(Adventure Adrian and the Kings) The Herald Quest

Chapter Twenty

TWENTY

Our group retreated to the safety of the altar. The Priest and Jay sat together, using upturned boxes as seats, whilst Grace paced backwards and forwards in front of them. I meanwhile sat in a darkened corner away from the others and tried to gather my thoughts.

The rain was pouring down hard and rattled loudly against the windows. It was only early evening and yet it was so dull outside that it was by candlelight that we all tried to make sense of everything. 

“So what in the name of the Kings happened here Father?” Jay asked Valliant as he looked around at all the piles of rubble and endless damage that surrounded us.

“The church was raided last night,” the Priest explained with his quivering voice before standing to light another candle and then returning to his ‘box’ seat.

“Raided by who?”

“Heretics!” the Priest replied. “They were hunting for something very precious indeed.”

“What?”

 “The Master sword,” Valliant said and then pointed across to the blade that rested by my side.

“But I’m guessing they couldn’t find it?” Jay said.

“It was hidden in the statue of the Spirit King Thera over there. To a Heretic it looks like just another sword,” the Father explained. “But when the King takes holds then…well you saw what happened when Adrian lifted the weapon.”

“And the Heretics wanted steal it I guess?”

“Of course!” he nodded. “And then take it back to the Shadowlands…to Moargart.”

“How did you come to possess it?”

“It was pure lucky. Or fate perhaps. I gathered it from the bottom of Mount Noble on the night Adrian’s father died,” the Priest revealed to us. “It toppled over the cliff edge when Moargart disarmed the King before defeating finally him. If the weapon hadn’t fallen then it would have fallen straight into the Dark King’s hands!”

“But why would Moargart want to claim it for himself?” Jay pried with a chuckle. “Its just a piece of metal surely.”

“Silly young minstrel!” Valliant stormed. “The Master sword is cast with royal blood.”

“Sorry. I…”

“It is more powerful than all of the other sacred swords combined,” the Priest insisted but then paused with an after thought. “Well… apart from…”

“What is it Father?” Jay frowned and could see the Priest was fighting with his thoughts. “Is there another sword that could challenge it?”

“Erebus,” Grace recalled.

“What’s that now?” Jay frowned.

“The Dark King’s blade,” Valliant cursed. “It was once just one of the six sacred swords given to each of the Knights,” he told us firmly. “But it is said that the will of the Spirit King Retha has transformed the sword into something much more deadly.”

“My father says it grows more powerful and corrupt with every passing day of the Dark King’s reign” Grace remembered. “Just like its owner.”

Whoa!” Jay gasped.

“It is a mighty weapon,” Father Valliant said. “So far it has helped Moargart’s shadow crawl further across the Kingdom than ever before.”

 “Is that why we’ve met so many evil monsters on our journey here?” Grace suddenly wondered. “Because the Shadow is spreading further south and towards us faster than ever?”