The Thornprincess

Fire and Thorns

From the dark castle of Morgana, the tendrils full of thorns grew up and reached nastily into the entire country. Brave warriors hung in the thorny vines, and ravens cawed at their remains. Loud thunder rumbled in the sky, and countless eerie caws sounded from the pointed forests of thorns.

The knights were terrified and wanted to flee.

"Do not be afraid." said the Princess of Thorns, encouraging them, "I have led you this far and will lead you further. Look, we have Excalibur so that we will be victorious. For the kingdom, it is to face the terror and be brave. Together we will slay the evil fairy and free everyone from her curse!"

So the knights regained their courage and followed her.

"I can surely catch her for you, for I am the fastest." Said the Rabbit Knight.

"I can certainly fool them for you, for I am the smartest." Advised the Fox Knight.

"I can certainly kill them for you, for I am the strongest." Said the Wolf Knight.

"So let us fight together, for nothing is stronger than cohesion." However, spoke the princess, who also still carried the gift of wisdom in her heart.

So together, with sword and shield, they beat back the vines until they reached the courtyard. There the monsters of the evil fairy stood in their way, but the knights continued to fight undaunted. The Princess of Thorns and her knights struck down one by one until the wretched people lay prostrate.

When the evil fairy saw this, she was seized with blind rage.

"I will teach you the terror of contending with the Queen of the Dark Court!" she commanded the warriors, "I will devour you, and your bones shall never be found!"

The ground began to shake, and huge cracks opened up. Gray-black smoke billowed, and a pungent smell of sulfur made the air thick and murky. Thus the dark fairy turned into a giant black dragon with scales as thick as shields.

The knights froze at the sight of the beast. Aware of the knights' fear, the beast spat fire that blazed and set every dry stalk on fire.

"You shall suffocate in fire and smoke!" the dragon bellowed from a maw full of teeth, driving against the princess and her knights. But the barren ground was already empty of life, and the thorny vines would not quite catch embers. Then the dragon, in his battle frenzy, wanted to pounce anew on the knights, but all of them could not hash her, for the hare knight was very fast, the fox too clever, and the wolf too skilled.

So the dragon rushed against the princess to devour her. But the princess swung the magic sword so that it sang in the air of magic as once in ancient times. In one decisive stroke, the princess knocked out one of the beast's eyes, and after that, the dragon roared terribly: 

"Die you shall, as your father once did!"

The beast roared that it barked and tore its mouth in two again so that it rained down fiery flames.

But once upon a time, one of the fairies gave the princess the gift of good fortune so that she might have it, and so it was on this day. So it was the thorns themselves that protected her from the beast's bite better than any shield could have done.

And when the head came down again to kill her, the Princess of Thorns raised her sword again and struck the evil creature's head off the body with all her might. Immediately the beast sank dead, and as soon as the black blood poured onto the ground, the tendrils opened up and soon disintegrated into leaves of wild roses. The evil spell fell from Albion; the meadows greened and blossomed, the forests breathed, the streams and rivers murmured, and the wind whispered again.

Then an older man appeared before the brave heroes, whom Aurelia recognized as Merlin, and was freed from his prison of thorns like any other who had been under the fairy's evil spell. So grateful was the great wizard to the brave princess that he said to her: 

"The heir of the sword shall be king. So I will stand by you as I once stood by your father."

So it happened that the knights each asked the beautiful Aurelia for her hand in marriage, for they all wanted the brave princess of thorns for a wife. So they asked the girl to choose one of them as her husband. 

But the princess shook her head and rejected all the knights. For she had grown fond of them and did not want to break anyone's heart and stir up discontent or jealousy among them.

"This was once my father's kingdom, but our reign has been over for many years. Each of you shall have a portion as a reward and take good care of it. But I will return to Avalon beyond the mists."

And she did as spoken, no matter how much the knights asked her to stay.

At the lake of Avalon, she threw Excalibur back into the lake, for so it was commanded to the bearers, and it returned to the bottom to its mistress. The princess, however, got into a boat and rowed to the island from which she had come and which had always been her home in her heart. From then on, the maiden lived in her tower while the brave knights ruled the kingdom as the new kings.

Even today in Albion, which now calls itself England, one dares to tell:

"Since then, the sleeping beauty is said to be waiting so that one day she can return to her kingdom when it needs her most to give Britain once again a time of peace and prosperity."

And they all lived happily ever after.