Bloody Camelot (Oxalis|IconicaVersita)

ARC 1 [Arthurs Upbringing]

Chapter I. First, How Uther Pendragon chased lustfully after the Duke of Cornwall’s wife, Igraine

It was a strange thing that Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, would call for Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. The two had been warring for months in a political sense, and now he had been asked to come to Uther's residence. Was it for a period of peace? A truce among good sported men? Gorlois could never have guessed what was unfolding behind the walls of Uther’s castle. As the horse-drawn carriages reached the gates of Uther’s home a knight knocked on the carriage occupying Gorlois and his wife, Igraine.
“Excuse me, but the King has told me to escort you two myself, so please follow me.”
“I’m sorry but who are you?” Inquired the Duke, shielding Igraine. The knight was tall and looked well fit. He did not take off his helmet and spoke in a polite manner.
“I am Sir Ulfius, advisor of the King of Britain, Uther, I am here to escort you in case of an unwanted guest.” he spoke serenely, with an elaborate tone. After a few moments of complete silence, Igraine finally spoke up.
“I think we should just go with him darling. I mean he is asking nicely, and said he would protect us on the way.” Gorlois sighed and turned to Sir Ulfius.
“Alright then, get on with it. I want to get in and out.” Gorlois said apathetically. Gorlois had his opinions on how Uther ruled the country. He ruled with the demeanor of a tyrant. Gorlois could tell that he only cared for power. He could never swoon a woman that way, good women anyway. He was only here to establish peace in hope that he would knock some sense into the old man. As they went through the gates of Camelot the flags of the castle's symbols were everywhere, on the tapestry was a soaring red dragon spewing out yellow fire. How ferocious of them, thought Gorlois as he entered the castle for the first and last time.

