The Quest

         

WC:499

The Quest

“Tell me again why you need me,” grumbled Aldor.
         “You really don’t understand do you?” the old king sighed, sorrow in his voice. “Whoever is behind this acquired the help of the elves. The elves! If the mastermind has the service of elves, then some of my guard are certainly in his service.”
         “Still, there must be others you trust more to undergo this quest,” replied Aldor.
         “No. Anyone I would think to trust, by logic, cannot be trusted. If the elves have been infiltrated, then certainly so have my forces,” reasoned the king. “I must send someone unexpected. And you are the person I most detest sending, therefore, you are perfect.”
         “You call me low-born scum a month ago, and now send me upon an important quest?”
         “There is no other choice, besides you should have more motive than other men, so my daughter led me to believe. Now begone, time’s short! You know the quest which you must fulfill, speak of it to no man, and godspeed,” the king gesticulated Aldor to leave.
         Aldor departed the palace wondering if the king knew he would have undergone the quest regardless. It was a quest he must undergo, and he departed that very night. It was best to set off in the night he had learned, anyone suspecting the nature of his quest and waiting to pursue him would expect a morning departure, and you should never do the expected if you wish to avoid pursuit. The hunter set out with only his bow, arrows, and a backup plan wrapped around his chest. His horse, Shadow Light, had been personally given to him by the princess, and its swift pace had Aldor near the dungeon in a fortnight.
         Then the journey grew difficult. Aldor was being followed. His instincts told him this, and his lifetime as a hunter and tracker taught him to trust his instincts. He increased his speed. Shadow Light was now at top pace and couldn’t be caught by any horse.
         The pursuit was gaining. How? Aldor thought. He dug his heels into his horse and pushed onward. He could see the dungeon, its stone spires reaching high in the sky. He turned and saw his inhumanly fast pursuit; a group of elves. I am doomed Aldor thought. A human hasn’t defeated a single elf in centuries, and a group hunts me.
         The dungeon loomed close. He removed the bow from his back. He reached the dungeon, two bowshots removing the entrance’s human guards. Further in he went. He saw the princess in a cell, took out the cell’s guard, grabbed the guard’s key, and quickly threw it into the cell, to his beloved.
         He didn’t have much time. Elves entered, their swords shining through the darkness. He ran, they followed. Time for plan ‘B’ thought Aldor. He drew the elves away from the princess and detonated the dynamite upon his chest.
         And even though the princess was freed, she wept for her beloved Aldor forevermore.