The Forest Beyond the Woodlands: A Fairy TaleKennedy, Mildred
Science
The Forest Beyond the Woodlands: A Fairy Tale
Kennedy, Mildred
Fairy tales
The King was a terribly powerful and heavy man, but he had no weapon
save his own strength. David was slender and frail, but he held within
his grasp a power that made him fearless and wise to act. The King,
infuriated by David’s boldness, relaxed his grasp on Ruth’s arm; and
she, finding herself free, ran a few steps from him so that she might be
beyond his reach should he attempt to seize her again. In a moment
David and the Bronze King were rolling over and over in an angry
struggle, that same strange sound belching from the King’s huge body
with increasing volume. Ruth trembled, for she feared lest David be hurt
if not killed outright. In the growing light of the fire that had
started from the blazing torch these two struggled and struggled, while
poor Ruth looked on helplessly, her heart throbbing with fear and
anguish.
The whinny of a horse sounded not far away, and the light from the
spreading fire illuminated a grove of dark cedar trees, within which
Ruth could distinguish the outline of the Pale-Coloured Horse as it
gazed with clear, intelligent eyes upon its master.
A quick and clever turn on David’s part threw the Bronze King so that he
fell violently to the ground. David stood over him; then, lifting his
knife, he plunged it deep into his enemy’s side below the heart, just
as the defeated King was about to call for help. The mighty monarch
roared with pain. As David drew forth the knife there gushed from the
wound a fluid, the colour of molten copper, that burst into flame the
instant it came in contact with the air. In a moment the whole body of
the great Bronze King was enveloped in vivid flame.
David caught Ruth by the hand, and together they fled toward the Wingèd
Horse. In an instant they were on its back. David held the reins of the
magic bridle in one hand while with the other he supported Ruth, who sat
before him on the wonderful steed which was now so miraculously to save
their lives. Looking toward the Palace, they saw that armed men were
rushing into the Garden from all directions. News that the King was
slain had already spread, and his soldiers and men-at-arms had vowed
vengeance upon the slayer.
“Come, my faithful Horse,” cried David. “Save us! the hour has come.”
Slowly the creature moved, walked forward a few steps; then, carrying
its precious burden, it spread its great pale-coloured wings and rose up
into the air; up, over the tree tops, over the roof of the great Castle,
over the capstone of the high, high wall that enclosed the garden; then
on over the iron pickets that made the place seem impregnable. Ruth’s
hair had fallen loose, and its silk-like strands blew across David’s
face and blinded his eyes as they moved forward through the vastness of
the night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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