unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 27

Haphazardly, Danny, Connor and Clara ran into the jumble of brightly coloured costumes in the parade, straining their eyes in scanning for the knight. Suddenly, Danny charged towards a man dressed as a knight, pulling up his visor.

"Gotcha!" He said triumphantly, but he instantly yanked his hand away when the modern man underneath the helmet gave him a confused, yet stern, look.

"This is a nightmare," Clara muttered, following the other two boys as they carried on through the crowds. "Danny, we're never going to find him. In fact, he's probably already gone far from here by now."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Danny sighed, and they veered off away from the high street and emerged in a smaller side street, stopping outside a coffee shop. "We should split up," he announced once they'd halted.

"Split up?" Connor echoed nervously. "I'm not splitting up. Have you not seen horror films?"

"That's a good point," Clara nodded. "Splitting up in horror films is always a bad idea."

"Look," Danny let out a sigh. "We've got to find him before he kills someone, alright?" A phone suddenly started ringing, and all three of them fumbled around in their pockets trying to see if it was their phone that was ringing.

"It's me," Danny said, pushing the green button and holding the phone to his ear. Connor and Clara stopped searching; the former entering the coffee shop. "Talk to me." There was a long pause. "How do you know all this?" Another pause. "Well, you're very good. Look, we have to find him. He's lost in a world he doesn't understand. I mean, maybe he's not trying to find the dragon, maybe he's just trying to get home." A small pause. "Okay, you get Becker and you meet me there." Sarah told him something else. "What's she doing? Alright, well, wait for Becker and meet me at the church."

Connor emerged from the coffee shop holding three travel cups, two containing coffees and the third containing a hot chocolate. He handed the hot chocolate to Clara with a smile, who took it gratefully.

"Sarah, you do not leave without backup," Danny said down the phone firmly. "That's an order. Do you understand? Sarah, do not hang up. Do not hang up the phone!" He pulled it away from his ear with a scoff. "She hung up," he muttered.

"What's going on?" Connor asked. "How's Abby?"

"She's fine," Danny answered, stowing his phone away. "She's trying to save the dragon."

"Really?" Connor sighed. "Do you know what, I should be with her. Maybe I could help."

"Well, go on then," Danny urged. Connor looked helplessly down at the two cups of coffee in his hand before Danny sighed and snatched them off him. Connor sped off, heading back towards Abby.

Danny turned to Clara. "Are you not going?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What, and leave you to become the damsel in distress?" Clara smirked. "I don't think so. What did Sarah say?" They began to walk in the direction of the river.

"The knight's name is Sir William," Danny relayed. "He's looking for repentance for killing loads of men, which is why he needs to slay the dragon. He's going to be heading to the old parish church by the river."

"So that's where we're going?" Clara raised her eyebrows.

Danny smiled. "That's where we're going."

——

Danny and Clara walked among the knee-high grass that surrounded the ruins of the parish church, noting Sir William's horse that had been tied outside. They entered the ruins, finding the knight himself slumped on the stone wall, sword next to him and most of his armour removed. His eyes were clouded with sadness and it sounded like he was trying to suppress sobs.