As the caravan of knights left the forest, they came upon a man who appeared to be a wizard. He wore long blue robes and had what appeared to be ram's horns attached to his head piece. His long gray beard flowed around in the breeze as fireballs flew from his staff, making anything and everything he pointed at explode into flames.
King Arthur signaled for the knights to be silent, so they wouldn't disturb the man's concentration. They all watched in amazement for sometime, watching him blow up trees and rocks all around. There was one final explosion and the knights clapped for him.
He faced them as Arthur spoke. "What manner of man are you, who can summon up fire without wood or tinder?"
In a gravelly voice, he answered, "Greetings, King Arthur. I am Tim the Enchanter. Enchanting is what I do. And blow up things."
"You know my name!" said the king nervously.
"I do." With a swing of his staff, Tim blew up a rock on a nearby cliff.
Arthur ducked and tried to speak again, but nothing would come out.
Will realized the king was scared stiff, so he stepped forward. "We're looking for the Holy Grail, Tim. Do you have any idea where we could find it?"
"I DO!" Tim answered. "BUT, the path is not for the faint of heart! To the north there lies a cave -- the cave of Caerbannog. A path from there leads to the most Holy Grail." He looked at each of the knights. "I will lead you there, but follow only if ye be men of valor, for the entrance to this cave is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived!"
King Arthur had his hand up at his throat looking terrified as Tim continued.
"So, brave knights, if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty big pointy teeth!" With his hands, he mimicked sharp teeth by his mouth.
Riker noticed all the knights were visibly scared, but he really didn't care. They were only holograms, anyway. "Then show us the way, Tim the Enchanter!" he said.
Arthur's eyes were huge when he spun toward Will. "What?" he squeaked.
Will whispered to him, "It's okay, Your Majesty, you can send the other knights in first, and you won't be in any danger."
A wave of realization went over the king's face and he smiled, "Right! Let's be off!"
Will turned to Deanna, seeing she was giving another valiant effort to keep from laughing.
The knights, along with Will Riker and Deanna Troi, followed Tim the Enchanter to the Cave of Caerbannog. There was a trench not far outside the cavern opening where he stopped them and cowered down behind some of the rocks. He snuck a few glances toward the cave. "There he is!"
"Where, Tim?" Arthur asked, seeming quite uneasy with the way the enchanter was acting.
"There! At the cave's mouth!" He pointed hurriedly toward the cavern.
Will and Deanna walked around with the others to take a look.
Confused, Deanna spoke, "All I see is a white rabbit."
"It is the rabbit!" Tim exclaimed, "But, it's no ordinary rabbit. That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!"
Frustrated, Will started to stand, "I think I can take care of this!"
Troi stopped him. "No, Will! I have a bad feeling about this. You may actually get hurt this time. It's too easy."
They both watched as Arthur sent on of the other knights in. He leaped over the trench and charged the rabbit.
Deanna thought maybe she'd been wrong, when the rabbit leaped up and tore the knight's head off!
"Oh my god!" she said completely shocked.
"That's it!" Arthur drew his sword and yelled, "CHARGE!"
He and the other knights, including Will, charged at the rabbit. It killed another of the group and injured five others before the king called for them to run away.
As they retreated into the trench, Riker approached Tim, who had stayed behind. "Can't you throw one or two of your fireballs at the rabbit?"
The enchanter's face lit up. Apparently, the thought had never crossed his mind before. "Of course I can!" He climbed out of the trench and aimed his staff at the white rodent. A flurry of fireballs erupted from the end of it and connected with the area surrounding the cave entrance.
After the massive explosion, the knights remained hidden in the trench to the side of the cave. Just outside the entrance lay the remains of the white rabbit that had taken the lives of two of their group.
Will stayed still as the other knights walked around quietly, not sure what to do or say. He finally broke the silence. "Well? Aren't we going to enter the cave now? It appears the danger is gone."
Arthur jerked his head toward him, looking completely terrified. "Y-yes, you are right, Sir William." He took a deep breath, "Knights! Let us continue our quest!"
Several of the others mumbled as they appeared to gather their wits. Some of them giving Riker hateful glances.
He ignored the looks and sought out Deanna. You know, this is the biggest bunch of cowards I've ever traveled with!"
"I know you're getting frustrated with them." She said, and he knew she understood.
