“Don’t be, this’ll be lots of fun for us, not everyday one goes exploring.”
Arthur nodded his head, clearly unable to deny what he was seeing in front of his eyes. He kept his horse at a safe distance, a hand on his sword, in case the man should strike. But he hadn’t moved yet, it was disturbing. Why hasn’t the man started moving yet? It made little to no sense.
However when he grabbed Summer’s leg, Arthur instantly got off his horse, holding the sword out to the knight. “You will let her go this instant.”
She held very, very still. The grip on her leg was like a vise, and her eyes flicked to Arthur, the sword glittering in the sunlight. There was no way to tell what the dark knight was thinking.
“Do you challenge me?” The helm turned slowly until the eyeslits were on Arthur.
Arthur’s eyes watched the knight carefully, he wasn’t going to stand if he laid a hand on Summer. She hadn’t done anything to deserve what was happening to her.
“I do challenge you.” He spoke confidently, turning his sword toward the knight.
“When you are defeated, I will take your shield and hang it with others who have fallen to me. I will take your lady and hold her in my castle.” The dark knight’s voice was strange, emotionless and cool and with an odd echo from the helm.
With caution, the knight turned back and lifted Summer from her horse, setting her on her feet a little distance away from the road. “You will abide the outcome.” He collected the reins of both horses and tethered them to a tree nearby, before, finally, drawing his sword and turning to face Arthur.