There I was, perfectly happy on the hip of one of the most
valiant knights in all the land. I was
a beautiful sword. In my hilt was a
perfect blood red ruby surrounded by intricate, well-polished scroll work. My scabbard was also red and heavily encrusted
with gold and jewels. My knight and I
had been in countless wars, slaying the evils that plagued our lands. My knight was aging, but he was still a
strong man who thought that he could take on the world with me at his side, and
rightly so.
Then poof! My knight
and scabbard were gone and I was encased in freaking rock! The rough stone grated against my smooth
blade, scratching up the steel. How the
hell did I go from being at my knight’s side to being in a freaking rock?! I couldn’t see where I was, I couldn’t hear
any voices, nothing!
I waited there forever sitting in a rock, chaffing against
the sides, seeing nothing, hearing nothing. I’m pretty sure I went insane. Then, all of a sudden, I felt a hand on my
hilt trying to tug me out of the stone!
Finally, I was going to be free of this stupid rock! But as much as that hand, and many others,
pulled, I never came free. So yet again,
I was trapped.
What I think was a few days later, the hands returned,
although I was sure that I was stuck there forever. These hands seemed smaller and smoother than
the others, so they must belong to a young boy.
Surprisingly, I was pulled free!
The light was blinding, the sounds deafening! I was free of that blasted stone! The boy took off with me and in the distance
I could see a tournament being prepared.
The boy delivered me to a knight and what was said next was
lost on me. The knight took me to
another and said “Sir, this is the sword of the stone, therefore I am the
rightful King." The other knight appeared doubtful and took us to another
man.
Now this is where I began to drift off. I was so excited and happy to be free of the
stone that I did not care what these men were prattling on about. Maybe I could find my knight now! I could go
back to fighting wars and slaying evils.
I was free after all!
However, the men began to walk back to where the boy had
pulled me from the stone. I could not go
back into that darkness! I would lose my sanity! Try as I might, however, I was returned to the
stone and four more times, with long periods in between, I was pulled from the
stone.
On the fourth time that I was drawn from the stone, I saw a
great crowd of common people around the boy, the stone and me. The second that I was free from the stone,
the crowd began to scream and cheer, chanting the young man’s name. Everyone around us fell to their knees with
tears on their faces: young and old, rich and poor.
The young man was declared king, and with me at his
side! While I may not find my knight
again, I was now at the hip of a man who was chosen by the people, a man with
the natural ability to lead and rule.
The young man’s name was Arthur and he was now king of
Camelot. I protected him for many years,
slaying those that threatened his life and the life of the kingdom. Although my former knight had never named me,
this boy called me Excalibur and we ruled Camelot with a firm hand and a loving
heart.
That is, until we were separated and I never saw the young
man again. I heard that he was given
another sword by a lady of the lake, one that, while not as good as myself,
still helped him rule his kingdom.
Author’s Note:
For this week’s story, I chose to rewrite the King Arthur
story, The Drawing of the Sword. I kept the same story line, but rewrote it
from the viewpoint of Excalibur. I
thought it would be an interesting viewpoint since the sword is so central to
the tale of King Arthur. I wanted to
show how it would feel to be encased in stone, waiting for the One True King to
come along and draw you from the stone.
And once you’re finally free of the stone, you are placed back into it
again and again because the knights would not accept your bearer as the one
true king.
