Whiteleaf’s Fairy Tales
The Ghost Tree
Draft 3
By: Chase L. Currie
A tale was written down by the Bard Harrison Whiteleaf of Whispering Oaks.
Once upon a time …
There once was a King who had two sons, and these were born the day a white tree grew in the courtyard of the King’s castle. One of the sons was born white as snow like the tree, and the other was black like the night, but both had a love of their father.
The sons were trained night a day to become great Knights of the Realm. They would ride into battle under their father’s banner to win many victories, but the white son soon proves himself to be their better of the two in combat.
He was faster with the sword, better with the shield, and rode the war bucks quicker than his brother. He was the apple of the castle’s eye. All loved him, and all saw he was greater in skill, even the King. But the King saw something more in his other son than the great Knight. The black son was not as skillful in the ways of war as his brother was, but he had other talents. He as more honorable, care more for his fellow squirrels, and long to strengthen his mind.
The King saw these qualities in his son and pushed for him to grow in them. For he planned on making the black son the new King one day. He would sit on the throne and rule fairly and kindly.
The white son learned of his father’s plan and grew to enrage over it. He was better than his brother, and all knew it, he should have the throne after their father’s death, but there was nothing he could do to change his father’s mind.
One day many years later and many battles the King grew sick along with the great white tree in the courtyard of the keep. The tree grew darker with each passing day the sickness took hold over the King. The King is soon later dying in his bed as the tree started to die as well.
The healers and priest did everything within their play to heal the King, but at least nothing was working to save him.
All hope was lost until the AllFather blessed the black son with a dream. In his dream, he saw a sister tree to the white one but was black like him, and its roots were squeezing the life out of the white tree. The roots of the white tree were digging into the white and the only way to save it was to cut it down the black tree.
He woke and told his brother of the dream, but he would not him. He told his brother he would go and find this tree to save their father. Before he left his brother, the white Knight, warn him if he did not return before the death of their father he would take his rightful place on the throne.
The black son agreed and rushed off to find the black tree. He headed south into the Black Forest being guided by the angels of the AllFather.
In the forest he found a kind of troll and a peaking frog trying to find a black apple ground on an ash tree. They agreed to help the Black Knight and headed deeper into the nightmarish woods.
The Black Knight asked why they wished to find a black apple?
The speaking frog told him there was a golden seed in the apple and once the seed is a planet than a tree will grow with pure golden apples.
The Black Knight asked them if this is true with the send some of these apples back to his castle once the tree bears fruits?
The speaking frog agreed to the request because without him there was a good chance they would not find the ash tree.
The black son smiled knowing the apples would help greatly for the squirrels of the castle. The golden apples would rise his castle and title high in the Realm. His father would be poured off him and happy for the squirrels under him.
They found the ash tree with the black apple being guarded by a young dragon. The dragon circle around the tree, hissing, and spitting fire. The yellow eyes of the dragon stared at them but would not move from the tree.
The troll yelled for them to attack and rush the dragon. They battle with the monster for three days and three nights until the dragon was defeated. Afterwards, the speaking frog and the troll thanked the black son and helped him chopped down the black tree.
Back at the castle, the white son saw the white tree grow healthier with every chop of his brother strike against the other tree. He rushed out to chop down the white tree, attacking the tree quicker than his black brother. And to the great sorrow of the world and the angels above both trees fell at the same time. The angels wept over the death of the white three and the good King.
The black son returns home only to see what his brother had done. Before he could protest, he was thrown into the dungeon by the new white King.
He spent forty days and forty nights in the depths of the dungeon until the spirit of his father came to him. He unlocked the jail and showed his son to the courtyard to call his brother out to a duel. The new King rushed out with a sword to see his father spirt standing beside ghost of the white tree.
“I am the rightful king,” the white King yelled.
“You are wrong my foolish son,” the ghost of the old King said. “You are not the rightful King, you chested and poisoned me to gain my throne. You are a false King.”
The white son stepped up to fight his brother, but he had no sword to do so. The old King pulled a sword from the dead tree, and it was a sword made from the roots of the white tree. He gave it to his son.
The sons battle and with his faith in the AllFather, he defeated his brother. The black son stood over his wounded brother and became the new King. He sent his brother into the Black Forest with enough food for him to live for months and took the throne of Traveler’s Haven.
Each night on the anniversary of the death of his father the spirit of the white tree appeared along with a barrel of golden apples from his friends in the Black Forest. The black King live long and happy, and his squirrels loved him. He was just and fair to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment