Dream Interpreter AI™

The Transformation of the Squire: A Journey to the Good Knight

Once upon a time, there was a knight. He was smart and he was handsome and he was brilliant. He was everything you think when a knight is mentioned. Except for his attitude. This shining knight was mean, and rude, and selfish. He would take credit for doing good things whenever he could, even though nothing he ever did WAS good. This knight not only took credit, but he tried his best to seem the best. If he couldn’t spin a tale to make himself look better, he would spin a lie to make everyone else look bad. The only people he was not mean to or blame or steal from, was the Nobles so that he had a much easier time making his life better. If something was not given to him, he took it. He stole money, and he stole animals, and he stole attention. He never once did anything for himself. Soon he had a castle and a farm and banquets that he hosted every night with servants waiting on him hand and foot. Whenever he held a banquet, he would bring in the rich and the popular and the powerful. Everyone else, he would shut the door in their face and laugh. Soon the townspeople were starving and poor and struggling and meanwhile the Knight kept becoming richer and richer. Nobody liked the Knight. They all came to hate him because of the mistreatment that they all suffered. They needed to find someone who could fight back against the Knight for them. As well as a brilliant knight, there was once his timid squire. This squire liked to keep his head down. When his friends and family were targeted and laughed at, he just bowed his head. He was ashamed of himself, but what was he to do? He was just a small, coy squire, and his knight was the most powerful in the kingdom. If he was to even suggest the Knight lighten up, he could lose his job, his home, his status. In fact, he should be grateful to the knight for not treating him quite as horribly as the rest of the townspeople. Finally after years of mistreatment, of himself, of his family, of his friends, the Squire snapped. He did not care anymore for shy or careful in this moment. During the Knight’s biggest event of the year, the Squire marched right up to him and yelled. He yelled and yelled about the unfair treatment, and the stealing, and the beating, and all that the Knight did that was so terrible to everyone else. The Knight was outraged. Red-faced, the Knight stood up and responded. He did not go on and on or explode as the Squire did. He just announced that the Squire was no longer welcome. The Squire was banished. He was to pack up his things and leave the village. Where he was to go or to live or to work, he did not know. But nevertheless, he set out on his own, away from the only place he had ever known. As soon as the sun rose, he was on his way. Toward the horizon and away from the sun, he started walking. He walked until he could barely see his own hand in front of him. And when the sun rose the morning after, he started walking again. Finally, after weeks of walking, he finally saw a town coming up. Since it was almost nightfall, he figured he could camp for the night and be well rested for his entry to the town the next day. As the Squire walked in to the town, all the villagers gathered around the town square. They were a very slow-going and quiet town, and very rarely did they ever get visitors. As the Squire walked up to them, the townspeople could all recognize he had been on the road for a long time and was in sore condition. A beautiful maiden stepped out of the crowd. “O traveler! From whence do you come and to where do you go? For how long were you traveling? Need you a place for rest, or perhaps are you passing through?” The Squire thought for a moment before answering. “I come from a magnificent city about 2 fortnight by foot. I know not to where I commence, but I hope a new place to call home. I would greatly appreciate if here I could stay, and in return I will give you my services. I was a squire for a brilliant knight, but he was mean and rude and so I was kicked out from my only home.” The people were charmed by him immediately, and of course they allowed him to stay. As the Squire was walked to the inn, he spotted a well. He excused himself to use it to wash, and to drink some water after all those days on the road. As he reached his body over to draw water up, he caught his reflection in the rippling surface. He saw not who he wished he was. Instead of brave and strong, he saw a timid and weak. Instead of smart and kind, he saw a child who was rash and angry. Perhaps being banished was the change he needed to make himself the man he wanted to be. Over the next years, the Squire built up a life for himself. Though the town had no king or queen nor any other knights, they were still victims of looters and theifs and neighboring attacks. The town immediately asked for his help in defending them, and soon even those wary at the start came to love him. After years in the new village, the Squire had built up a nice life for himself. He had trained for years and soon to be knighted by the mayor of his town. The beautiful maiden who spoke to him when he arrived, he had since married and they had raised two beautiful children, each following in their father’s footsteps to become knights and sworn protectors of their home. The Squire could not be more proud of how his life was unfolding. After training for months and months, the Squire’s knighting ceremony was upcoming. He was to be sworn in in front of all his new family and friends, to uphold this village he was so much more proud of. When he knelt in front of the