A/N: I�m currently at the salon about to get my biannual hair trimming. (for some reason we don�t get our hair cut more often, my gran and I, so it gets pretty long on the off period as my hair grows pretty quickly.) The one that cuts my hair is this cute little Japanese woman named kayoko. She�s also very efficient and meticulous about cutting my hair.

Anyway, don�t you just love brutality? XD Merlin�s cringing a bit when she�s going berserk on the first two, but draws the line when someone begs so undignified like the third guy, which meant the guy was truly desperate to let himself be seen so horribly.

Chapter Eleven

A messenger was sent out to all of the towns in Briton that Arturia had not managed to go through in her B-line to the border. It was a decree that all able men should come to fight on the front line at Camelot. Young men and older men were to march south to help defeat the forces of Gilgamesh on his invasion into Briton. Small groups were sent to the capital city of their sovereign, all marching south to protect their home from.

Another messenger was sent to Ireland, Scotland and Wales to plead the kings of those lands for help as well, for they would be next to be put to the slaughter were Camelot to fall. King James of Wales sent his best that he could muster, knowing full well that Arturia was right. King Conochbar of Ireland sent along what soldiers he could. Maeve of Connacht didn�t send any troupes along to Camelot, while Scotland only spared some of the Sinclair and the MacLeod clans to Camelot�s aid.

A final message was sent to Cuchulainn in Skye to request his return to join the effort to turn back the forces of Gilgamesh. When Cuchulainn received it, he was outside, training with Sgatha. �A summons, Cuchulainn?� she asked. The seal on the document was that of a dragon.

Cuchulainn wrapped his leg around his spear to keep it upright and then opened the document. What king used a dragon for his seal?

Champion of Ireland, Cuchulainn, Ireland�s child of light,

This has come to you to request your assistance in fighting Gilgamesh at Camelot in the south of Briton. If this has come to you, then it was sent on because the need is desperate. It will be because I have been unable to gather enough forces before the Golden King arrives to invade and need to send out a general decree to bring in as many able bodied men as possible.

Your king will have likely sent some of his soldiers to Camelot, and for that I appreciate him. He will most likely not have given me his best; for his best are needed at his home to protect it against invasion should Camelot fall. Should Camelot fall, Gilgamesh will not likely hesitate to invade Wales, Scotland and Ireland and kill anything that moves. Therefore, this goes to you by my personal hand. You are the best Ireland has to offer and I need the best at my side on the front line.

You are free to decline, Hound of Ulster, however, you will be declining the aid needed to turn back this menace that threatens us as well as the plea of a queen. I have not met you and

likely won�t meet you even on the battle field, for it will be a vast battle field stretching across all of south Briton in order to shut out any area that Gilgamesh might use. Please do not decline for this reason alone, for I can not remedy it nor force myself to be in the same place as you. The best needs to be spread out along the line with the last being in Camelot herself to protect what we can not stop.

So I ask of you, Cuchulainn, please come to our aid. If you able and you are indeed the best, you will be paramount to our victory over the Golden King.

Signed

Arturia Pendragon, Daughter of Uther Pendragon, Reigning Queen of Briton

Cuchulainn frowned faintly as he folded up the letter. It was the new queen of Briton he had heard about before he had left for Skye to learn from Sgatha. How long had it been since then? Months? Weeks? While he enjoyed the warm arms of Aife sharing his bed, he missed his future wife a great deal. She was as gentle and sweet as a warm spring rain and her smile caused his heart to beat faster than normal. Truly, she was the only one he would have for his wife.

�What is it about, Cuchulainn?� asked Sgatha, watching him as she leaned on her spear.

Cuchulainn picked up gae bolg and made it disappear in his hand. �I am needed south� at Camelot. Seems the new queen is truly in trouble, for she has written this herself to me in her desperation for those who would champion Camelot.�

Sgatha frowned and pulled up her spear. �You are not ready to leave my care yet. Though you learn fast, you haven�t learned all.�

Cuchulainn nodded, though he felt a little irritated at her statement. She was right, to a certain extent, it was too soon for him to leave, yet he couldn�t deny the queen of Briton a champion when she so pleaded for one. �If I live, Sgatha, I will come back and learn whatever else I can from you,� he said.

