King Arthur's Test

The next night at Stonehenge at the Moon's Peak....

King Arthur's Battle background music

King Arthur sat and watched the moon slowly rise from his position with his men around a low burning fire. There was a somber air around their camp as they all came to grips with what lay ahead for not just the chosen, but also the future of Camelot should they fail. "My king, the time grows nearer for the trial," Merlin stated.

"You are right, old friend. Let us make haste. I do not want to keep these goddesses waiting," Arthur said as he rose from his position in the circle of men. "Merlin, you may accompany me as far as the edge of the ruins, but no farther. I must go in alone."

The men started their journey to Stonehenge. Neither man could find the right words to do justice to the importance of the outcome of this test. As they reached the end of their journey, Merlin stopped the king. "My lord, this is where we part. I shall keep vigilance while you are completing the Pleiades' task."

Arthur clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a small smile. He then turned and started his trip into the ruins alone. When he reached the center of the stone structure, he felt the magic humming in the air all around him. As the night before, stars slowly came together revealing the body shape of a beautiful maiden. But, different from last time, there were six other maidens behind her in the same form.

"So, you have made your first choice on who shall have the first trial," the star maiden, who was the eldest and head of the sisters, said. "This will be no ordinary test of strength, Arthur Pendragon. This task will test the very limits of who you are. Once this task is over, we shall see if you are truly worthy enough."

"Whatever may be your will, goddesses, so be it," Arthur stated determinedly.

As Arthur spoke, the scenery around him began to change. Instead of standing in the center of Stonehenge, he stood in the center of a starry arena. He looked to the star nymphs again. "Arthur Pendragon, your greatest flaw is also one of your greatest strengths. Will you be able to tame the lion of pride deep inside of you to vanquish the evil all around you?" Three of the maidens slowly melded together magically and became one form as the others disappeared. The form slowly started becoming a shape more recognizable. The bodies of the three eldest maidens had transformed into an enormous lion with a gleaming golden pelt. Arthur started physically preparing himself for the fight. As he did this, he felt armor appear on his body and Excalibur on his side.

With his sword by his side, Arthur felt as if this fight would soon be over. He had never lost a battle with Excalibur before, and he was not going to lose this battle. The lion roared as they started to slowly circle each other. This lion was five times the size of Arthur himself. With its golden pelt shining, it looked very intimidating. But Arthur felt a surge of pride in himself and his sword that they could best a beast such as this.

Arthur soon saw an opening in the lion's defenses and lunged quickly. Excalibur just glanced off the lion's side; sparks flew where the sword had slashed it. "How can this be?! What is this creature made of?!" Arthur panicked at the new information, and did not know how he was to beat a beast that could best Excalibur. As he slowly started to feel a sense of creeping dread at the thought of losing, he remembered his men waiting for him to return. He remembered how they were all depending on him. Out of all the more worthy men who could have become king over England, they had chosen him. These thoughts overcame his sense of pride and humbled the great Arthur Pendragon.

This new revelation helped to refocus his thoughts and to close in more on his opponent. He attacked the great lion with new vigor. He slashed and parried when the creature tried to slice his belly open with his claws. Arthur then smacked the side of the lion's head with the flat of his blade with all of his strength. This stunned the creature long enough for Arthur to slip away from the lion's close proximity. As he retreated the lion roared a great roar at him in defiance and annoyance. That is when Arthur saw what he needed to do.

He then started to toy with the lion. He would hit it here and there with the flat of his blade. Even striking again at its head. Once it roared again in anger at Arthur, he lunged forward and with all the strength in his body, he stabbed Excalibur into the soft pink tissue of the lion's mouth. The animal howled in pain as golden blood flowed from its mouth. The lion finally roared once more weakly and lay down in defeat. The form of the lion slowly melded back into stars. Arthur felt the magic in the air shift as he was transported back to the middle of the ruins. The king looked up, still disoriented at the sudden change, as the star nymph from before approached him.

"You have successfully completed the first task, King Arthur Pendragon. You may not tell anyone of what you witnessed here, or else it would be your life in exchange. Tomorrow night when the moon is at its highest, the second test shall commence," the being said before she and her sisters dissolved back into the heavens. The king then made his way back to his camp to inform his men of the outcome.

Author's Note:

Hi everyone! Thanks for reading the next part of my storybook! So this is the part of the story where we get to see King Arthur and his men face their own trials. I really wanted to portray some kind of character struggle that King Arthur would be dealing with here. I believe misplaced pride would definitely be something this character would struggle with. I also had him face off with the Nemean lion in this part of the story to introduce the zodiac's role in my story. Here we see King Arthur facing off with the sign of Leo, represented by the Nemean lion. Also, one of the characteristics of someone born under the sign of Leo is pride. For my resources, I used the Wikipedia websites for both the Pleiades and the Nemean lion. I also used a really cool website called Kingarthursknights.com. I also tried to add a bit of Merlin into the scene, but hopefully, we see more of him in the next story. Maybe we will even get to see some other well-known characters, besides just the knights, as well? Stay tuned to find out! As always, feel free to leave feedback, encouragement, thoughts, etc. on my comment wall! Thanks in advance!

Bibliography:

King Arthur. Website: kingarthursknights.com/king-arthur/

Pleiades. Website: Wikipedia

Nemean Lion. Website: Wikipedia