I'm not sure why, but I'm feeling nostalgic tonight, so I thought I would post this. This is a story I wrote when I was fourteen or fifteen in response to an assignment in which I had to write something that had a moral. I chose a fairy tale-ish voice. For whatever it's worth, which is surely little more than amusement, I present to you know the story of, "The King's Best Fighting Force." I have fixed a few typos but otherwise left the story as originally written.
"The King's Best Fighting Force"
by C.N. Nevets, (c) 2010
It happened a long time ago, and probably in a place far, far away, that the kingdom of Quamso split into two halves: Quamso Pil, the agricultural land, and Quamso Tag, the more commercial territory. It did not take long (from History's view point), only three generations, for them to learn that each half could not get along with out the other half. The irony of the situation was that they could not get along with each other either. Each of the kings sent an envoy to have a secret meeting at the Quamso, a mystical place with a giant rock with splenderous colors and formations.
The envoy from King Gan of Quamso Tag was Get. Get arrived at the Quamso atop a fine white horse, second in greatness only to the raven-black marvel of King Gan. A few hours later, Jol from Quamso Pil came along, swaying back and forth atop his cow, as was the custom among the Pilons. The two envoys slapped elbows, according to the old customs of greeting, and then looked at each other, as one inspects gutter-refuse.
"King Run of Quamso Pil salutes you," Jol said as required by protocol. "King Gan of Quamso Tag salutes you," Get replied in like, not going to be out-mannered by a simple farmer. "Are you and your king prepared to surrender Pil to the Tagnats, as is just and right?"
"What?" Jol cried plaintively. "By what right do you propose to take over the kinder and gentler dominion?"
"The right of might!" Get announced.
They argued in this way until the sun was down and the sky was alit by the little torches which hung there mysteriously. Not able to come to a settlement, the two courtiers left in an angry huff. Get drove his stallion through the bush at a cruel pace, and Jol pounded his cow's sides furiously with his heels, urging the simple beast far more than it could tolerate well.
Within days, war was declared, and the troops and armies of both sides began to amass. Pil was winning the war within days, and were getting too close to the castle of the Tagnats. King Gan sent out his best fighting force, a group of excellent horsemen, to infiltrate the enemy's camp and terrorize all who lay there in their sleep.
It so happened, however, that the dragon who dwelt in the mountain came down that same night. He dug a pit deep as a castle, and nearly as wide too. He would go back to the mountains and come back here in a few days, and there would be food in there for him.
The king's best fighting force did not know of this, however, and when they were riding for the Pilons' camp, they fell into the dragon's pit, and were trapped there.
When news of this reached the king the next day, he was horrified and saddened. He paced and paced and paced all around the courtyard. He hired musicians to play and help him think. He called upon his deep thoughts and unwavering logic as sculptors displayed their most thought-provoking works. He finally shoved the people aside, and stalked off to the throne room, knowing only one thing to do.
He was wise and all those gathered around appreciated this, and when he spoke all were silent and expectant. "We must let them stay in the pit," he announced with that certain pageantry only royalty possesses.
"But why?" asked the queen - the only one who would talk back to him in the least.
"The needs of the many out-way the needs of the few, my dear, and it would risk a great many, in deed, to dare to approach a dragon's pit."
All gasped and their eyes widened in absolute awe. The king had seen through the superficial surface of the issue and dug deeply, coming up with the answer only reasoning and logic could provide. The others gathered, in their more modest metal state, could not even begin to understand the king and his mind-boggling genius.
A few days later, despite the persistence of the Tagnats, the castle was laid siege by the Pilons with catapults and other hideous machines of war. The only possible way to stop the catapults' bombardment of the castle was to destroy them, and the only way to do that was to charge them with lances and tremendous skill, as only the king's best fighting force could do.
Needless, to say, the dragon was adamant in not spitting them up from his belly, and the castle was taken. The people who were not killed were left free for the Pilons needed advisors and slaves. Quamso Pil became the kingdom's new name, though the land was the land of both kingdoms.
The king lost almost all of his people in that one day. In truth, there were many deaths and few survivors.
