Page 54 of The Sword & the Stone

The world swirled around me,a dizzying array of unfamiliar sights and sounds assaulting my senses. Attempting to shift, I felt the chill of metal digging into my wrists. Panic surged through me as I realized I was tethered to something living.

"What in the fates…?" I muttered, blinking rapidly to clear my vision.

Slowly, the hazy forms surrounding me took shape, revealing a forest unlike any I had ever seen. Trees with bark the color of rich chocolate loomed overhead, their leaves shimmering like distant stars, wet with rain. The air carried a thick sweetness that made my head spin.

I was sitting upright, strapped onto the back of a creature that defied description, its hide gleaming like burnished bronze, crowned with spiraling horns on its forehead. It was an Elhorn. Stories of these beasts were just that…stories. A fae horse breed created specifically for battle.

We were stopped, and the horse wasn’t even tied to a tree to keep it from galloping away.

"Arthur?" Merlin's voice, filled with both concern and amusement, sounded from beside me. "Any inkling of where we are or how we landed in this rather...compromising situation?"

Turning my head gingerly, a fresh wave of pain shot through me as I did so. I caught sight of Merlin, similarly bound to another Elhorn. Despite our predicament, a smirk played at the corners of his lips, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

I winced as I tested my bonds, then gave up and shrugged. “Beats walking, don't you think?"

Merlin chuckled. "Always the innovator. You know, it’s always you who gets us into the strangest situations.”

It was impossible not to snort, even as my mind raced to make sense of our situation. The last thing I remembered was stepping through the portal in Avalon. Tristan and Merlin were right there behind me with Galahad, Gawain, Percival and Lancelot not too far behind. Then...nothing. How had we ended up here wherever “here” was?

"We’re obviously in Avalon," I said, vaguely gesturing with my chained hands to the towering magical trees. “Butwherein Avalon?”

Squishy moss carpeted the forest floor, and in the distance, I heard the tinkling of what sounded like crystal chimes. It was nothing short of magnificent.

Merlin's nose scrunched as he looked around. "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say we've found ourselves somehow in Seelie forest."

“How do you figure?” I asked, a brow arched.How would Merlin know anything about the courts of Avalon?

His eyes met mine, and his grin was back. “Because if we were in theUnseelie forest, we wouldn’t be breathing.”

I opened my mouth to retort when a deep, resonant blast shattered the ethereal tranquility of the forest. The horn's callseemed to reverberate through the very earth, sending tremors up my spine and setting the leaves fluttering to the ground.

The Elhorns stamped their hooves, snorting and tossing their magnificent heads in response to the summons. I strained against my bonds, my heart hammering against my ribs as I scanned the tree line for the source of the sound.

Merlin struggled too, and I watched in horror as sparks of his magic flared up before fizzling to nothing, telling me that whatever these chains were, they were blocking his magic. Looking down in a sudden panic, I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized Excalibur was still fastened to my hip.

Figures emerged from the shimmering foliage like apparitions taking form. They moved with an otherworldly grace, their lithe forms adorned in armor that seemed to be crafted from the very essence of the forest—leaves, bark, and all kinds of plating. Each rode an Elhorn of their own, the creatures' coats ranging from the deepest ebony to the palest silver, their spiraling horns and claws catching the dappled light.

As they drew closer, I realized immediately that these were no ordinary Sidhe fae. Their beauty was sharp and terrible, their angular features both captivating and unsettling. Eyes the color of mist shone out through the shadows, and mist swirled around their mount’s hooves.

But it was the sight of the figures riding amongst them that made my breath catch in my throat. Riding towards us with the ethereal procession were five familiar faces—Tristan, Galahad, Gawain, Percival, and Lancelot. Unlike Merlin and me, they weren’t bound, but rode freely.

Relief flooded through me as Lancelot urged his mount forward, his golden hair catching the light like a halo as he fixed the fae leader that rode in with them with a piercing stare. The male was so large that he dwarfed his Elhorn, and he wore a helm of black antlers.

"Release her," Lance commanded, his voice ringing with authority I had no idea he had in this place. "She is Arthur Pendragon, Queen of Camelot, and you will show her the respect she is due."

The fae man regarded Lancelot with an inscrutable expression. For a moment, I thought he would refuse, but he lifted a gloved hand and made a subtle gesture. The chains binding me to the Elhorn fell away, dissolving into mist before they touched the ground.

I slid from the creature's back, my legs unsteady, as I found my footing on the mossy earth. Lancelot dismounted in one fluid motion, catching me by the elbow as I swayed. His touch was warm and familiar, and more welcoming than Lancelot ever felt before.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a rush, his eyes searching my face.

I nodded, my voice trapped somewhere in my throat. I glanced over to see Merlin being similarly freed, Percival and Galahad flanking him protectively.

"Who are they?” I whispered, so low that only Lancelot could hear.

He straightened, his eyes going up and over my shoulder, his brows dipping sternly. “They’re called The Wild Hunt. Queen Tatiana sent them when she felt the portal open. We’re too close to the Seelie palace for her to ignore it.”

I nearly choked as I processed what he’d just said.The Wild Hunt…Terror surged through me, and every hair on my body stood up. I took a step towards Lancelot and, almost instinctively, his large arm wrapped around my waist.

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