by Jim Pappas
"I tol'ja!" screamed Diffidence. "I tol'ja, tol'ja, tol'ja. We're under attack, I tell ya. Enemy attack! Oh, woe is me."
"Bah! Attack, schmattack," mocked Despair as he thought upon the strength of his fortifications. "Despair fears neither man nor angel for he has overcome both."
"Despair!" demanded Great-heart as his battering ram put a crack in one of the beams supporting the lower, right-hand hinge.
"Curses!" spat Despair angrily as he thought of the long hours he would have to spend repairing his gate. "Got to stop this nonsense before they do any more damage to me gate."
"Better hurry, dearest," said Diffidence, who was looking out the window at the shuddering gate. "They be turning thy gate into toothpicks."
"Vile beasts. Wish I could invent a moat bridge that tips sideways. That way I could just pull a rope and feed them to my fishies."
"Despair!"
"Hmmph," muttered the giant as he sat on the side of his bed and began to draw on his leather britches. "Confident sounding bugger. Better get me me club!"
"Here you are, dear," announced Diffidence, dropping the heavy blood-stained mace at his feet.
"Good! Good. Very good," said he nervously. "Now get me me steel helmet, me breast plate and me iron shoes."
"All that?" she questioned. "What for?"
"I don't know what for!" he snapped. "That creepy voice has a strange ring of confidence to it. 'Better to have and not need - than to need and not have', right? Now hop to it, wench!"
"Yes, m'luv," said she. Now although her words bespoke love and respect, the tremor in her voice showed her fear of Despair to be every bit as real as that experienced by his prisoners.
Soon, with the help of the witch, the giant was harnessed and ready to give battle. Then Great-heart, growing weary of delay, cried out, "Despairrrr! Are you home?"
"Despair be always at home," the giant roared. "So who art thou, O loud-mouthed Mortal?"
"My name is Great-heart!" came instant reply.
"Ptah!" spat Despair. "What kind of crazy name is that! Great-heart, Hmph! Ever hear of some knave named Great-heart, my dear?"
"No," she answered with an involuntary shudder, "not in these parts. But the very sound makes my skin crawl. I'm going to get my enchantments and magic potions."
"Bah! Magic, schmagic. The only magic needed here is to impart the magic of momentum to my mighty mace. Ha, ha, ha," chuckled he, thumping his club on the oak floor.
"Is that so?" questioned the witch as she cast some incense upon the glowing coals in her brazier. Then she traced a few mystic symbols in the dust on the floor, saying, "Well, where was your mighty mace when you tried to capture Christian and Hope . . . "
"Don't speak those cursed names here!" snarled he.
"Sorry, sorry," she apologized. "But I'm preparing my magic just the same. 'Better to have and not need - than to . . ."
"All right, all right! Get your stupid potions. Oh, and uh, while you're at it, might as well fetch forth thy hexagrams and pentagrams and the unicorn's horn."
"Yes, dear."
"Say! Bring also thy sacrificial dagger. It may be we can capture this fellow and offer him up as a sacrifice."
"Oooohhhh! Good idea, hubby. Good idea!"
"And take a few seconds to speak to Lucifer, thy talking cat. Perchance he will have a good word for us."
"Yes, dear."
Now during this exchange, Great-heart and the boys were resting from their intense efforts with the battering ram - all except Samuel, that is. He was half way up the wall trying to get him over and open the gate from within.
"Careful you don't fall into the moat," joked James. "Those toothy fishies don't look too friendly."
"Yeah, watch," added Joseph, throwing a stick into the school of piranhas that was circling eagerly below Samuel. Instantly the water boiled for a few violent moments and a few bits of bark and wood chips floated to the surface.
"I really didn't need that, Joseph," said Samuel who clung a little tighter to his holds. But, fearless as he was, he kept to his mission and was soon able to poke his head over the wall. "Wow!"
"What see thee, lad?" asked Old-honest.
"Bones, sir. Acres of skulls and bones strewn everywhere."
At this, all of Great-heart's soldiers swallowed hard and looked to him for reassurance.
"Fear not, boys. Our God shall prevail over Despair. Do you see anything else, Samuel? Can we open the gates from within?"
"Nay, for there is a huge rusty lock on it."
"Then best you come down. He'll be out to greet us soon enough."
"You're right about that," answered Samuel beginning a cautious descent. "He's coming across the yard right now and he's armed to the teeth. Plus he's got a witch behind him with an incense burner and all kinds of jewelry like we saw with the giant Pagan."
"Despair!" shouted Great-heart.
"Who calls?" demanded Despair.
"I am Great-heart!"
"Oh yeah? And who sent you here?"
"I am sent by the King of the Celestial City."
"To what purpose?"
"To destroy and demolish Doubting Castle."
"Ptah!" spat Despair. "Over my dead body!"
"So is our hope - for we intend to take off thy head."
"I just knew by his name that he was up to no good!" squawked Diffidence in her raspy voice. "Don't open the gate till I have got my hexagrams drawn on the ground."
Then with black chalk, Diffidence feverishly began to draw all her magical symbols on the ground.
