The Quest

The Pirate Stronghold

Timothy opened his eyes and slowly pulled his hand away from the door. Burned into his palm was the flame that surrounded the sword on the door. He stood up from the crouching position he was in.

"Tim?" Pendleton said.

He took notice to his friends behind him. Sonia's eyes were red from crying. Pendleton stood behind her with his arms crossed.

"Did you do it?" He asked.

"I think so." Timothy responeded.

"We can go in and you can pull the sword from its slumber."

Timothy nodded. He pushed on the door and it slid open easily, with no magic golden fire surrounding him. Inside the Sword Chamber light shine down from and unseen window. In the center of the room was a raised dias. In the center of it was a ornamental holder, clearly to small to hold a sword. In fact, there was no sign of the sword.

"Where is it?" Timothy asked.

Pendleton walked onto the dias and examined the holder. It shone in the light but there was no writing or clue to what was kept there.

"Where is the sword kept? That thing is way to small to hold it." Timothy asked.

"Can someone explain to me what we're still doing here? I thought we were here to destroy Rusteel."

Timothy filled Sonia in on what they were doing here and what was kept in the temple.

"That legend is just that, a legend. I can't believe something like that happened. And you say your the only one who can use this sword?"

"Exactly!"

"We have a problem." Pendleton said from across the room.

"Well yeah, the sword is missing." Timothy said.

"It's worse than it being missing...I'm pretty sure Rusteel has it."

This came as a shock. Timothy figured the only one who could get into this room was the hero with the help of the royal family. How did Rusteel enter this room and even take the sword?

"There is only one option left. We need to enter the stronghold and take the sword from him." Pendleton said.

"How? Without your sword of Clarent we won't stand a chance."

"I think we do. If we wait until the cover of night, we can sneak into his stronghold and find my sword. Then we steal Clarent and then we take the Shocker and sail out of there. He'll never catch us when we take his fastest ship."

"Alright let's do it." Sonia said.

- - -

The sun had set and the pirates were getting ready to change guard. Three figured in black approached the stronghold. The stronghold was surrounded by tall walls to keep others out, or even keep slaves in. Inside it looked like a shanty town. Wooden houses built haphazardly on top of each other. Wooden and rope bridges crisscrossed connecting houses together. The wall stopped when it got to the sea. There was a dock with all of Rusteel's ships docked. At the center of the shanty town was a stone tower. It wasn't tall but it was taller than any other building in the stronghold. There, Rusteel ran his pirate empire and kept his most valuable treasure.

The party scaled the wall with a hook brought by Pendleton. They had to hurry before a new pirate came to guard this part of the wall. All three made it to the top and ran for cover. With no moon they were completly hidden with no light around. At each corner of the wall there were towers that allowed people to go to the ground level. They made their way for the nearest one. They hid beside the doorway and waited. A pirate walked out onto the wall for his shift. Pendleton came out of the shadows and grabbed him. He threw him over the wall and held up the key ring he had stolen. They opened the door and made thier way to the ground level. They avoided all light sources and found a quiet dark alley to stop.

"How are we getting in there?" Timothy asked looking at the tall tower ahead of them.

"I have this." Pendleton said as he rooted in his bag. He pulled out a tool that looked almost like an ice pick but had a curved hook at the end. "These will help us climb up the tower. Rusteel keeps his most valuable treasure in the top room." He handed a pair of hooks to Sonia and Timothy.

They went on their way, dodging pirates and lighted areas. Eventually they were at the base of the tower. It was just gray stone with a few lit windows up the sides. Over the windows were steel bars. Pendleton stabbed his hook in and started up the wall. Sonia followed and finally Timothy started the long ascent. Halfway up he looked out over the city. He could see the narrow streets and alleys. The whole place was lit up like the sky above it. Timothy focused on a group of pirates standing in a roof top close by.

"Pendleton..." he started. An arrow flew up and embedded itself in the stone beside him.

"Timothy it isn't easy to climb with these if you haven't noticed. What exactly is the problem?"

As he finished another arrow flew beside them, this one ricocheting off the wall.

"Move!" Pendleton yelled.

The party climbed faster. Arrows kept hitting close but none hit their marks. After a few minutes they were close to the highest window. A mob had gathered below them and all were firing arrows at them.

"These stupid bars won't budge!" Pendleton yelled as he pried at the window. He used one of his hooks and chiseled the stone around the bars.

Arrows continued to rain down upon them. Pendleton furiously hit the stone stopping them from entering. Bits of stone flew as he stabbed them. Finally he knocked enough away to pry the bar away. He slipped in, then Sonia and finally Timothy.

"They know we're here!" Timothy said frantically.

"Just find the swords! We'll figure a way out after."

The trasurey room wasn't big but it was stuffed full of different trasures. There were gilded chests overflowing with coins from different countires. Precious gem stones, bars of gold, weapons. There were magic items sitting in glass cases.

"What's this?" Timothy asked.

He pointed at a dagger that glowed green. It was encased in thick glass.

"That is an enchanted dagger. A wizard would use it to cast spells. Don't touch it, it's in the case for a reason."

Timothy pulled his hand away. He did not want to be cursed or turned into a frog.

Laying on top of one of the piles of gold coins was Pendleton's sword, The Demon Slayer. He picked it up and smiled wide. He strapped it to his back and continued his search for Clarent.

"I don't think that Clarent is here. We need to grab some trasurey and get out of here. Rusteel probably has it." Pendleton said.

Timothy went to check one of the large wooden barrels sitting in the corner. He lifted the lid but inside was black powder.

"Is this gun powder?" He asked.

"Yes be careful with it. The smallest spark could blow us into Itty bitty pieces." He stood up straight and smiled. "I have an idea for getting out of here."