*

The throne room was empty, there were no parties being held in the grand vicinity of it all. Everything was painted in a solemn light, with the wall perpetuating grayness and the hanged banners being tattered. The throne itself was red and gold but a decrepit version of those two colors. It was depressing to say the least and Gorlois couldn’t help but let out a long defying sigh. The King of Britain was nowhere to be seen, not sitting on the recently mentioned throne.
“Where is he? Why isn’t the almighty Uther sitting on his oh so great throne?” said Uther sarcastically. He was growing impatient, Uther had called him out here and then made his guest wait, and most importantly he made his wife wait!
“Sorry sire, but our king is actually very sick right now and is stuck in his room, we shall go there right away.” Ulfius replied. He was patient unlike Gorlois who wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. He found this place unnerving, like a swamp at midnight; Speaking of midnight, it was almost about that time and he promised his daughters he would be there to tuck them in and read them a tale. Igraine on the other hand was curious and her curiosity only grew each second they were there. Ulfius brought them down many hallways with various highly favored paintings. Igraine stopped at each one, interested in the art pieces; Gorlois, however, was the opposite of Igraine, grabbing her hand and hurriedly following Ulfius, not interested in the glorious paintings at all. At last, they reach the king's room, the door to the room looming over them with animosity. Ulfius knocks on the door a couple of times until a raspy voice came abrupt the silence inside the room.
“Yes, yes come in!” King Uther uttered. Gorlois shuddered and Igraine yawned. Ulfius opened the door and entered, Gorlois and Igraine close behind. Inside the room was the King and he looked absolutely fine. He did not look sickly at all, although he did look a bit old and maybe decrepit. Gorlois was not convinced that this man was sick, but Igraine was different, shedding a worried look at the king.
“I’ve brought them to you my king,” said Ulfius while bowing, “Here is Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and his wife, Igraine”. The couple then bowed to not be impolite and Uther did the same.
“I have been waiting for you two, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and-,” he paused and turned his full attention to Igraine. “And the fair lady Igraine, wife of Gorlois.” He said Gorlois with such clampened teeth, that you would’ve thought his teeth would break.
“Now then, shall we get on with the matter,” said Gorlois, tapping his foot impatiently. He wanted to hear what he had to say and then leave, not even stopping to give a thought to it . Nothing he could say would make him ponder the weight of his words. He lent his ear out to Uther waiting for a response. Uther sighed and looked at Gorlois with a glared look.
“I’m sorry but I actually don’t need your assistance.” Gorlois scrunched his face, his eyebrow going up above the clouds.
“What on Earth could you possibly mean, Uther Pendragon?” Ulfius then spoke up.
“It's a curse, the King has been bedridden with a curse.”
“Well he sure doesn’t look like it now does he?!,” Gorlois became so angry that he felt he needed to raise his voice.
“It’s a curse that affects him in other ways…” said Ulfius, clearing up his voice in the middle of speaking. Gorlois was utterly confused.
“What the hell are you even talking about Uther? You called me over here to talk civilly right? Stop spouting this nonsense then!” Igraine looked at her husband. She could tell that he was fuming with rage. He was probably thinking of their kids and how they were alone right now, worried that their mother and father were not there with them. She had to calm him down.
“Darling, how about you go outside while he talks with me, it seems he only wants an audience with me anyway.” Gorlois’s mouth hung open in shock. Uther grinned a stupid grin, yet it was quite charming at the same time.
“What do you mean Igraine? What could he possibly want you for?” Gorlois clearly did not get the memo. He might’ve been cautious but he wasn’t so bright when it came to understanding the full picture. Igraine understood why they came here the moment Uther looked at her in that way. She already knew her answer to Uthers question, she just needed to get Gorlois out before he figured out Uthers intentions. Conflict would then arise if that ended up happening. Conflict would probably arise anyway.
“Dear just please, wait out in the hallway.” Gorlois stared at her for a while, his black hair and eyes standing completely still, as still as his face. He looked to Uther and then looked toward Igraine again and sighed for the millionth time since they came there.
