King Vogt and the Guardians of the Round Table
— by Mario Crescibene
Chapter 4. King Vogt had recently dispatched his valiant knights to seek the Holy Grail with Sir Kwan being the first to see the fabled chalice. But even as Sir Kwan flew back to Cleveland to tell King Vogt of his vision, not far off, Sir Bibee was battling demons of his own…
Along his quest, Sir Bibee had heard whispers that the Grail was kept in a castle guarded by Woodland Rangers. Bibee had traced the rumor to the land of Arlington
and was slowly hacking his way through the brush of the Arlington woods towards the fabled fortress. As he fought his way forward, Sir Bibee saw a glimmer of light cutting through the densely entwined branches. He continued slashing his way toward the beaconing light until he broke through the final arboreal barricade — practically falling out of the woods — to discover the clandestine castle he had been seeking. And glowing from the window of the tallest tower was a beaming light that radiated grace.
Sir Bibee rushed the great door of the castle, ready to take on whatever forces guarded the Grail. He hurled himself against the door.
“Open the door! Open the door! In the name of King Vogt, open the door!” he bellowed.
And slowly… the wooden door swung open to reveal the stone interior of the castle. Sir Bibee drew his sword and charged up the first staircase he found, determined to reach the highest level where the Grail awaited.
Bibee threw himself up each stairwell, losing track of the number of floors he had ascended as he scrambled higher and higher… until he reached a landing with a large door that blocked the way.
“This must be the door that guards the Holy Grail,” he thought to himself as he stepped back, preparing to ram it. He slammed the full weight of his body against the door, but it didn’t open. So Sir Bibee stood further back and ran at it again but with more force. Still, the door did not budge. Hellbent on destroying the barrier that lay between him and the Grail, Sir Bibee slammed the visor down on his helmet, braced himself against his shield, and charged the door. But just as he was about to connect, the door swung open easily and he tumbled through, falling flat on his face.
Sir Bibee got up sheepishly and looked around as he dusted himself off. He was not looking at the glorious room that he had expected, but just another simple chamber within the castle tower. Realizing the Holy Grail was not there, and that he must continue ascending — Sir Bibee regained his balance and determination — and found the next stairwell that would take him higher… and closer to the Grail.
Each floor he conquered restored his confidence. He continued bounding up the stairs until eventually he reached another landing with a door blocking the way. First he pushed on the door to test if it too was truly locked. Then upon confirming the door was indeed bolted shut, he once again stood back — and rushed the door. But this time, as Sir Bibee flung his weight against the door — it splintered apart with no resistance — and he once again came flying out the other side, falling flat on his face.
“These cursed doors!” he bellowed to the empty corridor. “When will I find the threshold that guards the Grail!?”
Removing the pieces of splintered wood from his armor, Sir Bibee once again ascended the nearest staircase, and continued upward, undeterred. Seven times in all he came upon a door that he thought was the door that concealed the Grail. And seven times in all he was deceived. But the tenacity of Sir Bibee was his greatest gift that day, and he charged on.
Upon arriving at the eighth door of the tower, Sir Bibee touched it gently — and the door swung open easily… Waiting on the other side was a magnificent hallway, elaborately decorated to appear like the Arlington woods. The long corridor had a tiled floor of jade with eight stone pillars lining the walkway, four on either side, each carved to look like a living tree. The branches of the sculpted trees reached up and out, forming an entwined network of twisting branches that created the ceiling. And on the other end of the hallway was a golden door with an elaborate ‘W’ engraved in the center.
But as Sir Bibee took his first step into the hallway, the door behind him slammed shut, and out from behind each of the eight pillars stepped an armoured Woodland Ranger — prepared to defend their Grail.
With his sword already drawn, Sir Bibee wasted no time taking on the force that stood between him and the ‘W’ on the final door. As Sir Bibee charged forward, the first two Woodland Rangers lunged from behind their stone pillars. Bibee stepped into their charge, parrying the lead attacker with a sharp thrust that pierced through the side of the Ranger’s armor before ripping his blade free and swinging it in a swift arc that sliced across the armor of both Rangers. Wounded, they faltered and collapsed to the floor, blood splattering on the jade tile. Sir Bibee stepped forward, one pace closer to the golden door.
The next two Rangers rushed forward from the second pair of pillars to cut off Bibee’s advance. But Sir Bibee used the momentum of the first attacker to toss him aside. He then delivered a heavy blow to the wrist of the second Ranger, disarming him momentarily — and then… with a strong backhand strike to the helmet — he incapacitated the Woodland foe.
Sir Bibee then turned his attention back to the first Ranger who was attacking once again after having recovered from being thrown. Bibee let the assailant get in close, before he snuck his dagger into the Ranger’s side… and thus took another step toward the golden door.
The third pair of Rangers emerged from the next set of tree-like pillars, their weapons drawn. Fatigue began to weigh on Bibee’s arms, but his resolve held true. As the Rangers attacked, he dodged the first descending blade, countering with a fierce thrust that pierced the Ranger’s chest plate. With his blade still stuck in his opponent’s armor, Bibee pushed the wounded Ranger into his counterpart. Then, withdrawing his blade from the first Ranger who was now pinning his comrade — Bibee struck true, eliminating the second. The two fallen Rangers tumbled to the ground, and Sir Bibee took yet another step down the long corridor.
The last two remaining Rangers stepped out from behind the seventh and eighth pillars, the final line of defense before the golden threshold. They attacked simultaneously with a violent fury. Bibee locked swords with the Ranger on his left, and kicked the second Ranger into the nearest pillar, sending him ricocheting hard off the stone trunk. Then forcing his locked opponent’s blade skyward, he wrenched his sword free, pulled it back — and drove it through the visor of the Ranger’s helmet. As the knight collapsed where he stood, Bibee withdrew his blade from the helmet — spinning with the momentum — and just as the second Ranger was staggering back to his feet… in one fluid arc… Bibee’s blade severed the Ranger’s head, relieving him of his duty.
