Cursed 2

FORTY EIGHT

The golden masks worn by the men of the Trinity gleamed in the dense forest in the afternoon sunlight. Sister Iris was still on the trail of the Wolf-Blood Witch along with Abbot Wicklow, who joined along the way seeing her ineptitude and hers of her men in the past event in Pendragon. Iris, kneeling near some rocks, was carefully inspecting the place.

“We've been riding for days and found nothing” replied the abbot folding his arms.

“Sir, they are not far, I know they are here” Iris whispered, touching the small pieces of wood still hot that were left in a dead fire.

Not far from there, her prey, Nimue, was leaning on the trunk of a tree as she looked around with a smile. The Weeping Monk and Squirrel were arguing like children because of the inclination of the arm when aiming with the bow, Arthur and Morgana were sitting talking about something that she could not manage to listen and a few meters away Merlin and Pym had their fingers tinted red because of some berries they were eating.
That peaceful and natural scene calmed her soul. The people she loved were there.
Suddenly, a reflection of the sun hit her face, blinding her for a moment. Nimue directed her gaze towards the origin of that light, watching from afar golden masks that observed her through the trees as if they were stalking her. It was the end, the Church had discovered them.

“They're here!” the young woman warned the rest of the group.

Nimue, Arthur and the Weeping Monk drew their swords, Squirrel moved away and strategically positioned himself with his bow next to Morgana and Pym as planned and Merlin closed his eyes invoking with his magic a thick mist that could give them some advantage.

There was no turning back, they were there face to face facing the enemy who clearly outnumbered them. The anguished, tense silence ended when Abbot Wicklow made his way to his men.

“God wants us to quench his thirst with these demon beasts! That is why we are here, to fulfill the wishes of the Almighty!” the abbot declared aloud.

Hearing that statement, a chill ran down Nimue's spine as she clenched the hilt of her sword.

“There are too many” she whispered.

“Well, we have the most powerful wizard of all time, to the ancient avenging angel of the Church and the Wolf-Blood Witch” declared Arthur trying to lighten the atmosphere, “Everything will be fine! It is they who should be concerned.”

“I see at least one of us is positive” Merlin added with a slight smile.

The men of the Trinity ran nimbly toward them with sharp swords without making a sound, as if their feet were floating in the air. On the contrary, the magician Merlin invoked loud thunders causing the sky to turn gray and lightning bolts shot from his hands that struck down his adversaries, while his friends fought with the steel of their swords.
Despite the fog, Sister Iris sharpened her eyes and approached the witch with the bowstring taut, but an arrow hit her in the shoulder causing that bow to fall and she turned her gaze to where it came from, seeing a boy she knew, seeing Squirrel.

Meanwhile, Arthur killed two men with two strokes accurate but another of them wounded him in the leg causing him to limp slightly. The quick killing blow that Arthur delivered to him next to the side made him double over in pain. He didn't move again.

The impacts of the steel were firm on both sides, but the fog and the poor visibility with the masks made the men of the Trinity have an added difficulty because they could not see their opponents well.

On the other hand, Nimue was in trouble after losing her sword through a deep ditch next to her when she struck hard at the weapon of a Trinity man.
Unarmed on the ground and with her enemy's sword pointed at her, she grabbed the edge of her opponent's weapon pulling it out of her vision, causing the palm of her right hand to bleed. Grape leaves sprouted from her face and branches gripped the man and several around her, lifting them off the ground and choking them to death. Nimue leaned into the deep ditch to grab her sword, but seeing how long it would take to get down, she decided to pick up her opponent's steel from the ground to continue fighting.