Chapter Summaries

After Merlin left, Sovell crossed the River Severn and went to town to learn whether anyone had noticed his Dragon Roar. He realized the strange weather and dead beasts would spread rumors, then considered how his missing body after the cliff fall might be explained and why his dragon might had kept wild beasts away.

• Merlin told Sovell to return to town for the Selection of the King Ceremony, then disappeared, and Sovell headed across the River Severn with Barghest.
• Sovell reached town and questioned a bartender, who recalled a customer mentioning noise and apparent rain across the river after sunset.
• Sovell worried that Artoria and his father might hear about his condition and the Dragon Roar, especially with the ceremony drawing crowds and rumors spreading.
• Sovell reasoned that his father might suspect he had survived because no body was found after his cliff fall, and rejected burial or scavenging as likely explanations.
• Sovell recalled that dragon might deterred wild beasts, and that his own dragon might could absolutely suppress them.

Sovell reasoned that his survival after falling from a cliff meant someone powerful might have saved him, making him an unpredictable threat to his father. He concealed his appearance from a bartender and prepared to meet Lia, while Lia worried about him without knowing he had caused the River Severn incident.

• Sovell considered how his white dragon bloodline and survival could make him a dangerous unknown factor to his father.
• Sovell used his Mystic Eyes of Submergence to erase his appearance from the bartender’s memory.
• Sovell went to his room and reflected that he had forgotten to ask Merlin for a disguise, then looked forward to seeing Lia.
• Lia worried that Sovell might have been caught up in the incident at the River Severn.

Sovell arrived at the training ground and found the Sword of Selection still unclaimed, while Artoria noticed Sir Ector’s changed manner before he sent her into town. The chapter left Artoria heading toward the town, unaware of what might await her there.

• Sovell left the tavern and learned that every challenger the previous day had failed to draw the Sword of Selection, even after one tried to smash its stone.
• Sovell tried pulling the sword himself, failed, and climbed an oak to watch the jousting contest being held nearby.
• Artoria sensed that Sir Ector’s sorrow and reluctance had softened, and remembered how he had raised her as a daughter.
• Sir Ector gave Artoria a wooden sword and shield for their practice, then told her to take something forgotten to Kay in town.

Sovell found Artoria after Kay sent her away from the tournament grounds, then reunited with her and introduced her to Barghest. As Artoria learned how Barghest’s flower concealed her horns and chains, Sovell watched Kay joust and explained how lances worked, leaving the pair together in the tree.

• Sovell approached Artoria after Kay left her alone, greeted her as his king, and introduced Barghest as a baby Demon Hound.
• Artoria teased Sovell, climbed the oak with Barghest, and accidentally revealed Barghest’s horns and chains by removing her flower.
• Sovell calmed Barghest and replaced the flower, explaining that Merlin had provided it to disguise the puppy until she could change her appearance herself.
• Artoria confirmed that the knight who had spoken to her was Kay, her brother and the only son of the Ector family.
• Sovell watched Kay compete in the joust and explained the purpose, types, and battlefield use of lances.

Artoria chose to draw the Sword of Selection and become Britain’s king, despite Merlin’s warning that the choice would cost her humanity and lead to a tragic end. Sovell swore lifelong loyalty to her as she claimed the sword and began her reign.

• Artoria reflected on the sacrifices and memories that shaped her resolve, then asked Sovell to stay beside her to the end.
• Artoria and Sovell went to the deserted Training Ground, where sunlight broke through the clouds as she stood before the Sword of Selection.
• Merlin warned Artoria that drawing the sword would strip away her humanity and bring hatred and a tragic death, but she said she had seen people smiling and chose to proceed.
• Sovell summoned Rhongomyniad and swore to serve and protect Artoria, uphold her laws, and remain loyal to her.
• Artoria pulled the Sword of Selection free from the stone as its ringing blessed the birth of the New King and Sovell’s oath.

Merlin announced that Artoria had drawn Caliburn and presented her to the gathered knights as the Pendragon heir. Kay accepted Artoria’s choice to become king and swore fealty to her.

