The Quest

Attack At Castle Sahala

Timothy and Pendleton made it through the Tree Sea in record time and broke out of the forest at dusk the next day. But, on the other side a battle was raging. After destroying Millers, Zhen Su's army made its way south to the castle. Many buildings were on fire and there were large holes in the city walls. They watched the carnage from the top of a hill outside of town.

"They're destroying everything." Said Timothy.

"They're looking for the map." Pendleton replied. "Zhen Su knows that the sword is broken up but he doesn't know where. We have to get in and get it before he finds it."

"How though?" Asked Timothy.

Pendleton looked over at him and smiled. "I guess you get to practice with that new sword of yours."

They tried to avoid the demons and human soldiers and get to the castle so they wouldn't be slowed down. A few demons attacked but Pendleton made quick work of them with his sword. They made it inside the castle within ten minutes of getting there and had gotten to the throne room a little after that.

"Where's the king?" Timothy asked.

"He probably ran off when they started to attack." Pendleton said under his breath.

"I most certainly did not!" Said the king as he came from behind the throne. "Young Timothy I see you have tracked down my brother. Good job but, I fear that this the worst time to have brought him here."

"Why is that?" Timothy asked before Pendleton could say anything.

"My royal advisor, the one you met before you left the other day has betrayed me, he told Zhen Su that you and my soldiers were seeking out Pendleton, and now he has sent an attack figuring it would draw him in."

"I'm not that easily swayed." Pendleton said as he crossed his arms.

"Your here aren't you?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"We need the map of where the broken pieces of the sword are." Timothy interjected.

"You mean, The Sword?" Asked the king

"Yes." Replied Pendleton.

"Wait, doesn't the sword have a name?" Asked Timothy.

"Yes it does but names have power, saying the wrong name can cause awful things to happen for all parties involved. If the sword has its name uttered it could very well seal our fate. Only the one who is truly supposed to wield the sword can say it's name, and when that person does so, the sword will come to them and be bonded to them forever."

"If the name was never spoken how do you know the name of the sword?"

"Well, we don't know what it is. When the true owner of the sword finds all four parts he they will be able to read it's name engraved upon the blade."

"Thanks for the lesson but we need the part you have here and the map to the rest." Pendleton cut in.

"I don't have my portion any more."

"Why not!?"

"I decided that it was to much of a risk to keep it here in the castle, so I had it hidden in the northern mountains."

An explosion shook the castle. The sounds of sword fighting could be heard close by.

"We need to get out of here." Said Timothy.

The king grabbed them and dragged them into the room behind the throne. Inside was small and cramped. The walls were lined with weapons, from normal swords to crossbows and pikes. They quickly passed all of them and went to the end of the hall. At the end were two hooks for holding a weapon, most likely the portion of the sword they were after. The king spoke some words in a language Timothy didn't understand and the part of the wall that was holding the sword spun around and hung on the wall was a parchment. There was a detailed map of Sahala on it with red 'X's on it. The king ripped it off the wall, folded it up and handed it to Timothy.

"You need to get the sword and find who is meant to use it. Now," he turned around and pulled one of the swords off the wall causing a door to appear, "You two must get away from the castle."

They ran down the dark staircase away from the throne room. They heard the door close behind them and the light went out. Pendleton's sword provided a very dim light allowing them to go down the stairs without falling. After ten or so minutes of walking they heard the cranking of gears, it sounded like the door they had escaped though had opened. They started to run down the steps. Eventually the path leveled out and they could run faster, until they saw light up ahead. They broke through into the light of the setting sun. They hid as quickly as possible and watched as five soldiers in red armor broke out of the tunnel. The looked around and spread out to find them. They eventually gave up the search and went back where they came from.

The two sat by the stone wall they had come out of, breathing heavily.

"Now what?" Timothy asked in a quiet voice. It was sage to assume the king had died, no one would be able to get into that room unless he had.

Pendleton stared at the setting sun, "We find the sword and the owner and get back here to kick some demon butt."