Having ascended to the eighth floor and dispatched the eight Woodland Rangers, Sir Bibee threw himself upon the golden door.
“Open the door! Open the door! In the name of King Vogt, open the door!”
But the door with the engraved ‘W’ did not open. He hurled his helmet to the ground, gasping for breath and pounded on the door with his armored fist.
“Open the door! Open the door! In the name of King Vogt, open the door!”
But the door did not open.
Sir Bibee was furious at having come all that way only to be denied what was rightfully his. He raised his sword high above his head and commanded, “I seek the Holy Grail! In the name of King Vogt, open the door!”
And he brought the sword down with such a force that the blade shattered as it hit the door. As the broken blade clanged to the floor… the door with the ‘W’ gently opened… and Sir Bibee pushed his way inside…
There before him was a small circular room. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all adorned with brilliant gold, inlaid with tiles of pure white alabaster. In the center of the room was a gilded altar, and floating above the altar was a golden chalice that radiated a brilliant light.
Sir Bibee fell down onto his knees, overwhelmed by the glory before him. As tears streamed from his face a voice rang out:
“Arise, Sir Bibee… For you are worthy. Seven doors deceived you today, and seven times you rose again. It was never the threshold that tested you, Sir Bibee… but your will to keep climbing. The eighth door always opens for the knight who continues ascending. Do not lose yourself in such things as wins and losses… Those are temporary. It is consistency and perseverance that lead to victories. And it was your consistency that led you here today. So do not focus on wins, Sir Bibee, more victories are on the way…”
“Now go, and tell King Vogt that you have seen the Holy Grail!”
Not far away, King Vogt was speaking with his royal herald Andre Knott in his courtroom about some troubling news when Sir Kwan burst through the palace door.
“I have seen the Holy Grail!” he called out as he ran to the king’s courtroom. Throwing the door open, Sir Kwan ran towards King Vogt’s throne.
“My liege…” Kwan gasped out. “My liege, I have seen the Holy Grail.”
King Vogt was astounded. “Show me, Sir Kwan! I want to see it. Where is it?!”
“It came to me as a vision, sire. I don’t know that the Holy Grail is what we thought it was originally, my king. The Holy Grail is indeed a sacred goblet, sire, but the vision of the Grail imparted wisdom that came to me as a female’s voice. The Holy Grail… it’s more a state of mind than a physical object to behold…”
Sir Kwan continued, “But you must know my king, that there was also a dark magic that I had to battle throughout the quest… an invisible barrier designed to block me from seeing the Holy Grail.”
At that, Sir Bibee came running into the great hall. In his haste to get back to The Land, Sir Bibee had not even had time to notice the newly acquired golden lining to the ‘C’ that covered his chest plate.
“I have seen the Holy Grail!” Sir Bibee called out as he ran to King Vogt’s throne, and stood at Sir Kwan’s side, bowing to his king.
“Yes, Sir Bibee,” King Vogt confirmed. “We were just talking about Sir Kwan’s vision of the Holy Grail. He tells me that there is a sinister force surrounding it… and that the Grail may not even be what we thought it was. Tell me what you saw.”
“Well, my sire, it’s exactly as Sir Kwan says,” Bibee began. “There was a powerful force that was interfering in my search. There appears to be an illusion that blocks us from seeing the Holy Grail. And we must fight through these combatting forces and our own illusions to see the Grail.”
Sir Bibee was quiet as he processed his recent encounter with the Grail. “And yet when I did see the Holy Grail, my king, the lesson it bore was far more important than the cup that was there in front of me.”
King Vogt nodded slowly from his throne. Then he noticed the golden border that outlined each of the red C’s on his knights’ armor.
“And it looks like those lessons have left a permanent mark, my good knights,” he said. “What you have said is both inspiring and troubling. If the Grail is what you say — that it is a spiritual lesson that we embody — then it is something attainable by anyone. That is a hopeful thought…. and one that opens many possibilities. But I have also just received troubling tidings from my royal herald Andre Knott, who tells of whispers throughout The Land that a dark force is gathering. In one battle, our knights were overcome and Sir Ramirez, Sir DeLauter, and Sir Martinez all fell… and if it weren’t for the armor of Sir Fairchild holding, we certainly would be down four brave knights. I fear that there is indeed a malignant energy that is strengthening… and that it’s the same force you both encountered on your quests.”
A powerful wind bellowed against the building from the outside, sending the candles aflicker.
King Vogt leaned forward in his throne, shadows falling across his face, “You see, my Guardians of the Round Table… each character comes back, but they are reborn in different ways… I am King Arthur reincarnated, sent here to lead us forth on our sacred quest for the Commissioner’s Trophy. Our recently fallen Sir Ramirez is our Lancelot. Sir Kwan, who was the first to find the Holy Grail, is our Percival. Carl Willis, our Merlin. And yet we do not yet know who one of my greatest foes has returned as…”
At that, a thunderous wind beat against the castle — and all the windows slammed shut — overtaking the courtroom in darkness.
King Vogt continued speaking, his voice resonating in the dark chamber, “There is a formidable witchcraft that has been gaining power within the halls of Progressive Field… This dark magic has already hampered us greatly in our efforts. It is a sorcery that temporarily blinded both of you, though you were able to break through the illusion. But it is a source that grows in power, and it too seeks the Holy Grail… This black magic has strengthened… and now a name is carried on the Lake Erie winds that has not been uttered in centuries: Morgana Le Fay.”
