Free X-Calibur: The Trial by R. Jackson-Lawrence

King of the Britons,” Merlin said commandingly. “Reborn as prophecy foretold.”
    Mor-Dred paused and looked down at them. “Arthur,” he began. “Do you deny leading a rebellion against your Mori masters?”
    “No,” Arthur said defiantly. “Humans and Dorgans deserve to be free.”
    “And do you claim to be the Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, reborn in this time?” Mor-Dred asked.
    Arthur didn't know how to respond. He knew the truth, about Merlin, himself, everything. He wasn't the one spoken of in prophecy, regardless of what Merlin thought. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    “I am Arthur,” Arthur said. “I've taken that name and the responsibilities that go with it.”
    He knows , the fragment said, cackling with delight. The boy-king knows!
    Mor-Dred laughed again. “You know, don't you?” he said. “You know the truth?”
    “Enough, please,” Arthur begged. “I've answered your questions.”
    Break him , the fragment said. Break the false Wizard!
    “Shall we tell him?” Mor-Dred asked mockingly. “Surely he deserves to know?”
    Arthur felt panic rising within him, unsure what he should do. If Mor-Dred exposed Merlin to the truth of who and what he was, there was no knowing what might happen. Would there be anything left of the Merlin he knew?
    “Guilty!” Arthur said hurriedly, trying to change the course of the conversation. “I plead guilty!”
    “Oh, it's too late for that!” Mor-Dred replied. “I'd planned to put you on trial, to punish you, but this, I never expected this. This is so much more exquisite.”
    “Please,” Arthur said again. “Do what you want to me, just let the others go.”
    The boy-king cares , the fragment hissed. Use him .
    “Do you know, Arthur,” Mor-Dred began, “how many versions of your model have existed over the years?”
    “Ignore him,” Merlin interrupted.
    “Over thirteen thousand,” Mor-Dred continued. “Copies of copies of copies, each as unremarkable as the last.”
    “Lies,” Merlin said. “I searched the hive and you're unique, Arthur. There was no record of where your DNA came from.”
    Prove it to him , the fragment muttered. Expose his lies .
    “I could show you, if you'd like?” Mor-Dred offered.
    “Fabrications, just like you,” Merlin remarked.
    “And you, Merlin,” Mor-Dred said. “Do you really not know what you are?”
    “I know exactly who I am,” Merlin said defiantly, staring intently into Mor-Dred's eyes. “Nothing you say can convince me otherwise.”
    “No, I can't, can I?” Mor-Dred asked, staring back just as intently.
    No matter what Mor-Dred said, Merlin believed so completely that no proof he could offer would persuade him. Arthur though, he knew the truth. If he could make Arthur tell him, expose him, there would be no way for Merlin to deny it. He'd crumble, collapse, and his entire being would fall apart. To punish him so completely, such a victory was more than he'd dare imagine.
    “Enough games!” Merlin demanded.
    Games , the fragment said. His game is our game now!
    “You started this game,” Mor-Dred replied. “You're only angry because I choose to finish it!”
    “Just tell us what you want?” Arthur asked.
    A game! the fragment cried.
    “That's simple,” Mor-Dred told them. “At least, it is if you are who you say you are. Your trial shall take the form of a task; a quest, if you will.
    “I want you to find the Grail.”

Chapter 4
     
    Irony
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Earth Year 6239
     
    “You want us to do what?” Arthur exclaimed. He knew vaguely the story of the Grail, it was a story Merlin was often reluctant to tell. Merlin would lament about not having the artefact after the Battle of Camlann, and his melancholy could last for days.
    Merlin had told him the Grail was a cup or goblet, believed to have the power to heal the sick and grant everlasting life. As Merlin told it, Arthur and his Knights found the grail but left it where it was, the artefact