The Journey
1334 Words
The group of royal expeditioners and the two werewolves selected by Adriel stand at the palace gates, their bags of armaments and food supplies mounted on their horses.
Mila rushes out of the palace dressed in the finest hunting attire and flanked by her three servants.
The group gazes at her with astonishment, wondering if the polished princess lost her mind.
"Get me horses! And make haste we are in a hurry." She orders the guards standing by the palace front doors and they dash
away instantly.
"May I ask where the meek princess is headed to?" Adriel inquires in a scornful tone as Mila strides forward to join group, her servants following behind.
"I am well set for this great quest, sorry for not informing you earlier, but my dear sister already approved of my decision to come." She answers.
Theo's disapproving gaze turns to Shella. "You are taking our sister to die only a day after we got her back?" He chastises.
"It was her choice to come. I cannot be held responsible for her decision or safety." Shella defends.
"I knew you would turn against me! You never wanted me in this journey, did you!" Mila accuses, feeling betrayed and angry.
"This is not a fun adventure, Mila." Theo reprimands. "None of us will have time to protect you."
Mila frowns and shifts her attention to Tolis, gazing at him with pleading eyes.
"I promise to be of great use in this quest, your Majesty. I am incapable of fighting but there are other ways I can be of service." She urges, bowing deeply like a servant at his service.
Tolis purses his lips. "Your willingness to help is greatly appreciated, but we will not be in need of any other service. As you can see we have left our servants behind. Help your father protect his kingdom while Shella is gone, your services will be of better use here." He answers and Mila's face turns grim.
"My father is no longer oblivious to surprise attacks and he has soldiers to fight. I seek to be of help to you, to be one of the heroes on this quest. Please take me with you." She begs.
"You cannot be of use in this quest if you cannot fight. You will be a corpse before you become a hero." Tolis replies in an emotionless voice.
Mila sighs in disappointment before grudgingly turning to head back to her father's palace. Everyone inwardly sighs with relief, but the princess halts after a few steps.
She pulls out a red pendant from the pockets of her attire and carries it back to Tolis.
"This is my favourite jewel, gifted to me by my great grandfather. It may bring you luck if you take it with you." She says handing him the emerald pendant and Tolis hesitantly takes it. "I will pray for your safe return." She adds, smiling passionately.
"Thank you." Tolis answers indifferently, his eyes shifting to gaze at Shella instead of the woman in front of him.
"Let's go!" He shouts to the rest of the group before mounting his horse.
The group heads out while everyone outside including Mila wave goodbye.
"She was willing to risk her life to go with him and he appears to have no interest in her. I fear that she will hate you when he breaks her heart." Theo whispers to Shella in a concerned voice.
"I cannot control who's heart chooses who." Shella replies dismissively.
* * * * *
ONE DAY LATER
The expeditioners ride through the woodlands to come to a rocky wasteland, the humans in the group looking fatigued from a day and half of riding.
"The land is becoming bare, I am assuming we are not too far from Dreadmoor." Tolis observes, taking a sip of his water.
"We have no compass we may be heading south how can we know?" Adriel huffs.
Eyes turn to Ralph, one of the werewolves selected by Adriel to guide the way.
"We are on the right track. This barren terrain is evidence that we are very close." He affirms and everyone sighs with hope.
"I have a feeling that someone is watching us." Shella whispers after a moment, sounding tense.
"Yes, a scout is watching us, dressed in black atop of that rock." Tolis affirms gazing at the huge rock ahead of them.
Apprehension spreads across the faces of the expeditioners, each staring ahead with a pounding heart.
"If we are under scrutiny, doesn't that mean that Zedon already knows of this expedition?" Theo questions in a trembling voice.
"Keep your pace, be ready for anything." King Tolis orders.
Despite his advice those that were trailing behind quicken their pace to catch up and cluster with those ahead.
"Whatever it is it doesn't smell human." Ralph says after sniffing the air around them.
"If it's a scout why hasn't he ran off already?" Adriel questions as they get closer to the boulder.
Suddenly, a colossal humanlike figure plummets from the crest of the rock, landing with a thud on it's two feet and abstructing the pathway from the fore.
Terror and panic strikes the group, everyone except Tolis makes an abrupt swerve to escape the gigantic creature covered in flowing hood.
The behemoth strides towards Tolis. Unflinching, Tolis steers his horse forward in a rush to meet his enemy with his sword drawn.
The attacker swings his immense club drawn from the tattered black cloak. The horse suddenly brakes lifting it's front body as if dodging the club disorienting Tolis.
A loud boom is heard as the blow lands
on the chest of the horse sending both Tolis and the animal flying through the air. A sharp reflex scream cuts through the air from one of the now scattered companions.
Realizing the instant danger that Tolis faces Shella lunges forward. The creature diverts it's attention towards her allowing Tolis to regain his composure.
The princess slides on the sand to dodge the bludgeon and meet with Tolis at the rear of the giant. They attack and several strikes land on the creature with little effect.
"What is this devil made of?" Tolis mutters as he pushes Shella to evade an oncoming strike which lands between them, forming a hole.
The two wolves attack from the rear diving into creatures upper body but are no match to the astounding strength of their opponent who throws them off like pebbles as the rest attack his feet.
"It has dropped it's club!" Adriel exclaims as he frantically skirts around the battle area avoiding the violence.
As the creature bends to fetch it's weapon Tolis plunges his sword into its throat. It lets out a ghastly growl then throws a weak punch which Tolis successfully blocks.
Streams of dark blood gushes out of it's neck as it falls down with a thud. Several blows nevertheless land on it's still body.
"Theo stop! It's dead!" Shella yells as everyone scrambles to sit in fatigue, the werewolves shifting back to their human form.
Adriel jogs towards the scene shouting, "I have never witnessed such a fierce clash
in my entire life! You are all awesome warriors."
"Shut up you coward!" Tolis bellows. "How come abandon your teammates in such a dire situation?"
"I did shout the strategy to take him down, you were Cleary not listening." Adriel answers.
Disgusted Tolis goes to inspect the creature, removing the hood to reveal it's face.
"It's a very ugly humanoid!" He shouts and the group rises to join him in the scrutiny.
"One of the inhabitants of Dreadmoor perhaps." Theo guesses in a petrified voice.
"No, it's mummy." Ralph informs. "They are dead beings awakened and controlled by witches. Obviously that one was sent by Zedon's necromancers. Which means we might encounter many more ahead."
The group tense farther, realising that the quest may be harder than they previously thought.
"We will rest here today and carry on tomorrow." Tolis says and everyone agrees.
- Writer
