The Royal Rescue

“The Royal Rescue” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Abbas Dharsee, Almuntazir Boys Primary School, Tanzania.

The Royal Rescue

A long time ago, when people lived in castles, there were two dragons. One was Hail and the other was Thunder. The latter one was always making and casting storms on Camelot, while Hail shielded and helped King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

One pleasant morning, the largest racing field in Camelot was opening. King Arthur was told to give a speech and cut the ribbon for the grand opening. However, the king was nowhere to be seen. His room was checked and they found a black bolt of ash. It was the mark of Thunder. Hail went to find the king and located Thunder near the tower of the Dark Knight. Hail roared then hid behind a tower. Thunder flew up but could not see because of the thick mist that Hail had made. Then, he heard another roar and followed it. The roar came again, but this time from a different direction. Hail repeated this until Thunder got lost in the mist. Hail flew down to the drawbridge and smashed through it. Hail stealthily knocked out three guards and flew up to the tower jail. He was in time to see Thunder holding and flying off with the king through a window he didn’t notice before. He flew after Thunder to cave that was quickly and magically closing. He just made it in and saw the huge cavern which he was in. Near him stood Thunder, but the king was nowhere near.

Through a small hole in the roof of the cave, he saw the evil wizard flying away on another Thunder with the king. That meant that the Thunder in front of him was a magical illusion. He froze the cave door and sliced it in half as if he was cutting butter with a sword and then flew out. He followed partially and fully burnt bushes and trees towards a large forest. It was thick with trees everywhere and the ground was invisible from any height. All of a sudden, a shower of arrows skimmed right near Hail. He dived into the forest to avoid the incoming arrows. He dived into the deep murky water at the bottom of the forest. Hail was shocked to see dark bolts on the underwater moss. He followed the streaks of ash until they disappeared. “That means he surfaced.” Hail said to himself. However, Hail continued underwater feeling he would find something useful. At the end he found a small cave. Inside there was an armor that didn’t even have a scratch. It was the armor of his father. It gave the dragon who wore it to shield any attack. He immediately put it on without hesitating. He immediately felt safer with it on. If he was going to face Thunder, he would need all the things that would help him save Camelot.

Thunder had adopted his father’s Inferno Armor immediately after he died. Thunder’s and Hail’s fathers were best friends and they protected Britannia day after day. It had changed since they died. But now, it was up to Hail to protect Camelot. He surfaced and flew back up to see a thick layer of ash. He knew this trick so he flew low until he could see again. The first thing he saw was the evil wizard with a cold, untrusting smile. A second later a red beam of light was flying towards him. He dodged it as if he saw it coming. Then, he remembered his father telling him that his armor saw attacks that were coming. He swiftly dodged beam after beam. One second that the wizard used to catch his breath was long enough for Hail to freeze him. He then turned to see Thunder but he was gone. He found the king and they flew back to Camelot.