Excalibur

=Excalibur= = When the sword Arthur had pulled from the stone broke in battle, Arthur was left without a substantial weapon to help him lead his majestic Kingdom. Merlin's time in Arthur's life was coming to a close, but he still had one deed to do before he left Arthur on his own. Merlin and Arthur traveled to the Lady of the Lake, a magical Nimue. She gave him a great sword called Excalibur. The handle was gold, and had precious stones embedded in it. The silver was shining, and the sword itself would never break. Arthur was flabbergasted by the sword; his eyes got very wide and he was left speechless in the light reflecting off of the silver blade. The scabbard was also gold, and had many jewels embedded into it as well. The Lady of the Lake told Arthur that he would be invincible with Excalibur. Then she asked, "What would you rather have, the scabbard or the sword?". "The sword of course", Arthur replied. "Wrong, the sword is great, but the scabbard will stop you from being wounded, so always keep it close. But if you are ever to lose the scabbard, oh Arthur beware.", the Lady replied, and handed him both gleaming objects. Arthur said in a voice full of reverence, "Of course milady, I will treasure it greatly, and will protect it with my life", and with that he bowed deeply. "But Arthur, you must remember that you must bring the sword with the scabbard back to me before you take your last breath or else the spell will be broken and the sword will rust away, as will your name.", said the Lady of the Lake with a deep and serious voice. Merlin then said with equal seriousness, "My time is gone my child, but yours will live on, Goodbye". Merlin and The Lady of the Lake then left. From then on Merlin spent his time in a cave under the mountains, studying charts and books. He only saw Arthur in his dreams, and by day he studied. When Arthur returned to the castle, Morgan Le Fey pretended to be Arthur's friend because she had an evil plan plotted out. She asked Arthur in a sign of friendship to lend her his sword. Arthur said yes because he thought that she was just going to admire it's beauty. Then Morgan La Fey gave it to her boyfriend, and made a fake copy to give Arthur. Then Morgan's Boyfriend challenged Arthur to battle, Arthur accepted because he thought he had the real Excalibur, which would make him unbeatable. Morgan's boyfriend then began to beat Arthur because she had the real Excalibur. Arthur was about to die when the Lady of the Lake saved him and got him back Excalibur. = = By: Anna Juul & Alli Lowe =

=When King Arthur's men left to go on quests he wanted to go on one himself. When a battle wounded knight returned from a quest, King Arthur went to search for King Pellinore, a rival of King Arthur. When he arrived at King Pellinore's tent, King Pellinore challenged King Arthur to a joust. When King Arthur broke his lance and fell off his horse, King Pellinore said, "I will defeat you fair and square." Then they pull out their swords and started to fight again in close combat. When the Pendragon sword broke, King Pellinore held his sword against King Arthur's neck. Then...FLASH! The sword against King Arthur's throat loosened and Merlin stood behind a bush and he was casting a magical spell. King Pellinore fell to the ground. He looked dead but Merlin said, "He is not dead, just asleep." Merlin rushed Arthur to a healer, then when Arthur was revived, Merlin took him to the Lady of the Lake, Nimue. When they arrived to the Lake, a hand was sticking out of the lake. In the hand was the sword Excalibur. Nimue said, "As long as you protect this sword and keep it safe, you can have the great sword, Excalibur". Arthur then agreed to the purposes of the sword. Merlin and Arthur then set off to get the sword in the middle of the lake. As soon as Arthur got to the center, Merlin asked, "Are going to pick the sword or the scabbard?"He wanted the sword, but Merlin suggested the scabbard because you can't be wounded during battle with it. So then Arthur got the scabbard and they headed back to the castle. When they got back, King Pellinore was there asking for forgiveness and ability to become one of his knights. Arthur said, "You are forgiveven and you are now one of my knights."= =By Ethan Dolata and Jack Conway= = = =

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=Arthur had many great victories, but he hid a secret jealousy for his knights. They went on quests while he stayed in his castle. One day a squire rode in with a terribly wounded knight and Arthur received the story from the squire. The squire said that a man that called himself King Pellinore had set up a pavilion and, if anyone wanted to pass, they would have to defeat him. The squire wanted to have revenge on the man who killed his knight. Merlin said that is was fine and so he was knighted. But the next day he too rode through the gate, defeated. Arthur wanted to see this man for himself, so he snuck out at night. In the next morning Arthur found a fresh-water pool and, as he was about to aproach, the Questing Beast, a strange half-lion half-dragon creature, Came and drank from the pool. Arthur coludn't believe his eyes. Suddenly, a voice from behind said, "Hello there friend, you on a quest like me?" He turned around to see a burley man with 2 hounds. Arthur looked back at the pool to see that the beast had dissapeared. He replied to the man," Do you want a ride on my horse to where you want?" . "I have a better idea", said the man and then he jumped up onto Arthurs horse and rode away, his hounds following, Yelling," be honored, you have been spared by King Pellinore!" Arthur was so angry that he didn't see Merlin emerge from a maple tree. Merlin took him back to the castle and, together, they went riding towards Pellinores' pavilion. There, Arthur had a joust with Pellinore. After they were both unhorsed, they had a feirce battle on foot. On one blow, Pellinore broke the Pendragon Blade and knocked Arthur unconcious. As he was about to kill him, Merlin put Pellinore into a deep sleep. When Arthur woke, he asked Merlin, horrified," Did you kill him?" Merlin responded," No, I only put him to sleep." But they had a new problem. Arthur needed a new sword. And so they journeyed to Avalon, to where to holy sword Excalibur lay hidden. Upon arrival, Arthur glimpsed a sword in its scabbard being grasped by a maidens hand in the middle of a lake. Arthur got off his horse, exclaiming under his breath as he rolled up his trousers, what extraordinary weapons I get, my first embedded in stone and my second in a lake....." As he waded into the lake, the hand started rising and a beautiful maiden came, holding the sword. The maiden was the lady of the lake, Nimue . She told Arthur that he could have Excalibur if he gave her one favor. He asked what it was and she said, " Before you breathe your last breath, take the sword and return it to the lake where it came from, otherwise its spell will die and it will rust." Arthur swore that he would do it and, when heading back to Camelot, Merlin asked him, "which would you prefer, the sword or scabbard?" Arthur laughed and said the sword. "A honest choice but the wrong one, while the sword can slice through anything, the wearer of the scabbard will not lose a drop of blood in battle, no matter how badly wounded", Merlin informed him. When they got back, a crowd came to welcome their return. As Arthur was waving, he recognized Pellinore pushing through the crowd and, when Pellinore got to the front, the crowd gasped, they didn't notice that he was among them. Pellinore claimed that he didn't know that Arthur was the real King Arthur, and he begged for forgivness. Arthur forgave him and knighted Pellinore for his strength and skills. But, in the stories you don't hear of Pellinore often because he continued his hunt for the questing beast.=

= THE END = By: Connor Griffiths