“Fine, I’ll go, but only in the hallway okay? I won’t be anywhere else okay?” He finally said, clearly worried about Igraine. I mean he really loved her and would not let any harm come to her, no matter what happened. He would even sacrifice himself for her if it came to it. He would even come back from death itself to swoop her into his arms and ride on a horse into the heavens. Igraine nodded and Gorlois finally removed himself from the room. King Uther then motioned toward Ulfius and then Ulfius turned to Igraine.
“Sorry Lady Igraine but I need to step out as well, there are things I need to attend to.” And with that he left the room as well. Now it was just Her and Uther alone. Silence once ignored by Gorlois’s ranting had filled the room once again. Igraine gulped while Uther went to sit on his bed. He was standing next to his desk before, with the desk containing multiple tapestries that had the Camelot symbol on them, the flaming red dragon. Most of them looked good but the last one had mistakes everywhere, and the needle used to make the tapestry was still left on the string. Igraine decided that was the best conversation starter.
“So you knit Uther? I didn’t know that was a hobby of yours.” Uther turned to her. He was shorter than she imagined. He then smiled eerily and said
“Come, sit next to me on this bed.” His eyes shone bright baby blue and his face was stuck in a grin. He looked very mischievous, up to no good. He couldn’t be trusted. Though instead of ignoring his proposition, Igraine did what he asked and sat next to him on the bed. Igraine’s body was highlighted by candlelight to the left of her; The candles that sat next to the tattered Camelot banners. She looked beautiful, her skin was golden-brown and ethereal, and her hair the prettiest of blacks. No wonder Gorlois fell completely in love with her. But at last, it was the problem that Gorlois was actually married to her that Uther struggled to deal with the most. Because of this fact he couldn’t have her, or could he? He was considered the King of Britain after all. Suddenly, Uther put his rather decrepit, dried hand on Igraine’s thigh, squeezing it with lustful intent. Igraine froze, stunned by Uther’s sudden action.
“Come on Igraine, we all know who's the better man out of I and Gorlois,” his breath became heavy and cheeks red. Uther could not hold back the great desires anymore; he needed her right now even if it cost his kingship. “I’d give you all the riches, all the care, if only you would divorce that self entitled son of a bitch!” he spat while finishing his sentences, his half angry, half desperate look digging into the soul of Igraine. He did not look so charming now, his whole manner shifting from a king to a barbarian. Igraine was scared, why did she put herself into this situation? Even so, she had to tell him straight up that she would not wed him, nor sleep with him. She took a deep breath. “Come on Igraine, what do you say? Let's ditch that good for nothing bastard of a duke and have the time of our lives in bed!” Uther was now laughing maniacally, had he lost it? There was no way Igraine would ever accept his proposal. Though despite Uthers relentless begging and rudeness toward her the answer she gave differed from what one would expect. Because although Uther insulted her husband and acted like a hog, Igraine looked at him and gave the straight answer of,
“Yes, I’ll have sex with you.” Uther stopped laughing. His eyes widened and his face became quizzical. Did he just hear her correctly? With the way Uther had been acting, he would have never expected for her to agree to it. He thought he would’ve had to use force, but no, she willingly threw herself into the array and had accepted the proposal. Uther smiled widely and sinisterly, something not of a great king, but of a dirty scumbag.
“Great! Well, let's get right to it while Gorlois is out of the-,” he did not get to finish his sentence before Ulfius came storming into the room yelling a bunch of words in an incoherent pattern. Ulfius was clearly not like himself right now, with the reasons being that he looked very worried and exasperated. Igraine could clearly tell, because the knight had finally taken off his helmet he had on before. He looked young with his face hairless. Long flowing locks flew down to his back, hair parting in front of his face so that it would actually show. He went right over to King Uther and shook him, continuing his rambling.
“Ulfius! Speak slower I cannot understand you! What is going on?” Ulfius stopped talking for a brief moment and then screamed,
“YOUR THRONE IS ON FIRE!”

