Another One Bites The Dust!!

“No,” screamed the Knight, in response to a question from an acquaintance, who wanted to know his plans of returning to his village and settling down. “I’ll never do that,” he continued. “That would mean slavery for life. Imagine being unable to set off at a moment’s notice in search for new adventures. I can’t imagine what life would be like without new windmills to attack, new demons to kill (he neglected to mention that these demons, who hurled huge fireballs at attackers, sent shivers down his spine) and so on and so forth.”

The last few months had been hectic. The Knight had shifted base to a spot near where the great winged ones rested, and he was sharing his lodgings with another character, of whom little is known save that he shared the same ideas as the Knight (except that the demons scared him little). This chap, whom we shall call X, was believed to be from the future, and owned a tita-bond (virtually unbreakable; and made of a unique fusion of titanium and diamond) lance, which he used in all his duels. The Knight scoffed. “Just you wait,” he sneered, “My custom made lance is arriving from ACME corp. in a week. It’s got a flared end to beat your opponents with, and also a unique windscreen to improve your vision. Add that to the amazing voice of my pocket nightingale and I shall soon be the greatest knight in the world.”

The lance soon arrived, and was marveled at by all… for its outstanding size… for it was so big that the Knight, weakened as he was by age, could barely lift it, save swing it onto his opponents. But brilliant it was nevertheless, a work of art.

The Knight’s folks were insistent on him leaving this reckless lifestyle (the lance cost a fortune, and he didn’t even have a horse) and settling down. But the Knight had resisted all efforts at getting ‘hitched’, as the term is used nowadays. “Knights are like sailors,” he would say, “settling at a port only as long as they want and then moving on.” So it came as a surprise to X when the Knight began a long-distance communication with his Dulcinea (or so he said), using the latest ACME Rapid Pigeon Mail service. Things went on fine for some time (of course they will, for the ACME Rapid Pigeon Mail service was by far the best messaging service seen to date this side of the Rose Line) but soon, X started noticing that the Knight spent more and more time just stroking his lance (being unable to lift it) and tying notes to the legs of pigeons. Of course, given the Knight’s track record of dashing off to attack windmills every now and then, this correspondence seemed destined for a dead end.

But lo and behold!! One fine day, a pigeon tapped at X’s window, delivering a message saying that the Knight was ‘hitched’ to the lady Dulcinea of his dreams. Skepticism followed on the part of X, but it was soon dispelled by the Knight himself. A lengthy counseling session followed conducted by the Traveler, which resulted in X and the Traveler bombarding the Knight with advice, at the end of which the Knight was left rubbing the patch of stubble (a unique topographical feature on his face used to preserve body heat) on his chin. Further skepticism came from the Handwriting Expert (“What!! She is of the fairer sex??”), but the Knight was finally able to dispel all doubts and make them see the truth. Of course, all are now waiting for the last unit of the first dozen of the month named after the nephew of the famous conqueror who fell for a Queen who was bitten by an asp, when the truth will be revealed. Till then, its wait and watch.

For the truth, check the Traveler’s blog.