(Adventure Adrian and the Kings) The Herald Quest

Chapter Seventeen

SEVENTEEN

The visions were getting a lot worse. Those horrid yellow eyes stared at me intensely and the large claw like hand began to close in around my head. Pretty soon it would find me and squeeze the life out of me in the blink of an eye.

A jet black sword appeared from the shadows. Its edge shot so close towards me that I could almost feel the swishing just inches from my face. The sound of the wind had become so deafening that it hurt my ears and the rain felt so hard that it was blinding me.

It had to be Moargart. He must have been invading my thoughts and using my mind to try and find the Professor perhaps. Or maybe the Dark King hadn’t heard of my Aunt Edna’s death and was still attempting to hunt her down too. Whatever this armoured devil wanted, the nightmares he was creating in my head were horrible.

The dream now was so realistic in fact that I could almost sense the surroundings. All I could work out for now though was that I was up somewhere high, but because this angry rage was clouding my mind, I couldn’t be certain of anything. From the darkness, the weapon swiped down on me with venom and slashed through my body.

I awoke with a sudden jerk and in a cold sweat. I quickly glanced around in panic but to my relief, the freaky nightmare was over. I panted heavily and grabbed my chest. It felt like the sword that I’d just dreamt of had cut straight through my body. I even had to look down inside my t-shirt to check that I was still in one piece.

Our temporary campsite on the edge of this creepy looking forest was really uncomfortable. The bedding was nothing more than the ground we lay on and our pillows were the nearest rocks. But I didn’t mind because we’d been walking for ages and would need to save all our energy for the journey into Quilchester.

“Hey it’s alright Adrian. I think you were just dreaming,” Grace said softly and I glanced across to see her still lying next to me. She looked really sweet in the soft orange shimmer of the firelight.

“A nightmare more like,” I whispered to myself.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Get some rest,” she said before touching my arm lightly. “Go on, go back to sleep for a while and I’ll keep watch.”

I must have been tired because I quickly drifted off to sleep again. Meanwhile Grace peered through the glow of the campfire to check that Jay was alright and immediately realised he wasn’t there anymore. She assumed that he must have stupidly wandered off for a rather dangerous midnight stroll.

“That little fool,” she cursed quietly and carefully stood up with a stomp of her foot before creeping away into the woods to find him. She weaved her way through the maze of trees and eventually found herself in a round clearing.

“Jay!” she called out quietly. But there was no reply at all. In fact, it was totally silent apart from the light breeze and the sound of insects buzzing. Not wanting to loose her way, Grace gave up and turned around before carefully heading back towards the camp.

Gradually the winds began to get stronger and the rustling of the trees echoed louder through the darkness. At first Grace convinced herself that it was nothing more than the weather yet after a while it felt like she was being followed. So she nervously started to jog a little faster. Finally Grace could see the amber coloured shine of the campfire in the distance. She was almost there. 

But then the haunting crack of a branch snapped from right behind her. Grace turned and saw the tall and mysterious figure gliding towards her. Dressed in a long black cloak and hood, the creature stood over her, gave out a creepy moan and Grace immediately froze.