224: Heritage -Carl-

The plan was simple; seal the magic that Melissa would use to revive her race. Qaliphus only needed two things, The sword Excalibur, and time. Qaliphus knew where to find the first part, but the last was left to me. My job was to keep whoever Melissa tossed at them away while he worked his mojo on the blade, which was conveniently stuck in a massive stone and sitting in an abandoned warehouse.

Just walking into the room with the legendary blade made me dizzy. The room exerted a pressure of power that nearly brought me to my knees.

"Wow. What power." I forced myself to stand, which wasn't easy, and glanced at the small fairy.

"It was forged in The Other Lands and imbued with the power of the fairy queen at the time." Qaliphus had failed to stay standing, but soon after falling to his knee he was able to stand again.

"Why would the queen give a blade like this to a human?"

"She was foolish and fell in love with a man." Qaliphus spat the word love out like it was a curse. "This man asked for a way to keep his king alive and she sacrificed herself to create this blade. Sadly, her gift failed it's purpose and was stuck here."

I laughed, "Let me guess, only the worthy can pulled the blade from the stone? Maybe I should give it a try?"

Qaliphus frowned at me, "No. Do not touch the blade until after the sealing ritual. To do so would contaminate the magic."

Something about the situation was eating at the back of my mind. It didn't seem right; magic didn't seem like something that could be sealed away. At least, not unless it was attached to an object and even then it was only that instance of magic.

I shook my head. Where had that come from? Since I walked into this room, my mind had started becoming increasingly clearer and the pressure from the sword had started lifting. Now I was pulling information from seemingly nowhere. Qaliphus was busy readying his spell to notice my confusion.

"All set, now make sure I'm not disturbed for forty minutes. If I am then we'll have to start over." He sat down and closed his eyes.

I had barely heard him. Everything around me seemed brighter, more focused. It was the best I'd felt in a long time.

"Welcome back, my king."

I wasn't prepared for the pain that shot through my head as the voice spoke. A quick glance revealed that Qaliphus had not heard it.

"I only speak to you my lord. I am your blade after all."

More pain. I fell to my knees as the voice invaded my skull.

"Oh dear, you aren't receiving me right. I wonder how far down the family tree you are? Are you still refered to as 'Pendragon'? Hold on let me adjust."

The pain escalated to an unbelievable intensity that made spots appear on my vision, "AH! My apologies, you are familiar with fey magic which means I need to calibrate for that too. Tell me if the pain gets worse or better."

My breath was knocked from my chest as another wave of pain sent me to the ground, "Not . . . better."

I had spoken aloud, but the person who responded was not the voice.

"Oh no! Carl, my darling, are you alright? Did this mean fairy bigot hurt you?" Melissa was here. I pushed myself to my feet; fighting against the pain that dotted my vision and made the world sway. I had to protect Qaliphus.

"Unbelievable. You certainly have the Pendragon spirit!" The voice brought metaphorical sledgehammers on my head. I swayed as I tried to stay standing.

"What's wrong with him? He looks sick." Another voice I recognized invaded my ears; past the ringing pain. Christina.

"There are many hostiles in this room with you, sire. I'm trying to situate things better, but it's going to take some time. Perhaps if you start fighting it will go easier?" The voice's command flooded my ears and slowly the pain faded, "Ah, there we go. Now we're both in the same train of thought which will make things eaiser."

My vision cleared and I saw Melissa, and Christina standing at the doorway. Behind me was humanities only salvation, and it was up to me to keep it safe.