Sgatha sighed and nodded. �Fine. If you live, come back to Skye for the rest of your training. If you don�t, don�t haunt me while I bathe like you have for the past month now.� Cuchulainn blushed faintly and chuckled as Sgatha threw him an amused look, though she tried hard to look angry.

With that, Cuchulainn went into the house of Sgatha and found Aife sitting and glaring at Cuchulainn. His face softened considerably as he walked toward her. He leaned on the wall with his arms crossed in front of him, watching her. �You heard, I take it?�

Aife twitched and glared ahead of her. �So you�re leaving? To do what? Fight some enemy that isn�t threatening you nor do you know anything about him?�

Cuchulainn blushed faintly, scratching his nose as he smiled sheepishly. Not for the first time did he actually look his age; an awkward teenager who had been planning on doing something naughty and been found out. If Aife hadn�t felt so angry at him, she might have thought him cute. However, she did have to admit that she had been holding off on letting herself get pregnant to continue being with Cuchulainn, as her deal with him was to bear him a son. She had spells she could use on herself to prevent pregnancy and she used them each and every time he coaxed her into his bed and his hot kisses.

Cuchulainn eyed her carefully. �You still haven�t become pregnant and I still have training to continue. Therefore, I will have to come back,� he said, grinning at Aife. �In the mean time, I think I should give you a reminder of me before I go off.�

Aife flushed scarlet and backed away toward his room, eyeing him coyly. �So you�re not leaving immediately, I see.�

Cuchulainn advanced on his lover casually as she backed away as though he was going to maul her. Aife gasped when Cuchulainn seemed to just suddenly appear in front of her. This boy didn�t really need more training; he had picked up more than what Sgatha had taught him, including how to move faster than the human eye could register. Cuchulainn caught Aife by her shoulders and leaned. She leaned up to kiss him, but she found his forehead against hers, his eyes closed and a small smile graced his fair face. That was the first time she had ever seen his face so gentle as he held her. She had seen his face alight with passion and pleasure, she had seen it angry, she had seen it calculating, but never gentle and never toward her.

�Cuchulainn,� she muttered, watching him as she licked her lips. �Cuchulainn, why are��

�Shhh.� Cuchulainn smiled a little more and opened his eyes, both red and cat like; his devil eyes. �I was enjoying the moment, Aife,� he said, smirking deviously, �And then you had to ruin it.�

Aife huffed before being silenced once more, though this time with his lips upon hers. Hot and passionate, he parted her lips deftly and sank his tongue into her waiting mouth. His touch was as hot as his mouth and Aife began to wonder if she was as hot to the touch as he was. As he pulled her to his pallet, she could feel his heart pumping hard in his chest, though her hands trembled slightly.

�Cu,� she whispered against his lips, rubbing his chest with her hands. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as he growled and pulled her hard against him, laying her underneath him on the pallet before pulling her hands from his chest and bringing them above her head where he held them fast with one hand, his fingers intertwined with hers. His other hand traveled down over a breast and rubbed the hardened nipple through the cloth of her tunic and shift. She growled in her throat and thrust her breasts into him, wanting more.

Cuchulainn grinned against her mouth and continued teasing her until he shed her of her clothes, then he teased her more until she came, shuddering and gasping for him. When he finally entered her, fire raced through his veins until they were both left gasping for breath. They made love a couple more times on that pallet, the second time gentler and slower, and the last was furious, their loud calls echoing. When they were finally well spent, Cuchulainn simply held onto Aife against his body, enjoying the feel of her soft body against his. When she slept, he dressed and gathered his things and left.

Merlin rode beside Arturia, watching her in her black armor. The armor was alive, he was sure of it. It had to be the product of the scabbard and the sword being together, for he had never seen that occur with Uther when he cursed the sword to forever remain black with his black heart. The only thing that wasn�t alive was the helmet that was constructed for her. It was black like her armor and was in the image of a dragon head. Merlin found it amusing, the perfect helm for the �chief dragon�.

