The Swan and The Pirate

Dangers Lurk

"If only you could have stayed away from her," Tedros complained as him and Hort reached the entrance fo the Blue Forest. "Watch your mouth, prince," Hort hissed in reply as they began their venture into the Blue Forest. The leafless trees at the entrance howered over them threateningly. 

They kept silently arguing with eachother as they approached the pumpkin patch. The Reapers were standing still, waiting for a sudden movement to happen. "Here, take this. Defend yourself," Tedros told Hort as he gave him a thick stick. "How come you get a sword, and I only get a dumb stick?" Hort complained. "Want to die or not?" Tedros argued. "You know, if you hadn't made her think she was in love with you, this would have never happened," Hort uttered angrily. "If you had just stayed in your lan-" Tedros began loudly, but was cut off by the closest Reaper cracking a smile.

They watched in horror as a mouth grew on the Reaper's face, and its black and hollow eyes, lit up. "Reapers," Tedros thought out loud. "Fuck," Hort mumbled. "Better hold on tight to that stick of yours," Tedros mocked as the Reaper pulled itself out of the ground. Hort laughed sarcastically and wanted to shoot back a spiteful comment, but there was no time, for the Reaper launched at him. He yelped and swung his wooden bat right in the Reaper's head. It made a crack, but it didn't quite finish him off.

"Go for the head!" Tedros commanded. "I understood that you prick," Hort snarled as both of them attacked the Reaper. Tedros with his majestic glowing sword, and Hort with his thick stick. With its last breath, the Reaper let out a noise that caused a chain reaction between the other Reapers, causing them to wake from their slumber.

Now, tree new Reapers went for the boys. "I might be needing two of those sticks," Hort squeaked. "Here!" Tedros threw Hort a rusty spade he had found, leaning against a tree. "This will do better, thanks," Hort said as he abandoned his former weapon.

Hort and Tedros teamed up against the first Reaper and killed it with ease. Now, only two was left. One for each. But these Reapers had watched how Hort and Tedros killed the first one, and learned their moves. Tedros swung his sword at the Reaper's head, but the Reaper dodged it and hit him in the stomach, sending him to the ground. Hort saw this, and instead of going for the Reaper's head, he aimed for its one leg that was a wooden stump and tripped it.

Tedros quickly got back up on his feet, but no Excalibur. He looked around in panic, and saw his beloved sword behind the Reaper. "Fine, I'll take you out manually." he grinned as he put his hands up. He launched at the Reaper, headlocking it with his arms, but the Reaper swiped Tedros' legs and made him fall to the ground once more.

Hort was standing above the Reaper he had taken to the ground with his metal spade in his tight grip, holding it over the Reaper's neck. "Say bye, you ugly scarecrow," he spat before he jammed the spade into the Reaper's neck. It's head exploded with a burst of green goo.

"A little help here, Hort?" Tedros called. Hort turned around to see the last Reaper charging for attack. "On it!" Hort replied as he ran up to Excalibur and tossed it to Tedros just in time. The Reaper attacked, but instead of charging at Tedros and killing him, he ran into his sword head first and exploded as well, covering Tedros in his green goo.

"Thanks," Tedros grunted as Hort helped him up. "Those things are nasty. And I'm saying that." Tedros chuckled slightly, but quickly forced himself to get back on topic. "We need to find Elizabeth," he reminded as he tried to get some of the Reaper's guts off his clothes.

Hort looked around, trying to find any clue of where I could have gone. He started walking around, as he saw no clues in the pumkin patch. Suddenly, he felt something hard under his shoe. He stepped off it and saw something golden shine weakly in the dirt. He picked up a golden swan broche. "Tedros! Look!" Hort exclaimed. "What did you find?" he asked as he reached Hort. "You can't tell me this isn't hers," Hort insisted. "You're right, this is definitly hers," Tedros chuckled.

"She must have gone down this way," Tedros said as they looked down the path, covered in blue leaves. "Let's go then, we have no time to loose!" Hort insisted. "Yes, but we need to be quick. These are Sleeping Willows," Tedros stopped Hort and pointed up at the Sleeping Willows that lined the path. "Stay under their branches for too long, and their leaves will force you into a deep sleep," Tedros explained. "Ok, quick in and out. Got it," Hort confimed as they began running.