Arthur's Fight - Ye Olde Essay Contest Entry

This next story entered in "Ye Olde Essay Contest" was written by Aidan, age 13. It is titled "Arthur's Fight".

Back when there were heroic knights and fierce dragons, there was a castle that was in great danger. It was in danger because there was an enormous dragon coming close to the castle. The king was nervous about the dragon, because he knew that this beast would burn down the whole city to ashes, so he decided to arrange a meeting with his knights in the Great Hall. They hurried in after the king, dressed and armed for any battle. “Noble knights,” the king announced, “We have a fierce dragon that, if it comes close to our castle, will burn it down. Will any of you attack this beast?” Sir Richard replied with, “If we attack it, we will be worse off than if we just wait to see if the dragon passes by.” “That is not safe for our people!” exclaimed Bartholomew the archer incredulously. “I would go fight this beast, but I need to take care of my family.” “Sir George,” the king questioned, “Will you attack this mighty beast? You may use whatever weapons you wish.” “Nay,” he replied, “I am no match against a mighty dragon.” The king asked all of his knights, but none would go.

The king sat dejected in his chair until his daughter came in. “Father,” she asked, “what is wrong?” “Not even one knight will fend off the nearby mighty dragon,” he replied. “Why not Arthur the squire?” she suggested. “He is brave and has even fought in battles before.” “Perfect!” the king exclaimed. He bounced out of his chair and bounded down the hall to find Arthur. When he found Arthur, he asked him if he would take the task of fighting the dragon. “I will, your Highness,” he said humbly. “When shall I attack this creature?” “After sundown,” was the king’s answer. “Try to find it before it awakens. Otherwise you will have a difficult fight. But make sure you do not fall asleep.”

So Arthur walked into the weapons room. “What shall I fight with?” he asked himself. The halberd was too unwieldy. The bow and arrows would not be sharp enough. The battle-ax was very heavy. The daggers were short. And the broadswords were huge. Then he spotted a sword just the right size. He picked it up, grabbed a shield and a helmet, and set off.

After walking for hours, he lay down and fell fast asleep. Meanwhile, the king and his daughter were worriedly hunting for him because he should have been back hours ago. Arthur woke up seeing that the sun was already up, and was feeling a cold-blooded creature with scales on top of him. “This must be a large snake to have a tail this massive,” Arthur mused. But when he saw its head, he decided that it was a dragon, and it was wondering what Arthur was. He hurriedly threw his sword at the beast’s head, but it caught the sword between its teeth and breathed fire at him. Arthur threw his helmet at the dragon next, hoping to possess his sword again. This idea worked because the dragon dropped the dented sword out of its mouth and batted the helmet away. The helmet flew at Arthur’s head, but providentially, Arthur tripped over his shield and the helmet flew harmlessly over him, startling the dragon when it clattered to the ground. So, Arthur got up off of the ground and, as the dragon lunged at him, thrust his sword through the dragon. There lay the once mighty dragon, conquered by a squire. Arthur looked up to see the king and the princess running to meet him. When they asked him how he won he answered, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

The king was so pleased that he knighted the brave squire right there. The king, the princess, and Sir Arthur happily walked back to the castle, never to be bothered by the dragon again.

The End