Cargo Records

Once and Future King - Part 2

Two Saxon kings: Cerdic and Aelle, are set on invasion of the British Kingdom and its throne......

Arthur and his guard travel to Mai Dun. Two Saxon kings: Cerdic and Aelle, are set on invasion of the British Kingdom and its throne. In the meanwhile, Merlin's desire to return the Old Gods to Britain requires him to acquire all the sacred Druidic regalia and bring them together. On Samhain Eve, the death of the old year, Merlin and Nimue take the unsuspecting Gwydre with Gawaine (a virgin prince) and attempts to sacrifice them to the Gods. Arthur and Galahad arrive with the royal guard in time to prevent the conclusion of the brutal rite. Gwydre is rescued, but Gawaine is already dead. But as the body of a virgin prince is rare and crucial to their ritual, Merlin and Nimue manage to take his corpse with them in their escape. Cerdic and Aelle are rallying in strength. Arthur and his army set out to intercept the Saxons. He also has Guinevere brought from her exile at Ynys Wydryn as, if captured, she would be a valuable hostage or a sacrifice for the Saxons. Guinevere is delighted to finally have the opportunity to right her wrongs towards Arthur and to prove that she loved him always and that only his absence and her loneliness made her think of Lancelot. Far away in her fortress of isolation, Morgana plots to rise against Arthur. She is determined that she alone will crown her son, and deliver to him the kingdom of her half brother, the father of her illegitimate child: Mordred. Arthur and his beloved Guinevere, newly reunited, celebrate the ancient fertility festival of Beltane. Two days of revelry and celebration render Arthur's army temporarily ineffective. Arthur gazes contentedly from the ramparts of his stronghold. He is suddenly aware that the Beltane fires on the far hillsides are actually the fires of the invading Saxon armies hoping to attack under cover of the festival ... Panic stricken, Arthur attempts to rally his forces, but even the royal guard are a sorry group of drunken men. In this state they will be no match for the battle with the Saxons, so he retreats to the nearest sanctuary of Mynydd Baddon. Here he is brought news that Lancelot is with the Saxon vanguard... Merlin brings the corpse of Gawaine to Mynydd Baddon and devises a deception that Gawaine will be tied to a horse and ridden through the Saxon warband, unaffected by their arrows. A dead warrior cannot be harmed... In the fear that follows, Arthur and his troops drive back the scattered remnants of the Saxons killing Cerdic and Aella. Lancelot is pursued to the rivers edge where he is slain by Galahad. His body is then quartered and cast into the waters so that it may not desecrate British soil by its burial and to deny an afterlife to a traitor. After the battle, Arthur and Guinevere go to Siluria. They have rebuilt their relationship and are reunited as a family with Gwydre who now has a family himself. Merlin returns to Nimue, who has amassed a large group of believers in the Old Gods, anti Christians - a ragged warband, feared by all and chronicled by the Christians as the Army of the Mad. Nimue is furious that Merlin has already 'wasted' Gawaine on the Saxon warriors and she is unconvinced about Merlin's dedication to the cause. In her fury and madness, she orders Merlin bound - she cages him like an animal and his eyes are burned out. Since the day he was born, Mordred has had his mind poisoned by his mother against Arthur. His mother sees him as the rightful heir to the throne. All that stands in their way is Arthur and his heir, Gwydre. Morgana employs a mercenary army for Mordred and the two set off to confront and kill Arthur and Gwydre. Arthur hears of this and decides to leave his comfortable exile in Siluria. Arthur, Guinevere, Gwydre and Arthur's spearmen make their way to the coast. Nimue gets to know that Arthur is trying to leave Siluria. She cannot allow Arthur to take Excalibur with him, as she must have it for her rituals. Nimue and her warriors plan to intercept Arthur before he reaches the coast. When Arthur finally reaches the port at Camlann, he finds that he is trapped between Mordred's mercenary forces to his right and Nimue's warriors to his left. He boards his waiting ships and sails away from the shore. In the shallow water, Nimue drags the almost dead Merlin behind her. As Arthur watches, she sacrifices Merlin to her Sea God Manawydan. She calls upon Manawydan to summon a storm that will wreck Arthur's ships. Excalibur will draw the Gods to her, and the death of two kings - Arthur and his heir will ensure her victory. Within minutes of Merlin's bleeding corpse drifting from sight, a terrible storm lashes Arthur's flotilla of ships and they are forced aground. Arthur finds himself surrounded, his warband are decimated in the storm, leaving less than half his forces. In the battle that ensues: Arthur and Mordred come face to face for the first and last time. Their struggle is terrible, with both men fighting like the heroes from the old tales. Arthur kills Mordred, but in doing so he receives a horrendous head wound that leaves him dying. Galahad sees that Arthur is dying and is instructed to cast Excalibur back into the lake: Excalibur is reclaimed by the spectral hand of Vivian (the Lady of the Lake) and The Sword Of Kings is returned to The Otherworld once more. With Excalibur returned to The Gods, whence it came the army of the mad scatter into the hills beyond Camlann. With the death of Mordred, Morgana's quest to gain control of the throne is gone - Morgana wades out into the sea and clutching the dead hand of Merlin, sinks beneath the waves. Across the water and through the silver mist comes an ancient high prowed boat set with a stag as it's figurehead. Arthur is lovingly placed into the boat by Galahad and Guinevere. In a flicker of his eyes, Guinevere is assured that her Lord still loves her and that they will meet again. Without oarsmen or crew the boat turns and sails away into the silver mist, taking Arthur to Avalon. Of the many supposed resting places of Arthur throughout the length and breadth of His Britain, there is one which is the most probable of all: for in the ruins of an ancient monastery on a hill, once surrounded by water, there is an even older stone which can still be read by those who know where to look: Hic Iacet Arturus Rex Quondam Rexque Futuris "Here lies Arthur, the once and future king."