“Fuck, I’ve never seen this many.” Randall removed his bow from his back and dropped one, but it seemed like two more took its place.
“We need to go! Now!” Gill grabbed the wagon and started running back in the direction we came.
“We’re so close...” I looked ahead—desperate to see signs of Lake Vaughn but all I could see was snow.
“Come on!” Braden put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me forward.
The only thing we had on our side was distance. They wolves were coming, but we were far enough away that we could cover some ground before they caught us. I felt sick to my stomach with terror. I had led them straight to a massacre and if we
didn’t make it back to the castle, we were going to die. Gill was the slowest as he tried to pull the wagon along the snow, but we couldn’t leave it behind. Shane grabbed the other side and started lugging it towards the castle to assist him. Randall turned and fired his bow when a couple of them came close, but then he had to turn and run. He was faster than the rest, so he was able to keep up and still fire when necessary. Braden kept a hand on me as we ran and when I finally saw the gate, it gave me motivation to keep going.
I pulled ahead of Braden, but then I felt something under me collapse. My foot slid sideways and my ankle rolled across it. I felt a searing pain shoot through my leg and I dropped down into the snow with a scream. Everyone stopped and ran to help me, but that delay allowed the wolves to get closer. There were too many of them for Randall to take down with his bow. There was going to be a fight and we were still outnumbered—plus I was useless if my ankle was as messed up as it seemed.
“Just go! Get inside the castle—leave me here!” I stumbled against the wagon.
“Nonsense!” Alexander roared. “Braden, put her on the wagon and keep going. The rest of us—we fight.”
“No!” I screamed as Braden pushed me into the wagon and grabbed it. “You’ll die!”
“You fools!” A strange voice suddenly broke through the chilled air.
I spun my head to the side and suddenly it was like my dream had come to life. Standing at the gate of the castle was the man in the golden armor—but he wasn’t quite a man. He was every bit the beast the rest of them had been when I found them with thick blond hair matted into a tangled beard. He started walking towards the group with a sword in his hand. It didn’t glow like the one I saw in my dream, but he started to spin it in his hand as he approached the group, striking out at the first wolf with lightning-like reflexes. The fight officially began and I was pulled through the gate. The man in the golden armor was a blur on the battlefield, killing wolves like they were nothing. I heard howls of terror as they started to fall into the snow and cover the ground around the group in crimson. They dispatched at least two dozen before the wolves finally started to retreat with their tails between their legs. I jumped down from the wagon and landed on my good foot, holding it for support as he started back towards the gate.
“You’re the one from my dream.” I stared at him and saw his bright blue eyes look at me with confusion.
“My name is Arthur—and I think all of you need to get back inside my castle before the witch sends more of her minions to make sure you never leave.” He sheathed his sword and started walking past us.
“His castle?” Alexander looked at me and then to him. “Your castle?”
“Yes...” He turned back briefly. “This is Camelot—or what is left of it.”
“Camelot...” I blinked several times in surprise as Braden helped me walk towards the castle. “You’re King Arthur!”
“I used to be.” He pushed the door open as we approached. “Now I’m just the king of snow and stone.”
WE MADE OUR WAY BACK into the castle and Randall put the roses back in the greenhouse. Alexander took me to a chair and knelt at my feet as he examined my ankle. It didn’t seem to be broken, but it was definitely sprained. It started to swell as time passed, throbbing with an agonizing pain. Our mission had been a failure. We had cut their roses from the vines and it was all for nothing. I should have known the witch would have safeguards in place to make sure we didn’t escape, but my foolish pride let me believe I could somehow figure out a way to break her magical curse. I even believed I could find a way to beat her. We weren’t going to be able to make another attempt with my ankle in the shape that it was in, even if we could find a way to beat the wolves. The hope that I had built up amongst the group seemed to fade as that realization set in for everyone. Arthur came over and knelt to check on my ankle after Alexander was done and I could see from the look on the face behind his mangled beard that it wasn’t good. He stood up and shook his head before turning to the group.
“Did you really think you could escape her curse that easily?” He looked around the room. “If there was a way, I would have found it by now.”
“Wait...” Alexander tilted his head. “You’ve been here the whole time? Where?”
“I was the only one here for hundreds of years—long enough for everyone I knew in my lifetime to die. When the first man came crawling through the gate, he thought I was the one responsible for his fate and he attacked me. He wasn’t the last. As more and more came, I realized that I was going to spend my eternity as an executioner if I kept welcoming them to my home. I sealed off the northern section of the castle and I’ve stayed there ever since—alone.” He sat down in a chair and sighed.
“How?” Randall shook his head in surprise. “How did you survive? How did you get food?”
“I don’t need it.” Arthur sighed again. “The curse seems different for me. The rest of you can take your life—all you have to do is cut your rose free and you die—or you can leave the castle and die in the snow. I’m not that lucky. My curse is truly eternal. Even if I die, I just wake right back up here in this castle.”
“That’s why you didn’t fear the wolves...” I nodded in understanding. “Even if they kill you, it won’t hurt.”
“Oh, it hurts...” Arthur looked directly into my eyes. “I’ve died a hundred deaths and none of them were pleasant.”
“Why did you choose to reveal yourself now? Why not let us die like the others that have come here?” Shane folded his arms across his chest and glared at Arthur.
“I couldn’t let an innocent woman die. Even I am not that cruel.” He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them back up. “I tried to warn you, Anabelle. I came to you in your dreams—I tried to show you the truth.”
“It was you...” I nodded. “What were you trying to show me?”
“There’s only one way to defeat the witch—only one way to end the curse.” He leaned over and picked up his sword.