*


King Uther with Igraine and Ulfius close behind ran toward the throne room where smoke was billowing out into the hallway. When they reached there, they saw it. The throne was no longer a throne, but a huge bonfire capable of destroying the entire castle. Uther's knight’s were busy carrying buckets of water to the fire to try and put it out, but that didn’t seem to work because the fire just grew bigger. Uther stood at the edge of the room, dumbfounded by the madness of it all. Who could have committed these atrocities?! Then Uther realized and as soon as he realized he grew angrier and angrier as the fire grew greater and greater. No one had noticed the missing man, who wasn’t outside the King's bedroom.
“This is all your husband's fault, Igraine! Now do you see how terrible of a man your husband is? I’ll kill him for this, you hear me!?” He turned around to face Igraine, but Igraine was nowhere to be found. “Wha-?! Ulfius, where did Igraine go?!” But Ulfius was on the ground unconscious, a dent in the crotch area of his armor apparent. Uther’s eyes widened and he clenched his teeth super hard that they almost broke from all the pressure! “That bitch! Everyone who isn’t putting out the fire right now, find Duke Gorlois and Lady Igraine and kill them!”

*

Igraine was not the athletic type, but she had to run. Her life depended on it for she had heard Uther’s orders to kill her and her husband from the throne room. She ran around corner and corner, passing by door and door. This was until she heard glass breaking and was sure that it was Gorlois making a way out of the castle. She turned around one more corner and saw her husband standing there, smiling. She was baffled, how could he be smiling at a time like this?
“Told you he was nothing but a lousy, perverted king.” he said proudly. His smile transformed into a smirk, a devious one. It almost seemed like HE was the perverted one. Igraine rolled her eyes.
“Nice acting there, I was almost fooled!” Igraine said playfully. She looked relieved to see her husband. “I really thought you didn’t get the King's intention. “ The duke laughed and shook his head.
“How could I not! You told me firsthand that he was staring at you during the meeting for the collabed raid a few months ago! That's why you came up with a plan to get out in the first place right?” Before they had even stepped inside of the carriage to head to Camelot, Igraine had devised a plan to escape Uther’s hands. Gorlois would step out of the room, so Uther had some alone time with Igraine (lowering his suspicion). Gorlois then would locate the torches from the castle's dungeons, which were not being occupied by knights because of the scheduled meeting. Finally, he would burn something flammable and noticeable. Igraine had overheard earlier in the day that knights usually meet to devise military tactics around the evening of wednesday. This is why Ulfius had to take off, instead of watching Gorlois. Uther was just dumb enough not to issue him via talking, that when Uther motioned Ulfius to go watch Gorlois, Ulfius thought he was giving him the okay for the meeting. Trust lingered for Ulfius, enough trust to leave Gorlois all by his lonesome, giving her husband the chance to burn the throne. Now it was time for act 2 of the plan. This part was devised by Gorlois and Gorlois alone which made Igraine proud of him to actually think it up all on his own. The plan was to walk the castle wall and find a haystack to jump into. Then they would escape the castle with one of the horses tethered to the poles outside the castle walls. This plan was simple yet effective, because they did just that, and they did it successfully.