"Yeah," he ran his hand through his hair, trying to think positively. "Maybe the Grail is inside that cave!"
Deanna smiled, "I certainly hope so!"
A loud rumbling erupted from the cave and all eyes turned to the source of the noise. The rumble slowly turned into a roar, followed by sounds of very heavy footsteps.
"What could that possibly be?" Will asked.
His question was answered almost instantaneously. A huge cartoonish creature pushed out of the cave, clearly too big for the entrance, but got out nonetheless. Standing on two legs, it stopped right outside the cavern for a moment, studying the small people in front of it.
Will and Deanna were momentarily frozen with fear. The beast was enormous, standing about fifty meters tall. It was covered in blue fur with two yellow horns on top of its head. The most alien about it was the hundreds of eyes it had, all looking in different directions. The monster opened its mouth, letting loose another roar as it showed rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Arthur screamed as he turned tail and run, "It's the Legendary Black Beast of Arrgh! Run away! Run away!"
The others followed quickly after.
INTERMISSION
AN EDUCATIONAL GOVERNMENT FILM; #48
In this picture, there are 40 people. None of which, can be seen. OK, you can't see any picture at all…then IMAGINE a scene, say, a meadow surrounded by a few trees, where there are 40 people…but they cannot be seen. OK. Got it? Good.
Mr. Nadel Gussman of 356 Worchestershire Avenue is trying not to be seen. Imagine him being present, but not seen in the picture you are imagining. "Mr. Gussman, will you please stand up?"
In a spurt of haste, Mr. Gussman stands up in the imaginary scene.
BOOM!
Mr. Gussman is no more. He has missed the first lesson of not being seen…NOT to stand up.
Mrs. Ella Jeane Suggs of 790 Heines Avenue is located somewhere in the imaginary setting. "Will you please stand up, Mrs. Suggs."
Imagine Mrs. Suggs not standing up. Mrs. Suggs has learned the first lesson of not being seen, not to stand up. However, there is a small bush in the center of the meadow. We have reason to believe she is behind that very bush!
BOOM! (The bush explodes in a blaze of fire, followed by someone screaming)
She missed the second lesson of not being seen by finding a rather obvious piece of cover.
Mr. Rocker B. Sutton of Long Island has presented us with a poser. We don't know which bush he is hiding behind. Imagine three scrawny bushes and an unsuspecting victim behind one of them.
Is it the left one? BOOM! (The bush bursts into flames.)
NO, it wasn't the left one. Is it the right one? BOOM! (This one bursts into flames also.)
NOPE, not that one. There is only one left. The middle one. Could he be here?
BOOM! (This one bursts into flames as Mr. Sutton runs off with the seat of his pants on fire.)
Yes, you imagined right: The MIDDLE one.
So thus, this completes our government film on Not being seen. Thank you for taking the time to watch… imagine, whatever… this film!
CONCLUSION
As the knights took off, the beast ran after them, picking off the slower ones first.
Will and Deanna ran off, then seeing the monster was after the others, they snuck inside the cave to watch the others scurrying about trying to get away from the Black Beast.
The monster made quick work of the knights and was chasing after one of the squires that had managed to keep out of reach… until now. The Black Beast grabbed the man it had pinned with its mouth. Then, as it was still crunching on the squire, it turned toward Will and Deanna.
Troi pulled on Will's arm, "What do we do now?"
Never taking his eyes from the monster, he said, "I think running is a good option."
The Black Beast roared again, charging toward them. And it stopped in mid-step and a voice came from somewhere, maybe the sky.
As the Black Beast lunged forward, escape seemed hopeless. WHEN SUDDENLY, the animator suffered from a fatal heart attack!The beast faded away as the voice continued, And the cartoon peril was no more.
Deanna looked up at Will after the beast disappeared. "Do you think we're finished?""I don't know, but there's only one way to find out," he said. "Computer, end program."
Nothing happened.
Riker stomped his foot. "Damn! There's still more to go!"
"Well, it seems to me that we're fairly safe right now," she replied. "Why don't we take some time to rest, then continue the search for the Grail?"
Riker nodded, "Yeah, I could use some rest." He looked out to the field where the beast and knights were running about earlier. "And we don't have Arthur and the others to listen to now!"
TBC...
