystan gave a growl of aggravation and kicked an attacker hard enough to cause a compound fracture.  The guy hit the dirt with a bellow of pain, which Trystan ignored.  Instead, he reached back to grab Gwen, lifting her over a slog of deep mud and corpses, without breaking his stride.

“Now, it is my husband and my baby in danger.  I am going to help you kill everyone who threatens them.  Brutally and without mercy.”  She hung onto Trystan’s shoulder, her feet not touching the ground.  “Actually, you’re going to help me, because I’m in charge.”

He arched a brow at that, still looking pissed.

“And thank you for coming to save me,” she added a little belatedly, as he carefully set her down again, “brother.  Have I mentioned that I claim you as part of my clan?”

He’d obviously claimed her, too.  There was no other reason that Trystan would fly to Celliwig, given the fact he’d seen what the Scarecrow had done.  He knew Midas would be gone, just as Avi was.  He’d come to the town because he’d realized Gwen would be alone with the worst men in Camelot.

He’d come to rescue her.

Trystan stopped his “nonlethal” carnage long enough to meet her eyes.  “I change the pledge I made to you before.  I protect Midas and Avalon and you.  The three of you first and above all else.  Keeping my clan safe is all that matters to me.”

“Me too.  You know that.”

“I do.  We are the same.”  He studied her for a beat.  “And I know you are a queen and queens are the greatest of all warriors.”

“Galahad used to tell me that I was a warrior, too.  You remind me of him sometimes.”  They were men who would sacrifice everything for those around them.  Who would walk into danger, heedless of the consequences, just because it was the right thing to do.  They were both her brothers.

Trystan didn’t seemed thrilled to be compared to a knight, but he pressed onward.  “I will not stand in the way of a warrior, when she is intent on saving her people.  We go to the palace together.”

Gwen hugged him.  She couldn’t help it.  She didn’t even mind when he didn’t hug her back because he was too busy disemboweling a guy.  Battered wings curved, sheltering her, and for the first time all day, she felt real hope.  They could do this!  They would do this.

“I’m going to protect you, too.”  She promised.  “Just like I do with Midas.”

“Lyrssa help me.”

“I mean it, Trystan.”  She pulled back and held out a palm to him.  “You and I will save our family side-by-side.  Is it a deal?”

He didn’t shake on the bargain.  Instead, he held up a hand in some kind of sacred-oath, team-building, fist-bump.  His mouth curved slightly when she responded in kind.  “Side-by-side, j’aha.”  He agreed softly.

And then they were flying.