The Poison Rose: A King Arthur Tale

by Matthew Argyle

  “Merlin!” exclaimed Lancelot. “Merlin has come!”

  Everyone except Arthur was excited and pleased by Merlin’s presence. “No! I told him not to come,” said Arthur. “I fear for his safety. Battle is no place for him.”

  “He may do as he pleases Arthur,” replied Lancelot. “Perhaps his presence will help us win this battle. These people need belief and not just strength of arms.”

  But it seemed that the witch too, heard the cheers of Arthur’s men and, using her magical sight, looked up to behold old Merlin on the hill overlooking the battlefield.

  “It can’t be!” she exclaimed.

  She immediately drew her wand and moved forward through the battlefield, killing enemies with her wand before they could even get near her. Lancelot, shooting his arrows frantically, noticed the witch moving forward through the battlefield. “The witch is on the move!” exclaimed Lancelot to Arthur (who was busy slaughtering enemies as he spoke). Lancelot shot an arrow at her, but the witch used her magic to quickly destroy the arrow. As if completely focused and unafraid, she continued forward through the battlefield.

  “Where is she going?” asked Arthur, suddenly focusing on the witch.

  “Look!” exclaimed Lancelot. “She is heading towards Merlin!”

  Arthur saw that Lancelot was right. The witch was moving towards Merlin and moving fast. She seemed intensely focused on him, not attempting to stray sight away from him, even for a moment.

  Suddenly Elaine spotted the witch, drew her blade and raced towards the witch. “No!” yelled Lancelot.

  The witch seemed to notice something was wrong and gazed over at the fierce warrior charging at her. “Ha! What is this? Who dares charge me?”

  In these moments Lancelot felt great fear. He knew what the witch could do and feared for her life. But Elaine was not going down so easily. She swung her sword swiftly at the witch and nearly stabbed her in the chest. However, the witch was quick and dodged her blade. Then, with her wand, the witch dissolved the sword into dust. She laughed, lifted Elaine up by her neck, and tossed her into the midst of warriors.

  Arthur saw all that was happened to Elaine and knew that the witch would now go for Merlin.

  “Cover for me Lancelot!” exclaimed Arthur. “I will see to this witch.. I must protect Merlin.”

  Lancelot nodded and drew his sword, swinging it ferociously at the oncoming hoard of enemy warriors. “Yes sir…for Elaine!”

  Arthur was puzzled. Of all the people that would draw the witch forward through the battlefield he couldn’t understand why it would be Merlin. Merlin was old and certainly couldn’t fight well in battle at all. He seemed like the most unlikely subject, but yet the witch seemed drawn to him more.

  Arthur stopped and ran as fast as he could towards Merlin, who stood on the hill overlooking the valley. The witch smiled as she walked up towards him, killing all those in her way with her magic wand. Merlin saw her, but stood entirely still. It seemed like there was not an ounce of fear in him. The witch then suddenly stopped only about fifteen feet in front of Merlin. They each looked at each other, exchanging dark stares. Then Arthur stopped in front of them both, entirely out of breath, the three forming the shape of a triangle. Arthur had his sword drawn and the witch had her wand, but Merlin had no weapon.

  “Dani,” said Merlin softly, but boldly and firmly.

  “I thought you were dead,” exclaimed the witch. “But you, of all people survived, escaping my vision for these many years! How clever!”

  “Dani you had so much potential,” said Merlin calmly. “You do not have to end up like your old master.”

  Arthur was entirely confused. “Wait! You two know each other?”

  There was a long moment of silence as both the witch and Merlin seemed to have entirely disregarded Arthur’s comment.

  “You didn’t know,” replied the witch, laughing. “Merlin, you didn’t tell him the truth did you?”

  “What truth?” asked Arthur, looking back and forth and the two of them.

