The deep rumble of a car driving over a dirt road woke me from my sleep. I furrowed my brow. “No one comes down this road at night” I thought.
Crawling to the edge of the clearing I was in, I peeked toward the road. A small silver car that looked like a Lotus was speeding down the road towards the lake. Looking at its path made me realize just how fast it was moving. It kicked up enough dust to show that it was in a hurry. Whoever was driving the Lotus must be late for some sort of secret meeting.
Thinking quickly, I began to climb a tree to move to see what the commotion was all about. The car was speeding towards the lake. I shimmied up the tree quickly and began to move in the general direction of what appeared to be the Lotus' destination.
I arrived at the dock in time to see a man in a full suit of battle armor walking down the gangplank of a tall, triple-mast ship. His armor glinted evilly in the dim moonlight. He walked until he was about fifty feet from the ship then just stood there; one had resting on the hilt of his sword.I arrived at the dock in time to see a man in a full suit of battle armor walking down the gangplank of a tall, triple-mast ship. His armor glinted evilly in the dim moonlight. He walked until he was about fifty feet from the ship then just stood there; one had resting on the hilt of his sword.
The car ground to a stop when it reached the boatyard. The incessant rumbling was over. The dust that was trailing the car swirled around the car; then began to settle. As the dust settled and the car became more visible and it also became apparent that the dust wasn’t falling on the car, but rather floating down to form a dust ring around the Lotus. There must have been some sort of magical force field around the car.
The door opened with a hiss. Out stepped a darkly clad figure in a black robe. The man in the robe strode quickly to the knight and produced a black ball.
“You have the money?” a smooth voice said with the darkness in it to chill my bones. I shuddered softly. I guessed that the speaker was the robed man.
“Yes,” a metallic voice replied. I knew without a doubt that this was the knight. “This item had better be real.”
“Oh it’s real,” Soft Voice said, “and it cost me a lot of magic to retrieve it, so the payment had better be good”
“It should be good enough,” the Knight said coldly, “The stolen staff of Mandrake the Seer. Plus two hundred pure gold plontoons.” The Knight gestured towards the ship.
“Satisfactory,” the Wizard said coldly, “Get me my payment, and then I will give you the gem.”
The Knight turned and marched up the gangplank. Once the knight was gone, the wizard glided to his car and set the ball down on the driver’s seat.
Five minutes later, the knight returned wheeling a cart that had two gigantic bags on it with a long wrapped package. Stopping where he had been before, he began to unload the cart. The wizard stood from where he was sitting and took the ball back over to the knight. “I want to see the merchandise before I let you take the payment.” Knight said. He clearly did not believe that his prize really was in the hands of a wizard.
The wizard did not reply, but instead unwrapped the ball that he held. As he did, I gasped. It was a gem the size of my head and instead of reflecting the moon and the stars off of its surface; it gave of a bright green glow. Wordlessly the wizard pointed at something and it burst into flames.
The knight nodded and the wizard wrapped it back up and set it down next to the pile of bags. The wizard opened his cloak as the knight reached down to grab the gem. The money and the staff floated to the folds of the cloaked and began to vanish as soon as the knight had the gem.
Straightening, the knight offered his hand to shake. The wizard took it and shook saying, “Pleasure doing business with you Sir Francis.”
The mention of that name sent chills down my spine. He was a knight at one point in time. He always made the right choice, but then something happened and he started to make cruel choices. He was the most feared rogue knight that existed in the two realms. Anyone having to do with him did so at their own peril. He would kill an innocent person without a second thought just because that person was in his way.
“The same, Chryasor.” Sir Francis said. The two released each other and turned their separate ways. Soon the deep rumble of the Chryasor’s Lotus filled my ears, and the grind of tires on dirt began. The Lotus drove away with a roar of the engine.
Suddenly, the sounds of pulleys and ropes started on my left. The ship was preparing to cast off. I had a decision to make; I could let Francis leave, or I could make for the ship and attempt to stow away. I looked at how many men there were and how fast they were working. I could easily make it to the ship but could I get below deck?
I came to a decision and I ran for the ship, but I didn’t climb aboard. Instead, I jumped for the side of the ship and I held on there. I crawled along the side until I found a porthole that was big enough for me. I reached into my boot and pulled out a knife.
This was going to be an arduous task. I would need to pull out every rivet then re-insert them into the window. I put the knife in my mouth and again reached into my boots, and pulled out a pair of gloves. These gloves were no ordinary gloves; these gloves were enchanted gloves. I had bought them from a wizard a few years back and I began to rely on them. These gloves would allow the wearer to climb and hold to any surface indefinitely.
