The song of the cave


Arthur was furious. He ran through the tall corridors of the castle, trying to get away from the source of his annoyance.

How could Morgana get to train with knights but not him? He was a boy and he was one year and three months older than her. The knights were mean and Gaius always sided with them. They were laughing at him. Wait till he told his Father King about that!

Seeing a maid approached, Arthur quickly dived behind a nearby column, crouching and flattening himself against the wall, his heart flattered with nervousness and excitement. He couldn't let her see him; she could betray him to Geoffrey. His history lessons were as boring as the council's meeting, which he was forced to attend with Gaius as a part of his 'education'.

He snorted. Then he clapped his hand on his mouth. He was a prince. He knew everything and he needed not be taught. Except knight training. Father King was the greatest knight and he also trained a lot. He would one day be as great as him.

The maid was getting closer; he thought of sticking out his leg and tripped her. It would be fun, then Father would get very angry and it wouldn't be fun anymore.

The maid holding a pile of wrinkled clothes walked by oblivious, Arthur peeped out from behind the marble column. Safe. For now. He should go somewhere without people. He got to his feet and took the unfamiliar twists and turns of the castle.

He had never seen this place before, and it was really strange because he was born here. Furrowing his brow, Arthur tilted up his head and observed the strange place. There was a great arch made of unpolished rocks, each was larger than he was and much heavier. He put his hand on one of the grayish boulder and found that they were indeed rough with a thick layer of sand and dust on it. He wiped his hand on his red tunic.

Under the arch was a corridor so dark he could not see a few steps ahead of him. It was like the entrance to the big dark bat cave in the forest Arthur had once been to with Father King and knights when they were picnicking. Arthur pressed his lips together; he hadn't enjoyed the experience. Morgana had laughed at him for days because she thought he was scared. He wasn't!

So there was a cave in the castle. He knew his castle was built on a hill so it made sense. But what was in it? Why hadn't Father or Gaius or Geoffrey said anything about it?

He puffed up his cheek and let the breath come out loudly. It didn't matter. Father had forbidden him to go to this part of the castle alone because it was too close to the dungeon. It would be bad if anyone caught him here.

Just as he decided to go, he heard a voice calling his name.

Arthur. Arthur.

It was a voice of a boy, and judging from the sound, he was in the … in the cave?

He took a few steps into the cave. He shivered; it was freezing.

'Hello?' He called out into the cave, his voice too small and weak for his liking. He was a prince, and a prince shouldn't be afraid of caves and bats.

He was almost six for the love of Camelot!

Straightening his shoulder, Arthur entered the cave.


Arthur. Artie. Praty. Nutty. Gutty.

Arthur. Nathur. Sathur. Farrrfarr.

Ar-Thur. ArthUR. ARRthur.

The child was singing in a childish rhyme. Arthur couldn't understand a word of the song except his name. The rest of the song revolved senselessly around it without any pitch or rhythm. A stupid rumbling of a bored child.

Arthur snorted. It was a very bad song.

He almost shrieked when he suddenly stepped on air. Feeling his way along the wall in the pitch dark corridor, he didn't notice the stair trailing down at the end of the path. He couldn't see a thing and his legs were shaking badly because…because… he was ex-hi-la-rated. It was a big word Gaius just taught him. He was going to show it off to Morgana someday. Bad Morgana, everyone seemed to love her because she was pretty. Arthur shook his head in disdain; the pink dress she wore today was disgusting.

Ar-Thur. ArthUR. ARRthur.

The voice was louder, filling his curiosity. If Arthur squinted, he could see the end of the stair not quite far beyond. It was brighter down there, as if there was an exit. So he had found a secret corridor of the castle!

Triumphantly he crawled down the stair, the song of the boy luring him on.

Ar-Thur. ArthUR. ARRthur.