• Merlin summoned the knights to the Training Ground, where Artoria stood with Sovell as the supposed Sword of Selection victor.
• Merlin claimed that only someone of the Pendragon bloodline could draw Caliburn and dismissed the knights’ objections.
• Artoria challenged anyone who doubted her, then lowered her sword when Kay arrived and spoke to her.
• Kay drew his sword, then told Artoria he would not hold his younger sister back from becoming king.
• Kay knelt before Artoria and swore fealty to Britain's destined king.

After Arthur Pendragon secured the loyalty of over two thousand knights, she returned to Ector's estate, where her foster father swore fealty and supported her decision to take responsibility for Britain. Merlin introduced Sovell Pendragon to Ector, and Sovell explained how Merlin had rescued him after he left his father.

• Arthur Pendragon and Kay rode back from the ceremony as Merlin introduced himself as Sovell Pendragon, Vortigern's son, and revealed that he now served Lia.
• Ector Senor knelt before Arthur and swore fealty to Britain's destined king.
• Arthur ordered Ector to rise, embraced him, and affirmed that she had chosen to shoulder responsibility for her country and people.
• Merlin said he planned to send Kay, Lia, and Sovell elsewhere to make more friends, then introduced Sovell to Ector.
• Sovell revealed his white hair and silver eyes, and explained that Merlin had saved him after he left his father.
• Ector accepted Sovell's secrets, then told Kay he wished his son were half as polite.

Sovell gave Artoria a waterskin to soothe her sore arms, then faced her in Merlin’s dream for a sparring match. After Sovell used his spear’s reach against her sword, Artoria asked Merlin for Prydwen so she could fight with a sword and shield.

• Sovell visited Artoria at night and accidentally caught her wrist with an automatic wind-based defense.
• Sovell gave Artoria a handmade hot-water waterskin, and she happily accepted the gift.
• In Merlin’s dream, Artoria charged Sovell, who drove her back with Invisible Air and summoned his Holy Spear.
• Artoria called on Merlin to give her Prydwen, then took up the shield to continue the fight.

After losing a spear duel to Artoria, Sovell learned Merlin would train him in spearmanship and warned Ector about Saxon soldiers near the River Severn. As the travelers headed south, Artoria’s formal dress and Sovell’s admiration embarrassed her so much that her magical energy overflowed, and Kay began questioning Sovell about the previous night.

• Sovell lost his duel with Artoria when she knocked Rhongomyniad from his hands, and Merlin promised to teach him and Lia spearmanship over the coming years.
• Merlin released Sovell from the dream prison, then brought him and Artoria to Ector before they set out south with Kay and Joanie.
• Sovell warned Ector that he had found Saxon soldiers gathering intelligence near the River Severn, and Ector sent scouts north to investigate.
• Artoria worried about wearing a white formal dress, but Merlin said it would conceal her identity and make up for her years in men's clothes.
• Sovell admired Artoria in her dress, and her embarrassment caused her magical energy to overflow and left her blushing on the ground.
• Merlin explained Artoria’s condition, and Kay noticed Sovell’s slip about the previous night and demanded to know what he had done.

Sovell shared King Beast jerky with Artoria and Kay, restoring their magical energy but leaving Kay overcharged. Kay challenged Sovell to test whether he could protect Artoria, and their sword-and-shield duel began with both men blocking each other’s attacks.

• Sovell gave Artoria, Kay, and Barghest jerky made from a King Beast, explaining that it was a potent source of magical energy.
• Artoria and Kay ate the jerky, and Kay developed a nosebleed from its strength.
• Sovell advised Kay to exercise before bed, but Kay challenged him to a fight to judge his strength and ability to protect Artoria.
• Sovell and Kay agreed to a single-round sword-and-shield duel using sticks, and Kay’s tactical shield techniques nearly disarmed Sovell several times.

Sovell defeated Kay in a spar by trapping his shield and pinning him to the ground. Afterward, Artoria teased Sovell that getting hurt by Kay would be pathetic, leaving him dejected as the day continued peacefully.

• Sovell shortened his stick’s reach to trap Kay’s shield, then dragged Kay down and pinned him to win the match.
• Kay praised Sovell’s trick, and Sovell explained that Merlin had taught him to use flexible attacks.
• Kay teased Al, and Sovell tried to distract the flustered girl by asking Lia why she was only worried about Kay.
• Artoria joked that Sovell would be pathetic if Kay could hurt him, leaving Sovell crestfallen.

