Long ago and far away, there lived a knight in a castle all curled about with ivy. He was a very brave and a very bold knight, and his father was the king.
One day, the king decided that the very brave and very bold knight had to prove just how very brave and very bold he really was.
"What you have to do," said the king, "is find a damsel in distress to rescue, or a monster to slay. When you have done this, you can have a golden suit of armour."
It was a very beautiful golden suit of armour, so the very brave and very bold knight saddled his horse, and went off into the land to find either damsel in distress to rescue, or a monster to slay.
The very brave and very bold knight was also very happy, for it was nearly Christmas, so he was surprised when he found someone who wasn't happy.
Deep in a forest, a girl sat the doorway of her house and sighed. The very brave and very bold knight wondered if perhaps she could be a damsel in distress.
"Hello," said the very brave and very bold knight. "Are you a damsel in distress?"
The girl stood up. "Me? Oh, no. I'm a witch. Only one of my spells has gone all wrong, and now my kitchen's filled up with smoke. But thank you for asking. Why do you want a damsel in distress?"
The very brave and very bold knight sighed. "I need to either is find a damsel in distress to rescue, or a monster to slay, so that my father the king will give me a golden suit of armour."
"I know where there's a monster," said the witch. "There's a Wyvern that lives in a cave near here. The villagers are all scared of him. Maybe you could slay him."
"Thank you very much," said the very brave and very bold knight, and then rode on to the village.
The village was small, and everybody looked scared. The very brave and very bold knight rode straight through, before riding up the hill and finding a big cave that wound into the rock below.
"Hello!" called the very brave and very bold knight. "Does the Wyvern live here?"
The Wyvern pushed his vast, red, horsey head out of the mouth of the cave. "Huloo?"
"Hello! I'm the very brave and very bold knight, and I'm here to slay you!"
The Wyvern's ears dropped. "But I don't want to be slain. I haven't hurt anyone."
"But all the villagers are scared of you!"
"Yes, they are." The Wyvern wiped away a tear with the tip of one wing. "I only wanted to be friends with them, but when I went to the village to say 'huloo', everyone ran away screaming. I'm so lonely up here by myself, but nobody ever wants to talk to me."
"You poor thing," said the very brave and very bold knight, who was also very kind. "All right, then, I won't slay you. Would you like me to be your friend, and tell all the villagers not be scared of you?"
The Wyvern clapped his wings together. "Oh, yes please! I'd like that ever so much."
So, the very brave and very bold knight stayed with the Wyvern, and the two of them became the best of friends.
But far away, the king heard that his son had met the monster, but instead of slaying him, they'd become the best of friends. The king was cross, because he didn't think that this was very brave and very bold, and so decided not to give his son the golden suit of armour. He then sent messengers throughout all the land to tell people that he was cross with his son.
"Oh, dear," said the Wyvern when he heard. "It's all my fault that the very brave and very bold knight won't have a golden suit or armour. It's not fair that he should be told off for being my friend."
Then, the Wyvern remembered that the very brave and very bold knight had told him about something important that was going to happen soon… Christmas, that was it! The Wyvern knew that it was a time when good boys and girls wrote letters to Father Christmas, asking for nice presents to be delivered.
Carefully fitting a big red crayon between his teeth, the Wyvern wrote a letter.
Dear Father
Christmas,
Huloo. I'm a Wyvern, but please don't be afraid of me. I don't think Wyverns
get nice presents, even though I've been terribly good this year, but my friend,
the very brave and very bold knight, has been so good this year that his father
the king is cross with him, and won't give him a golden suit of armour, even
though he really wants one.
A golden suit of armour would make him so happy, please could you help?
Thank you
a lot,
Wyvern, (The).
And so it was that on Christmas morning, the very brave and very bold knight woke up with a yawn and a stretch, and what do you think he found under the tree? Yes, there was a big, beautiful golden suit of armour, with a little note attached.
To the very brave and very
bold knight,
Lots of love,
The Wyvern and Father Christmas.
So the very brave and very bold knight was happy, and the Wyvern was happy, and when the villagers knew he wasn't really a monster they were happy. And the very brave and very bold knight and the Wyvern have been the best of friends from that day to this.
THE END