*

Horses were never an option for Lady Igraine. Gorlois would never let her ride in such a manner anywhere, but tonight was a special occasion. It was their future that mattered, not their way of transportation. So just this once, Igraine got to experience what it was like to ride on a horse, and what she felt was wonderful. She felt as free as a bird flying high above the skies of Britain. This feeling ended all so quickly when a barrage of horses cut their clear path of an escape. There were thousands of them, knights, all around the Duke and his Lady. They stopped fiercely and Gorlois took out his Rapier-like longsword. The Duke looked pissed and stared down the group of knights who opposed them. Then the group of knights made way for their King; The King of Britain, Uther Pendragon. Uther then stood before them, both Duke and Lady, and cackled.
“Your way too easy to predict Gorlois! Did you really think that you would escape the biggest army in all of Britain?” Gorlois frowned and aimed his sword at the king. Some knights shuddered, while others gasped at the gesture.
“Your so-called big army let Igraine and I escape! Now stay away from my wife, bastard.” Gorlois said coldly, bringing Igraine close with his free arm. “You made an offense to my will to live and now I will make an offense to your status as King!” Gorlois then spat on the King's shoe, which in turn enraged the knights of Camelot. The furious lot they were, so furious in fact that one of them tried to strike the duke down, but was easily parried in the process by the duke himself. The sword flew away with immense force, silencing all the knights at once. King Uther, despite Gorlois’s rage, stayed silent. His gaze did not falter in his baby blue eyes and he stood proudly. He was shorter than Gorlois, but somehow was bigger than him. Uther knew that he was better than Gorlois, and that was enough reason to take his wife to be his own. He looked at the ground and frowned. There laid before him an Iron Cross, an Oxalis tetraphylla. He looked at it for a moment and then grinned as he picked it up from the ground. Gorlois’s eyes widened as he noticed the clover in Uther’s hand.
“Seems like we're near Gateway, Gorlois. Fitting, isn’t this where your father died from an attack of a, what was it again? “Dragon”?” Uther laughed and some of his knights did as well. When Uther had heard the story he had almost lost his shit! His father dying to a dragon? What a foolish joke! The only “dragon” that was important enough to mention in Britain was him, Uther Pendragon. His lineage and forces were so fierce they might as well be a dragon! Maybe Gorlois meant his father got killed by his forces accidentally, which made a lot more sense in Uthers mind. Gorlois grimaced as he remembered the huge white scaled dragon exiting out of Gateway Lake, the portal to the so-called magical land of Avalon. The dragon was real, and Gorlois knew it was because of the violent events that took place after. The next thing he knew, his father was a pile of bloody limbs. A terrible sight to anyone who was there to see it, which was only Gorlois, his fathers only son. Memories of his fathers thrashed body angered him.
“The dragon was real, you bigot! If you were there, you would know! So stop assuming it didn’t happen you prick!” Uther stopped laughing as a disappointed look crossed his face.
“What creative insults, you were always so clever with those Gorlois.” he then held out the Iron Cross in front of him, staring at it intently. “Gorlois, your family crest was always a four leaf clover right?” Gorlois gave him a confused look and finally lowered his sword.
“Yes? Why do you ask?” Uther twirled the clover between his fingers quickly.
“Gorlois you yourself is like an Oxalis. Any type of Oxalis actually, not just the Iron Cross kind.” Gorlois sighed, the man was speaking nonsense again. He was tired of this.
“On the outside, everyone talks about you and your defining characteristics. How you would be a better king than me. I hear that you are faithful to your wife, and loving to your children. That you bring hope to your family and that you're the luckiest man around. Yes, you are very lucky.” Uther said, looking at Igraine with a smirk. “But when people get to know you, when you bite into that four leaf plant, you get nothing but the taste of acid, sourness, the putrid taste of a guy who can’t even come close to how great of a king I am! Do you get it now Gorlois?” his question lingered for a second and then Gorlois answered.
