A Quest of Time

A long, long time ago, there lived a beautiful princess, whom everyone said was so full of spirit.  Word of her admirable character spread far and wide and, unfortunately, reached the ear of an evil sorcerer, who made plans to kidnap her.  For if he could hold the princess captive for a full count of days, until the next day of the sun, then he could consume her soul and achieve immortality.

When winter had just begun to fade, and the greens of life began to return to the land, the princess sat one morning upon the grass in her garden, at ease in nature’s beauty.  There, the sorcerer came cloaked in magic and abducted her, well pleased with his timing, as no one had seen him steal her away, save one tiny, inconsequential butterfly.  The sorcerer could now simply wait out the days for surely no one could know he had taken the girl.

Yet, on the first day, the lowly butterfly flew off to the cottage of brave Sir Pellinore, a man who had been raised among the wood folk.  The druids had taught him the ways of nature, so that he could understand the flutterings of the butterfly.  Quickly, Sir Pellinore packed his gear for the journey to seek out the evil sorcerer and free the princess.

On the second day, Sir Pellinore set out by ship across the great sea toward the land of the sorcerer.  Alas, a mischievous sea sprite caught sight of the boat and fancied to play with it.  The creature built up great waves and tossed them at the ship, causing it to rock violently upon the water.  Fortunately, Pellinore had spent some of his youth among the sailors and had learned how to ride out a storm.  He knew where to cling and held on for dear life.  As was its nature, the sprite eventually grew bored and ceased to play with the ship.

Pellinore steered the boat in to land on shores near where the sorcerer lived, but the unexpected turbulence of the sea had drawn the sorcerer’s attention and he was now aware of Pellinore’s arrival.  The sorcerer soon summoned a storm of his own, this one over the desert that Pellinore now had to cross.  The sands swirled in the wind and struck against him, yet Pellinore was not deterred, for as a young man he had spent time among the desert folk, learning their secrets.  He knew how to protect himself and where to tread.  Yet, the sandstorm did slow him down such that it took two days to travel across rather than one.

So, on the fifth day, Pellinore finally arrived at the oasis where the evil sorcerer made his home.  He could see the wizard’s tower rising up in the center, but immediately stretched out before him was a vast maze of hedges.  Pellinore was not discouraged though, for in his adulthood, he had sought the wisdom of the philosophers and studied with them.  From his pack, he took a large ball of string and tied one end to a branch at the entrance.  Therefore, Pellinore was never entirely lost among all the twists and turns of the maze.  As the day ended, he had finally maneuvered all the way through to the base of the tower, though he needed time to rest.

There, as the next day dawned, when he turned toward the tower, Pellinore found himself face to face with the tower’s magical guardian, a great golem made of stone.  One look and Pellinore could see that this creature could never be harmed by physical blows.  As it ambled towards him, Pellinore thought quickly and raced back through the hedges, following his trail of string.  The inanimate golem would never tire of the chase as it lumbered after, but Pellinore had spent the first years of middle age among the mountain men and his endurance was great.  He led the creature fully through the maze and out onto the sands, which could not hold its great weight.  When the golem had fully sunk down and was trapped, Pellinore cautiously passed around it and hurried back toward the tower as night fell.

Time was running short.  The evil sorcerer looked out to see Pellinore’s progress growing closer and closer.  At first, he thought his plan would be foiled, but then he struck upon a way to thwart Pellinore.  The sorcerer summoned a great and powerful elemental of air and commanded it to fly with greatest speed around the earth.  Pellinore felt a mighty gust of wind as the being sped out from the tower, but was powerless to stop it.  Pellinore rushed to the door of the tower, but alas the elemental had already completed his circuit.  Time had accelerated at its passage and the day of the sun had come one hour sooner.  Even as Pellinore entered the tower, the evil sorcerer had completed his vile spell and consumed the young princess’ soul, vanishing from Pellinore’s sight.

Thus, today we still lose an hour at this time every year as the elemental is still compelled by the sorcerer’s foul magic.

Do you think this story too sad?  Look again to see that Pellinore still has arrived at the tower and the princess, though soulless, is still there.  Perhaps there is hope that Pellinore might yet find a way to revive her, but that would be an entirely new tale.