"State your business," demanded Despair, in an effort to stall for time.
"I already have! Now in the name of the King, I demand that you open your gate and let me in!"
"You and what army's gonna make me?"
With that, Great-heart gave a nod and the boys once again began to apply the ram with a good will. Blow after blow sounded and blow after blow widened the crack near the hinge.
"All right, all right!" snarled the giant as he fetched out his great rusty key. "Leave part of me gate to open, will ya!"
So the rusty lock was undone with a loud squeak of rusty protest; the iron bolt was slid back and the great gate was opened against the resistance of squeaky hinges. There, all of ten feet tall and weighing over 900 pounds, stood Despair in all his armor. He assumed a smirk of confident braggadocio which vanished from his face when he saw that Great-heart was not alone. Not only not alone, but backed up by four muscular young men and a wizened old man who might well be the veteran of a thousand battles. Behind Despair, standing in a magic circle newly chalked on the pavement, danced Diffidence round and round. The warty-faced hunchback held a dagger in one hand and swung a smoldering incense burner with the other. She was chanting and muttering senseless mummeries in an attempt to cast an evil spell on their unwelcome visitors.
"So!" roared the giant with a confidence that he did not feel. "This puny runt is Great-heart, eh? Well, come forth, laddie, that I may offer up thy heart to the sun."
"Think not that you will have life enough to spare for such evil deeds as that, O thou defender of darkness; for I have brought with me Mr. Honest who can never be overcome by doubt."
At the sound of that despised name, Despair felt an electric spark of fear race up his spine and stand his hair on end. His wife also got a wild look of terror in her eyes and resumed her chanting with a will.
"Moreover," continued Great-heart, "I have with me the four sons of Christian!"
"Christian!" gulped the giant involuntarily. "Oh, no!"
"Christian's sons!" muttered the old crone under her breath. "Thank the gods I have brought my magic amulets with me."
Continued Great-heart, "His eldest son, Matthew carries the same key of promise that parted the clouds of Doubt in days of yore. With it, he will part them again, blind thine eyes, and let us take away thy head!"
"Oooohhh, nooooo," moaned the witch. "Powerful bad medicine."
"Ooohhh, noooo. Not that cursed key again!"
groaned Despair under his breath as another shiver of fear chilled his spine. "Not that cursed key again!" But, casting a quick glance up at the clouds of Doubt, he was somewhat reassured by their inky blackness. Then muttered he under his breath, "Hear me, wifey. Stand ye back in your magic circle as if only watching the battle. But if any of them give thee the back - even for a second - thou must stick him with thy sacrificial dagger."
"Yes, dear. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to capture one of the young ones for a live sacrifice."
"Sure, sure. Why not? Make mention of me in thy chantings, wife. This could be a tough one."
Then, turning to his opponents, he raised one mighty mail-clad fist to heaven and cursed them by the gods of Doubt and Despair and by the spirits of dungeons and dragons. Then said he with a hateful snarl, "So! This be Great-heart, eh? And these wimpy ones are the whelps of that dog Christian, eh? Well, let us see how you deal with a MAN! Hah!"
So he sprang to the attack, fully expecting to sweep them all into the moat with six or eight swings of his mighty club. But, he reckoned without the deflecting influence of guardian angels. And, he reckoned without the power of a mother's prayers. And, he reckoned without the experience of they who had dispatched 3 mighty giants before him. And, worst of all, he reckoned without considering that a kingdom built upon darkness cannot stand against the Light of Life.
So the six of them harried him before and behind. Now one of them (I think it was James), did indeed give Diffidence his back for an instant. But when she rushed forward brandishing her jewel-handled knife and screaming curses through three or four yellowed fangs, old Mr. Honest intercepted her with a skillful thrust of his spear.
"Ah! Despair!" cried she, mortally wounded. "I am undone! All lost and . . . " And with that, she withered into a heap of black robes within the magic circle of her gods. The dagger slipped from out her bony fingers and the spilled incense burner cast a smoky shroud about its fallen mistress. Thus perished the witch of Doubting Castle. Now her demise left Despair feeling quite helpless and alone (for I must inform you that Despair derived much of his strength and confidence from the devilish doctrines espoused by his witchy wife).
"Thou hast smitten my sweetheart!" roared Despair, seeking to hide his helpless feelings behind a facade of macchisimo. "The gods do so to me and more if I do not mingle thy blood with hers, old man! Hah!"
"As thou hast said, so shall it be!" declared Great-heart, leaping between Despair and his intended victim. "Come boys! We have learned to deal with such as these. Watch for the pattern."
Then they pressed forward to the attack and worked together as one man. Whilst one rested and prayed to God, another advanced for combat. Whilst one backed off in apparent retreat, others would swarm in from the opposite side and rear. So they fought on for an hour or more and great and long was the encounter (which is only to be expected, for, as you may know from personal experience, Despair is a hard one to overcome).
