King Arthur’s Genie

By Isabel De Abreu
I stumbled through the endless glade shouting Red’s name. I knew it
was pointless I had not seen her since the fortress. It was my fault , I
had brought her here now she might be in trouble . I doubled over
gagging from the poison. My vision was turning yellow, the trees
started to become so dense it was hard to just move around them. I
wandered in the darkness, I did not have the strength to make it back,
the further I walked the clearer that became. I staggered from tree to
tree, then suddenly the woods dissolved and my vision turned black.
Red and I come from two families that bear the same curse, one
word, werewolves, lets just leave it at that. The only cure, was
said to have been, to find the lamp of the King’s genie. You must
pour the liquid it contains onto yourself on the night of the full
moon, before you transform. We live in Camelot, so the King
they speak of is non other than King Arthur; Red conjured a plan,
one I did not like but we had no other choice.
My name is Robin Hood, long story, and this is the tale of my not-so-great
Adventure. We wore our hoods, mine being green and Red’s own was,
you guessed it, Red; her real name, even though how close we are, is still
a mystery to me. We saddled up our horses and sped away to the
palace. The spire atop the castle was almost hidden by the clouds in the
afternoon sky. We passed the gates to the commons area and
scampered along to the castle of the King, that was when the King’s
guard spotted us.
“You there, why do you approach?” One of them asked.

“On official business,” I bursted out.

“We wish to be royal hand servants,” Red covered up.

They hesitated and I thought uh-oh, but they eventually let us pass.

“Thanks,” I muttered to Red, who had a grin on her face.

The palace was huge, with white marble floors and ceilings, stone walls
and everything was trimmed gold. We were underground what seemed
like hours when Red yelped, I spun around to find her hanging from the
ledge of a trap door, she had fallen into. I looked at her and a silent
understanding passed between us.
“Fine, Robin. Lets go in the dark, scary dungeon!” She loosened her grip
and plummeted.
By the time I got down there she looked dazed.
“Look,” She said in awe.
I followed her gaze and my mouth fell open. There in the corner of the dark
room was the lamp of the King’s genie.
“Too easy,” I mumbled.
I inched towards the glinting, golden lamp, but once I was within five feet, it
started billowing purple smoke, like I’d hit a trip wire.
The woman that appeared I can’t describe her, but she was so beautiful that
me and Red both gasped, that was our fatal mistake.
The fog consumed us like our breath was a vacuum, I was blinded, but I could
hear Red wretching in pain.
“You should not have come,” her voice was steely calm, but had a dangerous
edge to it.
I quickly grabbed the lamp and doused me and Red with the liquid, I had not come
all this way to be bested by a lamp. It burned like acid and had a sickly sweet scent.
I fled the dungeon, Red close behind.
We burst into the throne room, I pulled a dagger off the wall and in a desperate
attempt, threw it at the genie. She momentarily dissolved then re-solidified.
The King’s guards rushed forward.

Okay, so she can’t be killed, why not?

We stumbled into the night, I turned, my reflection gleamed in Red’s eyes,
which were wide with fright. My blonde hair ruffled and my grey eyes
pleading for her to run faster. She tried, her black hair blowing in the wind,
her blue eyes shone with fear.
When I looked back again Red was gone. I heard her scream for me to keep
going. Then howls pierced the air behind me, I looked up, the moon was full.
I was running out of time.

I never saw her again after that.

The End