They rode out to the ruins and past it, watching the wasteland folk come out of the skeletal buildings to see them pass by. Some of the children waved, if they were able, as did a few of the women. Mostly, they just stood and watched as the strange little queen rode off to battle an army far greater than her own.

As they rode south, Arturia saw other armies gathering. The front line was being established, the armies of Wales, Scotland and Ireland were before her and waiting for commands. She whipped the side of her horse with her reigns and galloped to the Irishman leading the soldiers from Ireland. The Welsh commander rode over toward her as did the Sinclair and MacLeod leaders.

�Queen Arturia!� called the Welsh commander as he slowed down and stopped near her. �We received your distress call,� he said, �My king bade me come with these men and so here we are!�

�As are my men,� said the Irish commander.

�And mine!�

�And mine!�

Both the Sinclair commander and the MacLeod commander seemed to speak almost as one, their faces rather similar to one another. Both had red hair and freckles, though one was a woman and the other a man. Arturia recognized the MacLeod commander as being Keirnan MacLeod, the chief of the clan. His wife, Ada, was over with the other soldiers, her dark hair bound back in a tight braid and blue swirls were painted on her face and body. Both leaders looked almost unearthly in their beauty, both with high cheek bones and beautiful faces, their eyes both were blue.

Arturia nodded toward them all and started up the ridge where they overlooked the ground where Gilgamesh would be arriving. Some of her riders had gone out to check the shoreline and found boats coming to the island quickly. As she watched the other side of the small valley, she saw men marching up onto the other ridge. More and more appeared until finally, in the middle of the mess of men, appeared a man dressed in golden armor, sitting atop a white Arabian horse. Arturia nudged her horse forward and rode down to the valley as the other leaders followed her.

Gilgamesh rode forward and stopped in front of Arturia and the commanders, sneering at her. �So the little queen has built herself an army? Quite pathetic, really. You won�t survive against me, let alone my men.�

�Don�t think so highly o� yourself, you spike-haired blonde idiot,� said the Sinclair commander.

Gilgamesh eyed the woman with disgust. �Bringing bitches onto the battlefield degrades the bloodshed,� he said loudly. The woman commander snarled and attempted to launch herself at Gilgamesh, however, Keirnan held her at bay.

�Silence, sister,� he hissed at her.

Arturia simply stared at Gilgamesh with her doll like mask. �Taunting only serves to show how much of a child you truly are, Lord Gilgamesh. If you are quite through flapping your lips, I should like to return and end this.�

Gilgamesh growled and jerked his horses reigns, making his horse almost dance as he moved closer, though he couldn�t get too close in as the Welsh and Irish commanders both moved in on either side of her. �Speaking to me in such a manner! HAH! I shall rip you from that horse and flay your skin from your body before this ends!� He then backed away and galloped up the ridge to his men.

Arturia rode back to her side of the battlefield as the leaders stayed around her. �What shall we do against him?� asked the Welsh commander, �What can we do against such a formidable menace?�

�We survive and make him pay for every last drop of blood. Should we fail to keep his forces from breaking through to Camelot, our only hope is Camelot herself.� With that, Arturia broke away from them and charged up to the side of Merlin. �If you have any suggestions, master, I would appreciate hearing them now.�

�Don�t get killed.�

Arturia rolled her eyes and put her helmet on, pulling the visor down over her face with a clawed gauntlet covered hand.

Gilgamesh rode to the side of Rashid, who sat upon his own horse, dressed in his best armor. �Rashid! Start with the archers! I want the sky to be blotted out by their arrows!�

Rashid nodded and rode off to the archers and gave the command. The next moment, a rain of arrows littered the sky. Merlin put up a shield over as many as he could, but those he couldn�t reach fell from the arrows hitting them in various parts of their bodies. Arturia called out and the pikemen and foot soldiers started out, holding up the flags of Briton, Wales, MacLeod, Sinclair and Ireland.

