Gawain and Gareth's Test

The second night at the base of Stonehenge's hill....

The men sat around the fire the night after the exhausted king's trial and tried to get more details about his ordeal. "Tell us, my liege, what was the trial like? Was it some sort of challenge? A battle? You look very battle-weary, my king." Lancelot and the others questioned him.

"I cannot speak of my time with the Pleiades, for my life would be forfeit if I did. The only thing I may say is that I was successful, and only just, in completing their trial. The next shall trial shall be not for just one of you my knights, but for two of you. Two of my most devoted knights, Sirs Gawain and Gareth, brothers in chivalry. I give you my blessing and I know you will not fail me. Merlin shall escort you both to the edge of Stonehenge." King Arthur then rose and left the circle of men for his tent.

While his men watched him leave, they all noted how concerned and thoughtful their king seemed about the outcome of this quest. Once he had left, the somber and serious air returned to the men. "The time is nearing for us, my brother," Gawain said turning to Sir Gareth.

Merlin magically appeared near the edge of the circle of men around the fire. They both gathered up all their courage silently and followed him to the site where they would meet the challenge of their lives.

They both determinedly made their way up to the ancient remains with Merlin at their side. "This is where we shall part, my lords. I do not know what you shall face, but remember who you are no matter what," the magician said and then faded into the darkness.

The two brothers made their way to the center of Stonehenge. When they stood and looked up, stars seemed to melt from the sky and come down to form the bodies of young women. The men stood there astonished at seeing the nymphs before them. "Young knights, you have gathered the courage to face the second trial. Your bond and loyalty to each other is strong and true, but will it ultimately be your downfall?" Said the nymph that stepped forward to speak.

"If you shall pass this trial, you will be victorious. But if you shall fail, you and your comrades will be destroyed," a second nymph said forebodingly. Two other figures started to appear in the circle of the druid ruins as she spoke.

"Your challenge shall be to best us in a chariot race if you so dare," a young man who had a golden aura said with a smug countenance. "My brother and I are known as the Gemini twins. We shall test your bond."

"Yes, this shall be an interesting race, brother Pollux," the other young man with a silver aura said.

"We accept your challenge," Gawain said with bravery. Gareth nodded his approval at his brother's words.

As soon as they accepted Stonehenge melted away into an ancient Roman colosseum with a daunting race track that had Roman chariots and horses hooked up to each one. "You may choose your chariot first," Castor said.

Gawain and Gareth chose the silver chariot with white horses. It was stocked with the armor and weapons they would need. "Brother, this race will be trying. You will take over the reins and I will do the rest," Gawain insisted. Gareth reluctantly nodded.

After both teams gathered their courage and wits, the race commenced. They were racing around at top speeds. They were going so fast that the brothers could barely see anything around them. Finally, Gawain was able to see the other brothers gaining on them and starting to pass them. As the other team caught up with them in a menacing manner, Pollux fired an arrow straight into the chest of Gareth. He grunted in pain as he was hit and Gawain tried to grab the reins from his brother as he fell forward slightly. "No! Brother!"

"We must slow down, Gareth. I must attend to your wound! It is a mortal one!" Magically medical supplies formed by starlight coming together and appeared in the chariot. "See, Gareth? The gods have gifted us with supplies. Surely they are on our side," he argued with his brother.

"No! It is a distraction. Your willingness to win must be greater than your brotherly love for me! We must win! Go..." Gareth slowly blacked out on the floor of the chariot.

"I will continue, for our king and for you!" Gawain gathered all of his courage and stamina and raced along the track easily catching up to their opponents.

As they came around a curve, Gawain rammed into the other chariot hard and sent it flying off of the track. He then raced along to the finish line. As he crossed he slowly saw the colosseum fade away back into Stonehenge and the star goddesses return alongside Castor and Pollux.

"You have won the trial, sir knight," Pollux stated as he and his brother bowed low before Sir Gawain.

"Yes, but what about my brother?!" Gawain knelt before the chariot that still held Gareth's body with tears in his eyes.

"He shall be restored to what he was before this trial," the star nymph stated while waving her hand gracefully toward him. Silver starlight surrounded Sir Gareth as his wound was magically healed and his body restored.

"Brother! You did it! We have won!" Gareth was joyful as he celebrated with Sir Gawain over their victory.

"Yes, but remember this, do not tell a soul what you have witnessed here. If you do, your life shall be forfeit to us," the goddess said in a serious tone. "Have the next challenger appear here when the moon rises again." The nymphs and the godly brothers started fading away.

The two brothers then walked back to the edge of Stonehenge and then returned to their camp to share their victory with their fellow knights and their king.

A/N: So, this is the next installment of the "King Arthur and the Stars," story. I'm having a great time being able to write this and imagine everything that all the characters are going through. Thank you for your feedback! I mainly used the King Arthur's Knights page for this whole story, but have used Wikipedia a lot too. I have really enjoyed looking up the connections between Greek and Roman mythology and Astrology. In this part of the story I used not just one knight in the trial, but two. If you look on King Arthur's knights page, it tells of the brotherly bond between Gawain and Gareth. It also talks about how Gawain's grief and sense of wanting revenge against Lancelot was part of what brought King Arthur down. I really wanted to explore the relationship between the two and kind of pit it against the famous Greek brothers, Castor and Pollux. If you do not know the story about them, I will include in the bibliography the Wikipedia site for them. This was also probably the hardest part to write so far. Again thank you for reading and criticisms are always welcomed and needed!

Bibliography:

King Arthur's Knights - Knights, Merlin, and King Arthur

Wikipedia - Castor and Pollux

Image Information:

Zerolexa - Picture of Castor and Pollux statue