The protagonist of the song had tackled the stair and was following the light. Emerging from the corridor, Arthur stood dumbfounded at the entrance of a magnificent cave, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Great and imposing, high rocks crowded every wall as far as he could see, making him felt tiny and weak. Craning his head as high as he could, he stared up an opening at the top of the cave. The sunlight pouring through a hole at the top, but it only managed to dimly illuminate the ground as it travelled all the way down. It was ten feet tall! Arthur exclaimed to himself, even though he didn't know how tall one foot was. He just knew when the adults used the word, they weren't referring to his or their feet.

The cave was almost as large as his castle!

Arthur. Artie. Praty…

The voice stopped. Seemingly it had forgotten the next verse of his song. Arthur thought the boy had finally realized its ridiculousness before he continued with a renewed rigor.

Prat! Prat! Prat!

'Prat isn't a word!' Arthur shouted; he couldn't stand it anymore. It was a bad song, but it was about him! And he had a nagging that 'prat' wasn't a good word.

The cave went silent instantly. Arthur was suddenly aware of his own coarse breathe echoed through the vast darkness.

'Come out! I know you are here!' He called out again, nothing but to disperse the frightening silence.

'No one is here!' Came the swift reply.

Arthur rolled his eyes. He briefly wondered if it was the child of one of the lords and decided against it. They were stupid but they weren't that stupid. That child would be funny!

'I am going to find you!' Arthur ran excitedly forward. The lack of response only fueled his determination.

'Stop! You are going to fall!'

Upon the sharp warning, Arthur fell back ungracefully on his butt, his heart running wild and loud – his leg just had had a brief taste of the empty space before him.

He had almost fallen down a cliff! Not a cliff exactly, but likely it would still kill him.

'Are you okay?' the voice was small, barely above a whisper; Arthur thought its owner was afraid.

'Yes. I am fine.' He too couldn't hide the quiver in his voice as he felt the rocks on the ground in reassurance.

Then the silence set in once again. The air was heavy and murky. The cave seemed to grow even larger.

But he wouldn't give up that easily.

'Where are you? Who are you? I am coming to your place.' Edging away from the cliff, Arthur shouted out to the air.

The boy didn't respond, but Arthur didn't feel disappointed. He was beginning to like this game.

'Are you up there?' He yelled at a rocky ledge high on the wall above the entrance.

'No!' The boy yelled back in a panicked tone. But the direction of his voice betrayed his location. Arthur smirked. He was definitely up there.

With the sun's projection on the wall, he could make out some the dents on the rock face. They almost looked artificial. Maybe that was how the boy had climbed up there. Well, he was certainly capable of climbing up to the protrusion if the boy could.

'I am coming!' Arthur exclaimed and he started to go up the cave. He was strong for his age. So why didn't Gaius let him train with the knights.

'No! The king doesn't let me talk to anyone. Where are you? Stop coming!' The boy's scared voice amplified through the cave, Arthur clenched his teeth; he was almost there. His muscles burned in protest. He stretched his arm and with a great push from his feet, Ha! He made it! He straightened and turned towards the content of the ledge.

'You can't see…' The voice flattered as its owner immediately dodged behind a rock, but it wasn't fast enough. Arthur had seen it.

It was a dragon.


Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my dreams and my pen, all rights belong to their respective owners.

Arthur's note: Hello everyone. I hope you have enjoyed the story just as I have enjoyed writing it.

I know this is a short chapter and the writing is a bit childish. It is because I am trying to capture the mind of a child. I promise the next chapter will be longer, and hopefully better. Please give it a chance. And please leave a review, so I will know how I am doing. While it is not the first published thing I have written in English, English is not my first language and I will be very grateful if someone point out my mistakes. If the writing seems strange, then I apologise because 1) it is from a child's POV, 2) my English is bad, yelp I know, 3) I have a weird style even when writing in my mother tongue.

I have written down 70% of the stories, so there is no way I will stop posting one day, even if no one like this story. So you are still seeing me next week not matter what XD! I will update once a week or I will post a notice.