The Story of William: Part 6

CHAPTER 6

             

             “My message is this” William said carefully.  “One has died for all, but still many will die for One.” The look on the king’s face was full of grief.  “I believe,” he said with a slight pause “I believe, that this means that our persecution here is not going to end.” 

            William looked sympathetically at the king.  “The persecution here is not going to stop anytime soon.  According to your message, I believe that we are to have a strong uprising against us very soon.” 

            The king looked at William and said, “I have been wanting a bit of encouragement from the outside world.  You have brought that to me.  Thank you.”

            “I will be strong,” the king said, “For I know that ‘I can do all things through Him who makes me strong.’” 

            William smiled.  The king had repeated the same words that had given him strength back in the canyon when the Shrieks had attacked him.  “We will be strong,” William said, looking at the king and smiling.  “Aye.” the king said.  “We are brothers.”

The Story of William: Part 5

CHAPTER 5

             

             Stephen, as William had learned to call the cook, had one of his head chefs take over the kitchen until he returned.  He led William to the passageway where the king had already finished his exquisite supper.  William thought that the king was magnificent.  The king was talking with the lords and ladies in the great hall.  The king was wearing beautiful clothing that to William looked very comfortable.  He wore a light crown of solid gold on his head, with tiny, expensive diamonds throughout. 

            “Ross, my good sir,” The cook asked an armored man in the passageway, “Will you tell the king that he has a young Servant in his presence with a very important message?”  “Yes, Stephen.  And right away.” the man replied. 

            Soon William and Stephen were in the king’s private room.  “It is better that we are in a private room, then in the hall. 

            The door to the room opened, and a messenger said “His majesty, the king.”  Stephen bowed fully, but William nodded his head slightly.  “Stephen,” the king said, “This young servant is to stay with me alone.” he paused shortly “I will reward you for what you have done for me.  Now go.”  Stephen nodded, smiled, and went back to the kitchen.

             “So,” the king said, “You are a servant, and you have an important message for me, correct?”  William nodded.  “You are also a follower of the ‘One True King’ too, are you not?” the king asked.  “Yes, sir, but how do you know?”

            The king smiled.  “Your manners are enough that anyone should now. You did not bow to me, but slightly, and the followers of the King will only bow to the King, as you have showed me.”

            The king looked at William intently and said, “I am also a follower of the King, and I do not make my servants to bow to me.  When they bow, they do it out of their own will.”  He leaned forward and asked, “What is your message?”

The Story of William: Part 4

CHAPTER 4

             William looked for a way to escape if he needed to, and saw a passage leading out of the room.  The man didn’t attack him, but instead said in a deep voice, “What brings you here into the kitchen of the king?” before William could answer, the man spoke again. “Speak up, lad.  I can’t sit around waiting all day long.”  William spoke up a little timidly at first, but then loudly.  “My name is William.” he said, “I have an important message for the king of Anthropoly.”  

            The man looked at William with question in his eyes.  “Why did you sneak in by the kitchen then, ‘important’ messenger?” he said, a little playfully.

            “I am a stranger in these parts.”  William said.  “I have come all the way past the canyon, and did not know that this was the wrong entry door.”  William paused and looked at the knife in the man’s hand.  “If you will show me the right way in, I will go away in peace, and not make any trouble.”

            The man’s knife lowered to the table.  “If what you say is really true,” he said “And that you have come from past the canyon, I will bring you to the king myself.  But first,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye, “You will have something to eat.”

            The cook walked over to the the counter, and sliced a bit of boar from the carcass he had just bent over.  He had seen William eyeing it hungrily.  The cook proceeded to put some fruits on the plate, “A rare delicacy” he said.  “Food good enough for the king himself!”  He put the plate in front of William.

            “What is the king like?”  William asked.  “The king,” the cook responded, “Is fair, but he is also just.  He used to be a harsh young prince, but then one day, a messenger arrived and gave him a message.  They say that the messenger was sent by the King himself, all the way from the nothern point of the world.”

            “What was the message?” William wondered.  “The message wasn’t really important, you might say.  The messenger said that the king would die within seven days.  Nobody was surprised; the king was very sick most of the time.  The prince, however,  thought that his unkindness had brought the sickness upon his father.  The king died several days later.”

            “Now,” the cook continued, “I will take you to see the king, his most royal majesty, Opher.”

The Story of William: Part 3

CHAPTER 3

             William was in the forest.  He was beginning to feel very discouraged when he remembered the words that the King’s servant said to the King.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”

            William repeated the words.  “A lamp to my feet” he said, “A light to my path” he repeated. 

            William bowed his head and lowered himself to his knees.  “O King,” he said, “Help me out of here.  I cannot find a way out.  Help me, O King.”  William felt a peace surge through his body.  He felt at rest.

            Suddenly, he could see a path in front of him.  “Is it my imagination?” he wondered.  He walked over to it.  It was not!  He had a way laid out in front of him!  He could get out of the forest and on with his mission!

            William did get out of the forest.  He then slept long and hard.  When he awoke the next day, it was late morning.  He took a little bit of food from his pack, and started on for the Castle of Anthropoly, where he supposed he would find the king. 

