Pellinore and the Duel with Excalibur

"Hah!" I yelled out a battle cry as I slashed the beast once more.

The monster boar let out one last roar, before it slumped to the ground.

Finally, we had slain the beast which had been terrorizing the nearby village.

"Great work, Sir Pellinore!" the young King Arthur said to me, "Your skills were most impressive!"

"Thank you, young king," I said, as I sheathed my sword, "as were yours."

"No, no," he said, "You are a knight with many years of training and experience, and it shows!"

The old man that was watching us coughed, getting our attention.

"Let's leave the compliments for later, my king," the old man said to Arthur, "We should head back to the village before sundown."

"Ah, yes, Merlin. You are right," Arthur said, sheepishly, "My apologies, Sir Pellinore."

I shook my head, "It's no problem at all, young king."

And so, we headed back to the village to report our success.

***

The next morning, the three of us had decided to set off together, as we would be travelling in the same direction for a little while.

"I did not get to say this before, Sir Pellinore," King Arthur said to me, "but it is an honour to have met you, and to have fought by your side!"

"You honour me with your words, young king," I said, "I am not certain that I deserve them."

"Nonsense!" the young king said, "You are Sir Pellinore, the Questing Knight! You are known throughout the lands for being a chivalrous knight who takes on quests to help people in need!"

"Ah," I said, "that, unfortunately, is an appellation borne of misunderstanding."

"You see," I explained, "I am merely a knight on the hunt for the Questing Beast. It's just that, along the way, I decided to put my skills to good use, wherever I can."

"Plus," I gave the young Arthur a wink, "when such an opportunity arises, I usually get free food and lodgings."

The young king, barely an adult, chuckled, "That, I cannot protest."

"But," Arthur's expression grew concerned, "the Questing Beast? Is this something that I should be concerned about?"

At that, I had to chuckle, though it was mostly for my sake, "Honestly, I'm not sure myself."

Both Arthur and Merlin gave me a quizzical look.

"The Questing Beast," I explained, "is supposedly a terrible beast that one of my ancestors had encountered, centuries ago."

"Unable to defeat it," I said, "my ancestor retreated, and swore that those of his bloodline would continue his quest to slay this evil creature."

"Since then," I continued, "those in my family have trained for the task since birth."

"I, and others before me, have searched these lands high and low for the Questing Beast, but to no avail," I said, sadly, "Many of my family have died on this quest, while many others have simply given up."

"I, myself, have never even seen this beast, nor have I ever met anyone who knows of the beast's whereabouts," I said.

"However, I hope that, one day, I will finally be able to fulfill this ancient oath, and free my family from its bindings," I said, finishing my tale.

Arthur and Merlin gave each other a look, uncertain of what to make of my quest.

"What about you, young king?" I asked, changing the subject, "After I had heard about your ascension to the crown by drawing out the Sword in the Stone, I figured that you would ruling your new kingdom from your throne. Much less finding you out here, taking on quests from villagers, along with the famous wizard, Merlin."