Week 11: Storytelling -- Arthur and Guyon

As Princess Britomart disguised herself as a handsome knight, trying to find the man in Merlin's Mirror, she met Prince Arthur and Sir Guyon along her travels. And though they kept each other company for awhile, running headlong into adventure wherever they could find it, that changed as they approached an eerie forest one day. For suddenly, an ivory colored horse burst out of the fog surrounding the place, its rider a woman with long blond hair and a frightened expression on her face. She kept glancing behind her, the reason made known approximately ten seconds later in the form of a man with a cruel expression and a spear aimed to kill.

As soon as they saw this, Arthur and Guyon turned their horses away from the forest and chased after the man and woman. Although both wondered why Britomart had made no move to help the girl being pursued, the thought was pushed in the back of their minds in favor of the more immediate matter at hand. The path they followed was twisted and turned, though the two riders ahead of Arthur and Guyon rode with ease along it. As they barely kept up with the sight of their guides, the girl suddenly veered to the left with her horse into a grove, still unable to lose her pursuer. Behind them, Arthur and Guyon tried to spur their horses to go faster, hoping that they could stop her pursuer before she was caught. But by the time they reached the grove, there was no sight or sound of either the woman or the man. Luckily, the ground was damp from nightfall's rain, and hoof prints were seen leading into the grove, trailing down, they soon discovered, to the opening of a large cave.

It was probably the largest cave mouth they'd ever come across, in fact, and it easily allowed them to ride on their horses side-by-side into the entrance. And if they were surprised at the measure of the cave mouth, it was nothing to their surprise at the magnitude of its insides. Stretched out so far that two small castles could easily fit, Arthur and Guyon stared around them for a moment in awe. The brown-gray rock of the cave was hidden underneath bright green moss, breathing life in an otherwise seemingly empty space. A halo of light stood in the corner of the cave, deep enough into the cave where they could make out its back.

As they neared the end of the cave, the back wall of the cave became clearer. Cut into the wall was a strangely triangular manmade opening, only wide enough for one person to go through at a time. And though Prince Arthur dismounted the chestnut mare and went deeper into the cave without hesitation, Sir Guyon paused for a moment before following the prince, wondering, quite perceptively, why no sound of the horses belonging to the two riders they pursued echoed within the massive cave.

For about an hour they silently walked, all the while hearing a dull roar become steadily stronger. As cave's narrow hallway reached its end, they found themselves at the edge of a pool of water, a layer of gray rock surrounding the half of the cave they were on. The other half consisted of a layer of ragged rock, part of which was smoothed over thanks to the waterfall at the end. But aside from the hole in the ceiling that allowed the water to flow into the cave's lake, there was no entrance into this part of the cave. Including the one they had just come from.

Suddenly, the woman and the man sprung out of the lake, and Arthur and Guyon were quite relieved that she was unhurt. But instead of fear, the woman wore an expression of complete calm. And instead of trying to run away, she held hands with the man, as though she trusted him completely. Guyon's eyes widened, and pushed Arthur away from the lake before he could enter it.

"Water demons," he whispered loud enough for Arthur to hear. Arthur's eyes widened, and his hand went to the hilt of his sword, prepared to fight. And then he narrowed his eyes, pulling out his sword. "I believe it is much worse than that, my friend."

Suddenly the cave began to shake, and the man and the woman were gone. In their place stood a gigantic two-headed water serpent. And at lightning speed they lunged at Arthur and Guyon.

Both Guyon and Arthur dove out of the way in the nick of time, and the creature smashed into the wall of the cave. But it hadn't given up yet. It seized the two men with each of its heads, trying to crush Arthur and Guyon to death. And though Guyon's sword had fallen out of his hands, Arthur's hadn't. Since his arms weren't caught by the coil of the serpent's neck, he was able to hack the serpent's head off, cutting the head from the base of the serpent's neck. Bleeding and hurt, the serpent loosened its grip on Guyon, who cut its other head off.

And when the serpent died, a tremble shook throughout the cave, and the cave entrance magically reappeared. That day, Arthur and Guyon walked out of the cave alive, killing the deadly serpent god who had resided there for a thousand years unchallenged.

Part of the Cave

(Source: Geograph)

Author's Note:

I based this story off of the second chapter of The Faerie Queene, How Britomart Fought Six Knights. In the original story, the chapter follows Britomart, the cross-dressing princess who pretends to be a knight to try and find the destined husband she saw in Merlin's mirror. But instead of following the main character and retelling the story of her adventure in this chapter, I decided I'd expound on what happened to Arthur and Guyon as they chased after Florimell, the girl. When they chased after Florimell without Britomart, I was curious as to what happened to them. So I decided to create an adventure for them. Since the entirety of the Faerie Queene is several volumes long, I'm sure you do find out what happens to Prince Arthur and Sir Guyon. But in the reading unit, you'll never know.

Stories From the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod (1916). Story Source: Internet Archive