            Before long, William was at the gates of Anthropoly.  He approached the gates, where a steady stream of people moved in.  William joined the crowd.  The throng of people was in a hurry to get inside the city gates to their homes.

            After a while, William came out of the crowd.  He stayed on the main road, instead of going on a “less traveled path”.  He saw a man outside of a building, and asked him for directions to the castle.

             “’Ollow that road, m’ boy, and ye’ll see a row of ‘eautiful houses.  Af’er abo’t a mile you’ll see the cas’sle o’ the king.”  William thanked the man and hurried on.  “I could have figured that out myself,” he thought, since by now, he could see soldiers marching to the castle.

            He passed the row of beautiful houses that the man had told him about, and after that, he saw the castle.  A double moat protected it, just as the other moat protected the city.  He walked up the drawbridge, and the soldiers briefly examined him. 

            The soldiers did not take away William’s sword.  William wondered why, and he decided that he was young and harmless in the eyes of the soldiers.  He grinned. “The Shrieks thought that too,” he remembered. 

            He was now in the courtyard, and saw a door.  Seeing that many people went in and out, he decided that he would enter there.  William walked in the door and saw a man bending over a counter.  The man turned around, and with a bloody knife in his hand, walked over and shut the door.

The Story of William: Part 2

CHAPTER 2

            All around William were the carcasses of the ugly creatures.  He looked closer at them and saw their rat-like heads with their enormous bat-like wings.  William shuddered.  The creatures were about the size of him.  He could not bear the sight of them any longer; he had to turn away.

            William felt blood trickle down the back of his head.  He touched it, and felt around, and found a big gash.  “If only this mist would clear up,” William thought.  “I could find the spring the messenger told me about.”  The mist did clear up, and soon William could see the spring.  He bent down, and bathed his wound with the icy-cold water.  The water felt good.

            William took a little food out of his bag and started to eat it.  The path started to become steeper and steeper.  He was now at the edge of the canyon.  He looked around at his surroundings and soaked in the beautiful view.  The kingdom of Anthropoly was far bigger than he had ever imagined it to be. 

            In the middle of the city there was a huge fortress, with houses and marketplaces surrounding it.  There was a wall surrounding the city, with a double moat that seemed to be at least an eighth of a mile wide.  In front of the kingdom, there was a lush, dark forest.  There were a few paths leading to the Kingdom, and William saw that one of them led to the dark, looming fortress of the Malice.

            He saw a path that seemed less traveled on.  “If this city doesn’t like the One True King,” he thought “I need to be as cautious as possible.”  William decided as he made a mental note to avoid the busy main road.  He lay down in the shelter of a scrubby tree and slept.

            The next morning, William followed the path that had seemed to go straight to the kingdom of Anthropoly.  He had been on it for a few hours, when the underbrush around him seemed to be getting thicker.  A few hundred yards later, he could not even see the path. 

            William looked around him.  All the trees looked the same.  They looked angry, and threatening.  Their branches, black on one side, and yellow on the other, seemed to reach out toward him.  William shivered as he realized that he was lost.  

The Story of William: Part 1

This is a story of faith, perseverance, and the battle against the old human nature. 

We join William on a quest to encourage, promote, and glorify the One True King, and to battle wherever darkness lies. 

“I can do all things through him who gives me strength.”

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INTRODUCTION

             Sir William was a good looking, hardworking slave boy personally picked by the King to be rescued out of bondage.  He is smart, and skilled with the sword.  I daresay that no other boy his age is as chivalrous and kind as he is.

            I will begin his tremendously amazing story at a place near “The Canyon of Shrieks” by the old shepherds that have once watched their flocks on its once lush plain.

CHAPTER 1

             This place is so dry!” thought William as he walked on.  “And so quiet too!”  William’s black hair seemed to reflect the dry heat of the canyon.  He was incredibly thirsty.  All William could hear was the pounding of his riding boots on the ground.  They seemed to say “Water-thud-water-thud-water...” 

            William thought back to his days in bondage and when he was a slave for the emperor.  He remembered the day when the King had came and taken him away.  He also remembered his promise to the King.  “I will serve you always,” he had said, “Even until the day I die.”  William didn’t mind the heat as much anymore.  He was glad he was free.  At that very moment,  he heard an eerie yell. 

            “Eie-aii-aiii-ii!”  He heard the yell again, and this time it seemed to be closer.  Suddenly, the whole canyon started echoing with the eerie yells.  William gasped in horror, as there was a break in the mist.  The creatures were circling him like vultures ready to eat an animal carcass! William did not know what to do.  His hair on the back of his neck stood on end. 

            He felt a sudden impulse to run, but he remembered the words told to him by the messenger of the King:  “I can do all things through Him who makes me strong” William clenched his teeth.  “I will not fear,” he thought.  “The King depends on me to take the message to the king of Anthropoly.”

            William felt a sudden peace inside of him, even though the creatures were starting to swoop down on him.  William turned so only his sword side was facing the creature.  When the creature came hurtling out of the air, he applied a crosscut to it and split it in two.