  “Merlin was the king long ago when the last witch was alive, after your father died,” explained the witch. “He wanted to purify the entire kingdom and so he wandered far and wide, away from Camelot, bringing everyone under his banner. But in his wanderings he met and fell in love with a witch. When this happened he fled back to Camelot. While in Camelot he studied ancient texts and somehow learned the secret—that the only way he could defeat a witch after falling in love with her was to stay alive and stay away from her. And, as a wizard and not a normal man, even though he fell in love with her he could not be turned to stone or become her servant, unless he chose to. He knew what he had to do. He knew he could never stay in his kingdom because the witch would find him and he would only be drawn more to her. So both the wizard and the witch were in a dilemma. They had both come to hate each other and both knew that they needed to find an heir because they could not remain where they were forever. So what happened? The witch remained in hiding and that is when she found me and took me in, back to her palace. There she trained me to be the next witch. There she told me of Merlin—the wizard who would destroy her.”

  “But what about me?” asked Arthur.

  Merlin sighed. “I went back to my kingdom but had no son to take over, so I couldn’t just leave. I needed someone to rule the kingdom. So, through my magic, I created a stone with a sword to see who would be worthy to be my heir. I told everyone in the kingdom that whoever pulled the sword from the stone would become king. People came from all around to pull the sword from the stone, but none could pull it. But then, just before all was lost who made it to the stone, but you, a small orphan boy. I saw you, all alone, enter into that courtyard on that rainy day and draw a sword, not for yourself, but for your master. You had no intention to be king but the sword chose you. Once you drew the sword I then brought you to the castle to be looked over, but did not want you nor your kingdom to have any recollection of me or of the challenge I gave to remove the sword from the stone.”

  “But why?” asked Arthur. “Why erase my memory and the memory of my kingdom?”

  “Because I didn’t want you or the kingdom to believe that you were unworthy to be king—that you became king just by pulling a sword from a stone. I didn’t want you to remember your old life, a life that would make you feel unworthy to be a king. And as for your memory of me, well, I didn’t want you to remember me because I had failed. You see, in my pride I had fallen for a witch and I could not defeat her. Thus I had left the kingdom helpless and unrepaired. The best I could do as king was find an heir to reverse my mistake of falling in love with a witch. So I used the last magic that I could and erased your dark memories—the memories you had of your past and of you pulling the sword from the stone. I also erased any memory the kingdom had of me, so that they would not find my disappearance unusual. I then exiled myself from the kingdom while still silently watching over you and the kingdom from afar.”

  “So now you see!” exclaimed the witch. “He was the one who killed my mother! He didn’t fall for her enticing love because he didn’t return to be with her…instead she was left to rot and die and I was forced to watch her wither away in front of me as I wither away now. But, nevertheless, he ultimately failed in his efforts because now I, the great witch and ruler of this entire land, cannot be defeated. Now, Arthur, you will watch as I kill him.”

  The witch hesitated for a moment so that she could merely stare deep into the eyes of the enemy. Then she smiled. In this moment Arthur expected Merlin to show some sign of sadness, but he did not. His expression was full of faith and confidence.

  “Dani, just do it,” said Merlin.

  “No!” yelled Arthur as he moved towards Merlin, attempting to push him out of the way. But he was too late. Before he knew it the witch sent a powerful beam of magic that knocked Merlin many feet backwards to the ground.

  The witch laughed and pointed her wand up towards the sky. “Long live the Poison Rose! I have finally defeated the gre
at Merlin! Merlin the wizard is dead!”

  Arthur felt terribly weak. His heart pained him to see such a good man destroyed by such an evil. Thus, in this remorseful state, he fell down on his knees over the wizard’s body. “Don’t die!” yelled Arthur. “You can’t die!”

  Merlin could barely speak, but looked up into the eyes of Arthur, as the eyes of a joyful father. “I thought of you as my son…and I still do. I now go to paradise and am freed at last.” Arthur watched as Merlin used all his strength to look over at Excalibur. He then mumbled, “Arthur, your sword…” These were his final words, before the great man ascended into the realm of the Gods!

  Arthur wanted to cry now more than ever, but he knew he could not—nobody could see their great leader cry. His great mentor, friend, and supporter was now gone, destroyed by some horrifying evil—Dani the witch.