Sovell, Kay, and Artoria traveled east into England, where they found soldiers abusing villagers and killing a boy. After Sovell killed the attackers and buried the child, he urged the villagers to resist the foreign tribes threatening their lives and homes.

• Sovell explained that the group would travel through England to Cornwall and cross the sea to seek an alliance with King Bors and King Ban of Benwick.
• The group arrived at a village where soldiers were abusing residents and one soldier killed a boy who tried to protect his mother.
• Sovell swiftly killed the soldier, and Kay agreed that torturing the attackers would only dirty their hands.
• Sovell, Kay, and Artoria buried the boy, and Artoria placed a cross at his grave.
• Sovell called on the villagers to stop waiting helplessly and defend themselves against the foreign tribes.

Sovell urged the villagers to fight back against the Saxons, and seventy or eighty people joined him in attacking their camp. The villagers charged into battle as Sovell and his companions broke through the enemy formation, and Barghest began to fight as well.

• Sovell handed Stam Ambrosius a hoe and called on the villagers to defend their homes and drive out the Saxons.
• Stam led the villagers after Sovell, whose gamble to awaken their fighting spirit succeeded as their numbers grew to seventy or eighty.
• Sovell killed a Saxon sentry, and Kay and Artoria killed another before the group charged into the camp.
• Stam urged the villagers to follow the children into battle, and they joined the attack with their farming tools.
• Sovell used Strike Storm (Wind King's Hammer) to blast a gap through the Saxon formation, then cut down the enemy archers before they could fire.
• Sovell called Barghest into the battle after her growth and the villagers' negative emotions had brought her to her mature form.

Sovell, Artoria, and Kay helped Barghest defeat a Saxon force and rescue villagers, with a blue-clad knight named Bedivere aiding them. Afterward, they shared a meal and introduced Artoria as Lily Ambrosius to protect her identity.

• With Sovell's permission, Barghest emerged from his armor, grew into a giant hound, and helped rout the Saxon soldiers.
• Sovell asked a blue-clad knight to pursue a fleeing officer, and the knight threw his spear through the officer and his horse before killing him.
• Sovell, Artoria, Kay, and Barghest wiped out the remaining Saxons and helped the villagers free their captured relatives and neighbors.
• The villagers shared recovered grain with Sovell and his companions, who invited the blue-clad knight to dinner and learned his name was Bedivere Bedrydant and his right arm was a steel prosthetic.
• Bedivere explained that he had come to patrol the border after hearing reports of foreign soldiers, and praised Artoria as a lovely knightly princess.
• Sovell introduced Artoria as his younger sister, Lily Ambrosius, while Kay confronted him over the false claim; Sovell explained that the alias helped conceal Artoria's identity.

Sovell and his companions became known across Britain for fighting foreign soldiers and rescuing civilians before Vortigern confronted Sovell and demanded he return home. Sovell refused, revealed that he recognized Vortigern as a powerful White Dragon, and prepared to face him while Artoria fled with their companions.

• Bedivere ignored Sovell’s warning and ate some of the bear jerky, then worried when his nose began to bleed.
• Sovell, Artoria, and Kay traveled toward Cornwall, killed roaming foreign soldiers, and helped locals rescue hundreds of abducted civilians.
• Vortigern appeared alone and asked Sovell to come home, but Sovell refused and declared his intent to protect Britain and defeat him.
• Sovell sensed that Vortigern possessed the aura of a powerful White Dragon and told Artoria to take Kay, Joanie, and Barghest to Saynor Manor.
• Artoria gave Sovell a small object, embraced him, and left with the others while Sovell transformed and faced Vortigern with Rhongomyniad.

Sovell fought Vortigern after securing Artoria’s escape, but his opponent called him a ruined weapon and overwhelmed him. Sovell challenged the man’s identity, then used a mental attack to create an opening as Merlin’s Garden of Avalon appeared.

