"What am I missing?"Arthur asked sharply, drawing his sword as the knight rose.
Dark gold armor with a green and gold surcoat, chest bearing the crest of a green lion against a white backdrop strewn with gold stars.
"It's Galehaut," Lancelot said, voice raw with anguish."Maleagant got to him long before I woke up, and I don't know how to get him back."
"Well.Fuck."Arthur stepped back, lowering his sword."Can you keep him occupied while we free the others?Unless you want me to fight him while you work with Dred."
"I think I'm offended nobody is letting me fight him," Dred said with forced amusement.
Lancelot drew his sword and called out to the water all around them."I'll handle it."
"Godspeed," Arthur said.
"Come at me!"Lancelot bellowed, the water rushing in and then out, slamming against the walls, briefly baring the floor.Galehaut hefted his sword and charged.
Lancelot dodged the first blow, throwing up water to disorient, darting in to slice at the back of Galehaut's knees, where the armor was weakest, strength sacrificed for mobility.Galehaut spun and backhanded him, sending him slamming into the wall.
The whole right side of his face throbbed and ached.He was pretty certain, from the feel of it, that his face was literally broken.He fought back the urge to throw up and used his sword to climb to his feet again, ignoring the blood he could feel dripping from a headwound, the way it pooled in his mouth, spitting it out before sending more cascades of water at Galehaut and dodging out of the way.
Dizziness washed over him, disproportionate to the pain, as though something more was wrong.What, though?
Lancelot ignored it, continuing his brutal fight, dodging and weaving, going for quick, small cuts where he was able.Powerful though he was magically, physically he had always been more about speed and agility, rather than the sheer brute strength of many of his fellow knights.Even the ones as big and tough as Bertilak stood no chance against a literal half-giant, so Lancelotreallystood no chance.
Even in their first fight, back in the lake, Lancelot had barely survived.Hadn't, actually, save that Merlin had woken in time to save him.Now?His only chance of winning this fight would be to transform, but he'd already done that once and was too depleted to do it a second time.
Thankfully, he didn't need to win, just stall—but even that was easier said than done.
Especially as he seemed to be getting weaker by the second, like something was draining…
"The water!"he screamed."The water is poiso—" His words turned into a scream as Galehaut slammed into him again, this time holding fast and pinning Lancelot to the wall.
A bellow of rage filled the room, followed by golden light, and something struck Galehaut from behind, slamming into his helmet and cracking it in two right down the center.
Time seemed to freeze as the helmet fell away, baring that beautiful face to him, marred only by the blood streaming down the center of his forehead before splitting into two streams at his nose.
"Gale—" Lancelot wheezed out, despairing at the black pools of his eyes where soft, silvery gray should be."Galehaut,please."
Black flickered in and out, hints of gray flashing so quickly they were little better than wishful thinking Then Galehaut let him go, clutching at his head as he screamed and writhed andwailed—
And then he was gone.
Lancelot dropped to his knees, one arm holding his bruised and battered middle, the other keeping him upright as he vomited blood and whatever was left of his last meal."I don't feel well."
"I would imagine not," Arthur said grimly."Come on, out of the water, if it's poisoned as you say, then it's affecting you the most."He gently helped Lancelot to his feet, then half-led, half-carried him up the stairs and to the throne, setting him in it."Rest there.We've nearly got the coffins open."
"There!"Mordred said, and all the blue lights went out as though snuffed.Seconds later, Dred's flame filled the space once more, and one by one he went to the coffins and kicked the lids off, Arthur following behind to help everyone out.
"That easily," Merlin said bitterly."That fucking easily he nearly had us."
Lancelot could barely hear him, occasionally spitting out more blood as he sat there feeling every bruise and broken bone.If they ever got Galehaut back, and he remembered all he'd done while enslaved, he would hate himself for decades over hurting Lancelot so badly.
"Hold on, Lance," Guinevere said, a measure of genuine fear in her voice.
Gentle warmth washed over him, but it quickly grew hotter and hotter, until he had to hold back tears from the searing inferno rushing through him.Something pushed into his mouth, and he bit down on it gratefully, fingers clenching the edges of the armrests, eyes closed tight as he screamed.
Then it all stopped and finally, mercifully, everything went black.His final thought was that he was really fucking tired of passing out.
*~*~*