The envoy from King Gan of Quamso Tag was Get. Get arrived at the Quamso atop a fine white horse, second in greatness only to the raven-black marvel of King Gan. A few hours later, Jol from Quamso Pil came along, swaying back and forth atop his cow, as was the custom among the Pilons. The two envoys slapped elbows, according to the old customs of greeting, and then looked at each other, as one inspects gutter-refuse.
"King Run of Quamso Pil salutes you," Jol said as required by protocol. "King Gan of Quamso Tag salutes you," Get replied in like, not going to be out-mannered by a simple farmer. "Are you and your king prepared to surrender Pil to the Tagnats, as is just and right?"
"What?" Jol cried plaintively. "By what right do you propose to take over the kinder and gentler dominion?"
"The right of might!" Get announced.
They argued in this way until the sun was down and the sky was alit by the little torches which hung there mysteriously. Not able to come to a settlement, the two courtiers left in an angry huff. Get drove his stallion through the bush at a cruel pace, and Jol pounded his cow's sides furiously with his heels, urging the simple beast far more than it could tolerate well.
Within days, war was declared, and the troops and armies of both sides began to amass. Pil was winning the war within days, and were getting too close to the castle of the Tagnats. King Gan sent out his best fighting force, a group of excellent horsemen, to infiltrate the enemy's camp and terrorize all who lay there in their sleep.
It so happened, however, that the dragon who dwelt in the mountain came down that same night. He dug a pit deep as a castle, and nearly as wide too. He would go back to the mountains and come back here in a few days, and there would be food in there for him.
The king's best fighting force did not know of this, however, and when they were riding for the Pilons' camp, they fell into the dragon's pit, and were trapped there.
When news of this reached the king the next day, he was horrified and saddened. He paced and paced and paced all around the courtyard. He hired musicians to play and help him think. He called upon his deep thoughts and unwavering logic as sculptors displayed their most thought-provoking works. He finally shoved the people aside, and stalked off to the throne room, knowing only one thing to do.
He was wise and all those gathered around appreciated this, and when he spoke all were silent and expectant. "We must let them stay in the pit," he announced with that certain pageantry only royalty possesses.
"But why?" asked the queen - the only one who would talk back to him in the least.
"The needs of the many out-way the needs of the few, my dear, and it would risk a great many, in deed, to dare to approach a dragon's pit."
All gasped and their eyes widened in absolute awe. The king had seen through the superficial surface of the issue and dug deeply, coming up with the answer only reasoning and logic could provide. The others gathered, in their more modest metal state, could not even begin to understand the king and his mind-boggling genius.
A few days later, despite the persistence of the Tagnats, the castle was laid siege by the Pilons with catapults and other hideous machines of war. The only possible way to stop the catapults' bombardment of the castle was to destroy them, and the only way to do that was to charge them with lances and tremendous skill, as only the king's best fighting force could do.
Needless, to say, the dragon was adamant in not spitting them up from his belly, and the castle was taken. The people who were not killed were left free for the Pilons needed advisors and slaves. Quamso Pil became the kingdom's new name, though the land was the land of both kingdoms.
The king lost almost all of his people in that one day. In truth, there were many deaths and few survivors.
THE END
.Nevets.
The elbows greeting was unique. LOL I loved that the king left the men here because of the dragon. interesting little story. I'm sure you could spruce it up a bit and make a childrens book out of it. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like you were writing well even at fourteen or fifteen!
ReplyDeleteSome people are born to be writers. I'd say this applies to you. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat story -- good pacing, nice imagery, and good structure. A+!
No idea why you're nostalgic? Childhood toy mentions may have something to do with it...
ReplyDelete:)
~bru
Thanks for indulging my trip through the past, all. :)
ReplyDelete@Summer - I'd forgotten about the elbows thing and literally laughed out-loud when I re-read that. Is it wrong to laugh at your own bits? lol
@Rachel - Thanks!
@Jennifer - woot! Thanks! :)
@Bru - hahaha Hey, yeah, this was your fault. :) Which is cool, because it was was actually fun digging that out.