Charioteers from Ireland came up from behind to join their comrades, one of whom had long blue hair. The Irish commander looked to his charioteers and saw Cuchulainn, waving to him. �Cuchulainn! You came? HAH! So the king really did send you!�

Cuchulainn laughed and waved to the commander. �No, it was the plea of a woman what brought me here!�

�A woman? Another woman you�ve managed to charm yet again, lad?� said the older commander, chuckling.

�No, one I have yet to meet. Where is the queen that I have heard so much about?� Cuchulainn jumped off the chariot and went over to the Irish commander. However, before the commander could answer, another volley of arrows rained down on them all. Cuchulainn�s fair face was splattered in the blood of his comrade from Ulster as he ducked down with a shield to protect himself from the deathly rain.

�Our leader is down!� cried one of the men as he broke rank and picked the fallen commander.

�Who will lead us?�

�Cuchulainn will lead us!� cried one of the men. Cuchulainn�s cheeks burned. He was no commander of an army! He was one of them! He was a soldier, born to be a hero and raised in the king�s army!

�Cuchulainn! We need a leader!� said one of the men to him.

Cuchulainn looked around and frowned as the men looked to him for orders. He was the most capable among them and that was likely their reason for electing him so unceremoniously.

Cuchulainn watched as the British soldiers charged into battle. �Fine! I�ll be your ruddy leader! Foot soldiers! Lancers! TO THE FRAY!� he snarled. He grabbed up the reigns of his horse and jumped up into his chariot. �ARCHERS! Send these asses our gratitude!�

Immediately, the Irish archers stepped up and released their arrows, some lighting them on fire and sending them out. Arturia looked up at the sky and saw the Irish letting loose their arrows. She hadn�t given any order to do such a thing! However, it was a good idea to do similar to the Babylonians what they did to her people. �Archers! Send them off! Knights! Ride out with me!�

As the knights lined up with Arturia, the very few she had gathered, they galloped out onto the field, slashing at the fronts of the Babylon army as they clashed with them. Gilgamesh sent out his own men and rode out on his own horse. He planned on meeting up and demolishing the little queen!

What ensued was little more than absolute chaos. Charioteers rode out among the riders, riders ran back and forth among the men on the ground, slaying those opposing them, footsoldiers and pikemen both cutting, hacking and stabbing away at their foes. The blood bath was causing some of the more feisty men to go into a battle rage as they hacked through men as if they were nothing. One such man was so into the battle that his very body was changing form. His war spasm was causing him to become more dog looking than human, his legs elongated, his arms longer, his teeth sharp fangs and his mouth larger, his ears longer and pointed and his eyes wild and glowing. Cuchulainn was little more than a savage hacking away at those in front of him in this mode and it was a mode the Ulstermen knew all too well, for they had witnessed it before.

The Sinclairs and MacLeods backed their clans reputations for being the best in all of Scotland as they ripped men apart and cracked strange instruments that sounded like thunder claps going off at the soldiers. Men fell to these thunder clap weapons as they walked through the crowd as if they were nothing.

Gilgamesh sighted Arturia and grinned, riding straight for her. Arturia�s sword, Excalibur, was brandished high as she sighted him as well and made to run him through with the blade. The blade glanced off his armor as he jerked away before he could be hit. Gilgamesh made for another hit at Arturia and once again, he jerked back to avoid the great sword she held in one hand. �Such a small, pitiful woman trying to fight a king? Admit it, Arturia, you�re NOTHING!�

Arturia snarled and swung her sword at him. He let it glance off his arm as he shot it out at her face and knocked her off her horse. Arturia landed on her back, dazed as Gilgamesh got off his horse and walked over toward her. �Tch, tch, tch, such an arrogant little woman. I will have to punish you severely, over and over again, until you rot.�

Arturia kicked out at his leg and scrambled away from him. She pulled Excalibur up and Gilgamesh laughed. �Do you really think that sword will do anything against a GOD? Fine, I�ll show you my own blade, just because I feel generous.�

Great, invisible doors opened behind him, red light flooding the valley before being replaced with gold. All manner of blades came floating out of the golden light as he stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest. �Welcome to hell, queen,� he said with a maniacal grin, �You�re about to meet the devil.�

He then reached into the gold light and pulled out a strange blade. It wasn�t even a sword, more than it was a pole like thing that fit into one hand. The three pillars on the golden rod began to spin, each black with a red-pink light glowing from lines in the black, each spinning in the opposite direction to its neighbor. As they spun, the very air around them seemed to warp. She stared at it in horror. What manner of weapon had the madman summoned?!

