The Legends Of Sir Garrick And Cerris

Enter the Legend

There are tales told of the first battle Sir Garrick and Cerris rode in. At first none were overly concerned with the horse and two riders creating the hill. That was their mistake. The horse and riders charged into the fray lance first. Both held tight to the lance. Those who survived being hit in the first pass said it felt like a cannonball. Then something shifted, Cerris's grip moved and suddenly he was standing on the back of the horse, bow in hand and arrow knocked. With proximity and stunning precision, the archer pierced knights through the eye holes in their visors.

At one point, Cerris calls out something, though no one can remember what. The lance shifts again and the small rider grips it tight as he is swung round, kicking the enemy away from the horse. At the apex of the swing, he slides down the pole and lands in a crouched position on the back of the horse again. As they rode past another mounted knight, Cerris flipped from Sir Garrick's horse. He lashed out at the other rider, sliding his blade between helm and gord to behead the knight. The body fell from the confused horse. Cerris gathered up the reigns and directed the horse toward another. He then jumped from the horse to apparently run up a knight's lance. The lance fell from the unprepared rider's grasp. Cerris fell with it and into a roll.

Down among the foot soldiers, Cerris displayed astounding acrobatics and a ferocity not seen before. He tore into the foot soldiers as if they were straw training dummies. Very little quarter was given and even then only because retreat had been called by the French.

Cerris stood straight and proud while soldiers fled from him. Sir Garrick rode up behind him and offered a hand. Cerris grasped it and jumped so that Sir Garrick could raise him back to the saddle.

At this point, the legend becomes muddled. Some say this is when they realized Cerris wore no armour, only cloth; others say that Cerris had leather armour typical of archers; still others say Cerris wore chain armour. Even the official reports cannot agree on what he wore. However, all could agree that Cerris and Sir Garrick wore bright green tunics trimmed in gold, rich brown britches, and Cerris had one arm of his tunic sewn in a festive blue. Cerris also bore no shoes like the growing son of a peasant.

"Hail, knight," the king called to Sir Garrick as he approached. "Speak and introduce yourself if you be friend."

"Hail, King of England. I am Sir Garrick of Cardiff," the knight saluted the king.

"And your young squire?"

"Cerris is no squire, but a fully trained warrior," Sir Garrick said.

"He be no more than fourteen!" Exclaimed the king.

"I'm twenty-five," Cerris answers in a voice most would associate with a boy entering puberty.

"I find that hard to believe," the king said.

"He has not grown an inch nor his voice's timber raise or drop in the seven years we've been companions, so I do believe his claim of age," Sir Garrick answered.

The king sighed but relented in belief of the archer's age. "Come, mine own squires will prepare you a tent and you will feast at my side."

After all the camp had gone to bed, two figures could be seen sneaking from Sir Garrick and Cerris's tent. The ran to a nearby water source and began stripping down.

"What are we going to do, Andrew?" whispered Cerris, who now had his shirt stripped off and unwound a band of fabric from his chest, freeing breasts.

"I don't know, El," Sir Garrick answered, already stripped to his loins. He stepped into the river and began washing his body.

"Who knew the legends of Sir Garrick and Cerris were true," El said, slipping into the water next to the knight and bathing.

"What came first, the actors or the legend?" Andrew asked. "And when did the legends say Cerris was revealed as a woman? Clearly that was wrong."

"From a minds standpoint it might be true, non-binary wouldn't keep through church history as well as a female acrobat, would" El answered. "And anyway, I don't necessarily mind being seen as a woman, it's just sometimes it feels a farce."