On his part, Despair was beginning to learn what feelings of despair are all about. By now he had superstitiously retreated into the black hexagram scratched on the pavement. From its magical confines, he waged his defense, hoping that the god of the 6 pointed star might interpose in his behalf. But, being fully contained by the power of promise, the prince of darkness was helpless to intervene and Despair was left to his own resources. Also, his foolish retreat to the hexagram only cut off his options for flight or defense and made it easier for Matthew to plan the use of his shiny key.
Now when Great-heart deemed that the sun might be high enough in the sky to reach over the castle walls, he called forth to Matthew saying, "Matthew! Time for your key!"
"Key!" cried Despair. "Oh, no!"
Matthew reverently fetched out the small golden key and began to pray that the God of light might do for him what had been done for his father before him. "Where is the God of Christian, Hopeful and Faithful?" he cried out. And sure enough, although the black clouds seemed piled high as mountains above them, they soon began to thin, then to part, and then to roll back as a scroll. The cozy darkness of Doubt began to melt away before the piercing rays of the Son of righteousness. At last the skies split wide open to reveal the sun shining forth in all his might. Immediately one of Despair's eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably. Soon the giant could feel one of his fits beginning to come upon him (for as I told you in my previous work, Despair cannot live long in the light and goes into violent paroxysms of twitching at its least approach. Now this was no mere approach but rather a powerful and glorious outpouring).
"Ahhh!" screamed Despair, "Not the light! Oh, no. No, no, no!"
"Into his eyes, Matthew!" ordered Great-heart.
"No! This is the unfair use of advanced weaponry! Take it away!" beseeched the giant as he turned away from the blinding promise of the Spirit.
"More light!" commanded Great-heart. "Men! Use your shields and belt buckles, spear heads and swords to reflect light to this lover of darkness."
"Great-heart! Oh, friend Great-heart!" cried the giant as he staggered about with his arms crossed over his face. "Terms of peace, please. Terms of peace."
"No quarter or compromise with a murderer such as you!" cried Great-heart.
Then Matthew darted a ray of golden sun across to Joseph who stood on Despair's unprotected shadow side. He caught it with his shiny blade and splashed its full strength back into the giant's face.
"Aauugh!" groaned the wounded giant, wheeling desperately away from Joseph, only to be stabbed straight in the eyes with a reflected beam from James' shield. "Aauugh! Mercy, Great-heart!" begged the giant. "Have mercy! I'll set my prisoners free. I'll close down the byways to the universities. I'll do anything! Anything! Just take away the light!"
"Nay!" shouted Great-heart. "For 'tis light that encircles the throne of God! 'Tis light that is the joy of life! 'Tis light that overturns all doubt, and 'tis light that shall destroy Despair! Hah!"
The giant, now totally disoriented and twitching uncontrollably, turned full-face towards Matthew, who blazed one last brilliant spear of light directly into his eyes. Now this, added to all the other rays of reflected light splashing upon him, sent Despair into his last fatal fit. Oh, it was fearsome to behold - he quivered and shuddered and twitched so violently that one of his veins burst and he was soon reduced to a gurgling, whimpering blob of twitching flesh groveling on the pavement. Then Great-heart assayed to take off his head with the sword. But I must inform you - it was not a matter of a blow or two, or even three or four as with Bloody-man, Maul or old Slay-good. Nay, nay. For Despair had as many lives as a cat. Then Great-heart called for more power from the promise and more light from the sun. So was it done and finally there came the final stroke that sent the giant's head rolling from off his body.
Now you can believe me, or you can believe me not, but his great head in its rolling jostled the still smoking censor and came to rest on a claw-like hand of the witch. One last wisp of smoke curled about the severed head and then the censor too seemed to breathe its last puff of smoke.
Death of Despair and the destruction of Doubting Castle
"Phew!" exclaimed Matthew. "Great-heart! He would not die!"
"Aye," agreed their captain, eying the headless carcass. "Despair is the worst villain of them all. But at last, the deed is done. The light has performed all that the promise has commanded. Praise God!"
"Well fought, Great-heart," said Old-honest between wheezing puffs. "You too, boys. Well fought indeed. Indeed well fought."
"I'd say we were hard put to it with this one," observed Samuel.
"Aye," agreed Honest. "'Tis good for us that Matthew is the keeper of his father's key."
"Indeed," agreed Great-heart. "Without that, it had been a harder or even hopeless battle. But now, on with our mission. Matthew, Samuel, get you down to the dungeon. Release any and all prisoners."
"But the doors are locked, Great-heart," answered Samuel.
"We have father's key, Samuel. It will get us in as easi
ly as it got him out."
"Oh, of course. Heh, heh," answered he. "That key will open any lock in Doubting Castle, won't it?"
"Aye. Come."
And so they were off to seek any honest soul that had ignorantly meandered into the dungeons of Doubt. Meanwhile, Great-heart commanded the others to find crow bars and wedges, pulleys, and ropes wherewith to pull down the walls of Doubt. "There must not remain one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down," commanded he.
In the process of searching for tools, Honest and the two brothers found themselves amid the clutter and trash of the giant's apartment (for 'tis oft the case that the servants of evil are quite messy. And the reason? Why, to drive away any angel visitants from the kingdom of light - for amidst confusion they cannot long abide).