“No, I don’t get it, you are absolutely mad Uther Pendragon.” Uther than shout at him in a tone that shook the forest they were in.
“You are the direct representation of the plant I hate the most! You are nothing but an insignificant little plant compared to the king I am, Gorlois! You don’t even deserve a fair lady like Miss Igraine!” Gorlois charged forward right then and there. He aimed his sword at the king's throat, but was intercepted with a purple-steel sword, wielded by the one and only Sir Ulfius. Ulfius looked mad, which was a first for him since nothing really made him angry. Nothing triggered him except for one thing, which Gorlois had done time and time again in the past hour. He opposed the one person he had served his whole life, that was enough to raise his sword.
“How dare you try to kill my liege! You will pay for this crime dearly, may a battle ensue!” Ulfius said sternly while preparing to kill the Duke of Cornwall. Gorlois readied his sword and stepped a ways back, he was confident that he could bury this guy in the dirt as fast as he could put his children to sleep, which was in no time at all. Ulfius took initiative and darted forward, readying his rainbow-like strike, a technique he had been praised for, but one he never wanted to use on anyone. This was different though, this duke had threatened the king, so he would also threaten him, killing him in the worst case scenario. Gorlois tilted his blade downward to counter quickly. As they were about to make contact, Uther spoke.
“Stop this Ulfius!” Ulfius stumbled and stopped immediately and turned around to his King, out of breath. He was so furious that his breathing had gone out of the normal breathing pattern, making it irregular, decreasing his stamina. “I do not need this right now, all I need is the woman. If you give me your wife right now, Gorlois, then I will not declare war upon you and your family.” Igraine trembled behind Gorlois. He could feel the fear emitting from her pretty skin.
“NO, I WILL NOT GIVE YOU HER FOR THE LAST GODDAMN TIME. KILL YOURSELF!” The rage made him bleed, or more specifically the fists he clenched tightly. Uther backed away, scared for a second, and then stepped forward again.
“I will give you 10 days. Go hide or prepare for battle. I don’t care which, but when 10 days are up I will come to kill you, and when I kill you, your wife will be mine! Do you understand Gorlois? I’ll give you a chance to defend your so-called love you have for Igraine, and if you die your love means nothing, absolutely nothing.” aiming his sword at Uther, Gorlois shouted
“No need, I'll just kill you right here, and right now!” Igraine tugged at Gorlois’s garments.
“Maybe we should take that deal,” she whispered. Gorlois shook his head.
“We have to kill him right now, or else he’ll just overwhelm us with his forces. Did you really believe he would give us those 10 days?!”
“I’m telling the truth, Gorlois. I will give you 10 days. Besides, one hour is all I need to find you once those days are up.” Uther laughed while hitting his knee. No one else was laughing with him.
“We’ll take you up on that offer!” Igraine said while she started walking away, toward the horse dragging Gorlois along with her.
“But Igraine-!” Gorlois exclaimed, but was silenced at once when looking at Igraine’s face. She looked exhausted, worried, and most of all fearful. They got on the horse and galloped in the opposite direction from Gateway Lake. Gorlois looked back at Uther Pendragon, his devious face being branded in Gorlois’s mind as they rode farther and farther away from each other until Uther was no longer visible. “Igraine, what was that? I could’ve won, I could’ve defeated all of them at once and then we wouldn’t have to worry about-”
“I’m worried about the children. what will become of them if we leave them unattended to? If we were gone, what would they ever do? That is why I took that deal, dear.” He got it. If he had died, or in the worst case scenario they had both died in the process of battle, the kids would have no one but themselves to guide them. Morgause, his eldest, could never take care of her sisters alone and Morgan would be too much for Elaine to handle. The more Gorlois thought about it, the more he wanted to see his little girls.
“You're right, the kids are first priority over epic battles with corrupt kings anyway.” Igraine, for the first time in the entirety of the day, laughed. So many scary things had happened to them, but as long as they had each other and the girls, everything would be alright.