A blue haired monster nearby distracted the pair as it threw several men over them and past them. Arturia looked to the monster with equal horror and looked to Gilgamesh. �Did you bring this monstrosity?�

�If I had, I would have had him destroying your lot over there by now!� He moved away from her quickly and ran back to his horse, cursing heavily. Arturia ran after him.

�We aren�t finished here!� she snarled at him and cut his horse out from under him. She swung her blade around the catch him this time, but only caught his strange sword instead.

�So you wish a taste of Ea? Then, you shall HAVE IT!� He hit Arturia on the jaw and sent her reeling backwards, helmet flying off of her head and onto the ground. Another man flew past her and nearly knocked her to the ground.

When Arturia looked up to see Gilgamesh, she saw the sword�s pillars spinning wildly, the air glowing as it rippled around the pillars. Then, he swung the blade at her and all she saw was bright light and then black.

Gawain saw his aunt fly backwards as she was hit with the strange warped air that was thrown from the golden king�s blade. He yelled and ran toward her, seeing blood fly from her and land on the ground as she hit the dirt and rolled to a stop, the very ground where the warped air had hit was split in two beneath her. �ARTURIA!!!�

Bedivere, his axe in hand, rode after Gawain as he ran straight through the battle field and toward their queen. Gilgamesh laughed as he looked at the bloody mess he had made of the little woman who demanded to be known as a ruler. �This just proves that a woman is no match on the battle field!�

Arturia glowed red as her sword and scabbard both pulsed. She slowly stoof up, using her sword to stand, and glared at Gilgamesh angrily. Blood went back into her skull, her body mended itself right in front of his eyes and he had no idea how she was healing like that! �We are not finished here, Lord Gilgamesh,� she spat at him.

A snarl, like that of a wolf or a dog, alerted Gilgamesh to the great blue haired monstrosity headed straight for him. Arturia pulled up her sword and closed her eyes. The sword glowed and pulsed with a heartbeat like her own. �Bring me victory� EXCALIBUR!� She swung the blade at Gilgamesh and sent him flying backward as well as the great blue haired beast that was advancing on him as a great big burst of black energy shot forth into both of them.

Arturia�s armor sealed itself up and she had a strange sort of visor over her eyes, covering her face. Gilgamesh rolled to his feet and pulled up his sword Ea and gathered the warped air around the pillars. She raised her sword up again to send another volley at him and he swung the blade at her first, send her flying backward. Then, he sent forth a rain of weapons onto her like arrows, all of which shot from inside the strange dimensional gate behind him. The monstrosity behind him was wounded severely and panting, slowly turning into a human being, one with a fair face and blue hair. He kicked the man in the stomach with a cold clad foot and sent him flying another several feet away from him. �Filthy peasants. MONGRELS! MEN! RIDE FORTH TO CAMELOT! ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!!!!�

Rashid found his opportunity. He rode forward like Gilgamesh ordered; however, he pulled out his poisoned dagger and threw it into the man�s back. Or, at least, he thought he had. The dagger stopped in mid air behind Gilgamesh as he slowly turned his red eyed gaze to the man. �You fought well for a coward. Your family will be safe, rest assured. However, you will not.� Then, all Rashid saw was a rain of light, weapons shooting from nothing and hitting him, then all he saw was nothing as his blood ran onto the ground.

Arturia ran after Gilgamesh as he mounted another horse and went straight away with his men. He was trying to get to the castle before the battle could be decided in her favor! The cheat!!

She pulled herself up onto a horse and rode after them, but was hit from behind by another bunch of arrows flying. She gasped and fell off the horse she was on, fell to the ground as blood spluttered from her mouth, her eyes wide. Then, another volley fell onto her, impaling her further with small points of gold for the arrow heads.

Gilgamesh�s men advanced through the British ranks. Irishmen, Scotsmen, and Welshmen all took whatever they could get their hands on and went straight after Gilgamesh, a freshly conscious Cuchulainn among them. That pointed toe of his boot had made a decent sized hole in his side, but he wasn�t about to let that man get away with taking Camelot as well as the queen!

The ruins came into sight. He had seen them on his way in before; however, Gilgamesh paid little attention to them now. That is, until strange creatures emerged from the buildings. They were humans; at least they had been at one point in time. The creatures brandished swords and arrows and spears, all ready to fight him. He cringed at the sight of them and forced his horse backward. �Lepers! MEN! RETREAT! THEY HAVE LEPERS FIGHTING!!�

The men all seemed to stagger away, crying out in fright as the creatures advanced on them. As they began to retreat, they ran right into the Irishmen, Scotsmen, Welshmen and British men, lead by the knights who served Camelot and Cuchulainn. The Scotsmen pulled out the strange thunder clap things and started shooting once more. The great Hound of Ulster rode on a horse straight for Gilgamesh, holding up a bright red spear. Gilgamesh growled and sent forth a volley of the weapons in his treasury. Men fell, but not the knights and not the hound. They still rode toward him as he stood his ground. However, one look at the creatures headed for him forced him to escape through one of his gates. Cuchulainn launched himself off his horse and onto the ground near Gilgamesh as he started to retreat through his gate. He threw the spear at him and missed him as the man disappeared.

�To the valley!� cried Gaheris. �They�re retreating! Come on!�

Gawain reared his horse and shot off after the men running, his sword brandished high. Agravaine pulled out his own sword and backed his brothers as they took down man after man. Cuchulainn pulled himself around and ran at top speed in a blur of motion straight for the valley to head them off. Bedivere, meanwhile, went straight for Arturia, who was shot through with so many arrows; he wondered how she could survive it. He pulled them out of her body, but found that they were coming out far too easily. Blood poured out of each would, spilling onto the ground.

�My queen! Please! Don�t die just yet! We have them on the run! Your plan worked!� he cried, tears pouring over his pale cheeks.

However, Arturia either had grown deaf to him, or she had truly died. He did not know which, for it was miraculous that she had even survived the hit from Gilgamesh�s sword Ea!

The men of Babylon retreated in far smaller numbers than they had arrived with. Their ships, those that carried no one and were left, were burnt down on the water by the men of Briton, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Those that were left behind were killed to the man by those who had seen far too much to let it pass.

But what of the little queen who had rallied them to such a great battle, to such a grand purpose as to defend their very lives from a great menace? Gawain fell to his knees beside Arturia, his brothers looking away as he touched their newly found aunt�s face, which was staring at nothing. She had healed miraculously by some force or other before, why did she not heal now? Did she have to have the weapon out of her before she could heal and they had left her too long to allow her to heal?

The men and women of Scotland came over and joined in the mourning, the Irishmen following suit and then the Welshmen joined in. The hound of Ulster hung back, unable to get through to see the queen, though he glimpsed her face. It was white with blood splattered on it, blood dripping from her nose and mouth as lovely gold eyes stared at nothing. If this was the queen who had pleaded with him to fight, he was sorely pissed off that such a fate had befallen her. She was a far braver woman than he had ever seen, even Aife didn�t compare. She had the rallied up men from all over the country and stood up to incredible odds, coming back again and again to fight more as though she were possessed of the devil himself, only to fall to the attack of so many arrows that she could not live through it.

Cuchulainn stabbed the ground with gae bolg and crouched down, covering his face with his dirty, bloody hands and sighing. From his mouth then came a lamenting song, one without words, but sounded the feelings of all the men and women present.

The small queen was dead, all hail the queen.