  Arthur looked down at his old mentor, not wanting to leave him. But a part of him knew it was over. He knew he was dead and there was nothing he would be able to do about it. Arthur heard the sound of the witch’s insidious laughter. His heart churned within himself. He couldn’t imagine how anyone could be so evil as to take joy in killing such a good man. He turned, looked her in the face and stared at her, her face a menacing red. “Now Arthur, you have come to meet your death, after all that you have done. I should have finished you before. But, it doesn’t matter, because now my work will be finished.”

  Arthur looked back down at Merlin, and then down at the sword on the ground. He reached over, picked up Excalibur, and pointed it up at the witch. “You think any earthly weapon is a match against me,” mocked the witch. “Have you learned nothing at all from me and my power? You will die just as you were born, a fool!”

  Arthur moved the sword in front of his face. Then the witch suddenly shot a powerful blast of magic. Arthur thought he was going to be dead, for how could he fight against the magic of a witch with only a sword? But he was surprised. The entire beam of the witch’s magic was somehow absorbed into the sword and Arthur was not harmed one bit.

  The witch looked just as surprised as he did. “What? What is this magic? No sword can do that!”

  Arthur looked down at his sword that shined a bright white. He then realized something amazing. There was a reason why Arthur had never seen Merlin use any of his magic. Knowing that he would leave his kingdom behind he must have put every remaining drop of magic that he had, after he placed the spell over Arthur and the kingdom, into this sword knowing that this sword, the sword known as Excalibur, would find its way into the hands of the future king. So Merlin never really left him on his own against the witch and this was a great revelation that filled Arthur with peace and confidence.

  Arthur looked up at the witch and smiled. “This is no ordinary sword. You are not the only one with magic witch!”

  The witch suddenly fired another blast of magic, but again with the same result. In disbelief she fired off a third shot. “What is this magic? asked the witch. “How can this be?”

  “You underestimated Merlin,” replied Arthur. “He was a far better wizard than you will ever be a witch, for even in death his magic does defeat yours!”

  Arthur suddenly saw a new expression light up the witch’s face. It was one that was difficult to describe, except that it was a juxtaposition of a terrifying anger and fear. “You think you have won because of your stupid sword!” laughed the witch. She suddenly flung her wand down to the ground. “You have not won, for I am even more dangerous without a wand. Yes, I can become more terrifying and powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Arthur then watched as the woman before him suddenly transformed into a terrifying creature, a creature he had only known in legends—a dragon.

  Chapter 21: Against the Dragon

  Arthur felt the ground beneath him rumble and shake, causing him to fall the ground. In front of him the once beautiful woman had now transformed into the largest and most fierce creature he had ever seen. Arthur looked up from the ground and held his sword up in the air at the monstrous creature that stood in front of him. It now stood on all four feet. Its scales were all black, its eyes a piercing rose red. Its tail was spiked at the end and its massive wings propelled it up into the air. The dragon let out a loud, fierce roar as it flew up and over the field.

  Arthur had heard about dragons and read about them in books, but he had never encountered one in the flesh and for his entire life he supposed that they, like witches, were a mere fiction. However, now the legends and fictions of his past were becoming a reality and it all seemed to make sense.

  In legends dragons were described as the ultimate evil, and although dragons were mentioned they were never prevalent in manuscripts, which is why Arthur had figured them a fiction. In all the ancient legends he read there was no specific way mentioned to defeat a dragon, and most perished by the dragon. Either way, however, the dragon represented the hero’s ultimate test. If someone could prove successful against the dragon he could be a true hero.

  Arthur never thought that he would have to fight a dragon and doing so seemed like a task much beyond the ability of any mortal. But with it Arthur knew that the tide of this battle had suddenly seemed to turn to his advantage, for Arthur immediately knew that this was the transformation that Merlin spoke of—catharsis. The words of Merlin returned to him with great clarity, “All you need to know is that this transformation will make her a much more vicious and evil—it will transform the evil inside of her into an outside force, as she will appear and fight terribly. There is one good thing about this transformation. Once her evil is revealed then it can be defeated. If you can make her angry enough she will sacrifice beauty and invincibility for the opportunity to kill you. It is a change in a witch I call catharsis, for you see Arthur, all witches naturally win by not fighting at all, but if needed they can be the attackers. But that is what you want. You want to make her the attacker.”