20 days after -



The night everything was conspired was a week after the King fell desperately ill. It started the morning Uther woke up, as he woke up coughing a storm. They had not found Gorlois and Igraine in the many raids of Gorlois’s domains. It had now been 20 days since their establishment of the declaration of war upon the Oxalis family, and now since the war had been declared, he had slaughtered and destroyed everything Gorlois O’ Oxalis had owned, or so he had thought. Because each time that the King pillaged Gorlois’s domain, which included villages, castles, and all of the people inside them, his subordinates would always relay the message “We couldn’t find the Duke or his family”. At this point the king was pissed. How could his forces not have been able to find him within the 10 days of pillaging him? He was getting impatient, his thoughts were always crowded with images of Igraine, which made him antsy, craving her even more and more within each given day. He’d had enough.
“ULFIUS!” yelled Uther, and almost simultaneously, Sir Ulfius barged into the King's room, panting. It seemed like he was already on his way in, even before King Uther called him.
“King Uther, if I may, can I relay some information I received from our raiders?” King Uther frowned. What was it, bad news again?
“You may speak, what did the raiders say?” Ulfius stood straight, his young face shining with maturity, a contradictory phenomenon.
“We have found Duke Gorlois and he seems to be hiding in the castle of Terrabil.” King Uther smiled, which transitioned into a laugh.
“That's great! We finally found him at last! And in the smallest castle in the land, no less! We can now kill him and take back my beautiful Igraine! Send our forces to the castle of Terrabil at once, Ulfius!” Ulfius twitched and stood in place silently. Uther’s devilish grin returned to a quizzical frown. “What is the matter with you Ulfius? Why are you so silent?,” Ulfius gave an audible gulp, and then gave out a sigh giving up the silence and finally saying,
“I only said we found Duke Gorlois sire, not his wife or his kids. Forgive my incompetence, I should’ve been the one looking for them.” The king's eyes were bloodshot, his anger filling up the room like wine did to a wine cup, it was all red. The king got up from his bed, and went toward the door.
“If none of my knights can find them, I will!,” Uther complained, as he began to close the door, but before he could close the door, Ulfius called out to him.
“My King! I think I have another way; I think I have a solution to finding them!” Uther turned so verily quickly that he ended up hurting his back. Yes, he was on the older side of his prime, but he shouldn’t be old enough to hurt his back from just turning around quickly. This was probably because of his sickness. Ulfius looked worried.
“Are you okay, sire?” Uther looked up and smiled frantically. Ulfius mustn't know about his actual fever. He needed to uphold an image of a strong and fulfilled king, not one that looks easy to overthrow. Right now he needed to be well enough to laugh at Gorlois’s despair once he had sex with his wife.
“Yes, I’m okay Ulfius, just pulled a muscle. Anyway what solution did you think up?” Ulfius gathered himself and spoke quickly but coherently, like he was going forget what he was gonna say if he didn’t mention it right away.
“Near the border of Scotland lives a supposedly magical wizard, and his name is Merlin.” Uther didn’t know the fellow, but his body felt otherwise. Shivers went up his spine, almost alike to the shivers you get after a near-death experience, but Ulfius had just said his name, nothing else. “It is said he roams the Caledonia Forest, helping those in need and granting people's wishes. A few of our Scottish soldiers have told me he is akin to a dragon, and is as wise as the 4 Evangelists.” Ulfius paused and looked straight into the eyes of his King and bowed, putting a hand on his chest. “We could inquire the help of him, if you may have it, sire.” Ulfius braced himself for a full blown rejection. This was such a reach that he baffled himself while saying it. He didn’t even know if this wizard was real or a myth. It was so stupid of him to bring up a minor rumor while the King was in so much pain. But to his surprise, Uther’s mood seemed to lighten up a bit.
“Sure, we can try it.” Ulfius stood back up with a face completely perplexed.
“I’m sorry, what?” Uther scrunched his eyebrows together as he thought long and hard, and then spoke again.
“Find this wizard of yours, I’m desperate.” and with that Ulfius set off for Scotland.


