What’s the best way to alleviate boredom?
Break an ancient seal and release some medieval ghosts.
Colin and Maria stood outside the old country manor they would now call home.
Their father had been offered a promotion too good to refuse. As children, Colin and Maria had no say in the matter. They had no choice but to pack their cosy suburban life, leave the only home they ever knew and start a new life in the countryside.
It was blatantly obvious the manor house had been abandoned and neglected for years. It wouldn’t be surprising if it was haunted.
Colin and Maria watched the movers unload the cardboard boxes following the directions of their mother. (Put a high vis vest on her and she was the image of a traffic lady on school mornings.)
With the TV boxed away and no internet connection, the 12-year-old twins were noticeably bored. Seeing their sullen faces, their father suggested they take their suitcases upstairs and explore the house. ‘It’s a house full of history!’ he told exclaimed enthusiastically.
It was only 2 o’clock in the afternoon. With nothing else to do, Colin and Maria decided to wander around the dark and dated manor. They needed to get used to it after all.
Colin and Maria scanned over each room looking for something, anything interesting. Something to relieve them of their boredom. Ala, each room was a disappointment.
Walking down the dark hallway leading to the lounge, Maria tripped over an old dusty rug. It was hardly surprising, decades of dust and dirt had recoloured the rug to match the varnished floorboards. Colin noticed something as he helped Maria back on her feet.
The upturned corner of the rug revealed an inconsistency in the flooring pattern. Colin pulled the rug back further to find a hidden hatch door in the floorboards. Finally something interesting!
Since their parents were still busy organising boxes and furniture, Colin and Maria decided to see what was hiding beneath the hatch door.
Below the hatch was a hidden passageway. The siblings slowly and silently, walked down the passage. Several minutes later their eyes adjusted to the darkness making it easier for them to see.
At the end of the passage the twins discovered an old wooden door. Colin gently nudged the door open. Colin and Maria’s carefully walked through the door. One step at a time with their eyes closed.
When the air got cooler they quickly opened their eyes to a sight beyond their wildest dreams. The twins couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Not in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that below the manor was a large Medieval vault.
Piles of trinkets, artefacts, books and paper filled the domed stone vault. Books written in unrecognisable symbols and letters, each page decorated with colourful patterns and illustrations.
As Maria admired the fragile and weathered books, something else caught Colin’s eye. A silver longsword pierced into the ground, stood in the centre of the vault. Unlike any other other item in the vault, the sword was the only thing unaffected by time or nature. Moving closer to the sword, Colin wondered why he felt a strange affinity with the silver blade.
With the sword in arms reach, Colin noticed a strange circular pattern drawn on the ground surrounding the sword, like yellow tape around a crime scene. The symbols etched into the pattern were almost identical to the characters and drawing in the books.
Unable to resist, Colin stepped forward and pulled the sword from the earth. Unaware of the consequences of his actions. The liberated sword shone in Colin’s hand. While the pattern below lit up the dark chamber before disappearing.
Colin quickly dropped the sword and stumbled backwards. What just happened?
He grabbed Maria’s hand and ran out of the vault. However, it was already too late.
The seal had been undone.
What happened next?
- With the seal broken, Medieval spirits both good and evil awaken. Among them are a hero, knights and an evil mage
- To reseal / exorcise / put the spirits to rest, Colin and Maria have to uncover the truth behind the death of the hero, his wife and daughter.
- They find out Hero and his family were betrayed by the Hero’s best and most trusted friend, Knight.
- Knight joins forces with a Dark Mage. Hero was called out by Knight only to fall into Dark Mage’s trap and die by his hand.
- Knight was jealous of Hero. He was sick of always living in his shadow. Hero had everything; respect, talent as well as a loving wife Alice and son Artie (like Arthur, get it?). I think Knight only loved Hero’s wife simply because she was Hero’s wife. So he considered her another thing he “lost” to Hero.
- Knight eventually snapped when he was rejected by Alice. His rage took over and he ended up killing her. One of those “If I can’t have you no one can” situations.
- However it is unclear what happened to Artie.
PLOT TWIST!!!
- Turns out Artie was the one who sealed the sword in the vault. The manor was her home which was passed down through the generations.
- Later Colin and Maria find out that their father had inherited the house from his grandfather. Which makes them Artie’s descendants.
- Maybe living in the manor wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Dedicated Dreamer 