  Arthur should have felt fear as he saw the dragon rise above him in the air. But he miraculously found that he felt a calm sense of peace (at least as calm as you can feel with a dragon after you). Despite the ferocity of the dragon he believed that he would, in fact, be able to conquer it (after all, he had finally angered the witch enough to compel her to reveal her true self).

  There, upon the hill of Badon Fields, Arthur watched as the great and fearsome dragon flew up into the air, spiraling around chaotically over the field to intimidate everyone fighting on the field below. The dragon then suddenly opened her mouth wide and sent a roaring river of fire down onto the ground below, etching lines of fire all across the battlefield. This sent many fighters retreating away from the dragon.

  Seeing this, Arthur quickly ran down the hill towards Lancelot and placed his arm over his friend’s shoulder. “Lancelot I see much fear now in my people’s eyes. But do not be alarmed by the dragon, for the tide of this battle has turned to our favor.”

  Arthur saw Percival approach on his horse. “Percival, my friend!” exclaimed Arthur. “The tide has turned! Ride across the battlefield telling our warriors that the tide has turned! People need hope now more than ever!”

  Percival nodded. “I can do much more than that!” He suddenly ripped the shirt from off him, placed his shirt around the top of his spear, and road his horse gallantly through the field yelling loudly for all to hear, “Stand your ground! Fear not this beast from the pits of hell, for our hero Arthur does fight the beast! We must stand our ground!” So Arthur’s knights and the warriors of Arthur’s army still left cheered loudly for Percival who rode across the burning battlefield.

  “What would you have me do brother?” asked Lancelot.

  “We must fight the dragon together,” said Arthur. “Use your arrows to take it down or at least bring it down here to us and away from the battle.” Lancelot, who was at least partially focused on the battle between Arthur and the witch, was now tracking the dragon ferociously as it flew through the air. He aimed an arrow up at the dragon and fired. The arrow hit the dragon in the stomach, but
didn’t do much damage. Like a toothpick barely driven into flesh, the arrow merely momentarily distracted the dragon. Lancelot noticed the dragon turn around in the air and he took off away from the dragon.

  Lancelot was running faster and faster through the field, but the dragon was gaining on him. He looked back and saw the dragon only a few feet from him. Lancelot ducked, hoping to avoid being eaten or picked up by the dragon’s massive claws. He looked away, and just before the dragon had ensnared him in her grasp Arthur leapt in front of the beast and swung his sword hard at her front claws. The dragon, clearly in pain, flew back a few feet and let out a loud, high-pitched screech that caused everyone there to cover their ears.

  The dragon pulled back up several feet into the air, but then, after recovering her strength and stamina, she dove down on Arthur again. The eyes of the dragon lit up a fiery red. “Lancelot, fire your arrows!” Lancelot obeyed and continued firing arrows up at the dragon as fast as he could, but it was to no avail. The beast did not delay. Arthur ducked quickly, forcing the dragon to miss him by only a few feet. Lancelot shot another arrow, this time hitting the dragon in the neck. The dragon looked annoyed as it tried to use its mouth to tear out the arrow.

  Lancelot smiled as Arthur approached. “That will give us a few moments,” said Lancelot. “What is your plan?”

  “Plan, I have no plan. No man can kill her,” exclaimed Arthur. “Wait! I have something.” He just thought of something that Merlin said before. Everything Merlin had done and said to this point seemed to be a part of a larger plan. Plus he had nothing to lose. “We have to get to Alice!” exclaimed Arthur.

  Lancelot nodded.

  “You keep the dragon distracted with arrows,” said Arthur as he ran back to his horse and mounted it. “It will be much faster on horse. Ride with me brother,” exclaimed Arthur. Lancelot mounted his horse and prepared to follow Arthur.