Three days later -


The trees of the Caledonia Forest were so large that the leaves blocked the sky from showing itself. Even though the sky was obstructed, the sun still shone through the leaves and left a pretty pattern on the ground. Ulfius had already been walking for 3 hours, and was well deep into the forest. Before stepping into the forest, he had been staying in a town nearby. A lot of people seemed weary of the forest, and none dared to even go toward it. Even woodcutters wouldn’t go into the forest for work. It turned out that rumors had been spreading around the town of a terrible Dragon, with white scales and fierce, purple eyes roaming the forest. Ulfius thought them mad, because there was no way a dragon could fit through all these little gaps in between the trees. This was unless it was a small dragon, and at that point could you even call it a dragon? Ulfius stopped thinking about it, as he didn’t even believe in dragons, let alone small ones. As he trailed along through a steep hill in the forest, he stopped. A horrid sound broke the silence the forest had previously harbored. The beast that made the sound was all too familiar to Ulfius. This was because it was his stomach. The funds that were given to him were not enough to buy him 3 meals a day, which was his fault for not asking the king for more money. He had to restrict his meals to once a day. He had already eaten in the morning, so he didn’t know why he was still hungry. Ulfius contemplated the choices he had; either he ate a day's worth of food right now to satisfy his hunger, or he waited until he was really desperate and hungry. No, I mustn't eat my limited rations! This is what he told himself, but his stomach said otherwise. It would not stop growling and he was becoming tired of it. This once peaceful forest was now disrupted by the sounds of his gut.
“Forget saving it, I’ll just suffer tomorrow and eat my rations right now.” he said, as he pulled out his pouch with bread bought from the previously mentioned town bakery. The bread on any other day would’ve looked like a normal piece of bread, but to Ulfius it looked like a gift sent from God himself. Ulfius' mouth started to water, and his eyes went bloodshot. The bread, with its soft exterior and its fluffy interior, was basically begging him to eat it. This would be a feast for the ages and Ulfius was not gonna let it go to waste. He grabbed it from the pouch and brought it closer and closer to his mouth, his hunger growing and growing. He could not wait anymore or any longer! He had to eat it now! And as he was about to shove it into his mouth a loud roar sounded through the air, just loud enough to startle the starving Ulfius, making him fumble the bread.
“NOOO!” he shouted as the bread rolled down the hill. “MY DAMNED BREAD!” he dived down after the piece of bread, rolling along the steep hill and somehow dodging all the trees on the hill. Finally he did hit a tree, which happened to be the thickest tree in the forest at the bottom of the hill. It hurt like hell, but Ulfius wasn’t all that concerned about that and instead got straight up, scanning for the bread intensely. “Found you!” he exclaimed as he picked up the ruffled, dirty bread from the ground and brung toward his mouth. But once again something interrupted him, or at least distracted him. He dropped the bread in horror as he stood, looking straight at a white scaled dragon in a clearing of the forest far away. He almost let out a yelp when noticing it, but held it back. He was afraid if he let out even a snippet of sound he would get charred, mauled, or absolutely vored. He stood still and was frozen to the touch. He didn’t have the courage to move. If he did move, those scary purple eyes would follow him. Wait, purple eyes? Ulfius was quite mistaken about the dragon's state, because the dragon's eyes were in fact closed. As soon as Ulfius realized the dragon was asleep, he collapsed to the ground (quietly) and took in a sigh of relief. It was crazy, he didn’t believe that Dragons actually existed! As Ulfius was fawning over his discovery, he heard a hymn of sorts sound through the air. It was melodic humming that came from where the dragon was sleeping. Ulfius curiously walked a little bit closer to the dragon, forgetting the fear he had previously harbored. As soon as he saw the source of the sound, his heart stopped. In the beautiful rays of the sun, on a rock next to the dragon laid a maiden so gorgeous, you’d think she was an angel. She was wearing white robes that encapsulated her body shape. Her hair was of three colors, Brown, Black, and White but mostly the first. Her eyelashes were pure white and shone beautifully in the holy light that shone down on her. She had pretty, refined skin and a voluptuous body that could belong to a prostitute. When you looked at her though, you didn’t think of her being a prostitute, you thought of her more as a Mother, who lived a well and fulfilling life. In an instant, our knight Sir Ulfius, fell in love with this maiden. Amidst his awe, he ended up stepping back a bit and snapped a twig. The twig might as well have been a horn because it ended up alerting the woman of Ulfius’s arrival. The woman looked in the direction of Ulfius and stared at him with the calmest demeanor Ulfius had ever seen. The woman’s stare was verily ethereal that it stunned Ulfius to the point of not being able to speak. He wanted to say something to her, but was so nervous and afraid that she would see him in a bad light if he had said something wrong. He was scared, but he needed to do it; he needed to say something to this lovely woman, anything would do! So Ulfius took a step forward, kneeled down and shouted out of desperation. “PLEASE MARRY ME!” The woman looked at him in surprise, her face flustered, and almost fell off the rock she was sitting on. It took 5 seconds for Ulfius to realize what he had just said before a sense of dread washed over him. Out of all things, that's what he decided to say!? He stood back up. He was mad, he was a mad man! He looked up and tried to explain himself, but the woman was now walking toward him, a serious look on her face replacing the flustered redness of it before. Oh he had done it now, she was gonna slap him, he just knew it. She stopped within inches between their faces. Ulfius could not blink in the company of her, for she was so beautiful that if you had blinked you would be doing a great disservice to yourself. Now HIS face was flustered, so flustered that he could only stare at her face because if he looked down and further, he himself would have the same problem his King currently had. The peaceful Ulfius that everyone loved was no more, he was now a frantic Ulfius, different from his normal knightley self. He looked away from her face and then looked back, and to his surprise, the woman was smiling. She began to laugh, and looked into his eyes. Then she finally spoke.
“Marriage proposal so soon? You're a funny individual!” she clasped her hands around Ulfius. Her voice was lovely and sweet, that it could put any man into a trance at once. She held his hand with such gentleness that Ulfius almost died right there from the embarrassment. It was like he had never touched a lady before, which was partially true because the only woman he had ever touched was his mother, and she didn't count! “Are you looking for someone? Let me guess, Merlin perhaps?” her eyes glinted with a curiosity that drove Ulfius crazy. He wanted to answer every question this woman had given him.
“Uh yeah! Sorry miss, my name is Sir Ulfius Von Paradeigma! I hail from the King of Britain, Uther Pendragon. I am looking for the magical wizard Merlin! It would be an honor if you could show me where he is!” She made a quizzical face.
“Wizard?” she then chuckled some more and sighed. “I do indeed know where your Merlin is. For he is-.” at that moment Ulfius' jaw dropped. “What? I didn’t even say anything yet!” The woman said, but Ulfius was not too focused on her at the moment. He was too busy staring at the purple eye of a Dragon. Ulfius brought out his sword and the woman turned around, but it was too late. The Dragon had snatched both of them in its mouth and swallowed the two whole.

To be continued... [New chapter "every" Friday]
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