(Adventure Adrian and the Kings) The Herald Quest

Chapter Twenty Three

TWENTY THREE

Climbing the rock face on the side of the Noble Mountain was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I was alone and with no-one to spur me on I could quite easily have given up. But with Aunt Edna’s words still ringing in my ears, I knew I had to carry on until there was nothing left to fight for. The kingdom was depending on me and this was my throne now. I had to reclaim it.

My wet clothes and chainmail vest were almost pulling me back down to the earth. The drop was so high that I couldn’t afford one slip or I’d be a goner for sure. My fingers were red raw as I gripped the jagged black rocks tightly and dragged myself up the near vertical slope.

My foot suddenly slipped from its foothold and I scrambled a little before pausing to take in a deep breath. I looked down to see the little pebbles of broken rock tumbling into the deep and misty void below. It was then that I spotted three figures scaling up the mountain from below me. I couldn’t quite make out what they were but decided I didn’t fancy hanging around to find out.

Whatever was heading my way was doing so at great speed. As the creatures drew closer I was horrified because there were three Heretics now chasing me down. Their long, skeleton like fingers clung to the rocky wall with ease and they seemed to effortlessly glide upwards in pursuit. 

I briefly thought that if I could reach the top then I might be able to outrun these monsters. But looking back up again I couldn’t even see the summit yet. So I gritted my teeth and then began to literally climb for my life. But I could almost feel the creatures grabbing at my ankles. I thought I was done for.

Finally with a small stroke of luck, I arrived at a flat ledge in the rock face about two-thirds of the way up. I was exhausted and simply had to rest. But the Heretics were almost upon me and as the first of them lurked up over the ledge, I knew I would have to face them all head on or be killed.

I drew Utopia but for the first time she was heavy in my hands. I wasn’t ready for this fight but I had no choice. The three heretics crawled their way onto the ledge and so I shuffled backwards desperately to regain some strength. But I soon realised I could hardly even stand.

The monsters backed me into a corner. I gazed through the gaps between their tall bodies and to the other side of the ledge. I spotted a small cave entrance right behind them that would have made a useful escape route. Yet all three of the monsters were blocking my path and closing in. I was trapped.

The closest heretic held its poisoned spear aloft and jabbed the tip in my direction. I wearily deflected the spear with a clang of my sword. But the creature simply hissed in anger and prepared to strike again. I was too tired to keep fighting back and wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take.

I thought all hope was lost. But just as the Heretic pulled back its arm to take a second jab, it was suddenly impaled from behind by a mysterious, glowing white horn that shot out through the front of its chest. It gave out a sickening scream, waving its arms and legs frantically before being lifted helplessly into the air.

The weapon had appeared from nowhere. It began to twist and turn the Heretic in midair before eventually it was thrown to one side. The evil creature slammed onto the hard rock floor and burst into a cloud of dust. All that was left behind was its long, black cloak in a small and ruffled pile on the ground.

There stood Jay with his trusty quarterstaff in his hand. He was alive! But his weapon’s design was slightly different to how I remembered when he’d shown it to me before. The end of the stick, that had been previously wrapped in a bandage was now uncovered. It had revealed a shiny unicorn horn attached to the tip.