• Vortigern gave Artoria five minutes to escape, and she sent Knight Kay north on horseback before promising to wait for Sovell’s return.
• When the countdown ended, Vortigern shattered Sovell’s Wind King Shield, caught Rhongomyniad, and revealed that he considered Sovell a weapon made from human and dragon blood.
• Vortigern transformed into a dragon-like form, smashed Sovell into a cliff, and threatened to forge him into a new weapon.
• Sovell forced Merlin’s seal to waver and summoned over a million strengthened wind blades, then escaped the cliff and accused Vortigern of impersonating his father.
• Sovell launched himself at Vortigern and used a mental attack to make him freeze, just as a voice invoked Garden of Avalon.

Merlin revealed that the being wearing Vortigern’s body was the White Dragon of Britain, and the dragon transformed and fought him. Sovell realized his father was dead, released five of the Holy Spear’s seals, and unleashed a devastating strike against the dragon.

• Vortigern taunted Merlin while wearing Uther’s stolen Crown of Stars, and Merlin identified him as the White Dragon of Britain possessing Vortigern’s body.
• The White Dragon revealed its true form as a massive dragon and attacked Merlin with endless dragon breath, which Merlin turned into flowers.
• Sovell realized that his father was gone and that the creature had stolen his remains.
• Sovell secretly released five seals on the Holy Spear, enduring severe magical backlash to gather power for a single strike.
• Sovell fired Rhongomyniad, unleashing a pillar of starlight that shattered Merlin and the White Dragon’s stalemate.

Sovell and Merlin survived a brutal battle with the White Dragon, who was revealed to be Sovell’s biological father and left after promising to reclaim him. Sovell’s volatile magic suddenly settled, and he rose with golden eyes, calling himself the White Dragon King and demanding to know who Merlin was.

• Sovell struck the White Dragon with the Holy Spear, then collapsed as his uncontrolled magical energy threatened to destroy him.
• Merlin abandoned his attack to catch Sovell and used petals to contain the boy’s raging magical energy, while the White Dragon avoided the spear by reverting to Vortigern’s form.
• The injured Merlin and White Dragon paused their fight, and Merlin explained that Vortigern had given Sovell a father’s care and companionship.
• The White Dragon recalled creating Sovell as an experiment and abandoning him, then departed after vowing to reclaim him.
• Sovell’s magical energy drew inward, and he rose with radiant golden eyes, identified himself as the White Dragon King, and asked Merlin who he was and why he had come.

After magical backlash left Sovell unconscious, Alaya took control of his body and transformed him into Silver, who attacked Merlin while claiming to preserve human civilization. Merlin recognized the Counter Force’s influence and reflected on how Alaya and Gaia had forged the Holy Spear, and how mages’ pursuit of the Root resembled the Yogacara path to Amala Consciousness.

• Merlin confronted Sovell, who demanded an explanation and identified himself as Silver, the Storm King and Lord of the End.
• Silver attacked Merlin with a blade of light, declaring that his mission was to preserve human civilization.
• Merlin realized that Alaya had taken control of Sovell after the Holy Spear’s magical backlash and had repaired his body using its divinity.
• Merlin recalled that Alaya and Gaia had jointly forged the Holy Spear to stabilize the world’s laws, with Alaya’s influence dominant.
• Merlin connected the mages’ pursuit of the Root with the Yogacara transformation from Alaya Consciousness to Amala Consciousness.

Merlin fought Silver, who was controlling Sovell through the Holy Spear, and defeated him after the spear’s power began to wane. After Sovell woke and learned what had happened, he asked Merlin to undo the seal on his Magecraft.

• Merlin fought Silver with a conjured longsword and realized that Alaya’s divinity was draining back into the Holy Spear as Silver’s power weakened.
• Silver invoked the Holy Spear’s beam, but Merlin shifted into spirit form, deflected its tip, and knocked Silver unconscious with his sword’s pommel.
• Merlin expelled the traces of Alaya’s divinity from himself and ate the nightmare he drew from Sovell, then regretted its disturbing contents.
• Sovell woke with his silver eyes restored, and Merlin explained that the Holy Spear had controlled his body while his consciousness was dormant.
• Sovell turned the Holy Spear into a longsword, returned it to the Wind King Scabbard, and asked Merlin to undo the seal on his Magecraft.