mayor, his wife, for his honor, he was knighted as the Good Knight, showing how far he had come and how he shall fight against evil. But he felt uneasy. He had not deserved it, as he had not yet fought for good. To complete his knighting, the Good Knight had to complete a quest of his choosing. As he was left with time to choose his quest, he wandered back to the well from when he first arrived. As he peered again into the basin, he did not see timid and weak, but rather brave and strong. Instead of rash and angry, he saw an adult who was smart and kind. But most of all things he saw in that well, he saw that he was now able to face those who attacked him, or his family, or his friends. Not only that he could, but that he would choose to. His quest was the perfect opportunity to show this personal growth that he had. Soon, he had packed all his important things onto his own horse, and waving goodbye to his home, he and his wife and children set off to his old kingdom that he could not stand up for. As he arrived in his old home, he was greeted by a large crowd. They saw he was a knight who could help them, but not who he was. After all he had changed during all that time away. They cried out to him, “Please! Help us! Our Knight is so rotten and spoiled! All the power has gone to his head!” Although they did not recognize him, the Good Knight recognized them. He felt shame that he had not been there for them before, not stood up and stuck around while he was still there. Regardless, he knew he had to find the Knight and put him in his place. The Good Knight led his family back to his old quarters. Just like there had always been, the Knight was hosting a banquet. There was no way in but to go through the party. The feast had noticeably less people and food than the Good Knight remembered. The Knight noticed the intruders to his party and staggered over to our protagonist. He was not in his right mind. “Who let the likes of you in here? What makes you worthy of my palace?” He sneered at them. The Good Knight could tell that the Knight was not able to recognize him, just as those who greeted him had not. He decided it was wise to stay anonymous, to give him a greater chance to finish his mission. As the Good Knight stayed silent thinking through how he should continue, the Knight became enraged, “Well? Answer me! Who are you? Why do you come here?”. The Good Knight answered, making sure to make it so all in the room could hear. “I have come from a town some ways off. Even there, I hear tales of how terribly and selfishly you treat everyone here. These people are yours to protect, not harass. If you should not offer protection, I should come in and help your people. That is the purpose of my visit.” Threatened, the drunken Knight responded, “If you want my people, you go through me. If you want to fight for them, fight me. Tomorrow at dawn, we shall duel. The winner will have control of the people.” The Good Knight, with all his bravery, agreed, “If fight I must, fight I will. I request that the people watch. So when I win they will know that their oppression has ended and that evil can be triumphed.” “The people will watch you lose, and all hope will go along with you,” The Knight responded. He always had been arrogant, and the Good Knight was counting on that. The next morning, a couple hours before dawn, the Good Knight started preparing. He put on his armour and picked up his shield. He picked up his sword, and it fit in his hand perfectly. After running drills in the candlelight, he noticed the light start to creep out. It was now dawn, his time to prove himself. As he stepped into the arena, he heard a deafening cheer come from the people. He had never been loved by so many before. He closed his eyes under his helmet and readied himself. He was going to prove to others that he was ready and able to hold the responsibilities of a knight. He was going to prove to himself that he was worthy. Soon, the Knight came swaggering out into the arena. He carried his sword high on his shoulder, and his shield he tossed to the side. The Knight had arrogance and strength. All bets were on him to win. But the Good Knight had strategy and knowledge of how the Knight fought. He had a plan and patience. And against brute force and arrogance, that gives you a huge advantage. As the horn started to announce the beginning of the duel, the Knight charged with his sword in front of him. With a mighty CLANG the sword bounced off of the Good Knight’s shield. The Good Knight moved and then fortified again, and this continued. After a long time of this, the Knight tired. The Good Knight, still energized, took his opportunity. He struck the legs and he struck the arms and any other weak spot he could find. Soon, he had the Knight pinned to the ground asking for mercy. As the Good Knight rose and removed his helmet, the sun rose behind him. All the townspeople looked at him and the halo created by the light. It was a majestic sight. He looked like the hero they all needed. He WAS the hero they all needed. They asked him to stay and be their leader. But he could not. They did not know that he had run away before, had only come to fix his mistake. Besides, he had to return back to his friends and his home. He did not come for the fame or power, he came to do what was right. So after a few days of setting up a new system of power, so no one would abuse it like the Knight had, the Good Knight bade farewell to everyone and set off on his way. As he rode, he felt a sense of pride growing in his chest. He had finally done what he couldn’t all those years ago. And he lived happily ever after.